Mindfulness as praeparatio evangelica in the Irish Catholic Primary School

Abstract

Mindfulness has exploded in popularity across several elements of Irish society, including Catholic primary schools. This growth of the practice is set against the backdrop of a secularized and detraditionalized Irish society. This changed context for religious belief, as explored by Michael Paul Gallagher, Charles Taylor and Lieven Boeve, has challenged the Irish Church’s mission of evangelization. The challenges faced by Irish Catholic schools, as ecclesial entities, in living out this evangelizing mission highlight the growing necessity for pre-evangelization. These issues include a breakdown in the home, school and parish partnership model for faith formation and development, and a contemporary ‘educational emergency.’ This article examines the contribution of mindfulness as praeparatio evangelica in Catholic schools, focusing on it as a contemplative practice and as a means of enflaming sacramental imagination.

Mindfulness in Catholic Primary Schools: An Irish Perspective

“…These questions are operative within the broader context of the opportunities and challenges Catholic schools face in a detraditionalised Irish society. Mindfulness contributes to this discourse, as it offers a resource to these schools for preevangelisation, both as a contemplative practice and as a nurturing of a sacramental outlook in students (Carroll 2023).…”

“…Catholic education is permeated by this sacramental perspective, viewing creation as engraced with each moment of existence revealing something of Godself (Himes 1995;Sullivan 2008, p. 30). However, such an imagination has been impacted by the processes of secularisation and detraditionalisation, challenging the Catholic school's mission to invite children to see God's presence in every facet of their experience (Carroll 2023). Mindfulness can act as a catalyst for this blockage of sacramental perspective as grounding the students' attention to the present moment, inviting them to notice the holy in the ordinary moments of life.…”