Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Mary our Mother with the façade of the basilica at Knock beside her alongside St. Patrick, St. Columbanus and Bl. Columba Marmion, OSB. In Ireland, on the 6th of November, we celebrate the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland. Pope Benedict XV beatified Oliver Plunkett in 1920 and during his papacy also (1914-22) the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland was instituted. The same Pope also granted Ireland the honour of having a litany of its native saints approved for public recitation. Only four saints, St Malachy (1094-1148), St Lawrence O'Toole (1128-80) and St Oliver Plunkett (1625-81) and St Charles of Mount Argus (1821-93), have been officially canonised. All the other Irish saints, such as Saints Patrick, Brigid, and Colmcille, are saints, as it were, by acclamation of the local Church. The scope of this feast, while it includes canonised saints, is wider. It also includes those who had a reputation for holiness and whose causes for canonisation have not yet been complete...

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried; Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.... I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . . And the Master so gently said, "Wait." "Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply. "Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word. "My future and all to which I relate Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait? I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign, Or even a 'no' to which I can resign. "You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, We need but to ask, and we shall receive. And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry: I'm weary of asking! I need a reply." Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, As my Master replied again, "Wait." So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?" He seemed then to kneel, and H...

November comes between the rejoicing of the harvest and the short, dark days of winter. It is a time when people focus on death and the dead. Have just celebrated the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, we profess our solidarity with the saints and ancestors; with those on whose shoulders we stand. All of this helps us grow in readiness to acknowledge, with St. Francis, that death is a sister to us, another of God’s servant: We praise You, Lord, for Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape…. Blessed are those that she finds doing Your Will. No second death can do them harm.  - St. Francis of Assisi, “Canticle of the Sun” Yesterday we went to the graveyard in Maynooth for communal prayers for the faithful departed. In this graveyard, we have our two sisters, Sr. Marie Paul O' Brien and Sr. Constance Tresham. Beside Sr. Constance, our Pauline brother, Fr. Vincent Saletti is buried. We have other plots there where one day we too will have our earthly resting place. Ther...

Artist- Elizabeth Wang Yesterday we celebrated All Saints Day- our common call to sanctity as we acknowledge those who in their human imperfections and weaknesses gave Christ their all and now enjoy eternal life, models of holiness and wholeness for us to imitiate. They cheer us on, we who are still pilgrims on this earth, to keep our gaze fixed on Heaven. Today as we celebrate the 2nd of November, the commemoration of All Souls, of all the faithful departed we are brought to that earth grounding r ealisation that time does catch up with us all because time is not ours, our lives are in God’s hands. He is the sole Author of Life. His time turns our chronos into kairos, everlasting kairos, grace filled time. Today, as pilgrim Church, we recall our responsibility to pray for those who may be still awaiting the Resurrection, who are in time of purification. For all those who have died in Christ, let this be our prayer: May the restless dead find sleep and may the light of our remembe...

Happy Solemnity of All Saints Day! You are called to be a saint of God. You – yes you! You might think, how could I be a saint? I have already messed up my life, I am beyond redemption. Before you stick to your 'excuse', you might want to look at the lives of these people who allowed themselves to be open to God and to be used by God to do mighty things. They were far from 'holy'! Check this list out: Noah got drunk Abraham was too old Sarah laughed at God’s plans Isaac was a daydreamer Jacob was a trickster Joseph, well he was a show off in that fancy coat of his. Moses stammered Miriam gossiped Gideon was insecure Samson – let’s just say ‘my, my my, Delilah!’ Rahab was a prostitute Ruth was a foreigner David was an adulterer and murdered Bathsheba’s husband. Isaiah...er, preached naked for three years Jeremiah struggled with depression Jonah ran from God... and in the New Testament: Zaccheus was too small the woman at the well had had five husb...

Thank God for auto-correct! How often have I signed myself off in an email or a text message as ‘St.’, that is, Saint, instead of ‘Sr.’, that is, 'Sister'.  Though yesterday some kind person actually texted me as ‘St. Louise’! Whilst I giggled, it was also a moment of reflection on the huge commitment I have to become a saint. Yes, I aspire to be a saint. It may sound proud for someone to say out loud that one aspires to be a saint. I am convinced that I have lived with and live with saints, holy people who aspire to ‘be’ completely for Christ, for to be a saint to is be holy, in the footsteps of Jesus who is Holy.  They are ordinary people, to say it somehow, without a visible heroism, but in their everyday goodness I see the truth of the faith. This goodness, which they have matured in the faith of the Church, is for me a sure defence of Christianity and the sign of where the truth is. I came across this blog from Neal Obstat  which had a post entitled: “We need sai...