Photo was taken yesterday at the National Ploughing Championship, Athy, Co.Kildare (Irl)

Students from Transition Year, Col√°iste Choilm, Ballincollig are all smiles at the start of the Ploughing Championship which attracted just over 70,000 people yesterday. It also runs today and tomorrow and this year celebrates its 80th anniversary.

Thought on Wednesday – September – 21/09/2011

‘The theme of the writings of St.Matthew is that faith is a shared experience. Our faith or lack of it affects others. We are therefore able to transmit spiritual energy to one another.’ ~Joseph Krempa

Today (Sep 21st) is the feast of St.Matthew. He was a tax collector and as a result people hated and despised him. As a result of his lifestyle he was an outcast but yet Jesus saw beyond his role as a tax collector and knew that he had so much to give his expanding team. His feast day coincides with the autumn equinox, of equal light and darkness. Matthew himself was the writer of the first of the four gospels and his gospel highlights the equality that Jesus brought to everyone he met. For Matthew every person was to be valued and respected for who they were. Everyone had a contribution to make particularly at local level and for Matthew there were no exceptions. Today’s feast day also challenges us in how we treat others. Do I treat people differently according to what they have, own or speak? We are encouraged to make as few distinctions as possible. It is never easy but Matthew led the way.