Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Supper was special that night.  There was both a heaviness and a holiness  hanging in the air.  We couldn’t explain the mood.  It was sacred, yet sorrowful.  Gathered around that table          eating that solemn, holy meal          seemed to us the most important meal          we had ever sat down to eat. We were dwelling in the heart of MYSTERY.  Though dark the night,  Hope felt right—         as if something evil          was about to be conquered. And then suddenly  the One-Who-Loved startled us all.  He got up from the table  and put on an apron.  Can you imagine how we felt? GOD IN AN APRON! Tenderness encircled us          as He bowed before us.  He knelt and sa...

A new year stands on my doorstep ready to enter my life's journey. Something in me welcomes this visitor: the hope of bountiful blessings the joy of a new beginning the freshness of unclaimed surprises Something in me rebuffs this visitor: the swiftness of the coming the boldness of the entrance the challenge of a year's good-bye. Something in me fears this visitor: the unnamed events of future days the wisdom needed to walk love well the demands of giving away and growing. A new year stands on my doorstep. with fragile caution I move to open the door for its entrance, my heart leaps with surprise, joy jumps in my eyes, for there beside this brand new year stands my God with outstretched hand! God smiles and gently asks of me: "Can we walk this year together?" And I, so overwhelmed with goodness, can barely whisper my reply, "Welcome in!"

Founded in 1924 by Blessed James Alberione, we pray daily and come in Adoration to carry the needs of the Church and humanity, interceding for the different forms of media and for truth and goodness in their use. We draw strength there for our mission which is expressed in hospitality, support and service, particularly to priests and indeed to all God’s people. Our mission ripples out further as we promote liturgical formation and animation. This includes the production and distribution of sacred art which is available through our Liturgical Centres, a new way of evangelization which encourages an appreciation for beauty and dignity in the liturgy.  Every gift and talent can be used to serve God. Some of the sisters share:  “The Lord has always been near to me. At every stage He says: “Do not be afraid, I am with you.” Jesus says to all those searching: “Do not be afraid. I love you, you are precious in my eyes.” (Sr. Mary) “My favourite Scripture is that of from Jo...

Litany of Spiritual Confidence ( R/  Lord, keep me close to You.)  Lord, I can do all that You ask of me because it is You who strengthen me. R/ Lord, whenever I fall You delight in my confidence to trust You all the more. R/ Lord, let me look to You and not to myself to find what is needed to please You. R/ Lord, when I am overcome by fear it is because my peace depends on some thing instead of on Your will. R/ Lord, free me from my hidden attachments to self-righteousness. R/ Lord, let me always remember that it is You who move me to ask for Your love. R/ Lord, help me to see that the meaning of my faults is to learn to depend on You more and more. R/ Lord, give me the strength to cry out for Your love when all that I see is nothingness in myself. R/ Lord, save me from the impulse to look for my peace and security in my own strength. R/ Lord, the more you let me see what I am left to myself, the more You give me the grace to cling to Yo...

Pope Francis calls us to pause before the joy of the moment when "Jesus looked at me" and to recall the important and demanding, underlying meaning of our vocation: “It is a response to a call, a call of love”. To stay with Christ requires us to share our lives, our choices, the obedience of faith, the happiness of poverty, the radicality of love. It is about being reborn through vocation. Since we are witnesses of a communion beyond our vision and our limits, we are called to wear God’s smile and live joyfully. The world awaits this from us and the world deserves this from us!

We’re counting down the days to the visit of the Rise of the Roses National Tour to our community on the 11 th of July 2015!So what is Rise of the Roses? The girls write: “We are a group of girls who met through the Michaela Foundation- writing and delivering the faith element of the girls’ summer camps and retreats. Through our work we discovered a tremendous thirst for God amongst the young girls of Ireland. There is an eagerness to know God and a huge amount of energy and joy that is palpable when these young girls embrace their faith.We hope to visit 10 Convents all around Ireland on 10 consecutive Saturdays during the summer of 2015 from 13 th of June-15 th of August. We begin at St Brigid’s Shrine in Faughart, Co. Louth. St. Brigid directly influenced several other future saints of Ireland, and her many religious communities helped to secure the country's conversion to the Catholic faith. At each Convent we will invite young people and their families to joi...

As the New Year  continues, filled with new hope and new resolutions, here are 10 such commandments that might serve us well as we walk the long road: 1.Acknowledge your contingency, your helplessness. You are a creature, not the creator.You are not God, but a creature. Only God is ‘ipsum esse subsistens’, a self–sufficient being. Like all creatures, you’re dependent and interdependent. Life works when you acknowledge this, when you accept that you can’t give yourself life. All is gift. If you try to live the illusion of self–sufficiency and try to guarantee your own immortality, you mimic the sin of Adam and Eve, complete with all the futility of effort, the lording–it–over, and the alienation from nature that ensues. Proper living begins with the words: “I am not God!” 2.Pray prayers of helplessness, gratitude, and praise. Pray always! Also pray formally each day. By your baptism you’re a priest. Pray as priest: Hold the world up each day to God. Hold up both its wonders ...

My Marian Advent calendar! This year, I bought myself an Advent calendar for the first time! Every year I usually send my nieces and nephews an Advent calendar to help them remember the real meaning of Advent as a time of counting down towards Jesus' birth and not just a countdown towards presents and parties. Well this year, I felt like I too needed this reminder. I write this bang in the middle of 'Christmas' exam season. It is easy to get submerged in the stress of papers and tests, whilst the little and important things in life sweep by us and get lost in the tension and anxiety. Advent calendars are a little way of reminding us that we are preparing for the Lord's birth and that He is with us. For those of you unfamiliar with an Advent calendar, it is a special calendar used to count or celebrate the days in anticipation of Christmas and the days often overlap with the Christian season of Advent. Despite the name, most commercially available Advent calendars be...

Our silence can say so much or say nothing at all.  Silence can be used as a mark of contempt as when you are in a situation where you cannot say what you want to say, but nevertheless feel that some sort of response is called for. Silence can be a very effective bullying tactic when you say nothing and the person who is trying to be heard is squashed by being met with total silence. In this case there is nothing that can be said which will elicit a response and the affect can be devastating. Silence can be the loudest non- sound in the world. Have you ever sat in a room at night and there is absolutely no sound at all? No traffic, no voices, no birdsong, no noise from the refrigerator, no music, absolutely nothing! For some, the sound of no- sound can appear to be very loud and upsetting because we are so used to having some sort of noise in the background that an absence of sound can be disquieting. Yet silence is a virtue and a strong foundation stone for every ...

I put this together a few days ago for somebody who asked and thought it might be useful to share. It might shed a little light on someone's journey as they seek out where God is calling them in their lives. Have fun reading! 1. ‘On the Dignity of Women’ (Pope John Paul II) 2. ‘He speaks to you’ by Sr. Helena Burns (Daughter of St. Paul), you can preview it here: http://store.pauline.org/English/Books/tabid/126/ProductID/3847/List/0/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2CProductName 3. Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the True Self from Thomas Merton and Other Saints (Christian Classics) by James Martin (this guy is great so anything by him is worth reading!) 4. What does God want? A Practical guide to making decisions by Micheal Scanlan (TOR) 5. God's Voice Within: The Ignatian Way to Discover God's Will by Mark Thibodeaux 6. There is a little book in Knock Bookshop published by CTS at a wow price of only  2.30 euros, “How to discover your vocation”. I...

With Vocations Sunday on the horizon, here's some tips for those of you who might be discerning if God is leading you to serve Him in priesthood or religious life. Twelve Exercises to Discern Your Call Imagine yourself 5 to 10 years from now. Do you want to continue in life as you are now? Imagine yourself as a priest or religious ten years from now. Fantasize by going through an entire day in your future as a priest. Visualize yourself being a priest and doing what you imagine a priest does. Notice how your gut reacts to this exercise. What is usually the most life-giving part of your week? What does that say about you? Shadow a priest or religious for a day. Accompany them through the various aspects of ministry. For one week, live as if you decided to enter the seminary or formation program. Notice how you felt. The following week live as if you decided to drop the church vocation question and dismiss it. What feelings are stirred within you? Imagine Jesus loo...

Today in our Congregation and in the Pauline Family, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return home to God of Mother M. Scholastica Rivata, our first sister Disciple of the Divine Master. Reflecting on her life and her discipleship has given me much food for thought. She truly was in tune with the voice of the Divine Master,seeking to do his will in all things. An early wake-up call from the birds and her life inspire these humble thoughts below! "What does it mean to have a vocation? Is a vocation a job, a career, a way of life? What does money have to do with it? Have you often asked yourself- at twenty, thirty, forty, sixty- what am I going to do with the rest of my life? You’re not alone. Understanding vocation is the key to understanding life, not in the future but here and now. Understanding vocation is the key to living a meaningful life, the key to fulfilment on life’s journey.   For Christians, vocation is the invitation to follow Jesus. “Come after me”, he sai...