Emmanuel 2010 - Here's my answer...

The Emmanuel music festival project is taking place at the Helix in Dublin this week.
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EXAM

PAPER I
Time Allowed: several years

Question 1
[20 marks]


What will you do with your life?
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This is the text of an advert I placed in the programme for the music festival, Emmanuel, taking place in Dublin this week.

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The young people attending will be asking themselves the question "what will I do with my life?" many times over the coming years.

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I just want to show that one of the ways, among many, in which one can find great happiness, challenge and peace is religious life.

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On this blog I'm trying to give readers some idea of what I do and why I do it as a religious brother.

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Even though those who attend Emmanuel will, for the most part be secondary school students, and would be far too young to enter religious life anytime soon, my message is this: think about it as something for your future. Don't rule it out. It might be for you....

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And always remember - this way of life is more than a career.

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It's a vocation.

Happy St Patrick's Day

An idealised image of the great St Patrick

Happy St Patrick's Day to all the readers of this blog. You are to be found in Asia, Africa, Oceania, Latin America, North America, the Middle East and Europe!

I am in England these days so if that's your neck of the woods and if you're interested in discerning a religious vocation, give me a shout and let's see if we can meet for coffee.

For those who might not have seen it before, here is the most famous verse of the prayer, "St Patrick's Breastplate"

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,

Christ in the ear that hears me.

Farewell to a Brother

The late Br Gerard

We got some bad news last week. Br Gerard Despathy, the Province Leader of the Our Lady of the Americas Province (covering United States, Canada, and the West Indies), died suddenly in New Mexico. Gerard was only 53 years old.

You can read his obituary notice from our Congregation Website here.

He was a great brother and had a great interest in promoting religious brotherhood in the States.

I take this opportunity to extend my sincere sympathies to his family and to the Brothers in the OLA Province.

Eternal rest grant to him O Lord. May he rest in peace.

Coffee and Ghana...

Serving a cuppa on Sunday in Glasthule...

I am a member of the Presentation Brothers. We are a congregation of religious brothers. We are international - we are based in ten countries around the world. Even though I'm based in Dublin I'm still part of the wider Congregation. It's important to always remember the needs of those in parts of the world which are not as materially affluent as ourselves.

This morning we held a coffee morning in St Joseph's Parish Centre in Glasthule. Parishioners were invited to drop in for coffee after all masses and, if they wished, make a contribution to the Brothers' mission in northern Ghana.

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I prepared a photographic display to show people the situation in our schools there. Thankfully we are making great progress.

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Thanks a million to everyone in Glasthule who responded so generously once again in helping the Brothers' missions.

Some of the great turnout on Sunday morning