

|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Thursday |
May-27 |
|
|
|
 |
|
The following reflection was read at the Grauation Mass in Coláiste Choilm yesterday......
Don’t let go of hope.
Hope gives you the strength to keep going when you feel like giving up. Don’t ever quit, believe in yourself.
Don’t let anyone hold your happiness in their hands, hold it in yours, so it will always be within your reach.
Don’t measure success or failure by material wealth, measure success by values that are precious to you and the ones that no money can buy.
Don’t let bad moments overcome you, be patient and they will pass. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help, we all need it from time to time.
Don’t run away from love but towards love, because it is our deepest joy. Don’t wait for what you want to come to you, go after it with all that you are, knowing that life will meet you halfway.
Anytime you learn something new about yourself or about life, you have progressed. Don’t ever forget to laugh or be too proud to cry.
As we say goodbye to Coláiste Choilm we hold precious all those seeds that have been sown, germinated and blossomed during our time here. Most important of all we take from here what is really important in life and that it is being who we are, that we live life to the fullest.
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Tuesday |
May-25 |
|
|
|
 |
|
Africa Day is celebrated today and is the official day of the African Union. It is an opportunity to celebrate African diversity and success and a day to join Africans around the world in highlighting the cultural and social energy of the continent. To mark the day here is an African Prayer………
Lord, we pray for ourselves and for the others of this country, for the youth of Africa and of the world. We are awakening and we do not know if we are strong enough to carry the responsibility that awaits us. We come to you, Lord. You understand us. You have experience. You know what we must do and how to do it. You can lead us so that we will be the hope of our beloved countries. Help us contribute our share to the development of our countries here in Africa, and beyond. We want our faith to play its role, not because it is ours, but because you are our Father. Let us be servants to our countries, the engine in the car driving towards a good future. Remove our fears and misgivings. We ask you, Lord, let us be good road signs that we may lead many people to you. But, first of all, we must invite them. And that is the challenge! But with your Holy Spirit and in your Holy name, everything is possible. Amen.
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Sunday |
May-16 |
|
|
|
 |
|
The following reflection is by Tom Cahill
A recent survey conducted by researchers at Durham University, England, on people’s attitude to sermons came up with some surprises: 96.6% of those surveyed said they liked the Sunday sermon, and 60% said it gave them a sense of God’s love. Attitudes differed according to faith groupings. Evangelicals liked sermons most, Catholics wanted ones that educated rather than challenged. Baptists and Catholics favoured use of the Bible in sermons more than Anglicans and Methodists did. And, while Baptists wanted sermons to span an hour and then some, Catholics wanted them short. Ten minutes max.
So, what to say about the Ascension of the Lord that may be educative, and, yes, challenging too, yet brief? Its description in the first and third readings today (Acts 1:1-11 and Luke 24:46-53) takes only seconds to read. To focus the mind, then, let me ask you which you think is weirder: to believe that the Ascension was real, or to believe that the value of a 6ft bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, sold recently in Sotheby’s, is really worth the £65 million paid for it.
The fact of the Ascension is of immeasurably more value than any worked on piece of metal could possibly be. It has the power to stir the imagination, to engage the heart and to intrigue the mind with its promise. And, unlike artfully pressed and pounded metal, faith in the Ascension has the power to effect change. Belief in God’s Word ascending can raise even hearts of stone with money to burn to hearts of flesh burning with love for those who suffer.
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Wednesday |
May-12 |
|
|
|
 |
|
A man came into the doctor’s surgery one day and he was very worried. He explained his problem, “Every part of my body that I touch is very sore, my nose, my elbow, my head, my left hand.” The doctor gave him a thorough examination, x-ray, blood tests etc. The man returned the next day for the results and was very nervous. “Did you find out what’s wrong with me?” he asked the doctor. “I did” he replied. “What is it?” enquired the very worried patient. “All that’s wrong with you” replied the doctor, “is that your finger is broken!”
We often think the worst. We worry and fret about many things. Many of them are outside our control. Even if they were within our control we’d still be nervous and anxious. In our Gospels Jesus called for a change of mindset. Instead of a closed, negative outlook he called on people to think positive, to trust in God and to know that everything is not as bad is it first seems.
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
Sunday |
May-09 |
|
|
|
 |
|
The following reflection is by Tom Cahill
There’s a memorable scene in The Shawshank Redemption. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) plays Duettino-Sull’aria from Mozart’s ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ over the prison loudspeaker system. Prisoners stop what they’re doing enthralled by the operatic duet. As you watch their rapt features, ‘Red’ Redding’s (Morgan Freeman) background commentary tells you that for a few minutes these prisoners feel like human beings again. The beauty of the music blocks out the ugliness of their surroundings and transports them to another place where refinement, beauty and spirit reign. It’s a powerful, touching scene.
Now another scene. This time in Suffolk, England. A 5ft by 7ft dilapidated beach hut. Its window is broken. Its paint is peeling. It lacks a door, gas, electricity and water. A local council regulation forbids overnight use of it. For sale at a whopping £40,000, its estate agent says it’ll be snapped up. Other huts similar in size but in better condition have sold even more ‘whoppingly’ for £100,000. Why? Location, location, location. They command a spectacular view of the sea. Again, a place of beauty – and for people of faith, a sense of Presence therein.
Our third and last scene is in today’s Second Reading: the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. (Apoc 21:10) Refinement, beauty and Spirit reign there. No need for gas or electricity – not even for the Sun. The glory of God is its light, God’s presence its air. Like the Shawshank prisoners we too need our moments of rapture whether it be from love, nature, art or faith. For without a peek into eternity human nature just cannot peak.
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|