THE CELTIC CROSS

I was in Ireland for ten days in May and kept a journal of the trip. This is my entry for May 18th while I was in Tipperary and given a tour by the Reverend Michael O’Meara, a volunteer minister at the Church of St. Mary’s (Church of Ireland, which is what the Anglican churches became called after Ireland gained its independence from England).

We made a brief stop at St. Sedna’s Church in the countryside outside Tipperary. In the graveyard was this Celtic cross, and Michael explained the meaning of it to me. The circle at the top of the cross is evocative of God’s endless love, with no beginning and no end. Within the cross itself are various shapes of a Celtic knot. Like the circle, the Celtic knot has no beginning or end, like God Himself.

Later, at a coffee shop, Michael told me he sees himself as a link in the chain of Christianity, and he doesn’t want to be a missing link. “This church was here before me. I had nothing to do with its construction or maintenance. Yet it is here, and I am a part of it … by the mercy of God and the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Isn’t that the case for all of us? We are links in the chain of Christianity from the time of Christ to the present day. Be part of that tradition. You don’t want to be a missing link.

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