Is it bizarre to find a connection between the Harry Potter books and the Eucharist? It is something that has been going around in my head for a while. In the books it gradually becomes clear that the evil character Voldemort cannot easily be killed. He has placed a horcrux – a piece of his…
“No, the Word is very near to you, it is in your mouth and in your heart for your observance.” (Deuteronomy 30:14) I was reading at Mass a couple of weeks ago and that line stayed with me. It was that sense that God’s Word is not something distant or illusive that attracted me. As…
We – all six of us – have just come back from a holiday in the beautiful city of Brugge in Belgium. We had met in the airport in Dublin, delighted at the prospect of going away together. That evening, having settled into our AirBnB, we went out for a walk. Along by the canals,…
I feel a yearning for the wild. I don’t mean I plan to run off and behave badly, I just mean I have a deep desire to go and sit and be in a wild place, listening, noticing and not ‘doing’ anything else. Life has been rather hectic recently. We have just completed our fourth and…
I’ve had a few ‘Feeding the 5,000’ experiences lately. The first was a Guest Tea at our GAA club – afternoon tea and a variety of entertainment from Traditional music and recitations to the short play or ‘Leiriú’ which our club got through to the All-Ireland Scór final this year. People hosted tables, providing everything…
What sort of you will you be?’ – that is the title of a book that caught my eye just now. Today our youngest finishes secondary school and will shortly sit his exams for the Leaving Cert. It feels like a momentous step. For nearly 20 years I have been baking bread rolls for school…
What could a mother buy as a gift for her daughter’s First Holy Communion? A mum on Facebook commented that she had asked her own daughter what gift she would like. The reply – “You have already bought me my dress and you have organised a party with a bouncy castle but if you want…
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” – a question asked not once, but three times. Each time when Simon Peter responds, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” Jesus invites Peter’s response to go beyond words, to action, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” These weeks beyond Easter Sunday present us with the…
Sometimes God just breaks in. That phrase, “You can’t pour from an empty cup” makes sense to me and so for Lent this year one of my commitments was to take time out. On a sunny Thursday morning I took myself to Ards Friary – for quiet time. A few days previously a friend of…
I am a GAA mammy. I spend a lot of time on the side-lines of matches. Whether it is Gaelic or hurling there is skill, speed and courage involved. Most players and coaches that I know are committed to playing hard but fair. Unfortunately, there are those who favour cynical fouling, outright aggression and even sledging…