Photo was taken yesterday at Our Lady Of Lourdes Church, Ballinlough, Cork (Irl)

Marian Downey and Padraig O’Connell were all smiles yesterday just after their Wedding Mass and thankfully lots of sunshine to relax in afterwards.

Thought on Saturday – September – 31/08/2013

‘Often the first sign of friendship is that we are delighted to discover the world in a similar way. We find ourselves laughing at the same jokes, enjoying the same novels, sharing other friends. We treasure the same things. Similarly we are God’s friends not by thinking things about God but seeing things with God, through God’s eyes as it were.’ ~Timothy Radcliffe

Good and faithful friends are such treasures. We would simply be lost without them. Life would indeed be difficult, lonely and frustrating if we didn’t have the company of friends. There is a world of a difference between a friend and an acquaintance. An acquaintance is someone we know through work or someone who lives in the same area. We may know many acquaintances but our real and true friends can often be counted in one hand.

It would be nice to think of God as a friend rather than an acquaintance. As a friend God is in touch with our every need. Rather than someone aloof, distant and separate, God is someone who is close and near. A friend stays with us through thick and thin. As a friend God journeys with us through all that is good but is also with us through the mess and struggles of our lives as well. We thank God for our friends and we can include God on that list too.