Utterly life-changing was the day I learned that the Hebrew word most frequently used for ‘sin’ (hhatah) is understood by scholars to mean ‘missing the mark.’ It’s beautiful, isn’t it? If God is central to our lives, and our desire is to live fully “through him, in him and with him,” then our spiritual aim,…
At a time when much of contemporary art tends toward transgression, irony, or ambiguity – or with the rise of quick-fire AI generated images. The philosophy of Sheelagh Duff is refreshingly clear – art is made with a purpose. Made for God. Her embroidery encircles and enshrines a variety of sacred images – Our Lady,…
Scripture came alive in Roscrea through Dominican teaching, lively fellowship, and quiet revelation of Christ at the centre, says Dominic Gallagher. The Logos Summer Scripture school was held in Roscrea between the June 27 and July 1. Amidst the forests of the monastery and the prayerful contemplation of the Cistercian monks, the participants were blessed…
Thinking about the end has helped me prioritise and actually do what’s truly meaningful, , writes Jason Conroy A 2018 letter, available online, the straight-talking Cardinal Eijk from Holland indirectly ‘dropped the A-bomb’ – that is, he brought up the dreaded word ‘Apocalypse’– and, worse ‘Antichrist’! He did this by referencing Catechism of the Catholic…
Q: There’s a really beautiful Eastern Orthodox church in my neighbourhood. Every time I pass by it, I always wonder, is this one of the churches that Catholics can attend? (Ohio) A: I think you might be confusing the Orthodox with Eastern Catholics. While the Orthodox have valid sacraments and very similar doctrinal teachings as…
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen, which premiered in Paris in 1875. A scandal at the time, Carmen revolutionised opera—no kings or noble heroines, but instead soldiers, smugglers and bullfighters. Bizet’s heroine, Carmen, is bold, unpredictable, and free-spirited, living by her own rules. She captivates Don José; whose obsessive love…
Who still reads poetry? In a digital age and in a time when the empirical has for the most part replaced the spiritual, what’s the value of poetry? What does it bring to the table? One of the intellectual giants of our generation, Charles Taylor, in a recent book Cosmic Connections, Poetry in the Age…
An ‘invitation-to-parish-groupings’ approach to outreach, might distract us from the essential place of faith in outreach, writes Fr Chris Hayden A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece on the nature of membership of Church and parish. I made the point that the most fundamental ‘thing’ about membership is not belonging to parish groups…
By Peter Kasko I have been on the journey of discovering, or perhaps re-discovering, faith for some time now. I am a cradle Catholic: baptised as a child, receiving First Communion and Confirmation, checking all the boxes as expected. But I reached the point where I realised I didn’t actually know what faith truly…
I spent two very happy weeks in Canada in June — my longest holiday since COVID. One of my great holiday treats is to sit into the pews for Sunday Mass, while another priest does the work — and I watch, critically. On Trinity Sunday I found myself in Lindsay, Ontario, right in the middle…
Fr Barry White
Fr Ronald Rolheiser