Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Annunciation- A poem by Denise  Levertov. ‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’ From the Agathistos Hymn, Greece, VIc We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,  almost always a lectern, a book; always  the tall lily.  Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,  the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,  whom she acknowledges, a guest. But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions courage. The engendering Spirit did not enter her without consent. God waited. She was free to accept or to refuse, choice integral to humanness.                  Aren’t there annunciations of one sort or another in most lives? Some unwillingly undertake great destinies, enact them in sullen pride, uncomprehending. More often those moments when roads of light and storm open from darkness in a man or woma...

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 this day, 34 years ago, evil men in El Salvador tried to silence the voice of a prophet. 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 I arrived a little earlier on January 24th. It continues to be a day where I remember Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. Knowing himself to be on the government’s “hit list,” Romero went to the hills to prepare himself for his final confrontation with evil. He telephoned his farewell message to Exclesior, Mexico’s premier newspaper, insisting that like the Good Shepherd, a pastor must give his life for those he loves. Romero was shot while celebrating an anniverary Mass of a  friend’s mother at the local convent. The asassin escaped in the hubbub a...

Samaritan woman with Jesus Over the past few days, I am sure that most of you have seen the wonderful and energetic musical performance from Sr. Cristina on the Italian version of ‘The Voice’. For those who are not familiar with it, ‘The Voice’ is a singing competition where the judges listen to the person singing without being able to see them, so that they will be judged based on their voice and not on their appearance or their fashion sense etc.  Well, Sr. Cristina had the four judges competing for her as all of them turned around. J- Ax, an Italian rapper, was visibly moved on more than one ocassion when he saw that the fantastic voice belonged to a young habited sister who was not afraid to belt out a song. He joked with her saying: "If I had found you at Mass I would always be in church and then added: "You and me are like the devil and holy water." I couldn’t help but think of today’s Gospel and the theme of Jesus as the Living Water. Jesus comes to a t...

With my classmates Fr. Steve (L), Archbishop Prendergast, and Fr. Dean (R). Every year seems to be a different kind of Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. Indeed, Irish Catholicism and Irish culture are worth celebrating. The celebrations began already the weekend before the 17th when I visited my community in Montreal. They prepared a lovely dinner on Sunday the 16th ensuring that the tablecloths and napkins were all Irish colours. They even went shopping for bars of chocolate in green wrappers which was really sweet of them (excuse the pun!). That same evening, I returned to Ottawa and together with another Irish student, we prepared to host a St. Patrick’s Day party for our student companions and some of the other residents of Deschatelets. It was lovely to see our friends from the various corners of the world turn up in their green or yellow clothes. Our friends from the Hispanic Parish had also made a cake for the celebration which was greatly appreciated. After some tasty pizza...

Celebrating the life of Sr. M. Gabriela Necrology received from the General House of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master. Available also on www.pddm.org Dear Sisters, As today’s liturgy presents to us the following verse of the Gospel: “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it” (Mk 8:34), we received the news that the Divine Master has found, prepared for heaven, our young sister Sr. M. Gabriela Aneta Justina Kubecka, born in Lublin (Poland) on February 27, 1980. This encounter with the Bridegroom took place at 4:30 this morning, February 21, 2014, in the hospital of Lublin, Poland. Despite the suffering and with great faith, her parents, who are still living, received the news of the death of their beloved daughter whom they had visited and greeted yesterday. Before entering the Congregation, Aneta was active in the youth group of the Light-Life Movement. Her pastor introduced her in...

Sr. M. Gabriela, pddm. It has taken me a few days to write this blog because every time I sit down to do it, it is hard to believe what I am writing. On Friday, Heaven gained another one of our sisters, Sr. M. Gabriela Kubecka, a young 33 year old Polish sister Disciple of the Divine Master. I was blessed to share the religious journey with her in Poland and then together in Rome as we prepared together as companions for Perpetual Profession with the other sisters who together composed the “fantastic 8”, named after the first group of sisters whom our Founder called to compose our new Congregation! Gabri, I cherish great memories from the time we spent as a group in Casa Betania in Italy and road-tripping around Piedmonte for the Pauline Family pilgrimage. It was an adventure! We drew attention wherever we went, an international bunch of young sisters, joyful, smiling and at times loud! People were curious to know who we were, what we were doing. You were always willing to shar...

Sr. M. Louise and Fr. Dean Valentine’s Day can be an awkward feastday for many. Single people often feel isolated. People in relationships feel obliged to show their affection for their significant others in a way that may seem totally manufactured. Valentine’s Day is considered one of the most polarizing holidays in the year. You are either a complete believer in what Valentine’s Day has come to mean, a celebration of love, or else you are sick and tired of the marketing frenzy that surrounds the event.However, love makes life beautiful, at any age. Whether it’s for the first time or the 100th, expressing your love is the best way to light up someone’s day, especially when they don’t expect it! And that’s exactly what we did last week on campus at Saint Paul University! Saint Paul Students for Life group decided to mark Valentine’s Day and celebrate the gift of life and love on campus on Thursday last. Bopping along to classic love songs and handing out delicious home-made coo...