When I think of St. Francis de Sales the first word that comes to my mind is gentleness. Gentleness and humility are often seen as signs of weakness. But in reality only a person who is very strong can be humble and gentle. I don’t think anyone would describe Francis as weak once they have read of his experiences when he went to bring the protestant Calvinists back to the Catholic Church.

As we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents today, I feel it is fitting that we acknowledge and give thanks for the ministry of our Sisters who cared for vulnerable women and their babies in our Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland and the U.K. Wounded, broken women sought refuge at our door and were never turned away.

Mary of Magdala walked, sometimes stumbling as the tears, which had been flowing since the terrible events of Friday, clouded her vision. On she went, past the city walls where the tombs of the honoured ancestors slept, stumbled blindly past them to where her beloved was buried.

‘And then the beating began.’ The first words that burst forth, uninvited from ‘CocoJo’s lips when I met him on a glorious February afternoon a few weeks ago. I had dropped into the Medaille Safe House to deliver clothes donations from my local parishioners. Clearly in need of a listening ear, CocoJo approached me. Bearing his untouched cup of coffee in his hands, he recounted without bitterness how ‘his friends’ had said they were offering him a job and a better life in the U.K Now he was trapped in the back of a van

Have you ever experienced losing something you treasured, or something important in your life? You never notice it is missing until the moment comes to use it, wear it, display it or pass it on to someone else. Then comes the frustration of: “Did I put it somewhere for safekeeping? Did I give it to someone? Did I loan it to someone? Did I carelessly put it somewhere? Was it stolen from me?”