Last week, we highlighted the figure of Peter who is one of the saints that features prominently in the Gospels during Holy Week and Easter. This week, we feature another, namely that of Mary of Magdala and see in her the beauty of a life transformed by Christ. Mary became one of Jesus’s most prominent…
Q: I heard a priest on the radio talking about holy water fonts in church, and he said that as a sacramental, the holy water “absolves us from venial sin.” He actually used the word “absolves.” That doesn’t sound right to me. What does the Church teach about this? A: I can see where…
Like Christmas and other Catholic holy days, Easter is often misunderstood. Either its origins are said to be based on pagan holidays, or we reduce it to a cultural celebration – a feast after fasting, marked by food, family and tradition. But for the early Christians, it was neither a borrowed festival nor a simple…
Over the last half-century or so, art history has become one of the most popular subjects to be pursued at universities. This trend has produced large numbers of people to provide new insights both into the lives of artists and how art is conceived and made. This is all to the good. Yet sometimes there…
Last month, I travelled around Vancouver Island, my island home, which is the size of Ireland. Its population was 864,864 in the latest census; just 96,000 of these are Catholic, fewer than 10%. Twenty priests staff this large mission territory, with two of its 30 parishes served by (lay) pastoral administrators. I was particularly interested…
The Church makes use of three holy oils: the oil of the sick, the oil of the catechumens and the holy chrism oil. The first two are blessed, and the bishop consecrates the third, ordinarily during the annual chrism Mass. Each has a distinctive purpose in the Church. Oil of the sick The oil of…
Eock Hudson used to say, “I can’t play a loser because I don’t look like one.” George Clooney doesn’t either, which makes his casting in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly (15, Netflix) questionable. It’s a film about a kind of male Norma Desmond – the faded star of Sunset Boulevard – trying to find out what’s…
The Miracle of the Universe: Science, Christian Faith and Personal Experience, by Jim O’Connell, MHM (London St Pauls Publishing, €11.99 / £10.95) The author of this book is a Mill Hill Missionary, who has spent many years in Kenya, as well as at home, teaching and editing. This is his third book, and again…
Under the Blue Seraphim, by Deirdre Cartmill (Arlen House, €15.00 / £13.00) Under the Blue Seraphim, published by the excellent Arlen House, is Deirdre Cartmill’s fourth collection of poetry. At a time when the sea of faith appears to be going out, it is good to see a poet who affirms the light, especially…
Within the Catholic fold, there are all sorts of ways of being religious or spiritual – as the Mary Chapin Carpenter song says, “There’s a Keeper for Every Flame”. Some focus a lot on the sufferings of Jesus, and on various devotions not essential to the faith. There has been much interest scientifically and spiritually…
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone
Brendan O’Regan