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…
Exodus 17:8-13 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 Luke 18:1-8 How does one obtain an identity card, a passport, or a certificate of good conduct? You submit an application, attach the required documents, and wait. But what about gaining access to a good hospital, finding decent employment, or securing social housing? Is it enough to file the…
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. Prayer is a mystery. Today we are being taught about the necessity of intercessory prayer and persevering in order not to lose heart- to pray every day. The examples of Moses with uplifted arms and the widow’s relentless pursuit of…
Why did early Christianity alight on the ideal of virginity, when an intelligent or even just a suspicious Roman could see that its adoption would undermine the very fabric of ancient society?” That’s a comment from historian Kate Cooper and it poses some questions worth examining. Does the single state, celibacy, (vowed or otherwise) undermine…
Exodus 17:8-13; Psalm 121 (120); 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8 Jesus told a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. Luke 18:2 He said, “In a certain city there was…
It’s Jesus’ own mission you have been given: ‘As the Father sent me, so do I send you’ writes Jason Conroy Why live? Now there’s a question! To put it another way: what is it that makes life worth living? What are we living for? Many of us know how to give the ‘correct’…
Gilbert K. Chesterton, the renowned Catholic apologist, was great friends with George Bernard Shaw, the famous playwright, even though Shaw, an agnostic, had major issues with Chesterton’s belief in God and especially with him becoming a Roman Catholic. Indeed, when he heard that Chesterton had become a Roman Catholic, he wrote him a letter expressing…
Last week I had the privilege of attending the National Ploughing Championships in my home county of Offaly, where I represented Self Help Africa, the charity I work with. It was a joy to be part of the Global Solidarity Tent, supported by Irish Aid and launched by Minister Neale Richmond, alongside five other inspiring…
What the Knock apparition teaches us about being bearers of light One of the outstanding features of the Knock apparition, to those who saw it, was its brilliance. The apparition occurred on August 21st, 1879, as the evening was beginning to darken in the relentless rain. The figures were described as “all lit up”…
When I texted my brother to ask if he would like to go to Lough Derg, he responded that he’d already been in 2015, and it would be still another ten years before he would go through that again. Lough Derg is trauma. I remember the first time I was there as I walked round…
Fr Dominik Domagala
Fr John McCarthy
Fr Ronald Rolheiser