Northern Ireland’s surge in people claiming to be non-religious is a reminder of just how much explanation is required when it comes to understanding unbelief, writes Jason Osborne The recent census results from Northern Ireland revealed an astonishing increase of 7.3% in those claiming ‘no religion’ – from 10.1% in 2011 up to 17.4% in…
More than 30 men were sponsored by the Knights of St Columbanus for a faith-filled pilgrimage, Ruadhán Jones hears “Everyone I talked to said there’s great peace out here and I was hoping to get some peace,” says Giorgio*, one of the 32 men who went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje recently. “And I got…
The Sunday Gospel Luke, more than the other writers, is the evangelist of prayer. This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 17:11-19), the story of the healing of 10 lepers, instructs us on having trust in our prayer of petition and returning to God in thanksgiving. Asking and thanking. “Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.” They had to…
Half a million people have lost their lives in the Ethiopian region, Ruadhán Jones hears There is an ongoing war in the world that has cost the lives of 500,000 men, women and children since November 2020. Between 60-100,000 of them were killed directly by fighting, the rest by a lack of food, water and…
The Sunday Gospel There are 10 meals in Luke’s Gospel and each one is not only a table of food but also a table of the Word…just as we have in the liturgy of the Eucharist. Each meal is the setting for some important teaching. We are familiar with the Last Supper, the revelation of the Risen…
Social media like Instagram and Tiktok are allowing the occult to spread and mutate as never before Esmé Partridge tells Jason Osborne The internet in 2022 continues to provide ever-new frontiers; it truly is a wild-west that has yet to be fully mapped out and understood by those who inhabit it. While there are the…
In a UN submission, Religious warn of Ireland’s failings in protecting the rights of children and urge improvement, writes Ruadhán Jones In a comprehensive joint submission, a number of Irish religious orders and some civil society groups have raised concerns about Ireland’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The wide-ranging…
The Sunday Gospel Luke, more than the other evangelists, portrays Jesus as being on the side of the poor. In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus referred to money as tainted with temptation. Today’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-23) is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Although he is commonly called Dives, the rich man is not actually named in…
The body of Christ has many autistic members and Fr Matthew Schneider LC is keen to raise awareness of that fact and minister to them, hears Jason Osborne Fr Matthew Schneider LC, was already ordained a priest just over two years when he was diagnosed with autism at the age of 34. Initially shaken by…
The Sunday Gospel In the past I often heard people complaining that too many Sunday sermons were about money. I don’t hear it nowadays, probably because the parish newsletter and parish council publicise the financial needs. This Sunday however the Gospel (Luke 16:1-13) suggests that the preacher should talk about money, dealing with its wrong use…
Ruadhán Jones