Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

  My Dad's garden Not a cry of distress but a reminder of a feastday we have in Ireland- May Day (1st of May).  I was thinking back to the years in primary school where we prepared May altars religiously. My Dad was a brilliant gardener and had a beautiful garden, however we weren’t allowed to pick the flowers that often! One of those few occasions was for the school May Altar when it was ‘our turn’ to bring the flowers. I was always so proud to bring in that big bunch of red homegrown roses, purple lupin, bright orange marigolds, pretty forget-me-nots, vibrant dahlias and pure white lilies. Not only did they look beautiful but the perfume would fill the classroom and the other teachers who popped in would all comment on the beautiful flowers! I remember other times when the younger kids from the neighbourhood would try and ‘borrow’ some flowers. My Dad, possessive as he was of his hybrid roses, would give in and often snip one off and give it to the child, who would...

Hosannas rise on dusty roads, Where humble feet and hope once strode, A borrowed colt, a quiet King, No crown of gold, yet heaven’s ring. The palms are laid, the voices soar, “Blessed is He forevermore,” Yet in the breeze, a shadow sways— A cross awaits these fleeting praise. The city stirs, the hearts divide, Some kneel in faith, some turn aside, Still mercy walks through every cheer, Through doubt, through joy, through silent fear. O fragile cries that fill the air, How soon they fade, how few will care— Yet love rides on, though fate is grim, For every soul, for all, for Him.

Every religious experience begins with a sense of emptiness, of life being bigger than us. We began the Lenten journey in the desert and we continue to walk, making the journey from Ashes to Alleluia. On Ash Wednesday we had ashes placed on our forehead and reflected on the words "Remember you are dust and to dust you will return" or the call to "repent and believe in the Gospel". There is yearly continuity in the liturgy where 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 at the beginning of our Lenten journey. Today we began the journey of Holy Week. Holy Week is holy, first and foremost, because of all Jesus Christ did during this week, from the triumphal entry into his city on Palm Sunday, to his teaching in the Temple, to the Last Supper, to his prayer in Gethsemane, to his arrest, torture, crucifixion and death on Good Friday, to his rest in the tomb, ...

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. At times it’s a love that doesn’t make sense. There is a Scripture passage in the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 12 which has 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 grain.” The image of the grain of wheat dying in the earth in order to grow and bear a harvest can be seen as a meta...

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...

  Dust lay quiet on his eyes, a night he never chose. From birth he walked in borrowed dark where no horizon rose. Voices passed like drifting wind, faces he could not find; the world was sound and gentle touch— a map within his mind. Then Jesus came with quiet hands, and mercy softly stirred; Clay mixed with tears, a healing touch, and grace within His word. Then light broke through—he saw the sky, the dust, the waiting crowd; the colors of the waking world that once were veiled by cloud. He saw the Light behind the sun, in every shining ray; the God who formed the burning stars had come to walk his way. The Healer God who made the sun had sent His Son to heal; Amazing grace, how sweet the sound— my sight restored, I kneel. You looked on him—You looked on me, my broken chains release; a man born blind, but now he sees, and praises Christ eternally.