Mindful Living We are all called to live life to the full. That calls us to live beyond the limitations of the ego. Psychology teaches us that in the first part of our life we need to develop the ‘ego’, as part of our survival instinct. We need a healthy and balanced ego, which provides…
Category: Family & Faith
Faith in the family
“Lily please stand up,” I asked my daughter during Sunday Mass. Her reply: “Mammy, I don’t want to. You know I am not into it like you are!” This happened to me a while ago. My youngest daughter wanted to sit when others stood, she sat when others kneeled. When I encouraged her (at the…
Family News
Italian tries to dodge Covid jab using fake arm An Italian man who wanted a coronavirus vaccine certificate without actually having the jab tried to play the system by presenting health workers with a fake arm, an official said. Despite the realistic skin colour, nobody was fooled by the silicone limb, and the man –…
Stollen inspired Christmas cinnamon rolls
Sweet Treats One Christmas food tradition I enjoy is a bread from Germany called stollen. It is a sweet bread with marzipan, currants and sultanas in it, and is really delicious toasted and buttered. I absolutely love having cinnamon rolls for special occasions, and thought that a cinnamon roll would be the perfect way to…
Amusing to hear talk about ‘saving Christmas’
A Parent’s perspective My 11-year-old son has been asking me for ages “When are we getting the chocolate calendar?” For a small child the promise of a treat every day right up to Christmas seems very appealing. Even adults can see Advent as a time to stock up early on sweets and goodies, anticipate all…
Go with the flow and make water glow
Children’s Corner Not many people have come across black lights, or even have them in their house although they are easy enough to come by particularly at a time when people are buying things online – something that has increased due to the pandemic. Black lights allow materials and substances invisible to the human eye…
Family News
NASA launches spacecraft to kick asteroid off course A NASA mission to deliberately smash a spacecraft into an asteroid – a test run should humanity ever need to stop a giant space rock from wiping out life on Earth – blasted off last week from California. It may sound like science fiction, but the DART…
Faith in the Family
Advent, Advent ein lichtlein brennt… is a famous German saying, meaning “Advent, Advent a light is burning…” I used to love this time of the year, Advent, as a child but even more now as an adult because I learnt to appreciate the memories my parents created. The traditions around Advent are so wonderful. From…
The needless horrible suffering of sentient creatures
Everyday Philosophy What do St Thomas Aquinas’s position on divine command theory and factory farming of animals have to do with each other? Plato’s Euthyphro dilemma asks whether things are good because God wills them, or whether God wills them because they are good. Divine command theory takes the first position: that the only thing…
Tips for a terrific Christmas despite the challenges
This Christmas will be my first Christmas as a married person. Myself and my husband have still not decided where we will spend it but we are getting pressure from both families as to where we should be spending Christmas day. For some families, who is seated at their Christmas table on Christmas day is…






Maria Byrne
Chai Brady


Ben Conroy
Wendy Grace