The warm weather will make sleeping more difficult for many of us, but for some, it’s a problem all year round, writes Jason Osborne Recent conversations with some family and friends have made me very grateful for the ease with which I sleep. I’ve heard many reports of people struggling to get comfortable and drift…
Personal Profile When David Mullins was 18, he spent a year in the Franciscan postulancy. After the year finished, he decided to take a break, intending to return at a later date. “But things changed,” Mr Mullins tells The Irish Catholic, “and I got married and now I have five kids!” He maintains a great…
The Irish love of the sun must be tempered with prudence and sun cream, writes Jason Osborne We’re getting to that point in the year when the sun starts to make its all-too-fleeting appearances upon these shores. Emerging from what seems like the rainiest start to a year in recent memory, I’ve lapped up whatever exposure…
Personal Profile There was such a degree of happenstance in Jesuit Fr Ashley Evans’ call to Cambodia that it could only have come from God. Having initially been denied his wish to serve as a worker-priest in Birmingham, Fr Evans volunteered for the newly formed Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) and was sent to Thailand. There…
International Men’s Health Week is coming up, and stark statistics show just how vital it is, writes Jason Osborne International Men’s Health Week begins every year on the Monday before Father’s Day and ends on Father’s Day itself, meaning this year it runs from Monday June 14 to Sunday June 20. An initiative of the…
Personal Profile Four countries and nine years of preparation later, Bro. Ryan Holovlasky CSsR made his perpetual vows to the order of Redemptorists in March 2021. “It was worth the wait,” Bro. Ryan tells The Irish Catholic, explaining that he always felt “that flame burning that God was calling me to the priesthood”. Bro. Ryan…
Last time saw swimming discussed, but this week we take to the hills, writes Jason Osborne In the last feature, I discussed the mental and physical (and spiritual, too) benefits of open-sea swimming, but this week we’ll cast our eyes to the hills. One of the best things to come of the pandemic is a renewed appreciation of…
Personal Profile On January 15, 1994, while she was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration at a retreat, Marion Mulhall received her vocation. This vocation was and still is “to promote the priesthood at any price, to use my skills and experience in advertising for the good of the Church,” Ms Mulhall tells The…
Personal Profile In the late 1980s, Pat Sweeney and his family travelled to France for their daughter, who wanted to improve her French. They spent three weeks going around the country, including a fateful visit to Lisieux, the home of St Thérèse Martin. From that moment on, Mr Sweeney’s life was to revolve more and…
Restrictions are lifting and spring is upon us, so there’s no better time to take to the sea for a swim writes Jason Osborne Availing of the improved weather in recent weeks, I made my way to the nearby coastline for a plunge into the icy waters. Rarely does an activity result in such a…