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Homily preached at Fr Gabriel Maguire CSsR funeral...

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Preacher, Rt Rev Ralph Heskett CSsR, Bishop of Hallam

As you might imagine the readings today are full of hope and promise as they look to a future life. The purpose for the writer of the Book of Wisdom is to address some of the difficult issues of the day and offer his readers hope. In particular, he struggles with the question: How is it that the wicked seem to prosper and the just suffer? His conclusion is that although the just seem to have died they are really alive with God. They have pleased God, so God has loved them, They have been taken up and “grace and mercy await the chosen of the Lord.”

Jesus also offers his listeners hope filled words, too. He promises that he will never drive away those given to him by the Father because he only does the Father’s will. He mentions two things as the Father’s Will, firstly, that “I should not lose anything of what the Father gave to me” and second, ‘that I should raise it up on the last day.’ In these words, Jesus reveals to us the Father’s love and his own wish to draw us to share in his relationship with the Father and for ever.

It is the hope expressed in today’s readings that gathers us around Gabby in prayer for the last time today. They express his hope, too, -a hope he shared with others – often on an occasion such as this. Today we pray that it will be for Gabby a hope fulfilled and a promised kept and that with St Paul, he now possesses the crown of righteousness reserved for him.

Gabby’s early years were spent in the family home in Swanlinbar County Cavan along with his parents and siblings, Ann, Des, Benedict and Gerard.

Week Five of Fr Denis CSsR Lenten Retreat...

Sincere thanks to Fr Denis CSsR and his co-workers at RP Redemptorist Publications

Week Four of Fr Denis CSsR Lenten Retreat...

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Sincere thanks to Fr Denis CSsR and all his co-workers at RP Redemptorist Publications

Lent Retreat Week 3 On the mountain...

Thanks to Fr Denis McBride CSsR and all at Redemptorist Publications

Redemptorist confreres the midst of persecution in Madrid...1936

On July 19, 1936, the bombing of the Mountain Barracks began; at 3 1⁄2 in the morning, considering the situation very serious, I dressed quickly and with the greatest stealth I climbed the tower from where I could observe the evolution of the airplanes and the smoke produced by the destructive bombs.

From that moment on, we were already in the middle of a revolution for me. In fact, after 3 days, after taking the measures that the superiors deemed appropriate regarding the people and things in the house, we left the convent. I said the last mass, which I ended between sobs and tears just like the attendees. As there was a ciborium full of sacred forms and I could not consume them all, since they were more than 500, I warned them of the danger in which we were of being desecrated the Ssmo. St. and I exhorted them to behave like martyrs in persecutions; I gave the sacred communion that for the last time would be distributed in our Sanctuary of P.S. They would draw strength to withstand all the tests no matter how difficult they were. When saying "the sacred communion that would last be distributed..." they burst into sobs and weeping so loud that they moved me; and without being able to remedy it I had to continue in tears, exorting them to conformity with the will of God and constancy in prayer to our mother of the P.S. After the Mass, I said goodbye to the P.S. saying for the last time to the virgin "My mother, it is yours; keep it and help me and mine. Goodbye."

A fact of utmost importance and great feeling for us took place these days of August 1936, and was the death of D. Linen See Murgia, our friend. A few days before his death I went to his house and confessed to everyone, but soon I received the news of the crime as follows: "The doorman denounced everything he knew, which is in the benefit and glory of the deceased; knowing that he was a priest, that he had had friars in his house... one afternoon he went up to the floor in the company of several militiamen and knocked on the door; but when he asked who he was, he replied: "There will be a little lord, that it is me," and behind him passed several wretches who urged him to follow them, because they had to ask him some questions in Fine Arts, about some complaints received." As Da Trinidad wanted to oppose, he was stopped by saying, "Reassured, Madam, once the interrogation is over we will return him home." What happened; that they found him next to the wall of the cemetery viciously murdered. He was recognized by an uncle of his, whose nephew was with me in prison, who told me these and other details.

Fr Tim CSsR is to receive a Papal Award...

Fr Timothy Buckley CSsR found out this week that he is to be awarded the Cross

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice

from Pope Francis.

The Cross, which is the highest honour which can be awarded to a member of the clergy, is given to `those who are distinguished in their outstanding works and zeal for the Church and the Pontiff.`

The investiture will take place during Mass celebrated by His Grace, Archbishop McMahon OP and His Lordship Bishop Ralph Heskett CSsR, Bishop of Hallam on Friday 13 May 2022 at 7.30pm in Bishop Eton, followed by a celebration.

The parishioners of Bishop Eton and St Mary’s offer Fr Tim many congratulations for this well-deserved honour, which recognises his devoted service during his many years of priesthood.

CONGRATULATIONS!

RP & Ukraine...

This email has just been posted by our Redemptorist Publications...

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Dearest friends,

The Redemptorists worldwide have been responding to people’s cries for help over the war in Ukraine.

Here at RP, we have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that so many of you have shown to our Ukraine brothers and sisters.

Your charitable donations have helped the Redemptorist community of Lviv provide food, shelter, and support to many refugees.

In the video below, my confrere in Ukraine, Fr. Andriy Rak, speaks from Lviv about the current situation.

We launched the Redemptorist Ukraine Appeal, on Monday 7 March. You can donate here.

Please join me at Sunday’s Holy Mass online as we continue to pray for all those affected.

God bless

Fr Denis McBride C.Ss.R

Publishing Director

Redemptorist Publications

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One of our CSsR Ukrainain Bishops...

"Service requires a sacrifice. Service does not promise a career or fame on earth. Now it is felt how jealous many volunteers serve. They don't expect any reward for it, but want to live a worthy life on their land. This is at the same time their investment in eternity." Bishop Volodymyr CSsR Auxiliary Bishop of the Lviv Archdiocese said this during the sermon to the faithful on the first Sunday of Lent.

He went on to say, "The war has brought many challenges to our Ukrainian home. More and more questions remain unanswered. We live from morning to evening, waiting for the next dawn. But we need to thank God for these dawns. During the war there is a great desire for revenge, curses, hatred. It is very important to preserve the human face even during the war."

Let us continue to pray for Ukraine and all who bravely preach the truth.

Redemptorist order creates ‘humanitarian corridor’ for people fleeing Ukraine...

Read all that our confreres in the Dublin Province are doing in the Irish Independent.

Fr Noel Keogh CSsR the Rector of our Monastery in Dundalk, Ireland "explained that the Redemptorists in the Ukraine are immersed in local communities and have opened their houses and churches as sanctuaries for displaced families crippled with fear and anxiety.

Present in Tschernihiv in the north of Ukraine and Berdyansk, in the east of Ukraine, and Lviv as well in several locations close the Polish border, the Redemptorists, are offering shelter, food, and medical support. At border points with Poland, Redemptorists in the Ukraine and parishioners are offering nourishment both physical and spiritual as families seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

The Redemptorists in Poland have established a humanitarian corridor to help deliver emergency supplies and funds. The Redemptorist Provincial in Poland is playing a leadership role in a coordinated approach to welcoming Ukrainian families as they flee the war, helping them towards shelter, food, and integrated support. In Slovakia, the Redemptorists have made their monastery in Kostlna available to host fleeing families who will cross from Ukraine to Slovakia.”

Redemptorist Relief - how a religious order is caring for refugees in Ukraine...

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"In an unnamed town in war-scarred north-eastern Ukraine, an enormous icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour watches over two dozen or so tired, weary people as they try to rest on mattresses laid out on the floor of the room in which they continue to shelter from the ongoing bombardment. A few rugs on the floor mitigate slightly the neon lights and the utility pipes, but it is very much still a basement and not much else. A boy—perhaps no more than twelve or thirteen—glances at his iPhone while his mother and sister sleep nearby.

This is one of the recently-established refuges run by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, the order founded by the Italian St Alphonsus Liguori with the blessing of Pope Benedict XIV in the mid-eighteenth century. Dedicated to missionary work and the care of the poor, its members are better-known as the Redemptorists. They now have a worldwide presence; a quirk of Habsburg history and the diversity of the Church in Eastern Europe means that the Redemptorist presence in Ukraine belongs to the Greek Rite. "

To read the rest of the story go to the Catholic Herald Newspaper

Lenten Journey - At the Well - Week 2...

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Join Father Denis McBride who will be leading a FREE online retreat, which will be based on his book Journeying with Jesus, A Companions Guide. Fr Denis details the outline of his 6 week retreat below. https://www.rpbooks.co.uk/retreat-wit...