by Sr. Sheila Campbell, MMM                                               Ireland                                   26.08.2026

On Wednesday, August 12th, we had a partial eclipse of the sun here in Ireland. I heard that in some parts of Spain, Greenland and Iceland it was a total eclipse. Why was this so exciting? I suppose it is because it is so rare. Also, it goes against our ingrained sense of time – darkness is night and light is the day!

When I first became aware of the pending eclipse, my instinct was to give thanks that I would be around to see this. After all, the next one will be in 2090, when I can safely bet that I will be enjoying it in God’s presence! An Anglican bishop I heard talking on the radio also reminded me. Yes, we are all caught up in the science of it all. But science is the “how” question. As thinking people, we should also be addressing the “why” question. Why do the sun, moon and stars exist anyway? Who started off this whole thing. I think it was Saint Thomas Aquinas who called God ‘the First Mover.’

God’s plans for the universe are beyond our small, limited understanding. The more we probe the “how”, the more we realize there is ever more to learn. To ask the “why” question, for me asks a different response. I need to slow down, and open myself to awe, wonder, and yes, gratitude that there is a great Planner looking after everything.

Yes, I enjoyed the eclipse on the 12th, but spent the whole period just saying “thank you” to a God who set the whole thing in motion. One other thing – our seagulls that we were promised would quieten down, squawked loudly through the whole thing!