The cliff walk near Ballycotton is particularly beautiful at the moment, with yellow gorse and yellow oil seed rape creating a lovely backdrop to this beautiful scenic place
As we journey through Holy Week there is a lovely line in John’s Gospel where Jesus refers to himself as ‘I Am’. It may be only two words but ones full of meaning and symbolism. We often use the words ourselves. I am a sports fan, I am a music fan, I am a parent, I am a grandparent, I am an artist, I am a farmer and so on.
But with Jesus it has even more meaning. He is completely everything to us and is the source of all our beautiful blessings. Jesus is our reason why and as Saint Patrick puts it beautifully, is beside us, around us, behind us and with us on our daily journey.
Jesus is our foundation, our compass, our light, our hope, our inspiration, our friend, our lighthouse and our anchor in times of trouble. He is everything we could possibly want him to be. He is completely on our side. It is this same Jesus that we turn to, as we gently move into Holy Week.

Did You Know

Did you know that Holy Week is known as the Great Week in Greek and Roman Liturgical books, because God performed great deeds during this time.

My recent videos🎥

I took the video below in West Cork with an important theme of finding peace, quiet, calm and stillness. My next new video will be up this Wednesday evening (April 16th) linking in the theme of Holy Week/Easter

A Daily Prayer Video below – short but sweet!

This is a recent video below and it is called ‘A Spring Prayer in Lent’.

With Lent having begun  – this video underneath that I put together last year still has a very relevant message

If you would like to see a selection of my other videos on YouTube you are welcome to have a look at some of them here: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesMcSweeneyFr/videos

Spiritual Thought For The Week

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands. You are continually before me.’ ~Isaiah 49:10 

There are many holy wells to be found throughout Cork. One that has frequent visitors is the well of St Gobnait at Ballyvourney in Co.Cork . It is a place of quiet reflection that bubbles with the gentle presence of God. Many do the rounds, by walking and praying. There are rocks everywhere with deep imprints of crosses as people rub the imprint with a sharp stone. It is a quiet ritual that touches something deep within. The same happens in nearby Gougane Barra.

We are told that each of us is carved upon the hands of God. It means that everything we do is somehow connected to God. Our Celtic ancestors sensed this so naturally. God has chosen us, we are loved, special and unique. God will never forget any of us. We will always be in God’s tender loving care.

Even when life throws everything at us, we are not on our own. We will be helped to find balance and calm through everything we have to face each day. Anne Costa puts it so well when she says that with a whisper, God can make us whole. We may be off balance today for different reasons but we pray to God to help us to be open to those whispers of God’s gentle presence all around us.