Near the end of his Letter to the Philippians, St Paul encourages his readers to think about “whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.” Paul goes on to assure people that a result of thinking this way is…
Fr Chris Hayden
Being sceptical of excessive anxiety
In an anxious age, to stand confidently with Christ is a glorious act of non-conformity, writes Fr Chris Hayden The capacity for fear is an aspect of our God-given human nature. If I am unable to feel fear, I will not respond to threat or danger, as they will simply have no effect on me.…
Are we allowed to love our country?
Love of country is not nationalism, but a Christian duty rooted in gratitude, responsibility and charity, writes Fr Chris Hayden Is there a love of country that occupies a sensible, reasonable, humane space, away from the extremes of unbridled nationalism on one hand, or nation-dissolving globalism on the other? For Catholics, the answer is a…
‘Do not be afraid… fear God’
‘Faith in a time of anxiety’ is a journey from fear to faith, writes Fr Chris Hayden Illiness; death; bereavement; uncertainty; worries about loved ones; wars and rumours of wars; economic and housing instability; energy shortage; disruption to health services; climate change; environmental degradation; terrorism, bio-terrorism and cyber-terrorism; the disruptions and perils of AI; memory…
A key to the ceremonies of the Easter Triduum
The three days leading up to Easter Sunday are known as the Sacred Paschal Triduum, and the liturgical ceremonies that mark these days are the richest, most solemn and most dramatic of the entire liturgical year. The curtain raises on Holy Thursday evening, with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. This opening scene of…
Thinking critically about critical thinking
What is Critical Thinking? A useful way to approach that question is to ponder what uncritical thinking looks like. To think uncritically is to swallow things whole; to accept without question the ideas presented to us. Of course, many a barstool atheist will want to say, ‘Aha, so faith is uncritical thinking, because believers accept…
The liveable life
What is a liveable life? What is needed in order to make life, if not perfect, then as decent and as tolerable as it can realistically be? Questions like these are at the very heart of our so-called culture wars. They are personal questions, but also deeply political since the way we answer them will…
Taking clichés captive in an age of uncertainty
We’ve come to canonise uncertainty and to be suspicious of certainty, says Fr Chris Hayden “We take every thought captive, and bring it to obedience to Christ.” So writes St Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians (10:5). What we think, the set of ideas we hold, is not a matter of indifference.…
A villain in the vicinity of the crib
Our Christmas cribs generally include a more or less fixed set of characters: the Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Wise Men, some shepherds, the ox and the ass, an angel, and perhaps a lamb or two. In Italy – especially in Naples – there is a tradition of extending the Nativity scene to include…
Priests, priestly people, and the givenness of things
A few years ago, literary critic Declan Kiberd wrote a masterful preface to an edition of Richard Power’s novel, The Hungry Grass. The novel’s hero, Fr Tom Conroy, is a somewhat angular priest, who does not fit easily into either the lives of his people or the structures of the Church he serves. Of Conroy’s…