Photo was taken last Saturday at Gougane Barra, West Cork (Irl)
Gougane Barra was looking its best over the weekend
Thought on Monday – September – 27/09/2021
‘Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Focus on your character, not your reputation. Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes.’ ~Roy T.Bennett
Last Saturday (September 25th) was 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 great that here in Cork we have such a deeply spiritual place that is Gougane Barra so close to our doorstep. It is no surprise that it attracts visitors all year round. There was a huge increase in visitor numbers to Gougane Barra once the lockdown restrictions were lifted. People missed their spiritual recharge and it never fails any time one visits there.
The Covid pandemic has been tough on everyone. Thankfully we are seeing green shoots of optimism and an ongoing improving situation. There have been many prayers said to help people through the difficult times and these have included our psalms. The psalms are prayers that echo every human experience, even the sense of isolation and of hopelessness.
Psalm 86 is one example and 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 with love. 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.
