We often want God to follow our plans but discipleship begins when we learn to follow Christ writes Fr Billy Swan The liturgical calendar is quiet at this time of year as feast days of saints rightly give way to the approaching celebrations of Holy Week and Easter. That said, I would like to focus…
Matt 27:32 As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross. Matt 27:33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), Matt 27:34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted…
Protestant and Catholic clergy are asking a federal judge to order that they be allowed to minister to immigrants in a holding facility at the headquarters of the Trump administration’s enforcement surge in Minnesota. US District Judge Jerry Blackwell will hear from attorneys for Minnesota branches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United…
I was shocked to receive the notification that the Middle East conflict had begun, and it was even more shocking that it had spread throughout the gulf region. I grew up in Dubai, my early memories as a child were in the UAE, and it is a beautiful country with opportunities not seen before. Hearing…
Readings: Isaiah 50:4-7 Philippians 2:6-11 Matthew 26:14-27:66 The Sunday Gospel There is a small, almost unnoticed detail in the Gospels that may well be the key to understanding the whole of Holy Week. Before Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph, before the palms are waved and the crowds cry Hosanna, there is Jericho. And in…
Theodore Roethke begins his poem ‘In a Dark Time’, with these words: “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” We live in a dark time, one beset with hatred, bitter divisions, and wars that, daily, are bringing death and incalculable trauma to millions of people. But are our eyes beginning to see? Sometimes…
Vatican Spies, from the Second World War to Pope Francis, by Yvonnick Denoël (Hurst and Company, £25.00 / €32.99) This book first appeared in French back in 2021, so it is about time that an English language version appeared, for it will certainly be of great interest, not only to Catholics of all kinds, but also…
Dad, by Aubrey Malone (Penniless Press Publications, £.7.99; a print-on-demand book from the publisher Ken Clay at pennilesspress.co.uk; for residents of Ireland, through aubreypmalone@hotmail.com; or locally at the Book Stand, Tone Street, Ballina, Co. Mayo, F26 VF30; tel.: (096) 60370.) Aubrey Malone will be familiar to readers as the film critic of this paper, though he…
Pope Francis and Female Deacons When Bishop Alan McGuckian said he wished Pope Francis had said a clear ‘No’ to women deacons, I too like the bishop, was under the impression that the Pope had left the door open. But we were both wrong. Theologian and Synod expert Fr Eamonn Conway has said that Pope…
There are very few bank robbery films about which I could say that my prevailing impression of them was one of quietness but No Ordinary Heist falls into that category. Having said that, the tension isn’t compromised on that account. Maybe it’s even amplified. Such quietness is a welcome relief from the flash-bang style usually…
Fr Dominik Domagala
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone