‘Joseph of Arimathea, who was the disciple of Jesus, though in secret, asked Pilot to let Him take away the body of Jesus. Pilot gave permission and Joseph came and moved the body. All those who stood at a distance to watch Jesus being crucified had left the scene and gone home. It was almost evening by the time Joseph got the necessary permission to move Jesus’s body.  Mary waited and waited by the cross, not wanting to leave her son without the opportunity of being able to

MARY STOOD BENEATH THE CROSS “Standing beneath the Cross of Jesus were His Mother, and His Mother’s Sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene”. John 19:25) Time passes very quickly with days into weeks and weeks into years. It seems so recently that we celebrated Christmas and already we are reflecting on the significance of Lent. Since Christmas is very much about Our Lady as is the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple known as Candlemas.  I thought we might gi

Mary is the fulfilment of God’s promise to take us to Himself.  Her Assumption is for us a sign of hope and consolation. The Church has declared this Feast as a Holy Day of Obligation so that we take time to attend Mass and thank God for all He has done for Mary. By celebrating this Feast Day, we are reminded of the destiny to which we are called which is to live forever in happiness and perfect fulfilment with God our Father.  Our Blessed Mother Mary has reached that goal al

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MERCY - 24th September 2023 I have just returned from a Family Visit and a six-day Retreat at Knock Shrine, where I was surrounded by hundreds of people every day praying quietly as well as in attendance at many Masses and nightly Adoration. The Basilica was full daily at 3pm for Mass with the Anointing of the Sick. People have the opportunity for Confession from 11.00 am to 4.30 pm. Of course, Knock is a place like Lourdes where people of all nationali

Do this in memory of me “We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know Him in the breaking of bread, and we know each other in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship.” (Dorothy Day) It is not in any way unreasonable to ask ourselves what we have done with our lives especially if you are as old as me! How will posterity reme

The month of May is traditionally devoted to Our Lady, Mary the Mother of God and it is well to follow her story as a meditation. Many of us will remember our school days when we had a May Procession and sang the hymn …….flowers of the fairest. From scripture we are not aware that Mary had any siblings so we will take for granted that she was an only child. We picture her as a young girl growing up in a simple homestead with Anne and Joachim helping with the daily routine in

MARY RECEIVES THE BODY OF JESUS "Joseph of Arimathea, who was the disciple of Jesus, though in secret asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission and he came and moved the Body". (John 19:38) All the people who stood at a distance to watch Jesus being crucified had gone away. It was nearly evening by the time Joseph got permission to move the body of Jesus. Mary waited and waited by the Cross not wanting to leave her Son without being able to e

ASH WEDNESDAY AND THE SEASON OF LENT 2023 " We do not go into the desert to escape people, but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them, but how to find out how to do them the most good" (THOMAS MERTON) If we research the word Lent we will find that it means SPRINGTIME and a deeper meaning is the SPRINGTIME of our souls . The word also means lente ..slow or go slowly... slow down ...take deep breaths. The three great spirit

Though I pass through a gloomy valley I fear no harm, Beside me your rod and your staff Are there to hearten me. Psalm 25 February is a month of Feasts related to the heart like Valentine's Day with many "I LOVE YOU" messages marked and symbolised by little red hearts. It is also a month of COURAGE. The winter is gradually disappearing, and one wakes up to more light in the sky. Courage is a wonderful gift of the human spirit, and we are all aware of people known to us who di

"I Would Rather Be Cold And Hungry Than That God's Poor Be Deprived Of Any Consolation In My Power To Help Them" C. McAuley The above words of our Venerable Foundress, Catherine McAuley, is a challenge to us to reflect on how we can reach out to those in need as we face uncertain times in our current political situation at home and abroad. In November and December, we celebrate important events in the life of the Mercy World, therefore I thought it a good opportunity to remem

Mary Receives the Body of Jesus The death of Jesus was horrendous and beyond anything imaginable. In the PIETA we have a picture of Jesus at the foot of the Cross laid in the arms of His mother. Thirty three years earlier, Mary held a beautiful warm baby boy in her arms albeit in a rough stable with an ox and ass as companions. Little did Mary think then, that one day the same beautiful baby, would, as an adult with a torn and mangled body need to be cradled in the same ar

“We do not go into the desert to escape people, but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them but to find out what to do for them for their good”. (Thomas Merton) The word LENT comes from the ANGLO-SAXON meaning “Springtime” and to be more precise it means the SPRINGTIME OF OUR SOULS. The word also meant lente – slow or go slowly ...slow down - breathe deeply etc. At the beginning of Lent we face seven weeks before we rea

A Reflection on the Public Beginning of the Life of Jesus Water is a very important element in our lives it makes up 70% of our brain and 80% of our blood. We can go almost a month without food but less than a week without water. The same amount of water that was available for drinking a million years ago is the same amount available today. But NOW less than 1 % of fresh water is available for drinking - out of 3% that is mostly ice. Water connects us to the other elements

A Reflection for the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy When we look at the Ministry of Jesus during His earthly journey, we see the sign of the Christian Church in all its centrality. The signs Jesus worked in the face of sinners, the poor, the marginalized, the sick together with all those on the margins of society. 'Everything in the life of Jesus spoke of Mercy' (Pope Francis). We see all this very clearly in the miracles Jesus worked in His dealing with the people who came to Hi

Greetings as we begin this New Year with confidence that it will be less restrictive than 2020. By now I had hoped that we could have planned a meeting here in the Convent to pray, to reflect, to share, to chat and to drink tea. Ongoing messages from the Government make it necessary for me to revert to the written word as a means of keeping in touch. I have thought at length on an appropriate reflection and in view of the circumstances I get the impression that there is muc