Many people gathered in Mullinabreena on Sunday and Monday for the ordination and First Mass of Brendan McCarrick. A native of the parish of Achonry-Mullinabreena, Brendan was ordained a priest of the Pallottine Order. Bishop Brendan Kelly ordained him in the presence of family, friends, priests of the Pallottine community as well as diocesan priests and religious. It was a joyful occasion and with all there, I wish Brendan every happiness and blessing in his ministry.
I took a few photos to include on our Diocesan Website so will include some of them here as well.
Decided to pay a visit to Glendalough yesterday. Finished afternoon talk here in Kiltegan and, the evening being good, thought it a good place to go for a while. The evening was lovely as I set out and GOOGLE MAPS assured me I was on the “fastest route”. That may well have been the case but it was also a nerve-wrecking route! Pinnacle View led onto the Wicklow Way and after many pullings-in to let cars pass in the opposite direction, I emerged on a road that said Glendalough was 3KM away. So it was. The day had changed alas, and the sky was quite overcast.
It was quiet there and I easily got parking and crossed the little style into Glendalough. I’d say it’s nearly thirty years since I was there. I remember going with two of my Maynooth classmates for a visit during our final year in the seminary. I remember us praying some of the Breviary together in the “cathedral”.
Anyway, I wandered around for a while and said a prayer or two. All in all, glad I went and will do again some day and won’t leave it as long.
On Tuesday evening I was leaving Urlaur Church after Mass and noticed a lovely sunset so went as quickly as I could to Urlaur Abbey and Lake. Most of these photos are from that journey! There’s another from the following evening, taken in Naomh Mobhi Cemetery, Kilmovee. Just thought I’d share!
Not the most original joke I’ve ever managed but that’s the truth of it. These days I’ve been up in Down. To be more exact, I’ve been in Dromantine, near Newry, the home of the SMA Missionary Society and a Conference Centre.
My reason for being here is a Diocesan Priests’ Retreat and I’ve been meeting with some of the priests of the Diocese of Clogher. The days have been very enjoyable. There’s a lovely energy around meeting and talking with a group of priests and, in that meeting, I am reminded what made me want to be a priest in the first place – that sense of decent men, doing their best. Of course, life has taught me that it’s not always that simple but the truth remains, priests are doing their best to be their best.
Anyway, I don’t want to write about that just now. I’m just in from a walk (The Darkness Into Light must have spurred me on!!). I don’t know how far I walked but it was pleasant. I didn’t really talk to anyone along the way – apart from the odd wave and hello – but tried to notice what was around me.
A few images – among them four dogs in a field. Their owner was totally in charge and almost got them to pose for me. Cattle in another field walked towards me to see who was passing the road. Near a house I noticed a small model house built into the garden. I wondered was it done at some stage for a child of the house and if so, is that child still there or long gone. Either way, the structure is there and looked well. I spotted the sign for Dromantine and in smaller letters “African Missions” and thought of countless young men from all over Ireland who travelled here not knowing really where “here” was but just in response to what they believed was a call to Missionary Priesthood. I spotted lovely colours along the way, a lamp – not yet lit – that will when needed cast light into darkness. Lastly, the lake in the shadow of Dromantine and two little ducks, doing what ducks do so well – afloat and at ease in each other’s company.
Today is Ascension Day – when we recall Jesus’ leaving this earth’s surface to be drawn into the Heavens. It’s a moment of separation and a moment of promise.
In recent days we have heard much talk about the Boeing 767 making its way around the West Coast of Ireland from its home in Shannon, Co. Clare to its new home in Enniscrone, Co. Sligo. The story has captured people’s imaginations and, quite literally, thousands of people watched its journey.
The story had its genesis in the mind of a local man, David McGowan, who saw the plane being transformed from a parked and empty shell to become a home where people could camp, enjoy Co. Sligo and explore the West of Ireland. The idea took root, form and shape and is well on the way now to being realised.
As the plane made its way along the West Coast, carried on a barge brought in from Southampton the thing that struck me most was the “clipped” wings. The plane could never fly again. I imagine its engines too have been decommissioned but even if they’re not, without wings, there’s no more flying for #planesailing or #767Enniscrone as it became known on Twitter.
That image of wings sits well with today’s Feast Day. Wings of prayer. Wings of Old and New Testament, wings of Faith that allow us rise above our doubts and darkness to see what may have become blurred and find what may have been lost.
As the plane made its final journey into Enniscrone last night, there was a waiting involved – waiting for the “high tide” that would allow the plane be “beached”. I’ve no doubt there was gratitude for that high tide and you’d like to think David and all there, found time to say “thanks be to God” for the wonders of nature and the stirrings of the sea. That gratitude is at the heart of all we are meant to be about in life.
So, the question of the day, for me anyway, looks to gratitude and to those for whom we must be grateful. People and situations, God and Faith that is the “wind beneath our wings” and allows us soar above our doubts, worries and pains to find peace for the moment and strength for the journey.
Gratitude for wings unclipped … gratitude for the wind beneath them …. gratitude for stories that can still capture our imagination. Gratitude for Jesus’ ministry on Earth, his Ascension and promise to send us, as he has done, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who ensures good ideas become lived reality …..
I wasn’t the only one there … the only one in many places to be more exact, but happy to have been part of the Darkness Into Light Walk this morning. I did it two years ago in the Forest Park, Boyle and though it was in Ballaghaderreen last year, the closest I got was waking to my alarm around 3am and wondering “will I or won’t I?” the “won’t” won out! Decided to give it a go this year.
Amazing to see so many people in St Nathy’s College Hall this morning. Even more amazing to see people in such good form, so revved up for the walk and happy to be part of it. Certainly, you’d not think it was the middle of the night. People were at their best. When you think about it, it’s the best place for people to be.
The route passed quickly. Nobody seemed to be walking alone even if you went there alone (as I did) and there’s a message in that too. For surely at the heart of this entire venture is a desire to let people know they are not walking alone and, if they are, they don’t need to. Always, there’s someone willing to share the journey.
There was good banter along the way, comments passed and smiles exchanged served only to shorten the journey. The breaking of the clouds – the darkness into light – revealed the spire of our Cathedral, the faces of our fellow walkers and brought on a new day.
A great way to start the day. No, I won’t be getting up at 3am tomorrow! If God spares me though, I’ll be there again next year. Well done to all involved. It’s estimated that over 100,000 people walked into the light last night all over Ireland. Now that can’t be bad.
God Bless the work of Pieta House and God guide the steps of those seeking help towards its open door.
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