Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

Rose from the convent garden In life perfection is rare...we can catch an occasional glimpse of it. A perfect game score, a perfect song for the perfect moment, but glimpses soon fade and we return to ordinary life. Normal life is messy, it is the dark stormy days that makes us appreciate the sunshine. Yet there are some things in life that are both perfect and messy at the same time.

The following is a talk which I was invited to give to the Annual General Meeting of St. Joseph's Young Priest's Society in Foxrock on the 13th of June 2016. Good evening, it’s good to be here with you this evening. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sr. M. Louise O’ Rourke, and I’m a Disciple of the Divine Master, up at Newtownpark Avenue. Thanks to Dominic Dowling for inviting me to speak to you too. When I asked Dominic, what do you want me to speak about…he more or less told me that I could choose! Sometimes it is easier to be given a topic to talk about. Anyways, after some prayer and reflection I came up with the title : “Creating a culture of vocation in today’s Irish Church- is it too late? ”. Everyone is called to discern what God wants them to do with their lives — be it a young man considering the priesthood, men and women entering the religious life, a man feeling called to the permanent diaconate, a couple deciding on marriage, or someone recogn

Well, one of the new stories dominating the Catholic and religious blogosphere today is that the liturgical celebration of St. Mary Magdalene has been 'upgraded' from memorial to a feastday! This means that it is  now the same rank given to the liturgical celebration of the Apostles. The decree, signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and dated 3rd of June 2016 and was accompanied by a new Latin Preface for the Mass, and an article by His Excellency Arthur Roche, Secretary of the same Congregation. The article, titled Apostle of the Apostles [Apostolorum apostola ], explains the Pope’s decision and highlights the prominence given to Mary Magdalene for centuries in the Church’s tradition. The text of this article is  a little long but worth a read! "By the express wish of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a new