“Love one another as I have love you”. (John 13:34)

Handsome ‘fast asleep’ man, sprawled across the table, his rugged face steeped in bad decisions. My seat just across the aisle. Manual worker, bag of utensils by his side. After some time he awoke, tad confused, talking to himself. Self-soothing.

Reaching for his phone he began to play the most amazing songs. Dancing kind!! He took a drink from his can of alcohol too, still happily talking to himself. At the same time, his nimble fingers perfectly timing the beat, as they danced on the tabletop. The guy could dance!! No doubt about that.

My time to get off the train, he was staying on. ‘Thankyou for the music’, I told him. Wow!! What a transformation!! ‘Thankyou’, he replied, startled but extremely happy. There it is in vivid display!! To be seen, known and ultimately loved is the deepest desire of every human heart!!

He admired my Rosary beads, his own Rosary beads tying the top of his work bag together. He proudly pointed that out to me. Happily he accepted my prayer. The way he said; ‘Thankyou Bridget’, shall linger in my heart for the longest time. Sheer beauty!!

‘You can dance’, I said to which he replied, chuffed; ‘I can indeed’.

‘We’ll meet in Heaven’, I said. ‘Yes’, he replied, ‘I’ll wait for you at the gate. I will be playing the music’. 

My next train, something very similar occurred. Another gentleman joined me, bearing shiny laptop and classy man-bag. Wonderful encounter yet again, prayer shared, and yes definitely!!  To be seen known and ultimately loved, transcends class, colour and creed.

We are all God’s children and life is beautiful.

‘Always be impartial and just in your deeds. Put yourself into your neighbour’s place, and him in yours and then you will judge fairly. Frequently, therefore, examine your heart, whether it is so disposed toward your neighbour, as you would have his disposed towards you, were you to change places; for this is the true test’. (St. Francis de Sales)

Pretty ladybird☀️

Confirmation of my vocation☀️🙏🏻

‘Life has a simple formula; Look back and thank God. Look ahead and trust God’.

Until this morning I have not had the faintest desire to put pen to paper, but, thanks be to God, today there’s a change! On many levels I feel like I am emerging into undeserved sunlight. Rip Van Winkle comes to mind!! What a Mighty God we serve! 

Copious prayers shared as I journeyed through my road of uncertainty, proving beyond doubt that Jesus does everything all the time. No wonder it has probably been my most productive period since my vocation journey began some years ago. 

‘Christ has no body now but yours’. (St. Teresa of Avila)

This morning on my way to Church, affable young man calls me; ‘Hello Bridget. You gave me a prayer a few years ago’. He lives in another county many miles away. Confirmation of my blessed vocation!!

Just home from Medugorje. (Probably my tenth time). I know and believe without question or doubt that myriad graces and blessings shower us while in that sacred space and after we return home too. Slow release!! 

Probably my most memorable encounter was when I asked friendly lady security guard in foreign airport to help me secure Wi-Fi. She was so kind. Afterwards Holy Spirit prompt to share my prayer with her. Oh I did not want to do it but as always I found myself walking in her direction. What ensued will abide with me forever. Holy Spirit goosebumps engulfed us both and tears were shed. Unforgettable!!

Holy Spirit words to my heart one time, really spoke to dear lady’s heart, (and to all who hear them) ; ‘Pray it every morning. I cannot promise you that nothing will be wrong but you will be strong’. 

Journeying to Medugorje from deepest Kerry and home again, long and arduous. Medugorje September sunshine beautiful but thoroughly intense and exhausting. Many challenges!! I would do it all again though just to witness that beautiful encounter and many others too. We don’t know what God knows!!

We can be weak because Jesus is strong!! We just need to show up!!

I got to sing at Holy Mass while in Medugorje. My joy to sing in my own Church here at home most days. One lady told me that it seemed as if I was not singing at all as there was no effort involved. I replied as I always do; ‘I simply hold the microphone, Jesus sings’. Not everyone believes me but I speak the truth from my deepest heart.

I got to sing three songs while travelling on a bus to the airport. Pilgrims request!! While there is breath in my body I will not refuse what God has freely gifted me.

‘May the Holy Spirit enkindle you with the fire of His love so that you may persevere, unfailingly in the love of His service. Thus you may merit to become, at last, a living stone in the celestial Jerusalem’. 

(St. Hildegard Von Bingen)

My prayer on display in a compact cafe in Medugorje .

‘Father God, if You brought me to it I know You will bring me through it’. (Docter Robert/Youtube) 

Love it!!

                                                                       Jackie and me.🌟

Praise be to God for the pain☀️🙏🏻

Perfect wisdom this day as I hobble along in the throes of sciatica. ‘God might be late but He is always on time’, someone somewhere coined one time and that is a fact.

Before today it would have fallen on deaf ears! My friend Jay too could not have heard it before today. God’s amazing Grace is always given at the right time.

Oh how I love you, Holy Trinity, One God.

‘Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well’. (John 6:33)

Raise our gaze☀️🙏🏻

‘I have been young and now am old; yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread’. (Psalm 37:25)

‘One day at a time. This is very important. Very often we exhaust ourselves going over the past again and again and also our fears about the future. But when we live in the present moment, we mysteriously find strength. We have the grace to live through what we encounter today. If tomorrow we must face more difficult situations, God will increase His grace. God’s grace is given at the right time for it, day by day’. (Jacques Philippe)

This beautiful wisdom dramatically shifted the gaze of a floundering friend today. Darkness to light in one fell swoop. Thank you from my deepest heart Father Jacques Philippe. Our dear Pope Leo tells us to ‘raise our gaze’. I love this!! Instead of trying to forget or ignore, simply hop over it!! gaze upward!! Really works!!

I became 70 years of age. I love my life. According to Father Rollheiser, upon reaching this time of life, most of us are one of the following: (we can embrace change of course. Never too late!!)

1) Pathetic old fool. 2) Angry old fool. or 3) Holy old fool.

The first one wishes always to be younger. Second one is just plain angry at many things. Third one is happy living life in the Gladsome Light of Christ. (Paraphrasing)

Happy I am to be a Holy old fool. 

‘He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is asking; he who works and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing’. (St. Philip Neri)

Granny with a laminator☀️🙏🏻

‘Thou will always rejoice in the evening if thou spend the day profitably’. 

(St. Thomas A. Kempis/Imitation of Christ)

My voice has returned, what a gift from God. I shall mind it. I shall appreciate it like purest gold and above all I shall thank God with every fibre of my being all the time.

Today’s beautiful prayer-sharing encounters might never have come to pass. Yes, I would share my prayer but no joyful sharings. No laughter!! What a loss!!

The young man who told me that he will remember me as the ‘Granny with a laminator’. Teenagers who relished Holy Spirit wisdom; ‘Pray it every morning. Can’t promise you nothing will be wrong but you’ll be strong’.

Yes indeed, laryngitis has gifted me much! My life before and after is how it feels right now. New beginnings. 

Now it is Your voice, precious Lord. It is not mine.

“Live in Me. I am your principle, your fountain of life and joy, the day spring of your being. And that is why when you see Me you will be able to say ‘I recognise You, You whom I had never seen”. (Jesus to Gabrielle/He and I)

‘I am but a feather on the breath of God’. (Hildegard Von Bingen)

‘God did not employ me to manage His mission but to belong to Him’. (Sr. Mary Grace)

Rest and renewal☀️🙏🏻

                         ‘Each moment opens the wholeness of time’. (St. Pope John Paul 11)

Laringitis has put a stop to my mad gallop, for now. Oh how much I took my voice for granted!! Going forward not so!! Word-sparing I shall be. I shall not withhold a kind word, never, but useless unnecessary details shall remain dormant. Boding well for that fateful day when I will be asked to give an account of every word!! I shudder to think…

‘But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment’. (Matthew 12:36)

Kitty, who knows suffering, gently suggests; ‘Perhaps you talk too much’. Yes indeed dear Kitty!. Couldn’t have said it better myself!!

St. Anne’s Holy Rosary placed on hold for a few weeks. I shall miss my precious folk but, God willing, when my vocal chords are rested and strong, I shall return once again to that sacred sacrosanct space of healing, light, and unutterable joy.

‘Take rest, a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop’. (Ovid)

Dear lady from South Korea received my prayer yesterday. Prayer-sharing continues, despite and maybe even because of my limited word-power, more of Jesus, less of me.

 Laminated in deepest Kerry, prayed in South Korea. Exhilarating!!

                                ‘He must increase and I must decrease’. (John 3:30)

Dropped by Church this morning on my way to Docter’s and sitting happily my two sisters. Joy!! Laughter! Prayer and gratitude to God. Our way in our humble childhood home back then, our way still today. We know no other way, all glory to God.

Claude 🐈‍⬛ always wishing he could somehow squeeze his way inside. Forever hopeful Claude.

‘If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes’. (St. Clement)

To be unbothered no matter what!☀️🙏🏻

Derm’s AI creations!! Comedic!! No, I was not thrilled to be taking leave of my wonderful family. Never!! Holy Mass every morning in their respective Churches. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament too. Time with my precious grandchildren. Scintillating sharings with their parents. Copious prayers shared. Countless enjoyable impromptu encounters. 

My holiday begins as I step outside of my own front door and not when my destination is reached. Every tiny thing is pure gift! Every journey a holiday no matter the circumstance, issue or trial.

Back home in bed now with laryngitis. No talking. No singing either. Silence is golden. We never miss the water till the well runs dry!!

Barely whispering with dear John about God’s divine gift of detachment. ‘Yes’, he replies gently; ‘To be unbothered no matter what’. True! Self preoccupation is the equivalent to misery!

Seemingly, guy one time, near here, earned himself the nick name; ‘Optician’. His conversations beginning and ending with ‘I’ every time and without fail.

‘I had a little tea party this afternoon at three. T’was very small - three guests in all, I, myself and me. Myself ate all the sandwiches, while I drank all the tea, t’was also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me’. (Jessica Nelson North). 

Derm’s childhood school poem. Fond memory. I could only recall the first line. Kind Google!

Claude 🐈‍⬛ lives in hope! He expects me to return and I do every time. Free-range, Claude copes fine as all cats do but his delightful visits fill me with hope without measure!!

Thank you God for EVERYTHING.