Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

As the Lenten journey continues, my thoughts today went to our first sister Mother M. Scholastica Rivata. Today, 24th of March, we commemorate 39 years since she returned home to God. She was a woman who was not afraid to move through the 'desert of transformation', certain that even the Paschal mystery with all its sorrow and confusion, would lead her to the glorious celebration of the Resurrection, the explosion of life and joy upon the earth. The following is a brief reflection from our previous Mother General, Sr. M. Cesarato on the ocassion of the translocation of the earthly remains of M. Scholastica from Sanfre to the Church of Jesus Master in Rome. It also marked the opening of the cause of her beatification which is underway, having reached the stage of presenting the 'Positio'. The positio (Positio super Virtutibus) is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path...

Disclaimer: I know, it's not pink today. It is ROSE! Yes, it is that time again. Third week of Advent means Gaudete Sunday, a day which takes its common name from the Latin word Gaudete ("Rejoice"), the first word of the entrance antiphon of this day's Mass: Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis: sed in omni oratione petitiones vestræ innotescant apud Deum. Benedixisti Domine terram tuam: avertisti captivitatem Jacob. I am sure that the Latin scholars will be able to translate this but just in case, here’s the text! “ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob.” We should re...

I know I have blogged about Oscar Romero throughout the years but today, above all days, merits a blog post! Today, 23rd of May is the day when the Church proclaimed him as Blessed. Throughout history, the voice of the prophet is one of the vehicles through which God speaks to the community and to the world. Today, we commemorate one of these prophets. On the 24thof March 1980, 35 years ago, evil men in El Salvador tried to silence the voice of a prophet. Archbishop Romero gave his life, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “for the church and the people of his beloved country” of El Salvador. His death from an assassin’s bullet crowned a life of service as priest and bishop. I claim this date as being special to my life story because it was the month and the year that I was to grace the world. However God had another plan and myself being a little precocious, I arrived a little earlier on January 24th. It continues to be a day where I remember Archbishop Romero. His great motto was ...

In 100 years, there will be flying taxis and people will travel to the moon routinely. Knowledge will be instilled into students through wires attached to their heads. These may sound like the predictions of modern-day futurists, but they’re how people a century ago saw the future–otherwise known to you and me as the present. One hundred years ago on this day, a young man from a small town in Alba, Italy, with a futuristic vision took a huge leap of faith into the unknown. Just two weeks previous, the so called ‘war to end all wars’ began, World War 1. That young man was our Founder, Blessed James Alberione who planted the tree of the Pauline Family, nurtured it and made it grow in the garden of Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life until it reached its fruition. His message was one of uniting all things in Christ, quite opposite to the death and destruction that the horrors of war was beginning to manifest throughout Europe. In the Gospel, we hear how the Lord calls at...

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 ...

Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI This piece was written by Ron Rolheiser over ten years ago but it still has so much to say to us today, especially to those who work in vocation ministry and with young people. The italics and bold in the text are my addition.  The Right to Call Another to a Vocation June 23, 2002 "Recently I participated in an International Conference on vocations. It gathered a wide assortment of persons to reflect upon why less people in the Western world are entering the priesthood and consecrated religious life.It was a wonderful event, filled with prayer, hope, and energy. It was too a time of reflection on strategy: What might we be doing, practically, in terms of attracting more people into priesthood and religious life? What became clearer as the conference went on is that, in terms of drawing people into a deep religious commitment of any kind, strategy is not what is ultimately at issue. What is? Depth of commitment and sanctity within our own live...

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...