Welcome! Less than a week!

Welcome to my 3rd travel blog: An té a bhíónn siúlach, bíonn scéalach!

UPDATE: 
You can now submit your prayer requests and special intentions through this travel blog! 
Just follow the tab above, and submit as many times as needed. Feel free to share this link with any
and all who would like to be remembered as we take this journey!

I am once again thrilled to detail my travels here, this time about my pilgrimage to Ireland with the Catholic Terps!

This pilgrimage has been a long time coming for the Catholic Student Center (CSC) at the University of Maryland. It is hard to believe that we will be departing in less than a week for 10 days of prayer, exploration and discovery. I am so looking forward to the many sites, religious and secular (though one could call the Guinness factory a religious experience), that we plan to visit as a group. Several of my closest friends will be accompanying me, along with new faces, alumna, friends, parents, and our fearless leaders: Jim West (our tour leader), Ann, Fr. Rob (affectionately known as "Frob"), and Lisa.

Of course, many of us initially signed onto this trip because of our vocation to vacation. But as we approach our departure date, I am reminded that this is a pilgrimage. In a recent message to the group, we were reminded of just what a pilgrimage is:

The word “pilgrim,” derived from the Latin peregrinum, conveys the idea of wandering over a distance, but it is not just aimless wandering. It is a journey with a purpose, and that purpose is to honor God. 

Now I know that some of my readers are not practicing a religion, or are more interested in this blog for its details of the scenery (both natural and pub related), people, food, and accommodations. I promise you all of these details. But in addition, I hope to include spiritual reflections as we journey. I hope that some of you will join me in prayer as I make this trip.

I will post the day of departure, and each day of travel I will try to post a detailed account of our activities and any reflections I may have (with pictures!). Please excuse any typos (thank you, AutoCorrect) as I will be reporting from a glorious piece of technology known as the iPhone, connected to the Irish countryside's version of WiFi. Basically, I'll do the best I can ;).

If you have any prayer requests or special intentions you'd like me to carry and remember as I take this journey, please follow the tab above and we would be happy to include them.

Thank you for your support, and stay tuned for our June 9th departure to the emerald isle!

Note: In the blog's URL, you'll notice the bolded rebeccainEIRE.blogspot.com uses the Irish Gaelic word for Ireland, Éire. This was partially me, dodging the unavailable url with "Ireland" instead, and also a fun fact for me to share and know. Just know that the diacritical mark in the real Gaelic word is not in my URL for purposes of accessibility. Thanks!