Few things in life are as difficult as the death of a young person, particularly one’s own child. There are many mothers and fathers, with broken hearts, having lost a daughter, a son, or a grandchild. Despite time and even the consolation of faith, there often remains a wound that will not heal. There’s a…
For years I’ve kept a little ‘prayer list’ close by me, sometimes just a slip of scrap paper with names jotted down haphazardly. There’s also a little book I keep, for ‘long term’ issues — a friend whose wife is enduring cancer treatment, a neurodivergent young man who has defied every dire prognosis. I’m sure…
The Nicene Creed propels the Church outward… The Creed calls us to live what we profess, writes Dr Alexander O’Hara Every time we pray the Nicene Creed, we are reminded that we are part of a cosmic love story. It is a metaphysical reality check reminding us of where we have come from and where…
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending, in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Jubilee Year celebrations for seminarians and the priests involved in their formation. It was a very joyful gathering, which began with a procession along the Via della Conciliazione, towards the Basilica. We entered the Basilica a couple of…
If you need cheering up after watching the News I have some good stuff for you this week. A story of faith featured on the first episode of The Hills Are Alive – A Year at Kylemore Abbey (RTÉ One, Sunday). It was such an enjoyable programme, cheerful, prayerful and even playful. A lot of…
As I indicated last week, producers started taking liberties with the Legion of Decency and the Production Code in the fifties. In 1951 Roberto Rossellini directed The Miracle, a film in which the character of Mary Magdalene is aligned with the Virgin Mary. The Vatican condemned it for profanity. So did the Legion. Cardinal Spellman,…
The Secret Life of Cows Rosamund Young, with a foreword by Alan Bennett Faber and Faber. £9.99 / €11.99 The Wisdom of Sheep and Other Animals Rosamund Young Faber and Faber, £7.99 / €9.50 Here in Ireland we are well aware of the importance of cattle to our history – is not the Gaelic…
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of saying a few words at a Mass marking the retirement of one of our priests. Having served in the parish of Charlestown for twenty-two years, Msgr Tommy Johnston, had arrived now at retirement and a packed church bore testimony to the difference he had made in…
Cold Porridge, Broken Promises and a Missing Dog: Notes from Nursing Home Advocacy Tony Carroll Scribe Consulting Services, €20.00 / £18.99; widely available on line and through shops It is something of a surprise that this deeply felt and engaging book had to be self-published, rather than appear from under one of the well known imprints.…
Paradise Lost: A Biography Alan Jacobs Princeton University Press, £20.00 / €22.99 He may be known to some readers as the author of a most interesting and arresting book, The Years of Our Lord 1943, in which he examines through the writings of a set of writers – C. S. Lewis, W. H Auden, Jacques…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone
Peter Costello