Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

St. Teresa of Avila I recently finished reading a biography of St. Teresa of Avila by Shirley du Boulay. What can I say but that once more I have been kicked out of my comfort zone. I had read biographies of her life in my earlier days in the convent but for some reason she has made a return to my reading shelf. Here as in all her major writings, the reformer of Carmel has that gift in making us believe that she is speaking directly to us. She doesn’t compose a long soliloquy on God’s wonders or present a third-person discourse on the objective conditions for a more fulfilling life. Instead, Teresa seems to sit down with her reader, seeking out individual needs and also possible resistances to what she proposes. She establishes a You-and-I relationship and tugs at your sleeve if she fears you might walk away. There is a strength in Teresa which is fruit of the strong union she has with the Lord. Her sole desire is to love him and serve Him, listening to the str...

Today, 31st of July, we celebrate the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. The Jesuits are known for their commitment to education. Yet again, I find two of my great loves overlapping, the saints and books! A few years ago, I also wrote a post about books and saints, you can read it here, if y ou wish. Books played a huge part in the conversion of Saint Ignatius. At the age of 30 in May of 1521 as an officer defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French, who claimed the territory as their own against Spain. During the battle a cannon ball struck Ignatius, wounding one leg and breaking the other. Because they admired his courage, the French soldiers carried him back to recuperate at his home, the castle of Loyola, rather than to prison. During the long weeks of his recuperation, he was extremely bored and asked for some romance novels to pass the time.The reading which was given to us in the Office of Readings goes like thi...

November comes between the rejoicing of the harvest and the short, dark days of winter. It is a time when people focus on death and the dead. Have just celebrated the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, we profess our solidarity with the saints and ancestors; with those on whose shoulders we stand. All of this helps us grow in readiness to acknowledge, with St. Francis, that death is a sister to us, another of God’s servant: We praise You, Lord, for Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape…. Blessed are those that she finds doing Your Will. No second death can do them harm.  - St. Francis of Assisi, “Canticle of the Sun” Yesterday we went to the graveyard in Maynooth for communal prayers for the faithful departed. In this graveyard, we have our two sisters, Sr. Marie Paul O' Brien and Sr. Constance Tresham. Beside Sr. Constance, our Pauline brother, Fr. Vincent Saletti is buried. We have other plots there where one day we too will have our earthly resting place. Ther...

Icon of St. Cecilia Happy feastday to all musicans and lovers of music! Today the Church marks the feast of St. Cecilia, a saint whom I often invoke!  The most interesting thing about this saint is that even though she is the patroness of music, surprising as it is, she was neither a singer nor a musician. What rendered her deserving of this title is the fact that her life was a continuous song to God. Tradition has it that even whilst the musicians played at her own wedding she sang in her heart to God only. When the Academy of Music was founded at Rome (1584) she was made patroness of the institute and her veneration as patroness of church music in general became still more universal.  It is fitting to apply the words which we find in the today’s Office of the Reading for her: “ You ask, what is singing in jubilation? It means to realize that words are not enough to express what we are singing in our hearts.”(St. Augustine). Every couple have ‘their song’, the song w...

A post just to give thanks....for the gift of life, for the gift of my parents who gave me this gift and collaborated with God's plan to bring me into this world. Life is a gift: each day I become ever aware of this. Some of you know that I was a premature baby. It reminds me that just as life is a gift, it is a fragile gift and we carry this gift in clay vessels as Scriptures remind us. My friends in Ottawa used to say I was precocious since I was a baby! I couldn't wait to embrace the world and all that it contains. I pray I may still see with world with fresh eyes each day. There is so much good to be seen, first of all, in the people around us, in the beauty of creation, in the flutters of grace which pass by each day. Birthdays can be strange things. Some people like to celebrate them, some people prefer no mention or fuss be made. For me to mark a birthday is to say to a person: "I thank God that you were born," I am grateful that you are alive and in this w...

Tomorrow in our community in Athlone, our PDDM community along with other religious sisters, friends, Adorers and collaborators will begin their annual retreat or spiritual exercises. For about 4 years now we have opened our annual retreat to those who serve with us in the mission and it's had a fantastic response, with about 30 to 40 participating in the retreats in Athlone and Dublin. We are aware that not everyone has the opportunity, be it for family situations or financial reasons, to go away to a retreat house for a retreat. We all need to take time out to recharge our minds and hearts and see where we are in life.  How many of us have tried out our best Olympic sprints to grab a mobile phone charger or our laptop battery when we’ve been chatting to friends and suddenly the horrible beeping noise warns us that the phone or laptop is about to die!? There is no power. Sometimes we let our spiritual life and energy get to that point too. Yes, our lives can be so busy (...

Today we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Easter, now celebrated in the Church as Divine Mercy Sunday.  The readings for the feastday, beginning with the Opening Prayer, encourage us to cast our focus on the redeeming “blood”, the washing away of sins in “water”, a new birth in the Spirit, the institution of Confession, and the importance of trusting in Jesus. God always wants to give us the fullness of his graces and his mercy, He never holds back. "Jesus Christ, in his great mercy has given us a new birth as his sons, by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope and the promise of an inheritance." (Second Reading). In my reflection of the Gospel today, three different biblical events come to mind. They all have something in common. The story of grace of how our Creator Father can bring life from the side of Christ, be it the first man, Adam, to his Son Jesus, the new Adam. In one of the creation narratives in the Book of Gene...

Today we had the blessing of having a day of retreat! It allowed me a little extra time for musical creativity. I had put this little song down a few years ago but sang it once and let it there. Given that today is Good Shepherd Sunday, Vocations Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to wipe the dust off it and tweak it a little. The words are adapted from Psalm 22/23 (depending on your version!)It still needs some work but as they say, God loves a trier! Hope you enjoy it!

Pope Francis Message for Vocations Sunday 2016 The Church, Mother of Vocations Dear Brothers and Sisters, It is my great hope that, during the course of this  Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy , all the baptized may experience the joy of belonging to the Church and rediscover that the Christian vocation, just like every particular vocation, is born from within the People of God, and is a gift of divine mercy. The Church is the house of mercy, and it is the “soil” where vocations take root, mature and bear fruit. For this reason, on the occasion of the 53 rd  World Day of Prayer for Vocations, I invite all of you to reflect upon the apostolic community, and to give thanks for the role of the community in each person’s vocational journey. In the  Bull of Indiction for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy , I recalled the words of the venerable Saint Bede, describing the call of Saint Matthew: “ Miserando atque eligendo ” ( Misericordiae Vultus , 8). The Lord’s merci...

The next day of prayer for women aged 20-40 is on the 14th of November 2015 at the Divine Master Centre, Newtownpark Avenue, White's Cross, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. We hope to hold these gatherings on the 2nd Saturday of each month so you can mark them in your diary. You are welcome to arrive after 10am, join with us for Mass at 11.30 am, lunch about 12. 30 pm and Evening Praye r at 6pm and supper afterwards. Eucharistic Adoration continues in our Chapel until 10 pm. The idea is to give young women a space to pray, chat, talk with one of the sisters if they wish, all in an atmosphere of prayer and mutual respect. Kindly inform the sisters if you plan on attending by Facebook message (PDDM Dublin) or email Sr. Louise at srlouisepd@gmail.com or call the convent at 01 211494 01 211494 9. Provision can be made for accommodation if you are travelling. Cost- donation only. Please spread the word!

I am sure that many of you have read that in the Bible there are 365 places where either in the Old Testament or the New Testament we are told: “ Do not be afraid. ” This symbolic number of 365 evokes the consoling fact that for each day of the year, we don't need to be afraid because our God is with us. However, do we pay must attention to the times when the Scripture alerts us towards the things that we should be afraid of? One of these phrases is the following: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:27-28). Do we ever think of who could destroy our body? Or our soul? Usually when we think of fear, we shirk away, we don’t like fear but yet a healthy fear keeps us alive. Over the past week we have seen how others have taken it upon themselves to ‘kill the body’. If you haven’t heard about the horrific videos released in the past week about the heartbreaking and despicable activ...

The Rise of the Roses National Tour will be making its fifth stop as it arrives at the Disciples of the Divine Master Convent, 8 Castle Street, Athlone, Co. Westmeath on the 11th of July 2015. The event begins at 2 pm in the beautiful Church of St. Peter and St. Paul's with a time of Eucharistic Adoration, song, silent prayer and intercessions. After that, we will head over to the Divine Master Convent for some tea and refreshments. All are welcome to join with us! We feel very blessed to be part of this adventure which is taking place throughout Ireland and are equally as blessed to have our Bishop present with us for the event. We will then have time to give you a little insight into our daily life and the mission that God calls us to carry out! Hear the sisters share the interesting ways that God called them to follow Him....no story is the same! The Lord has great creativity and a sense of humour! We look forward to an afternoon of good company and wonderful experiences of s...

The following talk was given to the Charismatic Prayer Group Agape, Divine Master Chapel, 24th of March 2015   With the celebration of Vespers this evening, the Church begins the celebration of the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Indeed it is a celebration! The first word of Archangel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary was Rejoice . And the feast of Annunciation is, first of all, a feast of quiet heavenly joy—joy over reconciliation with God, joy over the return of grace to earth. Annunciation is also a feast of triumph of humility, purity and chastity , a feast of unshakable faith in the power of God and in His unlimited love toward us his children. We see this unlimited love every day as we look at the Cross, at the outpouring of Jesus for us. The Gospel which was given to us for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, was that of the Gospel of John, Chapter 12 which had the image of the grain of wheat. We read: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains but a single ...