In a recent edition of The Irish Catholic, David Quinn pondered “Where the next Easter might come from” and wrote: “We might eventually have a social revolution, one that will point us once more in a pro-life, pro-family and very possibly a pro-religion and pro-Christianity direction again” [The Irish Catholic – March 28, 2024]. Here is…
Notebook I recently led a day of reflection with 30 people from my diocese who are in discernment about proceeding to the ministry of catechist or pastoral care worker. The brief I was given and the title of my talk was ‘An Introduction to Theology’. For most present, this was their first formal introduction to…
Notebook In last week’s notebook, Fr Bernard Cotter raised some interesting questions about the Sacrament of Confirmation. His reflections followed on from a recent meeting with parents of the candidates for Confirmation and parish personnel. The meeting seemed to lack any enthusiasm from the parents to such an extent that the person who chaired the…
November 22, marked the 60th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy who was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963. This Irish American was the first Catholic to be elected president of the United States and his rise to the highest office of American politics represented a moment of pride and triumph of…
From November 18-19 this year, St Patrick’s College Maynooth will host a vocations ‘Come and See’ weekend, organised by the National Vocations Office. All of the places available have been booked. While it is important not to get too carried away at this early stage, it is definitely a sign of hope and evidence of…
The theme of this year’s ‘Season of Creation’ is ‘Let Justice and Peace Flow’ – inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24). What struck me from this image of flowing water is not only how water symbolises justice and peace but how…
In this ‘Notebook’ section of last week’s The Irish Catholic, Fr Bernard Cotter raised some very important points about the need to renew the Sacrament of Baptism in our parishes [The Irish Catholic – July 20, 2023]. He made a few suggestions of how this might happen and invited us to share any ideas we…
Since Pentecost, I have been thinking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the last of the gifts named is that of ‘Awe and Wonder’ also known as ‘Fear of the Lord’ (para. 1831). Here I share a few thoughts on how the Spirit can give birth to ‘Awe…
The Oxford Dictionary defines the term “post-truth” as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. In short, people can believe whatever they want to believe as long as they feel it is right. This is a dangerous development for…
Notebook Last Monday, April 10, marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday agreement. This agreement finally brought peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence and conflict. I was always deeply struck by the timing of when this historic peace agreement was reached – on the day the prince of peace…