Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Today we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Domenica in Albis, also known in the Church as Divine Mercy Sunday.  On the Cross, as Jesus died, his sacred side was pierced by a lance. From there, blood and water gushed forth and so the Church is born from the wounded side of Christ. Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, explained the reason for which Blessed John Paul II desired to call this Sunday after Easter “Divine Mercy Sunday”. He writes:  "He ( John Paul II) had this icon in mind: that of the pierced side of Christ, from which flow blood and water. But now Christ is risen, and from the Living Christ spring the Easter Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist: those who approach them with faith receive the gift of eternal life. In the Diary of Divine Mercy, in the revelations to St. Faustina, Jesus tells her that the two rays in the Divine Mercy image denote the Blood (the Eucharist) which is the life of souls, and the Water (Baptism) that makes souls righteous." In the G...

The liturgy that begins today, Holy Thursday, is a single liturgy which continues until we reach Easter. We are at the start of a three-day celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. We journey from the Last Supper to Gethsemane tonight, from there to Calvary tomorrow, and from the tomb to resurrection and new life at the Vigil of Easter Sunday. But today is a journey which begins in joy, in festivity. Holy Thursday is one of the truly marvellous days in our faith community. We celebrate the gift of the love of Jesus, given to us for our nourishment - given to us as an example of self-less love. Today as Disciples of the Divine Master, we celebrate many things. We allow the words of Blessed Timothy Giaccardo, our first Pauline priest, to bring us back to the founding charism for our Institute which burned in the heart of Bl. James Alberione. He writes :"It was April 3, 1947 and it was Holy Thursday.  In the great church of St. Paul in Alba the rite of t...

Take off your sandals, you are on holy ground! (Ex 3:5) In its various moments, the liturgical year celebrates nothing other than the fullness of this mystery of walking continuously on holy ground in the company of the saints who walked the pilgrim way of Christ. It has its centre in the annual Easter, everything springs from it and everything tends to it. Christian spirituality is a paschal spirituality, that is, a spirituality polarized by the divine event of salvation, by the paschal mystery lived by Christ and celebrated memorially by the Church. The imposition of ashes at the beginning of Lent is always a very poignant moment: ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel’. Ashes and fire are two images which accompany me during the Lenten journey. On Ash Wednesday, the burnt palms, symbol of the joy and majesty which accompanied Jesus during his entrance into Jerusalem, are now ashes placed on my forehead…the liturgical cycle continues! I remember often raking out the fire at home an...

We don't know precisely why Simon of Cyrene was walking where he was on that day when he met Jesus. He may have been walking beside Jesus devoutly; He may have been walking beside Jesus accidentally; He may have been walking beside Jesus out of curiosity; He may have been walking beside Jesus confrontationally. The reality is he didn’t sign up to bear the heavy cross, to enter into the horror of the Passion, to walk alongside a stranger experiencing the worst day of His life. He just happened to be standing there, minding his own business. But when the duty was pressed upon him, Simon responded. He put aside his own reservations to serve Jesus in His moment of need, and in doing so, he fulfilled a most sacred ministry, an apostolate. As far as we can tell there is no prior relationship between Simon and Christ, this unlikely pair belong to one another at Christ’s most vulnerable moment. Christ’s life is in Simon’s hands, and Simon, by the design of the soldiers, finds hims...

So today in Ireland we celebrate Mother’s Day and I am celebrating too! At the end of our Mass this morning in the Parish, the priest, who is a visiting Redemptorist preaching a triduum of prayer, invited those present to turn towards a mother and acknowledge and greet them on this Mother’s Day. I was surprised and slightly moved when people in front of us turned around and said ‘Happy Mother’s Day, Sister!’  It's a gentle reminder that we women religious are mothers!  Some of you may be familiar with some of my other blog posts where I wrote about the gift of spiritual maternity so forgive me if I sound like a broken record! Nine years ago, Pope Francis spoke to an assembly of religious women gathered in Rome and said, "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 God and to others ...

  War is never the answer.  It makes orphans of children.  It makes widows and widowers of men and women.  It separates families, crushes dreams, destroys life-long ambitions. It cripples, disables, suffocates,  It can seem to justify evil and violence.  However war can bring out goodness, solidarity, a commitment to stand with those suffering, struggling, fleeing, despairing- those seeking simply to survive. It brings with us the plea to recognise that we are all interconnected on the journey of life, we are brothers and sisters. The word for peace in Ukrainian (мир) is the same as the word for peace in Russian (мир).Peace, siochain, pax, paz- say it in whatever language you want but say it. As brothers and sisters, we need peace.  Photo is a modern day Pieta. Olha Zapotochna and her three-year-old son, Arthur, who is gravely ill with cancer, after crossing the border from Ukraine into Poland. Thank you Lord for all those, including our own Sisters, w...

  Artist: Sr. Marie Paul O' Brien, pddm Traditionally in Ireland today, the 1st of February is regarded as the first day of spring though meteorologists would say the 21st of March. Oh, I know that there is no magic switch that flicks on the first day of spring, unleashing new life and green shoots, but there is something about knowing that spring has come that leaves a tingling promise of renewal, and rebirth, in my veins.  In Ireland today we also celebrate a special woman, the great St. Brigid. In liturgical iconography and statuary Saint Brigid is often depicted holding a reed cross, a crozier of the sort used by abbots, and a lamp (called a "lamp of learning and wisdom", as lamps and fire were regarded sacred to the Celts and druids). Early hagiographers portray Saint Brigid's life and ministry as touched with fire. Brigid also founded a school of art, including metal work and illumination, over which Conleth presided. The Kildare scriptorium produced the Book of...