“People must remain hopeful” said Fr Richard Gibbons, PP and Rector of Knock Shrine ahead of the Knock Novena taking place from August 13 to 21. “That’s the whole point of the Jubilee year, that we are ‘pilgrims of hope’”, which is also the theme for this year’s Novena. “We’re hopeful in our faith that the Lord walks with us.”
Fr Gibbons said the Novena is “an opportunity for people to take that time out of busy work, life, schedule, and even an opportunity maybe for the family during holiday time to take, if not the full nine days, a few days during the course of the Novena to come away to a sacred place. And to get that bit of peace that they might not get anywhere else.”
During the Novena, pilgrims will be able to participate in daily workshops with the guest speakers. The speakers will talk for about ten minutes at Mass, after the Gospel, on a wide range of subjects.
Fr Gibbons will give the last talk, on August 21, the anniversary of the Knock Apparition. The talk is titled ‘Hope is faith with its sleeves rolled up’, “That means… what can our faith cause us to do on a practical level in terms of our day to day lives, in terms of what we want to see happening, which is kind of the transmission of the faith, the handing on of the faith to children, to grandchildren and to the people around us.”
Lately, many Irish communities have seen their local parishes closing or joining neighbouring ones, some might find it difficult to remain hopeful, but Fr Gibbons believes “the absolute answer is trust and faith in Jesus of Nazareth.”
The priest said he knows “people can get a little frustrated or get a little sad at the state of the Church in the country. But I think there’s an awful lot of good work going that is not publicised.” He said that “people actively work in their parishes, genuinely and very, very hard working”.
“What we can do here in Knock is provide the space of the National Shrine, as a respite area that people can come and be refreshed in mind and in spirit and in faith and then go back renewed once again into their parish,” he concluded.
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Knock Novena starts next week
This year, Knock Novena will happen from August 13-21 themed ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. The Novena has been taking place at Knock Shrine since 1977 and is the highlight of the pilgrimage season in the National Shrine.
Daily ceremonies will take place at 3pm and 8pm with guest speakers offering talks, with workshops each day at 12.45pm in St John’s Centre. “The workshops are an opportunity for people to delve deeper into the main themes of the day,” said Fr Richard Gibbons, PP and Rector of Knock Shrine. The speakers will talk for around ten minutes at Mass, after the Gospel. “So, we felt that people would be interested on the various topics,” and thus the daily workshops were created.
The speakers for the nine days are:
Fr Kevin Kiernan, August 13 on ‘Life without a home – Restoring Hope’
Myriam Wijlens, August 14 on ‘Synod: Hope for the Church?’
Ita Lohan, August 15 on ‘By a lonely Prison Wall’
Msgr Kevin Gillespie and Elaine Patton, August 16 on ‘Mary, Mother of the seeds of hope’
Julian Drapiewski, August 16 on ‘My journey of faith in the Church today’
Bishop Kevin Doran, August 17, the Family Day, on ‘Family: The first place of accompaniment’
John Farrelly, August 17 on ‘Prayer: A Silent Doorway to Hope’
Eileen Dunne, August 18 on ‘Beyond the Headlines’
Fr Niall Leahy, August 19 on ‘Our Place in the Garden: Living with Humility in Creation’
Breda Casserly, August 20 on ‘Be not afraid: Finding peace in illness’
Claire Kilroy, August 21, Witness Walk Day, on ‘Living Faith: How Young People Are Shaping the Future’
Fr Richard Gibbons, August 21, Knock Apparition anniversary, on ‘Hope is faith with its sleeves rolled up’
