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

Good morning and welcome to the Oblate Family morning reflection - Our Moment to Pause. This week we hear from Bobby Neal from Inchicore, Dublin.
In the name of the father, and of the son,and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.Good morning. Welcome to the Oblate familymorning prayer - our own moment to pause.
Our gospel this morning is taken from Saint Luke chapter eight, verses 1 to 3.Saint Luke tells us that as Jesus continued to make his way through the towns and countryside,teaching and proclaiming the good news.
So along with him, were the 12 disciples and several women, including Jesus mother Mary Magdalene, Magdalena, these women.Just some of the people who journeyed with Jesus during his public ministry that this morning at Lourdes we come and ask the intercession of one of those women.
We come in faith and ask the Mother of Jesus to present our lives,our prayers to her Divine Son.
We come in confidence that Mary will intercede on our behalf.She was the mother of Jesus.
She is our mother.And so we pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,Blessed art thou among women,and blessedis the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners nowand at the hour of our death. Amen.
Thank you for joining us this morning.

Good morning and welcome to the Oblate Family morning reflection - Our Moment to Pause. This week we hear from Bobby Neal from Inchicore, Dublin.
In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning and welcome to the Oblate Family morning prayer - our moment to pause. Our gospel this morning is taken from Saint Luke chapter seven, verses 36 to 50.
Saint Luke tells us the story of a Pharisee who invited Jesus to his house for a meal.
The Jews and the Pharisees did not get on. This passage tells the story of a woman who was a sinner. Yes, who was a sinner. She was crying and washed Jesus feet with her tears, dried them with her hair. She then anointed Jesus feet with a jar of expensive ointment.
As this woman had a bad name and the town, the host approached Jesus, thinking that he would be aware of this woman.Now the host approaches Jesus and tells him. The host is put in his place as Jesus explains that the woman's actions was something the host should have taken care of when he entered his house.
It's fair to say that actions speak louder than words.
Our actions are important in conjunction with our faith,
To believe and follow our heart is not always easy. So this morning, we come to pray to Mary and ask her for her intercession. 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. Thank you for joining us this morning. I hope you all have a safe day.
#gospel #dailybible #biblequote

Good morning and welcome to the Oblate Family morning reflection - Our Moment to Pause. This week we hear from Bobby Neal from Inchicore, Dublin.In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning and welcome to the Oblate family morning prayer - our moment to pause.Our gospel this morning is taken from Saint Luke chapter one, verses 26 to 37.In this morning's gospel, which is the reading at our morning mass here in Lourdes, it is the story of the Annunciation where Mary said yes to the invitation the angel Gabriel gave her.Mary's life changed forever. Yet despite the questions, she said yes. The first words I take from the gospel this morning are:"The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid."And “Nothing is impossible to God.” What a combination!Mary said yes to become the mother of her Divine Son. Our Saviour.Saying yes is not always easy.We have to decide. We have to pick a particular path. We say yes to someone and maybe no to another. This morning, the Oblate family say yes to Mary's invitation. We come in procession as she asked us to do.So we come with our prayers. The requested prayers people have given us. We are not afraid to come in and place our petitions at the feet of Our Lady, knowing that nothing is impossible to God.And so we pray the words Jesus gave us when he taught us to pray: 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. Thank you for joining us this morning. Have a safe and happy day.

Good morning and welcome to the Oblate Family morning reflection - Our Moment to Pause. This week we hear from Bobby Neal from Inchicore, Dublin.
In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
Our gospel this morning is taken from Saint John chapter 19, verses 25 to 27.Today is the feast day of our Mother of Sorrows. I do not remember hearing about today's feast day. I do remember many years ago a friend telling me that he was getting married on the feast day of Our Lady of Sorrows. I remember asking myself, was that a good or bad sign?
This morning’s Gospel John tells us what happened after Jesus was crucified.Who was strong and remained at the foot of the cross - even after the suffering, the agony Jesus endured. He says to his mother, “Woman, this is your son.”Then he says to the disciple, “this is your mother.” And we are told that the disciple took Mary into his home.In our world today, no one gets the full shilling. Here in Lourdes, everyone comes with a prayer, whether for oneself or a friend or a family member.So just as Mary stood at the foot of the cross seeing her son suffer for us all, let us remember those people who we know carry the cross. Crosses can sometimes be heavy.
Let us also remember family carers who watch after their loved ones, who are often in pain.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. Thank you for joining us this morning.

Good morning and welcome to the Oblate Family morning reflection - Our Moment to Pause. This week we hear from Bobby Neal from Inchicore, Dublin.
In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.This morning's gospel is taken from Saint John chapter three, verses 13 to 17.In this morning's gospel from John, there is a bit of good news for those who believe. First, we have the link between the Old Testament and the New. So as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man was lifted up for our salvation. For me,This morning's passage gives us hope at some stage in our lives, we all feel alone, isolated, like being in a desert.We are asked to believe in the Son of God who loves us and wants us all to be saved.Verse 17 tells us that God sent his only son into the world, not as a judge but that so the world might be saved through him. Let us pray this morning as we begin the pilgrimage here. And, Lord, let us remember all the pilgrims and all the volunteers in our prayers.Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Thank you for joining us this morning. I hope you have a good day.#alwaysclosetothepeople #momenttopause #podcast #gospel #catholic

We join Br Thulani Ndlovu OMI from Colwyn Bay in Wales, for today's Oblate Reflection on Sunday the 13th of September 2026.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen 
Good morning and welcome to our moment to pause with the Oblate family… 
Challenging words to ponder in the gospel, to be forgiven, you must forgive. Every time our human nature takes control. Now we are caught up between forgiving the person and not to forgive. To hold anger towards others is to forget how much mercy we have already missed. Always we must remember that, forgiving seventy-seven times, it is not weakness, but living like  the children of the forgiving Father We offer our intentions today to the Lord as we pray
Our Father,who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be doneon 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.Thank you for joining the Oblate family for a moment to pause this morning. May God continue to work with each of us this day.
#mission #prayer #christ #creation 
 

We join Br Thulani Ndlovu OMI from Colwyn Bay in Wales, for today's Oblate Reflection on Saturday the 12th of September 2026.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen 
Good morning and welcome to our moment to pause with the Oblate family… 
When we talk about faith it is not about calling Jesus' “Lord” however it is about allowing his words to become the foundation we build on. Whoever hears Jesus’s word is like a person building their house on a solid foundation, this encourages us to be more attentive to his words. When storms come, only a life dug deep in obedience to Jesus will stand firm.We offer our intentions today to the Lord as we pray
Our Father,who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be doneon 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.Thank you for joining the Oblate family for a moment to pause this morning. May God continue to work with each of us this day.
#mission #prayer #christ #creation 

We join Br Thulani Ndlovu OMI from Colwyn Bay in Wales, for today's Oblate Reflection on Friday the 11th of September 2026.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen 
Good morning and welcome to our moment to pause with the Oblate family… 
Can the blind lead the blind? Before I try to lead anyone else, Jesus asks me to let him fix me first. Humility opens my eyes, so that I stop pointing and start seeing clearly. Only then can I help my brother or sister, not as an observer but as a fellow disciple still being taught.
We offer our intentions today to the Lord as we pray
Our Father,who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be doneon 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.Thank you for joining the Oblate family for a moment to pause this morning. May God continue to work with each of us this day.
#mission #prayer #christ #creation 

We join Br Thulani Ndlovu OMI from Colwyn Bay in Wales, for today's Oblate Reflection on Thursday the 10th of September 2026.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen 
Good morning and welcome to our moment to pause with the Oblate family… 
Jesus raises the controversial idea of loving our enemies, which it is a difficult thing to do. We are encouraged to love like God does, not like the world does even when the world costs us. Jesus wants us to go beyond ourselves and think deeply of the relationships we have even in tough times. So, we must bless instead of curse, love instead of holding grudges, because it is through mercy that we become God’s children.We offer our intentions today to the Lord as we pray
Our Father,who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be doneon 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.Thank you for joining the Oblate family for a moment to pause this morning. May God continue to work with each of us this day.
#mission #prayer #christ #creation 

We join Br Thulani Ndlovu OMI from Colwyn Bay in Wales, for today's Oblate Reflection on Wednesday the 9th of September 2026.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen 
Good morning and welcome to our moment to pause with the Oblate family… 
Jesus is confusing the people, He does not say try harder to be happy, however he looks at people who are poor, hungry, grieving, rejected and calls them already blessed. How is it so? It goes through our hearts and because the kingdom of God is not far away, it is a matter of becoming true to ourselves and allow God to have space in our hearts. Let us bring our empty hearts or places and trust that he will meet each of us where we want him. We offer our intentions today to the Lord as we pray
Our Father,who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be doneon 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.Thank you for joining the Oblate family for a moment to pause this morning. May God continue to work with each of us this day.
#mission #prayer #christ #creation