Photo was taken yesterday of St Nicholas’s Church, Kilcorney, Co.Cork (Irl)
This sad picture told its own story yesterday about the power and destructive force of Hurricane Ophelia. Despite it being down graded to a severe storm, it did huge damage across Ireland and sadly 3 people lost their lives in separate tragic accidents. Met Eireann (Ireland’s national forecasting weather service) did a fabulous job in predicting the path of the storm, spelling out in detail the clear dangers involved and keeping us constantly up to date on its progress yesterday.
Thought on Tuesday – October – 17/10/2017
Thought For Week
‘Our journey of faith is not simply a journey from the womb to the tomb. It is a journey from here to eternity. It is a journey from God, with God and to God. Even if we think that there is no God and life does not have a meaning, life is a journey of faith. No one can prove that God does not exist and life does not have a meaning. You have to believe it. And that act of faith starts you out on a journey of faith.’ ~Rodney Kissinger
Everyone’s faith journey is uniquely different. It would be foolish to try and compare ours with that of others. I am currently chaplain in a secondary school. I am always impressed, enthused and touched by the faith of young people. It is always so honest, genuine and sincere. Their openness to exploring spirituality is very impressive. It is a privilege to be a part of that journey.
The faith journey of young people is indeed different to other faith journeys but nevertheless such an important one. Some people dismiss what young people have to offer but such a dismissal is indeed a loss. Another loss is to think or say that young people have no faith or have no interest in faith matters. My experience with young people is that they genuinely are open to it, question some of it and for the most part welcome it for what it is – good news.
The one common link in all our faith stories are the difficulties we all experience but also the positive and joyful blessings we experience too. Both go hand in hand. We sometimes feel that our journey of faith is at a standstill, rock bottom and struggling. But God is with us there too. We are always held lovingly and especially when we are afraid and fearful. The idea that God can work quietly with the dead ends of our faith experience is encouraging and even exciting. Nothing goes to waste. Even our struggles and moments of doubt are in fact stepping stones. We have nothing to be afraid of.
As we walk our journey of faith, we are encouraged to take heart, to hold our heads up, to know we walk with purpose and that there is a reason why. Most importantly we walk with so many others who also have their questions, doubts and struggles but who also feel that the journey is so worth it. The journey continues to unfold today.
