There’s nothing new-age about the effect adopting a sunnier outlook has on your life, writes Jason Osborne I recently finished Joan Druett’s Island of the Lost, a book concerning shipwrecks on the Auckland Islands, a desolate, uninhabited place 290 miles south of New Zealand. Situated in the stormy South Pacific Ocean, its shores have seen many…

Personal Profile In June of this year, the parish of Kilskeery gathered in St Macartan’s Church for an eagerly-awaited day – the celebration of Canon John McKenna’s 60 years in the priesthood. Reflecting on his six decades of service, Canon McKenna told me that no life “could have been more enjoyable and rewarding”. He recalls…

Dr Karen Ward shares tips to help ease the ageing process in her chapter on physicality from her new book, The Secret of Ageless Ageing I wondered about a milestone that would herald crossing the line between being middle-aged and becoming an older woman. For me, it was wearing reading glasses in public for the…

Personal Profile Music and the Faith have been a part of Marcella Walsh’s life from a very young age. It began with singing grace around the dinner table as a child, and continues today as director of music at Queen’s University Belfast’s Catholic chaplaincy and as a professional opera singer. Marcella’s family were always involved…

It’s essential to know what to bring and what to do before you head out into the wild, writes Jason Osborne Having just returned from a very enjoyable camping trip in Poland, I’m ready to sing the praises of this primal activity. A night out under the stars, among the trees, has an effect on…

Personal Profile Connor McCann has been involved in ministry for almost 40 years, in one form or another. Having discovered the great belonging the faith community offers, he discerned a vocation to the priesthood, before finding his vocation as a pastoral worker. I loved to sing, and in some respects I was a bit of…

Last week I wrote about the importance of good-decision making, but this week I want to turn to a topic that I feel is of equal importance: making and breaking habits. The habits you hold are likely to influence the decisions you make, but aside from this, they’ll determine the shape of your life outside…

Liam Fitzpatrick Personal Profile Doctors are often intense. Getting through medical school is a difficult task, and the work that comes after requires a strong will and incredible passion. Dr Davog McCaffrey is no exception. In what little free time he has, Dr McCaffrey works at Lough Derg, one of the toughest pilgrimage sites in…

Life is full of choices and learning how to make them is a valuable skill, writes Jason Osborne It seems a cliché to say that life is full of choices, but it’s true. Whether big or small, we’re choosing our way through life one decision at a time. If I choose to repeatedly get up…

Liam Fitzpatrick Personal Profile Irish weather gets a bad rap. Rainy and gloomy with some very short days, Irish people take pride in complaining about the climate. Father Donal O’Keeffe begs to differ. Amid the culture shock of assimilation to Korean life after living in Ireland for his younger years, he noticed one aspect of…