Search the Scriptures and, apart from the Holy Family, no one is more highly favoured by God than St John the Baptist. All four Gospels honour him as the one chosen to announce, identify and prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus himself declared: “Among those born of women, no one is greater than John”…
One who is more powerful than I is coming after me Matt 3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, Matt 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matt 3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of…
In this ancient mosaic, Christ receives his mother at her death as lovingly as she once received him at his birth. Writes Leonard J. DeLorenzo This mosaic appears in the apse of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome. The first time I saw it, I was spellbound. I had never before seen…
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…
In one sense, we might say that Christianity invented religion in that, before Christianity, communities of faith were mostly ethnically and tribally based. Jesus defined a family of faith differently, telling us that it is not the womb you were born out of, but the womb that you were reborn from that defines your family.…
At my parish, we pray “for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.” But at the other parish in town, they pray for “vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate, marriage, and religious life.” How many vocations are there actually? This is a tricky question to answer, because in our Catholic tradition the word ‘vocation’ can mean different…
Remember the song lyrics: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love!” It’s hard to disagree with such a sentiment, especially at the present time when nations and people are at war with each other. Love is a beautiful thing, and we could use more of it. However, the world is in need of…
Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5; Ps 122 (121); Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:37-44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour Matt 24:37 [Jesus said] For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matt 24:38 For as in…
The world today desperately needs Christians who reflect the kingship of Christ, writes Fr Dominik Domagala Samuel 5:1-3 Colossians 1:12-20 Luke 23:35-43 God is love… God is Father…” These are words that reveal much about God—but they can also conceal the truth, if we reduce them to our own limited ideas of love or fatherhood.…
This feast has its origin in 1920 when the Pope at the time realised that there was the threat of much social chaos in Europe – in fact it was already present, at the overthrow and assassinations of kings and emperors in Portugal, Spain, Austria-Hungary and Russia – in the previous decade. Hence the decade…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Dominik Domagala
Fr John McCarthy