Good Friday - Veneration of the Cross

A short video clip from our veneration of the Cross during the Commemoration of Our Lord's Passion today.

Daffodills

 

As I wandered round our garden, a few days ago, looking sadly at our “hosts of golden daffodils” which had given us so much joy and delight in recent weeks, but now were withering and dying in the bitter April winds that were sweeping across the lawns, Isaiah chapter 53 came spontaneously to mind :

“See my Servant……

as the crowds were appalled on seeing him, so disfigured did he look that he seemed no longer human…

Like a sapling he grew up in front of us, like a root in arid ground.

No look to attract our eyes,

without beauty, without majesty we saw him….

a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.”

There, in the dying daffodils, I could visualise Jesus writhing in pain, being bent to the ground, buffeted by the wind – his skin drying up…. many flowers had already fallen – rejected – no longer any use to decorate our altars or tables. Yes, there he was, crushed for our sins, symbolically portrayed by the dying flowers. And as I looked around and saw all the other rows of daffodils – another line of Scripture came to mind, this time from Matthew 9 :

“And when he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them, because they were harassed and dejected like sheep without a shepherd.”

So many sad and broken people in our country, in our world – hungry – yes, for food, but deeper still a hunger and yearning for – they know not what.

They have never heard or, having heard, rejected him – the One who died for us all, only to rise again after three days in the tomb, in a glorious resurrection giving radiant life to his little children.

Yes, the daffodils too will die and be thrown out  on a compost heap – and will lie there until perhaps next spring, when they will be nourishment for other young plants.

Father, you have so many ways to teach us. Thank you for the wonders hidden in our “hosts of golden daffodils”

Reflection on the Readings for Palm Sunday

The First Reading for Palm Sunday is taken from Isaiah (50:4-9) - which seems a very good start to the week ahead. Worth thinking about and contemplating ... 'Each morning he wakes me to hear: to listen, like a disciple ...' St Dominic is said to have carried with him wherever he walked (and he certainly walked, ... and walked ... and walked ....) the Gospel according to St Matthew. He is a good model for us who profess to be Dominicans, and Isaiah too has very appropriate advice for us, I think. 

We cannot begin to understand what the Lord has done for us, unless we listen to what is happening and said in all the events of Holy Week; we need to be people whose ears are attuned to God, so that we may the more sincerely open ourselves to receive all He wants to give us ... and to remember that He has died for this very reason. May the Blessed Mother of God and our St Dominic be with us to accompany us in our journey through the week; and intercede for us and for all those around the world who will not have the joy or the freedom to share in the Liturgy; for those who have not the faith to know how they are loved; for those who do not know the wonder of the gift of life.

Farewall to Sr Agata Teresa

On Tuesday last, Sr Agata Teresa flew back to her monastery in Austria early in the morning. We had a 'goodbye' recreation the evening before and Sr Agata Teresa produced produced some beautiful surprises for us ... have a look at the photos below ... and then through the April showers, broke a fascinating rainbow, to the glory of God!

Is it a fan?
Not a fan at all! A whole lot of little nuns - a community in fact!
Wherever did she find the time to do all that?!

A close up.
Can you guess who is who?

Each of us is represented here somehow - the challenge is to try and recognise which one fits our identity ...

 

And here we are ... trying to figure it out .. makes a change from doing the crossword!

Sorted! Everyone had met her match!

With St Dominic in our cloister garth .. and a rainbow ..
a nice gift from the Lord for Sr Agata just before the sun sets

Family Vocations Day

 

 

5th April 2014 - the day is almost here!  Not to be missed!!!

 

 

As you see, we are hosting our 6th Annual Family Vocations Day - in St Saviour's, Dublin.

 

 

 

It promises to be a great day, with plenty of opportunity to meet with members of the four branches of the Dominican Family - Lay Dominicans; Apostolic Sisters; Friars and Contemplative Nuns.

The day will begin with an introductory presentation on Discernment, which always strikes a chord in the hearts of those who attend - even those of us who have already taken that step and embraced the OPs.

There follow vocation stories from four people - each representing a different 'branch' of the family.  And being hosted so graciously by our beloved brethren, whose home we will be invading for the day - we get to meet some of the community and chat informally with them.

 

Have you ever had questions that you never had the courage to ask religious?

Have you ever had 'niggles' - maybe your faith is prompting you to explore an alternative expression?

What is religious life and what is so special about the Dominicans?

 

TRUTH - VERITAS

is a motto of our Order.

 

Why not think again?  Maybe we can help you in your discernment.

 

You may never know unless you take the plunge!

 

Contact Sr Niamh OP for more details.

at: opfamily.vocationsday@gmail.com or phone (041) 98-38-524



Praying for Vocations to Religious life

The following  homily of Pope Francis from the Vatican News website us very interesting regarding praying for vocations to religious life and priesthood - the Pope says that Jesus continues to call young people but unless we empty our hearts we cannot hear and respond to His call.

 

In his homily on Monday morning, 3 March, Pope Francis reflected on the day's Gospel from St. Mark (10:17-27), in which the evangelist recounts Jesus' calling of the rich young man. “It is a story we have heard many times”, Pope Francis said. The man ran up to Jesus “and knelt before him”. And he does so “before a great crowd”, because “he greatly desired to hear Jesus' words” and “something in his heart was prompting him”. Thus, “kneeling before him”, he asks him what he must do in order to inherit eternal life. “It was the Holy Spirit” who was moving the heart of this man, the Pope said. Indeed, he was “a good man, for he observed the commandments from his youth”. However, “for him, being good did not suffice: he wanted more! The Holy Spirit was urging him on”.

“Jesus fixed his gaze upon him, happy to hear these things”, the Pope said. So much so that “the Gospel tells us that he loved him”. Therefore, “Jesus also sensed his enthusiasm. And this is what he proposed: sell what you have and come with me to preach the Gospel!”. However, the evangelist tells us that “at that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful”.

This good man “had come with hope and with joy to see Jesus; he asked his question; he listened to Jesus' words; and he made his decision: to go away”. Thus “the joy that moved him, the joy of the Holy Spirit, was turned into sadness”. Indeed, Mark says that “he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions”.

The problem was that “his restless heart”, which the Holy Spirit was prompting “to draw near to Jesus and to follow him, was a heart that was full”. Yet “he did not have the courage to empty it” and instead, “he chose money!”. He had a “a heart filled with money”, the Pope said. His was “honest money” but “his heart was imprisoned by it, he was attached to money and he didn't have the freedom to choose”. Therefore, in the end, “money chose for him”.

The Pope continued to reflect on the question of vocation. And his thoughts turned to young people who “feel in their hearts this call to draw near to Jesus; who are enthusiastic, who are not afraid go to Jesus, who are not embarrassed to kneel before him”. Those who like the rich young man, “give a sign of public witness to their faith in Jesus Christ”.

Pope Francis said that there are many young people today who feel this call. But “when their hearts are filled with something else, and because they are not courageous enough to empty them, they turn back”. And thus “their joy is turned to sadness”. How many young people there are, he said, who possess that joy of which St Peter speaks in his first Letter (1:3-9): “Rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy, as you obtain the goal of your faith”. Truly, he said, these young people are “many, but there is something standing in their way stopping them”.

“When we ask the Lord to send vocations to proclaim the Gospel, he sends them”. And yet some say: “Father, things in the world are going so badly: there are no vocations to be a sister, there are no priestly vocations, we are going to end in ruin!”.

“There are many vocations”, the Pope said. Yet, he asked, if they are so numerous “why do we need to ask the Lord to send them?”. He replied: “We need to pray that the hearts of these young people might be emptied: emptied of other interests, emptied of other loves, that their hearts might become free”. This, he said is the true “prayer for vocations: Lord, send us sisters, send us priests; defend them from the idolatry of vanity, from the idolatry of pride, from the idolatry of power, from the idolatry of money”. And, he explained, “our prayer helps to prepare their hearts to closely follow the Lord”.

The Pope noted how many young people there are today like the rich young man. And he asked: “what do we do for them?”. The first thing to be done, he said, is to pray:

“Lord, help these young people to be free and not to be not slaves” so that “they might have a heart only for you”. In this way, he said, “the call of the Lord can come and bear fruit”.

Pope Francis concluded his homily by inviting those who were present to recite often “this prayer for vocations”, with the awareness that “there are vocations”. It falls to us, he said, to pray that “they might grow, that the Lord might enter into their hearts and give them this 'unutterable and exalted joy' which every person has who closely follows the Lord”.

Discernment Weekend

Below is an attractive (!) poster for our up-coming Discernment Weekend - 14 - 16th March, for anyone who might be wondering about where (or if?) they are being 'called.'