Pause, ponder and praise God☀️🙏🏻

 

In the evening of life you will be examined in love. Learn then to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own ways of acting’. (St. John of the Cross)

One dear lady from our St. Anne’s Holy Rosary group passed away and I got invited to watch her funeral Holy Mass on television with her friends. I pray Holy Rosary with them twice every week so this was very precious for me. Afterwards I got to enjoy lunch with them all. 

We ate in silence, not one word uttered throughout. No discussing, no grumbling, no asking questions. Movingly beautiful even now, many hours later. Not a sullen silence, far from it!! Elderly folk happy with their lot needing nothing more than they what they possessed in the sacred moment.

Meal over, we prayed Holy Rosary together and sang hymns. Lots of laughter too as always. Humour never in short supply. 

So beautiful every moment. Getting older doesn’t scare me and that is for sure. Of course it is not all plain sailing, there are challenges, but there’s a freedom too. With acceptance there is peace. 

Perhaps it is never too early to begin letting go of stuff. I love St. Mother Teresa’s quote;

‘Accept whatever God gives you and give whatever God takes from you with a smile’.

As we refresh others, God will refresh us☀️🙏🏻

‘If you’re in trouble or hurt or need - go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help - the only ones’. (John Steinbeck/The grapes of wrath (1939)

I had the privilege of meeting with him twice, on my way to see my family and on my return home journey. Same place both times. Large bottle of cider at his feet, just sitting there. I had actually passed him by but returned offering him my prayer. He gladly accepted kissing it before he placed it in his pocket. ‘Have you any spare change, I don’t like to ask’, he said. Of course I shared my widow’s mite. Everyone needs money!! I asked him to please pray for me, he said he would and I knew he meant it.

Next day I told him; ‘I’m Bridget. I gave you my prayer yesterday’. ‘Indeed you did’, he replied smiling, ‘It is in my room and I prayed it this morning. I will pray for you and your family Mam’. 

I shared my widow’s mite with him again. The way he looked at me uttering: ‘God Bless you. Thank you for your kindness’. Spending that little time in his company, pure gold to my heart.

I would have loved to stay awhile, hear what he might say, but like others in his predicament, (I have found), he has no need of company. His neediness is well and truly over. Low expectations. No paper ‘spare change’ cup by his side!! He wears the world lightly.

Walking on, my heart was sad. Folk dashing past, going about their business, hither and thither. My friend invisible in plain sight! If only they would see him, even a furtive glance in his direction. Oh they would not have walked away empty handed. I most certainly did not!

Yes, Jesus was sitting alone on the cold cement, hidden in plain sight, waiting to bless us all……

‘Do not turn your face away from any poor man and the Face of God will not be turned away from you’.     (Tobit 4:7)

The Lord takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.☀️🙏🏻

‘Let every action of mine be something beautiful for God’. (Saint Mother Teresa’s motto)

Hobbling along on crutches he joined the queue as we waited on our bus. He enquired, of no one in particular, if he could get on first because of his predicament. We were happy to oblige. He began to talk with a lady just in front of me, they both kindly included me in their interesting conversation. I love impromptu encounters. We introduced ourselves. 

He lost his leg in an accident. His own fault, drugs! He accepts his lot (He didn’t for a long time) but life is tough. I offered them both my prayer. They happily accepted. She said; ‘This is meant to be’. He told us that one time he was a committed atheist but not anymore.

Bus arrived, we got on. He sat up front talking a lot (to anyone and everyone) and loudly, all the way. Something really nice about him, full of drama and perhaps deep trauma. God only knows!

Time to get off the off bus and as I walked by him (he waited until last); I said; ‘ Goodby now, Name, I hope it all works out for you’. I will never forget what happened next. He looked at me like he had never really heard his name being spoken before, like he was being seen for the very first time in his short life. His face completely transformed, softer, he uttered; ‘You are such a sweet person. I have your prayer. Thank you’.

Stepping down from the bus I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I had witnessed something unforgettably miraculous. Jesus and that young troubled man came face to face right before my very eyes on a Bus Eireann bus in the middle of the afternoon.

‘In the heart of everyone there is a hunger for God’. (Mother Angelica)

Jesus, all for Jesus☀️🙏🏻

Everything we say and do is through Jesus, with Jesus and in Jesus. Amen

Twenty years ago, just after moving into our compact humble cottage, we sat around one night, my guys I do life with and me. They were busy planning much needed repairs, should ever any money come our way. I was in my own world not taking part at all until one of them blurted out; ‘First thing we’ll do is take that picture down’ and of course I sprang into action. ‘He is going nowhere’, I replied, referring of course to our wonderful Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

They got me!! Again!! To this day we laugh about it. Yes, repairs have come and gone, guys are grown, and still thank God, our Sacred Heart picture remains where first it touched down. Our compact cold cottage, once an igloo, is now an incubator. We have been truly blessed.

Today is the beautiful feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus. When I reminded Ruairi of today’s exalted feast day, adding, ‘He’s going nowhere’. Ruairi’s reply; ‘Ha, He certainly isn’t’.

The joy of the Lord is our strength, always has been, laughter got us through many many hard times, by winding means, enveloping us like a cozy blanket as the thunder rolled. We are beyond grateful.

                              ‘Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God’. (Leon Bloy)

             ‘It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world’. (St. Aloysius Gonzaga)

After Holy Mass every morning I go outside discarding water (not Holy water) left over from Holy Alter. One parishioner asked me if I was blessing the folk outside! When I told another parishioner what she asked me, she replied roaring laughing; ‘You’re crazy but you’re not that crazy’. 😂

Dear lady upset and confused about oh so many things. We sat in the Holy Oratory awhile in silence and then, impromptu, her beautiful face lit up as she uttered, face aglow; ‘Isn’t He just georgous!’ gazing lovingly on beautiful Jesus. Yes, for sure, children and folk enduring dementia, see Jesus with unvarnished clarity!

.

God governs everything ☀️🙏🏻

 

‘We breathe, we eat, we sleep, only for one reason - to serve Him whom our hearts love’.

 (Catherine Doherty)

She came towards me, just after Holy Mass this morning. Cheerful, smiling, and yet plain to see that she has suffered beyond words and is suffering still. Hard not to cry. Hard still, many hours later.

Right there before my very eyes, Beautiful broken Body of Jesus in the person of this dear lady. What a privilege for me. When I offer her a brand new Holy Bible she almost cries. Everything else, how ever much needed, paling into insignificance when compared with her Holy Bible. ‘I have found a mother in a strange land’, she whispers.

Thank you Father God for my vocation. Thank you Jesus for walking with me every step. Thank you Holy Spirit for Your Gladsome light.

Our group ‘Blankeriers’ to the rescue as always. Together we are strong. God owns everything, we are merely His stewards.

Somebody once said; ‘God is No.1. We are, all of us, rich, poor, No. 2. No need for competing. We will never be No.1’. Sobering thought!!

Holy Mass every morning. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament one whole hour after Holy Mass. Holy Rosary before Holy Mass. Total toolkit from on-High.

Saint Mother Teresa is so right; ‘Without God we are too poor to help the poor’

Dear fragile lady’s gift to my heart. Deeper knowing that God is in control, we do not have to be. Mutually illuminating encounter was ours.

I am sorely tempted to mention my disgust at the madding crowd protesting against arrival and safety of folk like fragile lady in our island of Ireland but I shall refrain from doing so. (No protestations in our town Thank God)

Keep my eyes upon Jesus! God sees all!! Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

Two joyful elderly ladies all the way from Ukraine sat chatting on a bench beneath this mural as I strolled home. I asked if they would like me to photograph them in such a splendid scene. (On their own cellphones). They were delighted. Made me so happy! Cead Mile Failte - One hundred thousand welcomes!!

‘Every man is your brother, every woman your sister, every child, your child. You are to know no difference of race, colour or creed. One is your Father, and all ye are brethren’. 

(Jesus/God calling)

Hail Mary, full of Grace…☀️🙏🏻

‘When we pray the Rosary, we are gazing into the mysteries of Christ with our Lady.’. (Fr. Hugh Gillespie)

‘Our Lady loves hearing us pray the Hail Mary. Of all the Marian prayers that exist, that is the one most pleasing to her because that is the one by which Heaven spoke, won her heart and filled her with the incarnate Word. When she hears it she recalls the greatness of that moment. Fr. De Montfort highly recommends a certain degree of affection simply for saying the Hail Mary, by itself’. (Fr. Hugh Gillespie)

Wow!! In our beautiful St. Anne’s Holy Rosary group, each and every resident prays a Hail Mary. Some pray a whole decade, others pray a half-decade, while many pray just one Hail Mary. In fact anyone present, staff, visitors, all pray one Hail Mary. 

We offer Mother Mary a rose (Hail Mary) in her honour. Attached to that beautiful rose are the special intentions that burden our hearts. (Thorns). Mother Mary brings our simple bouquet to beautiful Jesus and so for a while, we relax, knowing in our deepest hearts that our cares are in the Best of Hands. Our Blessed Mother has one desire and one desire only, to lead us to intimate union with Her Son, Jesus Christ.

Joe, elderly resident declared one time; ‘Now we have no worries. We can enjoy a free afternoon’. 

What joy it is to know that our beautiful Mother Mary loves the Hail Mary so very much. We had no idea!

Thank you Father Hugh from our deepest hearts.

‘Mary Most Holy, in her simplicity and humility, reflects the beauty of the Triune God, because she fully welcomed Jesus into her life. May she sustain our faith; May she make us worshippers of God and servants of our brothers and sisters.”. (Our late Holy Father, Pope Francis)

Elderly lady told me recently that when her Dad died, more than sixty years ago, she and her siblings were very young. As they sat with their heartbroken Mom around his coffin, my dear Dad came by. He knelt in prayer for a moment before uttering; ‘Let us pray the Rosary for the man of the house’. There and then, elderly lady and I shed tears of gratitude to God for our blessed humble rich lives.

‘The chair of St. Peter was vacant after the death of our dear Pope. We entered into a time where the seat is vacant. Sense of loss! Not a Father on the chair. There’s something missing’. (Father’s homily EWTN). Reminding me of returning home from work after my dear Dad died and witnessing his empty chair. No Dad on the chair. Long years have come and gone and yet that precious memory steadfastly remains fixed in my deepest heart.

‘We were never poor. We just didn’t have any money’. (Johnny Mathis)

‘Beauty takes Truth and Goodness and gives it clothes, gives it form, gives it something we can recognise. Beauty gives us warmth and light’. (Stefan Novinski)

‘Fr. De Montfort highly recommends that we pray this beautiful Magnificat after we have received Holy Communion precisely because that is the first prayer ever said by one who is enclosing God within her. In no small measure when we receive Holy Communion, Christ is within us too. So, who better to teach us how to make a good act of thanksgiving than our Lady who actually offers the original act of thanksgiving for holding the Lord within’. (Fr. Hugh Gillespie)

‘St. Louis Marie De Montfort saw the Rosary as something like spiritual rain. One Hail Mary at a time, softening our hearts so the seed of the word would fall on prepared soil’. (Fr. Hugh Gillespie)

Voyage of discovery in the Gladsome Light of Christ☀️🙏🏻

                            ‘My God, as long as I live, I am Your servant’. (St. Gertrude of Helfta)

Young girl serving us tea and scones seemed really sad. I could not help overhearing her tell another lady; ‘Yes, I am really tired. Long working hours late into the night’.  My heart went out to her. When I went to pay she was there again smiling brightly but still sad. ‘Would you like a beautiful morning prayer I love to share’, I ask. Never before have I witnessed such startling surprise in my prayer offering. ‘I really need this today’, she utters, on the verge of tears. We chatted some more. Unforgettable encounter at 9AM.

Young man on bicycle. Another unforgettable impromptu blessing. What a chat we enjoyed. His dear mother had just passed from this world and his poor heart is shattered. Before she died she told him that if he would not take life easier he will never ‘make old bones’. What wisdom! He attended Holy Mass next morning in our Church and he intends to be much more intentional in his Faith journey going forward. 

Lady told me that when she walked away from alcohol one year ago, my words to her at that time were; ‘You are about to embark on the most exhilarating adventure of your life. Walking with Jesus is beyond beautiful’. Yes, it is true - for both she and me. Alcohol is the supreme light squasher!

Three young folk came into our Church as I was setting up Holy Alter for Holy Mass. Italian, I learned. They were taking photographs on their smartphones. They happily, (shocked) accepted my beautiful morning prayer and one young girl said smilingly, in all seriousness; ‘You are very kind’. 

I love telling, in particular to our precious young folk, that I am a grandmother who loves to share what I know and believe without question or doubt to be totally true and totally thrilling. I say too that if each and every one of us would do something nice every day, our world will become nicer! Simple!

‘Thank God for praying grandma’s. They’re going to get you and you can’t get out of their prayers’. (Young man on YouTube).

Elderly man who replied to my prayer offering; ‘Oh I don’t know! I don’t pray at all girl’, took my prayer anyway.

I read one time; ‘We don’t have to wait for pie in the sky when we die. We can have cake on our plate while we wait!’. Exactly right!

Walking with Jesus, adventure extraordinaire!

‘May the Grace of God uphold you. May the Father’s Love enfold you. May the Holy Spirit guide you, with joy and peace now and to eternity . Amen (Old Irish Blessing)

                   ‘Look around and be distressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest’. (Corrie Ten Boom)

I awoke one morning singing; ‘Wherever I be is fine by me’. I had been ruminating over the fact that while my time in Medugorje was magnificent on so many levels, being home again is awesome too. Spending time with my dear sons and their families, sitting in prayer with my St.Anne’s Holy Rosary group, Holy Mass and Adoration of the most Blessed Sacrament in our Church every morning, joyful prayer-sharing encounters, getting to serve folk, scribbling these heartfelt lines ……

Yes, Holy Trinity One God, fulfils our heart’s every desire! With the passage of time it becomes clearer and clearer that all we really need to do is SHOW UP! Circle of love which is the Blessed Trinity.

Walking with Jesus, (our elder Brother), all the way home to Father God, in the Light of Holy Spirit. That’s the journey!!

 ‘The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father’. (St. John Paul 11)

                                                  Seven days without prayer makes one weak!

❤️🙏🏻

‘Taking Christ in us wherever He wants us to go to, being where He wants us to be, being what He wants us to be’. (Carlyle Houselander)