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