Dear Joseph, I have often thought of writing to you. I suppose, given the month that’s in it and that your Feast Day is recent, now might be as good a time as any. There is something very reassuring and uplifting in a letter that acknowledges a person and expresses gratitude and, that is what…
Anyone wishing to understand the nature of Canada as a nation could well begin that exploration by first making a visit to our own National Museum in Dublin. There in Kildare Street there is to be seen among the select moments and events in our long island history, a lavish display dealing with the Irish…
Paul Durcan at 80edited by Niall McMonagle, with an introduction by Colm Tóibín (Harvill Secker, £16.99 / 19.99hb) Thomas McCarthy Paul Durcan was born in Dublin in 1944 into a legal family with Co. Mayo connections. Educated at Gonzaga and UCC, he has become the leading poet of his generation, a former Ireland Professor of…
Laurence O’Toole, Dublin’s Own Special Saint The Latin Lives of St Laurence of Dublin edited with critical introduction by Maurice F. Roche (Four Courts Press, € 45) Catherine Swift St Laurence O’Toole is the patron saint of Dublin Archdiocese and, quite apart from the churches which are dedicated to him, such as North Wall,…
For a number of years now the National Symphony Orchestra and Chorus have performed one or other of Bach’s Passions on Good Friday afternoon at the National Concert Hall. This year brings something a little different in the form of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s setting of the passion section of the Gospel of St John.…
There is so much aggravational division in the world. Some of it due to identity politics, but a related problem is labelling – instead of seeing people as complex individuals, made in the image of God, we prefer to label people. This is particularly problematic when it comes to children – sometimes doing it for…
Q: I am a longstanding vegan, so when Lent comes each year there’s nothing for me to skip; no meat is already my regular routine. But at age 70, and even if I wasn’t vegan, is it true that seniors are no longer bound by Lenten fasting and abstinence requirements? A: The short answer is…
Fr James Goodwin 2025 has been declared by Pope Francis as a jubilee year. But what does that mean? What is a jubilee? How do we celebrate it? The roots of a jubilee year are found in Scripture. As described in Leviticus 25, every 50th year was to be celebrated as a jubilee year…
Jos 5:9a, 10-12 Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 2 Cor 5:17-21 Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 We usually forget about the running. When we consider this Sunday’s scripture and the heart-stopping story of the prodigal son, we tend to overlook or just brush aside this extraordinary detail. We shouldn’t. As Luke describes it in the Gospel: “While he…
The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of “all the Scriptures” that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover. Jesus’ sufferings took their historical, concrete…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Renata Milán Morales