HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017

A New Year begins on Sunday and already the month of January is being filled with commitments.

Perhaps this is a good thing as we go forward into new happenings and change.

Part of me would like time to slow down so I can catch up and fullfill at least some of the promises I made for Y2016 and yet, no worries.

As a friend said ' The Past is gone / The Future is a Mystery / The Present is Reality!

A simple way to put Time into a box and it makes sense too.

Being of a spiritual mind, I believe God has a plan for each one of us.

We can make plans and often they are changed and we can find ourselves on another path to the one we chose.  This is all good.

God knows His job and we are most happy when we are open to His Desire for us.

Happy New Year 2017!

Christmas Day 2016

I've just watched Pope Francis speak to the people of the World and ask for Peace, to do all that we can to instill peace into our lives.

Pope Francis also spoke about protecting children from all over the World and also to protect the unborn child.

He is a wonderful Pope and he gave his plenary blessing to ALL who listened.

As I watched, I was moved by his sincerity and strong message to the World and all of us in general.

We can be told of awful things that happen in the world today and yet, it's important that we know and remember that we too can be cruel and unloving.

Our protection is to focus on love and put love into all that we are part of and all that we do.

Dear Infant Child protect us from all that is not good. Also protect us from ourselves.

God bless the Pope as he wishes us a Happy and Holy Christmas 2016. (I'm the shadow)

Reconciliation...

Tonight, 20th December 2016, I will attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation in our local Church,

St. Patrick's in Wicklow town.

This is a new word for me, reconciliation.  What does it imply?

Does it mean to reconcile oneself and to whom?

The answer that comes to me is a simple one and I hope it makes sense to others.

If I have offended or hurt someone, then I need to make up with them, to recognise the wrong I have done and make amends.

When it comes to the Sacrament of Reconciliation then I am facing my God who loves me and I will try as best I can to be reconciled with Him.

It means facing my wrong-doing, whether I have done something wrong OR failed to do something right that was in my power to do and I neglected to do it.

I believe my God is compassionate and loving and more than willing to help me to be free from guilt.

This Sacrament is such a blessing.  I can 'confess' and face the truth about myself and then walk away a free person, able and willing to continue again in my love for God and my awareness of God's love for me.

Be Generous...

Christmas time is a time for sharing and caring...

I wonder what exactly does that mean, to share and care?  Perhaps it's only when I examine myself and the motives behind what I do that I begin to understand what caring and sharing is all about.

Strange how we can think we know what is right for another person and how wrong we can be too.

I've often done this and learned my mistakes the hard way.

What comes to mind now is to be 'with' another person, tuned into how they are and what their need might be.  Not easy and yet so rewarding.

Perhaps this Christmas I can practise this for myself, to learn how to share and care truly!

Health and Happiness...

The Gift of Health and Happiness is perhaps one of the best ways we can show love for our neighbour and encourage ourselves to be happy and healthy people.

Christmas is a time when we want to share a gift with those we love and yet to be able to give a gift that will enhance the person we love with health and happiness is a powerful way to show how much we care for them.

How can we do this?  Well, simply to become aware of the need each one of us has for being healthy.

A healthy person is a happy person, free from the worry of sickness and mental problems.

Our gift can be simply found in examining the contents of what we buy.

Is the quality good?   Is our gift something that will help a person in some way?

Perhaps a good book can be a solution...

Winter can be hard on our health and also challenging on our mental ability to cope with stress.

There is an ad that says the best call is the one you make in person...

Perhaps this is one of the most valuable gifts we can give to another, our interest and our desire to spend time with them.