Jennie Blayney tells us of a summer she spent as a volunteer working in Kenya. She says she got back a lot more than she gave.
What does ‘handing on the faith’ mean in present-day Ireland. There are no longer the many Religious-run institutions, like schools and university halls. It seems one has to be living it with conviction oneself to be really able to hand it on. Fr John Looby SJ explains.
This book, edited by academic Eamon Maher, Director of the National Centre for Franco-Irish Studies, and former President of the National Priests Council of Ireland Fr John Littleton, gives an analysis by clergy, educators, journalists, and artists of what is happening to Irish Catholicism today and makes suggestions toward creating [...]
On 29th May 2008 the Catholic Bishops of Ireland issued a pastoral reflection on the occasion of the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. While not explicitly urging a yes vote, it is an endorsement of the European project.
Canon 285 par 3 of the Code of Canon Law states: “Clerics are forbidden to assume public office whenever it means sharing in the exercise of civil power”. Columban missionary Fr Shay Cullen asks us not to judge too hastily those who have felt the struggle for justice has warranted [...]
Paul Andrews SJ says: “Teachers need pastoral care for themselves. Their daily work exposes them to a merciless manipulation of their weaknesses by sharp-eyed and clever teenagers.”
This extract by Brian Grogan SJ tells of Ignatius’s experience of life change when he made his general confession at Montserrat and how he set out on the adventure of being a poor Christian.
Wisdom is not just a thing of the mind, says Celine Mangan OP, but is a practical thing too. Being in close touch with creation is a practical wisdom that keeps us close to God.
Brian Lennon SJ worked for many years with people affected by conflict in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. In a way that is both compassionate and challenging, he explains the myths and misunderstandings of what forgiveness is and the demands that society often puts on those who have suffered. He then [...]
Brian Grogan SJ points out how in Barcelona in the years 1524-25 St Ignatius’s person radiated something that brought veneration and affection in others. Many made mention of a light that lit up his face.
Etty Hillesum was a vibrant young Jewish woman who lived in Nazi occupied Amsterdam in the early 1940s and died ad Auschwitz in 1943. In the months before she was arrested she underwent a profound transformation through psychotherapy. She refused to give into hate and in this way overcame the [...]
Maria Forrestal FMM wonders if as a Franciscan she should be a vegetarian. How, she asks, should a Franciscan sister live out the attitude of St. Francis of Assisi towards animals and the whole of creation?
The writer senses we have a call as Christians to care for the earth.
Celine Mangan OP uses the two quotes which follow to bring awareness of how the animal world can teach us humans how our actions are causing destruction to planet earth: ‘The land mourns and all who live in it languish; even the fish of the sea are perishing.’ (Hos.4.3) and [...]
In a thought-provoking booklet, Desmond Fennell responds to Vincent Twomey’s book on Irish Catholicism.
