Month: December 2024

The girl from Nazareth

O Blessed Virgin, Immaculate, Inspirer and Cause of so much love for God, and so much good. You know Jesus best of all. You love Him more than any other. I see so much happens through you, so many miracles and healings, God doing them at your request. I see in my life you make…

Why euthanasia is not an answer to suffering

Emily Nelson The debate on assisted suicide has risen to prominence again, particularly with the recent vote in Westminster and calls for changes in legislation elsewhere. What can we do about this? Through my work for FaithVersed, I was asked to organise a talk on this topic, aiming to both inform and equip people to…

Can my son be baptised?

Q: Could Jesus sin? If not, was he truly human and free? A: This is a rather complex question that gets into some deep Trinitarian theology. But I think we can still break this down into some accessible takeaway points. For some background, we believe that Jesus is truly and fully God, the second Person…

Christmas books for all the family

Christmas and the New Year are the most important marketing periods for the book trade. The shops are filled, not only with their normal stock, but a flood of special seasonal “present” books, most of which will be of little real interest in a month or so. To help readers navigate this swamp of printed…

The wrong end of the stick

Garry O’Sullivan sat down with columnist and retreat giver Fr Ron Rolheiser and asked him about Catholics and the reading of scripture.   G: Often people see some of the things you say somehow against Church teaching, is there a problem for many Catholics in their reading and understanding of the bible? Fr Rolheiser: I…

Pick of the season 2024

The Bishop’s Wife BBC 2 Saturday December 21, 9.15am Family comedy drama about an angel who assumes human form to help a bishop repair his marriage and build his dream cathedral.   Angela’s Christmas Wish RTÉ 2 Saturday December 21, 12.45pm With her father working far away in Australia, a determined Angela plans to reunite…

Get your hopes up!

Jason Conroy For years, Ronan Collins kept up a great tradition on RTÉ radio: starting from December 8, he would play a different rendition of O Holy Night every day until Christmas. Indeed, they never start playing Christmas tunes on Radio 1 or Lyric FM before that date. What’s so special about December 8? It’s…