De La Mennais Brothers: Making Jesus Christ better known and loved by young people

"Lord, take me where you want me to go. Let me meet who you want me to meet. Tell me what you want me to say. And keep me out of your way!” This is the prayer of Fr. Mychal Judge ofm, New York Fire Service Chaplain, first official victim of 9/11 who died while ministering to the injured. It’s a prayer that I make my own today. Actor Gary Sinise mentions it in this interesting article in which he describes his faith journey.

Reached a point this evening where I really needed to hear what Fr. Richard Rohr ofm is saying in the below extract from one of his audiobooks that I had been sent as a text in a cirucular newsletter containing extracts of his talks + writings. But what he says is at times so tough to observe (like tonight)… It is the only way forward, however. The Welcoming Prayer Earlier this week, I wrote about how Francis entered pain and suffering rather than trying to avoid it. This wasn't an act of moral achievement or heroic obedience. It didn't feel like winning, but more like losing, dying, and letting go. The religious word for letting go is forgiveness. Forgiveness is giving up your investment in and identification with your own painful story. This comes from a deep place of inner freedom and awareness of goodness--God's, your own, and the goodness of the person you choose to forgive. I'd like to offer you a form of prayer--a practice of letting go and forgiving--calle...

Here’s a clip that I’ve been a bit slow to publicise… It was commissioned by the lovely folk at the National Catholic Office of Vocation for England and Wales (Fr. Christopher Jamison osb and Sr. Cathy Jones) to be released online in time for Vocations Sunday in April as part of a set of different resources celebrating Consecrated Life, as this is the Year of Consecrated Life. Click here for the page where all these resources can be found. It shows different aspects of my life in community and work with young people.

There are a few worship songs that have particularly grabbed me these couple of weeks whilst discerning what songs to prepare with my fellow musicians for the Redemptorist Youth Ministry Retreat Day this Sat. The theme of the retreat is "Stand strong in your faith”. This first song fits the bill: “My Hope Is In You” by Aaron Shust. I love singing + playing it, making the words my own. Plus, the video to it doesn't go quite where you might think. Another is “Fall Afresh” by Jeremy Riddle, which is an updating of the ideas from “Spirit of the living God”, the ‘70s folk hymn. I love this mellow acoustic version that he does with Bethel Music: The final one I would like to share here is “Fatherless” by The Awaken Movement, a British worship collective that was aided in the recording of their first EP by ex-Delirious? guitarist Stu Garrard

While I was on retreat over half-term (during the last week of May) in a Benedictine monastery in the south-east of France I decided to try and rework a short story that I had written whilst on retreat the previous year… In the end I completely re-wrote it and am much happier with the results, but I can’t say that I’m fully responsible for it. The words seemed to just come straight out without any effort, which is very unlike me. I often struggle to write song lyrics when I find myself with a nice musical idea. Anyway, I’m sharing it on here... Lazarus + Jesus "How he loves us..." Jesus wept... and still weeps for us... but he also shares our joy, just as he did with Martha, Mary... ... and Lazarus. What a party that must have been! * * * ** There was no sign of a break in Lazarus' fever. It was now over a week since he had fallen unwell. For much of that time he had been unable to eat and was constantly retching, even though when he did nothing came. All he co...