I would hesitate to plot a graph projecting the expansion of my belly. However, my wife, a doctor, has no such qualms. When, last Friday, she carefully plotted the dimensions of her late-pregnancy belly on a graph, they were slightly less than they should have been. This can mean the baby is not getting quite enough…
At Mass on Sunday I found my eye drawn towards a father and his small child, aware of the gentleness and tenderness of the father towards his son. That involved keeping the little adventurer in his seat but in a way that encouraged the boy to keep close to his daddy. The father was a…
The last days are the slowest. Nine months of pregnancy passes by with respectable speed, until the last few weeks, when the flow of time slows to a trickle. As soon as the 37-week mark is passed, and the baby is officially full term, labour could begin at any moment – and it would be…
We have decided to get the house painted. What has complicated the issue is the fact that our house is semi-detached and we knew that it would look better if our neighbours decided to get theirs painted as well. Our neighbours have been living beside us now for a couple of years and in that…
A Parent’s Perspective There has been much soul searching in Ireland in the last few weeks. What could have gone so wrong that produced such a devastating result in the referendum on the Eighth Amendment, the one that protected the equal right to life of the unborn? How could Catholics attend Mass, hear the…
For a child, the most magical part of their home is not the house itself, but the garden. Gardens twitter and hum with life. They are full of mysterious bugs, birds, frogs and sundry slimy things. Bushes and undergrowth become secret dens, where adults may not tread. The lawn is for football and games of…
For the past number of years I have been producing a resource called Seeds of Faith, the aim of which is to help families explore and understand Faith, prayer, spirituality and liturgy a little bit more deeply. Seeds of Faith follows the Church’s three-year cycle so although I regularly update the material there is a…
WMOF2018 Brenda Drumm The Amoris Parish Programme has concluded, plans are advanced and dates have been selected for the last few diocesan and parish family gatherings and, with the exception of the local opening for WMOF2018 in each diocese on August 21, all eyes are now on Dublin for the five days on the…
This is the face of 21st-Century nesting: a steady stream of Amazon boxes full of baby bottles, nappies and sundry accoutrements has been arriving at the door for days. My wife was distracted, studying for a high-pressure medical exam she had to do. Now that it’s done, her mind has turned more fully to the…
We are a week on from a decision that has changed Ireland forever. I recognise the possibility that you may be saying, “please, no, we have had enough, let’s talk about something else” and yet the reality is that the time for talking has only begun. This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi…
Bairbre Cahill
Maria Byrne