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01/14/2022 – Meditating on the Rosary

Did you know that praying the rosary is not just spiritually healthy but physically and mentially too?

Meditating on the mysteries as you pray the rosary can boost your immune system!

According to Harvard University “Stress is immuno suppressive. .According to a large body of evidence, meditation appears to have profound effects on immune function in health and disease because of its ability to reduce stress.” Mediation has also been shown in many people to reduce blood pressure and pain, improve memory, counter anxiety, depression and sleep, and aid in many other ways.

“Some people have trouble with getting started on meditating on the rosary, mainly because they are so used to having to do something to make something happen. This is just the opposite. It helps me to find a comfortable chair (yes, kneeling is probably better, but I’m old and have trouble with that), close my eyes, and go perfectly limp in my entire body. I breathe in thinking “JE,” and then I breathe out deeply, thinking “SUS” or “Jesus.” I do this over and over again until I am 100% perfectly relaxed, with no tension in any part of my body. For some, meditation music with running water in the background may help. Yes, the rosary can be said in your car going to work, and I also do that. But it is a lot harder to relax then, with everybody else on the freeway zooming in and out of your space.

One additional thing I would add. Meditation on Christ, which is when our mind initiates thoughts and images of the bible mysteries, can lead to infused contemplation, which is when God implants thoughts and images into our minds. This is what happened to a lot of saints. Personal meditation on Christ and Mary led to Jesus implanting holy and wonderful thoughts and images of heaven into their minds, which, I think, is the ultimate good here on earth….

In the words of St. John Paul II in his encyclical ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE : “Why not try it?” (Ray Sullivan)

12/16/2021 – Haggai

In Advent we relive the long wait of the world for the coming of the redeemer.

For this reason we celebrate the prophets of the Old Testament in this season. Today is the feast of the prophet Haggai. The Lord speaks through Haggai for us today “

‘My Spirit shall be in the midst of you: fear not’. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘Yet one little while, and I will move the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all nations: AND THE DESIRED OF ALL NATIONS SHALL COME and I will fill this house with glory: saith the Lord of hosts.’ “ (Haggai 2)

So this advent as we await the coming of the Christ Child on Christmas, lets pray our Rosaries that Our Mother Mary will bring not just into our home and parish but into our country and the wider world.

Courtesy of 1 in 10 Rosary Mission Ireland

Don’t forget – 9pm is Rosary for Ireland on Radio Maria

12/7/2021 – Last Day in Year of Saint Joseph

Today is the last day of the Year of St Joseph and the feast of one of his spiritual daughters, St Mary Joseph Rossello.

St Mary Joseph founded an order to educate children and care for the sick under the patronage of Our Lady of Mercy and St Joseph. Sr Mary Joseph’s love of St Joseph, is reflected in the advice she often gave to her nuns:

“The hands should be at work, the heart with God.”

We, like Sr Mary Joseph’s nuns, are also called to imitate St Joseph. And what better way than to pray the rosary. In the rosary, we not only meditate on his faithful loving service to the Christ Child but in fingering the beads as we pray, our hands are at work, while our heart is with God.

Courtesy of 1 in 10 Rosary Mission Ireland

Don’t forget – 9pm is Rosary for Ireland on Radio Maria

10/01/2021 -St Therese, the Little Flower

Today is the feast of St Therese, the Little Flower.

“Two quotes from St Therese that have stuck with me whenever I feel frustrated at my lack of endurance in my faith. The first relates to sleep.

She said: “I should be distressed that I drop off to sleep during my prayers and during my thanksgiving after Holy Communion. But I don’t feel at all distressed. I know that children are just as dear to their parents whether they are sleep or awake and I know that doctors put their patients to sleep before they operate. So I just think that God “knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

The second quote is the admittance of St Therese that despite her great love of the Virgin Mary, she struggled to pray the rosary.

“When alone (I am ashamed to admit it) the recitation of the rosary is more difficult for me than the wearing of an instrument of penance.”

But, as a reminder to all of us, she also wrote:

“Now I am less desolate; I think that the Queen of heaven, since she is my mother, must see my good will and she is satisfied with it.”

The important thing, as St Therese knew, was that, though we fail and know that we may fail again, we try. (by Ruth Kennedy)

P.S. Saturday is the First Saturday. Remember Our Lady promises us that if we make the First Saturdays that many souls will be saved and there will be peace. She will also assist you at the hour of your death.

Fr Darren Brennan will lead the Rosary and Meditations on Zoom at 8pm Irish time on Saturday. Here is the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83228285884?pwd=MUR3U1Z5c1RESm9iV1VPdkl2bFVnUT09

If you are more of a morning person then you can join Fr Gerry McCloskey on Saturday who will celebrate the First Saturday from 9.15am. Here is the link: https://www.churchservices.tv/ardglass

A special App has been designed to help you keep track of the First Saturdays you have done and explain more to you. The App is called “5 First Saturdays ” and is available on the Google Play store.

09/18/2021 –

Dia dhuit,

I must admit that I do not know a whole lot about farming. I was raised in the city! I can however imagine that your average farmer would be very careful where he scatters seeds, and he would make sure that wherever he sows them that there is adequate light and rainfall etc. Jesus tells us a parable in today’s Gospel, and the farmer seems a little different, if even irresponsible.He is scattering seeds everywhere, indiscriminately, on rocky soil, on the path, among the thorns and also on good soil. Jesus is emphasizing God’s abundant goodness and generosity. He wants to include everyone. Everyone is invited. He loves us all. Sadly, however, the word of God does not take root in everyone’s heart. Jesus explains that some hear God’s word but the devil easily dissuades them. Others greet the word with joy but fall away when a trial or cross comes along. Others are preoccupied by worries, or the riches and pleasures of this life, so the word doesn’t take root in their hearts either. But…..in hearts that are fertile, the word grows and yields a rich harverst. May our hearts always be fertile soil and open to the word of God and yield a harvest through our perseverance.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

09/16/2021 – Anointing with oil

Dia dhuit,

Jesus is invited to the house of a Pharisee in today’s Gospel. We are also told that a woman with a bad name arrives. Her heart is very open to the LORD and she pours out her tears on His feet, and wipes them with her hair. Then she anoints His feet with ointment. The Pharisee, who hasn’t shown the LORD much warmth, is appalled that Jesus would allow such a person to do this to Him. By his logic, Jesus must not be a prophet or He would have known who this woman was, and would have kept His distance. Jesus explains that her outpouring of love is as a result of her repentance, and that her sins have been forgiven. The woman is free! The Pharisee is not! May we always have the humility to seek forgiveness for our sins.

God bless you,
Fr Marius

09/10/1010 – Plank and Splinter

Dia dhuit,

Our LORD today speaks about judging others.He highlights how we can observe a splinter in somebody’s eye but fail to notice a plank in our own eye.This can often be down to lack of awareness of our own faults and lack of humility.Sometimes the thing that annoys us most about somebody tells us a lot about ourselves.When we feel ourselves judging others, Jesus wants us to stop and take a look in the mirror first.Who am I to judge anyone else?We simply don’t know what’s going on inside a person, their motives etc.We barely know what’s going on inside ourselves.Only God can see the heart.He is the perfect judge.

God bless you,
Fr Marius