IPA

Addressing the Root Causes of Poverty

Since deciding to “address the root causes of poverty” as the IPA Global Issue at the IPA Assembly in India in November 2007, much work has been done by Presentations around the world to identify specific foci for action and ways to act on them. The diagram below, produced by the Justice Contacts in Victoria, Australia, shows the connection between the root causes of poverty and the foci for action as ways of addressing a complex and enormous issue. In almost every Congregation, Province and Vice-Province, plans of action have been developed to address the root causes of poverty by confronting personal and corporate greed through one or both of the foci for action. The work we have chosen to do is difficult and challenging. The issues are complex and the vested interests are powerful. It is easy for us to feel overwhelmed by the forces of consumerism, greed, and materialism. Yet courageously we take one step at a time, believing that our small contribution to changing the world will make a difference. The Maryknoll Friends in a reflection I recently read state:

If you want to make changes in the world,
you’re going to have to be working day after day
doing the boring straightforward work
of getting people interested in an issue,
building a slightly bigger group or organization,
carrying on, experiencing frustration
and finally getting somewhere.
That’s how the world changes.

If we are going to be able to sustain the “long-haul” work we do to transform the world into a place of justice, peace and hope, then we need to do more than plan and work. We need to nurture our contemplative spirits. David Tacey says that “if we learned how to explore the richness of the inner life, much of the obsessive consumerism of the Western world would disappear in an instant. The most ecologically radical thing we can do for ourselves and society is to learn how to turn within and contemplate the internal infinity that we apparently do not want to look at and go to great lengths to ignore or run away from”.

Nano was a woman who was able to do the “long-haul” work of changing the social structures that kept people poor and dispossessed because of her attention to both her inner life and the detailed planning required to address systemic injustice. Let us take heart from her example, especially as we celebrate her life on 26 April.

Marlette Black pbvm, Queensland

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Called to be People of Heart

The Nano Nagle icon expresses the centrality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Nano’s life and in the spirituality of Presentation people. Nano had a great devotion to the humanity of Jesus, the icon of God’s compassion, traditionally expressed through devotion to the Sacred Heart. The humanity of Jesus is the icon of God’s indescribable richness, life, energy and power in relationship with all of creation. In particular, it is the icon of God’s compassion for those who are weak, sinful, oppressed and marginalised. It is from his heart that Jesus faithfully carries out his mission ‘to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to give sight to the blind, to set the downtrodden free’ and to proclaim God’s welcome embrace for all.

As disciples of Jesus, in the spirit of Nano Nagle, we are called to be people of heart

whose lives are directed from the deepest centre of our receptivity to God, and to others, that centre where we believe in God and entrust ourselves to others in deep respect, reverence and love… We want to image in our hearts the way of seeing, thinking, feeling and judging of Jesus, that is, his tenderness, mercy, understanding and love. – Father Michael Curran MSC

To be people of heart living in the world with the fire of God’s love means that we engage in the life work of transforming our own hearts as well as challenging and transforming the social and political systems that diminish humanity, cause violence and oppress those who are most vulnerable. In one of her poems Adrienne Rich writes:

My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
So much has been destroyed.
I have to cast my lot with those
Who age after age, perversely,
With no extraordinary power,
Reconstitute the world.

As Presentation women who have a tradition of devotion to Jesus as the icon of God’s compassion we commit ourselves as heart people ‘with no extraordinary power’ to the work of reconstituting the world in the spirit of Jesus and Nano Nagle.

Marlette Black pbvm, Queensland

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Presentation Tapestry

At the IPA Assembly at Bangalore, India in 2007 the idea for this tapestry was put forward and I agreed to put the pieces together that each unit sent me of their life and work – A Story in Fabric.

From left to right, first row:

New Windsor, New York, established from Cork in 1874. The cloth represents the many colors of the “melting pot” of the eastern shore of the US. The symbol of growth signifies the continual growth of Presentation Sisters from the State of Rhode Island down to Washington DC.

Zambia was established by a group of sisters from England, Ireland and India in 1989.

England, the first group of Presentation Sisters was established in Manchester from Clonmel in 1836. This piece is stitched on the national flag, the cross of St George. The top left-hand square illustrates England as a ‘green and pleasant land’ where the ‘dark Satanic mills’ no longer belch out their ruinous black smoke and smog so bemoaned by one of her greatest poets, William Blake. The outline of the map on the right shows Nano’s lantern spreading its rays over the new multicultural land in which her sisters minister today, the multiculturalism represented by the collage of ‘colour’ on the bottom left. On the bottom right-hand section the social conditions of modern times are spelled out, symbolized by the block of high-rise flats and the prevailing problems of society on which the lantern beams shine. Red dots on the map represent places where there are established houses of the Province, but many sisters are also living and ministering out and beyond the confines of these regular community groups.

Western Australia was established from New South Wales in 1882. The quilt block illustrates the sky, the brown of the iron ore, the red of the interior of our land and its minerals; the next layer is the sand and dry river beds (we have underground rivers in much of the State) and the final layer is symbolic of the sea, water and its life around us. The small map shows where we are.

Queensland, Australia, established from Wagga Wagga in 1900. The map of Queensland shows the position of Longreach, brown represents the inland, blue for the sea and the Cooktown Orchid is the symbol used.

New Zealand, established in 1951 from Tuam, Thurles and Kerry. This piece shows the symbols of the Maori culture that prevails throughout the country.

Row 2:

The Philippines, established from Kilkenny in 1960. This piece represents the bright colors worn by the people and the embroidery is significant of the careful work done by the women.

Fargo, North Dakota, established in 1882 from Dublin and Doneraile. The acorn symbolizes the missions that spread across the prairie. In small towns, skylines consisted of grain elevators and church steeples, and wild prairie roses (our State flower) grew in the ditches, and wheat, a main crop, replaced the rolling prairie grasses. Here schools and hospitals were established and sometimes a rainbow appeared to symbolize our hope and trust in God as well as promise for the future.

New York, established from Dublin and Galway in 1874. This weaving draws together the strands of the dream of Presentation Sisters from Fitchburg, Massachusetts and Newburgh, New York to weave a future full of hope; by deepening our commitment to the care for Earth and embracing all of God’s people in unconditional love.

Staten Island was established from the New York community in 1884.

Tasmania, Australia, established from Fermoy, Cork in 1866. An acorn grows amid the gums. The background of mountains represents the difficulties of travel to move to the new foundations that were established in country towns, in Papua New Guinea and later on the Bass Strait Islands of King and Flinders. The signpost represents some of these places. The tree is the gum taken root in a new land.

Newfoundland, established from Galway in 1833.

Row 3:

Victoria, Australia, established from Limerick in 1873.

Wagga Wagga, Australia, established from Kildare in 1874.

Ireland, established by Nano Nagle in Cork in 1775. Ballygriffin and South Presentation form the background to Nano Nagle’s life and ministry. Nano’s tomb marks the end of her life. The spirituality of being in communion binds us together while we minister in many ways across the world.

The next square represents those unable to send a piece.

Zimbabwe, established from England in1989.

Row 4:

San Francisco, established in 1854 from Midleton and Kilkenny.

Dubuque, established in 1874 from Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny. The blue material represents the Mississippi River and also the importance of water in the heartland of agriculture. The one thread of three colors is the strength of Mother Vincent and the blue, purple and white threads signify the three postulants that came with her. The way the material is stitched with these three colors indicates the melody and we Dubuque Presentations enjoy creating and singing in song. This stitching might also indicate our journey throughout history in Dubuque, Iowa. The material is vibrant as we hope our motto of charity presents itself to the world.

India, established in 1842 from Rahan, Maynooth and Mullingar.

Lismore, Australia, established from Lucan in 1886.

The final square represents those unable to send a piece.

The quilting was done by Mary Palmer from Marimu Quilts. Photography by Larry Kenny, Fethard.

Sally Purcell pbvm, England

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