Sr Philomena Neary reports on a recent meeting in Ireland where some sisters gathered to spend time in reflection at the Heritage Centre in Harold’s Cross.
On Saturday 14th October, 35 Sisters from the Irish Province gathered for an afternoon reflection facilitated by Sr. Josephine McDonald Vice postulator of the Cause of Mary Aikenhead on ‘The Spirit and Charism of Mary Aikenhead situated in the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus.’
Sr. Josephine led us through a gentle, reflective and inspiring afternoon and spoke about the faith background that Mary Aikenhead had in having parents of mixed faith. Her mother being Roman Catholic and her father being Protestant. Mary was very influenced by her father David and his heart felt knowledge of sacred Scripture. This was certainly passed onto Mary as she in so many of her writings was quick in quoting scripture and how the gospels have a message for us in the daily ups and downs of life.
Sr. Josephine spoke about the many occasions in Mary Aikenhead’s life of how the word of God and her faith inspired her she and encouraged her sisters to pray often ‘Lord increase my faith’.
We had personal time to reflect on:
- ‘The Storm at Sea’ – the disciples ask themselves: ‘who is this man? Mark poses this question: ‘Who is Jesus for me?
- Be like the woman with the haemorrhage and reach out to touch Jesus.
- Be like the Samaritan leper who returned and fall at the feet of Jesus in deep faith and gratitude.
- Be like the sinful woman and tell Jesus how much you love him and how grateful you are for his mercy and love.
In the second half of the afternoon Sr. Josephine situated the teachings of Mary Aikenhead within scripture and brought out clearly that her charism was FAITH.
