Empathy.🌿

She remembers my name, a friendship in the making. Two weeks ago they arrived in our town - Refugees with no other option than to flee for their lives from their own homes in war-torn Syria and elsewhere. Many changes happening here, now the whole town is silent, everything has ground to a halt.

We mention the Corona Pandemic, we agree the our world is suffering greatly. For the longest time it seemed like we were the only ones, she says. Yes, I reply, ‘We  prayed for Syria, we watched you on our television screens, we felt sorry for you. We could switch channels though, we could close our eyes and continue on our merry way’. ‘Yes’, she said. ‘It felt like no one really cared’.

Let us pray for each other, we both said, almost in unison, a distinct feeling of ‘Empathy’ in the air. On the pier, the once used lobster pots stood forlorn, unemployed.

                          ‘Now we are all in the same boat and we are all seasick’. (G.K. Chesterton)

My Guardian Angel. 😇

‘Every day, every hour we can thoughtlessly fall aside and miss the way. For this reason God gives us the Angel at our side so that at all times we may have his light as our guide’. (Mother Gabrielle)

I was being lifted onto the pavement and safety, oncoming speeding car missing me by a hair’s breadth. ‘You are my Angel, How can I thank you’. I told the young man who saved my life. ‘It is no problem’, he replied, smiling. ‘God Bless you’, I said. ‘God Bless you too’, my beautiful gentleman replied, as he walked away.

I rang my dear friend Eileen to tell her what had just happened and before I could utter one word, she said: - ‘I was just thinking this very minute, how devastated I would be if anything ever happened to you’. Not at all like Eileen to say such a thing.

That evening, Ruairi called me from Maynooth. ‘I’m delighted you’re alive’, he said. How could he possibly have known?  He didn’t!  He called to tell me that on his way from work, he visited a church and a funeral was taking place. He was flabbergasted when he noticed that the deceased lady’s name was the exact same name as mine - his Mother. I told him my story and to say we were both awestruck is most certainly an understatement! 

Thank you Father God from my deepest heart, every day I glimpse a little more, the wonder and supreme gift my precious life is. Thank you for my always vigilant angel, who never takes his eyes off me.

Thank you, dearest angel, for the occasion I speak of and many more besides. 

‘Continuously ask your angel for help, your Guardian Angel has to become your best friend’.

 (Blessed Carlo Acutis)

‘For He will give His Angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone’. (Psalm 91:11-12)

‘Every day, every hour we can thoughtlessly fall aside and miss the way. For this reason, God gives us the Angel at our side, so that at all times we may have his light as our guide’. (Mother Gabriele)

 

The oak tree proud and ancient.

The oak tree proud and ancient.
The sapling thin and frail,
sway beneath the driving winds,
and bow before the gale.

Bending but not breaking,
as the storm goes raving past.
Resisting not the force and fury,
of the roaring blast.

The winds of God blow round the world,
and sorrows come to all,
but if we bow to Providence,
we shall not fail or fall.

Knowing that there is a Final Purpose to fulfil,
finding strength in yielding to -
His good and perfect Will.
Amen.

We don’t know what God knows..🎁

First winter in our creaky compact cozy cottage, visitors dropped by, unannounced. Slugs. They remained in one room only, not in the least inquisitive.  To put a substance down that would endanger them definitely not an option. I would take Mr. Slug outside in a piece of tissue, sad for his wasted arduous journey. (or maybe Mrs.Slug...🤨)

After some time lightbulb moment, I would accept them. If they would be gone on their merry way every morning then we would abide one another and so it was for some time.

Then, one day the dirt track outside our door was replaced with a pristine tarred road, complete transformation! Consequently my visitors could never again drop by, they had no choice but remain underground. Pristine tarred roads don’t impress slugs much.😌

Likewise, I am accepting my life as it is now, in this time of Corona virus, with acceptance comes peace. I keep my distance respectfully doing my utmost to be available at all times to friends and anyone who needs me, Jack and I pray Holy Rosary at the marina every afternoon. Holy Bible as opposed to news updates.

I suggest we prayerfully read Psalm 91 each day, the four Gospels at least once before we die. I share the marvellous things God has done and continues to do in my life. 

The media would want us all on high alert, worrying and fretting in these tumultuous times. My slugs taught me otherwise though, keep walking, one step in front of the other, do the next right thing.

What may seem like a wasted journey may be anything but!! Time will tell. We don’t know what God knows.🕯

‘Nothing in life is to be feared. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less’.
 (Marie Curie)

When the day is over, may I know within my heart.

 that I’ve tried to do my duty and have played my part. 

Given all I had to give and followed faithfully - 

on the path where I believed Thy Hand was leading me. 

(Patience Strong)

Corona has changed everything.🌿

Praying Holy Rosary in the beautiful sunshine on this park bench, is not that bizarre anymore, Corona has changed everything, we are living in a time of ‘forced reflection’. Praying has become acceptable, maybe even cool.

Corona is not a welcome guest in our wounded world but she has not arrived empty handed. There’s a calmness, a kindness, a caring gentleness about the place. A relaxation like never before.

‘Whatever is given can always be reimagined.’ (The Settle Bed/Seamus Heaney)

We are too concerned in these tumultuous times to waste one moment in judgement of another. We have enough to do to mind ourselves, as my dear Mom would oftentimes say, in the sunny long ago.

‘Now I am grown up and have time for nothing but the essentials’. (Thomas Merton)

“Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened “. (Alexander Solzhenitsyn said of the tragedy of the 1917 Russian Revolution)

I saw Jesus❤️

‘Oh if I could make everyone know and see how beautiful is my Jesus’. (St. Gemma Galgani))

‘We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen: for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal’. (2 Cor:4:18)

I fell asleep extremely downcast, family member in deep turmoil. Next morning, before dawn, my eyes still closed, I saw Jesus with the eyes of my heart. Even now, five years later, it seems so surreal, yet I speak the absolute truth.

His Kind Beautiful Face, His hair as it is always portrayed. His beautiful red smock-like outfit sparkling just like the Atlantic Ocean on a sunny day in my childhood. That really took my attention. ‘Our good Lord, so absolutely to be revered, makes Himself familiar and kind to us’. 

Jesus, with open Hand, pointed to my heart and back to His own Beautiful Heart. As I type these words, I am reliving that Sacred moment again. St. Margaret Mary said that when Jesus pointed to His Heart before her, He was talking about the Great Love in His Heart for each and every one of us.

My words fall short - far too short, no matter how many times I write and rewrite. ‘Words spoil anything that surpasses them’. (Cardinal Sarah). I guess some words are better left unsaid, yet I long to share that precious moment from God. Thankyou Jesus for your Beautiful Visitation, I shall follow you every day of my life.

‘I saw Jesus Christ, so gorgeous, no human heart could imagine what I saw. On God’s graceful hands and feet were the gracious wounds He suffered because He loves us. From these magnificent wounds poured out a light so great, it was stunning. It was as if all the beauty of God’s Divinity was shining through it’.

(Marguerite d’Oingt)

Holy Eucharist.🙏🏻

One single Holy Eucharist devoutly received would be ENOUGH, one Sacred Host is 100% Jesus - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. ‘It only takes one Holy Communion to make us a Saint’.                                 (St. Teresa of Avila)

Knowing our frail human nature and our ever obstinate ways, Jesus, in His wondrous kindness, came to us over and over and over again, hoping we would turn to Him. Jesus ever so gently and tenderly implored of us, He has no need of us, we add nothing to His Greatness. He loves us intensely. We were too busy, distracted, heedless.

Every Sacred Host we receive remains in our hearts forever, deepening our yearning for Jesus. Every Holy Mass we participate in, remains in our hearts forever too. We are not deprived in this time of Pandemic. The time is now to sit quietly and spend time with Jesus living in our hearts, appreciate, love and thank Him for His wonderful compassion and mercy. The running and racing is over, as my dear Mom might say.

One step towards Jesus and He will take many steps towards us. He told Saint Faustina that He did not allot just a certain amount of pardons, His Mercy is endless. The peace, the serenity, the joy, the happiness that you and I crave, will only be found in Jesus, I know this not just factually, I know it from my deepest heart. I can say without question or doubt that Jesus is my All, Holy Eucharist is my Everything. To do Your Holy Will, my Dearest Lord, is my one and only desire.

Father Leo Clifford tells us that the devil does not tempt us by telling us ‘There is no God’, our instincts tell us that God does surely exist, he gets us by telling us ‘There is no hurry’. 

Let us shut our ears to his lies, it is later than we think.

‘The Mercy of God is like an unleashed torrent, it bears all hearts in its floods’. (St. John Vianney)

Lent. Day 29.☀️

The gentle invitation from Beautiful Jesus in my deepest heart four weeks ago, barely audible. ‘Arise at 6AM’. Lest I didn’t hear, Our Beautiful Mother Mary, called me gently from my slumber with the words : ‘Draw yourself nearer and come to Him’.

At that time, I had no idea that our world was about to change dramatically. I didn’t know too that Killian would be working from home or that I would not be allowed visit and pray with my precious folk in St. Anne’s as I had been doing for quite some time.  So many changes...

Jesus knew, Mother Mary knew. My new plan is perfect for my new day. My dawn chorus choir is louder this morning. New members are joining all the time.🦉🕊🦜

‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give you light’.  (Ephesians 5:14)

Holy Ground.🕯🙏🏻

Holy Mass on my iPad. Entrance hymn - ‘This is Holy Ground’. Pre-COVID, I was asked not to sing that hymn at Holy Mass, some parishioners objected to it, it made them feel uncomfortable. Well, if we really did believe without question or doubt that we are indeed standing on Holy Ground, then our behaviour would have to radically change. We would be confronted with the Sacred task of being reverent, our dress code appropriate to the Sacred ambiance of this sacrosanct Holy Ground. 

Holding concerts in this Sacred Place would seem gross, unless of course they were conducted in total prayerful reverence. I never attended such concerts but I was told one time that the ‘performer’ happily informed his audience - ‘Dance if you wish - there is plenty of room’. Hubris extraordinaire 😔

‘Oh, if only all souls knew who is living in our Churches, there would not be so many outrages and so much disrespect in these Holy places’. (St. Faustina).

God’s time is NOW. He is reclaiming His Holy Ground. Theo Drama versus Ego Drama. Kairos versus Chronus. If we thought we were running the show, we might need to rethink.....

‘For who sees anything different in you, what have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a Gift’. (1 Cor: 4-7)

‘With what humility should we assist at Holy Mass, if we realised that our Guardian Angel was kneeling beside us, prostrate before the majesty of God! With what eagerness should we not ask Him to offer our prayers to Jesus Christ’. (The Cure D’Ars)

On top of the world.🌠

Social distancing on a whole new level as I photograph Killian taking a photo from his higher ground, looking down on creation. Corona seems like a distant horror nightmare.

Today is Mother’s Day, we walked and talked, my boy and me. So much to be grateful to God for, so much to be concerned about too. Not today though, for now all worry suspended, disregarded. 

Tomorrow is another day, le cunamh De. Light of Christ, light our way. Amen.

God is giving us a second chance.🎆

Everything we have is pure gift, the whole world is in gift form. We were never meant to: Add extensions to our already large houses while many are homeless, hoard more money in our already heaving bank accounts while many are hungry. We got it wrong, we missed the mark.

In these concerning Corona days, in His Kindness and Mercy, God is giving us a second chance. Let us begin today, right here right now. What we give to others will have eternal value, what we keep for ourselves will die with us.

Thankyou Father God for this time of Grace.

‘Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world’. (C.S. Lewis)

Wardrobes full to overflowing with outfits of every shape and colour, and still purchasing more. I said to Ruairi recently how in our extravagant thankless society one never sees any two people with similar attire. Our world is awash with clothes and yet so many in our world do not even possess the basics. Appaling, extremely sad state of affairs. He replied: ‘Go to a football match and you will see many people dressed the same......Football Jerseys 😅

 

Saint Joseph, foster father of Jesus, please pray for us.

‘Joseph had the honour to spend every day with Jesus Christ; together with Mary, he had the greater part of his Son’s graces. Nevertheless, his virtues were unknown. Perhaps from so fine an example, we will learn that one can be great without outward show, that one can be blessed without attracting attention and that one can have true glory without the help of fame, but by the testimony of conscience alone: ‘There is one thing we are proud of, and our conscience tells us it is true. 

(2Cor-1:12). This thought will inspire us to set at naught the glory of the world’.

(Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet/1704)

O Saint Joseph, who’s protection is so great, so strong, so prompt, before the Throne of God,
I place in you all my interests and desires.
O Saint Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son,
all spiritual Blessings through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the Most Loving of Fathers.
O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, with Jesus asleep in your arms.
I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His Fine Head for me, ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.
Saint Joseph, Patron of the dying, Please Pray for us.
Amen.

‘I do not remember ever having asked anything of Saint Joseph that he did not grant me’
 (St. Teresa of Avila)

‘We need your help today, Saint Joseph, to penetrate the clouded and clogged atmosphere we live in, that denies the presence of the living God, hates Christianity and especially loathes the incarnate Son of God, your Fosterchild’. (Fr. David May/Restoration Newspaper)

Lent. Day 22.🕊️🙏🏻

When our Blessed Mother told us in Medjugorje that prayer would become joy for us, I had myriad misgivings. Now I can declare that Mother Mary’s words are ringing true. This unearthly hour is being converted into a Heavenly oasis, God’s glorious grace abounds.

My joyful dawn chorus choir loyal and loving, always on time. Corona Virus million miles away, Jesus centre stage, peace reigns supreme.

‘Sadness is looking at ourselves. Happiness is looking towards God’. (Carlo Acutis)

Holy Mass on my iPad.🙏🏻

Sunday morning Holy Mass on my iPad in this time of pandemic. Heaven and earth in one Sacred place. No music, no clapping, no people, no noise, no disrespect. Beautiful Jesus - Body Blood Soul and Divinity on Holy Alter. Now we see that our performance was never required, only our participation.

My heart aches to receive Beautiful Holy Eucharist, for now I accept Your Holy Will, Dear Lord.

The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven’. ( Blessed Carlo Acutis)

Benefits of Solitude.☀️

Benefits of Solitude - Spending time alone with God.  (Pastor Charles Stanley)

God makes our busy days more fruitful.

God repairs the damage of stress.Time of Solitude drains all the stress out. God refuels us emotionally.
Solitude equips us to face the tough days, confidently and assuredly.
Surprising moments when God gives us answers.
God strips us of all pride. Gently we recognise that everything we have is from Him.
The fact that God, all powerful and mighty desires to be with us, takes our pride away.
God will protect our health. He is the real physician. All the rest are practicing.
A sense of peace, joy and confidence. God stills our hearts, quietens our spirits and makes us over-comers, no matter what we are facing in life.
When we practice solitude, there’s a greater strength from God and a greater trust in God. A deeper relationship with God too.

Do you want peace in the midst of storms? Do you want quietness and joy, when turmoil is all around you? This is the avenue, stress is the killer. Solitude is the Life Giver.

‘I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing’. (John-15:5)

‘Pray always and do not lose Heart’. (Luke 18:1)

When Jesus, our Beautiful Lord and Saviour, walked this earth, He told the people - ‘Pray always and do not lose heart’. (Luke 18:1)

Jesus is telling each and everyone of us, exactly the same today, in this harsh time of pandemic.
‘Pray always and do not lose heart’. (Luke 18:1)

‘Oh if we were to consider this reality, that God is truly present to us when we speak to Him in prayer; that He truly listens to our prayers, even if we pray only with our hearts and minds. Not only is He present and hears us, indeed He willingly and with the greatest of pleasure wishes to grant our requests’.                        (St. Lawrence of Brindisi)

Ann❤️

My beautiful Ann’s daughter asked if I would say a few words at her Mam’s funeral Holy Mass. I scribbled on an old used envelope, it was all I had. The words came easy from my deepest heart.

Afterwards, a young man approached me. Shame and guilt consume his every hour, he tells me gravely. I share with him beautiful interior wisdom I received from Holy Spirit. Our Beautiful Mother Mary, stands always by the Cross of Jesus, her Beloved Son. Jesus is the antidote to shame. Place your shame and guilt in a box and hand it to Mother Mary, She will hand it personally to her Beautiful Son, Jesus. Leave the box with Jesus and Mary for 24 hours, longer if you wish, you are granted many extensions. Jesus never refuses His Beloved Mother. Be at peace, knowing all is well.

The young man listened intently. Much later as we parted company, I asked - ‘Do you think you will try this’. Smiling, he replied - ‘I don’t think I will, I know I will’.

My beautiful pal RIP, my own searing grief, a young man finds peace. In the economy of Salvation, nothing is wasted.

‘Death is nothing but going home to God’. (Saint Mother Teresa)

Last night (16/7/21) I dreamed that Ann and I were walking. She looked so well, back to her former self, Parkinson’s nowhere to be seen. I said to her; ‘I miss Ann terribly’. ‘Oh I don’t know Bridge’, she replied, beaming so bright. I stood with delight and said; ‘Oh - you mean she’s gone nowhere...😀’....all the while Ann smiling like a thousand suns. Then I awoke....🕊😀

Lent - Day 15🙏🏻

The feeling in my heart these Grace filled Lenten mornings in this unearthly hour is very beautiful. It comes very close to how I feel, sitting in front of Jesus in Sacred Tabernacle. This little humble cottage is my domestic Church.

‘My house being now all stilled’. (St. John of the Cross)

Thankyou, Dear Jesus, for gracing us with your Presence. My dawn chorus choir and I are truly humbled and over the moon.

‘We are never less alone than when we are totally alone with God’. (St. John Henry Newman)

God meets us right where we’re at. 🙏🏻

‘Wisdom is oftentimes nearer when we stoop than when we soar’. (William Wordsworth)

‘Alcohol firstly takes your life and then it kills you’, Actor Martin Sheen declared one time and how on target that statement is. Precisely how it went for my husband Eric - Alcohol gradually took his life and when the time was right, it killed him. 

One awful afternoon, in a washing machine of thoughts and feelings, awash in a sea of grief and at the same time singing over and over a catchy tune that popped into my mind; ‘I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go’. Almost mechanically I heard myself say: ‘You would teach me Lord if I would listen’.

Randomly I opened my red leather bound Bible, reading where I touched down - Psalm 32. As I read the entire Psalm, tears streaming down my face, I was catapulted out of my misery, surprisingly witnessing right there before my very eyes the verse I had been singing sadly: ‘I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go’. A singular moment of Divine Grace, my attention sweetly captivated, ushering in to my broken heart much needed peace and solace.

I had no idea I was singing a verse from a Psalm, my Holy Bible and the Psalms at that time were not in the least bit familiar to me. Beautiful Holy Spirit shone His Gladsome Light into my wounded spirit that day, another little piece of my shattered heart restored. 

‘The Bible was written in tears and to tears it will reveal its best treasures’. (A.W.Tozer)

‘Begin again’, Jesus whispered. ‘I will take you places you never dreamed of’. My red Bible would never again remain discarded on the shelf gathering dust. Nowadays, it is joyfully read and relished. A worn out Bible is a sign that the reader is NOT!! Psalm 32 changed everything that gloomy pain-filled day.

Thirteen years on, the adventure continues, Jesus word is true. Wonderful Holy Spirit does indeed instruct me and teach me the way I should go, perpetually with kindness, tenderness and merciful compassion in every trial, difficulty and circumstance of my life.

‘I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God’. (Psalm 40: 1-3)

                          ‘If you haven’t cried, you cannot dry another’s tears’. (Paul Takeshita Nagai)

‘Christ is our way to everlasting life. This way is open to all who are willing to become disciples, that is people who know they are learning to follow in the footsteps of the Master. These footsteps may lead through the cross: but they also lead us into the unfailing friendship of God, and so to a happiness beyond anything we could have imagined’. (Magnificat)

Precious moments.💎

Don was angry, pent up rage unleashing itself freely as I listened in silence. Super smart, in school Don loved Shakespeare and Latin. Social skills few and even though his exams grades were excellent, interviews were never his forte. Back then, people like Don didn’t stand a chance. 

He became a fisherman in the broad Atlantic, long hard hours, poor conditions, wet to the skin oftentimes. When inclement weather prevented him from fishing, he wrote poetry, he read Shakespeare, he quoted Latin. 

Tirade complete, restful sleep wraps him in tranquility and peace. Transfiguration!

Today, he smiles his kindly smile as I walk into his room, Don is still a handsome man. His poor feet, purple and swollen, calloused hands too, never knew a kind touch until now, evening of his long life.

We pray together, as always I am slow to depart. Precious moments do not come to us from nowhere.

                   ‘There lives the dearest freshness deep down things’. (Gerard Manley Hopkins)

Lent. Day 8.

‘Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed’. (Mark 1:35).

Making precious time for God first thing is finding the centre piece of my life’s Jigsaw. With that in place, all the other pieces fit seamlessly together. Outside, my dawn chorus are thanking God with all their little hearts for another day, their sweet notes penetrating the silence in glorious fashion.

‘Let us, then, arise and walk every step of these Lenten days, until standing with Mary, under Christ’s  Cross, we begin to love Him back as He should be loved’. (Catherine de Hueck Doherty).