I n our Catholic tradition we often speak of the communion of saints as that spiritual union between the members of the Church on earth and those of us who have died in God’s friendship. Death is not the end for us, and those who have gone before us remain a part of us and…
I feel blessed under lockdown that within the allocated two kilometres from my home in Dublin are two beautiful churches which remain open for prayer despite this pandemic. As part of the permitted daily exercise, I always make a short visit to either Holy Cross in Dundrum or the Church of St John the Evangelist in…
“Easter glory fills the sky” were the words of the hymns proclaimed at many livestreamed Masses on Sunday. We’ve heard it again and again down the years and the rousing words gladden the heart. But, it’s a very different Easter this year and there is no mistaking the fact that the joy of the resurrection…
I was honoured to have been asked by RTÉ on Friday to offer the commentary and English language translation for the Pope’s Extraordinary Moment of Prayer in Rome. It was a powerful and moving ceremony. Few who watched it will ever forget the image of the solitary figure of the elderly Pontiff dressed in white making…
The Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible tells the story of the enslavement of the Israelites in ancient Egypt, their liberation from captivity at the hands of the Lord, their wandering in the desert and the revelation of the Promised Land. Theologically, it is the story of God’s abiding and eternal presence with his…
With most Masses cancelled, this is the first St Patrick’s Day since I was an infant that I was not physically at the Celebration of the Eucharist. And yet in tuning in to my parish’s online Mass at Newman’s University Church in Dublin I felt very connected and the ancient faith seemed very much alive.…
I’ve just returned from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Led by Bishop Kevin Doran, 100 Irish pilgrims visited the sites associated with the earthly life of Jesus. It’s always a fascinating and moving experience. As well as the Christian sites, that land is also holy to both Jews and Muslims and understanding this is…
Thirty or 40 years ago when vocations to the priesthood in Ireland were plentiful, the prospect of becoming a bishop probably seemed quite appealing to parish priests – at least to the ambitious ones. The joke was that once a man had been appointed to the episcopate, he would never again eat a bad meal…or…
Someone at the weekend asked me if I am optimistic about the future of the Church in Ireland. I replied that I preferred to use the word ‘hopeful’. In our regular discourse, we often use the words hopeful and optimistic interchangeably. But, in the Bible hope and optimism are not the same thing. Unlike optimism,…
The latest culture war in the Church is being fought over the issue of mandatory celibacy for clergy. Those who have been agitating for a relaxation of the rules since the 1960s see an opportunity in Pope Francis considering the ordination of married men to the priesthood in the Amazon region. They see the admission…
Michael Kelly