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.
Joe Aston, fisherman and sailor, tells what inspires him to be a believer.
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 [...]
Hell, for many people, is a fiery place full of horned creatures wielding pitchforks. Theologian Lawrence Cunningham explains what the church really teaches.
Daniel L. Lowery C.Ss.R. explains how some people’s spiritual lives can be afflicted by scruples, a debilitating fear and anxiety about sin and evil, related to obsessive-compulsive psychological conditions.
Donagh O’Shea OP warns against the tendency to think of the material world – especially the body – as something to be despised. Christian spirituality enjoins respect for all creation.
In this collection of previously unpublished talks and interviews, Metropolitan Anthony sets out his thoughts on the experience of the Church, about how it brings together humanity with divinity, about doubt and heresy and about Christian witness. Through powerful images his thought is both compelling and accessible.
John Scally interviews Moya Brennan, formerly singer with Clannad, about turning to God after hitting rock-bottom.
Apart from the prayers for the different times of the year, this book prepared by the brothers of Taizé community also gives practical instructions on how the elements, such as prayer around the cross, the icons and the meditative chants, contribute to our personal intimacy with God.
Emily Logan was one of seven children and trained as a children’s nurse in Temple Street Hospital in Dublin and at Great Ormond St Hospital, London. She tells us about her work as the Ombudsman for Children in Ireland.
There are many ways grandparents can hand on their faith to their grandchildren without making a big deal about it. Jeanette Brimner reviews these and adds that interested contact and good example are hard to beat.
Henry Peel OP sketches the events of December 8, 1854, when Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception a dogma.
Fr Paul Andrews tells us about the challenges he is facing as he grows older and finds himself a little hard of hearing.
This is the Year of the Rosary, and October is the Month of the Rosary. Last October, Pope John Paul II announced five new mysteries, to be added to the traditional fifteen mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious. Called the ‘Mysteries of Light’, the new mysteries focus on Jesus’ years in [...]
Fr Morgan Costelloe finds a source of hope as he reflects on bereavement and grief.
Advent means ‘coming’. “The advent of the motor car”, means when cars first came to the streets. During advent we look forward to the coming of Jesus. At the end of Advent, on Christmas Day, we celebrate the feast of the coming of Jesus – the birth of the baby [...]
I don’t go to church, but I think it would be nice to get my baby baptised to please my gran.
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.
If we are to share the earth’s resources with everyone, we must accept a reduction in our standard of living, writes Peter McVerry, SJ
In June 2001, Bishop Nicholas Charnetskyj was one of five Redemptorists among 27 martyrs beatified by Pope John Paul during his visit to the Ukraine. Fr Brendan McConvery, C.Ss.R., who lectures in scripture at Maynooth University and the Kimmage Institute, tells the story of Bishop Nicholas’s heroic suffering for the [...]
Carmel Mongey SSC finds a rich vein of knowledge about God’s motherly love for us all in a parable from St Luke’s Gospel and she suggests an Ignatian approach to exploring this text.
The paradox of Good Friday is that Jesus courageously, willingly and deliberately goes to his disgraceful death. This has meaning for how we live. Click below.
It was Socrates who held that “the unexamined life is not worth living”. The Jesuit practice of reflection and interiority is a development of this. St Ignatius of Loyola gave “rules for the discernment of spirits” and the “consciousness examen” described here by Brian O’Leary SJ (distinct from the “examination [...]
Luigi Scrosoppi was an Oratorian priest, who with his brother ran an orphanage in Udine at a time when there was a strong anti-religious wind sweeping over Italy. Working and keeping his good humour through adversity, he became famous for miracles of healing after his death.
Through the practical interaction with his garden, Vigen Guroian finds God touching the significant transitions of our lives and how God is loving us in them.
Sean Goan’s book offers short helpful explanations of the readings used on Sundays during Year C of the liturgical cycle. For many lay people who have little or no training in theology, including readers, the readings can be difficult to understand, so this book gives an introductory article about the [...]
In anticipation of his projected visit to Rome, Paul wants to present to the Christian Jews at Rome his overview of how justification comes to all through the mercy of God in Christ. Philip Fogarty SJ explains.
Fra Angelico is well-known as an artist, but he never handled a brush without fervent prayer. He was beatified by Pope John Paul in 1982 and declared patron of Catholic artists in 1984. John Murray tells his story.
Pier Giorgio Frassati lived for only twenty four years. Yet his life was so full of love for the poor that when he died the poor of Turin all flocked to his home to touch him like a relic. John Murray traces his life.
Traditionally, the last Sunday in July is associated with the pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, a mountain near Westport in Co Mayo.
