The renowned anthropologist Mircea Eliade once issued this warning: “No community should botch its deaths.” He’s right. Death washes clean and only after someone is gone can we fully drink in the gift that he or she was for us and the world. On January 22 the Christian community, and the Catholic Church in particular,…
Ecclesiasticus 15:16-21 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 Matthew 5:17-37 An enlightened Christian — one touched by the light of God’s wisdom — knows how to live. There is no need for constant excuses, no room for clever manoeuvring around God’s commandments. Such behaviour does not befit a disciple of Christ. The follower of Jesus is called to…
The elevation of St John Henry Newman to the 38th Doctor of the Church was a moment of great joy for Catholics around the world, especially in England, where Newman was born, educated, preached, taught and wrote. The title honours not only his holiness of life but also his deep theological insight, which continues to…
Tracing Ireland’s forgotten desert saint The antiquity of the Irish church is a historic curiosity. We truly know very little about how and when Christianity arrived on the shores of Ireland. But arrive it did, and we are left with a few highly stylised legends about how this came to be. One of our…
The eighth book of Augustine’s Confessions describes the climactic moment of his conversion to Christianity after a prolonged spiritual struggle with his own divided will. This book recounts the final steps of his journey toward fully committing to God, culminating in the famous struggle in the garden and a decisive moment when he hears a…
During his long stay in Milan, Augustine entered that phase in life when, in ancient Rome, men focused on their careers and other pursuits before starting a family. In Book VI, Augustine laments: “here I was in my thirtieth year sticking fast in the same muddy bog.” Books VII-IX recount the three years that followed.…
What thoughts, I wonder, are conjured up in your mind at the mention of the Enlightenment? If you are of a traditional bent you may be a bit like the 19th century French clergy who were inclined to blame everything they did not like on Voltaire and Rousseau, two characteristic adepts of the Enlightenment in…
With Book VI we are moving ever closer to Augustine’s conversion scene at the end of Book VIII, and we are halfway through all thirteen books of Confessions. In Book VI, Augustine considers his interactions with many significant people during his three to four years in Milan (from late 384 AD when he arrived as…
It is with deep sorrow, yet profound gratitude, that I write my sacred pause for thought this week to honour the memory of Sr Anthony (Pidgeon) Timoney OSC., of the Poor Clare Monastery, Nun’s Island, Galway, who was recently called home to her eternal rest. Galway, and all whose lives she touched, have lost a…
John McGinley Across the UK & Ireland, something quiet and yet unmistakable is stirring. People are beginning to seek God. A quiet revival is breaking ground, and the Spirit is moving with fresh power and purpose. The Lord is at work, drawing hearts, shifting spiritual atmospheres, and calling His Church to consecration, and courageous obedience.…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Dominik Domagala