We should beware of neglecting the great religious value of our ordinary experience of the world, says Donagh O’Shea OP.
Kevin Seasoltz OSB sees God’s gift of his Spirit as a continuous transformation of the world. The Spirit is woven into the fabric of human life; and, even though the anguish of life may remain, the Spirit always provides the possibility of healing and renewal.
John Horan SDB advises people to try to become aware of the ingrained habits of mind which may turn life into a constant source of worry.
Sean O’Conaill takes a look at a book which queries many of our received notions about depression, and he wonders if people who suffer from this condition might not need deep friendships more than prescription drugs.
Seán O’Conaill looks back at a personal crisis of faith and how it led him to perceive that the Church only makes sense when understood as an extension of Christ’s self-effacing and self-giving.
John R Walsh and Thomas Bradley provide an excellent summary history of that most formative period of Irish history, the three centuries of Christianity after the arrival of St Patrick.
Henry Peel OP recounts the last days of Edel Quinn, a young woman who worked tirelessly as an envoy of the Legion of Mary in East Africa.
Patricia Carroll OCSO draws our attention to Aelred of Rievaulx, a Cistercian saint and spiritual writer who specialised in writing about friendship as an image of the relationship between God and each person.
Tom Stack introduces a selection of Kavanagh’s poems, highlighting their mystical dimension. He alerts us to how we too, like Kavanagh himself, can experience poetry as “a hole in heaven’s gable”.
Christine Green looks across the world at a wide range of Church laws on ‘keeping holy the Sabbath Day’.
The ideal book for couples planning a Catholic wedding. But great reading also for married couples wanting to renew their appreciation of Christian marriage and for ministers working with engaged or married couples. The book has sold over 20,000 copies and this is its 4th edition. Pádraig McCarthy is a [...]
Luca Attanasio writes that too often people point out the past times when religions have failed to unite and even scandalised us all by their disunity and disharmony. However, since 1986 Pope John Paul II began his Prayer for Peace initiative at Assissi much has happened.
Sr Helen Prejean has campaigned tirelessly for the abolition of the death penalty. She talks to Seán Murphy about the wrongful execution of innocents in the US.
Addressing primarily those called to exercise leadership in voluntary or non-governmental agencies and in religious organisations of all kinds, Donal Dorr SPS shows they can provide a model of leadership that is both humane and effective.
Included in these Gnostic discoveries by Marvin Meyer are several gospels of Jesus’ life that never made it into the modern Christian Bible, as well as a treasury of lost and esoteric wisdom. He also includes an overview of all the texts and their contents, and discusses their meaning and [...]
James McCaffrey OCD gives a thought provoking account of the influence of Mary, Mother of Carmel, on Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Edith Stein and Thérèse of Lisieux, and offers essential insights and fresh observations for both the Carmelite scholar and lay reader alike.
Alfred Delp was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 1907 and joined the Jesuits in 1926. After his ordination he worked as a journalist. During the war he became involved with a group envisioning a Germany free of Hitler….
Fr Jack McArdle offers his pastoral thoughts and insights on different aspects of Christian living. He looks at different signposts and gifts we may have. Always easy to read, this book will be helpful to many.
Luigi Di Liegro was a popular and controversial priest who campaigned for social justice especially for immigrants in Italy. Head of Caritas from 1980 till his death in 1997, Pope John Paul II assured him that those who criticised him also criticised the Pope. Desmond O’Grady tells his story.
Jesus himself prayed in times of emergency and wanted others to pray along with him. His prayer shows him in a very intimate relationship with the one he calls “Abba”, Dada. He urges us to pray in like manner. James McPolin SJ introduces us to Jesus at prayer.
Tony Flannery recounts the development of ‘religious life as he has experienced it from the time he entered, in the fifties, until the present day. He suggests that the seeds of the present decline were already being sown early on and questions whether a new form of religious life will [...]
Dame Maura Sée presents brief but useful extracts from the major writings of St Augustine which are unequalled for their brilliance, charm and forcefulness. Augustine was concerned with God’s love for us and our response, with what we can know of God and with what living the life to which [...]
Epiphany is a solemnity or major feast celebrated on 6th January, though – since the reform of the liturgical calendar – it is now marked by many Catholic churches on the Sunday between the 2nd and 8th January, where 6th January is not a holy day of obligation. Patrick Duffy [...]
Rosemarie and Peter Atkin’s short book ‘Prayer-Bytes’ offers much needed time-out for young people, with prayers and reflections that are simple in style and relevant to the concerns faced by today’s youth.
Fr John Bollan is Director of Spiritual and Pastoral Formation in the Religious Education Department at the University of Glasgow. He shows how scriptural passages yield spiritual richness for the teacher and he also supplies a practical tool-kit of materials to help students and teachers to develop their own faith [...]
Fr Paul Andrews tells us about the challenges he is facing as he grows older and finds himself a little hard of hearing.
Debates about euthanasia and the right of people to end their own life are quite frequent today. Gail Northgrave writes about how Billy Graham is coping with Parkinson’s disease and how he still lives a purposeful life.
He is the Franciscan priest whom Pope Benedict canonised during his visit to Brazil.
Dermot Mansfield SJ takes this phrase from the “Breastplate of St Patrick” to highlight a way of getting very close to Jesus and God’s everlasting love.
Christian faith is not just a philosopy of life or a system of morality. It is about a person, Jesus of Nazareth, who is more than just a charismatic figure. He is the tangible expression in the world of the unseen God. The encounter with the woman at the well [...]
