Whoever finds his life will lose it; whoever loses his life will find it The Gospel Matt 10:37 [Jesus said:] “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:38 And whoever does not take up…
“He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.” There are moments in life when words fail, when our hearts ache under the quiet weight of disappointment, loss, fear or guilt. Sometimes we smile on the outside while silently wondering if anyone truly sees what we carry. But God sees. His love reaches into the…
A peculiar thing happened at the Irish Reformation Parliament, held in a number of sessions between 1536-1537. As the name indicates, the Parliament was called to enact the Reformation of Henry VIII in Ireland, a venture that had just been completed in England. Bringing Henry’s Reformation to Ireland involved a series of enactments, most notably…
Q: This past week a member of our parish was confirmed at Sunday Mass, but it was just our parish priest who did the confirmation. I always thought confirmation had to be done by a bishop? Is it allowed for a priest to confirm, or was the recent confirmation at my parish an invalid sacrament?…
Who are we really? Who are we when we are stripped naked in soul: stripped of ego, stripped of the image we have of ourselves, stripped of the hype, fads, and ideologies that we unconsciously inhale and which colour our thinking, stripped of the trauma we carry from our wounds, and stripped of our habitual…
We need to invite and challenge each other to what’s best and higher inside us, writes Fr Ron Rolheiser I grew up in a rural area where most everyone was either a first or second-generation immigrant. And most of us were just above the poverty line, struggling economically and struggling to speak English properly. And…
Near the end of his Letter to the Philippians, St Paul encourages his readers to think about “whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.” Paul goes on to assure people that a result of thinking this way is…
This week, our focus is not on one particular saint but on several – seventeen in fact – Irish men and women, lay and clerical, who were put to death for their Catholic faith between 1579 and 1654. They were beatified by Pope St John Paul II in 1992 and their feast day is celebrated…
There is a comforting illusion that faithfulness to God should make our life easier. Many people imagine that if one sincerely follows the Lord, prays regularly, and seeks to live according to the Gospel, then difficulties should diminish and peace should naturally follow. Yet the Bible repeatedly challenge this assumption. The readings for this Sunday…
The Gospel Matt 10:26 [Jesus said:] “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Matt 10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Matt 10:28…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr Dominik Domagala