We always associate late January and early February with the beautiful snowdrop. It is always a sign of hope, a promise that spring will soon be here, that days are lengthening and a beautiful flower of hope

On This Day

On January 26th 1531 Lisbon was hit by a massive Earthquake and over 30,000 people died.

On January 26th 2022 Spotify removes Neil Young’s music from its streaming platform after the singer-songwriter’s objected to COVID-19 misinformation in one of its podcasts

Birthdays Today

Jose Mourinho (Former Chelsea and Spurs boss) is 61

Andrew Ridgeley (Singer from Wham) is 61

Brendan Rodgers (Celtic Manager) is 51

Saint For Today

The Saint for today is Saints Timothy and Titus, who were close companions of the St. Paul and bishops of the Catholic Church in its earliest days. Both men received letters from St. Paul, which are included in the New Testament.

Significance Of Today

Today is International Customs Day and acknowledges and celebrates the people who work hard to keep the goods flowing as imports and exports between countries all across the world. The transport of goods has been going on since early times and some of the earliest known customs were for salt and spices.

Interesting Quote For Today

‘Sadness is but a wall between two gardens.’  ~Khalil Gibran

Did You Know

Did you know that snowdrops contain natural antifreeze and on frosty nights snowdrops collapse with freezing stress. Their antifreeze allows them to recover as soon as the temperatures rise. During the first world war, snowdrop bulbs were used to de-ice tanks!

Video For The Week🎥

The video for this week is called called is called ‘The most calm and peaceful prayer – The Serenity Prayer’

The video for the week is updated every Wednesday at 7pm (Irish Time)

Thought For Today to mark the Conversion of St Paul

Yesterday  (Jan 25th) was the feast of the conversion of St Paul. He is a key figure in the New Testament. Significantly he was a bitter opponent of Jesus and was determined to make life extremely difficult for his followers and early Christianity. There have been many significant turnaround stories throughout history and Paul stands high in the list.

He was a bully, a dictator and a persecutor. He was mean, hard, cruel and ruthless particularly to the early Christians. He was horrible, cold and a bitter man. But significantly he put his past behind, did a massive u turn and became famous for his missionary work and the spreading of the Gospel. We may not do such a dramatic turnaround in our lives but we can certainly leave some of our past behind. Many carry heavy burdens from the past. People can carry with them anger, resentment, hurt and other stuff from the past. There comes a point in everyone’s life when it is important and necessary to let go of stuff. 

The most important step in leaving some of this stuff behind, is to take that first step forward. St Paul could have remained a bitter, angry and lonely person. But he turned his life around. Like Paul, the call is to leave as many of the negative things in our past behind us. Yes it may not be possible to leave everything but we most certainly can leave some things behind. This is the beautiful invitation from todays feast day. We can certainly look on today as new beginning.

The Thought For The Week is updated each Monday