On July 17, 1794 sixteen Carmelite nuns from Compiegne were guillotined in Paris, during the height of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. At the suggestion of their prioress, Sr Teresa of St Augustine, they had offered their lives for peace in their country and in the Church. Ten days after their execution…
There are parts of scripture that should come with a warning label, the kind they sometimes flash at the end of a movie which reads: “No animals were harmed.” One such text is a story in the Book of Judges (11,29-39). It’s the story of a king named Jephthah who is at war and makes…
I am thinking of preparing a leaflet to help couples considering marrying in church. It would need a catchy title, to attract notice. How about: “Thinking of a Catholic Mass for your wedding? Think again!” As I see it, many couples who seek to marry in church are unfamiliar with the Mass. They’re not at…
A quick look at the Great Schism and why reunion might not be far off My student days are well over. Yet I still remember having ample opportunity to study the Reformation which, as every schoolboy knows, is short for the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. And why wouldn’t I remember? It is…
In this fourth article on Knock, we focus on the Cross in the background of the vision. The silence of the apparition encompasses the Cross. On Good Friday, after Jesus died on the Cross we read in the Gospel “there was a great darkness over all the land” (Luke 23:44). There is silence; there are…
No amount of preaching shapes a soul as much as seeing someone living an honest life. If that’s true, and it is, then no marriage course is ever as powerful to teach about marriage as is the witness of a good marriage. I understood this first-hand several years ago when I attended the 50th wedding…
Questioning faith isn’t a weakness but part of the journey towards truth, writes Brett Salkeld It is a sad reality that Catholics sometimes get the impression that asking questions about their faith is a sign of faithlessness. One young woman I knew bottled up her questions for years until she left the Church. Only then…
Isaiah 66:18-21 Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 Luke 13:22-30 There are many jokes about who at the end of times will get into Heaven. I remember this one, given by a Lutheran pastor at a religious gathering: St Peter says to the first man, “Welcome to Heaven! Back on Earth, what denomination were you?” “I was a…
The Syro-Malabar Church, an ancient apostolic community, represents a unique confluence of Christian faith and Indian culture. In the context of migration, particularly in Ireland, this Church embodies a living example of inculturation, integration, and missionary vitality. This article explores how the Syro-Malabar Church in diaspora maintains its Eastern Christian identity while engaging meaningfully with…
Q: I’m retired and I volunteer with my parish to do the tech stuff to livestream some of the parish’s Masses online. Sometimes I livestream funerals for people who have family members who can’t be there in person, and I’m happy to help people out that way. Recently, I heard that the parish wants to…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Fr John McCarthy
Fr Dominik Domagala