27/09/2026
I went to confessions with an EXORCIST priest, in Medjagorie
How cool was that… ?
🙏😇😍
Leaving the confession box, I went to our lady’s statue and asked for the grace of “forgiveness”
Which is funny, for I was recently questioning if we actually really forgive people, or just think we have?
As I was then standing queuing at the weeping Jesus’ statue (45 mins in)
2 women from Germany suddenly appeared to have jumped the queue
Now, I’m not sure if it’s an Irish thing, or maybe people who are always late, suffer from impatience
But I was raging…
I’d already struck up convo with 2 ladies behind me and I turned and said “what would Jesus say?”
We laughed
But it was like something from Benny Hill
The man ahead of me looked sternly at said women in a plight to stand his ground, letting them know they weren’t passing his position
At one point they were aligned with me, me them
Unhappy with such a manoeuvre taking place, I slowly mosied in ahead of her
Making my stand
And as I stood there, with the queue skipper now firmly behind me - I paused, thinking ;
I’ve just came away from our Lady’s statue, asking for “forgiveness” as a grace and here I am, can’t even forgive a total stranger for bunking a queue when I don’t know what reason they had!
So i turned and said “go ahead of me”, insisting that both her and the older lady take my place
The two ladies behind me smiled with glee
As we approached the statue, the two ‘skippers’ were crying uncontrollably and the elder ladies knees nearly gave way as she made it up the small steps
Wow
The lessons I learnt standing there, watching the pair
We have no idea what others are going through
Why it was they skipped the queue in the first place? Or how much they needed to be there, maybe more than me?
This morning, as I left mass, [the irony is never wasted on me]
Fr talked about reconciliation- following confessions
Ideal, with the current drama that is enfolding in Northern Ireland regarding marching, but even more so as I went to my car
I was last in the car park for mass (running late as per) and facing the wrong way to exit
When I returned to my vehicle, I saw someone waving their arms at me from the car next
They’d gone from pushing gestures to giving me the fingers several times [I kid you not] 🫣
My response?
I blessed myself and crossed my hands in a prayer gesture, hoping he could lip read my “God forgive you” reply
The angry man then shouted a horrible word at me, several times, which I heard very clearly - despite the rain
I then laughed (naughtily) and drove on
I’ve done many’s a thing in the heat of the moment, got angry, cursed and let myself down
So I wasn’t going to judge
Plus
No one was going to disturb my peace
And that’s how I have felt since my return from this most sacred of places
I had been blessed to be able to go
Especially after my trauma with Mrs HMRC
For healing, confessing things I didn’t know needed said out loud, forgiveness and hopefully a little compassion too - was well needed
That peace gives you strength- that money can’t buy
And what I realised on my visit was, it’s not my job to try and save everyone (a good friend told me this)
For sometimes,
it’s enough just learning how to save your own self
Amen 🙏