Saint of the Week The Church’s thoughts turn to St Andrew, one of the first apostles of Christ and brother of St Peter, around this time of year, his feast day being November 30. Before meeting Jesus, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist – a sure mark in favour of his powers of…
The Wisdom of Pope Francis The Gospel of Luke presents us with a troubling question posed by Jesus: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8); as if to say: “when I come again at the end of time” — but we could also think, even now, at this…
Advent is characterised by hope, waiting and anticipation. Broken into two halves, the first half of Advent looks forward to the Second Coming of Christ, while the latter half anticipates his coming in the form of an infant 2000 years ago to Bethlehem, which culminates of course in our celebration of that event: Christmas. As…
My early religious training, for all its strengths, placed too heavy an emphasis on fear of God, fear of judgment, and fear of never being good enough to be pleasing to God. It took the biblical texts about God being angry and displeased with us literally. The downside of this was that many of us…
The Sunday Gospel Two great prophets, Isaiah and John the Baptist, stride into our liturgical readings for the Second Sunday of Advent. We usually think of prophets as people who foretell the future but that is only partially true. The real meaning of prophecy is the unveiling and proclamation of God’s presence in dark and…
Faith Development Synodal cries for faith development must not go unanswered, writes Jason Osborne One of the key themes to emerge from the Church’s synodal journey so far is the need for comprehensive, ambitious faith formation. Many of those who’ve turned out have expressed a deep desire to better know and understand their faith. At…
Faith Development The Dominican tradition grew out of a desire to know and love the truth, writes Fr Conor McDonough OP Dominican friars, also known as friars preachers, belong to a global movement with roots stretching back to the 13th century. In 1216, in response to widespread confusion in the south of France concerning the…
Saint of the week November 24 sees the Church remember and celebrate 117 martyrs, killed for their commitment to the Catholic Faith in Vietnam between the 17th and 19th Centuries. Fr Andrew Dung-Lac, a priest, gives his name to the feast, and the 116 other martyrs he’s remembered alongside stand in for a multitude. Among…
Faith Development Faith in film Films are, first and foremost, meant to entertain us. We go to the cinema – or more often, watch on our TVs or phones – to laugh and to cry, to be inspired and overawed, to fall in and out of love. But that’s not a film’s only purpose. From…
Faith Development What is heaven? Heaven is often depicted in movies and tv shows as a radiant, sunny respite in the clouds, where the dead gather like fleshy angels against the backdrop of a perfect blue sky to enjoy their white robes and harps forevermore. Is there any truth to this image? If so, where…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Ruadhán Jones