God always stands by the suffering – Pope Francis In hopeless situations of pain and suffering, God never abandons his children but rather remains close to them, Pope Francis said. “God’s answer to our pain is a closeness, a presence that accompanies us, that doesn’t leave us alone. Jesus made himself the same as us…
Mindful Living In the preface to Benedictus, his book of blessings, John O’Donohue, philosopher, poet, priest and author, writes that: “There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to…
Youth2000 Over the weekend Youth 2000 hosted its annual Summer Festival in Clongowes Wood College. The four-day festival was a celebration of faith, friendship and fun and was attended by 1000 young people from every county and diocese in Ireland and beyond! The four days included celebrations of Mass, Confession, a Praise and Worship…
Notebook I was at a social event recently with some high-powered academics. I mentioned at a certain point that a lot of my research and teaching centres on the theology of St Thomas Aquinas, and half the group gave me a blank look: “Who?” I’m sure the readers of The Irish Catholic don’t need…
Youth Space Emma Tobin describes a memorable Croagh Patrick pilgrimage Viewed from the bottom, with five hours of sleep in one hand and a borrowed stick in the other, Croagh Patrick appears ridiculously unassailable. Mist chokes the summit, and the rock face that points out towards Clew Bay is nothing but craggy, vertical shafts of…
This time one year ago I was busily working on my input for the World Meeting of Families Pastoral Congress in the RDS. I had to be ready in good time because my input had to be sent off to Rome in advance of the Congress just to make sure that I wasn’t saying anything…
Sweet Treats These biscuits are quick to make and taste so much better than the shop-bought version! Traditionally they are sandwiched with strawberry jam but you can try anything – apricot, chocolate spread, whatever you fancy. They are great to make with kids in these last few days of the summer holidays. Ingredients Makes…
I had the pleasure of seeing the Blind Boys of Alabama live in Cork Opera House a few years ago and thankfully they’re still going strong. Gospel music is a central part of their repertoire as was clear from their slot on Edinburgh Nights (BBC2) last Friday. Nish Kumar looked in on their rehearsals and…
Dora and the Lost City of Gold (PG) Hollywood ‘girlpower’ gets another airing in this high energy venture which sees the title character showing the menfolk of the piece a thing or three about survival as she searches for her parents (Michael Pena and Eva Longoria) in a rain forest. Adapted from Dora the…
Dear Editor, Last week, thousands of school children across Ireland received Leaving Cert results and for those up North, A-Level results. The years leading up to this moment were filled with stress, tears and feelings of uselessness. There is so much pressure on kids to achieve top grades, so-much-so that many use them as metric…
Bairbre Cahill
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone