I took this photo of the beautiful horse chestnut tree, highlighted with the beautiful evening sunshine, on one of the beautiful walkways in Carrigaline, Co.Cork. This tree must be at least 100 years old. It is majestic, beautiful and it is has loads of white flowers on it at the moment.
Significance Of Today
Today is International Family Day. We are all part of a family. Even though families may be complex and diverse, they are still vitally important. Whether a family is defined as a group of people that a person is born into or is something acquired along the way, International Family Day is here to recognise the importance of our own family and the difference families make to society and our world. Take away family and everything crumbles away.
Interesting Quote for Today
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” ~Warren Buffett
Turning to light and hope with the help of some dandelions!
This is my recent video called ‘Easter Buckets of Hope’
If you would like to see a selection of my other videos on YouTube you are welcome to have a look at some of them here: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesMcSweeneyFr/videos
Spiritual Thought For The Week
There was a lot of excitement on Thursday evening with the announcement of our new Pope Leo 14th. They say visuals are always so important and the sight of white smoke from the chimney created huge excitement. People were jumping and dancing with joy in Saint Peter’s Square, while text messages went into overdrive all over the world with news of our new pope.
The feedback over the past few days has been overwhelmingly positive. Everyone feels the good work of Pope Francis will be continued. Our new pope has been described as friendly, down to earth, gentle and a good organiser. He has been described as a beacon of hope, a great guy and someone who loves working with the poor. He is a missionary at heart and a man of peace. These are hugely important foundation stones for any leader.
As he looked out across St. Peter’s Square on Thursday evening, I could see tears welling up and then the camera moved elsewhere. It is a massive responsibility to be the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics across the world. But his inspiration will be the person of Jesus, who encouraged everyone to be a person of peace and to share good news. Our world today so badly needs peace and good news.
Our new pope I feel will be a hugely important leader and will do great work. I congratulate him this weekend and like so many more people near and far, we will pray for him. May he be blessed in all he does, may he be filled with hope, may he have courage, hope and strength to make good decisions and may Pope Leo continue to be inspired by God’s personal love of each of us. Amen
(Thought for the week is updated each Monday)
