Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

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...

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. & while you walk, SMILE. It is the ultimate antidepressant. 2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. 3. When you wake up in the morning, Pray to ask God’s guidance for your purpose, today. 4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. 5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli, and almonds. 6. Try to make at least three people smile each day. 7. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. 8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card. 9. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good. 10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Forgive them for everything ! 11. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one e...

A simple prayer which came from a grateful heart during Adoration as I spent the last hours of my birthday with my Spouse before the Blessed Sacrament: For the gift of life, I praise you Lord. For the gift of family, I bless you Lord. For the gift of community, I thank you Lord. For the gift of friends, I glorify you. For the gift of another year, I stand in awe at your grace. For the gift of this day, I magnify you. For the gift of faith, I adore you. For the gift of experience, I stand surprised. For the gift of pain, I stand before you purified. For the gift of love, I strive to love you in return. For the gift of hope, I look to the future. For the gift of trust, I walk a slow steady journey. For the gift of being simply 'Louise', thank you Lord.

I am sure we all have those days where we ask ourselves why do we even bother? Today the Gospel offered the story of the loaves and fishes. This miracle is the only miracle which is repeated in all four of the Gospels in the Bible. It was refreshing to hear the priest at Mass remind us that in ministry we are not called to feed the 5000 or even the 50,000. This is far beyond our capacity. We are called to try but to know and acknowledge that we are completely and utterly dependent on God to do this.  Time after time, the Lord puts us in positions where we are completely helpless or out of our depth: a sick relative or friend, a tragic death, a broken relationship. The world gives fame, and the world takes it away. We are rich today and poor tomorrow. We have a job and then we don’t. We are healthy and then cancer strikes. We have a happy family and then it seems to fall apart. Our friends say they are there for us and then they let us down. And then we ask: ‘why do I bothe...

This time last year I had just moved to Ottawa, the city that I continue to call ‘home’ for the next year.  I continue to carry a verse from Proverbs throughout the journey: "The human heart may plan a course but the Lord makes the steps secure". Looking back there is so much to be grateful for. It has been a wonderful though challenging year! Here's 10 highlights: 1)    The birth of my little nephew Isaac on the first day of the Year of Faith! I am counting the days until I see him for the first time, and to see my beautiful nieces and nephews who are growing up so fast. 2)    Getting to know the sisters in the communities here in Canada and in the States. I continue to be grateful to them for making me feel very welcome. 3)    Making wonderful new friends and acquaintances from the four corners of the world. You have been true pilgrims with me along the way. 4)    Discovering  new things about myself and my pers...

Yesterday, the Catholic Church of the Latin Rite returned to the liturgical season known as Ordinary Time. It would be easy to presume that this season on the liturgical calendar is called "ordinary" because it seems that nothing extra-ordinary is celebrated on these Sundays. But that's not the case. “Ordinary” in this instance is actually intended in the sense of ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) or the weeks of the year “in order,” rather than as a characteristic of liturgical time that is drab or mundane. But the portion of Ordinary Time ahead of us has a festal beginning. Every year the Sunday after Pentecost is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (popularly known as Trinity Sunday) and the second Sunday after Pentecost is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (popularly known as Corpus Christi). A quote reads: “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” What is the little ‘extra’ which makes the difference in ...

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday...rather sheepishly I have to admit as I was conscious that I was hitting a kind of milestone! Thank God for 33 years of adventure…more to come I pray. However, my friends and companions here at Deschatelets ensured that it was a really special day, beginning right from the vigil, as did many people from all over the world who took time out to call (and sing!), skype, text, facebook, email, write cards, find gifts, bake Nutella cookies, get cupcakes and a beautiful plant, organise a party...the list goes on! For this, I am so grateful and overwhelmed and in humble thanksgiving, I offer my prayer. Despite my initial reluctance, I caved and began to think of it in another way. Having had attended a pro-life talk by Stephanie Gray on abortion and gendercide earlier yesterday evening, I was just grateful to be alive. My parents choose to give me the gift of life and this is worthy of celebration and to come together to strengthen the bonds of communion...