Photo was taken at Gougane Barra, West Cork (Irl)
Today is the feast day of St. Finbarr and the Patron of Cork. The Oratory of St. Finbarr at Gougane Barra is a place of pilgrimage throughout the year but particularly on Sep 25th.
Thought on Sunday – September – 25/09/2022
Today (September 25th) is the feast of St. Finbarr. He is the patron saint of Cork and has very close ties with Gougane Barra in West Cork. 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. But they too had their challenges and difficulties. 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 also lovely that the feast of Saint Finbarr occurs during the Season of Creation which always happens during September. 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 Gouane Barra.
Psalm 86 echoes a very similar expression of God. It puts before us an alternative to hopelessness. The psalm reminds us that God is kind and full of compassion. We are told that the God we follow, ‘Abounds in love’. If you translate the word ‘abound’, the dictionary says, ‘full of’, ‘overflowing with’, ‘teeming with’ or ‘alive with’. The writer of this psalm adds the word ‘love’. This then translates beautifully in the Psalm as ‘full of love’, ‘overflowing with love’, ‘teeming with love’, ‘alive with love’. To say that God is ‘alive with love’ is such a beautiful description of God.
It means that God is with us right now and with us through everything that is going on in our lives – not last week or next week, but alive in the moment that is now. This is the God St Finbarr believed in, that God is the one who gives us hope and strength to get us through everything and that God is alive all around us wherever love is present. It is not some old outdated notion of God but is still so relevant for the world we live in today. It is also very relevant for our own personal lives too. We pray for the blessings of Saint Finbarr to be with us on this Sunday.
