Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities, Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2013.

See Mass Readings for this Sunday. Click here.

‘I WILL ASK THE FATHER AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER HELPER AND HE WILL STAY WITH YOU FOREVER…THE HELPER,…

Soul Food for Young Adult Communities, Pentecost Sunday, May 10, 2013.

Sinead, Mark and Friends are young adults. A community is two, three or more people, sharing their faith and questions and search.

Dear Sinead, Mark and Friends,

LOCKED IN?…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULT COMMUNITIES:  ASCENSION SUNDAY, May 5th, 2013.

See Mass Readings here, or read Acts of the Apostles Chapter 1, verses 1 to 11, and St. Luke’s Gospel, the very last chapter, Chapter 24, verses 46-53.…

SOUL FOOD FOR HUNGRY ADULT COMMUNITIES, May 5, 2013, 6^th Sunday of Easter.

As a priest, I love it when a couple arrive for their wedding rehearsal the night before the wedding, and the ‘bride’ has the…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULT COMMUNITIES.  6^TH SUNDAY OF EASTER, MAY 5^th, 2013.

(A community can be two, three or any number. Two friends are always a good start.)

The Gospel for this Sixth Sunday of Easter is…

Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C: April 28, 2013.

See Mass Readings for today, click here: Have a quick look at the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles 14:21-27, where Paul and Barnabas…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities, Fifth Sunday of Easter, April 28th 2013: Year C, the Year of Luke.

For Mass Readings for this Sunday, click here. (Some Lectionaries have the first reading as Acts of the Apostles 14:21-27, and…

SOUL FOOD FOR HUNGRY ADULT COMMUNITIES: April 21, 2013, Fourth Sunday of Easter.

‘Good Shepherd Sunday’:

SOUL FOOD FOR HUNGRY ADULT COMMUNITIES: April 21, 2013: Fourth Sunday of Easter.

If you would like ‘10/10 Vision’, go to John…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULT COMMUNITIES, April 21, 2013: Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Gospel for this Sunday:  John 10: 27-30

LETTER TO SINEAD, MARK AND FRIENDS,- young adults together.

Dear Sinead, Mark, and Friends,

‘The Lamb will be…

Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: 3rd Sunday of Easter, April 14, 2013.

Letter to Sinead, Mark and Friends,- young adults;  (and a ‘community’ can be 2 people or twelve or any number!)

Dear Sinead, Mark, and Friends,

Hope Easter…

SOUL FOOD FOR HUNGRY ADULT COMMUNITIES:

(‘communities’ of 2, 12, or any amount!)

Third Sunday after Easter, April 14, 2013:  Gospel: St. John, Chapter 21, verses 1 and following.

Jesus Christ doesn’t do Small!  He didn’t do Small at Cana,…

Soul Food for Young Adult Communities, 2nd Sunday of Easter, April 7, 2013.

‘Community’ may be two or 12 or….  and Sinead, Mark and Friends are young adults!

Dear Sinead, Mark, and Friends,

Today is Doubting Thomas’ day,…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: 2nd Sunday of Easter, April 7, 2013.

‘Doubting Thomas’ is the person put before us, in the Gospel for this Second Sunday of Easter. It’s from Chapter 20 of St. John,- the first account…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities, Easter Sunday 2013.

‘Christ is Risen!’ ‘He is truly Risen!‘-  a greeting that is used among people, in many middle European countries on Easter Sunday morning. He is truly risen!

‘I am with you…

Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Easter Sunday March 31, 2013.

Sinead, Mark and Friends are young adults.

Dear Sinead, Mark, and Friends, 

20-20 Vision!  Wouldn’t you love to have it? ‘The disciples were filled with joy when they saw…

Pope Francis’ Homily for Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday 2013: speaking about

the call of a priest among all of God’s people in the world

Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning I have the joy of celebrating my first Chrism Mass…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: Palm Sunday, March 24th 2013. You are invited to go to HomePage for this Holy Week, to Reflections for Holy Week 2013,- with a reflection each day from Palm Sunday to Easter, and on…

Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: (‘where two or more of you gather together in my name…‘).

Sinead and Mark are two young adults.

Dear Sinead, Mark and Friends,

During the coming week, there will be a Reflection…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities, St. Patrick’s Day 2013

On this our St. Patrick’s Day, 2013, we pray very especially for our new Holy Father, Pope Francis. May the Lord bless him mightily, and give him strength and comfort…

Soul Food on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th 2013: For Young Adult

Communities.

(A ‘community‘ can be 2 people or more…)

Letter to Sinead and Mark and Friends.  (Sinead and Mark are two young adults.)

Visit You Tube…

SOUL FOOD for Young Adult Communities: March 10, 2013, Fourth Sunday of Lent. Year of St. Luke.

Gospel today is Luke 15:1-3, and 11-32.  The Parable of the Prodigal Son. See it on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxfdChYCKYA.

Letter to Sinead, Mark and Friends.…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: March 10, 2013.

GOSPEL for this Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 10, 2013: Luke 15:1-3, and 11-32: The Parable of the Prodigal Son.

“‘The tax collectors and sinners were all pressing…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: March 3, 2013, Third Sunday of Lent, Year C (Year of Luke).

Gospel reading: Luke 13:1-9  (See Mass Readings for today, on HomePage)

Jesus didn’t give a fig about fig trees,- but…

TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD.  2^ND SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR C, FEBRUARY 24, 2013.

Soul Food for Young Adult Faith Communities,- of 2 to 22 to…

(Gospel for this Sunday: Luke 9:28-36, the story of the Transfiguration of the Lord. See…

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT 2013, FEB.24^TH.

GOSPEL OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD: Luke 9:28-36 (See Mass Readings for this Sunday, on HomePage)

‘At the corner of 4^th and Walnut’is how Thomas Merton, the writer

and Trappist monk, begins the…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULT COMMUNITIES:  First Sunday of Lent, February 17, 2013. Year of Luke.

See Homepage for Mass Readings for this Sunday: the Gospel is Luke 4:1-13

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULT COMMUNITIES:

Letter to Sinead…

Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: First Sunday of Lent, February 17, 2013.  Year of St. Luke.

See HomePage for Mass Readings for this Sunday. The Gospel is St. Luke, Chapter 4, verses 1-13.…

A Lent of Opportunity for a Hungry Adults & Young Adults, in a  Faith Community:                    or A Feast of a Fast:  (Source unknown)

Fast from judging others;        Feast on…

SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT: FEB. 10, 2013, FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME.

See ‘Mass Readings’ in Homepage for today’s readings: Gospel is from Luke 5:1-11.

This past week, great crowds are flocking to the Novena in the Cathedral…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULTS: February 10, 2013: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

LETTER TO SINEAD AND MARK, – two young adults.

Click on Mass Readings, on Home Page, for this Sunday’s Readings: Gospel Reading is Luke Chapter 5, verses…

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME: FEB. 3^RD, 2013. SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT.

‘Ah, sure, who’s he to talk? Sure, don’t we know his family, and where he comes from. Who does he think he is, anyway?’

Sounds like…

SOUL FOOD,  on the FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: FEBRUARY 3^RD, 2013.

Letter to Sinead and Mark, two young adults.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you came…

LETTER TO SINEAD AND MARK,- two young adults.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Do you ever feel the need for someone or some group to give you new heart and hope- to put pep in your step again, and energy to…

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, JAN.27, 2013.

SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT:     Jesus has a Dream for the world!

INAUGURATION SPEECHES and speeches with a passion for justice, can be up-lifting for the human heart and for entire communities,…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULTS: LETTER TO SINEAD AND MARK- two young adults.

2^nd SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME, JANUARY 20 2013. Click on Mass Readings on Home Page, for the Readings for this Sunday.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

We’re back…

SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT:

Go to Home page for the Mass Readings for this Sunday. Gospel is John 2:1-11. First Reading is Isaiah 62:1-5. Second Reading is First Corinthians 12:4-11.

Last…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULTS:    Letter to Sinead and Mark- two young adults.

Readings for this Sunday, January 13 2013,  are from the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year C; Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11.  St.…

SOUL-FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT: JANUARY 13, 2013, FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD.

(Readings from Year C.  Readings for this Sunday are from the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Year C; Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11.  St.…

Soul Food for Young Adults: Feast of the Epiphany, January 6, 2013.

Letter to Sinead and Mark,- two young adults:

Dear Sinead and Mark,

How’s the New Year for you? Hope it’s been good, and that you have had a…

Soul Food for the Hungry Adult:

FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD:   JAN 6, 2012

Do you know that there is a STAR shining over YOU?  You are the place now where Christ…

Soul Food for Young Adults: Letter to Sinead and Mark: January 1, 2013.

Feast of Mary, the Mother of God…. and our Mother, our LADY.

Sinead and Mark are two young adults.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

For this New Year’s…

January 1st, 2013:  Feast of Mary, Mother of God. 

(Readings: Numbers 6:22-27,  Galatians 4:4-7,  Luke 2:16-21.)

A BLESSING: How about this for a blessing, to start a new year? It’s a famous Jewish blessing,- (from the First…

Letter to Sinead and Mark, – two young adults.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

A small boy was very afraid one night, as his Mom was putting him to bed. She tried to comfort him by telling him that he would…

SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT: Dec. 30th, 2012

I got this from a website called Skin Ministries: I was looking for the story about ‘a God with skin on him,- about the boy that was crying and…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULTS:

A Christmas Letter to Sinead and Mark, two young adults:

Dear Sinead, Dear Mark,

Here’s wishing you a truly blessed Christmas, filled with wonder.

Today, I simply give you a story written by a…

Soul Food for the Hungry Adult:  ’CHRISTMAS,  PRESENT’ !

“THE WORD BECAME FLESH; he lived among us, and we saw his glory.” (John 1:14)  (from the Gospel for the Midday Mass on Christmas Day)

 …

FOURTH SUNDAY  OF ADVENT: SOUL FOOD FOR HUNGRY ADULTS: DEC.23, 2012.  Gospel Reading: Luke 1:39-44. Micah 5:1-4, Hebrews 10:5-10

The food is in; the presents are nearly all bought; the decorations and the tree are all ready; the Christmas lights…

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT,  Dec. 23, 2012.  (Gospel: Luke 1:39-44)

Letter to Sinead and Mark,- two young adults.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

As a child and young boy, I would sit out on the wall of the front garden of…

SOUL FOOD FOR HUNGRY ADULTS:  THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, DEC.16, 2012.

‘Come dance with me!’was  a famous 1959 album by Frank Sinatra.

And we’re all familiar with ‘Strictly Come Dancing‘, the competition on BBC where amateurs and professionals link up, for…

Third Sunday of Advent, December 16th, 2012. Soul Food for Young Adults.

LETTER TO SINEAD AND MARK, two young adults:

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Advent. Adventure! Adventurous! Go for it! Go for the adventure of  following the

Master, wherever he…

SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT:  SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT:  DECEMBER 9^TH, 2012.

Can I invite you to imagine you are reading the following in 35 years time, in 2047?   ‘When Benedict XVI was in the seventh year of his…

2^nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C:  DECEMBER 9^TH, 2012.

Letter to Sinead and Mark:  (Sinead and Mark are two Young Adults):

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Are you following the Kate and William story? Great joy! A child is expected, early…

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C (THE YEAR OF LUKE): DECEMBER 2, 2012.

Soul Food for Hungry Adults:

‘MARANATHA! COME, LORD JESUS!,

The Budget is coming and the days are cold, – but the lights are being lit up,

there’s…

Soul Food for Young Adults:  A Letter to Sinead and Mark, December 2^nd , 2012.

First Sunday of Advent, December 2^nd, 2012. Beginning ‘The Year of Luke’, when the readings on Sundays are mostly from St. Luke’s Gospel.

Sinead and…

SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULTS. Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King. Nov.25th, 2012. Gospel Reading – St. John, Chapter 18:33-37.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Back again! This weekend is the very last Sunday in Ordinary Time, in the…

Feast of Christ the King: November 25^th, 2012.

Reading 1: Revelations 1:5-8, Gospel John 18:33-37. See Mass Readings on HomePage.

‘YES, I AM A KING!’

‘He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood.’ (notice the present…

‘Soul Food for the Hungry Adult’.

Gospel Reading for this Thirty Third Sunday is Mark 13:24-32. See Mass Readings on Home Page.

‘All will be revealed!’ When? In God’s own time. That’s at the heart of today’s reading, from the…

THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B: November 18^th, 2012.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Did you watch any of the London Olympics, this year? Did you by any chance watch any of the opening ceremony, and the spectacle…

LETTER TO SINEAD AND MARK; Nov. 11^th, 2012. 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

(Sinead and Mark are two young adults.)

DEAR SINEAD AND MARK,

It’s a cold and November kind of day, these days. We’re getting nearer to the turn…

Thirty Second  Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: November 11^th, 2012.

Gospel: Mark 12:38-44.  The two tiny coins of the widow-woman.

Jesus is paying his very last visit to the Temple, on the Tuesday before his suffering began. And as…

Reflection for Sunday November 4^th, 2012.    31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

See ‘Mass Readings’ for this Sunday, on Home Page.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

“Spot on! Bingo! You got it in one! You got straight to the heart…

31^st Sunday, Year B. St. Mark’s Gospel Chapter 12, verses 28-34.

‘The love in your heart was not put there to stay. Love isn’t love until you give it away.’

‘Write them on the doorframes of your houses.’ (Deuteronomy 6:9)…

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.  October 28th, 2012.

See HomePage for ‘Mass Readings’ for this Sunday. The Gospel is from MARK 10:46-52.

Three blind mice?… Three blind men- and one who sees!

In just over two chapters, Mark…

LETTER TO SINEAD AND MARK.  SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULTS.

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: OCTOBER 28, 2012

(See Homepage for Mass Readings for this Sunday)

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Did you ever find yourselves, either of you, ‘at a…

29^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B:  OCTOBER 21^ST. 2012.

‘SOUL FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY ADULT.’

See Home Page for Mass Readings for this Sunday. The Gospel is Mark 10:35-45.

A little background to today’s Gospel story:

If you say…

See ‘Mass Readings’ on Home Page, for the readings for this 29th Sunday. The Gospel is Mark 10:35-45.

29^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OCTOBER 21^ST, 2012.

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Hope your week was great! How did you make out…

…

Click on Home Page, and Mass Readings for this Sunday’s Gospel, Mark 10, verses 17-30. The Rich Young Man, -(or find it in your own Gospel of St. Mark).

Sinead and Mark are two young adults.

Dear…

27^th Sunday, October 7th, 2012.

(Sinead and Mark are two Young Adults).

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Did you ever hear anyone asking ‘How’s it going, oul’ stock?’  It’s a term of affection, and this is what my Googling of it…

FOR HUNGRY ADULTS, SOULFOOD.  Oct. 7, 2012.

‘He should have gone to Specsavers!’ That would be true of the (imaginary) reader who was stumbled through a public reading from St. Paul, and came out with ‘Husbands revere your wives…em, em..em..…

Today’s ‘Soul Food’ reflects on the Gospel for Sunday 30th September, the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Click on Mass Readings on Homepage, and on Sunday Readings, for text: St. Mark, Chapter 9, verses 38-43, also verse 45, verses 47-48,-…

26th Sunday: For Hungry Adults.

‘Not one of us!’ and Millstones!

Not easy readings, this weekend. St. James doesn’t put a tooth in it when he addresses the rich  who are cheating people, not paying proper wages, holding back moneys…

25^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, SEPT. 23rd , 2012.

Weekly Letter to Sinead and to Mark, two young adults, hungering for God-knows-what.

(See ‘Mass Texts’ in Home Page, for the text of this Sunday’s Readings: the Gospel of the day…

25^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: SEPT. 23, 2012.

(For today’s Readings, click on Mass Texts, on HomePage.)

Weekly ‘Soul Food for the Hungry Adult’:

A few years ago, under a previous Government in Ireland, there was a cartoon about the…

‘Greater love than this no one has…’ (John 15:13)

‘And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself.’ (John 12:32)

For you.

 …

This week’s Letter to Sinead and Mark, two young friends:

Sunday September 16, 2012. Gospel: St.Mark, 8:27-35. (Click on Mass Readings on Menu for the text of the readings)

Dear Sinead and Mark,

Back again with you!  Can I take…

24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: 

Gospel: Mark 8:27-35  (click on ‘Mass Readings’, for the texts.)

You couldn’t miss seeing Caesarea Philippi. Jesus and his disciples had walked the 40k or more towards it, directly northeast of the Sea…

Soul Food for the Hungry Adult: Reflection: 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: September 9, 2012.

Gospel: Mark 7:31-37.   Reading 1: Isaiah 35:4-7. Reading 2: St. James 2:1-5.

Lord, we’re all ears!

Jesus’ sat-nav must have been turned…

Reflection: Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: Sept. 2,2012.

Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23.

‘This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’

I love liquorice all-sorts! I love to peek into the…

Reflection 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 26th, 2012. Gospel Reading (in Year B) is from St. John, Chapter 6, verses 60 to 69.

It’s crunch time:  ‘What about you, will you also go away?’  A hard saying, because a profound…

‘Come apart by yourselves, and rest awhile!’  (Mark 6:31)

Find School Retreats also under What We Do, or click on School Retreats, opposite.

Esker Monastery, Retreat House, and Youth Village, outside Athenry in County Galway, has been and…

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 19, 2012. Readings are from Year B.

Recently, a five year-old granddaughter said to her Grannie, during Holy Communion time at Mass: ‘Jesus is up there in the bread!- But, he’s not stuck in…

AUGUST 17^TH, 2012 will be remembered for the Formal Opening of the New Irish/Brazilian Redemptorist Mission in Mozambique and Malawi:

‘Plant an acorn, wait for an oak.’

Ever heard of ‘Chechewa’ ? Across Mozambique and neighbouring Malawi,…

The Catholic feast of the Assumption is celebrated on Aug. 15, and Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholics celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos (the falling asleep of the Mother of God) on or around the same date.

Mary was with…

Reflection for 19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Readings Year B,  August 12, 2012.

Gospel: St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 6, verses 41-51.

‘Get up and eat or the journey will be too long for you!’ (from first reading). And we’re talking…

…

The first day of August is dear to Redemptorists throughout the world. It is the Feast day of their Founder, St. Alphonsus de Liguori. Born in Naples in 1696, he died at Pagani in 1787, in his 91^st…

YEAR B: 17^TH SUNDAY: JOHN 6:1-15.

‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what is that between so many?’ (John 6)   Philip was thinking that eight months’ wages wouldn’t be enough to feed…

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: July 22^nd. 2012

‘He took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.’ (Mark 6: 34)

‘Do you love me?… Feed my…

‘Copiosa apud Eum Redemptio’ -the Redemptorist Motto. On the Feast of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Third Sunday of July each year, -and this year on July 15th- , a short reflection on the motto of the Redemptorists since the…

‘Most of them were astonished when they heard him.‘ When Jesus, the local boy from Nazareth, came home, many were astonished when they heard him speaking in their synagogue. Astonished,-  but unbelieving. Amazed, but not willing to welcome him and…

ASTONISHED  HEARTS, – a Reflection on the Eucharistic Congress 2012.

The mood was infectious as we walked towards Croke Park for the Final Mass of the International Eucharistic Congress, on June 17th. We wended our way past some slower walkers,…

Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist, Sunday, June 24^th, 2012.

126 was the number of our house when I was growing up, in Dublin.  And John 1:26 was the number of the text of Scripture in the…

Welcome to the Eleventh Sunday of the Year.

A Reflection:

Tyburn is beside Hyde Park, in London. Tyburn was  the place where,  in the 1600’s, Catholics,  clergy and lay, were  taken for execution. They were  hung, then cut down and…

REFLECTION, for June 10^th, 2012, FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI,-  FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD.  and the beginning of  the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland.                         …

THREE HYMNS FOR CORPUS CHRISTI, also  ADORO TE DEVOTE, and TANTUM ERGO

Below are three hymns composed by St. Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Google any one of them on YouTube, to…

The Mystery of faith is
	wafer thin,
	and vast
	with the Wonder of the One Who Is,
	-'I am who am'-
	within this crumb of bread.

To stand,  to hold 'Amen!' to mystery

…

To be still,
     to be
          where the Trinity lives-
               in me:
I hear a stirring
     in my soul's
          womb,-
     a life, the Life,
          is dwelling in
               my being.  

Be still,
     adore,
          bow deep
               with breathless

…

We too were there, in that Upper Room, ‘together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus’. We too are asked not to leave, until we have received the Promise of the Father. And the same Holy Spirit hovers over the gathered…

…

This past Sunday, May 20,2012, saw the official opening of the new Redemptorist House, called ‘SCALA’, in Blackrock, in Cork. Located close to Blackrock Castle, the surroundings of what was formerly known as Castlemahon House are beautiful, with miles of…

‘ARE WE THERE YET?, ARE WE THERE YET? ARE WE THERE YET?’-  so says the young Goat to the Camel and to the Cow, in the Bothar advertisement. (See ‘Are we there yet? on You Tube!)

On the Feast of…

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year B, -May 13th 2012.

Gospel of the Day, – St. John, Chapter 15, verses 9 – 17.

Giving a retreat one day to a Confirmation Class, in Antrim, I put a leading question…

…

Gospel is John 15: 1-8,- The Vine and the Branches.

How rooted are we? How connected are we? ‘Put your roots down into the soil of God’s marvelous love‘ (Psalm 139, Living Bible). Have you, by any chance,…

…

A Reflection for today:

‘I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep…I know my own, and my own know me…and I lay down my life for my sheep.’ (St. John,…

A reflection for Good Shepherd Sunday April 29, 2012.

‘How do we, as followers of Jesus, discern our calling in life?’ That was the question I faced as I recently (in March 2012) prepared to talk to a few young…

What a Way!

What a way to be,
in life!-
Open vessel to receive
the Abba-love of God,
poured out with,
Oh, such lavishness:

Open to return

…

Third Sunday of Easter,- April 22nd. 

Here we come near the end of St. Luke’s Gospel; the two disciples who had walked the seven miles to Emmaus with the Stranger,- Jesus, Risen indeed- and who had recognised him at…

Jerusalem to Emmaus? Emmaus to Jerusalem?-  Our choice.

Are we embarrassed?

Have we been running,

lemming-like,

to our Emmauses-

because we’re mortified -in these so-modern times -

by Calvary?

Have we, for forty years, been wandering

anywhere

but there

where…

RESURRECTIONS:  Give me your hand!

‘Give me your hand’

to wipe a tear,

to make a cup of tea:

Do not be unbelieving but believe

that I am here,

before you and within;-

Give me your hand

to touch a…

UNCORK THE WINE

of the Crucified,-

abundant Feast

for now a

wine-washed world.

How can we repay

except to drink and drink and

drink

until a deadening dearth…

Eucharist:

“Eu-Charis”*    and   “Leit-Ourgia” **

The Spirit of the Leading Lord

takes to the floor,

begins the dance,

casts off the mourning veil,

and swirls twirls in the

rapture of the rhythm…

Funny Bones:

Them bones, Them bones-

are some good bones

for living to the full;

Head bone for thinking well

on all that is

and how and why

it is.

Back bone for Will,

decisions made

and followed…

WHY GATHER

for this Festival of

Pasch?

Why come into

this time of Passing,

over?

What is the meaning

of our feet

that walk together to

an ancient hill,

still new?

Who are these gathered people,

of…

  YOU WILL SEE HEAVEN  FROM HERE!

                                   …

DEATH OF THE ANACONDA, #2

The ‘Now‘ had come

at last,-

the Agoné begins,

the Wrestling,

when Princes meet

to death,-

‘Prince of this world’ the one,                                                (John 12:31)

now meets ‘the Prince, the Lord, of Glory’.…

Curtains !

(Reflecting on Mark 15:38)

He

breathed then his last,

his all was handed over;

and then,

that selfsame

moment,

the curtains of

our eyes

were rent…

UPON THE CROSS:

‘I have revealed your name                                                upon the cross

I have glorified you                                            …

Bread and Basin,

Towel and Table

ever for His followers

entwined;

Water poured on feet, and blood on wood,

speak silently this single truth-

Hold in my healing hands

the frightened feet,

the hungering hopes

of those who sup…

GETHSEMANE:

Who was it said that ‘Yes’?-

‘Not my will but yours be done!‘?

A man, a truly man,

a truly God within

the Trinity.

A God said human Yes

to God,-

A man who took us to himself,

one…

Darkening

Sorrow clouds now gather,

Days of Sin’s great gloom,

The Holy One prepares himself

for utter abandonment

experienced.

His head, his whole self

pressed down and down and down

beneath…

BRILLIANCE FROM DARKNESS:

He faced the cave of darkness,

utterly,

for this is why he came:

his heart was filled with terror,

with disgust,-

for this was why he came:

He chose to enter in

to Sin,

utterly

for this…

What is the meaning

of these Holy Days,

this Festival which now

we enter on?

What ‘Passing Over’ are we witness to,

that once took place

and here is present, now?

We are the people walking through

the sea of…

WHO IS THIS FLESH

upon a

cross,

spattered and injected,

scourged now with promises of

ecstasy

that follow through with

maddenings of the

heart ?

Whose is this sacred flesh,

guttered?

This is the chosen one,

perfumed with favour,…

Wednesday March 28th:  ’Exchange’

He swapped my shirt of sin                                       

for his

of grace,

of holiness.

My…

“COME TO ME.”

Three words he said and by them

he invites:

Just ‘Come to me’-

-

all else will follow

surely

if I come, and stay

and more…

THE CROSS WAS NOT SOME HICCUP:

His passion and his dying

were not some hiccup

on the way to glory:

His hour of

Glory

is

upon the Cross.

One wheat-grain dies…

THIS MAN IS WILD,-

This man turned

more than tables on his

enemies,

Turned the world

on its head, others on their heel.

The Lost -  are not !

The Last -  are not !

The Least he could do…

THE SACREDNESS OF SECULARITY

 (“The whole earth is full of His Glory”-  Isaiah 6)

I cannot go to the Creator,

-mine-

unless I steep my body

in Creation.

Come…

‘Outrageous Grace’

What Crazy God would do

such crazy thing

as, knowing what would come, still

sent a Son

to those who in their time

and times

would cast him out,…

“A never-ending ocean, bottomless and shoreless”,-

his passion and his dying,

instead of us,

for us.

‘Ours…he was bearing.’ (‘bearting‘)*

                           …

UNINVITED GRACE 

The call to open up

some depth of heart

to so-long uninvited

Grace

let in at last-

the holiness of God

unuttered

calls to see

my bin…

Our Player-Manager’?

‘Lord’

is the word we use,-

‘Our Lord’-

have used this long time past:

‘Lord’ has these other words

that speak to us today;-

our

‘Coach‘

our…

JOCKEYS:

We all are ‘jockeys’

in our ways

of seeking to be loved

and honoured:

we jockey with each other

to be First in some acceptance

that has its own importance for…

“My God and my (Most) !”

‘God’  and  ‘All’,

two so-close words

yet still so far apart-

a tension there,

unsure

un-given All

to Him

who asks for All.

What if I give

this bit

and that,-

the most…

ABBA  now,

at last,-

Abba always in my past

but now allowed

within:

I let my Self be loved

of you.

Opening this shuttered heart

just one small bit

that…

TRUST HIM ABSOLUTELY

this Jesus,

Lord

and Son of Light,

of Holiness.

He is alive,

He is great beyond my

spirit’s grasping.

He, this Man, is the…

Three Times….

Can you hear the ‘Holy……’?

Three times Holy

to a depth

beyond…

Three times the deeper

listening

by a habit entered on:

be still and

ponder-weigh

the…

NIAGARA

of joy

awaits our opening up

to God who floods

the thirsting hearts

with love.

 To thirst, to seek, to bring

the emptied vessel of the emptied heart

to One…

NIAGARA

of joy

awaits our opening up

to God who floods

the thirsting hearts

with love.

To thirst, to seek, to bring

the emptied vessel of the emptied…

                                                TATTERED -   (‘GIOBALACH’*)                        …

GOD- LESS ?

The God-  less

are  not.

They would be

if they were not

so loved,

so died-for,

before all,

after all.

Ignoring Love does not

diminish Love,

-in us perhaps, it might,

but never does in

God.…

THE THROWAWAYS
we are,
by some
but not
by Him.
Labelled as ‘Not Wanted Here’
we ‘Castaways’
are not!
Some throw their pearls to the swine,
Not Him.
…

To have the hungering
ear
expectant
of the Word that
certainly will come,-
For why?- Why not?-
For Abba is my Father,
I his child
being trained and
disciplined/

(The image of Jesus Christ as Clown is very ancient, and is found in art, eg. by George Rouault, a French artist of the 1930’s. Jesus is ridiculed, but remains silent, is laughed at but remains serene. And still is.)…

THE WRESTLER

Soul, Body,
Mind and Heart,
wrestling with the mist
of questions
that surround the
holy all of us.-
Bewildered, helpless, poor of answer
yet living out the…