Keeping the faith in the face of life’s testing challenges
THE Diocese of Kerry hosted a conversation on the topic of ‘Faith in the Face of Life’s Challenges’ in The Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney on Wednesday last January 8.
A panel comprised of Ian O’Connell, Killarney; Elma Walsh, Tralee; Anne Alcock, Killarney; and Fr Donal O’Connor, Chaplain to the IT Tralee, tackled the subject head on as they shared how faith has enabled them to face what life has thrown at them. About 350 people listened attentively to the speakers as they presented the major challenges of their lives to date in a discussion chaired by Radio Kerry presenter Deirdre Walsh.
Author Anne Alcock talked about how her discovery of a cancerous lump impacted on her self-image as a healthy person. She presented vividly her physical and spiritual journey. She was living in Cork city, on a slope – which required her to climb 20 steps to her house for every journey to the shop, to go to the doctors and to the hospital.
She felt very much alone as her mother had just died, and her other family members were spread over the world. Anne revealed how she grew to appreciate everything as a gift through an inspirational delivery that affected all audience members greatly. Her book of prayer and poetry on her experience, Cancer: A Circle of Seasons, has been helping many newly diagnosed.
Elma Walsh talked about the heartbreak of her beloved son Donal’s illness and death, which had a massive impact nationally due to the message of life Donal imparted to everyone in his final months.
Fr Donal O’Connor, meanwhile, spoke about the ongoing challenges in everyday life and the fact that suffering comes in all shapes to each of us.
He quoted a Shakespearean adage ‘O, how full of briers is this working-day world!’, while speaking of two tenets of his belief that keep him going: That ‘Faith’ is an active verb and the wrestle with God is human and faith includes development and change; and that Jesus Christ was truly a human being, thus what we experience, he experienced.
We are therefore not alone, Fr Donal said.
18-year-old Ian O’Connell told the story of his cycling accident, which left him paralysed, and his journey through rehab.
He spoke with humour and talked of his good friends and the support they give him. Those friends and their support were evident on the night. He listed his recent trip to Lourdes as an unexpected highlight last year, and he talked of his fervent prayers, which he believe help him on this unexpected journey.