Image: medium.com This year the Feast of Pentecost will be celebrated on May 19. This is a very significant day because it is the birthday of the Church, the moment when the Holy Spirit utterly transformed the apostles from being fearful and without direction into a community empowered to carry on the mission of Jesus…. Read More
Category: Blog
Love in the Darkness
Image: NYTimes The killing of seven members of World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza adds another dimension of deep sadness to the already tragic litany of events that has been emerging from the Middle East since the outbreak of hostilities in early October last year when Hamas-led militant… Read More
An Endless Conflict in the Middle East
Image: www.skynews.com As Christmas approaches and we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, the situation in the Middle East is a reminder of how much the world needs the Message the Son of God brought. Since the terrible events visited on Israel by Hamas on 7 October, we have been… Read More
The Miracle Club
Film reviews can make funny reading! By this, I mean the way in which they often offer totally contrasting viewpoints about the same thing. I am thinking about the performance of actor Laura Linney in the film The Miracle Club’, now showing in cinemas, which drew great acclaim from one reviewer and the damnation of… Read More
Man’s Best Friend?- The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Image: www.octalsoftware.com.sg There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about the increase in the use of Artificial Intelligence. Uncertainty about its capacity is part of the concerns being expressed by the actors and writers who are on strike in Hollywood. One of the more interesting ways in how it has been… Read More
France: Religion in a Secular State
Image: www.jusoorpost.com Earlier this week France’s Education Minister Gabriel Affal announced a ban on abayas – the long, flowing dresses worn by some Muslim women – in public schools. Secularism is a key concept in France’s Constitution, and religious markers considered conspicuous or “ostentatious”, including Islamic headscarves, large Christian crosses, and Jewish yarmulkes (skullcaps) have… Read More
Remembering Omagh
Image: www.standard.co.uk At Mass last Sunday in my parish church there was one of the most beautiful displays of flowers that I have ever seen, behind the altar on both sides and on the right at the front. My friend commented to me that she thought they had been there for a wedding which had… Read More
World Youth Day- Lisbon 2023
Image: www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk On Tuesday of this week, August 2nd, Pope Francis arrived in Portugal for the first World Youth Day (WYD) since the Covid -19 Pandemic. He was accompanied by journalists on the papal flight, and he joked with them that he will return to Rome on Sunday “more youthful”. WYD brings together young people… Read More
Trial by Media: Ryan Tubridy and Huw Edwards
Images: www.www.irishexaminer.com & www.theguardian.com For the past three weeks, RTE has been plunged into crisis by the front-page news scandal of the pay revelations concerning the hugely popular presenter, Ryan Tubridy. Now across the water, the BBC finds itself in hot water as the highly respected television presenter, Huw Edwards is named as the person… Read More
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- The Holy Trinity
Image: www.ncregister.com Last Sunday, June 4, we celebrated the feast of the Holy Trinity, one of the most profound mysteries of the Christian faith, the nature of God as Father, Son, and Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity sums up the Christian understanding of the mystery of God. “It is impossible to believe explicitly in… Read More
The King and The King of Kings
Image: CNN Last Saturday, 6 May was the day when Westminster Abbey in London was the setting for the first British coronation in 70 years. This event marks in a special way King Charles III’s transition from history’s longest-reigning Prince of Wales into King of the United Kingdom, which comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and the… Read More
The Mystery of Holy Week
Image: Canva When we enter Holy Week and Jesus enters Jerusalem, we begin to confront the great mystery of our faith – the Paschal Mystery: the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Christians call this “a mystery” because it is a truth known only because it has been revealed to us by God. Reason alone… Read More
The Last Miracle- Lazarus
Image: walkingintheshadowlands.com The gospel last Sunday was about the raising of Lazarus from the tomb after he had been dead for three days. The only account of this event is found in John Chapter 11, verses (1-44), and is the last of the signs through which Jesus showed who he was before his passion and… Read More
Happy Anniversary Pope Francis!
Image:www.americamagazine.org On Monday of this week, Pope Francis marked 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church by celebrating Mass with cardinals in the chapel of the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence where he has lived since his election. He never took possession of the papal apartments in the Apostolic palace used by his predecessors,… Read More
The Transfiguration of the Lord
Image: www.catholicnewsagency.com In his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Maria, Pope St John Paul II instituted the Luminous Mysteries, also referred to as the Mysteries of Light. The Fourth Mystery is a meditation on the Transfiguration of the Lord and the gospel reading at Mass last Sunday was about this beautiful and glorious event. The word… Read More
Some Symbolic Lenten Foods
Image: Canva The word ‘symbol’ comes from a Greek word that means ‘to juxtapose’ or ‘throw together’. Broadly, a symbol can be an object, word, or drawing that represents another reality not directly perceivable or expressed. An obvious example is the exchange of wedding rings which symbolize the love of a couple getting married. Symbols… Read More