The Magi’s path invites all pilgrims of hope to look beyond earthly appearances, writes Fr Barry White We have entered the Holy Year of Jubilee 2025, inaugurated by Pope Francis on Christmas Eve with the opening of the Holy Door. The theme, Pilgrims of Hope, invites reflection on hope’s transformative power in our lives. Hope…
The season of Advent has been a time of preparation for the great Feast of Christmas. The feeling of anticipation built as we got ever closer, week by week. The candles on the Advent wreath got lit, one by one. Their glow became ever brighter. What was it that we anticipated? The celebration of the…
Mi 5:1-4a Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Heb 10:5-10 Lk 1:39-45 Ironically, as our Advent journey is drawing to a close, another journey is beginning. It’s right there in the first three words of this Sunday’s Gospel: “Mary set out…” This time of year, I think, a lot of us can appreciate the idea of taking…
O Blessed Virgin, Immaculate, Inspirer and Cause of so much love for God, and so much good. You know Jesus best of all. You love Him more than any other. I see so much happens through you, so many miracles and healings, God doing them at your request. I see in my life you make…
Emily Nelson The debate on assisted suicide has risen to prominence again, particularly with the recent vote in Westminster and calls for changes in legislation elsewhere. What can we do about this? Through my work for FaithVersed, I was asked to organise a talk on this topic, aiming to both inform and equip people to…
Whoever says, “I believe” says “I pledge myself to what we believe.” The syntheses of faith are called “professions of faith” since they summarise the faith that Christians profess, and it was gathered from all the Scriptures. They are called creeds, which comes from the word in Latin: credo (I believe). The first profession of…
Garry O’Sullivan sat down with columnist and retreat giver Fr Ron Rolheiser and asked him about Catholics and the reading of scripture. G: Often people see some of the things you say somehow against Church teaching, is there a problem for many Catholics in their reading and understanding of the bible? Fr Rolheiser: I…
Jason Conroy For years, Ronan Collins kept up a great tradition on RTÉ radio: starting from December 8, he would play a different rendition of O Holy Night every day until Christmas. Indeed, they never start playing Christmas tunes on Radio 1 or Lyric FM before that date. What’s so special about December 8? It’s…
When I was a young boy growing up in a Catholic community, the catechesis of the time tried to inspire the hearts of the young with stories of martyrs, saints, and other people who lived out high ideals in terms of virtue and faith. I remember one story in particular which inspired me, the story…
Gift yourself with precious time for your own spiritual recharge, says Peter Kasko It’s that time of the year again. The time when we often tend to forget our humanity, to some extent, and pursue all that is not important. In Matthew (chapter 6), Jesus reminds us not to worry, “but strive for the kingdom…
Renata Milán Morales
Fr Ronald Rolheiser