Fr La’s weekly ‘Pause and Ponder’ from along the Pilgrim Path at Lough Derg. This week’s reflection – ‘The Quarry and the Cross’.
Emerging from the trees, our Pilgrim Path swings
to the left and opens up in surprise
on a view of this one-time quarry.
Its stone was used to found the forest roads.
Ten years ago on pilgrimage in Jerusalem
I learned that scholars now believe
that Calvary was a disused quarry –
an ideal site for crucifixions,
just beyond the city walls and there beside the road,
with maximum visibility and horrific impact
on passing travellers and on pilgrims.
As a Passover pilgrim to Jerusalem Jesus came again,
like faithful Joseph who had brought him as a boy.
An empty cross set here in the quarry
invites the passing pilgrim to pause and ponder.
Fr La Flynn, Prior
3 May 2021
