Edmond Grace SJ answers a query from a concerned parent about her son who rejects the right of the Church to guide his life.
John Horan reflects on the heart’s longings, on how we may fill our lives with pleasures of all kinds, yet still find our deepest desire unfulfilled – until we discover that union with God was the answer all along.
Sean Freyne presents a set of essays which reflect his thought on the role of the Bible in modern theology. He shows throughout his abiding concern to read the Bible with an awareness of the different contexts in which the texts were produced and are received.
Ralph F. Ranieri looks at how families can recover their equilibrium after it has been lost through conflict. He sees the parable of the Prodigal Son as a template for reconciliation within family life.
John Scally interviews Moya Brennan, formerly singer with Clannad, about turning to God after hitting rock-bottom.
Carmel Wynne challenges the notion that parents must be perfect and argues that mothers, especially, must look after themselves, after their own physical and emotional needs – for the good of the whole family.
Paul Ross tells the story of Fr John Murphy, a country curate who was hanged for his role in the Wexford Rising, during the 1798 Irish rebellion.
Carmel Wynne argues that we do children no favours when we try to protect them from the reality of death; we should, rather, prepare them in advance, in a manner appropriate to their age, for each of the events surrounding the death of someone they know.
David Tuohy SJ provides guidance for lay principals and teachers who as part of their own commitment to God and ministry in the church wish to deliver a christian ethos in schools.
Sister Una Agnew SSL, author of The Mystical Imagination of Patrick Kavanagh: A Buttonhole in Heaven (1998) explores the mystical vision of Patrick Kavanagh’s poetry.
The ‘fall of the angels’ myth in Jewish culture in the two centuries before the birth of Jesus and how we understand it may enhance our grasp of the meaning of the Annunciation. Martin Henry explains.
How can the liturgical year help us grow in holiness? This talk given by Clifford Howell in the 1950s explains how in some beautiful analogies from nature and biology.
How should we interprete and use the Bible to find out what God is saying to us in our present situation. James McPolin SJ gives some clear guidelines.
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 .
