“Leaving the meeting I felt strangely flat and disappointed” I was privileged to be a participant at the recent (October 18th) pre-synodal National Assembly in Kilkenny. It was good to be there, as many people said in the course of the day. The meeting had been meticulously prepared and was smoothly run on the…
Why ‘A Divine Calling’ matters for the Church today
I attended a priestly ordination recently. The first reading told the story of the young Samuel, under the tutelage of Eli, learning how to discern God’s word. We are told that: “In those days it was rare for the Lord to speak: visions were uncommon” (1 Sam. 2, 1-20). More of this later. This remarkable…
Baptised and Sent: Reflections on the Pre-Synodal Assembly and the future of the Irish Church
The preparatory document for the Pre-Synodal Assembly, Baptised and Sent, was published on Thursday, September 18, a month before the October Assembly in Kilkenny. I will offer a brief summary of the document, some reflections that arise, and two suggestions concerning the next steps. The document is authored by the National Synodal Team as part…



