Fr. Charlie Davy, S.J

From 2007 to 2019 I was part of the Jesuit community in Galway, a coastal town in the west of Ireland. I worked in our primary school –an Irish speaking school – our spirituality centre and church. Then my life took a new turn, indeed a series of turns!. First, came the invitation to work in Paray le Monial, in the small Jesuit community of La Colombière. This small town, north of Lyon where St Claude lived and died, is a place of pilgrimage to the place where Jesus revealed the love in his heart to the young Visitation sister, Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 1670s. Without Claude’s encouragement her extraordinary intimacy with the Lord might have died with her. It is a place where many French men and women have chosen to live their retirement and so is a place of vibrant faith.

After a year there, came the second turn to my life: the request to work in the Dublin tertianship as assistant to the instructor, Paul Pace. My first year was to be the last year of the Dublin tertianship, mainly due to the difficulty of procuring visas. It was in this context that I received the request to go to the tertianship in Bikfaya. Saying yes was not easy. It involved letting go familiar habits as well as relationships. A visit to Bikfaya before Easter and the welcome I received, confirmed my decision.

I am grateful for this experience to live with younger Jesuits in a new country and culture. It is a sort of “ignatian experiment”! An opportunity to learn about Lebanese history, its people, its Churches, and even if very slowly, its language. It is also a wonderful opportunity to deepen my understanding of  ignatian spirituality.

It has not being without its challenges. Apart from my studies in France and my time in Paray, I have lived and worked in Ireland. Managing solitude creatively  in a new country has probably been the biggest challenge for me. The community here and the staff in the house and garden are big supports.

I greatly admire the endurance and resilience of the Lebanese people who have lived through war and many crises. It is inspiring to meet people who seek to serve in educational institutions, parishes, dispensaries and working with migrants. A memorable day for me was our visit to Barqaa where Fr Nicholas Kluiters worked. Meeting the two sisters working in the dispensary serving people from some twenty four surrounding villages, as well as the sewing workshop was inspiring. Travelling on buses in and out of Beirut even if the driver smokes and is often on his mobile gives me a small taste of how ordinary Lebanese live!