Deacon Martin reflects on...

GPS and Pilgrimage

When we travel in unfamiliar territory we are inclined to use a GPS system to plot the route to our destination.
Most times when  I set out on an unknown path  I wander off thinking that my choice seems to be most attractive and best way to go. Then after a while I  receive the warning message 'Recalculating your route' flashing in front of me on the navigation panel.

Having lost count of the number of times in my life that I have strayed off course either by accident or by choice I realise I need to pause and study the bigger plan or route map. Each time I go on 3 day pilgrimage or 1 day retreat to Lough Derg, God becomes my GPS and He recalibrates my life's journey to the path which leads to inner freedom and peace.

I take comfort from the words of the prophet Isaiah (42:16) some 500 years before the birth of Christ.
'  I will lead you on a new path and guide you along ways you do not know.'
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So let us trust Jesus to be our perfect GPS, after all He is the Way the Truth and the Life.

Connor Lynch, a Seminarian for the Diocese of Des Moines  , in the state of Iowa in the United States, spent three weeks on Lough Derg as part of his summer placement from the Pontifical North American College in Rome where he is studying for the Priesthood. 

Here Connor, reflects on his time spent volunteering  on Station Island and undertaking the Three Day PIlgrimage:
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Deacon Martin Reflects 

Gifts we receive from our Pilgrimage

Unconditional Love
A deeper understanding of God’s love for us personally.

Identity
A belief in our true identity as a truly loved child of God.

Forgiveness
The ability to forgive ourselves and others in ways and in places we never thought we could.

Friendship
An intimate relationship  with Jesus our Saviour.

Confidence
A deep knowledge and understanding that we are not alone and that God is always with us.

Courage
The strength to say “yes” to what God is inviting us to do in life and embracing how to share our gifts.

Freedom
The freedom to 'let go and let God' and to accept the plan He has for us.

Hope
That at the end of our pilgrim journey we will have everlasting life.

Father John Harris OP,  following his Three Day Pilgrimage wrote a lovely reflection piece in his regular column in the Irish Catholic.

June 2024 'Early Bird' Sellers Draw

Fr. La recently picked the four winners of €300 from  tickets that were returned by  28th June 2024:

McCartan, Banbridge

Kieran, Cootehill

Fennell, D16

Neary, Navan

The next Sellers Draw, for  4 prizes of €200, will be for returns received by  26th July 2024.

Tickets can be purchased online:  

Book of 6 Tickets (€50)   www.loughderg.live/product/annual-draw-book-of-tickets/
Single Tickets (€10)  www.loughderg.live/product/annual-draw-ticket/

Deacon Martin Donnelly reflects...

Yet another Pilgrimage!

People often say the more familiar you are with a task or a journey the easier it becomes. This is a reasonable assumption to make however having just completed my Lough Derg pilgrimage 2024 I found it just as challenging - perhaps a little more challenging than my first encounter over 40 years ago.

True pilgrimage involves more than clearing one's mind from routine. As a pilgrim on St Patrick's Purgatory, one has to silence one's thoughts and concentrate on the physical senses. The well-trodden ancient stones create an energy due to the countless prayers made on each step which is quite unique.

When I stand in the humble beauty of the Basilica, I feel privileged to be where many people's lives have been transformed through a mantra of prayer,  life giving sharing of the Word of God, the healing of reconciliation and the nourishment of the Eucharist.  I feel that in a mystical way I am participating in an exhilarating experience and a challenge of physical endurance.

When I look across the lake and hills and valleys from the spot where St Davog was deployed by St Patrick to set up a place of prayer I am folded into that time — a time in which the faith was moving through communities influencing life in Ireland, often in subtle ways.
 A striking aspect of Lough Derg pilgrimage is a person’s emotional and intuitive response to it. Something in me responds to the Penitential Beds where people paradoxically make the painful journey to find healing.   The endurance of cold uneven stones is a reminder of the suffering of Christ whose passion and death brought forgiveness and healing to humanity.

Pilgrimage reveals not only knowledge and wisdom about the remote island itself, but also knowledge and wisdom about the pilgrim who completes each station. God has designed history, geography, prayer, tradition, to share faith in places where there is a sacred space to allow Him to find each person where they are at on their life's journey and renew a living relationship. This is how this marvellous world was designed — to present all sorts of connections and resonances to anyone who will pay attention.

We make pilgrimages all the time — to see family or visit an ancestral hometown; to tour the house of a favourite author or artist or spiritual teacher; to revisit a place that touched us profoundly, either with joy or pain. 
Pilgrimage is an event which is grace filled restores faith and fill our hearts with hope.
I wonder what journey will you make in the next month or year? Where can you linger with your mind, memory, emotions, gifts, and sense and connect with the graces God has hidden there just for you?

The best answer I can give is to come away to an out of the way corner of God's creation to where even the most troubles soul can find true peace.
Many have the pilgrimage pencilled in on their calendar year and look forward to the experience- thankfully, I don't have to wait that long to return and receive such grace even if for most of the season I have my shoes on.

Deacon Martin Donnelly
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