Mary, an obscure but feisty young woman from Nazareth, continues to have a powerful hold on the Catholic imagination. Rosemary Houghton writes.

Trí bliana sular maraíodh é scríobh an tAthair Christian de Chergé OCSO litir agus sheol chuig a chlann í, “le hoscailt i gcás mo bháis”. Tiomna mairtírigh a bhí inti.

David Gaffney SJ sees cultural changes to have made young people vulnerable and fragile, sometimes leading them down a self-destructive path.

Philip Fogarty SJ responds to a query about God’s seeming unfairness – specifically about God permitting terrible suffering around the world.

Mark Patrick Hederman provides a thoughtful and readable account of the history of dialogue in the Catholic Church since the pontificate of John XXIII.

Dermot Lane invites Christians to deepen their faith by exploring some of the fundamental issues of contemporary theology, such as the religious meaning of experience, the nature of Christian revelation and the place of grace and faith in Christian life.

John Bruton TD acknowledges the faults of the Church in Ireland but argues that the benefits which Ireland has gleaned from its Catholic culture outweighs them.

In this short work, Joseph McEvoy summarises the life of Pope John XXIII, one of the most important and best loved popes of recent centuries.

Carmel Wynne believes we should not underestimate the difficulties of parenting and the strain it can put on a relationship – hence the need for learning appropriate skills and for a solid family support system.

James McFadden sees the spirituality of Meister Eckhart in terms of detachment, of letting go of everything and living without a why.

Paul Andrews SJ reflects on the risk Jesus took in presenting God to us as a father-figure, especially as not all of us have had exemplary fathers.

Married for over 30 years, John Drane and Olive M. Drane trace the changing forms of family life and then present a practical theology of family where children can be nurtured, their parents sustained and old people valued and respected.

John Davis recalls the best known battle of the Crimean War, the 25-minute Charge of the Light Brigade down the wrong valley at Balaclava 150 years ago. Of its 673 horesmen, 114 were Irish and its leaders had interesting Irish connections.

Donal O’Leary stresses the importance of giving time each day to creating “soul space” in our lives.

Are we trying to “gobble up” as many experiences as we can? Why are we always hurrying? Ronald Rolheiser explores the saying that “hurry is a form of violence exercised upon time”.

Teresita Durkan’s “Reflections on a Life” range over the seven decades of a rich spirituality from a free-ranging childhood on the Atlantic coast of Mayo, through three decades as a Sister of Mercy and re-location to Valparaiso in Chile during Pinochet’s dictatorship.

Charlotte Carson is UK coordinator of Open Bethlehem, a charity and website designed to make people think about the Christian community in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is under the Palestinian Authority. A wall erected by the Israelis keeps tourists away, hampers the local economy, virtually isolates the inhabitants, cutting them off from [...]

This book is Finlay Holmes’ popular study of the Presbyterians of Ireland – who they are, where they have come from, their theological and political conflicts, their identity and ethos, and their significant role in Irish religious and political history.

“Bis orat qui bene cantat” (“Who sings well prays twice”) is the proverb with which the General Instruction of the Roman Missal introduces its section on “The Importance of Singing at Mass”. The choir, as well as sing its own parts, should fosters the active participation of the people in [...]

Clive Marsh considers how Christ is present today, and invites us to reflect on how communal human interaction can be informed and transformed through attempting to understand this question. He considers how Christ and the Church relate today, highlighting the decisive role to be played by the Church in society, [...]

Edel Quinn combined devotion with a great zest for life. Talented and expressive, she found her life’s work through the lay organisation, the Legion of Mary, and through it became a lay missionary in East Africa. John Murray tells her story.

Wilfred Harrington says that in Luke’s gospel that we find a Jesus of sensitivity, compassion and great gentleness. Luke reflects on God as the God of sinners. Luke does not seek to suppress the tragedy and mystery of the cross nor undervalue its saving role but his Jesus helps lift [...]

The military image of “soldier-saint” applied to Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits has given way to a more “mystical view” – how in contemplation he (and we)could experience the love of the Trinity, the love of God in creation, in the Eucharist and in the humanity of Jesus. Brian [...]

Michael Mullins’s commentary on Mark’s gospel is offered as a textbook for students of theology, as a guide for serious readers, as support for preachers, to the many people who practise lectio divina and spiritual reading. No prior technical knowledge of biblical scholarship is assumed.

Many Catholics and other Christians are under the impression that what we celebrate on 25th December is the actual birth date of Jesus. Catholics can become quite shocked, scandalised and even go into a belligerent mode when others, like Jehovah Witnesses, suggest that this might not be so. The fact [...]

‘Enter into your heart and you will pray.’ This is the formula Dermot Mansfield SJ gives us to tune into our own hearts where, he says, the Holy Spirit is already praying ‘with sighs too deep for words’.

This book edited by Kieran McKeown and Hugh Arthurs, is about the spiritual journeys of diverse people and their personal experiences of God and religion. It chronicles the different ways in which they have been shaped and marked by their encounters with God and religion, in the broadest sense, and [...]

Families come in a variety of configurations: divorced or separated, widowed, single-parent stepparent, childless, blended, adoptive, multigenerational, aging. Wendy M. Wright aims to adapt her spirituality to suit all configurations. It is a book that digs deep and touches many a nerve.

Serving as a doorman was the way Fr Solanus Casey used to become holy. He would listen to the story of everyas if he had all the time in the world….” Fr John Murray PP tells his story.

Angela MacNamara made her name writing as an agony aunt in The Sunday Press during the 1950s and 1960s. She also responded personally to about fifty letters a week as well as those that were published. She was then recruited to talk in schools with teenagers struggling to become adults. [...]