Sacred Space team,
Jesuit Communication Centre
36 Lower Leeson Street,
Dublin 2,
Ireland
Latest Space, no.
3
AN
INTRODUCTORY WORD
As the holiday season approaches, the Sacred Space team
will be scattering for a time. I, myself, will be away for the month of
July. I am looking forward to some parish work at St. Patrick's, Glen
Cove, New York. I am hoping to send you this, "the latest from Sacred
Space", before I leave.
As has been noted by some of you, the number of visitors
to our site since it was launched on Ash Wednesday 1999, has recently crossed
the 4 million mark. One person commented on that event in this way:
Today, the feast of the Sacred Heart on the
Pacific Coast of the United States, the number is about to show 4 million
hits. I think of Sacred Space as such a private place to pray, a chapel
really, but sometimes the numbers remind me that this chapel is full of people,
all so very silent in their prayer, all over the world and yet holding each
other in prayer.
From Australia, another regular visitor wrote:
When I first discovered your site, on August
5, 2001, the Feedback pages held messages of congratulation on "passing the 2
million mark". Since then, another 2 million souls have logged
on.....You help so many people, and you work so hard to do this every day....I
hate to miss one day of prayer and wonder at sacredspace.ie. You are
better than the World Cup!
God has blessed us abundantly not only in the
number of visitors, but also in the messages that we have received each day from
so many parts of the world, and from diverse backgrounds. Many simply say
thanks for the help that they have experienced in their spiritual lives through
Sacred Space. They assure us, too, of their prayers that we may have all
the help we need to continue this prayer ministry.
Here is an example from
Johannesburg, South Africa: I am so delighted to
have found your sacred site. During the busyness which surrounds me in a
fairly large office I am able to enter the silence for a short while and return
to my world refreshed and peaceful. Thank you for the site. I shall
certainly tell friends and fellow parishioners (Anglican) about you.
Alan McGuckian SJ, director of the Jesuit Communication
Centre here in Dublin, and a key figure in the creation and development of
Sacred Space will fill you in on some changes that we make this
summer. Since Róisín Pye, who also has had a significant role in the
growth and development of the website, will, sadly, be leaving us in August to
face new challenges, I have asked her to share some thoughts on this
occasion.
I hope you enjoy this issue. You may wish to
forward it to internet friends, who may not yet have corresponded with us and,
consequently, are not on our mailing list. Please continue to remember us
in your prayers. God bless,
Gerard J. Bourke, S.J.
A MESSAGE FROM
ALAN
It is over three years since we started Sacred
Space, and watching the network of faith and prayer grow and spread has
been an extraordinary blessing for all of us. This summer is a time of
change and, hopefully, further development.
Róisín Pye has been with us for the past three years as
web director. As well as faithfully tending the English and Gaelic versions
from day to day, it is she who has helped all the other languages get
started. That, and much, much more. She has been a wonderful
colleague and we will miss her very much.
David Birchall SJ is also moving on, back to
Britain after a two-year stint. A regular sound in our main office has
been, "David, will you come and look at my computer; there seems to be something
wrong...." He always came, and was immensely helpful, and not just with
wayward computers! We wish him well!
As well as producing
Sacred Space, our office
has a range of other projects. The latest is a Catholic Portal site,
www.catholicireland.net . It
will be a huge task over the next few years. If you haven't looked at it
yet, please check it out.
All the Churches in Ireland are preparing to
benefit from a huge advertising campaign in September of this year. It is
called Power to Change. For 4 weeks, over 1.25 million Euro
will be spent in Ireland, promoting the Christian way of life. We are
co-operating with Power to Change, encouraging parishes and prayer
groups to get involved.
We have a lot of projects in hand. Thank God,
things are prospering now. We need your continued support to keep things
going, and, hopefully, growing. As well as your prayers, we would very
much appreciate your financial help. You can give this support either
online, at
www.jesuit.ie/prayer/support.htm
, or by sending a cheque to Sacred Space, 36 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2,
Ireland.
Thank you and God bless you,
Alan McGuckian
RÓISÍN'S FAREWELL
I joined the Jesuit Communication Centre with a degree
in philosophy and theology, and not much computer or web experience. I
guess in true Irish fashion, I could be called a "chancer", willing to try
anything and hopefully succeed! Over the three years, with much patience
from my mentor Peter Scally and good direction from Alan, I have
helped keep Sacred Space running smoothly, doing various jobs from
answering a lot of feedback early on to more technical areas of the site
administration as time went by. And of course, clarifying my
identity when the odd email came in to Fr Roisin, explaining that I'm a lay
woman working for the Jesuits Despite joining the team with a bit of
theology under my belt, I had much to learn about Ignatian spirituality (and I'm
no expert yet). Of course there's also working with the Jesuits, which I
could now talk about for hours!
Now its time to test the travelling bug and Italy calls,
for a year anyway, to learn the language and soak up the art and culture.
And then I'll do some more study in theology, perhaps in Rome, possibly in the
States; that is yet to be decided. It has been a really interesting job,
rather unique, and I've really enjoyed being part of a prayer initiative that
has touched the lives of so many people. It is humbling sometimes to read
the messages that pour in, and realise that I have played a part in
someone's spiritual experience, just through a website!
Thank you all for sharing those thoughts with us, as
they continue to be a vital part in the life of the site. I finish up
here mid-August - I'm writing my farewell rather early - and I thank you
for your support all along, and thanks to the team too. They're all
great, and Sacred Space will be in safe hands even without me
there! Of course it's not really goodbye, as I can log on and pray
wherever I am, whether it be in English or Italian. So until then,
arrivederci!
Róisín Pye
NEW VERSIONS OF SACRED
SPACE
New versions of Sacred Space are ever on the
increase, thanks to the co-operation of so many good people from around the
world. As you might have noticed, Sacred Space has been available
for some time now in twelve different languages. By the time this reaches
you, we hope to have a thirteenth version. There have been many requests
from different parts of the world for Sacred Space in French. On
June 28th, thanks to the hard work of Bertrand Baudoin in Quebec, Canada, the
French version will be launched.
Montse Girbau, webmaster for the Catalan Jesuits, has
the Catalan version up and running, as was promised in our last issue.
Marzena Frolow, with her Christian Life Community and the Jesuits in Krakow, has
done the same for the Polish version. The German and Chinese versions are
in the pipeline and we hope they will be ready soon.
The version for young people, sponsored by Youth Front
in Kansas City, which was also mentioned in the last edition of
Latest Space, has been
launched and can be found at
www.sacredgateway.org . You might
like to check it out, and perhaps recommend it to younger folk.
Thanks for your continued support, and that's all for
now. God bless,
Alan, Róisín and Gerry