Giant pandas stay chubby on bamboo diet due to gut bacteria Despite almost exclusively eating fibrous bamboo, giant pandas manage to stay chubby and healthy due to a seasonal change in their gut bacteria, a new study has shown. Researchers have found that the animals’ gut bacteria changes at the time of year when nutritious…
The Sunday Gospel In today’s Gospel Reading (Luke 4: 21-30) we continue last Sunday’s story of Jesus returning to his home town, Nazareth, where he preached in the local synagogue. After reading from Isaiah about the power of the Holy Spirit inaugurating a time of liberation and a new way of seeing life, he handed…
Kabir, a 15th-century Hindu mystic, writes: “What you call ‘salvation’ belongs to the time before death. If you don’t break your ropes while you’re alive, do you think ghosts will do it after? …. What is found now is found then. If you find nothing now, you will simply end up with an apartment in…
In November 2021, Pope Francis launched the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, a seven-year programme for the Church to live out the call to care more deeply for God’s creation. The platform is based around achieving seven Laudato Si’ Goals across seven Church ‘institutions’ over seven years – a jubilee for the earth. The institutions include:…
The Sunday Gospel The Gospel according to Luke will be read at Sunday Mass this year. Today’s Gospel might well be called ‘introductions’. In two separate extracts we have Luke’s introduction to his writing (Luke 1: 1-4), followed by his introduction to the public ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:14-21). In classical style he addresses his…
In the world of the arts, they make a distinction between persons who create an artifact, an artist, a sculptor, or a novelist, and persons who write about artists and their works. We have novelists and literary critics, artists and art critics, and both are important. Critics keep art and literature from bad form, sentimentality,…
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition continues to showcase bright minds tackling society’s toughest problems, writes Jason Osborne As with last year’s exhibition, this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition is again set against a backdrop highlighting the importance of science and technology to our modern world: the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking at…
Mindful Living We all want to be loved. My youngest granddaughter has been staying with us for some time now and has grown increasingly close and loving. She will often tenderly stroke my arm when I’m playing with her or reading a story. And, just before she leaves for crèche each morning, she used to…
“Happy New Year” I said to a parishioner coming out of church. Seeing his reaction, I added; “It is only a few days old, I presume we are still ok wishing each other a Happy New Year.” He stopped, looked at me and replied. “Oh yeah. Many returns.” I had to smile about this short…
Personal Profile Sr Eileen O’Connell OP made her final profession in December last year. Her path to religious life came almost as a surprise to her. She had a general sense that the she was being called to more, and faithfully following it, she came to the Dominican sisters, Cabra. The Faith was important to…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Ruadhán Jones