Thomas O’Loughlin’s book is aimed at those who regularly read the word of God during the liturgy. It explains in simple terms why we use certain readings, and why the readings come up when they do – in the belief that a deeper appreciation of the scriptures can be gained [...]
The city of Rome was the centre of a large empire at the time of Jesus. The Empire was ruled by an emperor, at the time Jesus was born the Emperor’s name was Augustus. The Romans spoke the Latin language. The name for ’emperor’ in Latin was Caesar.
Unless the bearer of the Good News is transformed by what he or she proclaims, the word will be stillborn, says Kieran J O’Mahony OSA. We still need St Paul, he says, because the ‘future Church’ will have to be a place of passion, intelligence, transformation and encounter.
What is resurrection? Looking at the last chapters of Mark’s gospel, Phil Fogarty SJ starts from what it recounts and then goes on to give us some idea of what the resurrection of the body might mean for us. “The Good News of Christianity is that for those who die, [...]
The recent Synod on the Word of God (October 2008) highlighted ways of more effective proclaiming the Word of God in today’s world and Have it inspire the lives of Christians. In anticipation of this, the Cloyne Commission for Liturgical Formation last year produced two beautiful companion booklets, of which [...]
Although the Romans ruled Palestine at the time of Jesus, they did not remove all the old Jewish leaders. They allowed King Herod to rule Judah, which was part of Palestine. He was not very powerful. He did have some control over his own people. But he couldn’t order the [...]
Philip Fogarty SJ sets the context of the disputes out of which arose the idea that the preaching the gospel of Jesus and his resurrection was not just for the Jews but for “all the nations”. At the centre of this is St Paul and the story is told by [...]
Over 30 per cent of the verses of St Mark’s Gospel is taken up with stories of miracles. The Latin word ‘miraculum’ means something that causes wonder. James McPolin SJ says the miracles of our day are those which speak to our world of liberation, of human dignity, health, justice [...]
The recent Synod of Bishops in Rome on the Word of God (October 2008) highlighted ways of more effective proclaiming the Word of God in today’s world and having it inspire the lives of Christians. In anticipation of this, the Cloyne Commission for Liturgical Formation last year produced two beautiful [...]
God speaks to us in the Bible. But, in using human writers, of necessity He speaks in human words, in a variety of literary forms, and in a culture that is different from our own. Jim McPolin SJ explains how we can find meaning in the Bible for us today. [...]
The prophets were people who lived in Israel before the birth of Jesus. They didn’t really see the future like a fortune teller, but they would predict the likely outcome of behaviour. For example, if they saw the rulers enjoying a rich life and not bothering about the poor people, [...]
Fr Oliver Treanor reflects on the miracle of the marriage feast of Cana and tries draw out what it means.
By telling the story of how his people responded to God in various situations of the past, we can discern what our best response to him in the present situation might be. James McPolin SJ explains
“There were shepherds in the fields, watching over their flocks by night.” Shepherds were poor people, they were not paid good wages. Usually they did not own the sheep, but were just paid to look after them by the owner. Jesus talked about the hired shepherds running away from the [...]
The prophets, says James McPolin SJ, transmit and interpret God’s words for the time, especially in order to call people to address the injustices of their world.
Fr Oliver Treanor looks at the miracle of the woman who was healed by touching the hem of his garment and explores what it means.
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.
In the old days, it was believed that special and important events would be predicted by signs. The sight of a comet or anything new in the sky would be considered a great portent or sign.
James McPolin SJ takes a look at that most venerable book of prayers, the Psalms, and considers how they can contribute to our prayer life today.
Fr Oliver Treanor looks at the miracle of the curing of the blind man Bartimaeus and goes on to draw out the full meaning in the light of the gospel.
Michael Mullins’ lengthy commentary examines the different methods of interpretation of St John’s gospel and sets them in the context of a literary approach. Fr Mullins is a priest of the diocese of Waterford and Lismore and a lecturer on scripture at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
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 [...]
We imagine angels as people all dressed in white with feathery wings. The word which the Gospel uses which we translate as angel means messenger. So these were messenger from God. Artists usually draw angels with wings because it symbolises there job to move with messages from God to men [...]
James McPolin SJ looks at the Exodus account of the liberation of the people of Israel and reads it as an expression of God’s will that all his people would be able to worship him freely, without suffering oppression or injustice.
Fr Oliver Treanor looks at the miracle of Jesus calming the waters of the storm and draws out the fuller significance of it for us Christians.
Louis Power gives an interesting outline drawing from myths, legends, historical and biblical sources about what happened to the 12 apostles after Pentecost.
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.
This is the second chapter of Henry Wansbrough’ book “The Story of the Bible: how it came to us”. It tells the story of what Karl Rahner calls the Church’s own “self-definition”, that is how it came to decide which gospels and texts define its own reality and which do [...]
When Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem, they looked for somewhere to stay. Unfortunately, as all the people from the area were travelling to just twelve towns to get registered for the census, Bethlehem was packed. So there was no room in any of the places that normally took guests. [...]
