I have never acquired a GPS gadget to guide me on car journeys – yet another piece of technology one has to fuss over, it would seem. I know people who can’t set out on the simplest journey without one (I recall being a passenger in a trip from Dublin’s Stillorgan to Carrickmines, which is…
One Green Party politician described their recent election experience as being spat out by the Irish people. It is somewhat ironic that while there is general agreement that climate change is the great issue of our generation, the one political party dedicated to highlighting the problem and coming up with solutions is the one that…
I love the time after Christmas Day. The preparations that take up most of December are over. It’s a time to relax with family and a good book or six. The quieter days of the Christmas season lend themselves to reflection. For our family, it has been a momentous year. In August, our elder daughter,…
Bishop Paul Dempsey I’ve experienced and I’ve seen a lot of great signs of hope as well, indeed, we have the building hope initiative in the diocese and there’s very much a sense of working together in partnerships as parishes and that’s synodality in action. Pope Francis obviously talks about synodality and I think…
My neighbour’s Christmas display has been giving me a much needed smile, but perhaps not as he intended. His holiday garden features giant blow-ups of two cartoon characters, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and a snowman, I have dubbed Olaf, in honour of the Disney snowman. Every morning, in the run-up to Christmas, I have…
“Influencers” seem to play an important role in our world, although many of us know little about some of these influential individuals, who, via social media, have such sway over the lives of others. But there are also “influencers” who have a quieter, yet profound and consistent, following, more through a network of personal admirers…
We had an unusual Advent in the Kent parish of Deal: the parish priest, Canon Brian Coyle (originally from Northern Ireland) invited one of the parishioners to give a talk, with response and reflections from parishioners in true Synodal fashion. The subject involved the German Jesuit martyr, Fr Alfred Delp, hanged by the Nazis in…
I’ve been a granny for 21 months. My grandson calls me MorMor which is a tradition we’ve taken from the Danish side of my family. It means Mother’s Mother. While looking after him I find myself thinking about Jesus at the same age, and naturally about his mother. And also about Joseph who, in today’s…
The night of Jesus’s birth must have been a very mixed experience for Mary and Joseph. Their chid was born and that would have been a happy experience, but they were away from home, they could not find a room for the night and therefore their baby was born in a manger. That was not…
I love the simplicity of Christmas. For all the excitement and fuss of the holiday, at the centre of our Christian Christmas is the baby in the manger. This most familiar scene remains the focal point of the great feast in the midst of all the parties, decorations, tinsel and evergreens. It’s about the child…
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien
Martina Purdy
David Quinn