There was snow in many parts of Ireland yesterday, including on top of Ben Bulben in Sligo. This beautiful photo was taken by my sister Kathryn McSweeney Mooney
On This Day
On March 2nd 1956 The North African country of Morocco, situated directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, proclaimed independence from France
On March 2nd 2021 Dolly Parton received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine which she gave $1 million to help develop
On March 2nd the head of UK security service MI5 apologized for not acting on intelligence to stop the 2017 Manchester Arena attack at an Ariana Grande concert by a suicide bomber
Birthday’s Today🎂
Chris Martin (Coldplay Singer) is 47
Daniel Craig (James Bond Actor) is 56
Jon Bon Jovi (Singer) is 62
Significance Of Today
This week is a letter appreciation week. With technology so easy and convenient, the joy of sending and receiving hand-written letters grows increasingly rare. This coming week we are encourage to write one letter to someone who we know would appreciate a letter.
Interesting Quote for Today
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” ~Walt Disney
Did You Know😇
Did you know that there are about 130 million books published and the most sold book is the Bible! It is estimated that there are 5 billion printed copies of it around the world. Wow!
Video for the Week🎥🎥
To mark our Leap Year, I have put together the following new video
The next video will be uploaded on Tuesday evening at 7pm (Irish Time) and it is called ‘Prayer to the Holy Spirit’ to coincide with all those making confirmation in so many of our parishes at this time.
Thought For The Week
We had a Lenten Talk/Prayer Service in Carrigaline last Thursday evening and it was led by Fr. Philip Mulryne O.P who is currently working in St. Mary’s Priory here in Cork. I was very touched by Fr. Philip’s talk and his story is impressive to say the least.
I am a big sports fan myself and that includes football. Since I was a child, I have followed West Ham United and I sometimes say: “Now you know why I am bald!!”. But no matter what team you followed, Man Utd under Alex Ferguson, were a powerful team with massive momentum and simply won everything all around them.
In his talk Fr. Philip talked about his dream coming true of playing for Manchester United. Alex Ferguson was his boss. He was in the same dressing room as Roy Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Schmeichel, Neville and all those great players.
As Man Utd was so competitive because of such great players, Philip wanted more game time and so he signed for Norwich City, where he was a key player in helping them to promotion up to the Premiership. But while Philip had everything, he wasn’t happy deep down. He had so much money he could buy a car and change it in two weeks if he didn’t like it.
But he talked about this restlessness that just wouldn’t go away. At a key time in his life at the age of 29 he took a break from Norwich City, came back home to Belfast, found his faith and the restlessness melted away bit by bit.
He kept searching and nourishing his faith and he went on to become a Dominican priest. Philip’s story can touch ours too. Our lives are restless until we connect with God. Once we connect with the spiritual, in whatever way works for us, the restlessness begins to melt away. This is the invitation of Lent too, to turn to God, to be open to something spiritual and to be open to something positive and good.
Does the melting away of the restlessness happen in a day or two? Of course not. But over time it most certainly does. The journey of Lent is such a lovely time to be open to the spiritual and see what happens.
(Thought For The Week is updated each Monday)
