A Moment to Pause - a short daily audio reflection rooted in Sacred Scripture

Good Morning. Thank you for joining all of the Oblate Family today for our time of reflection and prayer today with Mary Tyrrell.
Hello and welcome to today's Oblate reflection and prayer based on Mark's Gospel, chapter 8, 11 to 13.
It is a very short reading in which we meet the Pharisees arguing yet again, and Jesus being frustrated by their lack of understanding. And I think Jesus is most saddened by their reaction. Why does this generation seek a sign asks Jesus?
Today people still look for miraculous signs such as winking statues, grass changing colour to make some spectacular display of God's power to strengthen their faith. Do I sometimes make Jesus sigh deeply? Am I waiting for him to do something spectacular for me?
Jesus is not a person, of big signs, but His life as a person of peace, justice, compassion and gentle love. The only sign that Jesus gives is his own life, death and resurrection. Is that not enough for me?May we always live lives of peace and justice and love, reflecting the glory of God the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
As we pray together, Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Good Morning. Thank you for joining all of the Oblate Family today for our time of reflection and prayer today with Frankie Mac Donald.
Let’s begin.. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen. And lets remember the sick and infirm this day. Our Lady of Lourdes, help of the sick, pray for them.
Today’s gospel is taken from St Matthew’s Gospel chapter 5 and is quite a long reading. This time Jesus is telling us that not only must we look at the commandments to guide our life but we need to live them in what we do. We can’t just say one thing and be simultaneously thinking the opposite . There is no point in wishing someone well publicly but privately being envious of them! It's hypocrisy!
Similarly he is telling us to be careful of our speech! Keep it simple! If you mean no say No. No need to elaborate. No need to make oaths or call on divine witness…. just keep it simple Yes or No will suffice. And that can be difficult in many situations particularly if you are garrulous and like an ould natter.
Saying things is easy but it is living them that’s hard! We can only achieve that through Divine assistance and as we ask for that today and ask also for Our Blessed Lady to intercede for us today.
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Thanks again for joining us in reflection and prayer today.

Good Morning. Thank you for joining all of the Oblate Family today for our time of reflection and prayer. We join Frank MacDonald for today's short episode.
Lets begin.. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. And lets say the Hail Mary while remembering all of those who are sick and infirm and commend them to the protection of Our Lady. Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen. Our Lady of Lourdes, help of the sick , pray for us.
Today’s gospel is taken from St Luke’s Gospel chapter 10 and this time describes how Jesus sent out 36 pairs ahead of him to go to every place that he was to go. He told them to remain in the same house and accept the food and drink that their hosts provided.
He told them to heal the sick and tell the people that the Kingdom of God is at hand. He was telling the 72 to evangelise. He was sending them to be lambs among wolves and whatever they needed would be provided.
Are we not called to do the same? Are we not called upon to live our lives in a way that allows people to see that we not only follow God’s word but live it too!
Lets ask the Holy Spirit today for the help to live as Gods children. Come Holy Spirit , Fill the Hearts of your Faithful and kindle in them the Fire of your love.
Thanks again for joining us in reflection and prayer today.

Good Morning and thank you for joining us again for our time of Reflection and Prayer today. Today’s Gospel comes again from Chapter 7 of St Mark’s Gospel.
Lets begin.. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. And let’s say the Lord’s prayer together. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name , thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen. Today’s gospel relates how Jesus is returning from Tyre and going through Sidon to the sea of Galilee.
The people bring a deaf man who has difficulty speaking to Jesus. Often people who are hearing impaired also have difficulty with their speech too.
Often if we are reading something new aloud we need to read it over to properly understand where the stress should fall and indeed which words are more important and deserve to be stressed.
Just as the man in the Gospel could not hear many of us we do not hear the word of God properly or better still we do not understand it properly and if we cannot understand it , how can we properly speak of it ?
Jesus heals the man and we ask him to heal us too so that we can properly comprehend what he is saying to us through the Gospels.
Today let’s pray for that understanding and wisdom so that we can live the word of God in what we do and say.
Lord help us to focus on what we hear and read in the Gospel and live it through our lives. Keep us focused and dedicated to your will as we think of our intentions today and ask the Holy Spirit to work within us; Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love . Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth. Amen
Thanks again for joining our prayer and reflection today.

Good Morning and thank you for joining us again for our time of Reflection and Prayer today.
We join Frankie MacDonald, member of the Oblate Lourdes Hospitalite team for today’s short podcast.
Today’s Gospel comes again from Chapter 7 of St Mark’s Gospel. 
Lets begin.. in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. And lets say the Lord’s prayer together. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name , thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen. Today’s gospel relates how Jesus has travelled to the region of Tyre and Sidon . Nowadays that would be modern day Lebanon. 
Jesus is approached by a Syrophonecian woman whose little girl was possessed by an unclean spirit. 
She was a gentile and despite the cultural differences and customs of that time approached Jesus with great faith because above all she wanted to rid her daughter of the malevolent influence over her. 
She was not discouraged when Jesus compared the Gentiles seeking help to pet dogs  for she retorted that even dogs could share the crumbs falling from the masters table. 
Her persistence in the face of possible rejection saved her daughter as Jesus declared the little girl free of the demonic influence. 
Today let’s keep faith and to continue to ask for God’s grace and healing. 
Lord help us to focus on what we need and not simply on what we want. Keep us focused and dedicated to your will as we ask the Holy Spirit to work within us; Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love . Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth. Amen.
Thanks again for joining our prayer and reflection today. 

Good Morning, and thank you for joining all of the Oblate Family near and far for our time of reflection and prayer, and particularly today, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes. We join Frankie MacDonald, member of the Oblate Lourdes Hospitalie team for today's short podcast. Today, the Oblate Family in Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, and the Channel Islands who have a great devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, and how privileged many of us are to serve the sick in Lourdes.
Let’s begin... in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. And let’s say the Hail Mary while remembering all of those who are sick and infirm, and commend them to the protection of Our Lady of Lourdes. Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Today’s gospel is again taken from St Mark’s Gospel, chapter 7, and continues on from yesterday’s Gospel. It relates how Our Lord describes what defiles us (i.e. makes us unclean).
The Pharisees view the failure to observe rituals regarding cleanliness/foodstuffs etc. as what makes us unclean.
Jesus declares that it’s not what goes into us that makes us that way, but what comes out, for example theft, murder, immorality, deceit and so on.
He again highlights their hypocrisy, calling on the people to focus more on what is in their hearts than on what they have eaten or the way they have washed.
Today let’s focus on getting our priorities right.
We ask Our Lady of Lourdes, Help of the Sick, to console and comfort the sick today and every day, as we say:Our Lady of Lourdes, Help of the Sick, pray for us.Our Lady of Lourdes, Help of the Sick, pray for us.Our Lady of Lourdes, Help of the Sick, pray for us. Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Thanks again for joining our prayer and reflection today on this special day.

Good Morning and Thank you for joining all of the Oblate Family near and far for our time of Reflection and Prayer today. 
Lets begin. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen. And lets say the Lord’s prayer together:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. 
Today’s gospel is taken from St Marks Gospel chapter 7 and relates how Our Lord focuses on what’s right and cuts through the swathe of man-made laws that the Pharisees put before him. 
The Pharisees saw that some of the disciples were eating before the ritual washing prescribed. 
This was one of many attempts by the Pharisees to focus on the trivia and not the central message that Jesus was preaching. Jesus calls them out on this quoting Isaiah “this people honours me with their lips but their heart is far from me”  
He highlights their hypocrisy as they focus on the periphery and not the heart of God’s word.  
Today let’s focus on what God wants and try to follow that without deflection.  
We ask our mother Mary to help us achieve that as we say:  Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb , Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen. 
Thanks again for joining our prayer and reflection today. 

Good morning and thank you for joining all of us and the Oblate Family, near and far, for a time of reflection and prayer today with Frankie Mac Donald. 
Let's begin in the name of the father,and of the son and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.
And let's say the Lord's Prayer together.Our father, who art in heaven, hallowedbe thy name.Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily breadAnd forgive us our trespasses, aswe forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.Amen.
Today's gospel is taken from Saint Mark'sGospel chapter six, 53-56 and relays how the Lord and his disciples landedat Gennesaret and moored the boat there.And immediately the people recognisingthem brought the sick to him.
Such was the faith of the people,that they even sought to touch the hem of his garmentjust so that they could be cured.
And why wouldn't they?Sure we already know of the womanwho had been so illand had visited so many doctorswithout success.And yet she knew within herselfthat she just had to touch the hem of the Lord's garmentand would be cured.
And Jesus turned to her with such compassion,and not only cured,but blessed her for her faith.
It must have been like a rebirth for her.Today, let's all remember todayall of those who are born again,born again into the faith,or even have a birthday like my own sister - and happy birthday Maggie -let's all rememberall of those who are sick and infirm.And for those who are alonetoday, let's offer the Hail Mary for them.Hail Mary, full of grace,the Lord is with thee.Blessed art thou among women, and blessedis the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for ussinners now and at the hour of our death.Amen.
And thanks for joining ourprayer and reflection today.

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Sunday February 8th 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today's reflection.
You are the salt of the earth.You are the light of the world.These lines are so familiar to us it is hard to imagine what their impact might have been at the time. I imagine puzzlement, confusion maybe and a lot of ‘after sermon conversations’ about what this preacher from Galilee might mean.For my part this morning my attention is drawn to ‘you are’. So often we think of how we can be salt and light, how we can try harder, hide less, be bolder in our faith. Or we focus on how we are not salt and light, where we have failed to live up to this Gospel, the places where we are still growing.But Jesus says you are! Not we must try to be, not here is how you are not being, not even here is how to be salt and light.We thank you that we are as you have called us to be: Salt and light.Through your grace may we not hide our light or loose our effectiveness, or make to much or ourselves like a blaring torch or over seasoned meal.We pray for good discernment for when we need to shine a light in a dark place and when we need to add a little undetected grace.Thank you for joining us this morning!

Good morning and thank you for joining our Oblate short time to pause, reflect and pray together on Saturday February 7th 2026. Thanks to Caroline Shevelan for today's reflection.
Today’s Gospel is another challenging one. It is a passage that has been used and misused over the generations to control, to frighten, to justify cruel judgement and punishment.
A brief google search of homilies on this passage describe it variously as the hard truth of the Gospel, the war on sin and other alarming and doom laden titles which I had thought consigned to history.
How then do I respond to these sentences that mostly begin with ‘it would be better if’
Honestly I find them incongruent. The passage does not fit my picture of Jesus, or of a loving God the Father. Neither do they fit a picture of a relational God that has been built this week. Yet here it is a part of our lectionary so it must be important.
The rhythm of the week so far has been
Jesus light of the word proclaimed. The commandment to love as we are loved, a concrete example of what that means in relation to others, and an example of how we might misuse commandment and tradition.
So is sin a failure to love then? Maybe one thing Jesus is saying here is that we do serious damage to ourselves and to others when we fail to love. In this context the passage makes more sense for me. How much does it deeply hurt us when someone fails to see our need? Or walks by deliberately?
The imagery is extreme, but so is the pain of betrayal, loss, of being ignored or deliberately mistreated.
Thank you for joining us this morning!