A moment for reflection

All reality is holy by virtue of its creation in Christ, and the consecration of the world through the incarnation. We are part of the world and, even though we are a unique expression of God’s creative activity, nevertheless share an organic unity with every element of the natural world in which we live.

Victoire’s life shows us that the deep mystery of God’s love works in so many complex and interconnected ways throughout history. This effects each of us personally, and encourages us to a compassionate solidarity that transcends place and time.

[I share these words in the hope that we may come to a deeper understanding of the illness of alcoholism. I wrote it to be shared with a group I ministered with after the death of one of the group members. Rose (not her real name) was an alcoholic and a faithful Catholic. She had a devotion to the Sacred Heart Of Jesus and Our Lady. She struggled right to the end with her alcoholism, but never lost faith or her trust in the love of Jesus for her. You may have some familiarity of family who have suffered because of alcoholism, experiencing yourself the suffering caused by the alcoholic and the pain of witnessing the self-destructive behaviour of an alcoholic loved-one. It is a wound, but can become a sacred wound through which the love of God can pour into the heart and mind of the alcoholic, and indeed, into the lives of those around them. Experiences and stories abound of so many who have found a new hope and deeper way of living through an honest confrontation with their alcoholism and their need of the grace of God. We continue to pray for this and to pray for the still suffering alcoholic.]

I love Christmas. The Advent Season leading up to Christmas, Christmas Day, and the feasts flowing from the Christmas Season.

Grief… falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.

Holy Father, I pray not only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me. May they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. John 17: 20

"In the essentials, unity. In the non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love."

Looking to the future and hoping in the future from within the now of tomorrow. What does this mean? Simply put, it means allowing a vision of the future to interrupt the now of today.

On the door leading into the novitiate at Nazareth House in Hammersmith are the words: “Your life is God’s gift to you. What you make of your life, is your gift to God.”

“We are assailed by doubts, and weighed down by uncertainties – release our hearts, to journey towards you with hope.”

We are enduring a collective traumatic experience that has revealed both the limits of human self-sufficiency and the limitless courage and self-sacrifice of the human spirit.

Therefore, we are not discouraged. Although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed, day-by-day. For this momentary affliction is producing for us a weight of glory beyond all compare. (2 Cor 4:16-17)