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…
My father died fourteen years ago. I miss him. His presence in my life mattered when he was alive and his absence matters, now he is dead. Fatherhood matters. It is not a social construct. It is gift of nature that nurtures a child in a way that complements the gift of motherhood. On March…
The three pillars of the Synodal pathway are communion, participation and mission. These are the three essential features of Christian witness in the Church today. For his feast day this year, I would like to explain the ways that St Patrick’s life as a missionary bishop contained the elements of communion, participation and mission and…
We celebrate the feast of St Patrick this year, conscious of the approaching centenary of his arrival in Ireland. Although we don’t know for certain the precise year of Patrick’s arrival and knowing that he certainly wasn’t the first Christian in Ireland, the date of 432 will be forever associated with the arrival of the…
The Sisters and Brothers of St John of God have made an immense contribution to the Irish and Universal Church in the areas of education, physical and mental health care. As their numbers declined, they looked forward to the future to ensure that the ethos of mercy and care would continue in the same spirit…
The mission of the Church from the very beginning right up to the present day, is to unite people through love, justice and peace. In every culture and time, the Church presents a vision of unity in Christ that transcends differences along the lines of race, ethnicity, nationality or any other way that marks us…
The feast day of St Polycarp is celebrated by the Church each year on 23rd February. He was born about 70 AD and died in his eighties as bishop of Smyrna which is modern day Izmir in Turkey. He is an important figure in the early Church as he was a friend of St John…
When I was growing up in the 1980’s, there was a dream that most of us had of meeting the right person, falling in love, settling down, getting married and having a family. Somehow, that was the goal and the norm of how life was meant to work out. There was a natural connection between…
In December, January and February each year, the Church celebrates the feast days of three female saints who all have something in common. St Lucy’s feast day falls on December 13; St Agnes’ on January 21, and the feast of St Agatha is celebrated on February 5. All three are included in the Roman Canon;…
In recent weeks, Pope Leo XIV has begun a new series of catechesis as part of his Wednesday General Audience in Rome. He has chosen to return to the documents of the Second Vatican Council and to use this catechesis as “a valuable opportunity to rediscover the beauty and the importance of this ecclesial event”…