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.

Jesus seems to have deliberately provoked conflict with the dominant social vision represented by the religious authorities by his compassionate healings on the Sabbath and his table-fellowship with outcasts. James Mc Polin SJ tells the story.

Jesus walked lightly, as a pilgrim, on the land he lived in. Celine Mangan OP draws some lesson from Jesus way of life to how we can care for the earth.

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 [...]

Gerald O’Collins SJ has written a theological portrait of Jesus using the best of current biblical scholarship.

Cambridge University historian Eamon Duffy examines the meaning of the word ‘magisterium’ as it applies to the teaching authorities of the Church.

“Narrative” is a technique used by psychotherapists to encourage people reveal what the central concerns of their lives are. The stories Jesus tells show how he thought of himself, the meaning of his life and his message. James McPolin SJ explains.

This month (February 2009) the Pope asks us to pray “that people in religious life be ever more receptive to the Holy Spirit as they teach and serve the people of God”. Dermot Lane PP explains.

Fr Jack McArdle’s book is a call to return to the basics of the Catholic faith and to examine the role of God and Mary in our own spiritual growth.

Jesuit priest Jon Sobrino believes that global capitalism is driven by a dynamic of greed and oppression that dehumanises people, destroys family life and threatens mother earth. It is only when the poor themselves are given a voice and become agents of their own liberation that a way can open [...]

John Horan reflects on the heart’s longings, on how we may fill our lives with pleasures of all kinds, yet still find our deepest desire unfulfilled – until we discover that union with God was the answer all along.

Forgiveness is well known as being the central teaching of Christianity. It seems both eminently desirable and well-nigh impossible. Jesus’ teaching in the ‘Our Father’, his parable of the unmerciful servant and his encounter with Zacchaeus bring out how serious he is about this teaching. James McPolin SJ explains.

This month (September 2009) the Pope asks us ‘to pray that Christians in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar may place their trust in the Holy Spirit and so maintain the courage to proclaim the Gospel in spite of their difficulties. The author is Ashley Evans SJ, who works  in Cambodia.

Miriam writes: In the Apostles’ Creed every Sunday we say ‘we believe in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church…’ Does this mean that members of other religions won’t be included in God’s salvation – only Catholics? Weren’t Jesus himself and his earthly parents practising members of the Jewish faith? Fr [...]

Probably the best modern book on Christianity, this classic from Hans Küng was written in 1974 and has been re-issued in 2008 by Continuum Books. Küng himself regards it as his “magnum opus” and says of it: “It seeks to bring to light for this present time the original Christian [...]

Sean O’Conaill points out the cultural origins and the defects of theories of atonement and satisfaction, seeing Christ’s sacrifice instead as God’s refusal to enter the cycle of violence and retribution which characterises human relations.

The pope’s intention for this month is: “that all baptised people grow into a mature faith, and manifest it by the choices they make in their lives”. Conal Ó Cuinn SJ illustrates the stages we go through as we grow in maturity of faith.

There was a time, says Paul Andrews SJ, when the Irish Church needed the metaphor of the light of the world. for instance, in famine times when it gave us an identity to survive misery. Perhaps now it is time for another image: yeast in the dough, working for good [...]

A brief summary of the fourteen encyclicals of Pope John Paul II, by Dermot Roantree.

Billy Swan’s “Creed of Love” is an exploration of the gift of faith and examines among other issues the importance of the Apostles’ Creed to our lives today, the connection between the Church and faith in a post-modern society and the questions asked by believers in the wake of scandals [...]

“Admitting to belief in God and having Christian faith is currently regarded as a taint, revealing that one’s sanity is impaired”. This is the starting point of Andrew Sims’s exploration of the relation between religion and mental health and his critique of Richard Dawkins’s “The God Delusion”. He thoroughly justifies [...]

Seán O’Conaill questions the merit of a ponderous faith, full of abstract truths and right answers, and he makes a plea instead “for something we can carry lightly as a source of happiness and wisdom for ourselves and others”.

Frank writes: I brought up my children in the faith, but none of them goes to the sacraments any more. They are married now with their own children. I worry for my grandchildren, who have no religious instruction in their home. Bernard McGuckian SJ responds.

Fr Peter Sexton writes about Taizé, that in itself is a ‘parable of community’ and brings reconciliation between divided Christians and separated peoples. He explains how it brought healing to one of his students.

In this book, Maurice Reidy meets with four people: two are believers and two are not and explores their experiences of religious belief and unbelief. He shows that to believe in God is a reasonable decision and one that can be sustained. He concludes with a personal account of his [...]

Kathleen Coyle SSC, who lectures in theology in Manila, considers the full cosmic significance of the incarnation and the sacramental character of creation.

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.

Question: Nowadays there is quite a lot of emphasis placed on praying to the Holy Spirit. I don’t know much about him. What is his role in the world today, and is it different from that of Jesus? Paul.

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, [...]