29th June, 2009 - Posted by Sister Barbara - 1 Comment
As I was reading Ursula Stephens’ (thank you, Ursula) I was struck forcibly by her comments regarding Bishop Mark’s homily, Beyond the Sight, and his reminder to us that martyrdom still exists for many Christians today. I find myself thinking a lot of the challenge given the pilgrims - and consequently ourselves as virtual pilgrims - in this emphasis on martyrdom. For the word “martyr” really means being a witness to Christ, a witness in life as well as in death.
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24th June, 2009 - Posted by Sister Barbara - No Comments
By now the pilgrims have prayed in Mary’s House at Ephesus and reflected on the mystery of her son, the Son of God and rejoiced in her title, Theotokos, given her by the Council of Ephesus as long ago as 431. They have prayed in some of the great monasteries of the early church, monasteries in which the great Jewish prayers, the Psalms became enshrined in the church’s liturgy, the Prayer of the Hours. Our pilgrims, too, have silently stood within one of the ancient centres for the devotion of the icon, a devotion to which we of the west are increasingly being attracted.
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18th June, 2009 - Posted by Sister Barbara - 1 Comment
Our pilgrims this morning start the day with the celebration of the Eucharist at Athens. Let’s continue to accompany them though our prayer and reflection. Following on from our previous “action” post perhaps now, while continuing with our praying for peace we could add the following as a daily action: that for this day we shall pledge ourselves to one specific (named) action that will make peace a reality, in the home, at work, with another person with whom I find it difficult to talk to (or to listen to).
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16th June, 2009 - Posted by Sister Barbara - 1 Comment
Please welcome to the blog, Sister Barbara Murray (read about her in About the Bloggers), who will be leading us virtual pilgrims into reflection, prayer and action as we seek to apply what we have learned from tracing St Paul’s steps with Archbishop Mark, Archbishop Francis, Neil Harrigan and the rest for the pilgrimage group!
Her first post on ‘Action in the Footsteps of Saint Paul’ follows…
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