This Sunday sees the celebration of the birthday of Buddha according to the Gregorian calendar. The only thing I knew about the Buddhist religion was their respect for all forms of life so I decided to compare it with Christianity and learn a bit more in the process! Buddhism originated in North-East India sometime between… Read More
Category: Blog
Do you know of St Richard of Chichester?
Looking at the Liturgical Calendar this week one saint stood out for me – St Richard of Chichester. On a personal level I like the name and an English friend of mine, now deceased was called Richard. An interesting aspect of this particular saint is that he is also venerated in the Anglican Church as… Read More
A Lenten Reflection
A Mid-Lent Reflection As I am writing this we are just half way through Lent and depending on your outlook that can be good news or bad. “Can I keep going?” or “We are nearly there”! Lent is of course that period of time allocated to our preparation for Easter, the most important time in… Read More
Religion and Young People
Religion and Young People Are you a young person aged between fifteen and twenty – nine? If the answer is yes, then there is a good chance that you no longer go to Church on Sunday, or any other day, except for funerals or weddings of course. Any Catholic will tell you the biggest challenge… Read More
Lent: the journey towards Easter
Did you notice anything unusual about some of the people you encountered on your travels on Wednesday of this week? Many of you might have wondered why they had a big black smudge on their foreheads; others among us will be familiar with the ashes which are distributed every Ash Wednesday during Mass. This is… Read More
Confession is Good for the Soul
Confession is good for the soul Most of us at one time or another will have heard the expression ‘Confession is good for the soul’. It is actually an old Scottish proverb and has no Biblical roots. Of course, confession can have many different interpretations. E.g. someone can confess their love for another person and… Read More
The Virtue of Kindness
I recently learned that February 17, last Sunday, is the date on which National Random Acts of Kindness Day is celebrated. It is celebrated by individuals, groups and organizations nationwide to promote acts of Kindness. Originating in New Zealand it has spread to other countries and indeed it is encouraging to know that the observation… Read More
St Valentine: the Patron of Love
Mention St Valentine and all sorts of images come to mind, red hearts, flowers, chocolates, messages of affection and gifts all associated with Romantic Love. Today St Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas for the large number of cards exchanged and indeed it is a huge money-making industry. But who was St Valentine and how did… Read More
St Brigid’s Day – Lá Fhéile Bríde
February 1st was originally a pagan festival marking the beginning of the new Season. It was known as Imbolc, which referred to the coming birth of the spring lambs, and observed in Gaelic Ireland during the Middle Ages. Now we celebrate it as the feast day of St Brigid who has been called the Pearl… Read More
Dorothy Day – A saint for the modern world?
I have often heard older people say that the younger generation no longer seem to call their children by Saints’ names. There was a time, in Ireland anyway, when girls tended to be christened Mary, Ann or Catherine. Perhaps some of the saints lived too long ago and it may be that we need to… Read More
Never Too Late: New Year Resolutions
We are now in the third week of January 2019 and memories of Christmas are beginning to fade. Perhaps too, as often happens, our New Year resolutions have also become a thing of the recent past! I know someone who waits until January 6th to make his promise for the year ahead. He says beginning… Read More
Family is at the heart of Christmas
At the heart of the Christmas, the message is the story of a family, the holy family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary and Joseph. There was a lovely tradition in the country, years ago, where a large red or white candle was lit on Christmas Eve at 6pm, Christmas night and St Stephen’s night to shine… Read More
Getting Ready for Christmas
Is it just me or did Christmas begin even earlier than usual this year? By that of course I mean the run up to it, when a choice of goods go on sale in the shops. For a long time now, it seems that Christmas gifts and cards have positively swamped the display stands in most… Read More
A Visit to The Moving Crib
I am not the only Irish person who has fond memories of The Moving Crib in Parnell Square, a much loved and popular Dublin attraction for over sixty years. It was a family tradition that we went every year, as part of a ‘special’ day out and as children we loved it. In fact it… Read More
Book Review: The Storyteller By Flor McCarthy SDB
“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” – Garrison Keillor The art of storytelling is as old as humankind and forms an integral part of a country’s culture and history. Children learn to love their bedtime stories and even know them by heart; adults who watch Television Soaps are daily following the storylines… Read More
Coping with Grief
In the month of November, as we pray especially for the Holy Souls, we are reminded naturally of the process of death and the grief, which accompanies it. Nearly all of us have to face the reality of death at some point in our lives and even though the loss is particular to each individual,… Read More