Ora et labora☀️🙏🏻

‘The journey towards Heaven begins in the plains, in a daily life broken and shared, spent and given, in the quiet daily gift of all that we are’. (Pope Francis)

Someone told me recently that I should not be feeding my birds. Seemingly our little hungry birds are growing too dependent and should be encouraged to fend for themselves. I am reminded too of a time when someone told my dear Mom that she should stop feeding countless hungry cats who visited our humble home daily or they they may well continue to drop by. My dear Mom did not stop, our visitor cats continued calling. I will not stop feeding my birds either. 

The idea of anybody hungry hurt my Mom deeply, me too. 

Another memory dances into my heart. I was told, in no uncertain terms, to not assist a fragile lady, in floods of tears, put her stockings on. She needed to be able to do it for herself. Poor lady had a really painful arm too. I did help her of course and when someone shouted at me for doing it I replied quietly: ‘You are free to do it your way, I will do it my way’.  

Poor lady was so grateful. 

To this day, many years later, I am so glad and grateful to God for being in that place at that time. My accuser got some space that day too to rethink her not-so-kind actions.

Storm Eowyn did some serious damage to my television aerial. My Christian channels have disappeared without trace!! Multiple other channels remain. Thing is I only ever watch EWTN and other Christian channels. Strange!! More time for prayer. 

Sun is shining on delightful birds loving life in my garden as I write. Mantle of pure peace and calm covering us. I know we are truly blessed, my birds know it too. God is good all the time. 

So much unrest in our world right now. Folk frightened of what their future might bring. Easy enough to feel utterly helpless in the face of so much pain and suffering but despair does not come from God. Instead, let us do what we can while there is still time. Bloom where we are planted!,

May my life be full of prayer. May my days be full of kind deeds. Our loving Father God will do the rest as we walk hand in hand with beautiful Jesus, in glorious light of wonderful Holy Spirit, home to Heaven above. What joy!

A beautiful life is lived in imitation of Christ.

‘We are labourers, not master builders; servants, not the Messiah. We are prophets of a future that does not belong to us’. (St. Oscar Romero). 

‘Give us, O Lord, a love for You that is so pure, so holy, so devoid of self-love, so full of charity towards our neighbour and so much Your own that we will only concern ourselves with pleasing You and consoling You’. (Blessed Concepcion)

‘In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which He chose to dwell as one of us. May He pour out the treasures of His Light and Love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socio-economic disparities and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important and necessary thing of all; it’s heart’.                          (Pope Francis/Dilexit Nos)

‘I am with you always to the close of the age’. (Matthew 28/20)

‘All of Heaven will be minding you’, words I offer folk every day as they accept my powerful morning prayer. 

Right now, as Storm Eowyn rages outside my window, those beautiful words dance into my heart and oh how much I need to hear them. All of Heaven are minding me in my little cottage. I am not alone!! This changes everything. Alleluia. Nothing to fear - All of Heaven is here!

What a mighty God we serve! He will either still the storm, or still us in the storm.

3.30AM. Hour of Mercy. Praying Holy Rosary in the company of Heaven. No place else I would rather be.

‘Jesus came and said to them; ‘All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’. (Matthew 28:18-20)

‘We shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God’. (St. Francis de Sales)

Do what you do do, well☀️🙏🏻

‘Whether you walk here on earth, or are free from earth’s limitations in my Heaven, it is Heaven to walk with Me’ (Jesus/God calling)

Every tiny thing we do, and every tiny thing done to us while here on earth has intrinsic value for eternity, this I am beginning to realise more and more. Let me explain…

‘Eternity is the wrong thing to be wrong about’. (Billy Zeoli)

Distraught Guy called me up, somebody had given him my number. Tired, hungry, freezing, I had just arrived home from Legion of Mary meeting, thirty miles away. Of course we met up anyway and miraculously my own story of utter upheaval and upset gave him hope in the midst of his own upheaval story happening right now. My boys and I made it through that barren land, and holding Jesus beautiful Hand, he would too. ‘I was not expecting this’, he told me, tears in his eyes, as we parted, ‘But it is most important’. He had ‘dropped God’ many years ago. Tonight He met God again!

Distraught lady sitting in cold empty Church sobbing quietly. Another lady in their accommodation upset her greatly, blaming her for something she did not do. No, she will not reveal who the real culprit is. She will sit here and cry with Jesus. I could share that one time, many years ago, in a similar situation I was granted a beautiful Grace. Placing Jesus centre stage, gazing on His beautiful Face, shifted my gaze from my offender forever. I actually (almost physically) moved her to the periphery. I am remembering that momentous moment vividly as I write. Dear lady, smiling, did exactly that and honestly her tears dried there and then. She began to sing aloud thanking and praising Jesus in her native tongue. Wow!!

Guy told me that his apartment inside wall is continually damp. Mould everywhere. I could advise him, I know all about mould!! My little cozy cottage was once an igloo, I told him and now by the glorious Grace of God I live in an incubator.

One such encounter would have gladdened my heart but three of them!! and all within twenty four hours.

What an honour for me to share with dear devastated folk banished from their lives and homes by cruel self-indulgent regimes. Hard to fathom it! Their day will come.

Father forgive them, they know not what they do. 

Yes Jesus, it is Heaven to walk with you!!

‘Well then listen, I have found happiness, I possess it. I enjoy it so fully that I am able to say with the great Apostle; ‘I am overflowing with joy’. My heart brims over with happiness so that I cannot contain it within me. It is found in Jesus. At the Feet of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament’. 

(Herman Cohen)

In God we trust☀️🙏🏻

Killian returning to Vancouver having enjoyed to the full, five fabulous family weeks together, timely uplifting message on my calendar makes me pause and pray. Impossible to be unhappy and grateful at the same time.

I am reading an extraordinary book right now. ‘He leadeth me’, by Daniel J. Flaherty.  Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent twenty agonising years in Soviet prisons and labour camps in Siberia. Only through an utter reliance on God’s will did he manage to endure the extreme hardship. 

Amazing read. Layer upon enlightening layer. I urge one and all to check it out. Too beautiful not to share!

‘God does not ask the impossible of any man. He was not asking more of me, really, than He asks of every man, every Christian, each day of his life. He was asking that I learn to see these suffering men around me, these circumstances in the prison at Perm, as sent from His Hand and ordained by His providence. He was asking me to do something as another Christ’. (Fr. Ciszek)

So glad I know you Father Ciszek. So glad I know you, Dorothy Day, too. How blessed we are to be guided on our earthly pilgrimage by those brave generous souls who walked this way already, step by painful step.

‘Nor was I powerless to do it, for it was within my power to do it, and I could count on His Grace to sustain me. Not the least of His graces was the light to see and understand this truth; to see that this day, like all the days of my life come from His Hands and served a purpose in His providence. I had to learn to believe that, no matter what the circumstances, and to act accordingly, with complete trust and confidence in His will, His wisdom and His Grace. (Fr. Ciszek)

‘We must contain ourselves in patience, remembering each morning that our main job is to love God and serve Him, and if we don’t get things done due to interruptions, well, it cannot be helped and God will take care of what we leave undone’. (Dorothy Day/The reckless way of Love)

‘I need each one of you as though you were the only person in the world, as though the cosmos had been created for you alone, and My love is greater than the cosmos. So let this thought be a strength to you and your smiling calm’. (Jesus to Gabrielle Bossis/He and I)

‘Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father’. (Matthew 5:16)

Impromptu☀️🙏🏻

I dashed from my cozy home just to photograph my favourite mountain and there met a really lovely couple all the way from New York City who were just about to photograph my favourite mountain too.

Uplifting encounter. I photographed both of them standing lovingly in front of snow capped mountain. I offered them my prayer, they accepted joyfully. I told them about our New York visit last October, my sons and I. How much I loved every minute including and maybe even particularly, Broadway show ‘Our Town’. (Thornton Wilder’s wonderful classic).

We talked about Emily who has no idea how wonderful life is until she dies. Her family, her town…

Gentleman, retired New York Fire fighter, went on to tell me that his life has always been an exciting one and although now retired, he is still every bit as excited about life as he always has been. Me too. I love every inch of my wonderful life from God. Always there is something to be grateful for, no matter what.

All three of us wholeheartedly agree that being alive is no small thing!

My dear Mom would oftentimes say; ‘While there’s life, there’s hope’. I had no idea what her wise words meant back then. I do now!!

‘We will meet in Heaven’, my favourite parting words these days. Lovely lady laughingly replies: ‘We don’t have to wait that long, honey, we purchased a house in your town’.

Was not expecting that magnificent encounter this cold bright day in our town!!

‘O earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realise you. Do any human beings ever realise life while they live it…every, every, minute’. (Emily/Our Town)

‘O tall mountain of confidence in God, you never surrender when the Lord tests you! Although you stand far away from me as if in exile, all alone, you remind me that no armed power is strong enough to best you. Your trust in God is wonderful’. (Hildegard of Bingen)

The singing stopped a while ago☀️🙏🏻

‘The singing stopped a while ago’. My granddaughter’s reply to Killian last evening when he wondered if Nan was asleep already’. What a beautiful reply! (I must be asleep if I stopped singing).

Holy Mass this morning in compact Church of my childhood. Myriad memories packed with joy and gratitude warming the cockles of my heart. Sitting in the pew with our dear Dad, all eight of us. Someone told me recently he would walk up the aisle just ahead of us and then wait until each one of us had entered the pew, before sitting down himself. 

Eight pairs of shiny shoes polished by Dad specially for Holy Mass.

Singing all the way to Holy Mass. Singing all the way home again. Funny, I don’t ever recall feeling hungry and yet we were out of home for many hours. Perhaps a whole bunch of theology packed into that!! We were being fed spiritually every step of the way. Goodness, truth and beauty all around.

To this very day we sing all the time, my siblings and I. Mostly unaware that we are actually singing. Second nature!

Dear Mom waiting patiently in our humble home for our glad return. Much appreciated dinner waiting for us too on our old well-used stove.

My dear granddaughter’s beautiful reply gifted my heart with the most glorious of memories, this snowy Sunday in deepest Kerry.

‘Real goodness is always simple. Simplicity is so attractive and so profitable that it is strange that so few people are really simple’. (Leo Tolstoy)

Holy Crib highlight of our childhood Christmas and still is to this very day.

Visitor guy to our village took our family photograph every Christmas Day. This is our last one. Our dear Dad died the following September. 🙏🏻❤️

God alone is sufficient ☀️🙏🏻

‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting’. (Hosea 13:14)

Bridie passed away peacefully at 4AM this morning.

 Sitting by her bedside last night, praying Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Holy Rosary, stroking her beautiful hair, talking to her, will remain forever in my heart.

Ninety years of age, not a line on her beautiful face, white hair stunning as always. I doubt she ever realised her real beauty or gave it a second thought.

Bridie had no idea either how much she impacted the lives of countless others during the course of her long hard life. Her determination in the face of myriad struggles. Her acceptance and endurance. Her saintliness.

She knows now!

‘It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit’. (Harry S Truman)

So glad to have recording on my phone of Bridie calling out St. Teresa of Avila’s prayer in our Holy Rosary one time. That last line; ‘God alone is sufficient’, comforted many, coming from Bridie who was ‘living proof’. She owned nothing but God! 

For the longest time, Bridie lived in her own world, sight and hearing gone. Yet, with just the slightest prompt, she would pray it aloud at the end of Holy Rosary. ‘Bridie’s prayer’ will go on being prayed while our Holy Rosary continues.

I prayed it aloud last night, one last time. Then, miraculously, she opened her eyes and whispered; 

‘Good bye’. Precious parting gift from my forever friend, dear sweet Bridie.

‘A tree is known by its fruit; a person by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; she who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and she who plants kindness gathers love’. (St. Basil the great)

St. John Vianney (Cure D’Ars) would oftentimes tell his parishioners that the only way to die well is to live well. Having witnessed with my own two eyes, dear Bridie’s peaceful passing, I want with all my heart to live well and when my time comes, die well, in the Gladsome light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen