New Year! New Resolutions! They go together like hand and glove. As I throw last year’s calendar into the bin and hang up a new one, I am as compelled as the Wise Men drawn by the shining star, to set out on a new spiritual journey of discovery; to make a brand new start. Of course, there are times ...

Yesterday, among the many catalogues sent for Christmas, there was one entitled, ‘The Gift of Music.’  It made me stop and think—yes, how true and how precious a gift!  Shakespeare spoke of music as ‘the food of love’ and God is Love. This gift has the power to draw us in, to the very depths of ourselves and……. that is ...

May my life be FIRE and WATER Knowing the torment and passion of love And the calm refreshment of reason. Let it be full of contrasts: Brightness—Shadow, Colour–Clarity Warmth– Coolness Energetic dance and  Restful inactivity.  May my spirit be alive and active Fired by desire to transform and be purified Yet content with stillness And the often, drop-by-drop pace of ...

On a recent visit to France over Toussaint (Feast of All Saints and Holy Souls) it would seem as if the whole of France stops to visit the graves of their loved ones.  It is customary to bring flowers – chrysanthemums of various colours and sizes to place on the tombs of their dead and war memorials. The cemeteries throughout ...

Pope Francis and the Church of St. Francis The Post-Western Age of Catholic Rediscovery Lamin Sanneh, Yale Divinity School Contemporary Catholicism has gone through at least two major revolutions within the last half century. Vatican II instituted changes whose repercussions are still being felt today, however uneven the impact. By general consent, the modernization of Catholic theology and corresponding changes ...

“Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness…”            “Ode to Autumn”, John Keats 1795-1821 After all these years, this line of Keats still captures the essence of Autumn so vividly, as we awake to morning mists, followed by the trees emerging in a blaze of glory. They do this, even in the process of seeming to die as they shed ...

With the northern hemisphere continuing to tilt away from the sun, the mysterious and nostalgic season of autumn dons its coat of many colours. The mood of this season, with its movement of death and life, with the fear of the unknown often hiding new life, reflects something of the startling images of our current humanitarian crisis as it spirals ...

Gentle, grace-filled, quiet space, Tender, delicate, gossamer place. Filled with light, a soft caress, A gift from One who loves me best.   Silence, oh so loving, warm Radiates around my form. Peace enfolds me, grace abounds, Limitless love washes me round.   Completely open, unafraid, A sense of waiting, not dismayed. Quiet pleasure, day and night Awaiting God’s great ...

How often do we stop to think about the bread we eat? Hidden from our eyes, that tiny seed sown in early spring now harvested in the September will become for us our daily bread. The work of many hands has become for us a bountiful gift. That tiny seed: buried in the dark, watered by gentle rains, warmed by ...

It was an October morning and the presence of Autumn was becoming more evident; cooler mornings with the sun taking longer to bring warmth.  I stepped out the front door inhaling deep breaths of the freshness of a new day when I saw a masterpiece displayed over the hedge! Its beauty drew my attention and I moved towards it to ...