Pat Collins CM looks at what major psychologists have had to say about the contribution of prayerful religious experience to people’s health and well-being.
Christopher Moriarty introduces one of the greatest composers who ever lived, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, examining in particular his fraught relationship with his father.
William Oddie edits a collection of essays by distinguished Catholic writers, each assessing some aspect of Karol Wojtyla’s extraordinary achievement as Pope John Paul II.
Martin Brennan SJ reviews the life of Jesuit scientist and thinker Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and emphasises Teilhard’s heroic concern to show that there is no necessary conflict between the findings of science and the religious conception of creation.
Tom Cahill talks with Jean Quinn, founder of the Sophia Housing Association which takes a holistic approach to helping homeless people.
Tess Martin interviews Seán Ascough, a civil engineer with a private practice, on how he sees the Youth 2000 movement which draws many young people to a change of life and a commitment to their Catholic faith.
Fr. Dermot Mc Carthy, RTE’s head of religious programmes, reflects on 40 years of Irish television and the role of religious broadcasting.
Paul preaches to Jews first and then when he is rejected by them he goes to the Gentiles. This brought up a new problem was the preaching of Jesus for Jews only or was it universal? Philip Fogarty SJ tells about the lead-up to the Council of Jerusalem which had [...]
Antonin Dvorák died on 1 May 1904. One of the few practising Catholics among the great composers, he left us some of the world’s most beautiful melodies, writes Bro Paul SVD.
Louis Power gives an interesting outline drawing from myths, legends, historical and biblical sources about what happened to the 12 apostles after Pentecost.
Moral theologian, Bill Cosgrave, gives some of the views from mainstream theology on the nature of sin in Christian belief.
Piers Paul Read is a novelist, biographer and historian who says he is baffled that the Catholic Church in England has abandoned many of its traditional positions. In 29 elegant essays on aspects of the faith, the Church, liberation theology, history, sex and marriage, writers and saints he makes his [...]
John Canon O’Hanlon (1821-1905) was a priest literateur of the 19th century so well-known that Joyce has immortalised him as a charcter in “Ulysses”. He wrote on many topics including folklore, the lives of Irish saints, the Irish language, church buildings, politics, art and poetry. Pádraig Ó Macháin and Tony [...]
Borther Roger founded an ecumenical monastic community at Taizé and initiated a spiritual movement of young people working for peace.
Garry Wills believes that the Rosary, all twenty mysteries, is a form of devotion ideally suited to the modern world, when so many are seeking a form of contemplation, spiritual renewal and calm. It contains reflective meditations and lavish illustrations by Tintoretto
Peter de Rosa’s dips into our favourite Marian prayers, poems and hymns, both ancient and modern. There are chapters on Mary’s many titles, the Rosary, and on Ireland’s faithfulness to it. We also get a glimpse of how great Protestants like Martin Luther, and Muslims like the Prophet Mohammed thought [...]
Central to Jesus’s life is his befriending of sinners. This was one of the central criticisms of his behaviour and the cause of much confrontation with the Jews and especially with Scribes and Pharisees. James McPolin draws out what the Gospels tell us.
Written by Steven Croft, this evolving Advent tale can be read on many levels and is suitable for adults and children alike. It is packed with codes and secrets and invites the reader to explore the deeper meanings of Advent and Christmas.
Jack Mc Ardle outlines the Gospel readings for Year C, offers reflections, personal parables on the various themes, outlines the teachings, suggests practical responses and reinforces them all with life stories. It is particularly suited for the interested layperson.
Paul Andrews SJ writes about parties and feasts as means of humanly relating. No wonder, he says, Jesus chose this as his way of showing what he was about both in his own life and now in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
The Leonard Cheshire Foundation exists to serve disabled people worldwide and to change attitudes toward disability. Marina Hoey is their Volunteer Support Manager in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Here she tells how volunteering can be a very positive experience in a person’s life. Phone contact: 02890 246247 and email: marina.hoey@lc-uk.org
This article on the Rosary is taken from John Follan’s book, “The Light of his Face: Spirituality for Catholic teachers”. It brings out how, despite the agro the recitation of the Rosary causes in families, it can be found to have a significant place.
“Work is for the benefit of human beings, not human beings for the benefit of the production process.” This is the central point that Peter McVerry SJ emphasises in this helpful run through the papal encyclicals on the problems of human work and economic life.
Amanda writes: How sure can we be that there will be second coming of Jesus Christ and a bodily resurrection of all the dead at his coming? I find that I cannot believe this at all because a return of Jesus with a Universal Resurrection gives rise to many questions. [...]
Every year on the Sunday before Pentecost the Church celebrates the achievements of the communications media and focuses of how it can best use them to promote gospel values. Patrick Duffy explains what it is and refers to both the achievements and new initiatives of CatholicIreland.net.
By making some up-to-the-minute cultural comparisons, Fr Oliver Treanor draws out the radical implications of the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Dympna M. McMahon writes about volunteering for Children in Hospital, Ireland.
Why is June known as the Month of the Sacred Heart? – Róisin.
Noel Gavin, a photographer with the “Irish Daily Star” tells how his work as a photographer, especially in so-called Third World countries has inspired to the the stories of the poor.
We often wonder how we ought to pray. Paul Andrews SJ points to some not too difficult ways we could start.
