One day last week I noticed that the doors of my parish church were open so I decided to go in and see what was happening. I discovered that a small section of the church was in use for people to make a visit, just to light a candle and say a prayer. There was… Read More
Tag: Christian blog
The Pope has a Dream
Pope St John Paul II was born one hundred years ago last Monday. When future historians look back on the most influential personalities of the 20th century, his name will undoubtedly loom large in their accounts. Even his critics would agree that few individuals have had a greater impact-not just in the field of religion-but… Read More
Respecting Our Elders?
This week saw the lifting of the government’s restrictive ban on people aged over seventy. There has been a lot of talk about it in the media, and it was greeted with delight by those in this age bracket. I listened to an interview with former government minister, Mary O’Rourke, speaking about how excited she… Read More
Staying in the Moment: Pray and Meditate
On Tuesday of this week, Pope Francis asked if everyone in every country, regardless of their religious faith or otherwise, would pause and come together at eight o’clock, to meditate and pray for the health of the world. Two things struck me about this call from the Pontiff: the need for prayer, especially when we… Read More
In A World Where You Can Be Anything, be Kind
“Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ”. These were some of the words written by St Paul in his letter to the Church at Ephesus. Kindness is an example of love in action as well as being a gift of the Holy Spirit, something… Read More
Dealing with Cancer
Cancer, the very word in itself is enough to strike fear in the hearts of us all. Almost every one of us, at some point or another, will be affected by it and even if we have not had it ourselves we will know a friend or family member who are battling with the disease. … Read More
A Hidden Life – A Must See
Is it better to suffer injustice than do it?; is it right to put truth above your needs and the bodily instinct to survive?; is it wrong to think that a caring God would condemn a man for signing a piece of paper when he knows what is in his heart? This week I went… Read More
Stay Connected
Just last week when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they would be taking a “step back” from the royal family and its duties they did so on an Instagram post. The BBC posted via Twitter that the royal family was not made aware of Harry and Meghan’s decision before they posted the news… Read More
Different Ways to spend Christmas
Different Ways to spend Christmas People are different, but at Christmas, there is somewhat of an expectation that we will all do the same thing. The emphasis, of course, at this time is on family. The little family of Bethlehem points us towards the importance of spending time with the people in our lives who… Read More
The First Sunday of Advent
First of December; First Sunday of Advent This Sunday marks a lot of Firsts… yes the first day of December, but also the first Sunday of Advent, the first season of the Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays, during which we prepare for the birth of Christ. It is… Read More
Mary McAleese and the Catholic Church
Former President sparks Controversy There has been a lot of controversy in the media lately over remarks made by the former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. On Saturday, November 2nd she told a gathering in Trinity College, Dublin that women were not full members of the Catholic Church, the architecture of which was designed to… Read More
Light in a dark November
Peak time for depression Recently I was listening to the song ‘Love Shine A Light’ by Katrina and The Waves which was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. While the message is both uplifting and positive it is interesting that the song was dedicated to the Samaritan charity. At this time of… Read More
The People We Look Up To
Who are the people we look up to? In life who are the people we look up to and who influence us the most? Perhaps that is something we need to examine more closely. At the beginning of this week, the main story in the media and on everybody’s lips was the death of the… Read More