I Met God Today

Fourth Sunday of Lent - - - ‘God loved the world so much’       ‘God loved the world so much’ In a very real sense, these six words from this Sunday’s Gospel say more than enough and there is nothing further to be said, nothing more one can add! While short, today’s excerpt is packed tight, complex and rich in meaning. It contains a summary of John’s Gospel and the opposites or polarities presented in it are found here too: darkness and light; acceptance and rejection; his own and not his own; belief and unbelief (see John 1:1-13). There is much with which one might spend time. But, let’s remain with God’s love.      God so loved the world Assertions of God’s love echo throughout the Scriptures from their beginning, from the first moments of creation: ‘God saw … it was very good’ (Gen 1:31). In today’s readings, God’s love is very much in focus. From Chronicles, written in the time of exile, we hear that God ‘wished to spare his people’ and ‘tirelessly s...

Belfast, 24 Feb 2021 All things must We have cocooned and the world of nature with us Or rather we have taken its class, perhaps not learned and absorbed its lesson yet -      the graces of rest      not found in being busy for the sake of seeming busy - but sat grudgingly through the class, lived the lesson nonetheless And now Nature invites us to look again to turn the page alongside it and to study the next chapter unfolding like a butterfly but everywhere because not only winged insects cocoon All the earth does. To some extent if not completely soaking up the grace on offer to let it shine when the time to cocoon reaches its end as all things must. Only eternity does not. God only is without end.                                         Unfurl                      ...

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple  Mass today begins with these beautiful words of prayer:   Dear brothers and sisters,  forty days have passed since we celebrated  the joyful feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Today is the blessed day  when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph.  Outwardly he was fulfilling the Law,  but in reality he was coming to meet his believing people. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna came to the Temple.  Enlightened by the same Spirit,  they recognised the Lord and confessed him with exultation.  So let us also, gathered together by the Holy Spirit,  proceed to the house of God to encounter Christ.  There we shall find and recognise him in the breaking of the bread,  until he comes again, revealed in glory.  Today’s Gospel (Luke 2:22-42) tells of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple and recounts the reactions of an older man and woman, Simeon ...

One Day Now more than ever, our world needs prayer, needs healing, needs beauty, needs reminders of its saving. Now more than ever, we need prayer, need healing, need beauty, need reminders of our saving, to save us from ourselves Open your mind and you will find those reminders. Open your eyes and you can see them Open your ears and you can hear them. Open your mouth and you can speak them or sing them. Open your heart and you will be them – for yourself, for others. Read the words the people in this video are singing and watch their faces - this is a prayer - for peace, for oneness, for an end to ‘othering’, for an end to division and violence and hatred, for us to know ourselves as brothers and sisters. One day, we will all be one ... may that day be soon  This is Jesus' prayer: 'that all may be one' (John 17:21). It is my prayer.   Make it your prayer too. One Day. That all may be one. Koolulam | One Day - Matisyahu | Haifa | Feb. 14th, 2018 "One day this all will ...

Beauty will save the world? "I believe the world will be saved by beauty."  So says Prince Lev Nikolyaevich Myshkin, the protagonist in Fyodor Dostoevsky's, The Idiot . Of course, that this is not true in the absolute and literal sense is something of which Dostoevsky was fully aware.  It is God who saves the world - only God: 'for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life' (John 3:16). In these days, our world is filled with much that is intensely ugly - violence, corruption, division, racism, anger, poverty, gaping inequality, hunger, war, displacement of peoples, exploitation, diminished respect for life, out-of-control consumerism, climate change and destruction, an ongoing pandemic.  There is so much pain, so much hurt, so much heartache. So much is broken. So much seems beyond repair. We are tired and we are raw from all the ugliness. Darkness threatens to overwhelm the li...

Darkness is not forever ... the light will come ... Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. 'The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world ...  ... and the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory' (John 1:9, 14) 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel (which means 'God with us')' (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) Belfast, December 23, 4.20pm

No matter what, God On the morning of the longest night, we pray the words God speaks through Isaiah: I will turn the darkness before them into light (Isaiah 42) On the evening of the longest night, we pray the O Antiphon: O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis. O Rising Sun,  you are the splendour of the eternal light and the sun of justice.  O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. For all who are in darkness, remember these words. Hang onto them.  For all who are in darkness, remember God's presence. Hold onto him.  He is with us. He is light.  He will come. He will bring us light.  Stay awake. Be ready. Welcome him. For all who are in darkness, remember this:  no matter what, God.  

  I read these poetic and comforting words last night - words from the LORD through Isaiah - it's from today's Office of Readings. What a motto to live by! I know many people who are struggling in these days and need to hear this and to believe it ... replace 'House of Jacob' with your name because God speaks this to each one of us. God IS with us. #Godiswithus ‘Listen to me, House of Jacob,  all you who remain of the House of Israel,  you who have been carried since birth,  whom I have carried since the time you were born. In your old age I shall be still the same,  when your hair is grey I shall still support you.  I have already done so, I have carried you,  I shall still support and deliver you.’                                                                ...

ANNUNCIATION Mary’s yes  (Luke 1: 26-38)               A      angel’s N       news - N      not expected U      unsettling N       nerve-wracking C      confusing I        incomprehensible T      terrifying - I        imparted to O      one young woman, alone, who does not say N      no but ‘let it be with me according to your word’  

* words by Rowan Williams * images by me ** full screen recommended for viewing! #IMetGodToday #Advent #Godiswithus

I met God again today I met God again today. Out walking, still close to my convent. "On the Falls Road?" I hear you say, the quizzical tone hinting doubt, even disbelief. In a built-up urban space, I imagine you thinking, questioning my declaration. But, yes. I met God today and, yes, on the Falls Road and why not? God-with-us is God-with-us. 'where you are, there I may be'  Jesus' promise in reverse Where we are, there God may be also - on the Falls, doing Pana (but, of course!), along the Champs Elyssees, in Grand Central Station, in the barrio and the shanty town, behind the gates of that affluent gated community, at the mountain top, on the motorway, along the canal bank, in the church, at the beach, in the coffee shop, on the rain-sodden grey footpath, in the fields, God is with us God is with me God-with-us, God-with-me, is everywhere I am. It is only for me to see Him If only I could open my eyes keep awake  

a poem-prayer for my sister ... and for me ... and for all who doubt Convents are no different! Or are they? Any situation where human beings come to live or work together involves rules and conventions, often informal and unwritten, that somehow make the act of being together work to a greater or lesser extent. Think of those places familiar to you: communal rooms in your apartment or house shared with friends or family, a staff room, the office kitchen, university library, the factory floor, public bathrooms, doctors’ waiting rooms, public transport. Even lifts and escalators have unwritten codes of etiquette. Have you ever dared to face the ‘wrong way’ in a lift? Now, think of those instances where these informal conventions are broken.  I’m minded of those online threads filled with photos of passive aggressive post-it notes.  These are amusing because they resonate with our experience of negotiating those spaces we share with other people and the repercussions that can ar...

I saw God today! No, let me rephrase that! What I saw were glimpses, darting into my vision and then gone just as quickly - a kingfisher, not once, not twice, but three times - a trinity of reminders, if they were ever needed, of the beauty of God's holy creation. I say ‘reminders, if they were ever needed’ because all afternoon I had been bathed, washed, drenched in green, above and below, things in themselves and in canal bank reflections ... beauty and wholly, wholly aware of the holy, of God’s holy presence with me and around me, making everything a glimpse, making everything radiant, making everything radiate, making everything a prayer yes, I saw God today!                                                                               ...

Tonight, we set our clocks back an hour.  Autumn is reaching its end. Winter is approaching. The sun is further away from us each day and its warmth lessens. The trees are ever more rapidly shedding their vividly-coloured tapestry of leaves. The migrating birds are gone. Outside my window, our two squirrels are hoarding horse chestnuts all day long. The light is changing and colours are fading. Nature is entering into its time of rest.  We've come to the point of the year when the nights are longest, when we have more time in darkness than in daylight.  This year, perhaps, we are each living that longest night with a greater intensity. These are dark times in the life of each and every person. This long, seemingly endless, time of pandemic and repeated lockdowns, is not easy. And my spirit is jangled - often.  Tonight, as I sat in our convent chapel in the darkness, my spirit was not at peace. I cried. I told God what God knows already. In a quiet whisper, I poured ...

Apt words for these times from today's Evening Prayer: "Hold firm and take heart" - Ps 26(27) Who would ever think that advice on motorway signs would one day quote the Psalms!? #holdfirm  #trustinGod  #keepthefaith  #allwillbewell  #covid19  #Godiswithus

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Reflection on the Gospel  Matthew 22:34-40 25 October 2020  The opening line of a poem by the late Mary Oliver could have been taken from Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel: “My work is loving the world.” One of the Pharisees asks Jesus to name “the greatest commandment of the Law”. This incident is one of the so-called ‘controversies’ recorded by Matthew, where, in true Jewish form, Jesus debates aspects of Jewish teaching with Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. Over these last weeks, we have heard some of these discussions. Here, a lawyer approaches Jesus, addressing him as “Master”. The title seems respectful but there is an agenda - the Pharisees are trying to catch out Jesus. Motive notwithstanding however, there is nothing particularly unacceptable or remarkable in this question. Jewish tradition holds that there are 613 commandments in the Torah - both positive and negative (dos and don’ts) - governing all aspects of life. Discuss...

What would Jesus think of IKEA? Last week, I assembled my first pieces from IKEA.  I know! Shocking, isn't it?!  What took me so long?  Just to clarify: I have shopped in IKEA before, buying things for other people. Temptations everywhere in that huge space!  I've enjoyed the vast array of items I never realised I was missing - things I might find handy were I to buy them! I have admired the clean lines of their furniture. I've dreamt of having an empty home to decorate with the simple beauty of IKEA's designs - and a full wallet to achieve that dream.  On a morning both extremely warm and extremely rainy, my Billy bookcases arrived and so began the process of putting them together. I have always enjoyed self-assembly. There's something very satisfying about it. Perhaps it appeals to that part of me that enjoys jigsaws and puzzles. It cultivates both mindfulness and mindlessness.  Mostly, this time, it was a state of mindfulness. As I hammered the small tac...

Seeing traces of God everywhere Pope Francis tweets:  Nature is filled with words of love, but how can we listen to them amid constant noise, and interminable and nerve-wracking distractions? #SeasonOfCreation Nature is filled with words about God too ... how can we not listen and notice? And, of course, God is love.  Where there's love and beauty, there is God. So today,       wherever you are,            go outdoors and drink in the beauty of our world                 and thank our God for it.  #getoutdoorsmore #beinnature #SeasonofCreation2020 #searchingforgod                                                                        

Four words towards the end of today’s reading at Mass really stood out: 'you are God's farm' (1 Corinthians 3:9). While the surrounding phrases are so familiar I could almost recite them verbatim, until today I have never noticed these four words. Of all days, they were particularly meaningful today. On the third anniversary of his death, my uncle Timmie was very much in my heart. At morning prayer, I prayed in thanksgiving for his beautiful personality. So why did these words of St Paul’s strike me? Because my uncle Timmie was a farmer, because I grew up next door to his farm, because I spent hours in his company, in his home, on his land. St Paul reproaches the Corinthians for being ‘still unspiritual’, for missing the point: we are ‘co-workers with God’ but only God matters. It is God who makes things grow. This is something my uncle was keenly aware of and passed on to us. Were St Paul to meet him, he would surely recognise in Timmie a man who was ‘of the Spirit’, someo...

I don't know if this prayer is Irish in origin but a prayer for putting on a mask fits well with the traditional Irish way of being a person of faith.  It is very much in line with that older Irish way of living one's faith in God and with God. Irish people had a prayer to accompany each action of the day, trivial and profound - a prayer for setting the fire, for damping down the fire, for milking the cows, for rising, for going to bed, for baking bread, for mealtimes, for leaving the house, for returning home, and on and on. Perhaps, it's a practice to return to in earnest. God is with us. Always. Let's acknowledge His presence, seek His blessing, assistance and protection, and express our gratitude. #GodWithUs #Pray #TalkToGod image credit: Cork and Ross Pastoral Development Facebook Page 21.08.2020 Credit : Cork and Ross Pastoral Development posted this prayer on Facebook - thank you