On the evening of the 21st August 1879 in the midst of heavy rain an apparition occurred on the gable wall of the Parish Church in the small, at that time little known village of Knock in Co Mayo. The apparition of Our Lady accompanied by Saint Joseph and St John the Evangelist was witnessed by fifteen local people of all ages. Unique to this apparition of the three figures was the presence of the Eucharistic Lamb in front of a cross standing on the altar surrounded by angels. Today the village of Knock hosts thousands of pilgrims from all corners of Ireland and around the world who come to gather, to pray and to seek intercession from Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland. Who would have thought this could happen?
If we look through history we will see this is not so unusual – God often breaks into the world in unknown places, places at the edge – think of Bethlehem, of Nazareth, of Lourdes, of Walsingham…
God comes into the world to call us to re-think what is important, what is really significant to his message. He enters into places we least expect to meet him, to see him, to hear him – he often chooses people of no stature in society to be the bearers of his message to the world – think of Jeremiah who thought he was too young to be the messenger of God, of John the Baptist born to a couple thought to be too old to bear children yet he came to prepare the way for the Lord, think of Mary a young woman chosen to the bearer of the Messiah, of the fishermen who became the apostles, of the young Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, and of the fifteen local people who were going about the daily business in the village of Knock on that rainy evening in August 1879.
Let these people and their story open up our minds to the unexpected places where God breaks into the world…be open to the encounter with the Lord present in the people we meet each day…
Today Knock is our National Eucharistic and Marian Shrine in Ireland where people come to pray, to gather, to celebrate and to remember that God is a God who comes to the edges to bring his message, who calls people who are unknown to many to be the bearers of that message…let us open hearts and minds to receive the message, to listen to voices sent to us to bring the message…
Karen OSU