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On Eagle's Wings

On Eagle's Wings

Monthly Archives: Mar 2020

Tough decisions

31 Tue Mar 2020

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Hello!

This morning as I’ve been reading and praying what comes to my heart is that following Jesus often requires us to make tough and indeed unpopular decisions that will get us into trouble and that will cause misunderstandings and yet we must make them anyway!

As a little sidetrack from the coronavirus let me share a story with you that happened just over a year ago to us!

We were living in Split and Toni had just joined us. When we introduced him to our charismatic friends they didn’t want to know, they were afraid and if we use the analogy of fishermen, they were happy that we caught a fish for Jesus (Toni) but because they didn’t know how to help they seemed to want us to throw the fish back in the sea and hopefully someone else more prepared might catch it!!

And so as the weeks went on the tension was palpable and they were not going to back down. They had been good to us to a point as they helped us to find an apartment to rent and invited us to their prayer meetings but their threshold was reached. They were not willing to open their hearts and minds to catholic LGBT issues any further and that was that!

Croatia is not very gay friendly and church circles even less so!

Anyway it came to January 31st and our rent for February was due the next day. I went for a long walk and to adoration, not knowing how to move forward and short on money.

After adoration I met Seamus and we went for a drink to talk and to pray. Suddenly like a bolt of lightening I got inspired as to what to do!

It was simple, it was genius and once again it was controversial. I knew it was the right thing, I knew it was from God but just like those 10 years earlier when I left Ireland, I knew I’d be misunderstood and judged.

So what did I do you may wonder?

I called Toni and told him to get a bundle of black bags and to pack his things. That night we were leaving!!

Seamus and I returned home and within 2 hours we had everything packed, the apartment tidied and we were ready to go!!

We booked a cheap bed and breakfast, put the keys in the post box, took a uber taxi and we were gone!!

Safe for a few days in our temporary accommodation we messaged our ‘friends’ and told them that we had decided to go. They went crazy!

“If that was the Holy Spirit then I’m an astronaut” yelled one of the leaders.

They could not see how their refusal to help us and open their hearts and led God to telling us to leave! Instead they played the victim card and once again we were accused of following the devil!

I knew well it would happen and I didn’t have time for their nonsense. Toni’s passport needed to be organised and I didn’t have time to be arguing with people who wouldn’t listen. They could call me the devil if they wished, I’d heard it all before anyway and was used to the bullying and manipulation!

Yet God smiled on us! Despite the stress the owner of the bed and breakfast came every day with sandwiches and yoghurts and when he heard that we were missionaries he was thrilled!!!

We could feel God blessing us through him even if we knew that others were attacking us!

Toni’s passport got sorted and after 3 months in Medjugorje we came to London!

But it doesn’t stop there!! Upon arriving in London we booked a room in Clapham Common and as we walked to the building who did we meet but one of our charismatic friends from Split who had really let us down!

She was in London to learn english and she nearly died of shock upon seeing us. After all it’s a very big city and what are the odds that on our first day that we should meet her?!!

She was so traumatised that the next day she went to a charismatic conference and needed prayer! Seamus was at the same conference a year later and when he told them our story they remembered her!!

The poor girl had been very good to us but sadly she got caught up in the crossfire and lost courage. Truth be told she didn’t know who or what to believe and we wish her well as she truly had a beautiful heart.

Anyway, all that to say that following Jesus often involves making very hard decisions which will inevitably lead to division and misunderstandings.

Not only will your enemies not like your decisions, some and maybe even many or all your friends may turn against you too.

Remember that Jesus died with just Mary and John at the foot of the cross.

And in these times too we are all going to have to make decisions that others will perhaps not like. We see it already with the Pope who is heavily criticised by some of the cardinals as he moves the church forward.

The Pope is a man who knows that things must change. He is not afraid to speak out and he’s not afraid to be a shepard to the flock during this time even if it should cost him his life, his health and his reputation!

We too are being stretched by Jesus during this period. Do we choose safety and our health or do we choose the gospel and eternal life?

Are we willing to put Jesus in the first place? Are we willing to lose friends? To be told that we are being deceived or that we are mentally ill or following demons?

These are the tests that the saints went through and these are the tests that we too will be put through!

Padre Pio lived every bit of it and more!

And so friends, this is a time for our faith and hope and charity and strength to shine. This is a time to give all for Jesus even if that means dying which will happen one day or the other anyway!

These are exciting times spiritually speaking, they are also extreme times when extreme faith is needed!

So let’s not be afraid to choose Jesus and to make those tough decisions that lead to eternal life!

Have a great day and may our Lord Jesus give you His peace and His strength in these challenging times.

Michael

Sinful distancing

30 Mon Mar 2020

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Good Monday morning to you all!

As the world is becoming somewhat used to being locked down and peoples and nations allied in the fight against death, my mind and spirit still can’t help but think of the other death, the one that is present all year around and little spoken of, death of the soul, eternal damnation!

If for a moment you bare with me and think of Jesus and Mary as the scientists of the soul and ‘sin’ as the deadly virus that can lead to eternal death, you will see how the coronavirus in our physical world mirrors sin in the spiritual world.

I was then thinking of all the warnings Jesus and Mary have given us about the consequences of sin.

From Lourdes to Fatima to Medjugorje to the lives of the saints to the countless visionaries all over the world, to of course the word of God itself (Bible) the Lord has made it perfectly clear how dangerous sin is and how we must fight it!

Just as the scientists and medics are telling us to wash our hands daily and to observe social distancing and to look out for one another so too have Jesus and Mary being crying almost the same thing.

Keep your soul clean by washing it through prayer several times a day!

If your soul does come into contact with danger, wash it immediately with confession.

Observe social distancing with others less you fall into gossip and/ or casual sex for example!

And of course if we all work together in the fight against sin by not tempting one another then it’ll be easier all year round!

But alas, are our world leaders who are so helpful in the fight against the Coronavirus willing to take the lead also on the fight against an even more deadly virus, death of the soul?

How long can God be ignored and disrespected and left out of the world plan by these leaders who very often seem more thirsty for power and economic success?

Is Jesus an idiot and his call to prayer and Christian living something to be utterly ignored by our politicians?

Have these politicians not got souls too and will they not have to answer before God for all their policies and decisions?

It would certainly seem that today’s politicians have no love or respect for Jesus and His call for conversion of hearts and minds.

If they did, then just as they have mobilised the entire world to grind to a halt and to collectively fight the Coronavirus from the advice of doctors, they would similarly immobilise the entire world to fight against sin under the advice of holy priests.

This morning I read about the King of Thailand disappearing to a hotel with a harem of 20 women while he waits for the Coronavirus to end.

If he doesn’t die of the virus, he may die of exhaustion after all that sex but on a serious note, what sort of example is this type of behaviour?

Our world leaders don’t seem to have any fear of God or knowledge of prayer and this is very scary!

Where are they leading us?

And so here we are, our world has fallen into a terrible mess and just like Adam and Eve we find ourselves broken, weak, lost, confused and humiliated!

But let’s learn from history! Let’s humble ourselves before God, let’s repent and change our ways and change our laws where they have offended him.

From the heads of state to the most ordinary of people let us all bow our heads and pray the Lord’s prayer with humble, repentant and contrite hearts.

Let us do all we can to fight against the coronavirus by practicing good hygiene and social distancing and let us do all we can to fight against sin through prayer and ‘sinful distancing’!

Have a sinless week and let us continue to pray for our world leaders that they may come to know the fight against sin as they have come to know the fight against the virus!

Bless

Michael

Sunday of tears

29 Sun Mar 2020

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Good morning,

This morning Pope Francis celebrated mass in the Vatican as usual. Moved by compassion and by today’s gospel, he has called today the ‘Sunday of tears”.


“I am thinking of the many people who are weeping”, Pope Francis said, introducing the liturgy for the Fifth Sunday of Lent at the Casa Santa Marta chapel. People who are isolated, in quarantine, the elderly; people who are alone, in the hospital, parents who do not foresee receiving their salary and do not know how they will feed their children, he continued.

Yesterday I read the shockingly painful story of an Indian man who died, presumably of exhaustion as he tried to walk over 250 kilometres to get home.

In these shocking times it makes us think what our ancestors must have gone through during famines and wars and indeed what people in the world’s third world countries go through all years around.

It seems sad that only when suffering hits the western world do our governments react so boldly and with such concerns.

Has God allowed this to humble us all and to opening our hearts?

It seems that it’s a sad human reality that our ability to empathize with others pain only comes when we can relate personally to their pain.

It’s so easy at a funeral to say ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ but if you too know the pain of losing someone, your ‘sorry’ can be a true and heartfelt source of comfort.

Indeed before my own conversion story I was no different!

“Very sorry, bla bla bla, now have to go, people to meet, things to do, bye bye!!”

Some of this comes from the fact that often us westerners don’t actually know how to behave or how to handle our emotions in these times!

Often we are ‘fix-its’ but when we can’t fix the situation like we might a flat tyre that leaves us feeling awkward, empty and useless. We want to get out of there as fast as possible!

Secondly we are often not comfortable in crying. Years may have taught us to stay strong and not to cry in case everyone starts crying!!

Yet what’s wrong with that ? Maybe everyone needs a good cry to grieve and to let out the pain?! Why block them and ourselves?!

And if you are a man the pressure is even worse unless you are a gay like me when of course you can get away with it because you are not a proper man anyway!!

Or are you? Maybe you are more of a man?!

Anyway, today the Pope is inviting us to feel the pain and to cry. He doesn’t want us burying our emotions or keeping so busy with work and other distractions that we can’t feel the pain.

He invites us to feeling it and to both expressing it with and to Jesus.

Jesus too cried and when we cry like this the healing love and comfort of God enters our soul.

We can’t fix the situation but through our compassionate hearts we can pray for the situation and trust that through these prayers that God will somehow fix it.

Prayer is real, prayer is powerful and prayer is tangible.

No matter who you are and how far away you feel from God, today you can make a difference through your prayers and tears.

As you cry, you soak up some of the pain of others like a sponge soaking up water and as you pray you replace that pain with God’s love and comfort. There is great power in blessings.

Crying is good for your own emotional and mental health too. It’s the spiritual equivalent of going to the toilet if you like!

As you cry your spirit discharges all the emotions built up in your system and afterwards you feel that you can move on.

Any grief counselor will say the same! Tears heal our hearts!

And so today let us open our hearts and cry and lament about the pain. Let us let it out, let us not put on a brave face and pretend that we are ok. Let us not be ashamed to care, to cry and even to cry in public as Jesus did.

And afterwards let us pray and pray with the faith and heart that come from pain.

Let us pray for healing miracles for our church and world, let us pray for miracles of conversions and of consolation for the dying and as Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, He will surely resurrect our broken world too.

Blessings, healing and God’s supernatural comfort and peace to all!

Thanks for reading!

Michael

Church, open or close?

28 Sat Mar 2020

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Good morning, it’s Saturday just in case you are a bit like me and every day seems the same!

The last few days I’ve been praying and pondering about the current closure of churches and all other non-essential places of public gathering.

Cardinal Burke whom I don’t usually follow made some thought provoking comments:

“But prayer, devotions and worship, above all, Confession and the Holy Mass, are essential for us to remain healthy and strong spiritually, and for us to seek God’s help in a time of great danger for all. Therefore, we cannot simply accept the determinations of secular governments, which would treat the worship of God in the same manner as going to a restaurant or to an athletic contest,”

Whatever about his person and his known bad relationship with the Pope, he does raise a valid point!

We are allowed outside for food shopping, medical reasons and exercise all of which are deemed to be necessities, what about prayer?!

Now yes we can pray from home but we can also exercise from home and so we must at least think about this current dynamic and wonder if it is the best solution.

I understand that to a non spiritual person prayer seems like a waste of time and things like mass and Eucharistic adoration must seem nothing short of ridiculous!

The secular and rational mind does not take into account the spiritual influences and interactions and so does not value prayer in any way as a way of fighting this current crisis!

This is clear when world leaders thank doctors and nurses and scientists for their work but omit to ever mention or thank people of prayer for theirs.

And so from a purely secular point of view closing the church is no different to closing the cinema. It will reduce gatherings, reduce contact and reduce the virus….

However is it also going to reduce prayer, reduce faith and further reduce the protective hand of God on us?

Once as I sat in a church in Toulon in the south of France I heard Jesus say ‘come’.

I walked up to the altar and once I got to the steps I heard “turn around and sit”.

As I sat there in the empty church I heard Him say:

“This is my day, waiting here for a visitor and so few people come. I am really here physically and spirituality even if hidden in the form of bread”.

A sadness hit me as I saw the busy marketplace outside and yet nobody coming in!

I felt the terrible pain of Jesus who wishes to bless us and heal us so much if we would only put Him in first place and follow His directions in life.

In Brazil I was reading last night about an evangelical church that has stayed open.

They still have church gatherings but everyone must wash their hands and sit apart much like what we do when we go food shopping.

They see prayer and praying in community as a necessity and as a risk worth taking.

As Catholics with the real presence of Jesus in our churches we are really forced to ask ourselves the question:

“What does God want? Is going to church a risk worth taking?”

If we liken the current crisis to a war then there will of course be casualties. Opening churches and encouraging people to pray may well curb the spread of the Coronavirus on a long-term spiritual level while leading to a short-term increase.

Jesus does not promise to keep our bodies free from ailments and toil as we serve him. A quick look at mother Teresa will confirm that!!


Now obviously we must use our reason too and not everyone is called to be like mother Teresa and so we must really pray that the light of the Holy Spirit will inspire our religious and political leaders in finding the right balance and strategies in dealing with the current crisis.

Personally I would like to see the church’s open while people obey social distancing.

I believe that it would not only be good for people’s mental and spiritual health but it would be pleasing to Jesus too.

It would be a reminder to the world that we have a Lord, a God, a King, a healer whom we believe in and call on and are even ready to risk our health for.

That is only my view and while I see things this way I accept and indeed obey the current decision of our church leaders to close the churches and appreciate that they are in a very delicate situation!

Anyway, in the meantime we must not get discouraged and we must continue to pray as we can with the help of online masses etc.

Let us in a very special way hold our priests, bishops and Pope in prayer thinking especially of those ones who give their hearts and lives to praying and making sacrifices for others and yet are overlooked by our politicians and world leaders who understand not their value.

Saint Jean Vianney, patron saint of parish priests pray for us and intercede for us during this period of pastoral emergency.

Grant our priests and bishops light from heaven to know God’s will and put it into action!

Have a wonderful day!

Michael

Letter to the editor!

27 Fri Mar 2020

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Good morning all!

As we are all learning to live and adapt day by day, life goes on. I saw this morning that Prince Harry and wife Meghan left Canada and have now moved to the Hollywood area of California!

Meanwhile prince Charles has been tested positive with the Coronavirus and the queen is isolating at Windsor.

It is a reminder to us all that life goes on and that the ups and downs of life spare nobody, not even the royal family!

Yesterday too I got some good news. In the middle of praying for all the people involved and sick with the Coronavirus I have also been asking God to open more doors in my own ministry to the church and gay community.

Yesterday with Séamus and Toni we did an hour of Eucharistic adoration (livecam) for that intention together with praying for the sick and the dying.

Afterwards I received a spontaneous text message from my friend Padraig in Ireland congratulating me on my letter which was published in a well known catholic newsletter, ‘The curate’s diary’.

Written in Ireland by Fr. Thady Doyle, a charismatic catholic priest who has had a remarkable life with Jesus who helped Him in so many ways as he struggled with his vocation, with sexual weaknesses and with celibacy.

You can read Thady’s own testimony on his website and pray that many other priests find hope in it and solace that God’s merciful gaze shines on them too!

http://www.jesuspowerministries.org/n1.htm

Anyway last month there was an article on homosexuality and a girl who had left a gay lifestyle. I decided to reply to the article commending Fr. Doyle for so bravely talking about Jesus and these issues and yet also sharing my story of how Jesus had pulled me too from the gay lifestyle but had not turned me straight!!

To be perfectly honest I didn’t write it with the intention of it being published and so was extremely surprised to discover that not only was my letter published on this months magazine but that Fr. Doyle had replied too with a very encouraging exhortation.

This magazine is widely circulated in catholic charismatic circles in Ireland and so a wonderful way of reaching out in love and truth to so many families and people.

Thank you Jesus!

I rang a friend of mine in Northern Ireland to tell him. He is the person who sent me the magazine last month and has been a very good prayer friend since meeting in Medjugorje last year. Brendan was delighted but he seemed a little troubled.

Just recently a young person in his area struggling with their gender identity commit suicide. The family were distraught.

Just earlier as we prayed together in our room, Toni voiced a prayer for all transgender people suffering and hearing this news gave us a chilling reminder of the seriousness of the issue.

While the Coronavirus must and should be taken very seriously, we must not forget that life goes on and that all these other issues are just as serious even if less publicized.

So many people die of suicide and even more in the LGBT community.

The current coronavirus crisis may accentuate the suffering for many people and if we are not careful may lead to an increase in suicides across all communities.

Hopelessness, despair, uncertainty, being locked in, loved ones getting sick and dying can push already fragile people over the edge.

Closed shops, closed churches arguably don’t help. We all know the value of having some time alone in the church or coffee shop just to rest our minds.

And so as I thank Jesus and Fr. Doyle for publishing my article, I am also concerned for all those people suffering today and contemplating suicide.

I hope and pray that in the church we can come up with creative and inspired ways of reaching out to these vulnerable people while not forgetting the serious reality of the coronavirus.

“Lord Jesus, may we be your hands, your feet and your heart today for others. Help us to reach out even if we put ourselves in danger….for

”

Have a blessed day and a special blessing on Fr. Doyle and all the priests and missionaries all over the world praying and working tirelessly for the healing and care of the sick, the needy and the vulnerable all year round

Padre Pio, pray for us.

Michael

Social distancing

26 Thu Mar 2020

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catholic, coronavirus, Jesus, peace, prayer, religion, spirituality

Hello all from London,

This morning I went for a bit of a cycle and London is truly very quiet. Besides the food shops and people out doing some sport it’s dead!

“Social distancing” is what is being recommended all over the world as one of the key ways of preventing the spread of the Coronavirus.

The other day in a shop a lady was shouting and making a scene as I had accidentally walked over a yellow line and probably broke the 2 metre rule which to be fair wasn’t being respected anyway in the shop.

However the irony of social distancing is that we will now spend much more time at home with those we love and with those we are trying to love!

Yes, social distancing is also creating an equal and opposite ‘household proximity’ and this may be challenging for us all!

A friend of mine from France mentioned that at one time in her life she was finding things very difficult and feeling boxed in. When she prayed she got this image!

It’s the chimney from a factory and Jesus was showing her that the way to let out her frustrations wasn’t by leaving the house that she was in but was by letting out her frustrations (hot air) from within through prayer!

Living with the same people, not being able to go out as before, our habits broken, widespread panic will test the best of us and bring up all our wounds!

It’s a little like a silent retreat when you are forced to face God and your inner self as the outward distractions are taken away!

The only difference is that every retreat has a retreat master and someone to look after and help the retreatants through the inner jungle and darkness of their souls.

This current period of social distancing is not by choice and as a result for many people is going to be a living hell!

There is only so much TV that you can watch and only so much exercise you can do at home! Sooner or later we are all going to come to cracking point!

Yet when we do spiritual retreats, cracking point or breaking point is both the most painful and the most valuable part!

It’s exactly at that point that you realise from your heart that you can’t do it on your own! You are faced with all your demons and weaknesses and ugliness and it’s the perfect moment to surrender your life to God’s mercy and to ask Him for His help!

And just as that lady I spoke about realised that the help she needed wasn’t to be found on the outside but rather on the inside, she found new strength, new ways of coping and is now an example to us all of the power of prayer!

Last night we had a lovely hour of eucharistic adoration here where we prayed for the world. We are very privileged and I know that this isn’t available to everyone.

However what we all can do is to find a special corner, it might even by our car, light a candle and talk to Jesus from our hearts!

Tell him how frustrated we are, how grumpy or angry we feel, tell him about the people that are annoying us.

Then gently and with faith invite Him to come around us with His mother and angels.

Take a mental break from all that is happening, let go of worry and stress and take some time out.

Ask Him to help you, to calm you, to direct you and to reorientate your life during this period.

If you are finding things really hard, don’t be afraid to reach out for support by calling a friend or a support service.

If you don’t know what to do with your time, ask yourself what you might be able to do or learn.

Many things nowadays are available to us online from learning languages to online exercise classes to cooking lessons. The list is endless!

Another thing we may do is to read or reorganize our living spaces!

Let us allow this time to be a time of re- learning. Learning to pray, to play and to work both together and as individuals.

And so my prayer for all today is that through social distancing we will learn spiritual proximity to both God, to our neighbours and to our friends and families.

May God bless your day and if anyone needs to let off some steam, get in touch, I’m happy to listen and help if I can.

Take care,

Michael

Happy feast day!

25 Wed Mar 2020

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Hello,

Today is the feast of the annunciation, that special day the angel Gabriel appeared to Our Lady asking her to be the mother of God!

It might seem strange at this time to be celebrating a feast day with so many sick and dying and yet by casting our eyes to Our Lady and by thinking of her life, we can gain strength, love and spiritual reassurance.

Our Lady too faced a lifetime of uncertainties and hardships from the day the angel appeared to her to the day she left this earth and indeed from the moment she was crowned queen of heaven.

She’s thinking, praying and interceding for each one of us right now in ways we can’t even imagine especially in the middle of this crisis.

As we turn to her on this feast day even if just for a few special moments, we can be 100% sure that she will also turn to us and bless us and our families with special graces during this period.

The rays of light leaving her body are rays of healing grace that she is pouring on humanity as she looks down mercifully on us her children.

Some people are angry at Our Lady and want nothing to do with her or the catholic church.

I’ve been surprised over the years at the amount of women I’ve met that really do not like praying to Our Lady.

Once we dig a little deeper, terrible pain comes out around how women have been mistreated and often abused in the church.

From abusive marriages to bearing countless children while their health was at risk and their husbands seemed not to care, women were often treated dreadfully and the pressure to remain silent while offering it all to God seemed even more cruel and without heart or compassion.

Sadly many women were terribly abused in society and even in the church where the role of women is still not clear when it comes to governance.

Some believe that we should have women priests and bishops while others believe that women should go back to wearing the veil and shut up altogether!

There really are all extremes.

I certainly don’t have all the answers and as a gay man my own position in the church is perhaps even worse than that of women’s which allows me to empathise and pray for all women who feel abused and disrespected simply because they are female.

Of course God doesn’t see it like this nor is He perpetually punishing women because Eve ate the apple.

God is a God of love, justice and respect and maybe this is why He chose Our Lady to be the mother of Jesus and to be the most beautiful and powerful of all His creatures throughout time.

Mary was there with the apostles in the upper room like a spiritual mother and while she wasn’t what we’d call an ordained priests, her priesthood was arguably greater as she offered her son to God with and from her heart.

History is filled with magnificent holy women who were exceptionally blessed by God with all sorts of mystical gifts.

More recently we have St. Therese of the child Jesus, Mother Theresa, St. Faustina who’s lives would put the lives of so many men to shame.

Mary was all woman and all wisdom, all gentleness and all strength, all mother and all teacher, all humility and all courage.

She truly was an extraordinary human being and is God’s gift to us a woman, as a mother and as a saint.

And so today on this feast day let us hold in prayer in a special way all women.

Many of the doctors and nurses and carers looking after the sick and dying today are women. Many of these women have families at home and are putting their own lives at risk.

Yet many are still treated unfairly in the workplace, in society and even in the church.

Let us pray for ‘equality in difference’ and for the healing of the wounded hearts of so many women that they may come to know and experience the special love and place that God has for them in society and in the church.

May those women who have become estranged from the church and from Our Lady find their way back through our prayers and may this be our special gift to Our Lady on this her feast day.

Thank you God our father for Our Lady, thank you for her ‘yes’ and for the ‘yes’ of all our mothers which allowed us to be born.

Bring all hurting hearts back to your fatherly embrace and heal our church and world through the intercession of Our Lady so that all souls irrespective of age, colour or gender may find their place and prosper in their gifts and talents.

Bless all mother’s today, especially those who are comforting the dying. Give them love, give them strength and grant them protection from all harm.

Lord hear our prayers,

Michael

Invisible killer

24 Tue Mar 2020

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catholic, death, Jesus, religion, spirituality

Good morning!

Here in London almost everything is closed. Churches are now closed, coffee shops no longer offer take out, we are like other countries such as France.

Boris Johnson, our prime minister, spoke to us last night and besides going out for one of these 3 reasons, we should stay indoors.

1. Exercise, only once per day

2. To buy food or medication

3. Necessary work

He described the virus as an ‘invisible killer’.

And while he’s right and we must do all we can to cooperate with him and minimise risks we have an opportunity also to stop and reflect on other invisible killers and how to minimise those risks too!

As an actuary my job was about risk mitigation for life insurance companies ironically who’s products too are all around death. When you will die and how much money your loved ones will get and who will pay for your funeral expenses are the sad realities of this industry.

As this invisible killer looms we have the opportunity to sit back and to ask ourselves honestly the following question.

Am I ready to die?

The purpose of asking this question is not to frighten ourselves but to be honest.

As an actuary we were taught that you sell car insurance but life assurance! Did you notice the spelling difference between insurance and assurance?

Car insurance because an accident might or might not happen, hopefully not, but….

Life assurance because you are sure to die, it’s just a question of when!

This is why many saints prayed with a skull in their rooms like in the previous picture. This was to remind themselves every day of the reality of death and so they could live every day as if it were their last!

Questions to ask ourselves include:

Have I been a good person?

Are there people I haven’t forgiven?

Have I been a good example?

Have I prayed and honoured God with my life, my values and my ethics ?

Many people fear asking themselves these questions because they know the answer! No, no, no again and emmm, NO!

And yet the good news is that it’s never too late to make a fresh start and to turn things around!

Most of the saints were big sinners who had a close brush with death and then changed their lives! They were no different than me or you, maybe even worse.

And so as we sit at home let us ask ourselves some more questions honestly and truthfully;

Am I happy with the direction that my life is going? With my job, career, family, vocation?

And

What can I do to change some of these things before another 20 years pass me by?

Have I got bad habits such as addictions and bad attitudes and relationships with friends and family?

And

If so what practical steps such as joining an addiction recovery group or phoning members of my family and friends and asking for their forgiveness can I do?

Another good question is with God!

God, have I put you at the centre of my life? Have I tried my best to do your will? Have I prayed and gone to church?

Again if not, maybe now is the time to start to pray and to turn over a new leaf and start afresh!

God is merciful and while we can’t do much about the past, by taking His hand we can do a lot about the future.

And so as many people around the world are dying and perhaps haven’t had the chance to ask themselves these questions and as many more will die over the next few weeks and indeed you and I may be one of them, what better time to step back from life and turning to God receive His mercy and start a new and more prayerful chapter to the rest of our lives.

Have a blessed day and let us all thank God that we are alive as we hold the sick and dying all over the world in both thought and prayer.

Michael

Life is changing

23 Mon Mar 2020

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Good morning!

Usually Monday mornings can be that time when we say “O no, not again” and reach for more coffee!

And yet this Monday for many of us is very different and we are perhaps missing the ‘good old days’ when everything seemed stable!

As more and more businesses are shutting down many people are not working today while others are working from home.

Some will find it hard to fill in the time at home. Here in London the sports shops are empty of personal training equipment such as weights etc. Board games like Monopoly have never been sold in such numbers!

And then for others this Monday means more work. Doctors and nurses will be working around the clock and will have no time for the gym or monopoly.

This is an acute time for them and they need all our prayers and moral support.

And here in the church things are changing too. Many have no mass to go to this morning and their routines are totally out of sorts while for others it’s a question of reaching out spiritually in different ways such as over the phone and internet.

Others will find themselves in very tricky situations and will need a lot of wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit to get the right balance in maintaining the spiritual health of the people without being a danger to their physical health!

It truly is a very delicate situation and as Catholics makes us ask a lot of questions!

Our faith is incarnational and so not only do we have a lot of prayers, we have a lot of objects!

We have the real presence of Jesus in the eucharist but it doesn’t stop there! Other ‘holy objects’ we have include relics, medals, buildings, oils, water etc.

As Catholics we believe that spiritual blessings and protections are attached to these objects. Holy oil is not the same as ordinary oil. It has a spiritual quality the ordinary oil doesn’t have. The same is true with holy water.

Science of course can’t quantify this or even verify this and what is even more tricky is the fact that just because water or oil is holy does not mean that it is sanitary!

And so here is our current dilemma as Catholics! We have our holy oils and waters which could potentially heal us with its spiritual components and potentially kill us with physical components (if it had germs of the coronavirus for example).

Our challenge is thus to be smart! Just as many people have hand sanitizer, we can also go to our churches and fill up a personal bottle of Holy water for ourselves and our homes.

Holy water etc. hasn’t lost it’s place and value, we must simply avoid all dipping our hands in the same pot!

When it comes to other things we can perhaps adapt the same approach. Wash thoroughly, wear protective clothing should we be in a hospital and not stand too close by.

The priest, the spiritual doctor has a difficult job finding the right balance and needs our support, prayers and ideas.

It’s an opportunity for us all to work together and find how science and prayer, doctor and priests can better work together for the health of individuals in mind, body and soul.

Pope Francis is leading this army and so far I think that he’s doing a great job.

He’s calling us all to prayer and to imploring the power of God while looking after our physical health.

Perhaps over the next few weeks he will come up with other ideas under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to how we can move forward for both our spiritual and physical wellbeing.

One thing is sure and that is that He needs our prayers. He is only a man and he finds himself in this very extraordinary situation with no prior experience as to how to handle it.

So today, as we contemplate the current world crisis, let us pray for both our church and political leaders that they may come together and in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect make the right decisions that will restore the physical and spiritual wellbeing of our nations.

“Come Holy Spirit with your seven gifts,

Lead us, guide us, mould us, make us and above all heal us in mind, body and spirit.”

Our Lady, pray for the whole world today. Into your hands we place our hopes.

Blessings to all,

Michael

Mother’s day!

22 Sun Mar 2020

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Happy mother’s day to all of you mothers out there.

I know that in my own life Jesus gave me a wonderful natural mother, many very wonderful spiritual mothers and the most wonderful of all heavenly mothers, Our Lady!

Of course this mother’s day is bitter sweet for many mothers and children. In Italy especially but also in other countries all over the world many mothers are dying while others are at the bedside of their sick and sometimes dying children.

It really is very sad and all the more reason that we must entrust these people to Our Lady, our heavenly mother who is the mother of all mothers.

Through our prayers Our Lady can bring spiritual comfort if not healing to the sick and dying around the world and to their hurting families.

To do this she needs our prayers. Through prayer we can leave our houses, cross cities and countries and be spiritually present to those in need.

Padre Pio had the special gift of bilocating meaning that he was fully aware and conscious of travelling through human boundaries.

However, every time we pray, we too biolate just that we are not as aware of it as Padre Padre Pio.

Our hearts and our emotions travel sort of speak and when we unite with the pain and then pray we can literally absorb some of the pain and replace it with healing grace.

Each one of us is like a mini grace transmitter and just like with recycling or whatever, if everyone does their part, the effect can be enormous.

Our Lady, our heavenly mother needs Our help just as we need her help!

She is queen of armies and in charge of the heavenly army to crush evil.

She does this by using us, guiding us and directing us. We are her earthly soldiers.

And so today as there is so much suffering in the world, let us unite our hearts and our prayers to Mary. Let our prayers bring her relief and bring relief to all those suffering and dying.

Let our love, care and charity for one another be a healing balm for Our Lady in the middle of these troubled times.

Let us take the focus off ourselves and our needs and focus on the world.

“Our Lady, our mother, our friend, help us to help you. Help us to understand the power of our prayers. Help us to love God, love you and love eachother. Bless all those who are sick and dying. Show us how we can help and show us how we can love.”

Blessings to all

Michael

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