So much of life, particularly today, constitutes an unconscious conspiracy against reading. Lack of time, the pressure of our jobs, and electronic technology, among other things, are more and more putting books out of reach and out of mind. There is never enough time to read. The upside of this is that when I do…
Category: Comment & Analysis
Human life in the light of a birth
Fr Conor McDonough We must protect “the world (that) is more than just decay” writes Fr Conor McDonough as, “it is a place also of birth, of new beginnings” There is something immensely moving about the feast of Epiphany: bearded old men leave their dusty old books and journey by the light of a star…
Surviving past dangers only to encounter new ones is part of the story of humanity
Each year is marked by three important religious festivals, Christmas, Easter, and St Patrick’s Day, which recalls the coming of Christianity to Ireland at the dawn of recorded Irish history. Each of them is an occasion for families to come together or to contact each other. Christmas especially is a time to remember those outside…
Another 10 commandments that can change your life in…
Daniel Berrigan, the American priest and poet who died in April this year, once wrote a wonderful little book entitled Ten Commandments for the Long Haul. It was intended as spiritual sustenance, sustaining food, for those who walk the lonely, long road of faith and often find themselves discouraged and running out of gas. Berrigan…
Don’t lose hope in God’s goodness
Fr Martin Henry The opening chapter of St Luke’s Gospel mentions the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elisabeth, and the birth of Jesus is recorded in the following chapter. Both events are commemorated in the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Why, one may wonder, are they referred to as ‘mysteries’ rather than, say, facts…
The challenge is to be a realist, not a ‘negaholic’
“People who are addicted to negativity are generally angry about something”, writes Michael Kelly
For Fatima’s centenary – again, the cause of peace, and Russia?
Mary Kenny writes that the “appropriate way to mark the centenary of Fatima is to continue to pray for peace” The 2017 centenary of the apparitions at Fatima will surely be a significant focus for the devotional life of the Catholic Church. The story of the three Portuguese child visionaries is a poignant and compelling…
Christmas can be a good time to reconnect and rediscover faith
“Christianity is an invitation. And like Mary to the angel, it requires a response from us”, writes Michael Kelly
Christmas merriment and Christmas sadness
For many people Christmas is a time of “remembering a past we can never recapture, of family and friends departed this world”, writes Mary Kenny
Let’s hope mainstream media step outside their bubble in 2017
“Now that being a Christian is neither popular nor profitable, our cultural leaders veer just as markedly in the other direction”, writes Breda O’Brien

Fr Ronald Rolheiser

Dr Martin Mansergh
Courtney McGrail
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien