A wonderful pilgrimage to Medjugorje: Fr Paddy O'Kane

I have just returned from a wonderful pilgrimage to Medjugorje with 35 pilgrims from the North West. The last time I was there was in 1987, just before the war which tore the country apart. The memories there are still painful – so many lost their lives and were injured. I had the privilege on my first visit of being in the room while the visionaries were enraptured. In fact one of the boys had forgotten his Rosary beads and I lent him mine which he used throughout his vision. (I later gave them to my father). The last time I was there the church was small and the town tiny. My, how that has changed. I was also nearly 30 years younger and a few stone lighter. However I still managed to climb both hills, the smaller one while we said the Rosary together and the second during the Stations of the Cross. We were exhausted but grateful we were able to make it. We prayed hard and we played hard. We had loads of fun and every night a sing song that lasted for hours. We were blessed with so many people with good voices among our pilgrims, including four sisters from the Waterside who sang in three part harmony and whom I dubbed ‘The Waterside Quartet’. Then we had a few days relaxing in the sun in Dubrovnik before our return. What glorious scenery as we travelled along the coast and what a beautiful city. We had no TV in Medjugorje so we were able to catch up with the Pope’s visit to the USA. We saw him shake hands with Fidel Castro. We heard him speak about immigration, the gap between the rich and the poor, climate change and the right to life, which touched on the issues of the death penalty and abortion. We saw him visit the homeless and those in prison in his tiny Fiat car. We saw him carry his own bag on board the plane – a bag that contained his breviary, Rosary beads, electric shaver and a novel! He also met the victims of child abuse to whom he promised to hold accountable those bishops involved in any cover up. His trip was rated a huge success by both Vatican and American observers. A footnote: On our journey home from Croatia I found myself sitting on the plane beside a man who had been a ‘highway engineer,’ as he described it. I told him he was the first person I met with that profession and shared the following story. A few years ago my father and I were on our way to Letterkenny. We came to a modern, straight road which prompted him to say ‘Let us thank God for the engineers who built this good road’. The man was moved by the story and said he would be passing it on. By the way, the secret to happiness lies in the ability to be grateful for everything, no matter how small.