Where’s the fairness in life? Why are some people so undeservedly blessed in this world while others are seemingly cursed? Why are craftiness, self-serving ambition, taking advantage of others, and dishonesty so frequently rewarded? This has no quick answer. In his book The Magnificent Defeat, the renowned novelist and preacher, Frederick Buechner, takes up this…
One of the great hurts that parishioners share with me over a cup of tea when I speak at missions and novena (remember when we used to be able to do things like that?) is the disappointment that their adult children don’t bring their own children up in the faith. Grandparents often feel marooned with…
Notebook For some Irish Catholics, it’s hard to think of Corpus Christi, the feast we celebrate this weekend, without getting nostalgic about the beauty of past celebrations, and even becoming resentful about the almost total absence of Eucharistic processions in the life of the Church today. I never experienced Corpus Christi processions when I was…
Dear Editor, I would like to commend Maria Steen on an excellent article [IC 28/05/2020] on why we should not outsource the moral formation of our children. As a corollary to that article, I thought it might be opportune to succinctly summarise the Church’s beautiful theology of the body. This theology teaches that the sexual…
Among the most interesting developments in neuro-science in recent years has been the study of the human brain, which can now be examined in great detail with the progress in medical technology. The study of the adolescent brain has yielded especially fascinating results. Teenagers have been scolded for lounging in bed for hours, and neuroscience…
The View When the happy day comes when Covid-19 no longer constitutes an ongoing serious threat to human life, I hope that things will not go back to normal. I hope they can be better than they were and particularly in the area of the celebration of sacraments. For example, there is one Sacrament…
Letter from America Donald Trump is the best president in the history of the United States…or at least that’s what he told Catholic leaders on a conference call recently… Twice during the month of April, the US President held conference calls with faith leaders – the first was a mix of Christians, Jews, and…
At the risk of being simplistic, I want to say something about prayer in a very simple way. While doing doctoral studies, I had a professor, an elderly Augustinian priest, who in his demeanor, speech and attitude, radiated wisdom and maturity. Everything about him bespoke integrity. You immediately trusted him, the wise old grandfather of…
Notebook I once heard the comedian Ardal O’Hanlon say that he would love to have his own chat show and invite famous people to be his guests. The twist was that he would not talk to them about what they expected. He gave an example: “I’d love to have Neil Armstrong on and talk…
Dear Editor, It was wonderful to read your front page [IC 28/05/2020] which describes how the bishops have produced an 88-point draft plan to bring the sacramental life of the Church back to the faithful. There have been so many people being negative, letting fear and blind obedience cloud their judgement rather than being productive.…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
Mary Kenny
Breda O'Brien