Poetry, Prayer, and Praise

Brigid - A Poem for Today

2012-01-31T17:58:00.005Z

Brigid

Words have fallen asleep

On tongues that once were fired with zeal.

Yet still the flames of faith burn on

And each new generation

Knows anew the Brigid

Who spoke of God

Who walked mean streets

And left grace and mercy in her wake.

Stony walls of silence

Crosswinds of lostness

Do not diminish the image

Of a woman of our time.

A voice for the voiceless

In streets of dereliction

Brigid's footsteps make a faint music

As the flames of faith illuminate again

The passage of time.

St Brigid A Pilgrim Soul

2012-01-29T10:25:00.011Z

St Brigid – A Pilgrim Soul

Just as Brigid's flame is legend

May our lives too be filled with the light of love

That burns within us.

May we, like Brigid, tend to the needs of others

And hear the cry of the poor,

May we bring to the world

All we know of the virtues

That made of Brigid a pilgrim soul:

Only at home

In the hearts of others

Only at rest in Christ

Only at peace when building up

With the tools of faith and hope

A nation of believers.

http://www.brigidine.org.au/index.cfm

http://www.solasbhride.ie/

http://omgcparish.org/

http://www.kandle.ie/2012/01/17/feile-bhride-2012-kildare-town/

Some of you have been asking about my book Travelling Light A Book of Days. Well, it's going well. Many people have told me they find reading it brings joy , while others say it is consoling as well as being easy to read. Others say they keep it by their bedside or favourite chair and dip into every now and then. One friend has aked when the next book will be available and almost everyone near and far has encouraged me to keep on writing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-Light-Ann-Murray/dp/1471005151/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328258888&sr=1-1

All proceeds from the book go directly to charity so please consider ordering a copy by clicking the button at the top of this page.You may contact me by email if you'd rather not use a card – address in Profile. .

Worship on Wednesday - Christian Unity Week

2012-01-25T20:15:00.011Z

St Nicholas Parish Church Belfast

http://saintnicholasparishchurchbelfast.shutterfly.com/

Rev Elizabeth Hanna, Rector at St Nicholas's ( top of the table)

Gathered round one table, eating from one dish, great symbolism of universality and unity.

Kenyan Stew and dainty little cupcakes:

Church of Ireland hospitality

The parish has close links with diocese of Kajiado Kenya

The stained glass windows I'll have to see in the light of day.

A grace before meals by Terry Waite:

O Lord:
In a world where many are lonely:
We thank you for our friendships.
In a world where many are captive:
We thank you for our freedom.
In a world where many are hungry:
We thank you for your provision.
We pray that you will:
Enlarge our sympathy,
Deepen our compassion,
And give us grateful hearts.
In Christ’s name.

Amen

To your will may I surrender

2012-01-25T15:43:00.007Z

Dear Jesus

To Your will

May I surrender

Past and present

Yet to be

In Your love

May I be open

To Your mercy

Blessed and free

In Your calling

May I listen

To Your look

May I respond

In Your wounds

May I find healing

Both in this life

And beyond

RMcG

Rosaleen McGuinness SFO

(bethanyhouse at talktalk dot net)

Showers of Roses - St Therese Poem

2012-01-23T17:05:00.002Z

St Therese of Lisieux

I shall spend my heaven doing good on earth

Showers of Roses

To earth's level

The petals of promise fall

Heaven stoops low

At our bidding call

And richer are we
More blessed one and all
Receiving such graces
From heaven's bright stall.

St Brigid Mary of the Gael - Acrostic

2012-01-23T13:50:00.007Z

Iconographer : Adrian Hart

'Africa' St Patrick's Missions January/ February 2012

http://www.solasbhride.ie/

St Brigid Mary of the Gael - Acrostic

Stories have been passed down but
Truth has prevailed

Brigid is synonymous with change
Rural areas became important places
Infused with the light of faith
Gleaning all she could, Brigid as
Instrument of God,
Discerned what was good.

Monasteries and schools stand
As testament to her faith
Roses, sprung from wilderness,
Yielded to God’s grace;

Offering alms to the needy
Founding places of prayer

Teacher and miracle-worker,
Hallowing the ground
Earning her place as

Gem in Ireland’s crown
Abbess of Kildare
Epitome of womanhood
Lauded in prayer.

Alfie Lambe Servant of God

2012-01-21T15:09:00.009Z

The Servant of God Alphonsus Lambe

Grotto at St Mary's Chapel Belfast

Legion of Mary led the Rosary at the grotto after Mass today

on the anniversary of the death of Alfie Lambe

St Mary's Chapel

http://www.legionofmary.ie/causes/profile/alfie-lambe/

St John Bosco Novena 22nd - 30th January 2012

2012-01-20T10:44:00.007Z

Mary, Help of Christians

Week Of Prayer For Christian Unity

2012-01-19T08:14:00.005Z

We will all be changed

http://www.ctbi.org.uk/569

http://www.gladysganiel.com/irish-catholic-church/fr-gerry-reynolds-on-living-bells-and-a-new-step-in-eucharistic-fellowship/

Ecumenism, Pope Benedict stated, is not an optional extra for Catholics but is “the responsibility of the entire Church and of all the baptized.” Christians, he said, must make praying for unity an “integral part” of their prayer life, “especially when people from different traditions come together to work for victory in Christ over sin, evil, injustice and the violation of human dignity.”

Martin Luther King Day – 2012

2012-01-16T20:35:00.001Z

Martin Luther King Day – 2012:

Robert F. Kennedy quoted Aeschylus to announce the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

If you were around in 1968, I bet you remember where you were when you heard the news of Dr. King’s death. A death followed just a few months later by Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. It was a very bad year for peace and justice. I am praying that we get through this election cycle with no hint of violence.

We need more Dr. Kings and Senator Kennedys.

You do not know the day or the hour.

2012-01-16T14:17:00.005Z

Just over twenty four hours ago a fishing boat went down off the Irish coast with loss of life and hopes are fading for the remainder missing crew. Currently our news programmes are bringing us the on-going story of the cruise ship off the Italian coast and we know already of fatalities there too.

Every day we hear of news like this. Do we take in the underlying message of these heart-rending tragedies. Are we like the wise virgins in the gospel story whose lamps are trimmed or are we foolishly unprepared for death that can come at any minute and inescapable judgement before the throne of God?

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13

Lead, kindly light

2012-01-14T22:05:00.010Z

Lead, kindly light

We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee because by thy most holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world

Holy Family Church

St Jude

St Anthony

Relic

St Patrick's Church

Soup Run Belfast 2012

2012-01-10T13:38:00.002Z

Photo courtesy of Google Images

January Soup Run

From his seated position he politely declined the offer of a new fleece blanket. There were two folds of cardboard under him and he was wearing a hooded quilted coat. The sandwiches and soup were gratefully received. A few words were exchanged and then we were off. He waved to us and smiled in much the same way as one would wave family off after a visit.

I was beginning to learn now what Charlie meant when he said the homeless have their own integrity. He could have taken the blanket, he could have sold it or left it in a soggy heap the next morning but he was happier with less. We felt humbled by his gentle nature, his contentedness, and his warm goodbyes.

The Radiance of God Cathy Keller

2012-01-08T10:43:00.003Z

~~Sunlit Sunday~~:

When Karen invited us to join her on Sunlit Sunday I was thinking what a neat idea. As a matter of fact, I have something to offer. This post happens to be a copy today's posting at my other blog, Provident God. It's like sharing the radiance of God in more that one place. I think we should continue to pass it on. So thank you to Karen for offering us this opportunity! This, too, is providence.

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. ~~2Peter 3: 18~~

~~~~~

You can never say

Thank you to God too often

God is generous

All that I receive

Is generously given

I reply, thank you

~~~^j^~~

Thanks be to God!!

Cathy

Note: This picture has not been enhanced, only cropped. This is the glory of God!

Thank you to Cathy Keller for this post. Unfortunately the beautiful photo is too large to post here but can be seen at the link above.

Epiphany

2012-01-05T15:58:00.003Z

'Ironically, although pilgrimage is an integral part of Christianity, we don't have to travel to find Christ, he has already travelled to find us. By the gift of the Spirit, the blessed Trinity dwells within us.'

Neil Ferguson O.P. Epiphany Redraw your maps.

Full article here: http://torch.op.org/preaching_sermon_item.php?sermon=5660

World Day of The Sick 11 February 2012

2012-01-04T20:27:00.012Z

Lourdes 2009

5. The theme of this Message for the Twentieth World Day of the Sick, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you”, also looks forward to the forthcoming Year of Faith which will begin on 11 October 2012, a propitious and valuable occasion to rediscover the strength and beauty of faith, to examine its contents, and to bear witness to it in daily life (cf. Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, 11 October 2011). I wish to encourage sick people and the suffering always to find a safe anchor in faith, nourished by listening to the Word of God, by personal prayer and by the sacraments, while I invite pastors to be increasingly ready to celebrate them for the sick. Following the example of the Good Shepherd and as guides of the flocks entrusted to them, priests should be full of joy, attentive to the weakest, the simple and sinners, expressing the infinite mercy of God with reassuring words of hope (cf. Saint Augustine, Letter 95, 1: PL 33, 351-352).

To all those who work in the field of health, and to the families who see in their relatives the suffering face of the Lord Jesus, I renew my thanks and that of the Church, because, in their professional expertise and in silence, often without even mentioning the name of Christ, they manifest him in a concrete way (cf. Homily, Chrism Mass, 21 April 2011).

To Mary, Mother of Mercy and Health of the Sick, we raise our trusting gaze and our prayer; may her maternal compassion, manifested as she stood beside her dying Son on the Cross, accompany and sustain the faith and the hope of every sick and suffering person on the journey of healing for the wounds of body and spirit!

I assure you all of a remembrance in my prayers, and I bestow upon each one of you a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 20 November 2011, Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

http://www.vatican.va/latest/sub_index/latest_index_en.htm

A Christmas surprise!

2012-01-03T18:41:00.002Z

A Christmas surprise!

A heartfelt thank you to Sr Anne Flanagan a Daughter of St Paul for a blog post about my book!

New Year Poem

2012-01-02T14:34:00.009Z

St Mary's Church Chapel Lane Belfast

PRIESTS

Very Rev. James A. Boyle MHM, Adm;

Rev. Jim O’Donoghue MHM,

Rev. John Nevin MHM, Ad hoc Visitor

St. Mary’s Presbytery, 25 Marquis Street, Belfast, BT1 1JJ.

Tel: 9032 0482

New Year Poem

Some speak of lives
Long or short-lived
But in truth
The time that is ours
That promised to us
Stretches to infinity

Let us be busy then -
Let no window refuse
The Light of Christ
May His goodness
Illuminate
Penetrate
Every pane, every corner
Until the soul of the house
Like crystal shines
In the light of the sun
And the walls of the house
Are but veils
Lifting to new horizons.

Please click on side button to order my new book of 365 poems/ reflections for 2012.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T14:32:00.002Z

Happy New Year:

Shared on Google Reader from blog Ex Umbris Et Imaginibus http://fatherdirector.blogspot.com/

To all the members of the Fraternity, and to all who read my blog - the extended family, I wish you all every blessing and grace for this New Year. May Mary, the Holy Mother of God, whose solemnity is the first we celebrate this year, watch over you, protect you and obtain from her Divine Son, all the graces you need for the weeks and months to come.

This year is already sizing up to be a busy one. In terms of the Fraternity it is our fifth year - so to celebrate we will have various events - a Mass in Drogheda on the foundation day (19th January); a Mass in the church where the Fraternity was born - Corpus Christi in London, on the 8th March; a pilgrimage to Rome (see link above); and of course St Genesius's feast day on the 25th August. If you want to join our family of prayer go to http://www.stgenesius.com/. If you want to start a prayer group in your area, let us know.

Now, time to pick your Saint for the year: go to this website here.

Mary, Mother of God

2012-01-01T09:13:00.005Z

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1247

New Year Poems and Travelling Light Update

2011-12-30T15:31:00.011Z

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2747794486845.137335.1017046484&type=1&l=20a4a96948

Copy and paste link to more Facebook photos mostly of Ireland.

New Year’s Day 2005

Foul weather marked the start of it –
Where winds cut through fallow fields
Grasses bent
Like worshippers of an unseen god.

Snapped branched lay strewn on roads
Obstacles for the few
Who ventured beyond their own soil.

The cold hand of January had extended itself
But the lure of the fireside proved strong
Civility was put on hold
As doors closed and rain drops spilled
Diamond after diamond on the firs.

Hidden Graces

Like drawing water from
A well of darkness
We have no foreknowledge of grace
Nor eyes to see
The workings of God or
The places faith will bring us

Yet we journey onward
Hearts set
Not on the perishables of this world
But on the promises of heaven

Trusting that in the world of the Spirit
Soul will penetrate soul
And together
We shall build the kingdom.

To live in God is to share his vision, to see time as he sees it and to trust the future as we do the past, to his wisdom and love.

A very Happy New Year to all! May God bless and keep you throughout 2012.

The poems above are included in my book Travelling Light: A Book of Days which contains around 365 poems and reflections. All proceeds from the book will go to charity so please order if and when you can. At present it is only available through Lulu or directly from me but in a few weeks time it will be listed on Amazon. Any queries can be e-mailed directly to me - address in profile.

I'm starting small but aiming high - over the course of 2012 with your help I hope to support the following: Missions ( Africa and India inc Project Zambia ), St Vincent de Paul and Legion of Mary Belfast, Tuesday's Child and Kate's Project - Africa and Thailand respectively.

I know there are many people praying for the success of this venture. I ask God to bless them in turn. As individuals we are small but together in God we can make good things happen because God is good.

Update = Travelling Light now available at Veritas Bookstore Donegall Street Belfast

Beds Of Hay

2011-12-29T16:17:00.026Z

St Patrick's Church Belfast

http://www.downandconnor.org/

St Mary's Church, Chapel Lane Belfast

God's servants: Frank Duff, Alfie Lambe, and Venerable Edel Quinn

http://www.morningstarhouse.org/

A woman lost to the world in prayer in St Mary's

Beds Of Hay

The weight of a little one
Would scarcely dent such a bed
Yet the homeless, the dispossessed
Have nowhere to lay their heads
But beds of hay.

We know of a time
When God himself came small
And lay new-born in a stall.
Today
Near and far
The destitute ghosts walk -
Their eyes like lamps that
Probe the souls
Of us who turn away.

'Can’t you see us
On these beds of hay?'
'Can’t you see him?'
They say.

Living Church

In our Diocese many have given of their time and energy to make Christ present to the homeless. The Morning Star, Regina Coeli, Centenary House, The Welcome Centre, Rosemount House, Stella Maris, Springwell, The Ormeau Centre, Dympna House are some of the many organisations who have been witnesses to those without a home this Christmas. Today we share a reflection from Ann Murray's book Travelling Light A book of days.

A Holy and Happy Christmas To All

2011-12-24T17:37:00.025Z

Unto us a child is born

Nativity window in St Therese of Lisieux Church in which St Therese of the Child Jesus is depicted as a young shepherdess.

St Therese Folk Group members turned out in force - absolutely marvellous.

Holy Family Church Belfast

http://www.holy-familyparish.com/index.html

Jerusalem

Westminster Abbey

Irish Christmas Blessing

Let the Christ light be fastened
To the lintel above the door
As well as at your heart's core
Let it be as candle-glow in the window
That speaks of homeliness
Of welcome and warmth

May the Christ child
Bring peace that finds its place
In restful solitude
As well as in throng,
In action as well as in word.

May the Infant Jesus and his Blessed Mother
Be twin shields against evil and harm
Harbingers of the joy that is ours
And all that is yet to come.

( Thank you to Living Church on Facebook for sharing this with readers.)

A holy, peaceful and joyful Christmas to everyone
Nollaig shona daoibh

Tears at Christmas

For many there is silent weeping at Christmas. A sorrowful mystery is lived out in a quiet place of the heart. There may be joy on the outside but away from public gaze is the other side of Christmas where our innermost self is set free and allowed grieve for lost family and friends, broken relationships, betrayal, and many more reminders and causes of suffering and hurt.

God in his goodness comes to us as a little baby who we know in the fullness of time was to suffer similar human emotions. Now he urges us to come to him in our vulnerability, to come to a space where all sorrow and anxiety can be laid low.

His yoke is easy and his burden light; and like the shepherds in the Christmas story, he watches over us day and night. We rest in the folds of his tender love as he rested in Mary’s arms; we live our lives under his loving gaze as he lived with Mary and Joseph.

He remains with us until that day when we can fully partake in the glorious mystery of death and resurrection. Like those who gathered in awesome wonder round the stable at Bethlehem, we too will be bathed in the light of heaven and the glory of beyond.

I Welcome into My Heart This Night

I welcome into my heart this night
Heaven’s gift
O beautiful child of light and
Prince of Peace
His presence marked by
Silence beyond words
No heaviness at all
Only quietness
Of the Christ child
Living
The Divine comforter
Loving
Healing
Holding me
In a tender embrace.

http://www.holy-familyparish.com/index.html

Update on book Travelling Light A Book of Days coming soon.

Pauline Faithways: Christmas Present

2011-12-21T20:28:00.002Z

Pauline Faithways: Christmas Present: I’ ve been doing some unusual holiday shopping. I’ve been on the lookout for a few exceptionally insightful or beautiful expressions in word...

Advent Images

2011-12-18T15:38:00.007Z

Travelling Light - 365 Poems and Reflections - Proceeds To Charity

2011-12-15T16:18:00.010Z

Here is my brother's description of the book : . It contains 365 poems, prayers and simple meditations on spiritual matters, human nature, landscapes, animals and the great outdoors. Travelling Light will be listed and available on Amazon in about 5 weeks time.

O Sacrament Most Holy, O Sacrament Divine

2011-12-10T20:22:00.002Z

O Sacrament most holy

O sacrament divine

All praise and all thanksgiving

Be every moment Thine.

The Greatest Love Creates the Greatest Miracle

2011-12-09T09:25:00.003Z

The Greatest Love Creates the Greatest Miracle:

Have you experienced the greatest miracle?

If you’ve been to Mass, then you have indeed. The real question is: did you recognize it?

A new 3D animated film, “The Greatest Miracle” (opens nationwide Dec. 9), strives to refresh our understanding of the Mass, remind us of the constant struggle between good and evil, and give us hope that faith will triumph in the end.

The film focuses on a day in the life of three main characters: Monica, a recent widow who is struggling to support her broken family and be both mother and father to her young son; Doña Cata, an elderly woman who feels she is a burden to her family; and Don Chema, a bus-driver whose son is dying of cancer.

Monica and Don Chema cross paths early on; distracted by thoughts of his son, Don Chema nearly broadsides Monica’s car as she, equally distracted, is heading to work on a Saturday, rather than spending the day with her son. After shouting at each other and continuing along their way, each has a seemingly chance encounter with a friendly teenage boy. The brief conversations that ensue convince each to take a detour on the plans of the day, instead heading to church.

Doña Cata is also making her way to church, having slipped out of the house without letting anyone know where she was going. She has left behind anxious staff who are concerned that her bedroom door is locked and she is not answering when they call her name.

As the Mass progresses, both Monica and Don Chema are recalled to the miracle occurring before their eyes–and in their hearts–by gentle reprimands and reminders from the teenage boys. They find themselves able to see in a way they never have before; Monica sees a gathering of the community of saints, and when her husband emerges from the crowd, he reassures her that he is always with her—and so is Jesus. Don Chema encounters the Blessed Virgin Mary and comes to understand the depth of her grief upon her son’s death; he realizes that he is not alone in his pain, and that the Blessed Mother accompanies him through it.

Though the boys—who have a secret identity that also gives much hope to the characters—draw Monica’s and Chema’s attention to various aspects of the Mass, they also remind them about the souls in Purgatory who need our prayers; the true importance of Confession; and the onslaught of temptation and distraction that we all face every day, which—if we allow it—can separate us from God and from our faith. Meanwhile, Doña Cata provides an example of what can result from a life lived with true faith.

Directed by Academy Award nominee (for “The Princess and the Frog”) Bruce M. Norris, the visual writer of “Pocahontas” and “Hercules,” the film reminds us all that Mass is not just a series of rote actions and responses, but a deep encounter with our Lord. “Something quite special is going on here,” Pope Benedict explained in Light of the World, his book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald. “He is here, the One before whom we fall on our knees!”

When Monica asks her companion how long Jesus will stay with her after receiving him in the Eucharist, the boy says simply, “As long as you want him to.

“He will make your heart his home.”

An important reminder during this period of Advent, when we joyfully await his coming–and all through the year.

Taken from:

http://catholicexchange.com/

Immaculate Conception

2011-12-07T13:59:00.007Z

Immaculate Conception

More than dream of God
More than desire or yearning
Was the holy will
The divine intention to
Reveal to the world
Through a girl - child born sinless
The Father's enduring love

A little one
Who, while still in tender years
Would deliver a Saviour Son
A temple
That would be knocked down and raised again

She, a child of meekness and bearing
Whose life itself was gilded grace
Whose being exhaled
Untainted goodness
In a world that was
On sin impaled.

Prayer for Travellers

2011-12-07T11:01:00.008Z

http://www.holy-familyparish.com/

Prayer for Travellers

May God who called our father Abraham to journey into the unknown, and guarded him and blessed him, protect me too and bless my journey. May his confidence support me as I set out, may His spirit be with me on my way, and may he lead me back to my home in peace.

Those I love I commend to his care. He is with them, I shall not fear.

As for myself, may his presence be my companion, so that blessings may come to me and everyone I meet. Blessed are you Lord, whose presence travels with his people. Amen

Qoutes To Ponder This Advent

2011-12-05T16:33:00.002Z

Quotes to Ponder this Advent: "Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.…

It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope."

-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which Is Above,1986

“The liturgy of Advent…helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.”

- Pope John Paul II, Dec. 18, 2002

http://prayerswritingsofacatholicmomdaughter.blogspot.com/

2011-12-03T16:56:00.005Z

Thoughts for December 3 (St Francis Xavier) from Fr Willie Doyle:

Death of St Francis Xavier

Xavier’s hour has come, the hour of his eternal reward and never-ending bliss. In a little hut, open on all sides to the biting blast, the great Apostle lies dying. Far from home and all that makes this life pleasant, far from the quiet of his own religious house, alone upon this barren isle, our Saint will yield his soul to God. What joy fills his heart now at the thought of the sacrifices he has made, the honours he has despised, the pleasures left behind. Happy sufferings! Happy penances! He thinks of what his life might have been, the life of a gay worldling, and in gratitude he lifts his eyes to thank his God for the graces given him. What matter now the hardships he has endured? All, all, are past, for now the sweet reward of heaven is inviting him to his eternal rest.

COMMENT: Today is the feast of St Francis Xavier, one of the greatest missionary saints of all time. He was a good man, although proud and ambitious, when Ignatius met him at the University of Paris. Just like Fr Doyle, it was the experience of the Spiritual Exercises that enflamed his soul and set him on the path to sanctity.

Ultimately St Francis Xavier gave up all human comforts and friendships, leaving Europe behind forever to evangelise in the far east. How strange that land must have seemed, and how far away from everything that he knew. Yet it mattered not to Francis – his love for God spilled over into a love for souls and a passionate desire to bring them to Heaven. So too it was with Fr Doyle. He originally wanted to become a missionary in the Congo. He ended up as a missionary in the bloody trenches instead. If he survived that experience, he had resolved to offer himself as a missionary in a leper colony.

Today we no longer have to go to India or Japan to find mission territory – there are more than enough souls who have not yet properly heard the word of God in our own families and neighbourhoods and towns. Let us pray for a share in the missionary zeal and effectiveness of St Francis Xavier and of Fr Doyle. Let us also pray especially for Ireland, which has truly become a mission territory.

God Never Changes

2011-11-30T18:14:00.003Z

Mass Rock Craigagh Wood Cushendun Co Antrim

There is much to be said of God who never changes.

To the rock we cling.

London Photos

2011-11-26T12:14:00.013Z

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2503987991835.132849.1017046484&type=1&l=bb96fd9598

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2543477859057.133457.1017046484&type=1&l=1eac0c75bd

I will be off line for a few days sorting my poems for publication. Then my daughter will take over the reins and prepare layout etc. The plan is a book of days made up of 365 poems and meditations, the proceeds of which will go to charity.

I would appreciate your prayers at this rather daunting time. I'm thinking of publishing around the feast day of St Brigid 1st February 2012. Thank you for your support and encouragement. God bless, Ann

PS Copy and paste link above into browser for more London photos - 2 albums.

2011-11-24T10:36:00.004Z

Our Lady as Silent Teacher in the Writings of Blessed John Henry Newman (V):

Our Lady of Sorrows, One with Christ in His Suffering

by Monica Rapeanu

When our Lady stood up and uttered her Fiat to the angel of God, her words began to make Christ’s voice. Those first words of consent, her ‘fiat’, had already spoken Christ’s last words of consent; her “Be it done to me according to thy word” were already spoken by Christ in her; they were one and the same with His words: “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” In this she was more than one with Him; she was one with Him even in His aloneness.

Frank Duff Anniversary Mass Cardinal Sean Brady

2011-11-21T14:16:00.005Z

http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2011/11/19/homily-cardinal-brady-anniversary-mass-frank-duff/

“As Frank Duff reminds us, it was Christ Himself who chose to build that Church on the rock of Peter’s faith. And Christ does not contradict Himself or the truths he has entrusted to us. As Catholics, the bonds which unite us to the See of Peter are very ancient and precious, very precious, … those bonds are to be preserved and strengthened as an integral part of our beliefs” – Cardinal Brady

Prayer for the Beatification of the Servant of God Frank Duff

God our Father, You inspired your servant Frank Duff with a profound insight into the

mystery of Your Church, the Body of Christ, and of the place of Mary the Mother of Jesus

in this mystery.

In his immense desire to share this insight with others and in filial

dependence on Mary he formed her Legion to be a sign of her maternal love for the

world and a means of enlisting all her children in the Church's evangelizing work.

We thank you Father for the graces conferred on him and for the benefits

accruing to the Church from his courageous and shining faith. With confidence we beg

You that through his intercession you grant the petition we lay before You... We ask too

that if it be in accordance with Your will, the holiness of his life may be acknowledged by

the Church for the glory of your Name, through Christ Our Lord, Amen

Christ The Universal King

2011-11-20T09:58:00.002Z

Christ The Universal King

Mountains will know they are bearing the feet of the king

As rivers run to him

Branches will lean like beautiful listeners

Entranced by his voice

And over the universe

All eyes will be trained

On Him

And breath arrested

As newness begins

Justice and mercy

Will be like vestments about him

Like gates opening onto a fold

There'll be no mistaking his goodness

Lasting, and claiming his own.

Christ The King

2011-11-17T19:40:00.010Z

Liverpool Cathedral of Christ the King

Liverpool Anglican Cathedral

There is a golden thread that connects us to the source of God’s glory. We do not always see the thread – sometimes it runs underground and we travel blind. But always a link remains between the Creator and his created ones, between the children of light and the Sovereign Lord, between the cross and the crown of glory that awaits the loyal subject of the King of Kings.

Reaching Out

2011-11-13T13:37:00.017Z

Photo courtesy of James McAuley

Oratory at Morning Star

http://www.morningstarhouse.org/

Joe Jackson and Joe Catney

Fr Nevin ( Mill Hill Father ) and Olive Kayes, singer, at a special Mass of celebration to mark Joe Jackson's 66 year membership of the Legion of Mary

Prayer cards available from Kiltegan Fathers

( St Patrick's Missionary Society)

http://www.spms.org/stpatricksmissionarysociety

http://www.onefamilyinmission.org/

One of the works undertaken by legionaries in our praesidium is door to door visitation, an evangelising work in which we promote the Catholic faith mainly through the distribution of prayer cards.

We have obtained these and other types from St Patrick's Missionary Society in Kiltegan Co Wicklow and World Mission Ireland and these cards are currently being very well received in north Belfast households.

It's a battle nowadays, considering how minds young and old are bombarded with messages, not all of them good, and so we are attempting with the help of Our Lady to redress the balance by supplying simple but effective means of enabling souls to engage with God, their Father and friend.

Mass For Deceased Parishioners Sacred Heart Parish Belfast

2011-11-12T11:21:00.010Z

Beneath the Paschal Candle

Within the shadow of the Cross

The souls of the faithful were remembered.

http://www.sacredheartbelfast.com/

It was an emotional time but yet our coming together as one family and church community uplifted us in love. As you can see each family's loss was represented by the lighting of a candle and their clustering together under the Cross was a sign of great hope and unity.

Fr Ciaran Dallat PP commissioned new members for the Bethany Group, who together with Sr Carmel, provide support and comfort to the bereaved in the parish.

Thank you to all involved. It was greatly appreciated.

What Passing Bells For Those Who Die As Cattle?

2011-11-08T16:31:00.029Z

My Grandfather's name

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon The Fallen

Pozieres Memorial

Thanks to Anthony and Angela for the photos

Dear Ann:

I am very happy to hear that your grandfather may have known Fr Willie. I think that there is probably a very good chance that he knew him personally or that he at least met him; he certainly would have known of Fr Willie by reputation.

It is surprising how many emails I receive from people in the same situation as you. I received one recently from a woman whose grandfather's confession was heard by Fr Willie as he lay dying on the battlefield!

Have you read O'Rahilly's biography of Fr Willie? It is absolutely wonderful; if you enjoy the blog you will love that book. It is a really in depth analysis of Fr Willie's life and spirit, and brings him to life in a really vivid way. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/father-william-doyle-sj/15463211

Thank you for your likes and comments on facebook. Please tell more people about Fr Willie and promote the page to as many people as you can.

I have some prayer cards that i have printed myself; if you would like some please let me know.

Keep in touch

Regards PK http://fatherdoyle.com/

Beyond The Headlines

Then I saw the wild geese flying
In fair formation to their bases in Inchicore
And I knew these wings would outwear the wings of war
And a man’s simple thoughts outlive the day’s loud lying

Don’t fear, don’t fear, I said to my soul.
The Bedlam of Time is an empty bucket,
Tis you who will say in the end who best battles.
Only they who fly home to God have flown at all.

Patrick Kavanagh 1943

Lament for the Poets: 1916

I heard the Poor Old Woman say:
"At break of day the fowler came,
And took my blackbirds from their songs
Who loved me well thro' shame and blame.

'No more from lovely distances
Their songs shall bless me, mile by mile,
Nor to white Ashbourne call me down
To wear my crown another while.

"With bended flowers the angels mark
For the skylark the place they lie;
From there its little family
Shall dip their wings first in the sky.

"And when the first surprise of flight
Sweet songs excite, from the far dawn
Shall there come blackbirds loud with love,
Sweet echoes of the singers gone.

"But in the lovely hush of eve,
Weeping I grieve the silent bills,"
I heard the Poor Old Woman say
In Derry of the little hills.

Francis Ledwidge

Clarity

2011-11-06T20:47:00.004Z

St James Park London

Clarity

Unless I see with the clarity of the Christ-eye living in me, I will see people as the blind man saw them – as trees, walking. Lord, remove from my eyes all that blurs my vision, all that keeps me from recognising in the features of the other person , your presence as light to the world.

Missionaries Of The Most Holy Eucharist - Holy Family Parish Belfast

2011-11-03T09:37:00.007Z

God Gives Grace

To celebrate the 1st Anniversary of Eucharistic Adoration in Holy Family Parish and to thank our Eucharistic Lord for the many graces received we are happy to announce a mini-Mission, 29th October – 1st November.

Preacher – Rev David Nugent, Missionary of the Most Holy Eucharist.

http://www.mostholyeucharist.org/

http://www.holy-familyparish.com/

Deacon David brought fresh words of encouragement to all adorers and he urged us to pray, to ask God to allow us to experience and then increase a hunger to be in His presence.

All Souls

2011-11-02T09:36:00.006Z

Milltown Cemetery Belfast

“Never stop praying for the dead even if they are already in heaven,” she added. “Thomas Aquinas tells us that if a soul is already in heaven and we continue to pray for them, they receive ‘accidental glory,’ an increase in its intimacy with God and an increase in its intercessory power.”

Catholic author encourages prayers for souls in purgatory :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

All Saints Day

2011-11-01T09:46:00.008Z

St Anthony of Egypt

St James of Compostela

All Hallows Church London

The Glory From Within

I am moved to praise

Even before walls take on the regalia of the day

Even before the dark- eyed flowers open to his gaze

I am moved by love alone to praise.

I am stirred by a wind

The voice of God amid the din

Speaks to my soul even in suffering

I am moved to praise

The glory from within.

I am moved to praise as angels praise

As saints under that sinless powerful gaze

Blaze as flames of light, I ask of God

The grace to praise and praise

All that comes from him, from heaven's height.

Behind the convent walls

2011-10-31T09:44:00.001Z

Behind the convent walls

Healing Hands

2011-10-24T10:49:00.004+01:00

Holy Oils

Healing

Love purified is love refined

Poured over the gaping wound of another’s sighs

As the wind stings the eyes that try to smile

Bright as coins

Among rubble and plight

Heart speaks to heart

In words decipherable in darkness’s

Penned paragraphs of light.

Mission Sunday 2011

2011-10-21T21:41:00.007+01:00

http://www.spms.org/stpatricksmissionarysociety

http://www.zenit.org/article-31565?l=english

'As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.'

Pope Benedict's Message for Mission Sunday 2011

http://www.imu.ie/images/stories/IMU/pdf/the_missionary_rosary.pdf

Irish Missionary Union document on the Missionary Rosary

Supper

2011-10-19T10:12:00.012+01:00

Holy Family Church Belfast

http://www.holy-familyparish.com/

Supper

He came among them like one from another country

They did not know him – they who had known him well.

The talk was of strange happenings, excitement, and bewilderment

And they were compelled to tell

‘Have supper with us, stay and rest.’

At table the stranger’s face shone

And at the breaking of bread

They were one

The miracle of him impressed -

Their Lord, their master and their guest.

Autumn Poem

2011-10-16T14:02:00.011+01:00

Autumn

Even when the last leaf

Is past its clinging on

And tree after tree in the forest

Sings a soulful leafless song

The seedlings of the fruits of spring

Are dreams that are coming on

In a mulch of imagination

Round the mists of a watery dawn.

Soup Run

2011-10-15T10:52:00.004+01:00

I met my fellow legionary as arranged and she and I along with two workers from Rosemount House, a live-in centre for those recovering from alcohol or drug addiction- set out on the soup-run. Our driver and centre manager has been doing this run for ten years or more and knew exactly where to go to find the people we were looking for.

Our first stop was opposite the church where we congregated at the end of the Rosary Procession last Sunday. One man here welcomed the soup and bread – although the weather wasn’t too bad from our point of view it was probably bleak enough from his.

We went on then over to south of the city and again thanks to the driver we were able to locate four or five men who he knew by name and on this occasion we were able to offer them warm waterproof clothing and in one case a blanket.

We met only one group of women although we were told on other nights there can be more. Our second last stop was outside a night shelter where men stood in line awaiting overnight accommodation. Again, we shared soup and sandwiches and in one case tea with two sugars and after a brief chat we moved on to our last call which was to the house of a well-known and loved character in north Belfast.

All in all it was a very humbling experience for me. All I could think about as I was going to sleep was how these people who live on the streets look out from their world into a vast space from which they’re somewhat dislocated or displaced When we go to them we fill just a little bit of that space with the Christ light that is in us. The more we empty ourselves the more light will get in.

Legion Of Mary Rosary Procession Belfast 2011

2011-10-09T20:41:00.013+01:00

Fr Marius Dabrowski gave us his blessing as we left St John's

Fr Nevin Mill Hill Father led the prayers in St Agnes's

Fr Nevin likened our rosary procession to our journey through life, when we follow in the footsteps of the Master.

Wounds Of God

2011-10-09T19:34:00.008+01:00

Wounds Of God

God is with us -
We are as islands
Draped with beauty others cannot see
We look to heaven and pray
For graces to succeed in bringing Jesus
To hands that feed
To hearts that weep
And hunger for more than streets
To lean on in an hour of need

In secret worlds
Wounds bleed
As feet onward plod
And smart with pain
As real and wearing
As the wounds of God.

There Is Always Hope

2011-10-08T10:02:00.010+01:00

It does the heart good to remember that no matter where we are in this big world, no matter what our circumstance, no matter how far removed from God we might judge ourselves to be, there is always work going on behind the scenes, there is always hope.

Prayer rises like incense every minute, and just as daisies turn their faces towards the sun, voices sing to God, adorers kneel before the Lord, the God of Hosts, and heaven hears earth’s bells ringing.

Whether prayer is coming from a hospital or sick bed, from a small congregation gathered for morning Mass, or a monastery during the testing hours of night, all prayer is carried to the ear of God, to the heart of heaven. No-one can know for sure just who is receiving or will receive graces this day or who, awake or asleep, will be fortified against the raging world as he or she is blessed by God and enfolded in the mantle of love..

The Bible and the Beads - Our Lady of the Rosary

2011-10-06T16:34:00.005+01:00

http://www.stmarys-tallaght.ie/blogrosary/2011/08/30/the-bible-and-the-beads/

Fr Gabriel Harty OP

October - Mission Month

2011-10-04T14:09:00.006+01:00

http://www.spms.org/stpatricksmissionarysociety

http://www.legionofmary.ie/

The Legion now has a membership of four million active members and ten million auxiliary members.

Other reviewes have criticised Frank Duff , unfairly I think, for his subservience to the clergy. He believed totally in the necessity of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, and saw no point in acting apart from it or contributing in any way to its destruction. But he was no 'yes man' and fought his corner with stubborn determination while professing absolute loyalty to authority. In this he challenges Catholics today who are disillusioned by the institution. His message to such people would be to stay within the Church but to have the courage to challenge what needs to be challenged.

Excerpt from Fr Tom Kiggins's review of Frank Duff : A Life Story by Finola Kennedy.

This article appears in this month's issue of the Africa magazine. Fr Tom is a former editor.

October - The Month of the Rosary

2011-10-03T16:49:00.010+01:00

Holy Family Church Belfast

St Oliver Plunkett Church Belfast

The Rosary is Mary’s gift to us - a gift of mysteries to her children. Just as her Son brought light to the world, the mysteries of the rosary permeate the darkness to bring light to the very corners of our lives. Mysteries of suffering, joy, and glory are ours to meditate upon. We are uplifted, transported through time, brought beyond the boundaries of our own lives to the hill town of Judah or the hill of Calvary, to the lowliest and holiest of places, and accompanied by Mary every step of the way.

The Holy Guardian Angels

2011-10-02T10:50:00.004+01:00

The doctrine that every individual soul has a guardian angel has never been defined by the Church and so is not an article of faith, but it is present in both the Old and New Testaments. As Jesus says, See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always gaze on the face of my Father in heaven. Thus even little children have guardian angels, and these angels remain in the presence of God even as they fulfil their mission on earth.
Anciently, all angels were celebrated together on the feast of St Michael. A separate feast of the Guardian Angels began in Valencia in 1411. At the reform of the Breviary in the 16th century it was included among the local feasts, and it was raised to the status of a feast in the General Calendar in 1608, placed on the first free day after the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
One of the benefits of this feast is that it reminds us that God cares for us each, individually. We all know this in theory, but it is easy – in times of depression or temptation – to convince ourselves that we are too small to matter, for good or ill. Let us use this feast to remind ourselves that each of us has an angel of our very own looking after us; and also to pray to God for our own Guardian Angel. What a bore and a burden to them some of us are. May we one day be a cause of rejoicing for them also.( Universalis )

http://www.universalis.com/today.htm

St Therese of the Child Jesus

2011-09-30T14:24:00.009+01:00

http://www.carmelites.ie/Saints/thereseoflisieux.htm

http://www.ocd.ie/index.php/carmelite-saints/189.html

''The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul, one ray from His heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity.''

St Vincent de Paul

2011-09-26T08:27:00.007+01:00

St Vincent de Paul – Feast Day 27th September

O Glorious Saint Vincent de Paul,

the mention of your name,

suggests a litany of your virtues:

humility, zeal, mercy, self-sacrifice.

It also recalls your many foundations:

works of mercy, Congregations, Societies.

The Church gratefully remembers

your promotion of the Priesthood.

Inspire all charitable workers,

especially those who minister

to both the spiritually and materially poor.

O Lord, give us the grace

that you bestowed upon your servant, St Vincent de Paul,

to relinquish the temptation of material things,

in our holy effort, to minister to the poor.

Amen.

http://www.holy-familyparish.com/

His zeal for souls knew no limit; all occasions were to him opportunities to exercise it. When he died the poor of Paris lost their best friend and humanity a benefactor unsurpassed in modern times.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15434c.htm

Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble mistress, we must do whatever she commands. With renewed devotion, then, we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars. They have been given to us as our masters and patrons.

Divis Mountain Poem

2011-09-24T10:41:00.003+01:00

Divis Mountain

After twenty-seven years

We found ourselves alone again

This time on Divis Mountain

And something of God was revealed then

On our hearing

Lark song at invisible height

A first for me -

It seemed a thrilling gift of the air

As clear and sweet as could be dreamt of

On a Belfast hillside.

St Padre Pio

2011-09-22T19:08:00.001+01:00

"Peace is simplicity of heart, serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, the bond of love. Peace means order, harmony in our whole being: it means continual contentment springing from the knowledge of a good conscience; it is the holy joy of a heart in which God reigns. Peace is the way to perfection, indeed in peace is perfection to be found." .

The Strangest Thing

2011-09-19T15:13:00.004+01:00

Poor Clare Monastery Belfast

Something happened that changed everything. No-one knows precisely the hour, no-one witnessed who was there, but when the morning came, angels were seated on stones - what was sealed was open, the body that was inside was gone. It was the strangest thing – and it changed everything.

“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. And so she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him. . and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.”

John 20:1 – 2.12

We went out in twos in St Oliver Plunkett Parish Belfast

2011-09-17T19:28:00.012+01:00

http://www.stolivers.org/

This post is linked to the earlier one today. The response from parishioners/ residents was positive. Many admitted to being lapsed and seemed genuinely pleased at this form of outreach.

Next weekend will be the telling time of course, but then again the flyers we distributed contained many short well-chosen reasons outlining why church community was important, so even if there is no immediate response little seeds might well have been sown to blossom later.

Please continue to pray for Fr Martin Magill and all those involved in this initiative. More information is available at the link above.

The Ministering Of Angels

2011-09-17T11:37:00.001+01:00

Along avenues of uncertainty it’s not a case of God jumping out at us but rather his shining a gentle light into our darkness. Under tents of despair when nothing seems good or worthwhile a little bird four trees away can say enough to awaken something of the mystic in the soul. In a period of anxiety the touch of another human hand can be the touch of God, the ministering of angels.

Out In Pairs

2011-09-17T08:39:00.004+01:00

Holy Oils

Today we are going out in twos, legionaries and parishioners, to a parish on the other side of town at the invitation of the parish priest who has organised a Failte Ar ais – a Welcome Back Mass for parishioners who have been away from the Mass and other sacraments for some time.

Leaflets will be distributed but the parish priest wants us to engage with the people we meet and extend a warm invitation to each household as we move from door to door.

There are over 2000 homes to be visited and before we set out we are called to an hour of Eucharistic Adoration, and while we are out others will remain in Adoration praying for the success of this endeavour.

Please pray. More later…plus photos.

Our Lady Of Sorrows Poem

2011-09-15T11:17:00.005+01:00

Our Lady Of Sorrows

Intimate as woven threads

Our prayer and hers

Her tears the beads we tell

Her heart a home

Of mercy and of fire

That nourishes, consoles

Among life’s pointed thorns

The healing rose.

The Exaltation Of The Holy Cross

2011-09-13T13:05:00.010+01:00

The Exaltation Of The Cross

Over wounds it has triumphed

Over nails

Over thorns borne deep

Through the ages it has triumphed

Through the long sleep

Of souls, of hearts turned cold

Of love spurned

It has stood

As symbol of love

Unshakeable

The earth's most holy rood

Most rare profundity

That softens with embrace

Its centre flowing,

Its veins to our veins traced.

The Light Of Life

2011-09-11T14:25:00.005+01:00

To the right you can see a lantern - one of many that lit up the Belfast sky last night in memory of those who died by suicide.

In this materialistic 'nothing short of perfect will do' world, little mending gets done anymore. Time was when things broke, they were mended, patched, darned, orwhatever it took. Nowadays much gets thrown out or discarded and often because of something quite fixable.

And when it comes to life, to actual living, what happens when someone comes up against a wall? When there’s no instant fix, no replacement, no method of coping what do they do? Sadly, the answer is all too evident.

Life is not something to be thrown away when things go wrong. Life is a gift, a most marvellous gift and no-one is born with all the necessaries to keep the fire lit or to make things perfect. We will never be perfect in this world but our imperfection should be what unites us and God the giver of life is the one person in whom we can place absolute trust.

We may be damaged, broken or weighed down but on good days, we are children of light, born of God and in him and through him we can make our way through the darkness of night.

We have not been left orphans, God is present to us in others, and we are assured that when we pray He will hear our prayer and will come to our aid. But we must wait and in that waiting time we need to listen for it is in the opening of a window that light gets in, and is is through listening that much can be heard.

Homecoming Poem

2011-09-11T11:52:00.003+01:00

Homecoming

I have wandered

Far from the camp

Distanced myself from the fire

Lost the gifted sense of direction

But out there somewhere

There is a soul at prayer

And somehow that dialogue

With God

Will have such power to turn my feet

And I will walk

To where he waits

And he will run to greet me.

Duc In Altum - Put Out Into The Deep

2011-09-11T10:06:00.005+01:00

Duc In Altum - Put Out Into The Deep

Go forth on purple swell

Be as unwavering as heavenly streams of light

Take with you only that which is of God

Go forth on purple swell

And when your work is done

Your deeds will tell

Of one that listened

And listened well.

A Cause For Celebration for Legion of Mary in Down and Connor

2011-09-06T12:31:00.025+01:00

Holy Family Church Belfast

Legion of Mary 1000th Comitium Celebration

St Anne and the child Mary Milltown Cemetery

St Therese of Lisieux Church Belfast

Antiochian Church of St Ignatius Belfast

Lourdes Grotto Victoria Barracks New Lodge Road Belfast

Mass to celebrate the 1000^th meeting of the Legion of Mary Comitium in Down and Connor

Holy Family Church, Belfast

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

September 4^th 2011

Bishop Donal Mckeown

Many years ago when I was a seminarian, we had opportunities for lots of experiences that broadened our horizons. On Saturdays, we worked with VSB fixing up houses for elderly people. During the summer it was normal to offer a week to looking after groups of children at the St Vincent DePaul house at Knockinelder near Portaferry. I experienced a year teaching in Germany, and a summer working in a factory in Italy. But one of the highlights of my eight years in seminary was the week spent in summer 1970 on PPC in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire. A week knocking doors – during the 1970 World Cup – certainly stretched my comfort zone. As some of you will know, it is not easy to keep ringing doorbells, explaining that you are from the local Catholic parish and asking whether they would be interested in finding out more about Catholicism. And I would never have done that work had it not been for the remarkable spiritual zeal that has driven and animated the Legion of Mary. So today, on this 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary time I am grateful to be here to celebrate the energy that drove Frank Duff, the idealism that inspired people like Edel Quinn and the faithful spirit of generosity that has driven generations of people here and abroad to call people to faith and to support them on their journey of spiritual warfare.

In these weeks, we celebrate not just the 1000^th meeting of the Down and Connor Comitium and the 84^th anniversary of your presence in this diocese, but also the 90^th anniversary of the Legion’s foundation. The first enrolment of legionaries took place almost exactly 90 years ago on September 7^th 1921, the eve of the Nativity of Our Lady.

Those were very difficult times on this island, south and north. The previous decade had been marked by armies of various sorts – IRB, UVF and of course the tens of millions of young lives slaughtered in the inhuman trenches of the First World War. The LoM was born with a different sort of warfare in mind – as the Handbook says, “the warfare which is perpetually waged by the Church against the world and its evil powers.[1]” Just as the Roman legionaries who nailed Jesus to the Cross were met with faith, hope and love by Jesus’ mother and the few others who stood at the foot of the Cross on Calvary, so too the Legion which bears her name – and which was initially known as the Association of Our Lady of Mercy – seeks to meet human sin and stupidity, not with the inherently brutal weapons of war, but with faith, hope and love, often despite apparently overwhelming odds and strong opposition. It seeks to model the faithfulness of the God who so loved the world that he sent his only Son (Jn 3:16), born of a woman (Gal 4:4) to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). This is not a movement that is based on hatred and condemnation of the world but one built on a desire to defeat the powers of evil that would imprison people in sin and make them unable to be open to Jesus’ dream of having life and having it to the full, her and hereafter. (Cf Jn 10:10)

Again, as the handbook says, like Mary you have as your object the glory of God through the holiness of the members developed by prayer.[2] Like Mary, your soul glorifies the Lord and, even in difficult times, your spirit rejoices in God our Saviour, for holy is his name. (cf p133) Mary is the model for your ministry in the service of her Son. As the preface for the feast of the Assumption tells us, Mary is “the beginning and pattern of the Church in its perfection, and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way”. She is one of us and in her company we can see her Son through the eyes of the one who loved him and accompanied him on all his ministry. Mary was there from the beginning of Jesus life. To use the vocabulary of Hans Urs von Balthasar (taken up by Pope John Paul II nearly 25 years ago), the church has a Marian profile even before it has a Petrine profile – even though both are complementary.[3] In other words, an ecclesial body that does not prioritise its identity as the Body of Christ will tend to fail either to acknowledge the role of Mary as the one who bore the Body of Christ, or to recognise the essentially communitarian dimension of Christian faith.

And it is precisely that idea of the Church as a community of believers that has been at the heart of our Gospel readings for the last few weeks. A fortnight ago, Jesus was clear to Peter that he would build his Church on rock and that the huge responsibility for what Jesus called binding and unbinding would be given to the Body of Christ, the Church. Last week, Jesus pointed out to an uncomprehending Peter that discipleship meant the Cross and being open to see things through God’s eyes and not just through human ones. Today, we have clear reference in all our scripture readings to the fact that we are responsible for the spiritual welfare of each other – and that theology has been at the heart of the Legion’s work. So this Gospel reading fits in very well with what Chapter 9 of the handbook states about our membership of the Mystical Body of Christ who received his physical body from Mary. You have believed that faith and belief are not just a personal life style choice but the core question that everyone must be asked. As Paul says elsewhere, if people have not heard the Good News of God’s love and its call for repentance, how can they respond to it? (Romans 10:14-15). You want to make Jesus known, especially to many who need Good news in their lives – those who are scorned and judged on the margins such as the homeless, addicts and street workers. Indeed, in that very passage Paul also refers to a verse from Psalm 18/19:4 which might be used to mirror the life of the Legion “Their voice goes out to all the earth, their words to the utmost bounds of the world”. The Legion of Mary, as we all know from our monthly bulletins has inspired people around the world and is to be found in the most u expected of places.

However, we have also recognise that, though the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and its fullness (Handbook p 52), it is also a Church that shares humanity’s capacity to sin. We have to acknowledge that we live and work in the context of fallen human beings. The Church does not have to be defended as if it were perfect. We are forgiven sinners. Our culture tends to see either terrible sinners or wonderful heroes. What is missing is the idea of forgiveness and reconciliation that allows people to fall and to be reincorporated into the Body of Christ. Perhaps the forgiveness and mercy of God is a core message that we have to keep proclaiming humbly to a world that finds it hard to believe that we can escape from the prison of the past and dream God’s dream of a future filled with hope. We seek therefore to move beyond the old traditional ‘good church/bad world’ language and react with courage to the ‘bad church/good world’ caricature that we get in much modern culture.

This is an important time and a crucial time of grace in this diocese and this country.

Earlier this year, the Irish Bishops launched Share the Good News, the national directory on catechesis. Know that document because it provides national guidance on how we seek to hand on the faith in an organised way in an environment very different from that of Ireland decades ago.

Next year we have the International Eucharistic Congress, which focuses

IEC 2012 on the core Christian call to be in communion with Christ and with one another. Pope Benedict echoed that theme at WYD just two weeks ago in front of 2 million people in Madrid. I quote:

Let me urge you to strengthen this faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles. Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life. But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. Anyone who would be tempted to do so “on his own”, or to approach the life of faith with that kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus.

In 2013, on the basis of the widespread Listening Exercise in Down and Connor,

[1] Handbook, P.9

[2] Handbook, p.11

[3] "This link between the two profiles of the Church, the Marian and the Petrine, is therefore profound and complementary. This is so even though the Marian profile is anterior not only in the design of God but also in time, as well as being supreme and pre-eminent, richer in personal and communitarian implications for individual ecclesial vocations" (Address to the Roman Curia, 22 Dec. 1987 n. 2; L'Osservatore Romano, p.6 English edition, 11 Jan. 1988, p. 6).

Ask And You Shall Receive

2011-09-01T20:56:00.003+01:00

Grace upon grace accumulates for the want of the asking and so, I humbly ask. I need God. I need all the graces He is willing to bestow on me, I need a life of prayer, a rock on which to build my house. I have nothing that I can call my own, all is from Him.

Make of my soul a dwelling place, O Lord. Furnish it with your love; enlighten my mind so that I may discern your will for me, as I journey with you through life. Allow me to see in the littlest the greatness of you.

Banish from me all things that bring disgrace, all actions that bring dishonour to your holy name, and any unkindness that disfigures the face of love and casts long shadows over the brightness of joyful living, in you.

My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts

2011-08-31T17:42:00.006+01:00

Church Of The Immaculate Conception Rathlin Island

My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways – it is the Lord who speaks.

Yes, the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways,

my thoughts above your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9

We Need To Be Angels...

2011-08-30T21:39:00.004+01:00

"We need to be angels for each other, to give each other strength and consolation. Because only when we fully realize that the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow but also a cup of joy will we be able to drink it."

Henri Nouwen

A Time To Listen

2011-08-30T08:21:00.003+01:00

Today is a day for listening.

In The Room

2011-08-29T10:14:00.001+01:00

Imagine the scene where a bishop of the Church finds himself in a room with a man who is wielding a knife and threatening to kill an infant. Human nature being what it is the bishop will not hesitate to move to disarm the man and save the baby. But what happens when the bishop is three blocks away, four miles away? Distance can change things; removal from reality alters what should not be altered. But the truth is still the truth and all of us, from the highest to the lowest are IN THE ROOM when it comes to the protection of life.

Rathlin Island

2011-08-24T11:47:00.013+01:00

Rathlin Island

Westwards, past the harbour, buzzards soar silently
Above hills of abounding heather.
Beyond the meadowsweet of marshland
And mallard of fresh water,
We reach, by rough road, the Bull Light.
Castellated sea stacks are nesting sites
For fulmars and kittiwakes,
Whose incessant soulful cries
Drown out the wash below.
An endless rancid rise of fish oils
Invades the nostrils,
While eyes and mind take in
The bastion that is the West Light,
Built with fearlessness and skills honed against
The hacking chillness of a might
That floored a thousand wrecks,
And hoarded bone on bone.
These islanders knew suffering:
The repeated bloodlust of invaders,
A people slaughtered almost to a man.
From Cnoc na Scridlin, on stormy nights
A relentless sound of wailing
Is carried downhill by the wind
Lest the living should forget
An ancestry thinned to a bloodline
A heritage enshrined in island pride.

The Queenship Of Mary

2011-08-21T20:42:00.005+01:00

The Evening of the Visitation

Go, roads, to the four quarters of our quiet distance,

While you, full moon, wise queen,

Begin your evening journey to the hills of heaven,

And travel no less stately in the summer sky

Than Mary, going to the house of Zachary.

The woods are silent with the sleep of doves,

The valleys with the sleep of streams,

And all our barns are happy with peace of cattle gone to rest.

Still wakeful, in the fields, the shocks of wheat

Preach and say prayers:

You sheaves, make all your evensongs as sweet as ours,

Whose summer world, all ready for the granary and barn,

Seems to have seen, this day,

Into the secret of the Lord's Nativity.

Now at the fall of night, you shocks,

Still bend your heads like kind and humble kings

The way you did this golden morning when you saw God's

Mother passing,

While all our windows fill and sweeten

With the mild vespers of the hay and barley.

You moon and rising stars, pour on our barns and houses

Your gentle benedictions.

Remind us how our Mother, with far subtler and more holy

influence,

Blesses our rooves and eaves,

Our shutters, lattices and sills,

Our doors, and floors, and stairs, and rooms, and bedrooms,

Smiling by night upon her sleeping children:

O gentle Mary! Our lovely Mother in heaven.

Thomas Merton

Witnesses To The Ends Of The Earth

2011-08-18T17:32:00.004+01:00

What are we if not witnesses?

What good is it to receive into our souls the body and blood of Christ for us to leave him there? Unless we then go out and bring that body and that blood to others we are defeating the purpose of the Eucharist. We are a family of believers, we gather in order to disperse, we multiply in order to divide, and our work is mission. To the ends of the earth we are called. We are God’s witnesses, no less. The ends of the earth for us might be no further than our own home or place of work or any other station where we can be witnesses to our faith. We may see little change, we may hear little difference but it is good to remember that seeds germinate underground and the hidden works of grace are as plentiful as fruit at harvest time, as numberless as stars.

Feast Of The Assumption In Pictures

2011-08-15T18:12:00.008+01:00

Our Lady of the Assumption Church Newcastle Co Down

Parish of Maghera grotto

Parishioners and Legion of Mary members pray the rosary after morning Mass

Sacred Heart Shrine

The Mournes in morning light

The Promenade

The Wonderful Gift of Life

2011-08-12T18:07:00.003+01:00

This statue is over one hundred years old. It has seen better days. It's dusty, faded, worn and chipped and yet I cannot say that it is not beautiful.

To me it represents us as we go through life. We take the knocks, we stand alone at times. We bear the cross and yet we never give in. We age and we become worn inside and out, but we draw from the hidden source, we drink from the spring and we are nourished by the bread of life.

Seasons change, aspects change, appearances often deceive and yet in the weakest and most feeble of frames there may dwell a most robust spiritual being.

Life is fragile, but in all its stages, it is the most wonderful gift of God and we honour Him by cherishing what has been given us. We guard it all our days.