Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

" Every human being is loved by God the Father. No one need feel forgotten, for every name is written in the Lord’s loving heart." (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) Valentine’s Day can be an awkward feastday for many. Single people often feel isolated. People in relationships feel obliged to show their affection for their significant others in a way that may seem totally manufactured. Valentine’s Day is considered one of the most polarizing holidays in the year. You are either a complete believer in what Valentine’s Day has come to mean, a celebration of love, or else you are sick and tired of the marketing frenzy that surrounds the event. Valentine’s  Day can also be a hard time for some people who feel alone or have been hurt because of relationships or are afraid to open their hearts to love and trust someone. But what is love at all!?  Often we can romanticize love too much and yet the abrasions of love have inspired many a great writer. From Shakespeare to Jane Austen, writer

Call it 'wanderlust', call it 'cabin-fever' but I am conscious that it has been over a year since I was on an airplane.  With trips cancelled, conferences postponed and other commitments put on hold, like so many others, I wait to re-book, re-schedule, to look forward. Lest the reader think that I am a seasoned globetrotter, far from it, but life has gifted me with many opportunities linked to my commitments as a religious, to travel and live in different countries and for this I am grateful. The newness, the culture, the people and all the experiences of a new country give me life! How it can change you and leave you connected will often be determined whether you approach that place as a 'tourist' or a 'pilgrim'.  In this Sunday's Gospel and also in the Gospel yesterday, we see that even Jesus needed to 'get away' to a different place, to rest, to recharge, to pray. Whilst the pace of life has changed for many, for many others it is still as

  In Ireland today we celebrate the great St. Brigid, secondary patron of Ireland. A Naomh Bríd, gui orainn! As well as being renowned for her hospitality and care of the poor, Brigid also founded a school of art, including metal work and illumination of manuscripts. It is fitting to share with you here the painting done by one of my sisters Sr. Marie Paul O' Brien, rip, who in my humble opinion, presents a lovely depiction of Brigid. In Ireland it also marks the first day of Spring- as nature peeks its head above the ground as buds begin to open and flourish, it is also a new springtime for our faith and for our hope as we look forward to brighter days. The virtues of St. Brigid are recorded in the homily for her feast in the Book of Lismore: "She was abstinent, she was innocent, she was prayerful, she was patient: she was glad in God's commandments: she was firm, she was humble, she was forgiving, she was loving: she was a consecrated casket for keeping Christ's b