I took this photo recently at Dooneen, near Millstreet, Co.Cork. (Irl)
This is the lovely view looking down the River Blackwater. The stepping stones particularly stand out and you can actually walk across them during the summer months. It is a lovely place to go for a picnic. But when this river is in flood, the stones are completely covered. I look forward to returning to this spot in the coming weeks, to share the beautiful autumn colours with you.
I have just uploaded my new video below and it is called ‘Saying Goodbye To Our Swallows’
On This Day
On September 27th 1908 Henry Ford’s first Ford Model T car was made in Detroit, Michigan
On September 27th 2015 A “Supermoon” coincided with a lunar eclipse creating a “Blood Moon” over much of the earth
On September 27th 2019 Greta Thunberg led international climate change protests of young people with millions taking part in the demonstrations.
Birthdays Today
Avril Lavigne (Pop Singer) is 40
Gwyneth Paltrow (Movie Actress) is 52
Saint For Today
Today is the feast day of Saint Vincent de Paul, famous for his work with the poor and the marginalised.
Significance Of Today
Today is World Tourism Day. It is your opportunity to broad your own world a little, find a location you’ve always wanted to make time to visit, and finally, get around to making time to do it. Most importantly with the impact of climate change it is important to find tourist locations closer to home. It is easy to find the world at your doorstep when you look.
As we come to the end of September just to say it has been dedicated as Friendship Month. It is all about highlighting the importance of what friends mean and celebrating what friendship brings to all of our lives every day. There is still plenty of time left this month to make contact with a friend that we may not have contacted in a while.
Interesting Quote for Today
“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” ~ Marilyn Monroe
Did you know that the size of your liver changes significantly throughout the day. Research has found a person’s liver swells about 20 percent between day and night – presumably related to the fact that the liver is not working as hard when a person is sleeping.
This is my latest video and it is called – ‘Saying Goodbye To Our Swallows’. If you would like to see a selection of my other videos on Youtube you can click this link here. https://www.youtube.com/@JamesMcSweeneyFr/videos
This was my video for last week called ‘What can we learn from the monks especially all about balance’
Thought For The Week
Saint Finbarr is the Patron Saint of Cork. Gougane Barra at the heart of West Cork was the home of Saint Finbarr and is a place of pilgrimage today. His feast is celebrated every year on September 25th. Gougane Barra is a sacred place and a beautiful place to visit, to recharge, to rest and to energise spiritually.
When you come to Gougane Barra you may come feeling stressed or worried or tired but you will always leave Gougane Barra feeling so much better. Saint Finbarr lived at Gougane Barra over 1400 years ago. The world that Finbarr lived in was radically different to the one we live in now. The world back then was much less complicated, life was lived simply with fewer distractions. Finbarr believed strongly that God was the one who gave us hope and strength to get us through everything.
This was the message that he brought from Gougane Barra, to the people of Cork and beyond. His message is still so relevant today. It is lovely that the feast of Saint Finbarr occurs during the Season of Creation which always happens during September and the start of October. The Season of Creation encourages us to get out and about to appreciate the beauty of creation and to sense God’s presence in the beauty of nature. We can of course do it anywhere but a beautiful place to do it is of course Gougane Barra.
Thought For The Week is updated each Monday
