Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

This year, more than 120 million babies will be born on earth. And of course, they will receive a name. Some parenting websites say that that a name holds the power to shape a child's self-esteem and his identity and influence how he's seen and treated by others. And then there's the belief that names have been proven to affect everything from a child's self-confidence to his grades in school and his future professional success. On the 3rd of January the Church celebrates the Holy Name of Jesus. In the liturgical revisions of Vatican II, the feast was removed, though a votive Mass to the Holy Name of Jesus had been retained for devotional use. With the release of the revised Roman Missal in March 2002, the feast was restored as an optional memorial today, January 3rd. It might sound like a strange feast. Why do we celebrate a name of a person, do we not celebrate the person? A name is very important, it gives identity. For Jesus, it gave him his mission, his life pr...

Today we celebrate a beautiful feastday: The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary or as it is also known: the Feast of Maria Bambina. Mary’s name, therefore, is really more than just a name. It’s a prayer in and of itself. As Disciples of the Divine Master, we receive the name ‘Mary’ when we make our First Profession and the 8 th of September is our common nameday throughout the world as a Congregation. I feel very honoured to bear Mary’s name but sadly we don’t use it as much as we used to, unless there is something serious or for formalities! Kind of like your Mum calling you by all your all your names including your Baptism and Confirmation names. Then you know you’re in trouble! In Italy, we were more accustomed to calling each other by our Marian name, thus reminding us of our mission to be like Mary in the world. When I was in Ottawa, my classmates used to talk about the famous ' Sister Mary Nun’! Indeed it does seems that every parish has a ‘Sister Mary’, especially in I...