Greetings from Ireland! I’m writing to you while on pilgrimage with 46 fellow travelers, and it is wonderful to be back in my homeland. The weather has been reliably wet and brisk—Irish through and through—but our spirits are warm. We began at Newgrange, an ancient site of the pre-Christian Celts, then traveled north to Downpatrick, where St. Patrick first began his mission. From there we made our way to Knock, Ireland’s National Marian Shrine, where Our Lady appeared silently in 1879 with St. Joseph and St. John, assuring a poverty-stricken people of God’s steadfast love.

 

Each day we celebrate Mass and keep all of you—our beloved St. Simon parishioners—in prayer. Today (Thursday), we visited Ballintubber Abbey, where Sunday Mass has been offered without interruption for more than 800 years and yesterday, we prayed at Tobernault Holy Well, one of the famed “Mass-rock” sites. During the long centuries when it was illegal to be Catholic in Ireland, priests risked their lives to celebrate the Eucharist in hidden glens, while the faithful gathered in secret, ready to suffer for the sacraments. Their courage still echoes in the dripping ferns and quiet stones of that holy place.

 

This history makes today’s Gospel ring out: “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and mammon.” The Irish of old faced a stark choice—faith or survival—and they chose God. Today we are not oppressed by outside rulers, but by something subtler: comfort, distraction, busyness. The Evil One no longer needs persecution; he simply offers more “good things” to keep us from the One who is Goodness itself.

 

Let this be a wake-up call. Our freedom is not for chasing every shiny option, but for loving God first. Renew your commitment to Sunday Mass, not out of obligation but desire. Make space for prayer and service. Choose the Master who brings life.

 

At home, our parish is vibrant with grace. Clare and Ana have launched a new year of Children’s Faith Formation and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and I’m grateful for the many families teaching their children about our faith and to love the Lord. How joyful to see our Masses so full! We also began our Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Living (SEEL) with over forty participants seeking a deeper friendship with Christ. I am deeply grateful to Sr. Gloria, Jim Arena, John McCarthy and the whole SEEL team. Your dedication gives me great hope.

 

I leave you with the blessing I wrote after our Mass at Tobernault:

Blessing on the Road West

From Armagh’s ancient hearth of Patrick
you walk the long remembering—
fields whispering prayers older than speech,
each step a small covenant with grace.

Through Mayo’s wild wind and Sligo’s tide,
may the stones steady you,
and the restless Atlantic teach
the language of arrival.

At Tobernault, where Mass-rock still cradles
the hush of secret liturgies,
let the hedgerows speak of courage—
faith kept alive in shadowed glen and dripping fern,
where the whisper of bread and cup
outlasted every danger.

And remember Brigid, flame of welcome,
whose hearth-fire gathers pilgrims and strangers alike.
May her gift of fierce compassion
kindle warmth in your hearts,
so that every step becomes a blessing
for the world you will return to.

Now toward Knock, Marian heart of Ireland,
may the Mother of Quiet Hope
open the door of her mantle,
gathering your weariness,
blessing the road behind and before.

May every mile be a prayer
and every breath a welcome.

 

May we, like the faithful of Ireland, choose God alone as our Master and let every step of our journey become a blessing.

With prayers from the Emerald Isle,

God Bless,

Fr. Brendan