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Sunday |
Feb-28 |
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The following reflection is by Fr.Tom Cahill
If we regard all information gathered up to 1900 as one unit, since then that unit has doubled every ten years. We have shot dramatically from Stone Age to Information Age. But at heart we’re still hunter-gatherers. Nowadays we ‘hunt’ for knowledge by gathering information. We’ve replaced spears with technology. Take, for example, those wishing to establish paternity. A do-it-yourself DNA test-kit was due shortly in pharmacies across the UK, according to one newspaper’s report last August. Costing £29.99 with a £129 lab fee you would be able to establish paternity in less than five days.
If we read the Bible we can establish paternity in less than five minutes, and at no cost – financial, that is. But it’s faith not technology that recognises knowledge found in scripture as truth found in life. In today’s Second Reading (Phil 3:17-4:1) Paul speaks of our citizenship. He could just as easily speak of our paternity. He says: our citizenship is in heaven. We belong to another order of reality because that’s the origin of our paternity. This is what the Gospel reading (Luke 9:28-36) is telling us too. A voice from the cloud addresses the transfigured Jesus as my Son, my Chosen.
Being baptised in Jesus’ name we share in his paternity, but by adoption. Jesus tells us to call God Father when we pray. So, as we pray this Lent, let’s listen to our Father’s word in scripture so that we accept ever more maturely and humbly a paternity that no identi-kit can establish – unless the D in DNA stands for ‘divine’.
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Sunday |
Feb-21 |
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The following reflection is by Rev.Joseph Cassidy
The word 'lent' has different meanings in English. He leant against the wall. She lent me some money. If you're from Cork 'he ran the lent of de field!' The Lent we're talking about means 'springtime', so the emphasis is on growth, on renewal and on new life.
If Lent is to mean anything in our lives, it has to be a season of renewal. Lent is a stretching time, a challenging time, a seasonal reminder of the intrinsically challenging nature of the Christian life. As an exercise in penance - out of a desire to grow in self control perhaps - people give up things during Lent like sweets, cigarettes or drink. I wouldn't quarrel with that at all. All that is part of the Lenten spirit.
The one point that i would emphasise, however and that I'd like you to remember, is that Lent is not primarily about the extraordinary. It's about the ordinary. It's not primarily about extra things, like sweets or cigarettes, it's about those things that are part of our everyday lives. Lent is a time when we make a fresh start, when we try again, a little bit more earnestly, with sincerity and honesty, to live up to the responsibilities and challenges of our Christian lives.  |
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Sunday |
Feb-14 |
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The following reflection is by Fr.Tom Cahill
The Hubble Space Telescope has shown the universe in such incredible detail that it has transformed the way scientists view it. For example, Hubble has honed down the estimate of the universe’s age to between 13 and 14 billion years. It was instrumental in discovering dark energy – that mysterious force that accelerates the expansion of the universe. And, it has revealed galaxies at all stages of their evolution: from wobbly toddlers to the end-time collapse of their massive stars. Among the world’s most important observatories ever, Hubble will degrade until it can’t function. Its life expectancy is perhaps five more years. However, the rejuvenation it got in May 2009 from the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis will enable it to go out in a blaze of glory. Hubble’s last years will be its best.
The same often holds true for people. Senior ones, when they’ve lived good lives, have so much to offer. We should never be tempted to think that we’re past it or have become useless. The doing may be less urgent, varied or demanding, but the being becomes more important than ever. The older we are privileged to get, when open to God’s Spirit, the more we give witness to the truth of what Paul writes about in today’s Second Reading. (1 Cor 15:12, 16-20) We are called to resurrection – a resurrection that begins today, or for the fortunate ones: yesterday.
As Hubble has revolutionised scientists’ view of the universe, so too can every person whose resurrection has begun revolutionise the outlook and behaviour of those still awaiting theirs.
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Thursday |
Feb-11 |
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‘In a busy rushing world, where so much depends on passing exams, achieving a higher income, surrounding oneself with comforts and luxuries beyond the dreams of two thirds of the world, Bernadette lives poorly, asks for nothing but God’s love and achieves nothing but her response to that love.’ ~Msgr Kevin O’Callaghan
Today (Feb 11th) is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. It is a day set aside to celebrate the anniversary of the apparitions witnessed by 14 year old Bernadette Soubirous and it also marks world day for sick people. Five million pilgrims visit Lourdes each year. Anyone who has been there will know it’s a significant and special place. Love bubbles everywhere in Lourdes. Its effects are felt by everyone. It is contagious, life giving, refreshing and so alive. Anyone who has been to Lourdes will often say, “If only I could bottle what’s here and bring it home’. It is at home but it may not always be as evident as it is in Lourdes. Today is a day to make sure that God’s greatest medicine called love gets shared. All of us are instruments of God’s healing love. We pray today for all who are sick and we include doctors, nurses, carers and anyone who needs our prayers on this special day. |
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Saturday |
Feb-06 |
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‘A man once decided to be pleasant and complimentary to everyone he saw and this even included the bus driver. He explained it in this way: 'If I am nice to the bus driver, he's likely to be nice to most of the passengers, and they, in their turn, nicer to their employers or employees, to the shop attendants, their families, so that one gesture could influence thousands of people: it's a snowball.’ ~Kenneth Payne
It’s as easy to be nice as it is to be nasty. With a lot of negative news hitting us frequently, it is sometimes hard to be positive and upbeat. But it’s the difference one positive upbeat moment can make, that makes it all worthwhile. One can be cynical and say one moment can’t really make much of a difference. But the power of one small gesture goes way beyond our limited understanding on the difference it can make. We pray to God today and this weekend to help us understand the potential and power of a positive small gesture. Every day is full of these moments, many slip us by and yet even one alone used well, can make up for all the ones that slip by.  |
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Monday |
Feb-01 |
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A Naomh Bríd, a Mhuire na nGael, scar orainn do bhrat. A Naomh Bríd, a chroí na féile, stiúir sinn ar an mbóthar ceart ~from an old Irish prayer to St.Brigid translating as St.Brigid, mother of the Irish, spread your cloak over us, St.Brigid, heart of the faithful, direct us on the right road
Today (Feb 1st ) is the feast of St.Brigid. In Ireland it is a significant feastday as we celebrate the achievements of a remarkable woman. Born in 454 she is famous for her hospitality, her generosity, her concern for the poor, her ability to stand up to those in authority and her unique ability to get what she wanted. She is most famous for her St.Brigid cross which she wove together using rushes. The many strands that make up a St.Brigid’s cross represent the different strands of our own lives. They pick up on our joys and blessings but also on our struggles, problems and difficulties. For Brigid the cross was not an end in itself but pointed to a firm and sure hope in a loving God. For Brigid this loving God helps us to make sense of everything that’s going on in our lives. Significantly St.Brigid’s day reminds us that the dark days of winter are nearly over and spring is just around the corner.
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