I was down on my hands and knees today brushing the caravan carpet for the move tomorrow to the Great House of Florence Court in County Fermanagh. I was feeling tired and grumpy, which is unusual for me as I love housework. Then I recalled what God said to Adam and Eve when He booted them both out of the Garden of Eden, By the labour of your hands you shall work . A sudden strange thought hit me, If only you had servants!! This made me laugh, where would I be getting servants from? Then it hit me really hard that Our Blessed Lady did exactly what I was doing, down on her hands and knees doing the cleaning. The Mother of God, Queen of Heaven the Angels and the Saints. Nor did it bother her in the slightest This cheered me up a bundle.
My last Mass in Donaghmore tomorrow. A lovely little wedding cake of a Chuch. For the next sevan days Mass in the Cathedral in Enniskillen. I love Cathedrals, it is like sitting at the feet of the Apostles.
Our Lady spent a good part of her life travelling, like me. To the Temple in Jersusalem were she was educated in Jerusalem. To her cousin St Elizabeth's house at the Visitation. To Bethlehem at the Nativity. To Egypt at the Flight from Herod with Joseph and the baby Jesus. For three years travelling as fHer Son Proclaimed the Gospel. After Christ's death the Flight to Ephesus during the Great Persecution. So travelling is very Marian. Our Lady was a Great Camper. Life is a long Pilgrimage, from birth to the New Jerusalem. The Great adventure.
One lovely thing is a huge comfort to me is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the morning. Here I am always at home, travelling stops, the axis on which my day turns. The centre of the Spiritual Life is the Cross and at Mass we enter into the ZEternal Sacrifice. But just as Mary I s here, Satan is here too, never clearer. One o f the P ark Rangers recognised me from when my caravan burnt down in the night and I escaped through the smoke and flames. He told me it was in the local newspaper and they all remember it. So Satan is present as he always is in the desert. But we are almost old friends. Many of the things he says cause me to laugh out loud. He reminds me of a man with so many bullets he just fires them in the air for something to do. But I have to hand i t to him he never gives up, not for a single second. Totally implacable. We are in an endless war. How I deeply pity those who do not see this.
Arrived at my new site in Flornece Court , County Fermanagh. The only one here. Great Internet. Heaven. I estimate. I am only 60 miles from the Marian Shrine on Knock. Somehow I never thought I would make it so far, that my feet would explode or something. But excited and so happy if God grants I should make it to Knock. May my feet not explode, my wheels fall of or whatever
Sad the locals were just getting used to me at Mass at Donaghmore and one or two starting to nod and smile at me and bang gone
A really lovely May evening yesterday wandering round the gardens of Florence Court. The May flower was in bloom and the smells were powerful. I thought that the gardens of heaven must be like this. They had a robot grass cutter wandering around the lawns and the dog went nuts deciding it was dangerous. Funny.
The priest who said Mass this morning struck me as very holy but vary old, frail and ill looking. The same thing for the priest who said mass in another county yesterday. There are zero vocations so no one to replace them. BUT Traditionalists are pretty well buried with good vocations and so they ban all things Trad. Mad. Like shooting yourself in the foot, or head.
While we are on the subject of vocations, I have a bit of good news. I will be attending an ordination on June 3 for a wonderful young man from our parish who will become a diocesan priest. He has been such an exemplary role model for the boys at our church, they all love him. Our senior altar servers, and their families were all invited. My grandson is so excited to participate in this Mass at the Cathedral. Vocations are so very rare around here that this will actually be the first ordination I've ever attended, such a great blessing.
They say the young priests being ordained now are very holy and very Catholic, bless them. May God grant him a holy Bishop.
Something went wrong in the 60's , the Devil's Hour. But I think we are turning a corner. Sometimes the only way to truly appreciate the good things God gives you is when you loose them.
Two old Protestant men were giving out little Evangelical pamphlets after Mass in the street, I congratulated one on the good work he was doing and got a big smile in return. Then I felt a pang of conscience for after all it was Protestant literature, but things are so bad in the World that it is, I think better to light a candle than curse the dark. The Disciples one time came to Jesus complaining that others were working miracles in His name. But Jesus wanted them to continue. The old Evangelist made me laugh, a young guy in a hoodie refused to take a pamphlet and strode on, the old Apostle shouted angrily after him. These old guys are keen. Bless them. Bless them.
Woke up very distressed and anxious because of a bad dream I had but could not recall a second of it. Tried to recall it but not a thing came.Then I thought maybe not remembering it was a blessing and smiled. Dreams are such a mystery.
Walking the streets of this little country town and wondered, as I sometimes do about the people I saw. Were they people of prayer? Are they headed for heaven or for hell? People are concerned with so many things but only one of them needful, the Salvation of their poor, poor souls. I love the Fatima prayer in the rosary Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins Save us from the fires of hell Save all souls from hell, Especially those in most need of thy mercy.
A lovely surprise there , someone from the Forum tapped my caravan window there to say. 'Hi', the very last thing I was ever expecting. I have only ever met a handful of people from the Forum down the years but always a joy. The internet is fine. But personal contact is wonderful. God is full of surprises.
Yes, that was me. I was delighted to meet you in person. I even made an acquaintance with your lovely dog. I think the midges eventually were getting the better of us! But it is beautiful there in Florencecourt.
I am sorry John I did not really invite you in but I was so surprised (in a very nice way). I am so used to posting on the Internet that having a real live person showing up knocked me for six. But it was lovely to meet you.
