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Blessed John Sullivan SJ

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Suggestions for a lesson: someone who is an inspirational person. Suitable for adaptation for Junior Tell the students that they are to move Certificate students studying Section A: around the room and read all the notes, Communities of Faith. they have one red sticker and they are to put their sticker on the post it note Key concept they found the most interesting/moving/ Inspiring Vision, Religious Commitment, challenging (they do not put the sticker Service, Leadership. on their own post it note). When they have finished read out the Preparation notes that have the most stickers. Write Several large blank pages attached to the ‘Inspiration’ on the board and jot down walls of the classroom, post it note for any answers that reinforce being inspired every student in the class, small red dot by the actions/words of another person. sticker for every student in the class) Key questions Introducation to Class Are the majority of people mentioned In today’s lesson we are going to learn on the notes people known to the group about someone who has inspired others. or are we inspired by others? How do This Saturday will be a very special day people inspire us, is it through their for the Jesuit order as Fr. John Sullivan personality, their words or their actions? will be recognised by the church as What shaped them into an inspirational someone whose life is an example to person? Do you think they realise they others. are inspirational? (hand out a post it note to every student Fr. John Sullivan is probably someone in the class and a red sticker, tell them to you have never heard of until today, yet hold onto the sticker as they will need it he has continued to inspire many people in a few minutes) of faith. The church recognises significant On your post it note I want you to write people whose vision changes the about someone who has inspired you in lives of many through a process called your life. It can be someone you know or , when someone is beatified someone you have learned about. Write they can be called Blessed and may one down their name and one way in which day be declared a . On Saturday Fr. they have inspired you. John Sullivan will be beatified. We are When you are finished put your post it going to learn a little about his life and on one of the poster pages on the wall, a why he is such a significant person of maximum of five notes to each page. faith. (allow a few moments for the students to put up their post it notes) (Distribute handout on Fr. John Sullivan, Brief teacher exposition stressing that adapted from An article for Living Word, each note contains information about by Fr. Donal Neary S.J.) Blessed John Sullivan SJ Hand Out

Born in in 1861, son of the last than any problem we have. Lord Lieutenant of , he grew up in John Sullivan took really seriously the an Anglican/RC family. The custom of the words ‘when I was sick, you came to time was that the boys were brought up visit me’. Most of his spare time outside in the church of the father, and the girls of prayer was spent on his rounds, of the mother. Thus the first thirty or so sometimes cycling from Clane to Dublin years of his life were lived in the Anglican to visit a sick Kildare man or woman. Church. Educated in Portora, Enniskillen, This was before the days of A and E; he was a top classical scholar in school, days when people died at home often and in law in Trinity College. He was called in great pain. John Sullivan was a living to the Bar in London but never practised. reminder that God had not forgotten the He converted to Roman Catholicism in poorest of the poor. 1900. It’s hard to know what brought him They called him to pray for the sick to the RC church. Maybe the faith of his person. He would do this, always inviting mother, and the work with Sisters for the those in the house to pray with him. He poor in Dublin. Whatever it was, he went a seemed to leave behind him a gift of step further and in 1903 joined the Jesuits peace and acceptance. in Tullabeg, Rahan, Offaly. Pre- With few words he communicated the studies were in England and Milltown tenderness of God to people at a very Park, Dublin. His life also changed from needy time of their life, when they were the well-to-do very sought after bachelor seriously ill or close to death. of Dublin to Jesuit life where he practised He was a mindful of God in the simplicity and poverty to a heroic degree. here and now. After ordination in 1907, he spent most One of Fr. John Sullivan’s sayings is: of his years until his death in 1933 in Have the courage to swim against Clongowes, a boarding school near Naas. the tide. Have the courage to be He was not a good teacher but was truly happy. loved by the pupils. Called Johnny-O, his long hours of prayer in the college church did not go unnoticed. One boy said they would go into the chapel to Get in touch: watch him pray. That’s like the disciples saying – teach us to pray as your disciples 01 775 8523 do. We learn prayer from each other. His role in the school was also spiritual father, [email protected] one who looked after the non-academic concerns of the pupils. @RelinkMagazine He never claimed to have all the answers but he had faith that gave facebook.com/relink meaning to many questions. He had a wide view of the human person, a relink.messenger.ie sympathy for the pupils away from home, and a conviction that God’s love is bigger Sample Questions

• Do you think it took courage for Fr. John to convert to Catholicism as an adult? • What changes did he make to his life after his conversion? • What inspired him to make these changes? • Why did his students love him? • What other actions showed that he had a vision of life inspired by the love of God. • From what you have learned so far why is Fr. John Sullivan described as an inspirational person? Why did he inspire and why?

Prayer Response

Lord, It is difficult to have the courage to swim against the tide. My life can seem confusing and difficult at times. I want to fit in; I want to be seen as part of the group. It can be difficult to stand out from the crowd When I am only just finding out who I really am. Give me courage Lord, to swim at my own pace, To navigate stormy waters, Just as you calmed the sea of Galilee, and told your disciples not to worry, Calm the seas of doubt and anxiety. Help me to make good friendships and to be a good friend, Be at my side during difficult times at school and at home, Celebrate my successes with me and give me the gift of gratitude. I pray for the wisdom to be truly happy in the here and now, To live in the moment with peace and to look forward with joy. Amen.