Glad surprise☀️🙏🏻

‘The soul that has God as it’s best friend trusts God, because the soul knows that God always organises everything for the best.’ (Mechthild of Magdeburg)

I asked Jesus if I could please receive Him in Holy Communion despite the fact that I was desperately late for Holy Mass. Perhaps I would arrive in Church just on time for Holy Eucharist. Was I being disrespectful? All of Holy Mass is sacrosanct.

Almost at my destination when tired looking young guy came walking towards me carrying a brown paper bag in his hand, alcohol for sure. We saluted one another and of course without thinking I offered him my powerful prayer. ‘Yes please. If you have one’, he replied, surprised. His gentle smile lit up his whole face when I reminded him; ‘I’m sharing, not preaching’. 

I hurried into Church and sure enough, Holy Eucharist had already been given out to the congregation. No problem, I sat relaxed in prayerful peace, thanking Jesus from my heart for our beautiful encounter in the person of that bone weary young man. Everything was exactly as it should be.

After Father had bestowed his final blessing, in Persona Christi, I headed towards Holy Alter and there, to my glad surprise, Phil, about to give Holy Eucharist to lady who sang at Holy Mass. Perfect timing, I too received precious Holy Eucharist.

So amazingly beautiful. Our God can never be outdone in generosity.

Cardinal Robert Sarah’s wonderful words from his masterpiece ‘The Power of Silence’ dances into my heart as I struggle to sum it all up; ‘Words spoil anything which surpasses them’.

                     ‘It only takes one Holy Communion to make us a Saint’. (St. Teresa of Avila)

Go have tea with Hope☀️🙏🏻

‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go’. (Psalm 32:8)

Holy Mass this beautiful St. Stephen’s day. Hope (Africa) sat in the pew across from me. I was surprised when Holy Spirit whispered into my deepest heart; ‘Go have tea with Hope after Holy Mass’. As always I asked Holy Sprit a few times if I was hearing right! I didn’t audibly hear ‘yes’ but I didn’t hear ‘no’ either. Hard to put in words that ‘knowing’ feeling.

Turns out, Hope received word yesterday, Christmas day, that she will soon be starting her new job in Dublin. Expecting to have to wait until her money comes into her account on Thursday, wonderful Holy Spirit to her rescue. I would gladly help out today and therefore Hope can begin, right away, putting her new life in motion. A few short years younger than me, we both know all about ‘beginning again’.

Hope spent yesterday, Christmas Day, alone in her room. Yes she missed her family in Africa but for the most part she danced, sang and praised God for His never-failing faithfulness in everything she’s been through. Add to that, new job where she will earn actual money. How great is our God.

Had Holy Spirit not prompted me, Hope would have returned to her room after Holy Mass this morning uttering not a word of her ‘good news’. None of our worthwhile encounter would have come to pass either.

‘I will look after you one day’, she told me. I could truthfully tell her that her powerful prayers are already helping my family and I. Each and every one of us give, every action is a transaction. 

How great it is to know, really really know, that God owns everything, even money!!

Passion and empathy is all it takes to live our best life, Hope says. Now that is top-tier freedom straight from Heaven above.

Don’t just live. Live with passion!

‘They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, that shall walk and not faint’. (Isaiah 40:31)

Hope told me too that after arriving in our town she cried every single day but her tears dried the day we met and now she rarely cries. Oh to be the Hands and Feet of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in this world. 

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

O Lord, You are the Word, spoken from eternity by the Father. You came to dwell among us and to lead us with You to Your Father’s House. I thank You, I praise You. I worship You Amen. (Henry Nouwen)

Do it anyway ☀️🙏🏻

Handsome young man, toddler in pushchair, stood just inside the door of Church this morning as I entered. Both of us smiled and without thinking I offered him my powerful prayer. ‘You gave it to me already’, he said. ‘But when’? I asked, surprised.

Turns out, last May, my granddaughter, on her Confirmation day, (in another county of Ireland) asked if I would give one of my prayers to her Teacher. Courageous request, surrounded as she was by her many peers. Courage needed by me too but of course I did it anyway feeling a tad awkward for sure. Even then I knew in my heart it was a special assignment.

To my delightful surprise, here in our Church this morning stood that same teacher.

‘I have your prayer in my car and I take it out sometimes. I can’t tell you I read it every morning though’, he told me. Golden opportunity right there letting this genial young man gently know that to pray my prayer every morning is inviting all of Heaven into his day and that of his whole family.  

He agreed liking what he heard. He took a second prayer too for someone else. I congratulated him on his kind caring teaching ways with my grandchild and countless others and how my granddaughter had told me on numerous occasions how much they loved having him for their Teacher. Gifted young man.

Had my grandchild, prompted by wonderful Holy Spirit on her special Confirmation day, not stepped out in faith last May, our beautiful encounter today would most certainly never have come to pass! Also, he recognised me, I did not recognize him. Had I not offered my prayer spontaneously this morning, as I do, I would have been none the wiser! What a shame that would be.

Holy Spirit’s words in one of my many faltering times, dance into my heart as I write; ‘How can I give you more courage when you do not use the courage you already have in your heart’.

Divine confirmation from on-High, all of it. Bearing this in mind, fellow pilgrims, courageously we shall march on, placing one foot in front of the other, in the gladsome light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Nothing to fear - Jesus is here!

‘When we know and believe without question or doubt, that in all that we do, God is there to help out. We hold in our hand the golden key, to peace and joy and serenity’. (Helen Steiner Rice)

My Katy☀️🙏🏻

Dearest Katy, today, two years ago, you took your leave, suddenly and without warning, of this wonderful world. Hearing the awful news, forever etched in my memory.

You and I hadn’t met up in such a long time, lockdowns and other stuff, five years to be exact. Then, God in His mercy and kindness, gifted us one last catch-up. You came walking towards me and I could not believe my eyes. I can still see your head lowered, your black hair.

I asked someone to take our photograph. So glad I did now. Priceless photo!

We found each other one last time in this world and I am forever grateful to God for that. 

Remember when our dear Mom died suddenly and I called you up in my agonising aloneness imploring; ‘If I get lost, will you find me Katy’. ‘I will find you’, you replied.

One fine day, we will find each other again please God, dear Katy. Together forever. No more tears.

‘I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn’. (Ann Frank)

Killian told me one time when he was a very small boy; ‘I have three mothers, Our Lady, Mom and Katy’.❤️

Come and see☀️🙏🏻

 ‘If you wish to go to extremes, let it be in sweetness, patience, humility and Charity’. (St. Philip Neri)

Her room mate called last evening letting me know that new lady had arrived in accommodation. This morning we met in Church. Young girl, lost and alone. Travelled many miles to get here. Completely out of her depth.

Gifting her a Rosary beads, I told her that holding it, particularly at night when fear drops by unbidden, she is touching the hem of Jesus garment. No fear - Jesus is here! She cried. I cried too. 

All you who want to keep Ireland only for the Irish - All you who say there are too many asylum seekers in our little island of Ireland…

Come and see what we see!!

‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’. (Matthew 25:35-36)

Tea in Heaven☀️🙏🏻

Wonderful elderly lady accepted joyfully my powerful prayer after Holy Mass in this beautiful Church this morning (as did others) and what an enjoyable encounter ensued. Laughter, sadness and everything in between. Over tea and scones she told me that her dear son died some time ago and the very last words he uttered in this world were: ‘See you in Heaven Mom’. Oh how she cried.

Eighty years ago she met her future husband at a dance, his curly black hair and gorgeous set of teeth stealing her heart instantly. She, like myself, loves meeting folk, chance encounters, both of us wishing we could sit chattering, drinking tea for a far longer time. However, Mary was waiting on me back in the B&B.

Lady and I extremely grateful for precious moments gifted to us by God. She told me that every new encounter gifts her a new outlook, fresh eyes and strength to keep on keeping on.

Almost forgot! She took eleven powerful prayers for her grandchildren, not at all sure that they will pray it. I told her that a grandmother recently asked for seventeen for her grandchildren. Us grandparents have much to do while we still live in this wonderful world, thank God and we shall do it, by God’s glorious Grace.

Young Hungarian guy smoking his cigarette read my prayer aloud and smiling said: ‘This is lovely’. Young girl who told me more than once: ‘I really appreciate this’. Young girl who shared her Jesus experience one time, telling me she rarely speaks about it. Privileged me. Traffic warden who will put my prayer in his car even though he refused at first. Sad lady, utterly downcast who crossed my path a second time amazingly. (Hesitant, I missed my first chance. Wonderful Holy Spirit of second chances to my rescue and hers). Estonian lady wearing superb hat she herself knitted!

Huge need and desire for something good, true and beautiful, in this our day and time. Young folk in particular beyond shocked to be offered a prayer. Beyond thrilled too. 

Mary loves dancing, so that night I stayed home alone in our B&B, comatose in the cosiest of beds and softest of pillows. Long silent hours crammed with light and life. I have no other words!!

Firm friends, Mary and I, next to nothing in common but never a dull moment in our travels.

Journey home, we stopped to pray at the wake of a dear quiet reclusive man Mary once knew. No family of his own, neighbours and friends stood around his coffin respectfully lovingly. What a privilege for me, stranger in their midst, to be asked lead Holy Rosary. Seems my love for Holy Rosary is no secret. What a gift to my heart.

Sent by God on mission, sharing my powerful prayer, whenever, wherever, such delight in my life. Impromptu unforgettable encounters bouncing around in my heart until I put them in writing for posterity. Then, resting serenely, fading, never disappearing, each and every encounter part of the fabric of my being, forevermore. Indelible.

All of us will meet again of course, one day, I am sure of it. We will drink tea, chattering endlessly, eternally, in our Heavenly homeland above the clouds. What joy!

‘We will meet in Heaven, please God’. Parting words I love to use and words folk love to hear. 

‘You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You’. (St. Augustine)

‘You mind Mine and I will mind yours’. Comforting Holy Spirit words gifted to me in my sleep some time ago dance into my heart this morning, having written the above last evening. Beautiful confirmation to my heart. Our God will never be outdone in generosity and kindness. Not ever!

Just now on my way from Church, young guy took my prayer, looked at it and said: ‘Oh this is great. I have one at home’. Then sticking it in his pocket, he strolled away from me, smiling all the while. (Mind mine and I will mind yours).🙏🏻☀️
 

Everything is fine☀️🙏🏻

‘How well you know, that everything is always fine’. Jack’s text to me right now. Got me thinking! 

In Jack’s turmoil time I always tell him that and right away he relaxes, repeating aloud; ‘Everything is fine’. No, we are not pretending everything is perfect! We are simply taking the broad view. Things are not where we would like them to be but in the Gladsome Light of Christ order will surely once again be restored. Everything is fine!

Every time I invite Mary, deep in Alzheimers, to pray one Hail Mary aloud in our St. Anne’s Holy Rosary group, she sobs as she willingly lovingly prays. Stroking her beautiful hair, I tell her all the time that ‘everything is fine’. She smiles and nods, still praying, still crying.

Let us begin an ‘Everything is fine’ epidemic. Might just be the breathing space another needs to catch their breath and begin again.

My text back to John; ‘Everything is fine Jack, all the time. We are in God’s Good Hands’. 

‘He/she who carries God in his heart bears Heaven with him wherever he/she goes’.                                (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

Having scribbled the above I made my way to pray 3PM live-streamed Holy Rosary in Church. Afterwards, Mother and young son came in and I offered them my powerful prayer. All three of us prayed my prayer together and then I shared with them Holy Spirit wisdom to my deepest heart one time as I shared my prayer with another young man: ‘I cannot tell you nothing will be wrong, but you’ll be strong’.

Mother repeating my words, gazed lovingly on her son saying; ‘He didn’t want to come in to Church. He actually stayed in the car but I went to fetch him’

Young man looked surprised and happy. He will pray it every morning, he told me. ‘It will be like you are drawing a cozy blanket filled with Heavenly Blessings around you and your family’, I told him.

Hard to articulate such an amazingly beautiful impromptu encounter straight from Heaven above. Our God is a God of surprises! Yes, everything is fine, all the time. Amen.

‘Refuse to look at the waves. Know that with you eyes on Me you can override all storms. It is not what happens that matters, but where your gaze is fixed’. (Jesus/God calling2)

((I read the above this morning. After scribbling the up above yesterday!! Divine confirmation))

Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord. ☀️🙏🏻

‘Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord. We want to see You. We want to see You’. Hymn

‘Funeral over, my mother is gone to Heaven. All of your sisters came to her Funeral Holy Mass’, uttered my friend John this morning. ‘I stayed right here waiting on your calls, John’, I replied. ‘Yes’, he replied. ‘Just like Mary, you chose the better part’. (Luke 10:42). What a guy is my friend John.

She walked around town lost and alone. She hadn’t cried at all, she told me. Then one day she joined a funeral cortège as it entered our Church. Sitting in their midst, dressed in her traditional attire, she cried buckets of tears. No funerals in Gaza, folk remain where they fall. 

In this sacrosanct space, far from home, she could cry and pray for her harried homeland. ‘I feel lighter now’, she tells me. ‘Like something is put right’.

Little girl could not contain her delight as the huge Christmas tree was about to be lit up. Countless glittering lights. Hearts lifted gazing on her joyful innocence. Gradually though, it became obvious to one and all that little joyful girl was totally blind. How can this be? Folk wondered in awe.

Thing is, little joyful girl could see perfectly with the eyes of her heart and because of this, folk present began to see a little clearer too.

Last night Tony, my visiting cat, got hit hard by a speeding car. I found him at my door bleeding profusely. Today Vet Angela tells me he has two broken jaws and will be wired up for some weeks. Looks like he will make it through though, thank God.

Up to now Tony would drop by every day, enjoy his meal and leave again without delay. No time to sit and stare. Who could ever have guessed that all the while, Tony felt accepted, loved and cherished by this grateful grandmother. Safe, secure enough to come to me in his darkest hour. What a compliment!

Just some of God’s amazing gifts to my heart this stormy day. 

‘If you become Christ’s you will stumble upon wonder upon wonder, and every one of them true’.            (St. Brendan)

 

Almost idyllically ☀️🙏🏻

Work permits have arrived and now many seeking employment in our little town. Arduous task, jobs scarce as hens’ teeth!

She comes into Church carrying her folder of cv’s. Exhausted, she walked many miles to a factory outside town to drop off her cv but a ‘good man’ took her back into town again in his car, God Bless him. ‘God’s way of saying He knows’, she tells me, smiling weakly.

Telling her how similar our lives are, how my boys and I returned back to this place twenty years ago with no choice but begin again. Jesus never left our sides though and He is with her too, every solid step, I tell her. 

‘It was worse for you than it is for all of us (her fellow asylum seekers) because you did not have a ‘Bridget’ like we do’. Dear sweet lady!

Thank you Holy Trinity One God for bountiful blessings, not least for keeping me alive until this day and time when I can do for others what You have always done and continue to do for me. Every single thing I get to do comes directly from You. 

In our hour of need, my boys and I may not have had a ‘Bridget’ but oh we had You every step of the way. No comparison! My joy now to pass it all on, any time day or night. 

Young guy cleaning windows this afternoon. ‘Congratulations, you got married. Are you living idyllically’? I ask. To which he replies; ‘Almost’. 

Great name for a book! ‘Almost idyllically’.

‘Christ Himself is our mouth through which we speak to the Father, our eye through which we see the Father, our right hand through which we offer to the Father. Without His intercession neither we nor all the Saints have anything with God’. (St. Ambrose)

‘

I’m the one and this is the place☀️🙏🏻

                                                              Here I am….send me Lord!

‘In our culture we never ever reject an offering from our elderly. That would be a terrible offence’. Gracious African man’s reply when I asked why he did not refuse my offer of coats for his children even though he did not need them. He almost took them but thank God I sensed he was just being nice.

Wow! He wasn’t telling me that I am old. On the contrary he was telling me that as an elder I am precious, honoured, appreciated and loved. Elderly is good!

Imagine what our land would be like if our elderly were treated in that way. As if we mattered!

So, let us live our best life day by day, ageing as we go but never ever growing old. Let us occupy our place, advanced in age but young at heart. Each one of us unique, precious and unrepeatable.

If we do not pass on to young folk what we have gleaned up and down the long years, then how will they ever know. I believe without question or doubt that our young folk will appreciate and be eternally grateful.

I know it because every time a young person accepts my prayer their eyes tell me so.

‘I’m not afraid to die, I’m just a bit embarrassed. I should have done more’.                                           (Elderly priest’s deathbed words).

‘Most people are not afraid of dying….they are afraid of not having lived’. (Harry S. Kushner).

‘There’s nothing quite so consoling as an older person who, somehow or other, did not end up embittered by the way life has treated him or her and still retains a sense of humour and hope in God. To know someone ground down in their body but undaunted in spirit is a great encouragement’. (Fr. David May/Restoration/Madonna House)

Tuesday☀️🙏🏻

Tuesday morning Diarmuid called my phone, just twenty four hours into his week long course helping him manage his debilitating stammer. Away from home in the company of strangers, he needed badly to pack it all in and return home. 

Disappointed for him, sad too that 700€ would be wasted (money scarce in those early days), I told him; ‘Many folk give up on a Tuesday. Weekend over and next weekend away off on the horizon. Tuesday is a tough day but if somehow you get through today, you are in with a fighting chance of lasting the course’. Turns out he did just that!!

Seventeen years on, Diarmuid thanks God and all concerned, for super skills gleaned in ‘Stammer Camp’ (as we jokingly called it) in that time of trial in his young life. Today, he owns his stammer, (it did not miraculously disappear), but in no way is it a hindrance to the wordsmith that he is. Far from it!

Only now, with the passage of time, do I fully realise the enormity of his task at hand back then and how utterly amazing he was to go through with it. He could so easily have dropped out and I would have totally understood. How glad I am that he did not though. For sure he is too.

Then, last evening, lady calls my phone in floods of tears, (on a Tuesday too). Dublin too big, too scary, she will return home tomorrow and search for work in another place. 

Grasping at straws, stuck for words of encouragement, when suddenly Diarmuid’s testing tale of triumph danced into my mind, changing everything for poor lady. Her sobbing stopped as she began to rethink her rash decision.

Imagine that! Seventeen long years come and gone, and another poor soul finds solace and direction all because a young guy called Diarmuid somehow found the strength within, to keep right on to the end of the road.

Every tiny thing we do in life has consequences. In the economy of salvation nothing is wasted.

‘A diamond is a piece of coal that stuck to the job’. (Michael Larsen)

Jesus beautiful smile☀️🙏🏻

So the more I disappear from world view, the more I become ME!! I become who God created me to be in this our day and time. All dealings, kind gestures hidden, thereby leaving room for Christ to grow in me. Hidden from the world, clearly visible to God.

I love how an age-old truth touches down in my deepest heart becoming really real for the first time. Lightbulb moment!

H, one of our group ladies, lives her life exactly like that, selfless kindness and caring in vivid display. (To God, not the world),  She gives and gives with an easygoing grace and joy. Never seeking limelight, she remains always in the background. 

Recently, all of us donating to folk in need of travel money, H gave her offering to another to deliver, caring only about helping folk in their hour of need. Thanks not wanted nor needed!

On the odd occasion that she does personally deliver, her presence brings light and happiness. 

‘Yesterday H brought me a duvet. Her smile….’, lady told me this morning in Church. Smiling herself, she could find no words. I knew exactly what she meant.

Let us be Jesus beautiful smile to another this day.

                                           ‘He must increase, I must decrease’. (John3:30)

‘O God, Trinity, Whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely and to establish myself in You. Unmovable and peaceful, help me to always remember Your eternal activity in me. 

May nothing be able to trouble me, to disturb my peace or make me leave You, o my unchanging God. May each minute that I have life, bring me more deeply into this mystery of Your life in me. 

Grant me peace. Make my soul Your Heaven, Your beloved dwelling place, the place where You come and find rest. 

May I never abandon You there. May I be there whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith that You are there.

Entirely adoring You, given over entirely to Your creative action in teaching, communicating and loving inside of me. Amen. (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)

 

God Knows☀️🙏🏻

Mary dropped by last evening sporting ‘new’ (to her) cozy coat. Mary’s friend passed it on to her and so Mary joyfully declared; ‘I’m passing on my brown warm coat to you’. (For someone in need).

I danced on the spot. How could Mary have known that some hours earlier in the day, an African lady, new in town, told me she needed just one thing! A warm coat. I told lady all our coats had been snapped up but the next one to arrive in our supply room will definitely go to her.

What joy after Holy Mass this morning, witnessing lady donning Mary’s perfectly-fitting warm brown coat. ‘It is perfect’, she exclaimed, over and over. Honestly, we both got goosebumps. Wonderful Holy Spirit covering us both in a powerful way!!

Not just that, dear lady received Sacrament of Penance too. First time in many long days. Freedom.

Father God knows our every need long before we know it ourselves. Lately, I hardly have time to formulate a need in my mind before it is attended to and resolved miraculously. Such is the goodness of our God. 

Snow on the mountains, lady takes her leave cozy and carefree. Two less problems for her to contend with for now. Covered in warmth, covered in Grace!

Walking with beautiful Jesus, adventure extraordinaire!!

            ‘Put your delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart’. (Psalm 37:4)

‘Pray, hope and don’t worry’. (St. Pio)☀️🙏🏻

She approached me after Holy Mass this morning, wiping tears from her sad eyes. ‘Can you please write for me the little prayer you call out after 3pm live-streamed Holy Rosary’, she asked. ‘I really need it right now’. Of course I did.

‘Dearest Mother Mary, Queen of peace, keep our troubled minds at ease’. Amen. (X3)

Later on, I wrote it again for another dear lady who needed it too. Thinking maybe I will distribute printed copies as I go. Holy Spirit prompt! Anxiety rife in this our day and time.

Lady in our St.Anne’s Holy Rosary group told me; ‘I was trying to remember your little prayer about ‘troubled minds’ this morning’. Yes, for sure I will have them printed. One beside her bed every morning made her smile brightly.

Where did I find this beautiful prayer? Who gave it to me? I have no idea whatsoever. I only know that it brings comfort and peace in abundance.

Then, on my way home from same livestream Holy Rosary this afternoon I spy a hedgehog in deep trouble. His head stuck in a yoghurt carton. (Let’s call him Sonic). 

Thank God my friend Barry came by in the nick of time, liberating Sonic in seconds. (Perhaps his yoghurt got spiked!! suggested Ruairi. Alice noted that Sonic got a strawberry surprise!)

Hedgehog’s poor head. All our poor heads!!

‘Love Our Lady and make her loved; always recite the Rosary and recite it as often as possible’.            (St. Pio)

We are here to grow and to serve☀️🙏🏻

Last night, sleep eluding me as I mulled over stuff in my past that I could have done so much better, had I, at that time in my life, gleaned the hard-earned wisdom I now posses. Then today, that icy emotion of fear ambushing my peace once again, recalling something which occurred yesterday that might have ended bad. (It did not Thank God). Morbid rumination, erroneous thinking, tangled and scattered imaginings stealing my joy, shattering my peace into a million pieces. No wonder someone wrote one time; ‘The movie in my mind is a foreign film’.

Then, mercifully, right this minute, wonderful Holy Spirit speaks into my deepest heart; ‘ Thanking and praising God with every breath you take, leaves no time to spare for scary thoughts. All is very well, right here, right now’. (I will share this wonderful wisdom with many).

Wow!! Moment of transcendence, beauty and peace. Holy Light and inspiration from on-High.

As I write, tall trees at the end of my garden swiftly losing their remaining few leaves. My trees are accepting, living in the moment, and precisely because of this, they stand majestic in their sublime nudity.

My dear friend Mary calls, as she oftentimes does. Labouring under crushing mental health issues all her long life she tells me candidly; ‘I am doing my best, fighting my way’, Before she goes on her way rejoicing, she asks for prayers for another dear lady in terrible turmoil right now.

Ruairi and little Daithi arriving back home in Kildare safe and sound after our joyful weekend together here in Kerry. Nan, son and grandson. What a gift from God.

When I told sweet little Daithi (grandson 3years) how much I wished he could stay with me forever and live in my pocket, his reply; ‘People don’t live in pockets, Nan, and I don’t either’. Simple as that! So much beautiful theology packed into little Daithi’s wise words.

Gaze shifted, nothing left to do but praise and thank wonderful Holy Trinity One God with every fibre of my being from the bottom of my grateful joyful heart. Tremendous tools of navigation through my life here on earth.

When we praise and thank God we are uplifted. There is a practical reality to praise and worship. We are in the Throne room of the Lord Most High. ‘A joyful heart makes for a dazzling countenance’.(Psalm 15:13)

‘The devil rejoices most when he can steal the joy out of the heart of the servant of God’. (St. Francis of Assisi)

‘Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find salvation’. (St. Seraphim of Serra)

‘Holy Mother of God’, repeated many times is huge comfort in times of distress.

‘Trust in Me. Do more than trust. Joy in Me. If you really trust, you cannot fail to joy. The wonder of My care, protection and provision is so transcendingly beautiful, as your trust reveals it to you, that your whole heart must sing with the joy of it’. (Jesus/God Calling2)

Living as Christians☀️🙏🏻

One year ago today ‘Blanketiers’, our WhatsApp group was born. Countless asylum seekers in our town, we could share with them. No files, no policy. No office, no queues. Needs met as they would emerge.

We began with four members. Now we are eighteen! Amazing awesome adventure. Attics emptied!

In the beginning folk were suspicious. I remember two young girls refusing everything we offered them. They told us later that they were beyond shocked to be offered stuff for nothing and were scared of what they might be letting themselves in for. 

Today, both of them received two fine winter coats with smiles of gratitude. As always we remind them that God owns all, ‘Blankatiers’, merely His stewards. (Someone kindly told me one time that ‘to be eternally grateful to any one person is a terrible place to be’. I share those wise words all the time).

God-incidence! Today’s Gospel reading right on target: ‘So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say; We are merely servants; we have done no more than our duty’. (Luke 17:10)

Why ‘Blanketiers’? In the beginning many folk’s greatest need was a warm blanket. Ireland colder by far than Africa! Mary came up with the name and we are so happy with it. Blankets needed and blankets bringing folk comfort too. 

In turn, our African friends pray for us all the time. Unashamedly they love God and whether folk realise it or not, our visitors shine a bright light in this post-Christian land of ours.

‘With prayer one can go on cheerfully and even happily, while without prayer, how grim is the journey. Prayer is as necessary to life as breathing. It is drink and food’. (Dorothy Day).

I love Dorothy Day. She is the inspiration behind what we do and how we do it! Her beautiful book ‘The Reckless Way of Love’, is forever within my reach. No home should be without one!!

Woke up this morning with these beautiful words on my lips: ‘No award for anything I do. All is hidden in You’. 

‘Sometimes in thinking and wondering at God’s goodness to me, I have thought that it was because I gave away an onion. Because I sincerely loved His poor, He taught me to know Him. When I think of the little I ever did, I am filled with Hope and love for all those others devoted to the cause of social justice’. (‘Reckless way of Love’ Dorothy Day)

‘There is no point dwelling on the past excessively. My mother used to warn us against that; she’d say, “doting on what’s gone is wasting precious time”. It’s stealing time, really, from the present and from the future. If you believe in the mission of Jesus Christ, then you’re bound to try to let go of your past, in the sense that you are entitled to His forgiveness. To keep regretting what was, is to deny God’s Grace’. (Reckless way of Love’ Dorothy Day)

I am so glad and grateful to my dear friend Barbara for gifting me this book. Divine inspiration without a doubt! Kindred spirits!

‘

Jesus, light our way.☀️🙏🏻

‘For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it’.  (Amanda Gormann)

This morning we walked to the bus stop, just the two of us, all of her worldly goods stuffed tightly into one large suitcase and two bags, one medium size, one small. Little old me, chosen by God, to accompany and lend a helping hand to this courageous exceptional lady. No place else I would rather have been. Simple abundance!

Eight months ago she landed in our town and right away we became steadfast friends. How utterly she needed rest and recovery in those early days. Today, thank God, she takes her leave of us, sunny and strong.

‘Your Government kindly allowed me to come here’, she told me a few days ago. ‘They gave me free money and a place to lay my head. I am so grateful. Now that my work permit has arrived, time has come for me to brazen up and once again step out into the unknown’. She will live with another African family (they haven’t met) in one of our big cities while tirelessly she seeks much needed employment.

She quotes Psalm 37:23: ‘The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives’. Like me, she has not a scintilla of doubt about the sure and certain fact, that beautiful Jesus walks with her every step of the way. Nothing to fear, Jesus is here!

Right this very minute, as I write, I receive a message on my phone: ‘Hi Bridget. Thank you for your love and support’💕

My reply: ‘My joy. My total privilege. God is good all the time’. 💕

I love to tell her how much she inspires me to ‘brazen up’ too, be the very best I can be, good times and bad. Every action a sacred transaction. All of us give, all of us receive. God owns everything.

‘The bread you store up belongs to the hungry. The cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked. The gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor’. (St. Basil the Great)

Thanks be to God.☀️🙏🏻

She arrived in our town, frail, lost and all alone. Our privilege to share and care, as gradually she grew strong in mind and body. Remarkable transformation right before our very eyes. Then, one fine day she just took off without a word. No goodbye, nothing. Last we heard she is doing well in another town, another county.

Of course we are happy to know she is well but this morning I was thinking to myself how odd that she would take her leave of us in such a cold careless way. 

Still deep in thought when the words: ‘So you were looking for thanks!’, fluttered into my deepest heart. Holy Spirit wisdom, no doubt. No mistaking wonderful Holy Spirit when He speaks. Strength-giving and comforting at all times.

How often have I impressed upon impoverished folk: ‘We are sharing God’s stuff. He owns everything’, meaning, as much as I was able, every word from my deepest heart. However, those same words will mean a whole lot more going forward. God does actually own everything. All thanks is due only to God alone.

What a gift to my heart. I knew it before but now I feel it with every fibre of my being. We own nothing except our free will!

Soon after, another lady called, ecstatically telling me that her husband and family will be joining her in Ireland soon, please God. Our first meeting, that lady and I, remains forever in my heart, deep trauma darkening her beautiful face. Just nodding, she spoke not a single word. Today she is laughing and thanking God at the same time. I am too. ‘God did it’, she utters joyfully. ‘Dear Mother Mary in charge of everything’. Transformation extraordinaire!

This evening, strolling with yet another exquisite lady from a land far far away. Countless complications to contend with but like all our visitors, she thanks God for bringing her to this place of peace.

Folk marooned in our town, owning nothing but possessing everything! They know God. God knows them. Know God, know peace. No God, no peace.

Our teachers in disguise, each and every one of them. All will be revealed in God’s own time. God owns everything. We merely His stewards.

‘O my God, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve to be served, to give without counting the cost, to fight without fear of being wounded, to work without seeking rest, and to spend myself without expecting any reward, but the knowledge that I am doing Your Holy Will. Amen’.        (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

                                     

New York at home🇺🇸

On my way from St. Anne’s Holy Rosary I stopped to chat with Bill. ‘Did you enjoy New York’, he asked. I told him we had a wonderful time. ‘Time with my boys is always enjoyable, whether home or away, but yes indeed New York was amazingly beautiful in so many ways’. When we are happy at home with our loved ones, chances are we will be happy everywhere!

‘Just thinking Bill’, I added. ‘If folk realised how beautiful it is to sit with St. Anne’s folk in prayer, people who have walked the walk. Sitting in their midst while the healing power of Jesus Christ shines through their brokenness onto mine. What a gift to my patched-up heart. 

Some call out a whole decade, some simply pray one Hail Mary. One lady, completely deaf, prays the sign of the Cross over herself as we all join in. Honestly, she is drawing a cozy blanket around all of us straight from Heaven above.’

Bridie, blind, deaf and now Alzheimer’s too, prays St. Teresa of Avila’s beautiful prayer aloud, profoundly meaning every word. She does not know how much we love and need to hear her pray for us all but one day in Heaven she will know it all.

Oftentimes I say that if our town folk would come and see for themselves the beauty and majesty of our St. Anne’s Holy Rosary group, staff thereafter would not cope with the crowds. Best kept secret in town. Best gig around!

Every day I emerge from our time of prayer a little more exhilarated, tad more healed’.

Bill stood in silence, deep in thought.’I guess that is the real New York’, I said, pointing to beautiful St. Anne’s Nursing Home, full of light and life.

‘Yes indeed. We have New York at home’, he added, smiling sweetly.

                                                                     🇺🇸 New York squirrel.

Happy together ❤️

                                                                               Bridie’s 🙏🏻 

God will work it out.☀️🙏🏻

My God, here is another day, given me to love and serve you. Amen

She sat alone in a pew near the door as I prayed live-streamed Holy Rosary before Holy Mass this morning. Afterwards, placing a prayer in my pocket, I made my way towards her but soon realised she had got up and left. About to return back to Holy Alter, when there she was, tucked in the corner lighting a candle. 

‘Would you like a beautiful morning prayer’, I asked. Poor lady! Frail and devastated she replied: ‘my son is having surgery today. I don’t know how serious it is’. We prayed my prayer together and then I suggested that perhaps Holy Spirit sent me to her because of her son’s surgery. ‘Yes, it is very strange’, she replied gratefully. Strange and wonderful to me too.

Loved meeting two joyful guys from Saudi Arabia in Church today. One of them took a video on his phone of all three of us asking if I would speak. ‘Let us pray, all of us in Saudi Arabia, Ireland and every place, for peace in our world’. I simply said. Who knows where that little clip will be seen and heard!! It can not be a bad thing and that is for sure.

I don’t recall meeting folk from Saudi Arabia in our Church before today. Delightful memorable encounter. Both guys gratefully accepted my prayer too.

African lady residing in our town asked if I would be God-Mother to her baby son. Christening in Church on Saturday. Thrilled and surprised I asked her: ‘Why me?’. She replied: ‘Because you were very happy to see me first time we met’. Wow!! First impressions last!! 

Young heartbroken lady came to Church to inform me that she must return home to her own country. She had hoped to begin a new life here. However, I could tell her truthfully that God’s plan for her life will greatly exceed her own dreams and schemes if she would accept what she cannot change. Once upon a time I too had a lavish plan for my own life …

Scrubbing the Psychiatric Unit floor where I worked for a time, crying uncontrollably. My tears could have washed clean that floor that day. ‘Why can I not have what I want so badly’, I begged my God. No, I did not hear His reply audibly but from somewhere deep within, there issued forth: ‘You will live longer and you will do good’. ‘That’s just my imagination’, I spoke aloud. To which He replied: ‘I am in your imagination too, you know’. 

That was eighteen years ago and I have been listening to His gentle wisdom ever since.

Holy Trinity One God. Walking with beautiful Jesus, in the Gladsome Light of Holy Spirit, home to our wonderful Father God. Amen

Freely freely we have received…..freely freely give!!

‘Give your all. Seek no reward. God will work it out’. (Jean Usher)

Without Jesus life would be unbearable!!

The old drink🙏🏻☀️

‘As long as there is a drop of blood in our body, there will be a struggle between right and wrong’. (St. Pio)

He gets on my bus and takes the seat right next to me. ‘I see you are praying’, he says and with that he begins to talk. Prayer relaxes folk. It knocks down walls.

His two fine sons died, God rest their gentle souls. First one passed away ten years ago, the other a few years later. Of course he deeply mourned his first son but then he still had his second son alive in this world so he could cope well enough. Now they are both gone. He accepts my prayer with the words: ‘I don’t know if I believe in God at all now’.

His wife isn’t talking to him, he is heartbroken. He loves her very much. They got married very young. ‘Women can be very stubborn’, he says and before I can utter a word he adds: ‘The old drink’.

Bring her flowers I suggest. ‘Oh no’, he replies laughing; ‘If I arrive with flowers she would think I did something really wrong. We never bothered with flowers’.

‘What about my prayer’, I say. Taking it, he places it safely in his jacket inside pocket. ‘How about a bar of chocolate too’, I say. ‘No need’, he replies; ‘I think this here in my pocket (prayer) will be enough’. He still prays every night before he goes to bed. In the morning too. He don’t really know if God exists but he prays anyway.

‘I hope we meet again’, he tells me earnestly. ‘Me too’, I reply, ‘but most likely it will be in Heaven’. What power there is in using our natural gifts according to God’s plan!

We both laugh and shake hands warmly. ‘Don’t forget to give Molly my prayer’, I remind him as he departs. ‘I won’t forget’, he says. ‘But first I will have a few more beers in there’, pointing to yet another pub.

The old drink!! 

Who was it that said;  ‘Our addiction is like an eight hundred pound gorilla waiting outside the door doing push-ups’. 

One who knew what he was talking about and that’s for sure!! Tale as old as time!

Our random enjoyable thought-provoking encounter remains forever in my heart and prayer.

                                             Freedom is the opposite to addiction. Not sobriety!!

 

Symphony of beauty☀️🙏🏻

‘If you have hope; this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come and keep praying’. (Romans 12:12)

She is beautiful beyond words. The kind of beauty that never fades. She baked me some cookies and if I like them she will make me some more. She says that, every time she gifts me something delicious. 

‘You have a poor mother in your own country and you have a poor mother here’, I say laughingly. ‘Too bad you do not have just one rich mother’.

‘I love my poor mothers. I thank God for you both all the time’, she replies sweetly, sincerely. 

As we go our separate ways, we look back and wave until we are out of sight to one another. Same every time. Just like my dear Mom and I used to do way back then.

First time our paths crossed was in the Charity shop, she cried continuously. Somehow something made us laugh, we do not remember what. At that moment her tears dried, she often tells me. She chose a brown coat. Oh how badly she needed a warm coat. 

Today as Storm Ashley rages, she is wearing that same brown coat.

Hard to take in how much she has suffered in her own country and in her gruelling journey to this place of rest and renewal. Her smile is like a thousand suns. Her heart is bigger than Ireland.

As Pope Benedict XV1 reminds us so powerfully;

‘We were not made for comfort. We were made for greatness’.

‘May God bless us with anger at injustice. May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor’. (Franciscan blessing)