Courtney McGrailLife of the Beloved & Our Greatest Gift, by Henri Nouwen (Hodder & Stoughton, £9.99)
Month: September 2016
St Maximilian Kolbe relic to visit Ireland
The relic of the saint who was martyred to save the life of another prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland will be in Ireland for the first time in October. The relic of St Maximilian Kolbe will be present at the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Fairview, Dublin on October…
Saviour seals sea-change in an angry charioteer
Aubrey MaloneBen-Hur (PG)
From paranoia to metanoia
Fr Ronald RolheiserSometimes we’re a mystery to ourselves, or, perhaps more accurately, sometimes we don’t realise how much paranoia we carry within ourselves. A lot of things tend to ruin our day. I went to a meeting recently and for most of it felt warm, friendly towards my colleagues, and positive about all that was happening. I…
How to smell a rose
Rachel Beard talks to Carmelite nuns in Delgany about living a contemplative life
An admirer of Saint Teresa
Dear Editor, I read with interest David Quinn’s article (IC 8/9/16) on the critics of Mother Teresa who have been so vocal in recent days. Strange though it may sound Mother Teresa did have one rather unlikely admirer. In his autobiography written some years ago, Bob Geldof speaks very favourably of Mother Teresa. The work is…
Liberal Churches lose members too
Dear Editor, Writing last week, Cindy Wooden says that ‘ecumenism remains high on the papal agenda’ (IC Notebook 8/9/16). This is as it should be. The Holy Father is to meet the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, next month. Ecumenical dialogue is sometimes a case of one step forward and two steps back. Relations…
Poetry and French trains
Dear Editor, So SNCF (French railways) has a “delightful and innovative free service to travellers” providing a short poem or text from an automatic machine when a train is up to five minutes late (Mary Kenny, IC, 8/9/16). What do they produce when a Train à Grande Vitesse from Narbonne to Perpignan is almost one…
The burkini ban and religious freedom
Dear Editor, David Quinn (Moves to ban the burkini are excessive and counterproductive, IC 1/9/16) says, in reference to France that “the weight of Catholic opinion is opposed to the ban on grounds of religious freedom”. It should also be said that very many Catholics (and others also) in France and elsewhere are opposed to…
The religious approach on abortion
Dear Editor, If one approaches the issue of abortion purely on a scientific and sociological basis, the answers seem to validate the religious approach. For example, the life that begins in the woman’s womb is a human life. That said, l object to capital punishment, a view shared by most liberal thinkers. If the human…