The Church teaches that the Eucharist is its heart and summit, writes Cathal Barry In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: “O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life…

Sometimes nothing is as helpful as a good metaphor. In his book The God Instinct, Tom Stella shares this story: A number of men who made their living as porters were hired one day to carry a huge load of supplies for a group on safari. Their loads were unusually heavy and the trek through…

“If the Pope’s messages sounded bleak, it is because he cares at a deeply personal level about people who suffer”, writes Andrew O’Connell A perceptive article about Pope Francis appeared in the Economist magazine last week. It noted the downbeat tone of some of the Holy Father’s addresses during the lead-in to the festive season,…

It seems that Pope Francis wants to show the world that in within the modern Church, ‘mercy trumps rules’, writes Editor Michael Kelly All eyes are on Pope Francis to see what response he will make to the Synod of Bishops process that has been addressing controversial challenges facing the family. Since his election, Francis…

“perhaps the fact that ordinations are now rarer make them more valued”, contemplates Mary Kenny Two new priests recently ordained in Galway were photographed all smiles after their ordination ceremony on the Feast of the Epiphany. Fr John O’Halloran is 38 and Fr Michael King is 39 and their stories attracted interest because they had…

Editor Michael Kelly reflects on ‘the idea of a community coming together to help one another and ease the burden’ in times of struggle More than a few commentators have described the recent levels of rainfall as biblical. And the suffering has been (and continues to be) immense. Homeowners have struggled heroically – and often…

“Just because you are free to offend doesn’t mean you must offend at all times”, writes Mary Kenny It’s just been a year – on January 7 – since the terrifying, and wicked, Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, when two Muslim brothers, Chérif and Said Kouachi, opened fire at the French satirical magazine’s office, killing…

Margaret Cartwright There are ambitious plans to put the promotion of vocations centre-stage in 2016, writes Margaret Cartwright Vocations Ireland is excited about receiving a recent grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. This will give us the opportunity to plan and develop new programmes towards helping the development of a growth in the understanding…

‘More Independents and smaller parties than ever before’ leads voters to ‘feel disenfranchised’, writes Breda O’Brien Journalists love elections. They are an endless source of stories, and even in particularly dull elections, opinion polls can be used to drum up interest. The next election promises to be anything but dull. In a recent article Geraldine…

Greg Daly considers some common criticisms of the soon-to-be canonised Blessed Teresa of Kolkata The December 18 announcement that a second miracle had been formally attributed to the intercession of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata has sparked some predictable reactions. With the way to Blessed Teresa’s canonisation being opened and with the Vatican having set September…