In the streets and towns of Ireland, these days have taken on a real Lenten feeling of desolation, writes Fr Jeremy Corley One cold morning a few weeks ago, just before receiving the ashes on my forehead, I heard the traditional Ash Wednesday reading from the prophet Joel: “Proclaim a solemn assembly. Call the…
Perhaps the one traditional trait that is left to some of us is that we know how to endure, writes Pól Ó Muirí We have been here before. Writing in his diary in 1961, the poet Seán Ó Ríordáin notes: “An fliú sa chathair agus, de réir na dtuairiscí, ar fud na tíre.” Flu…
Christopher White The belief that Catholic social thought requires valuing human life and dignity over economic concerns during this coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis was the widespread consensus among Catholic leaders during a recent US online forum. The range of voices included a small business owner, healthcare professionals, a policy expert and a priest – all…
Caoimhe de Barra Today, as the world joins together to battle the coronavirus (Covid-19), we are reminded how connected we are. We are one human family who share God’s earth together. We have the same hopes. Today, we face the same fear. But this fear can be overcome by us acting together, in solidarity…
We don’t much like the word ‘disillusionment’. Normally we think of it as a negative, something pejorative, and not as something that does us a favour. And yet disillusionment is a positive, it means the dispelling of an illusion and illusions, unless we need one as a temporary tonic, are not good for us. They…
Notebook It’s all very ironic, isn’t it? For years, right-minded people, I among them, have condemned the way in which social media was taking over our society. And yet here we are, in a virtual lockdown, utterly impotent but for the same social media. I have been both a denouncer and one deserving of…
Dear Editor, Many wonderful, good and necessary efforts are being made at this time of crisis, this time of the Covid-19 virus. I thank God for all this, but I wish to add another much needed and very essential effort – a wake-up call; a call to conversion – a call back to the Ten…
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 View They do things differently in Russia. According to newspaper reports (Le Monde, March 4), President Vladimir Putin intends to introduce a reference to God into the Russian Constitution, similar to the preamble to Bunreacht na hÉireann. It will invoke ‘the memory of our ancestors who have transmitted to us ideals and faith…
The Lord provides us with the means to pass through the challenges that life provides, if we are willing to listen, writes David Quinn “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” These…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Michael Kelly
David Quinn