The National Synodal Team has released a list of themes and resources for proposed Spring Gatherings at local level nationally. Revisiting the generalised themes that emerged from the parish focus group stages of the Universal Synod in Ireland is useful, but three years after initial focus groups identified broad themes for discussion, the upcoming Synod…
Dermot Byrne As we approach the month of March and the much longed for stretch in the evening begins to make its presence felt, we can justifiably start to think about spring. Awaiting tender shoots, daffodils and the subtle hint of green that will soon return to the canopies of the woodlands, our minds…
Q: We know that Our Lord loves everyone and thus would want to be as close to each person as possible. Can non-Catholics receive Holy Communion since this would help achieve the Lord’s ultimate desire to be within the heart and soul of every human being? My spouse is an Episcopalian and refuses to receive…
Back in the days of the Wild West in the United States, the primary means of transportation was the stagecoach. We’ve seen people riding in stagecoaches in Western movies. What we might not know is that the stagecoach had three different classes of tickets. However, the distinction between classes had nothing to do with the…
Re-instating St Valentine? St Valentines Day was a hard day for me this year. It was a Friday, remember, an ‘ordinary’ weekday. And in my rural parish, weekday Masses are not big hits: usually it’s the sacristan and me and one or two others who concelebrate the liturgy. This means that strange feasts like that of…
Dt 26:4-10 Ps 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 Rom 10:8-13 Lk 4:1-13 On this first Sunday of the new Lenten season, the Church, as always, presents the narrative of the three kinds of temptation that the Lord faced in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). The differing approaches of the Devil symbolise the various efforts the…
Peter Kasko I was in the shop earlier this week. As I was putting the items away, I nearly walked out without paying. A funny conversation ensued and at one point the cashier said: “Nothing in this life is for free.” I simply nodded while tapping my card away, and she continued: “Or in…
Bro. Denis Aherne OFM I’m a Franciscan OFM originally from Listowel in Co. Kerry. I want to share with you how God has worked in my life. On Sunday, February 2, I shared my vocation story at the Cork Cathedral for the Jubilee Mass of consecrated life. I was born totally deaf in the right…
The new programme for Government informs that it will “prioritise a radical step change in housing supply to rise to that fundamental challenge” and “build on the momentum generated to achieve our target of delivering more than 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030”. Considering there were just over 30,000 homes built last year,…
It’s a tale of beginnings and endings this week! I enjoyed the first episode of the new biblical series House of David, launched on Amazon Prime last Thursday. I’m not a great fan of biblical epics – they often opt for spectacle rather than spirit, so the Bible, I’d suggest, is better read than seen!…
Fr Dominik Domagala
Renata Milán Morales
Brendan O’Regan