Keeping Healthy in a Frantic World

Karl Henry’s Healthy Living Handbook by Karl Henry (Penguin Ireland, €14.99) Emily Keyes   January may be in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean the world has forgotten the aphorism, ‘new year, new me’. Thankfully Karl Henry, one of Ireland’s most famous personal trainers, has a new book on healthy living that does not…

Family News and Events

Wexford displays musical talent 
 A treat for all music lovers in the family, the National Opera House in Wexford Town is hosting the 4th County Wexford Youth Orchestra this March, featuring performances from a multitude of orchestras from all around the country. There are a huge number of participants, with approximately 250 young performers…

Rev. Graham bade farewell in ‘last crusade’

Under a billowing white tent in North Carolina, Christian leaders and close friends said goodbye to ‘America’s pastor’, the Rev. Billy Graham, during a private funeral service. The 28,000-square-foot tent was reminiscent of the ‘canvas cathedral’ in which the Southern Baptist preacher conducted his 1949 Los Angeles Crusade that propelled him onto the national stage.…

Prayer Bears of Ardboe Parish

WMOF Janet Forbes   Ardboe Parish is a community of approximately 1400 families situated on the western shores of Lough Neagh. The Parish has a history of Christian community stretching back to St Colman in 590 AD when he founded the old monastic church at Ardboe. The community has the tallest High Cross in Ireland,…

Top pianists convey charm of Francis Poulenc’s work

Pat O’Kelly   I was regaled at the National Concert Hall recently by two award-winning young pianists – Alexander Bernstein and Fiachra Garvey, both former pupils of John O’Conor at the RIAM. Accompanied with spontaneous aplomb by the RTÉ NSO, they conveyed the wit and charm of Francis Poulenc’s effervescent Concerto for Two Pianos written…

Where faith and reason agree

Youth Space Missionaries have to trust their labours will bear fruit when they’re gone, writes Kelly Koerwer   “Hi my name is Kelly and I’m a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame. I live in Dublin and I work at the Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith and Reason at University Church on St…

Loughgilly ‘Family Planting Day’

WMOF Brendan McKiernan   In mid-2017 our parish invited Sr Ann and Sharon Dunne from the Armagh Diocesan Pastoral Centre, to a sharing of ideas gathering. At this gathering, requested by Fr Malachy Murphy PP and the Parish Pastoral Council, the parish discussed initiatives which had the potential to bring families together as a faith…

Technology is taking teenage stress to a whole new level

Rían Wood   Recently Bishop Fintan Monahan remarked on the current challenges faced by teenagers and young people going through the educational system in modern Ireland. Teenage stress is at an all-time high, and as a teenager, albeit in the less academic and more ‘laid back’ Transition Year, I can witness these experiences first-hand. The…

The homeless are human beings too

Dear Editor, I feel so sorry for the homeless people that had to endure the freezing weather this week. People are often left cold in their own homes, so imagine what people without homes are feeling? Over the last year, many homeless people have been found dead, lying in the street, because of the harsh…