Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Love overcame Emerging from a cold tomb All the truth, majesty and creativity of a living God Transforming a broken heart Making a quiet return, in a still and sorrowful garden The grave stone rolled away, to release redemptive love Jesus resurrected and restored Comforts a weeping woman Speaks with travellers on a journey Meets with his faithful friends And they bow down before Christ alive And acknowledged that the saviour has arrived That the word of God has come alive And that the extraordinary transformation of heaven and earth Is complete.

From the 5th to the 13th of March 2016, the fraternal visit took place in the Irish Delegation of the Disciples of the Divine Master. Sr. M. Celine Cunha, pddm who is the Vicar General of our Congregation, visited our two communities in Dublin and Athlone, carrying out the formative, communitarian and personal encounters. There, she had the opportunity to see the ministry of the sisters and meet their collaborators and friends. You might be wondering what a canonical visitation is! Well in Ireland, our grouping of our sisters in the two communities in Ireland is known as a Delegation and there is a Delegate Superior who has the mission and task of guiding and animating the sisters in the Delegation to ensure that we are all doing our best to incarnate the mission of our Founder and the values of religious values in the society and Church of today.  The Delegate Superior is helped by a team of two councillors, a secretary and a bursar. Her term of office is usually three years s...

You can do it! Go team! Hang in there! Yes, we can! Seize the day! Each day is a new day! Live life! You know more than you think! Keep going. Don’t give up. You can do it! You are nearly there. You are almost there. You are getting there. Nice try. Don’t worry ... You are doing great. Good try, but not quite right. Have another go, I’m sure you’ll do better. That’s almost it. or You’ve almost got it. Go on. Have another try. That is nearly perfect. Better luck next time. Don’t worry about it. Hey, look how far you've come. Tomorrow is another day! Or as one of our saints, Maggiorino Vigolungo would say: "One step forward every day!"

Here's a Lenten reflection which you might like to use for your personal prayer and to look over the Lenten journey so far and see where we are going for these next few weeks.  "Journeying with Jesus: A Lenten Retreat" Prayer to the Holy Spirit: Lord Jesus , You promised, "The Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in your name, will teach us all things and will remind us of everything you have said to us" (John 14:26). Fill us with the Holy Spirit and His understanding of everything that is happening in our lives. O Holy Spirit , Jesus asked the Father to give Him the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17). Help us to recognize You in the scriptures. Open our minds to understand Your truths, and open our hearts to accept Your truths in faith. O Holy Spirit , Jesus said, "The one who receives the seed that falls on good soil hears the word and understands it. He produces an abundant crop" (Matt. 13:23). Be the ...

Just a few days ago, as Christ’s followers, we began the Lenten journey. Receiving ashes on our forehead we recalled that ‘we are dust and to dust we will return’. A certain sombreness seemed to descend upon us as we enter into the privileged desert time to walk the Exodus journey. However it was almost as if our liturgical journey was interrupted and we  seemed to be surrounded  by hearts, flowers, roses and the apparent commercialism that accompanies St. Valentine’s Day. I recalled one of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s phrases from one of the Angelus’: "Every human being is loved by God the Father. No one need feel forgotten, for every name is written in the Lord’s loving heart." Valentine’s  Day can be a hard time for some people who feel alone or have been hurt because of relationships or are afraid to open their hearts to love and trust someone. It can also be an awkward feastday for many. Single people often feel isolated. People in relationships feel obliged to show...

1. Get rid of the lazy addiction to evil - “[Lent] is a ‘powerful’ season, a turning point that can foster change and conversion in each of us. We all need to improve, to change for the better. Lent helps us and thus we leave behind old habits and the lazy addiction to the evil that deceives and ensnares us. ” – General Audience, March 5, 2014  2.  Do something that costs us- “Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt. ” – Lenten Message, 2014   3.  Don’t remain indifferent- “Indifference to our neighbour and to God also represents a real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry out and trouble our conscience. God is not in...

A few people have asked if I am going off Facebook and social media for Lent this year. The answer is no. Every year I toy with the idea. Some years I have fasted from Facebook and it has been good, I have to say. Each person knows what they have to do to make Lent more meaningful for themselves so as to arrive at Easter, a more committed disciple of Jesus, ready to celebrate the true meaning of Resurrection. It is a bigger challenge for me to post things which are signposts to God, pointing to the meaning of this blessed season. I am conscious that there are many of my friends here who don't go to Church yet appreciate some of the religious posts I put here. We can bring Good News. We are called to be saints! I have set myself the challenge to look at what I am posting, liking, sharing etc...and see if I can be less superficial and more wholesome. It is an invitation to post things which are positive and forward looking, honest yet respectful, life giving and not soul dest...