The early stages of a new year is often a time when we make plans for the year ahead and reflect on things we’d like to change in our lives. However, as we all know,  plans can be disrupted, storms enter our lives and we can feel a loss of control as unforeseen events take us in unplanned directions. In the February Messenger Fr Tom Cox echoes Thomas Merton when he encourages us to learn from our storms and embrace the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment. We read about Blessed Rupert Mayer who faced very dark moments in his ministry with courage, faith and hope.  Fr John Cullen reminds us that Jesus was a homeless migrant, and that for us to turn our backs on such people today is to forget our Christian identity, a theme reiterated by Fr Gerard Condon who encourages us to focus our prayers and deeds during Lent towards praising God and helping others, rather than concentrating on our own wellbeing.

February is the month of St Brigid and, as well as details on the saint’s life, we carry several articles on ‘the precious book’ of nature, where the divine signature is written on every atom of creation. Both Fr Brian Grogan SJ and Fr Dominic Robinson SJ  declare that being good ‘stewards of creation’ is not an optional extra but an integral part of our faith.

Look out for pieces on Blessed John Sullivan SJ, an insiders’ account of the Synodal process in Rome and the contribution of Christianity to Ireland, as well as our much-loved regulars: cookery, reflections, scripture, crosswords, which all engage us as we wait for the brighter days of Spring.

View past issues of Messenger here