My first ever article for The Irish Catholic was regarding the new Apple intelligence and the future of AI. I got one thing right and one thing wrong. Apple intelligence has been a total disaster, from different features being laughable because of glitches to the much awaited ‘new and smarter Siri’ being pushed back till…
Q: Some people have said a spiritual communion is the same as a sacramental Communion when one has a sincere desire and cannot receive otherwise. If this is so, why do we say, “Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.” Would it count in the case of making…
Normally none of us likes feeling sad, heavy, or depressed. Generally, we prefer sunshine to darkness, light-heartedness to melancholy. That’s why we tend to do everything we can to distract ourselves from melancholy, to keep heaviness and sadness at bay. Mostly, we run from feelings that sadden or frighten us. For the most part, we…
Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesus, but there was also long-standing dissension about him, so much so that St John says of these authorities on the very eve of Christ’s Passion, “many believed in him”, though very imperfectly.…
You may still remember, Dear Reader, the formula you were taught while preparing yourself for the First Holy Confession. Although it’s been a long time since that day, I still clearly remember mine: “My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,…
In my previous article, we discussed how percentages of self-declared Catholics and other religions have changed globally over time and the rise of the ‘nones’ in the West. Census figures show that those identifying as having no religion is on the increase across the island of Ireland. What does this mean? Religiosity still has a…
Q: I am a longstanding vegan, so when Lent comes each year there’s nothing for me to skip; no meat is already my regular routine. But at age 70, and even if I wasn’t vegan, is it true that seniors are no longer bound by Lenten fasting and abstinence requirements? A: The short answer is…
Fr James Goodwin 2025 has been declared by Pope Francis as a jubilee year. But what does that mean? What is a jubilee? How do we celebrate it? The roots of a jubilee year are found in Scripture. As described in Leviticus 25, every 50th year was to be celebrated as a jubilee year…
Jos 5:9a, 10-12 Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 2 Cor 5:17-21 Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 We usually forget about the running. When we consider this Sunday’s scripture and the heart-stopping story of the prodigal son, we tend to overlook or just brush aside this extraordinary detail. We shouldn’t. As Luke describes it in the Gospel: “While he…
The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of “all the Scriptures” that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover. Jesus’ sufferings took their historical, concrete…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Renata Milán Morales
Fr Dominik Domagala