Jim Cogley’s Reflections: Tues 8 Sept – Mon 14 Sept 2026
Wood You Believe
The Journey of Enlightenment
A Pathway of Transformation
Retreat Facilitated by Fr. Jim Cogley
Director of Pilgrimage at Our Lady’s Island
With Luba Rodzhuk
This retreat will offer a unique opportunity for those seeking deeper healing and spiritual awareness and who are already familiar with the inner journey.
Venue: Ballyvaloo Retreat Centre
When: Mon -Thurs – 15th October
Cost: €370
Note: Bookings ASAP with Luba Rodzhuk on 087-7640407
Wood You Believe books are available on website: jimcogley.com
Tues Sept 8 – Beyond Sincerity
While chatting with someone recently I became very aware that the inner journey is about a lot more than sincerity. This lady had it in abundance and after having had a close encounter with death she was grateful for being given a second chance and sincerely wanted to give her all to the Christian way of living. She spoke of all the ways she needed to improve her life like becoming more aware of her shortcomings, being less judgemental, going out of her way to practice kindness and a host of other improvements that were now on her ‘to do’ list. I surprised her by asking that if all her ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds’ were fulfilled would she be a better actor or a better Christian? Naturally this answer needed elaboration so I followed through with another question; does a change in external behaviour bring about an inner transformation or would an inner change not naturally give rise to a more loving way of being in the world?
Wed Sept 9 – The self-made Christian
I was conscious listening to that lady mentioned yesterday that she represented so many who were brought up with a belief that I can make myself a better Christian by my own efforts. The reality is that if I could, ‘I’ – my ego – would get the credit, I would be proud of myself and grace would have no place in the picture. To succeed in changing outer behaviour without an inner change is little more than window dressing. The more a donkey tries to behave like a horse the bigger an ass he makes of himself! To some this may sound shocking but surely this is where CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), that is so popular today, falls short. Certainly it’s important to get our thinking right and the Bible advocates that we do so, however, to modify our behaviour without a change of heart is surely to miss the mark?
Thurs Sept 10 – Success – Falling from Grace
After being baptized and going through the sacraments of initiation there is a strong, but false, underlying assumption that we are now on our own, and that it’s up to us as to how we live our Christian lives. There is a sense that this is true since we do decide the extent of our commitment and how far we wish to go on the journey. However the paradox is that our successful attempts only bring us more into alignment with the mentality of the Pharisees, the ones that Christ slated so much in the Gospels, these were those who prided themselves as the upholders of the Law, and who appeared to be doing everything right. Even the word ‘pharisee’ means ‘an actor’ and Christ denounced them as hypocrites who were like ‘whitewashed tombs’, that looked good on the outside but inside were full of dead people’s bones.
Fri Sept 11 – Failure – Falling into Grace
Herein lies the absolute paradox of Christianity, that it is only by getting it wrong that we get it right, it is only by failing that we succeed, and it is only when we fall that we get lifted up. This truth is evident everywhere throughout the Gospels. Christ said he came to call ‘not the virtuous but sinners’, he was the physician to the sick not to those who thought they were well. It was the sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes who found a home in his heart while the responsible, respectable and sincere ones were left out in the cold. The Kingdom he said was for the poor in Spirit, those who, having made a mess of their lives, now knew their need of God. Has this basic truth been heard in our churches even after all these years? I suspect that it is still to be heard by the vast majority and that it is still ‘shocking’ news.
Sat Sept 12 – Church decline – What is being rejected?
In relation to Church as institution so many have voted with their feet and left. Could it be that they have never heard the Good News in all its shocking essence? With preaching being focused so much on morality, striving for perfection and never being good enough, could it be the religion of the Pharisees that is being rejected and not the actual Gospel message. Running parallel to the sharp decline in religious practice is a huge awakening of faith from the bottom up. Most, if not all, of these have been broken, bruised and battered by the experiences of life, grief and addictions have been the lot of so many as have childhood traumas like abuse and neglect. Through these deep wounds the light of faith has begun to shine for so many but unfortunately the vast majority can’t feel at home in their own church where their experience is neither being valued or validated.
Sunday Sept 13 – Forgiveness
A Historic Crucifix
On display in Our Lady’s Island Church is the above crucifix that forms an enormous link with the 1798 Rebellion. This was carved in quartz stone by Rev. John Currin, who was parish priest of Wexford during the Insurrection.
Led by a drunken sea captain named Dixon, aided by his wife ‘Moll’, dozens of Protestant prisoners were corralled by a vengeful lynch mob on the old wooden bridge across the Slaney. There they were being tried and hanged, in a public spectacle, as enemies of the Rising. Thirty-five had been killed, and many more were about to be executed, when Fr. Currin intervened and pleaded for their lives. According to reports, he was first treated with ridicule and scorn by the infuriated people, who refused to yield to his entreaties for mercy. He then requested that they go on their knees and join with him in praying for the souls of those whom they were about to send to eternity. This they did, and he then held aloft the crucifix shown and called on the executioners, that they would pray that God would grant to them, at the hour of death, the same mercy that they would that day show to their prisoners. This time they listened and while it was too late for some he succeeded in saving many more lives.
It was fully believed that the sight of the crucifix softened their hearts, so it is fair to say that the descendants of those who survived, amounting to many thousands, owe their existence to this cross.
Here are a few lines from the diary of Nelson Mandela: Shortly after becoming president I asked my escort to go to a restaurant. We sat down and ordered our meal. At a front table was a man waiting to be served. I told one of my soldiers to invite him over to our table. The man got up and joined us. As he ate his hands were shaking uncontrollably and he never lifted his head. When I was done he said goodbye. I shook his hand but he never looked me in the eye. My escort remarked that the man must be very sick since his hands were shaking so much while eating. I said that his trembling was for another reason; he was a prison guard when I was on Robin Island. At one stage he tortured me and when I asked for water he humiliated me by laughing and urinating on my head. So he’s not sick, but he was scared, and is expecting me now as president of South Africa to send him to jail and have the same done to him. But, that’s not what I’m like, it’s not part of my character nor my ethics.
‘Minds seeking revenge destroy nations while those seeking reconciliation build nations. On the day I walked free of my prison, I knew that if I didn’t give up all my anger, hatred and resentment, I would remain a prisoner.’
While forgiveness is something we all believe it’s not until we’re hurt that we discover just how difficult it can be. The toughest form of giving can be forgiving. Years ago while at the bedside of a man who was dying but deeply troubled I asked him if there was someone he needed to forgive. With tears in his eyes he immediately said his brother and sister. He hadn’t spoken to either of them for forty years, all over a parents will. It was obvious that he had made the grievance his badge of identity for half his lifetime and it was sad to see a man on his death bed who had grown no bigger than his grudge. He agreed that he had carried the resentment for far too long and that he needed to release it through forgiveness. As he chose to forgive his eyes seemed to light up and before drawing his last breath he said, ‘The lights of Heaven, how lovely’. For forty years his fists had been closed in bitterness, now at last they were open and he was ready to enter and receive the Kingdom. I often wondered that if he hadn’t forgiven, what darkness might have enveloped his soul as he passed over. If his soul wasn’t free on this side what chance would it have had on the other? It’s a frightening thing to say we will never forgive because not to do so is to carry an issue not just to the grave but beyond as well.
Finally a few thoughts on what Forgiveness is Not
It is not forgetting what has happened and letting the other off the hook.
It is not avoiding confrontation thereby ensuring the same thing will recur again.
It is not making excuses because we only excuse what was not meant.
It is not pretending that we are not angry but it is being bigger than our anger.
It is not condoning behaviour that is unacceptable.
It is not reconciliation since that is a choice involving all parties.
It is acknowledging what is and by choosing forgiveness to move on with our lives.
Mon Sept 14 – The Grace filled Life
Returning to the lady mentioned at the first of this week’s postings. Her journey wasn’t about trying harder in the hope of succeeding. It was much more about recognizing her weakness and inability to do all the things she wanted to do and allowing that awareness to bring her to a place of surrender and letting go. As a child she had received a lot of criticism when growing up and had developed a strong inner critic. It was this and consequent lack of self-acceptance that she needed to bring in surrender and in the letting go to enter into the life of Grace. Previous to this her prayer had been ‘Lord I intend to do this that or the other thing’ but now it is changing to ‘Lord I can’t, but you can, and therefore I will’. With such a humble attitude, and a disposition of surrender, her life is ready to bear the fruits of all the good that she so sincerely desired, but this time the credit will be to her God and not to her ego.