In North America just recently and in Canada last month, the people celebrated Thanksgiving. I have always envied these countries for this time of family celebration and giving thanks for all that has been over the year and to look forward in hope for what the New Year might bring – not only by way of a healthy harvest, but ...

“Just Passing Through” by Sr Mary Frances Collett, RNDM During my regular walks in the very beautiful cemetery of Houston where my parish church of St.Fillan’s is situated, I am always drawn to one particular grave. There is a photograph of a young man standing with his bicycle. Underneath is inscribed the words: “I will just gather my bits and ...

Remembering and cherishing what we have had. Already we can see the end of the year fast approaching. Many say, “Where has this year gone, already we are facing a long winter?” “This year has just simply flown by!” All those lovely summer months and extended warm days have simply gone and now just a passed memory. Yet, certain things ...

 The glories of Mary have been enshrined in the heart of the Church; she is part of scripture and of the liturgy. She has been honoured in Arts, Poetry and Song; she holds a secure place in the hearts of the faithful; she is the greatest of all saints, the sinless one born without original sin and indeed free from ...

It had been a day of interacting with many people and I felt the need to withdraw to a wordless place!  It was springtime and I walked down the bóithrin - bohereen, (unpaved rural road in Ireland). There was a soothing silence, a calm just to ‘be’ in the moment, to inhale the fresh breezes, and breathe the rugged beauty ...

As our global world 2022, stands at a crossroads, March and April are welcoming months with all their beauty, new life and renewed vision. Earth’s soul is  pulsating, ready to display new energy as it shifts the long, dark, bleak days of winter COVID 19.  As Lent continues, we step back and dare to face difficult questions, glaring injustices and ...

At the time of writing these reflections, the end of Lent is fast approaching. Lent: a gifted time when we can offer God “something very private but also something life-enhancing, helping to draw us even closer to our blessed Lord.” [Father J.B. Hurley]   Yes, life-enhancing—a beautiful word, full of life and meaning. Then on the 3rd Sunday of Lent the ...

“Laugh and the world laughs with you” ‘Smiling is contagious,’ my aunt always said,’ more contagious than a virus.’ She used to advise us, to our amusement, to smile slightly as we walked along, even when we did not feel like it.  A smile, she maintained, tricks the brain into releasing hormones that boost the immune system. Whatever about that, ...

  The God of Promise As we say goodbye to another year of unsettlement, disappointment and uncertainty, can we even begin to hope as the clock chimes in 2022? If we can use the words of Jochen Klepper “Neujahrslied” in his work Kyrie (Berlin: Merseburger, 1938):   New Year’s Song – in translation O you who hold all times in your ...

As the year drifts into winter, we notice subtle differences in nature especially in the quality of light, the length of days, and the bareness of the trees; nature begins to slowly fall asleep. In his poem, “The Sleeping Babe” Henry Baron describes the differences in nature very aptly in the following lines, “The moon turned white to silver On ...