It is time once again to make the desert journey and renew our way of life. It is a sacred invitation to conversion of heart, a time of prayer, fasting, sharing. Pope Leo writes: ‘The Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled’ . Lent is about making room for God in our lives. Through pra

The theme for this year’s World Day  of the Sick is The compassion of the Samaritan: loving and bearing another's pain                             Pope Leo is inviting us to reflect on the Parable of the Good Samaritan , a story that is always relevant and challenging. To put Jesus to the test, a teacher of the law asked, ‘ who is my neighbour ’? Jesus replied to him with this story:    “ A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They st

Prayer of Thanksgiving for the World Day of Consecrated Life (2 nd February) God of all goodness,we give you thanks for the gift of consecrated lifein the heart of your Church and in the life of the world. We praise you for women and menwho, called by your Spirit,have dedicated their lives wholly to youthrough vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.Through their faithfulness,they reflect the light of Christand bear witness to your enduring love. We thank you for their gene

On the 6th January 2026, Pope Leo closed the Holy Door in Rome, ending the Jubilee Year of Hope. It also symbolises a closure to  the chapter of Pope Francis’ papacy. Pope Leo was elected in May 2025 and his first concern as Pope was to complete some things begun by Pope Francis or pre-arranged on his diary. Now Pope Leo begins to promote his own vision of the life and mission of the Church.  He often quotes Popes Francis and Benedict, expressing his desire for continuity, wh

Amid ongoing threats to peace worldwide, Christians are invited to pray for peace during the week of Prayer for Christian Unity:  18 th  – 25 th January             The theme for this year: 'There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling’    Ephesians 4:4 Throughout Scripture, God’s call to unity resonates from the earliest times, starting with the Old Testament, Abram’s plea to Lot highlights the desire for peace and harmony among

The Mystery of Christ surpasses all human understanding. Still, year by year and day by day, we are invited to contemplate the life and teaching of Jesus. We have just spent the weeks of Advent and Christmas pondering the unfathomable mystery of the Son of God becoming a human being. Now we begin a New Year with new hope. There is a striking sentence in ‘ Gaudium et Spes’ /'Joy and Hope’: " Jesus reveals humanity to itself”.(2:22). We believe that by His Incarnation, Jesus re

Vatican II invited us all to “return to our sources”. Pope Leo is now inviting us Catholics and all Christians to return to the foundations of our common faith in his Apostolic Letter : " In the Unity of Faith ”. This is to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of the first ever Ecumenical  Council held in Nicaea in 325AD. That era was as politically troubled as our own and within the Church, too, there were serious disputes and divisions. Arius, a Catholic priest, preached that

Today is the Day of Salvation! An eternal today, without limits or time!  Let Jesus, Prince of Peace, truly be our guiding star. Only then will it truly be Christmas! May the Child of Bethlehem take us by the hand, lead us and accompany us   on the journey we have undertaken together   with steps of trust and hope in Him, so that we may be, like the shepherds, witnesses of light!   With these sentiments, we wish each of you a peaceful and holy Christmas.

We are on our Advent journey to Bethlehem to meet Baby Jesus… This journey has been done over and over. Going back to the Bible, we see Mary and Joseph on the road to Bethlehem for the required census registration. We see the Magi, who set out on their journey following a star to find where Jesus was. Shepherds too, left their flock and went in haste to meet the new born. They did this for they were people of hope and were longing for something. Like so many people in our w

On the first Sunday of Advent it is heartening to see the Advent wreath take pride of place in our Churches. The wreath which is circular in shape is a symbol of unity and wholeness. It is a form that represents our journey in constant movement from birth to death to rebirth. The evergreen woven around the frame of the wreath reminds us of our connection with the environment and to see ecological conversion and outreach to the most vulnerable as integral to our preparation fo

Once, our IJ Community in Yaounde, Cameroon, had the privilege of offering hospitality to an elderly French missionary.  He had come to the city on a rare visit to a doctor. This man lived as a hermit among the Baka people, once known as the “Pygmy” peoples because of their short stature of about 1.5m.   These people live in the deep forest in the south east of the country, depending almost entirely on the forest for their livelihood. They are a shy people, getting their food

Many books have been written by and about St John Henry Newman. Pope Leo XIV has recently named him a Doctor of the Church. Why? Because his teachings have made a significant, lasting contributions to our Christian understanding of our faith.   For many years Newman suffered because his ideas were in advance of his time and not understood. He was rejected as a traitor by his friends in the Anglican Church when he became a Catholic and here his motives were  suspected.  He was

‘When you wake up each day, turn your first thoughts to God’    Nicolas Barré Prayer is essentially about being present to oneself, to God, to all creation. Often, we don’t find time to be present to ourselves, as we are caught up with many things. We might even feel guilty to take time for ourselves. It is only when we waste time with ourselves that we are ‘free’. Each of us is an existence of God, a presence of Christ, a gift to the world. Bonhoeffer expresses it like this:

Traditionally, November is the month when we remember to reflect, pray and celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have gone before us. We begin the month with All Souls Day where we are invited to confront the reality of death not with fear, but with Hope  rooted in faith. It is a day about connection, prayer, remembrance. A day to pause, honour the lives that have shaped us and trust in God’s mercy for those who have passed. Every life is precious and while we can be sad

As we celebrate the birthday of Blessed Nicolas Barré on 21 st October, we take time to reflect and be inspired by some of his writings…           ‘Allow yourself to be led by the Spirit, like a feather drifting in the wind’ ‘Abandon yourself to God and offer no resistance’             ‘Be in the hand of God, like a brush in the hand of a painter…’                         ‘On awakening, turn your thoughts to God, be thankful…’             ‘Let not a day pass without spending