Submitted by Sr Marion fcJ, from Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland
Approx 300,000 people attend the National Ploughing Championship in Ireland each year. It is the biggest outdoor agricultural show in Europe. However, it goes way beyond its name and is much more than an agricultural event and attracts numerous individuals and groups. It is one of Ireland’s ‘go to’ events, for various businesses, schools, families, anybody and everybody-even government officials want to be photographed at it! And so, over the last number of years, it has been a good place also for FCJ Sisters, Ireland!
We have had a stall with the name ‘Faithful Companions of Jesus’ at this agricultural event for the last few years. In a time when numbers entering religious life have nosedived, the stall has given us an opportunity to meet a wide group of people over the years. It is a point of contact, conversation, fun and laughter, a place to be present to those who turn up, a time to listen to the concerns of others, a time to catch up and share memories with past FCJ students as well as have chats with present FCJ students and many, many others. It is a time of companionship.
It is also a time to share pens, pencils, wrist bands, and religious bookmarks -all emblazoned with FCJ Sisters Ireland and our website – but not before the younger members sing a song (or at least a line!), say a poem or a prayer before picking up colourful memorabilia for their sisters and brothers, parents, friends, neighbours and always at the top of the list ‘something for Granny’. We rely on the goodness of God in the distribution of these small gifts, trusting the ‘slow work of God’ and mysterious ways in which God can touch hearts in the process of sharing or maybe even years later. I like to imagine that long after these meetings have taken place, some of these pens or bookmarks may be found, years hence, in overlooked corners of the house, under sofa seats or marking forgotten books and evoke some memories and a smile of the day they met the FCJ Sisters at the National Ploughing Championship!
The 2025 National Ploughing Championship will take place 16-18 September in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Watch for the FCJ stall!
