Photo was taken yesterday at Gougane Barra, West Cork (Irl)

Some of the Transition Year classes in Col√°iste Choilm have been on retreat in Gougane Barra during the past few days. On Monday the streams and waterfalls were hardly there but heavy rain overnight meant they were bursting with life, particularly the one in our photo today.

Thought on Wednesday – September – 15/09/2010

‘Few things speak as wonderfully about life as does the smell of fresh bread. The fragrance of fresh bread is the smell of life itself.’ ~Roland Rolheiser

To make bread many individual grains are crushed in their individuality to become flour. This in turn has to endure fire to become bread and the lovely smell it then gives off when it comes out of the oven. Wine is also similar. It stands for friendship, community and celebration yet many grapes are crushed to make a bottle of wine. Every time we celebrate Eucharist God is so in touch with what is going in our lives. The bread and wine represent everything in our world that is healthy, young and bursting with energy and life. But they also represent everything that is crushed and broken. God holds both. God touches everything in life, touches all the highs and lows, all our good days and bad days and importantly touches and holds everything that is happening in our own life. We are never on our own.