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Lourdes 2010
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For the Lourdes report "Click" Lourdes 2009
Hope for Healing
Bishop Willie Walsh led the 53rd Diocesan Pilgrimage from Killaloe Diocese to the Marian Shrine of Lourdes from Friday 26th June, to 1st July. Five hundred and thirty pilgrims travelled on three separate flights from Shannon Airport. Fifty six sick and disabled pilgrims were cared for by Dr. Martin Fitzgerald, Tulla and a team of Nurses and carers from all over the Diocese. Roscrea Folk Group, under the direction of Margaret Moloney, led the singing for the pilgrimage. Forty two young people from parishes and Secondary Schools across the Diocese assisted the sick pilgrims.
The 530 pilgrims gathered in Lourdes as members of the Diocese of Killaloe and the wider Irish Church to pray to give thanks to God for all their blessings, to ask for healing and forgiveness for themselves and for others. They brought their joys and sorrows, their successes and failures, their hopes and fears, as well as those of family and friends and the whole Irish Church and its people. In his homily at Mass at the Grotto, Bishop Walsh spoke about the recent Ryan Report on the dreadful abuse suffered by thousands of children in industrial schools in the past century and acknowledged how so many are affected, both directly and indirectly, by the actions of priests and religious who were entrusted with the care of those innocent victims at that time. Lourdes is a place of healing and the Bishop spoke of the need of healing for the victims of the awful abuse as well as those who perpetrated such abuse, those who had some knowledge of the harshness of conditions in these schools and who chose to ignore it; those who have understandably reacted with shock, horror and anger at the revelations and also the thousands of religious - priests, sisters and brothers who had no part in any such abuse but who now have to bear the burdens of the failures of a small number of colleagues. Healing and forgiveness is possible but healing cannot happen without forgiveness. For most of the past century an image of God as a harsh, judging God prevailed and many of us were reared on an image of God who would love us if we were good, rather than the God who loves us and never withdraws that love even when we fail to live up to His ideals. God's love for us is imaged by a parent's love for their child and parents don't withdraw their love for their child even if they don't live up to their principles. Jesus has always presented to us an image of a loving and forgiving God who loves us no matter what our faults and failings are, and this is already at work especially in our schools today where children are respected, cherished and loved. That gives us hope in the midst of the sadness about the past and there are many aspects of the Irish Church today which give reason for joy and for hope. There is still wonderful goodness and generosity, wonderful faith, hope and love among the vast majority of people, priests and religious in the Irish Church today. We pray that we may find and deepen our faith in a loving and forgiving God who loves us no matter what our story is. The Killaloe Diocese will return to Lourdes for the Autumn Pilgrimage from Tuesday, September 22nd until Sunday 27th September. Details are available in every parish or from Fr. Tom Ryan PP Shannon, Diocesan Pilgrimage Director and bookings can be made with Joe Walsh Tours @ (01) 6789926This Autumn Pilgrimage at €660 is the cheapest Pilgrimage price from Ireland to Lourdes this year.
Fr Tom Ryan
  
Lourdes 2008
Killaloe Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes June 26 th -July 1 st .
Lourdes: Where Strong and Weak are Equal
On Friday last, Bishop Willie Walsh welcomed pilgrims from all parts of the Killaloe Diocese to the Grotto in Lourdes at the start of the 52 nd Diocesan Pilgrimage. This year, Lourdes is celebrating the 150 th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a local girl, Bernadette Soubirous.
In this Jubilee year, millions of pilgrims gather at the shrine each week. The number of pilgrims travelling from Ireland has risen this year. Bishop Walsh reminded all of the pilgrims that they have come to Lourdes in the hope, in the expectation of finding peace and returning home refreshed. He pointed out that in the past 10 to 15 years in Ireland we have enjoyed a period of very significant material prosperity; even if some didn't enjoy the fruits of that prosperity.
Without in any way undermining the benefits of that economic success, it has also been a period of aggressive individualism where the strong grew stronger and the weak were cast aside as failures. Bishop Walsh stated that he believed that many people felt more alone, more isolated, more cut off from others than in previous times.
Because of our economic success we believed that all our needs could be answered if we had enough money and yet each time we got what we longed for, whether is be a new car or computer, mobile phone or iPod, a weekend in Barcelona or Christmas shopping in New York, deep down there is always a need of something more. The human heart can never be satisfied by material things. There is a deeper need within all of us.
Bishop Walsh went on to refer to a recent letter from Pope Benedict "In Hope, we are Saved" in which the Pope is reminding us that material progress can never fully satisfy the human heart; mankind needs God and without God we are without hope; without God we are indeed alone. Our hope is that we are not alone in the world, that we belong together. The message of Lourdes very much reinforced this theme of Hope.
During the five days together, the pilgrims took part in all of the tradition pilgrimage exercises; visits to the baths, Grotto, the Way of the Cross, the Blessed Sacrament and the Torchlight Procession. Over 60 sick pilgrims were cared for in the hospital attached to the Shrine by the medical team of Dr. Martin Fitzgerald, Tulla, and Dr. Michael O'Connor, Quilty. Nursing care was provided by a team of nurses led by Michael Daly, Feakle, and Teresa Nash, Doora, Barefield. The carers and organisational duties of the pilgrimage were under the leadership of Michael Mullaly, Dunkerrin, and Matt Hanley, Silvermines.
Each year, the pilgrimage has a youth section drawn from the post primary schools and parishes of the Diocese. This year over 50 youth travelled and were under the leadership of Fr. Tom Ryan P.P. Shannon, Rev. Fergal O'Neill, Birr, Mary Freeman, Newmarket-on-Fergus, and Maria Kelly, Shannon.
Canon Brendan O'Donoghue, Pilgrimage Director, thanked all who helped, sponsored and financially support the Pilgrimage, making it possible for others, whom Bishop Walsh earlier referred to, who didn't enjoy the benefits of prosperity, experience Lourdes.
One sick pilgrim, who was sponsored by a parishioner in the Killaloe Diocese, remarked at the airport on her return home on Tuesday "I can now die in peace; I have experienced heaven on earth for the past five days".
Holy Land 2008 Bethlehem - Where Every Day is Christmas Day
The Crib has been, and still is in many families, a powerful reminder of the story of the birth of Jesus. For 218 pilgrims, under the leadership of Bishop Willie Walsh, Christmas 2008 has taken on a whole new meaning. After 11 months of planning and organising the Killaloe Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land left Shannon Airport for Tel Aviv on Wednesday 12 th November. This was the third Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 10 years, the last being in 1999. In the intervening time, it had not been possible to travel due to the ongoing conflicts in the area. After a five-hour journey, our flight touched down in Tel Aviv and we began the one-hour journey to Bethlehem, which was to be our home for the next six days. Our first awareness of the political instability was the 30-foot high wall surrounding Bethlehem. The security with its checkpoints to enter and leave the area was tight. Young soldiers, male and female, no more than 22 years of age, carrying rifles and guns. It reminded me of Belfast during the height of "the troubles". The Palestinian people continue to suffer and this high wall is very much like an open prison; free to move around inside but almost impossible to leave. This is the reality for Palestinian people going about their daily lives. The first place we went to visit was the Church of the Nativity where the birth of Jesus took place. We went to the Shepherd's Field and sang the angels' praises of the first Christmas night: "Glory to God in the Highest". We rose early on Friday morning and headed for Jerusalem where we carried the cross and celebrated the Eucharist in the Holy Sepulchre. Tradition says that this is where the body of Jesus was laid out and buried. Later that day we went to "The Western Wall". I was very aware that this is a very important place for the Jewish faith. It is also called "The Wailing Wall" because the temple has been destroyed. On the other side is the "Dome of the Rock", a very important place for the Islamic faith. It is customary to write a prayer petition, fold it up small and leave it the crevice of the temple wall. The late Pope John Paul II observed this custom during his visit to the Holy Land. Many of our pilgrims also observed this tradition. Again, it was moving to think that Jesus was here on several occasions, notably at the "Finding in the Temple" and also when he drove out the buyers and the sellers. Later that evening we gathered in Jerusalem to meet with the Latin Patriarch. Bishop Walsh presented the Patriarch with a gift of €15000 for support of the Christian community in the Holy Land on behalf of the pilgrims. Christians make up only 1% of the population and the Franciscan Friars have custody of the holy places. The Patriarch asked us to pray for peace and pleaded with pilgrims to keep coming to the Holy Land, which is the best support we can give to the Christian community there. The following day we visited Ein Karem. Mary came here from Nazareth to visit her cousin Elizabeth. That evening we spent time in the Garden of Gethsemene, which was for many pilgrims a most sacred experience. On Sunday morning we travelled to Mary's home place and Bethany, finishing off our day with the opportunity to float on the Dead Sea. On Monday we travelled through the desert towards Nazareth. This town in the north of Israel is where Jesus lived for most of his life. It is mentioned on a number of occasions in the Gospels; at the Annunciation and the Holy Family stayed in Nazareth. Nazareth is now largely an Arab town. The visit to the Sea of Galilee and the opportunity for tranquility on the lake was, for many, a highlight of the Pilgrimage. The visit to Mount Tabor was an occasion for pilgrims to remember John Grimes, Shannon, who died as he ascended Mount Tabor on the last pilgrimage in 1999. In the afternoon, pilgrims went to Cana in Galilee where couples renewed their marriage vows. The final day of the pilgrimage was spent in Haifa where we visited Mount Carmel and Caesarea. Soon our week of pilgrimage and prayer was over. As we said goodbye to our Palestinian guides and drivers, both sides were happy that we came to visit them. As one pilgrim stated "Those of us most fortunate to be here will always treasure these days". Indeed it is a privilege to have visited the places where Jesus lived and worshipped and to have stayed in Bethlehem, where every day is Christmas Day. Fr Tom Ryan |
