Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Recently I spent a few days in Montreal with my sisters in community, it was long overdue. So there I was  waiting at the bus station to get the bus back to Ottawa. It is currently ‘Reading Week’ also known as ‘break’, ‘writing your essays’ Week, ‘sleeping ‘ week, ‘escaping home’ week and many other titles! If you could see me at that moment, I don’t know if you’d laugh or cry or sign me in somewhere. Let me explain! I arrived half an hour early for my bus only to find over a hundred and fifty people already waiting. Along comes a bus (yes, singular!) which happens to be a 35 seater. So here I am waiting for the next bus, just another 50 minutes or so to wait or so I think. Next bus comes along on the hour....we still don’t make it on....wait another hour! Santa pazienza! Not wanting to waste time (it is study week after all!), I got a cup of coffee and am here sitting on the ground reading ‘Summorum Pontificum’, the Pope’s motu proprio on the Extraordinary Form of celebration of...

I am resposting this talk that I gave in our Chapel last Lent. Enjoy! Dear God, we know that every journey begins with a first step. Be with us this evening as we take another step in our Lenten journey. We began this journey with the sign of ashes on our forehead, reminding us that this is no ordinary walk. We move one step forward in the promise of your light. We seek new meaning in the Easter that awaits us all. But first, we must walk with you to Jerusalem , to Calvary , to the Tomb and beyond. Every religious experience begins with emptiness. We began the Lenten journey in the desert and we continue to walk, making the journey from Ashes to Alleluia.   On Ash Wednesday we came forward to have ashes placed on our forehead and to hear the words “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return”. The burnt palms, symbol of the joy and majesty which accompanied Jesus during his entrance into Jerusalem , become the dust and ashes placed on our forehead.   Burned into ...

Icon of Friendship Last week I received a beautiful surprise parcel in the post containing an icon and a book. Those who know me know that this almost equates to being Christmas for me: books and icons, both on my list of 10 favourite things! The icon was one I had actually never seen before and was a gift from Taize, a copy of the Coptic icon which belonged to Brother Roger Schultz, the former prior there. The original icon dates from seventh century Eygpt and is usually referred to as “Christ with the believer” but is just as frequently referred to as “the icon of friendship”. Although simple in its presentation, it is nevertheless a sophisticated image. Jesus is shown putting His arm around the shoulder of a friend; this man is called Menas, but he represents each one of us. Jesus does not face Menas, rather He stands alongside him; He accompanies him, sharing in the burdens of life. In His left arm Jesus holds the Scriptures, God’s word. The word tells the story of the love b...

When I began this blog two years ago, it was born out of an idea to share the journey of the 8 junior sisters gathered from 7 different countries to prepare for Perpetual Vows. Today, one of our fellow juniors, no longer 'junior' Sr. M. Emma posted a lovely picture of our group from Mother Scholastica Student House! What memories it brought back! It is hard to believe that two years have pasted since then and once more I have found myself in another country meeting new pilgrims along the way! This time last week I was packing my bags to prepare for the journey to Canada: a brief stopover in Toronto and then on to Montreal.  With our sisters having finished their Annual Spiritual Exercises on Saturday 25th, the house was back into full swing. On Sunday, the rest of the sisters joined us from Athlone as well as my Mam, my brother Robert and sister Andrea who came to say goodbye. In the afternoon some friends joined with us for sung Evening Prayer and tea to wish me on my w...

Literally, I haven’t been to Emmaus. But the moment I intend that question in a figurative sense. I do not refer to the Palestinian village several miles from Jerusalem , but I refer rather to our own Emmaus, because Emmaus is the place you go when there is nowhere else to go. Emmaus is the place of lost hopes, shattered dreams, and heavy hearts. Emmaus is the place you retreat to when you are bone-tired, beaten down, and broken up by the tragedies and disappointments of life. It may be a village, but it is often a state of mind, characterised by the absence of joy, the lost sense of meaning, the frequent loneliness of the human condition, and the seeming absurdity of life. Have you been to Emmaus? It is the place you escape to when you are hurting and in need of healing, when you are crying and are in need of comfort, when you are exhausted and in need of renewal. If you have lived at all, I suspect you have been to Emmaus or maybe you are still there. The road to Emmaus is frequ...

T alk for Ruah: 30 th of March 2012 Divine Master Chapel of Adoration, Athlone “From Ashes to Alleluia” Dear God, we know that every journey begins with a first step. Be with us this evening as we take another step in our Lenten journey. We began this journey with the sign of ashes on our forehead, reminding us that this is no ordinary walk. We move one step forward in the promise of your light. We seek new meaning in the Easter that awaits us all. But first, we must walk with you to Jerusalem , to Calvary , to the Tomb and beyond. Every religious experience begins with emptiness. We began the Lenten journey in the desert and we continue to walk, making the journey from Ashes to Alleluia.   On Ash Wednesday we came forward to have ashes placed on our forehead and to hear the words “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return”. . The burnt palms, symbol of the joy and majesty which accompanied Jesus during his entrance into Jerusalem , become the dust and ashes placed on...