SHORTS 23 • 22 • 21 • 20 • 19 • 18 • 17 • 16 • 15 • 14 • 13 • 12 •
11 • 10 • 9 • 8 • 7 • 6 • 5 • 4 • 3 • 2 • 1
January 08, 2026
At rights with God
Medjugorje is often referred to as the “confessional of the world” because of the vast number of pilgrims that continue to make peace with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance.
But the Sacrament of Confession and its healing power is not just restricted to Medjugorje. All Catholic churches provide a facility for parishioners and visitors to reconcile with God.
I remember some many years ago making a visit to Ireland to see my mother and other family members. She was well on in age and prone to loss of memory. One day I offered to drive her and two of her sisters to Ards Friary, set back on the main road between Creeslough and Dunfanaghy.
On arrival and entering the chapel the three sisters decided it would be a good idea to seek Confession. A priest could be summoned by ringing a bell at the entrance.
Not many minutes passed when a Capuchin friar appeared and walked down the aisle to greet the sisters. But before he reached the women I intercepted him on his way to explain about my mother’s difficulty with her memory. He told me not to be concerned and that all would be okay.
My mother was first to enter the confessional and in very little time she made her exit. I asked her, “How was it?” She answered “Fine, son.”
I’ve never forgotten that occasion, even though it was 20 plus years ago, and recently the event came to mind again. I found myself asking what prompted my mother to ask for confession when she was struggling to remember what day of the week it was. And then the answer was given to me.
In her humility and forgetfulness, she was still able to recognise and accept she was a sinner.
It reminded me of the tax collector’s prayer in Luke’s gospel (18 :13) who stood in the temple beating his breast and said: “God, be merciful to me a sinner”, and then went home again at rights with God – just like the millions of pilgrims who return home from a pilgrimage to Medjugorje “at rights with God.”
January 07, 2026
Selfishness and self love...
Dear children, you whom my Son loves, you whom I love with an immeasurable motherly love, do not permit for selfishness, for self love, to rule the world.
part message to Mirjana, February 2, 2018