Sligeach

Ever since I traveled through Sligo [Sligeach] last Friday, I couldn’t wait to get back. Most of Ireland I had seen up until then was grazing pastures for sheep and cattle, rolling hills, and a just few minor elevations. That afternoon through the rainy bus windows, I saw an enormous green mountain shoot up from this benign countryside: Benbulbin, (discoverireland.ie) 1,725 feet. I was transfixed. Formed during the Ice Age (2.4 million to 11,500 years ago ) by glaciers, it gave me the same awe as the Grand Canyon. I captured my own photo from the bus ride back to Ballyshannon. Somehow the clouds cleared so I could get a better view for a couple of miles. A gift indeed.

Sligo was filled with young tourists, locals, and even Holy Cross friars with their long white vestments visiting Sligo Abbey. I walked to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception where Mass was just ending. I stepped in as the choir sang and the organ played. I was moved to stay. All the good of spirituality was present for me: stained glass windows of the Garden of Eden, the elegant altar, the St. Molaise statue (6-7th century), the confessionals, and Stations of the Cross. The last two elements brought me back to 2nd grade, making my first communion. I left this holy place and the experience of Benbulbin remembering a most treasured line: “To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek,” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition, page 46).