Desmond Knowles, parish priest in Dromore diocese, presents this collection of straight-forward homilies followed by prayers of the faithful for Cycle A. Easily understood by a regular Sunday congregation.
Eltin Griffin OCarm has collected a number of essays on different aspects of the season of Advent for preachers, teachers, liturgy planners, parish leaders and general readers. A wide variety of articles in an easily readable style.
“It is the Mass that matters”, was how the Irish put it the penal times. Pope Benedict recalls how much the Christians of Abitene in Tunisia relied on the power of the Sunday Eucharist to sustain them spiritually in the early 4th century.
Gordon Oliver examines the difficulties and opportunities that arise in using the Bible in conjunction with contemporary pastoral practice and modern scripture studies, and in doing so opens up new possibilities for interpreting the Bible as practical theology. He guides the reader through the various approaches and perspectives that will [...]
Fr Bernard McGuckian SJ pays tribute to his late mother, Pauline, who died last February 2009.
This collection of papers edited by Dermot Lane and Brendan Leahy reflects on the 40th Anniversary of Vatican II. It contains some of its content, historical and theological perspectives and how it can be applied it to the twenty-first century especially to religious education.
Forgiveness is well known as being the central teaching of Christianity. It seems both eminently desirable and well-nigh impossible. Jesus’ teaching in the ‘Our Father’, his parable of the unmerciful servant and his encounter with Zacchaeus bring out how serious he is about this teaching. James McPolin SJ explains.
Retirement can bring different emotional responses which we need to attend to and negotiate. It also leaves us with a lot of free time. Tess Martin helps us to plan to make the most of the opportunities it offers.
This article by John-Paul Sheridan is a general introduction to the Alive-O programme, the primary school religious education programme. Based on the quotation from St Irenaeus: “The glory of God is a person fully alive”, the programme aims at a holistic and integral development of the young person. It first appeared [...]
Hugo’s life was shattered, and was slipping quickly out of control. Then Providence – and some caring friends – intervened. The names and details have been changed in this true story.
It was Socrates who held that “the unexamined life is not worth living”. The Jesuit practice of reflection and interiority is a development of this. St Ignatius of Loyola gave “rules for the discernment of spirits” and the “consciousness examen” described here by Brian O’Leary SJ (distinct from the “examination [...]
The paradox of Good Friday is that Jesus courageously, willingly and deliberately goes to his disgraceful death. This has meaning for how we live. Click below.
Philip Fogarty SJ in his commentary on Mark’s Gospel deals with the questions: What does following Jesus mean? Did he have women followers? Were they different from “the Twelve”? These questions left people guessing. And we who read the gospel today are left with these questions too.
A local GP shares her busy day – her dilemmas and her achievements – with us. It is the second in a series of articles compiled by Caroline Lynch.
Paul Hurley, SVD, looks at the life and work of the great apostle of temperance, Fr Theobald Mathew.
Fr Oliver Treanor looks at the the parable of the sower and the seed as an image of how the kingdom of God grows and comes to fruit in each one of us.
Philip Fogarty SJ shows how in Mark’s Gospel the critical and paradoxical nature of Jesus’ message is gradually revealed to the disciples .
Saving the planet and healing the human community are at the heart of this passionate reflection on the nature of desire by Diarmuid Ó Murchú.
Ceann d’ócáidí móra na bliana 1592 ar Mhór-Roinn na hEorpa ab ea bunú Choláiste na nGael i Salamanca na Spáinne. Ag cur san áireamh an caidreamh a bhí idir an tír seo agus an Spáinn san am sin, ní hiontas é go mbunófaí Coláiste Éireannach i gcathair úd an chultúir, [...]
What is resurrection? Looking at the last chapters of Mark’s gospel, Phil Fogarty SJ starts from what it recounts and then goes on to give us some idea of what the resurrection of the body might mean for us. “The Good News of Christianity is that for those who die, [...]
The Medical Missionaries of Mary’s newest mission is in the city of Feira da Santana in north-east Brazil. Sisters Siobhán Corkery, Ursula Cott, and Sheila Linehan are the Irish sisters involved. They are helped by local lay missionaries Sirlane Santo Silva and Ligeane Cardoso dos Santos.
The theme of the conference was: Benedict XVI on Church Art and Architecture. This report is by Patrick Duffy.
Fr Michael Paul Gallagher SJ explains that the new culture we are living in today is not necessarily acting against the Christian faith, but it calls the youth of today to make decisions about their life and spirituality.
This month (June 2008) the Pope asks us to pray ‘that Christians cultivate a personal friendship with Christ that they may convey his great love to those they encounter. Brendan Comerford SJ explains how we can do this.
Barbare de Búrca looks at some of the problems and assumptions surrounding the sacrament of confirmation in handing on the faith to adolescents.
Gerald O’Collins SJ has written a theological portrait of Jesus using the best of current biblical scholarship.
The present crisis in Anglicanism is a difficult but highly creative moment. This is the belief of the leading Anglicans from different backgrounds who are the contributors to this book edited by Kenneth Stevenson.
Using The Catechism of the Catholic Church as his starting point and structure, Patrick M. Devitt provides a range of images, personalities, cameos from everyday life along with a Scripture text to present and illustrate the truths of the Catholic faith. The style is punchy. It is useful not only [...]
What we hand on to our children is not so much doctrines or practices as the capacity to love. Paul Andrews SJ has a sympathetic understanding of how parents hand on their faith to their children and what’s important.
If there are concerns about immigration or racism, they should be listened to and discussed rationally, says Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, to prevent myths and rumour spreading false ideas about immigrants.
