God of love, listen to our prayer for Mothers’ Day. We celebrate all mothers and grandmothers on this day.
We remember the great mothers of salvation history: Sarah, mother of Isaac; Rebecca, mother of Jacob; Ruth, mother of King David; Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and especially Mary, Mother of Jesus whom we…
How do we know if we are true followers of Jesus? The real test is, do we love and care for one another? Love is the mark of the follower of Jesus. Love reaches out to others in understanding and compassion, in care and affirmation, in listening and service. The love that is in my…
This summer will mark my 19th anniversary as the priest in Rosbercon Parish. Being in the parish for nineteen years is a gift. Now, when I celebrate a funeral Mass, I know the person whose funeral I am celebrating. I know the family, and who is related to the deceased. This pastoral knowledge is a…
Ash Wednesday last week marked the beginning of the Holy Season of Lent. This is the time every year when we make a special effort to fast, do penance, reflect on our faith and perform acts of charity. In this way we prepare for the great celebrations of Holy Week; the Passion, Death and Resurrection…
On Sunday this weekend we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The reason for this is that on the 11th February, 1858 Our Lady appeared to Saint Bernadette for the first time.
The feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is famous for a number of other reasons: On this date since 1993 we…
“We sing a song to Brigid, Brigid brings the Spring,
Awakens all the fields and flowers, and calls the birds to sing”.
We celebrate Saint Brigid’s Day on Thursday, 1st February, traditionally, the first day of Springtime. We have noticed the lengthening evenings and the increase of light in recent mornings. The old people used…
In mid-winter as we are now, only the barest signs of Spring are visible. But we have no doubt that Spring is just around the corner even though the ground still carries many of the dead leaves of last Summer.
We continue to live in a time of change, in society, in political life, in…
Bro Richard Hendrick OFM Cap has written a beautiful poem about how to enjoy a winter walk in nature and especially in the woods. The following is an extract from that poem and I hope you find it enjoyable:
A Meditation:
When you walk in the woods, do so at their pace. Not yours.
…
Thanks again to all who have returned gifts. Could those outstanding be returned please by Sunday 7th at the latest.
One hundred and seventy-eight years ago the world was plagued by the cholera epidemic. In his poem In Memoriam, Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote “Ring out old shapes of foul disease”. Could he ever have guessed that his words would ring true again for our time of Covid. The human spirit is strong and now again,…
