“We had the experience, but we missed the meaning.” T.S. Elliot’s quote from the second quarter of The Dry Salvages is a reflection on the meaning of life and how important it is to stop and reflect upon what we have lived, so that we don’t miss the experience itself and where it points us to. The insight colours this reflection on the year just past and my hope for the one we have just started. 2024 was full, but rather than a list, I want to name a few things that have marked me, and the taste they have left in my mouth and life…the sense I am making of them.

Living In-Between North and South

I have been in Europe for work purposes for longer periods than usual last year and this, taking advantage to spend time with my wonderful mother and family, as well as to get a sense of and contribute to things in the northern hemisphere once more. It accentuates the reality of what I’d call my hyphenated existence:

I feel deeply embedded in my life and work in Australia, but also more Irish than ever, and part of a Universal Church. I suspect this is going to stay with me, and even grow, as time goes by. It is rich, and deep, and exciting, but it is also an in-between kind of existence. Lately, I am loving getting re-acquainted with my city of birth and its pretty effective bus-systems. The little things in life 😊!

Three Experiences I am making sense of:

1. Women’s Leadership

In March, to celebrate International Women’s Day, I took part in two very different women’s events in Rome. One, entitled Women in the Church: Builders of Humanity focussed on women of the past who have marked history. I spoke on Mary McKillop. The second was entitled Women Leaders: Towards a Brighter Future, organised by Caritas Internationalis in collaboration with the Australian and British Embassies to the Holy See.

Both were terrific events, but the ripple effects of the latter are still reaching me. I spoke on “Women in Leadership from a Theological Perspective: an Exercise in Imagination”, and presented what I consider to be the three most important theological reasons at stake (both impeding and as potential ways forward) in women’s leadership in the Church.

The thirst for understanding and quality of the conversations in that room full of leaders affirmed me in my work and my commitment to good theological thinking. I will perhaps reflect more on this over the year.

2. Meetings with Pope Francis

I have had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis again various times over the past year: with the Women in the Church: Builders of Humanity Conference in 2024, with a small group of leading theologians, members of The International Network for Societies of Catholic Theology (INSeCT) in May 2024, and in December 2024 at a large theology conference organised by The Dicastery of Culture and Education, entitled The Future of Theology: Legacy and Imagination.

Perhaps the most significant was the small gathering in which I could present to him the work of theologians from around the world, and our support of his work. Our message to him was clear: we are grateful for who you are and what you are doing for the Church and theology, and we are here to support you, in whatever you need from us, as critical friends and experts in the areas we study.

“For theologians, are like the scouting party sent by Joshua to explore the land of Canaan: they are charged with finding the right paths towards the inculturation of the faith.”
Pope Francis to INSeCT

——————————————–

I have to note that his understanding of and challenge to theology is deep and clear. Just a few soundbites (and my thoughts on them):

• Theology is a significant and necessary ecclesial ministry. This may seem obvious to some but it has not always been treated in this way.
• Theology needs to move from repeating past formulas to “prophetically interpreting the present and to see new itineraries for the future, in the light of Revelation”. His openness to the world is considered.
• He calls for a paradigm shift in theology that would make it a fundamentally contextual theology. Theology needs to be open to this multi-ethnic and mobile world in which we live: again, obvious, but not really. If we pull the threads of this approach, it allows us to think about our faith differently and to move forward in creative ways.
• To INSeCT, he gave three guidelines for theology: creative fidelity to tradition, a cross-disciplinary approach and collegiality; Dialogue is an important framework for Pope Francis, which is clear in the whole synodal process he has instigated. This prophetic change in how things are done will stay with us for centuries.  
• Theology without women is incomplete: this cannot be said enough, and although there are different ways of understanding this – which need work – it is still important to hear it again and again!

• Theology is like light, working “quietly and humbly” in the grace of friendship with Christ. I like this… thought changes the world, albeit it slowly and from within.
• Ideology kills reality and manipulates people: perhaps the worst ill affecting both society and Church these days.
• Theology helps to rethink how to think: this is a hobby-horse of mine. I think we are unaware, at times, of what conditions how we see things, so learning to think about how we do that is hard work, but essential;
• That theology be accessible to all! I just love this!

For those interested, the fuller texts on theology are here:

• Pope Francis to INSeCT;
• Pope Francis to the Dicastery of Culture and Education’s Conference
• Veritatis Gaudium (The Joy of Truth)
• Ad theologiam promovendam (unofficial translation)

3. Musicking Theology

The hardest and yet most thought-provoking thing I did this year was my contribution to the Dicastery’s Conference on The Future of Theology: Legacy and Imagination. I was on the organising Committee for this Congress and although it was hard work – lots of hours of thought and collaboration across languages – it was so very fruitful and blessed.

About 500 theologians from all over the world sharing experiences, thoughts and insights. Perhaps a gamechanger in how Rome interacts with the world of theology. The Dicastery takes culture and cultures seriously, and organised a panel on what other areas of expertise bring to theology – physics, music, theatre, film.

——–

My contribution was on music and through music – with a variations on Pachelbel’s Canon with an amazing jazz quartet from Rome (Gianluca, Marco, Stefano and Riccardo) we played it in classic, Bossa nova, jazz, pop, and African styles, as well as a song I wrote on how composing works. It was challenging to create but wonderfully received. And has both affirmed my work in music and challenged me to not let words sideline what is, I know, how many people make sense of life, before, despite or alongside words. I need to understand better what this means for the future. At the very least, it means more music in each and every day.

Imagining Forward

Based on all of these experiences, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads about where to focus as I move forward. Any one of these areas can grow into much more, and there is a lot already planned for 2025. But I want to be invested in what God wants and what my own life’s journey asks of me. And that implies discernment. So this shall be the theme of this year’s retreat: “what do you see, Jesus?” (I have always loved the question of God to Jeremiah: “what do you see?” as I think it shows how God values who we are, and our insights. But right now, I’d like to know God’s thoughts. And that implies trust, I think.

I was at the Dublin opening of the Jubilee year on Hope in 2025. Archbishop Farrell’s homily was insightful: an invitation to let go into trust! “So often we measure our identity and success by how well we remain in control. But in the end the depth of our lives is to be discovered in our capacity to let go, to trust, to place ourselves in the hands of another. Hope and trust go hand in hand.” So what do I hope for, in 2025? My initial hopes are, once again, hyphenated:

• For my life in Australia: I hope for a university that knows how to hold its nerve and its north as a space for qualitative thinking that actually serves the world. I hope for people in governance of Catholic areas taking their theological formation seriously, and moving the organisations with them. I hope for colleagues (including myself) who take a step back from interests and ideologies to really work together.  
• For my Irish world, I pray we could dig deep and recover our energy, and our trust, in Ireland. I still love the common sense I often breathe in this country, and pray we don’t let extremes on the left and the right hijack us. I pray we might be better than that. I hope that the church – in all its entities – will realise that accessing the presence of God is at the heart of it all, and find ways to teach people how to pray, and to provoke thirst for the same.
• For my Community: that we might move forward in discernment and ongoing consultation (we have our first Irish president, which I want to believe will help :))
• For myself: that I might hold dialogue with God at the centre of my life, and discern the  best way to love Him and his world this year.