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Father Eamonn
O'Connor
Ireland

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Rediscovering My Ministry

My name is Eamonn O’Connor. I am an Irish Catholic priest. My first twelve years of priesthood were full of activity and very fulfilling. In later years, something was missing. Even the things in my ministry that had given me great joy in the past now seemed dull and empty. My friend, Olivia Seery, had completed The Landmark Forum and suggested that I would get a lot out of it. I registered.

At a break during The Landmark Forum, someone asked me about my profession and I said that I was a priest. I could see they were surprised and had a question about why a priest would be participating in the program. I let them know that priests are human beings, too, with the same ups and downs in life that we all face.

After The Landmark Forum, I renewed the most significant relationships in my life. This didn’t happen overnight. It was an ongoing process. Looking back on my life, I saw how I had allowed myself to be trapped in an unhappy state of mind. I had made up stories and given meaning as to why I had felt so alone. Now, however, I am aware of my life as a possibility and the facts are just facts, they don’t have all the meaning that I made them mean. Once I sorted this out, I experienced a great sense of freedom and joy. I now see the world as wonderful and see it with different eyes. The taste and colour that I had been missing are back in all their fullness. The fulfilment I once felt in my ministry has returned and is greater now than it ever was.

Life, of course, still has its ups and downs, but what has changed for me is how I react. I was able to rediscover a trust in God that I had once enjoyed. My life is a work in progress and now I enjoy the journey again.

I mentioned about relationships being renewed, and that includes my relationship with God. While Landmark Education does not promote any particular religion, the benefits of the Landmark courses extend to all people. The only qualification you need to benefit from the programs of Landmark Education is to be a human being.

My attention to the Mass is renewed. I am inspired by the wonderful privilege it is to offer the Eucharistic Prayer to God on behalf of all the people. I always knew it was a privilege, but now I know it in a new way. I am more present when I offer Mass than I used to be. In fact, I am more present in all of my life! Working with people around Landmark makes the language of the prophet Isaiah and the activities of the Acts of the Apostles more immediate. It invites us to live powerfully into a future that we take responsibility for, by living with power, freedom, and full self-expression.

I take part in Landmark’s activities here as often as I can. I lead introductions to The Landmark Forum and I work with Olivia Seery in supporting the efforts to expand Landmark’s presence in Ireland. The best way I can sum up the experience of this work is to tell you that I have never been more fully myself than I am now. I love my life, and I live it to the fullest.