Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

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!

Today in Northern America and in many other countries, we celebrate Mother’s Day! In Ireland we celebrated last March but prayers were said all the same for my own Mam and mothers all over the world. It really made my day when some of the priests here even wished me a ‘Happy Mother’s Day’.  If you find that strange, well, keep reading! We live in times in which much has been said about woman, her dignity and her role in the family and the world. This week Pope Francis raised eyebrows around the world when he told a group of 800 visiting nuns they must be spiritual mothers and not 'old maids.' The sisters, who came from 76 countries, were in Rome for the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General. He asked them; "What would the church be without you? It would be missing maternity, affection, tenderness and a mother's intuition." In his talk to the women, Pope Francis said their vow of chastity expands their ability to give themselves to Go...

It is important to seek God’s will and to open to his plans. But there is a danger of becoming so anxious about vocation or call, so caught up in a future that does not yet exist that you miss the life that God has given you now.  So yes, it is important to put time and effort into considering your vocation-be open, be generous, be brave. It is a wonderful adventure but at the same time be grateful for the person you are now, and for the work God has given you to do today. Blessed Charles de Foucauld: “God calls all the souls he has created to love him with their whole being, here and thereafter, which means that he calls all of them to holiness, to perfection, to a close following of him and obedience to his will. But he does not ask all people to show their love by the same works, to climb to heaven by the same ladder, to achieve goodness in the same way. What sort of work, then, must I do? Which is my road to heaven? In what kind of life am I to sanctify myself?” T...