My heart is heavy. Many tears came to my eyes as I read the hundreds and hundreds of prayer requests that have come in. How many tears has Our Lord shed for humanity over the centuries? In Scripture Jesus was always compelled by compassion to reach out to us. He has not changed in this. Many cry out for help in relationships. Help between husbands and wives, between sons and daughters and parents, between brothers and sisters, between work colleagues. So much strife, unhappiness, unforgiveness, hatred. Sometimes it is abuse of one to another, of the strong demeaning the weak. Addictions of things like alcohol, drugs, and pornography that lead…

My ten-month-old granddaughter Abigail is at such a cute age. She waves goodbye to you. She plays peek-a-boo and giggles, she chuckles. Stands on her own when she does not know it and loves looking and smiling at herself in the mirror. Looking at herself in the mirror it is gorgeous to see. She pulls faces at herself, laughs and chatters to the little girl she can see. Who knows if at that age they realise it is them they are seeing in the mirror, or do they think it is another little baby? The next day I stopped to look in the same mirror to check if my hair…

I was only going to buy a couple of things at the supermarket. But as I went up and down the aisles, (because I was not at my usual shopping centre and I did not know where everything was) I started remembering there were a few more items that I needed. Oh yes, the ketchup was low and I needed more toilet paper. Soon my arms were full. I had not got a trolley at the front of the shop or a basket for I was only getting a few items, ha ha ha. As I turned the corner of the aisle and I reached out for that one last…

There is an in-house joke in our family that when one of the adults say that they are hungry they are offered fruit or nuts to eat but when the grandchildren say they are hungry they have a selection of a small packet of chips, a sweet biscuit or cookie or another treat that may be in the house. And so it was after offering some mixed nuts to my adult son Joel (who kindly declined) I poured out a few into my hand and looked down at them. Thoughts started entering my mind. Questions. I wonder how old the nuts are? (Probably ancient because my children so often decline…

It started out as a normal day. Having breakfast, doing the dishes, putting on the washing, mopping the house……Then “it” started. Someone close to us was living in the close vicinity of a positive Covid test and the whole housing complex was put into isolation. Actually the whole street has to be tested and then stay in isolation. Then the area of impact of possible infection got expanded. The phone calls started. The discussions of who has enough food, essentials. Who needs extra help? Any neighbours in need? Have you had your covid-test yet? All the questions. So it ended up two members of my family came to stay so…