Fr Pat’s Message from Lourdes!
You may remember that last weekend Fr Pat visited us and preached the homily at the 10.30 am Mass.
Please see below the message from Fr Pat from Lourdes.
Our annual Pilgrimage to Lourdes begins today. This year marks the 75th anniversary since the first in 1951. The Lourdes Pilgrimage is always a special moment for the life and mission of a Diocese. It has been unique to my life as Priest since first going as Diocesan Youth Chaplain in 1984. It paved the way for becoming Chaplain to assisted pilgrims in 1990. I am now one of them . Shrewsbury Diocese is who I am. This 75th Year has an even deeper significance for me . My home county of Mayo are All Ireland football champions for the first time since 1951. Having tasted defeat in 13 finals since 1951 they became champions again last Sunday. This experience has captured the imagination of people worldwide. Many people who been privileged to go to Lourdes and those who look forward to this year are beyond words to describe the experience is the taste of heaven on earth. St.John Paul 11, who established the World Day of Prayer for the sick, 11th February Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes reminds us that we all pilgrims on the road to heaven. I will remember each of you of you during the week in Lourdes and light a candle of hope at the Lourdes Grotto. We must never give up hope. I utter my prayers of hope in my 75th Year. Our Lady of Lourdes is always pointing us to Jesus who never disappoints!
-Fr Pat
See below Eamonn’s (Seminarian) reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
A lot of our attention in this week’s Gospel rightly draws us to the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. However, there might be a key detail that is overlooked right at the beginning of this Gospel passage – the fact that Jesus went away to a desolate place.
Our Lord needed to do this for a couple of reasons. The first, as mentioned, to grieve for John the Baptist. The second reason was to withdraw Himself from everyone around Him.
Now we might ask why does Christ need to do that? Well, Jesus withdrew to rest, pray, and restore His human strength, showing us that even the Son of God needed quiet time away to converse with His Father before continuing His ministry. This then led to the multiple of people seeking Him out followed by the miracle of the loaves and fish. This purposeful pause reminds us to also seek solitude and renewal.
The second reason is always a challenge because how often do we retract and take time away from our busy days, from our work, other commitments, even from our phones or tablets and just spend 10-15 minutes in daily conversation with God.
In particular, the summer holidays are often the most challenging. For me, I do not have the routine of the daily life in the seminary and often there is a trip abroad, or I have to visit family and friends, or I end up doing something different from my normal day to day life. This might also resonate with you. But it is vital that we still make the effort to spend time in prayer with God, even for just 15-30 minutes. Someone once said to me I find it difficult to just sit in silence for 5-10 minutes, and my advice is just to persevere, clear all distractions and bring it before God who knows us all individually.
So this week or during this month of August – why not try spending 15 – 30 minutes in a quiet place and engage in conversation with God. Speak with Him and also listen to what God is asking of you. –Eamonn
Away from the Crowd!