New Year’s resolutions can be a meaningless fad or a useful blessing, but it’s up to you to decide how they play out, writes Jason Osborne The dawn of the New Year is a highly symbolic time, prompting widespread reflection about how the last year went and how the next one could go. It’s no…

Personal Profile Tony Foy is executive director of Net Ministries Ireland, a Catholic youth ministry organisation and part of the ‘parallel (or para-)Church’ which Tony says helped foster his own faith. From his youth to his adult life, Tony encountered Christ in a variety of lay organisations, that worked parallel to the sacraments. Brought up…

Everyday Philosophy If you think about the intellectual virtues needed to be a good philosopher, or just a good thinker, ‘humility’ doesn’t immediately spring to mind. The way philosophers conduct themselves may have something to do with this, but it’s also just not the most intuitive or obvious answer. ‘Curiosity’ comes to mind before it…

While Christmas Day may be behind us, for us Catholics, Christmas has just begun. Many of us mutter and grumble about the overwhelming commercialisation of the Christmas season in Ireland today, and often with good reason. It does seem as though Christ has been lost in the frenzied rush of buying, wrapping, partying and eating…

Personal Profile Massachusetts native Fr Gary Chamberland CSC has been rector of the Notre-Dame Centre for Faith and Reason in Dublin at University Church, St Stephen’s Green for a little over a year-and-a-half. Undertaking the role in July 2020, Fr Chamberland has already faced unprecedented challenges during his ministry in Ireland, with Covid dampening the priest’s ambitious plans. But as Fr Chamberland’s pathway…

Personal Profile Sr Ursula Sharpe, recently elected congregational leader for the Medical Missionaries of Mary, has spent the entirety of her vocation dedicating her life to those on the margins. Whether in leadership or on the missions, she knows that her vocation must be about people. For a time, the Sharpe family was based in…

Stress always threatens in the run-up to Christmas, but there are ways to manage it, writes Jason Osborne I recently wrote about preserving our Advent experience, but these days, it’s impossible not to run through some of the Christmas logistics early on in December, even just a little bit! With that in mind, December can be…

Advent often goes overlooked these days, but it’s a spiritual treasure to be plundered, writes Jason Osborne Advent is upon us, like a thief in the night. Beginning last Sunday, November 28, it will run right through to Christmas Eve. Pointing out the beginning and end of Advent may seem like a moot point to…

Personal Profile Deacon John Taaffe was among the first men ordained to the diaconate in the diocese of Armagh. It was a long and winding road to that point, as he moved from a love of materialism, money and success, to a love of the Lord and his people. Deacon John explains that he grew…

Last week we discussed the practicalities of getting married, but a more topical question might be how to date well in Ireland in 2021, writes Jason Osborne Dating is difficult, there can be no doubt about it. Dating in its current form is only a recent-enough development, but finding a suitable spouse has always been…