I took this photo yesterday at Burton’s Gardening Centre, Kanturk, Co.Cork (Irl)
These beautiful cyclamens add lovely colour to a garden at this time of year. The variety of colours are always so eye catching. But their success to stay in flower depends a lot on the weather. They do not like lots of rain and of course in Ireland that is something we get a lot of!
On This Day
On October 2nd 2001 NATO backed the US military strikes following the 9/11 attacks
Birthdays Today
Sting (Rock Singer) is 73
Roberton Firmino (Soccer Player) is 33
and if Gandhi was alive today it would have been his birthday
Saint For Today
Today October 2nd is the Feast of our Guardian Angel
Significance Of Today
Today is World Day of Bullying Prevention. We know how bullying causes huge upset particularly in schools. Today is a day when the world says we must do something. Social Media has made the problem of bullying even worse. The first important step is for a child to tell a trusted adult that they are getting bullied. There is help within each school for something to be done and the first step we must all take is to say STOP and that bullying is not acceptable or tolerated anywhere.
Interesting Quote for Today
“If they don’t like you for being yourself, be yourself even more.” ~Taylor Swift
Avocados are not vegetables. They are fruits because they are single seeded berries.
My Latest Video 🎥
This is my latest video and it is a prayer to Our Guardian Angel to mark todays feast day of ‘Our Guardian Angel’
This is my latest video and it is called – ‘Saying Goodbye To Our Swallows’. If you would like to see a selection of my other videos on Youtube you can click this link here. https://www.youtube.com/@JamesMcSweeneyFr/videos
This was my video for last week called ‘Saying Goodbye to our Swallows’
Thought For The Week
The start of October began yesterday and it has a blend of some beautiful feast days, each one as special as the next. October 1st is the feast of St Therese and she is one of the most popular saints of our time. Her huge appeal is not that she did extraordinary things but that she did the little things extraordinary well. She found that she was closest to God when she was doing the simplest and most mundane tasks. The spectacular and sensational always attract interest and sometimes hype. Celebrities are always in the spotlight. But this was never a part of her life.
We may have many things planned for today. The chances are that much of it is nothing extraordinary. It will not make headlines and most of it we have done so many times before. But the feast of St Therese reminds us that this is where life is meant to be. This is where life really matters. It is comforting to know that in the simple and ordinary events of our lives, we can be quite close to God. This is something we so often take for granted. Getting close to God is not reserved for the elite or the chosen few. It is always within our reach.
On Wednesday (Oct 2nd) we have the feast day of our guardian angel. From an early age we have been taught that we have a guardian angel. But before we were even taught we just knew. We sensed that there was someone special watching over us. This is not just a childhood fantasy, it is something real and something that gives us great comfort as we journey through life. Like many things we take our Guardian Angel for granted. A fitting prayer might be: “O Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen”
Finally on Friday (Oct 4th) we have the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. He is one of those rare saints who has managed to capture the attention and admiration of the entire world. His life has inspired people of all ages and the appeal of this saint cuts across national boundaries and religious differences. He is most famous for his respect towards God, his simple life and his tender love and attention to all creation. Francis had little time for excess, waste and greed. The life of Francis still challenges all of us today. The invitation is to sort through our lives and discard the unnecessary and useless. There is great freedom in doing with less and using it to our advantage. St Francis did it so well and has inspired so many more to do the same.
Thought For The Week is updated each Monday
