Scott P. Richert Every year, for over 40 years now, I have given up watching TV for Lent. I know it’s no longer fashionable to give something up for Lent; instead, we are urged to ‘do something positive’, something that will make a difference in our spiritual life or (preferably, it seems) in the corporal…
Deacon Greg Kandra Incredibly, we’re already entering the third week of Lent. The ashes are a distant memory. We’ve gotten used to grilled cheese and Filet-o-Fish sandwiches on Fridays and we’ve mustered the self-control to resist having that chocolate bar at 3pm. Maybe we’ve settled into the rhythm of Lent and become used to it.…
Dear Editor, A USA lady bravely faced applause when she declared she sleeps with Bill Clinton every Christmas. She brought to mind people having a similar ‘durable relationship’ with our very own Taoisigh. All of this gains fresh relevance as our Government asks us to vote in a referendum, March 8. They say existing definition of…
For two or three days in January, a furry red muppet’s concern for the well-being of his followers became news, dominating Twitter, now “X”, and sparking discussions from National Public Radio to cable news. When the commotion died down, I was left thinking about how Ash Wednesday was very near and maybe this strange little…
Dear Editor, In the upcoming referendums we are being asked to delete reference to the ‘home’ and to hand over to the courts a hot potato, that of redefining the ‘family’; as they interpret the phrase “other durable relationships”. The human rights implications of cutting our understanding of family adrift from being founded upon marriage…
Lent is a graced time for spiritual transfiguration. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, “the Transfiguration ‘is the sacrament of the second regeneration’: our own Resurrection”. The Gospel account of the Lord’s transfiguration invites reflection on this momentous event in Jesus’ earthly life and our participation in this event. When Jesus tells his disciples…
Jonathan Luxmoore Priests and lay Catholics from Belarus said they still hope their Church’s situation will improve, despite the continued arrests of clergy and new religious restrictions that are imminent. “Priests are being targeted on various pretexts, and many Catholics feel pressured and harassed,” explained Fr Dzmitry Prystupa, from Baranavichy in Belarus’ southern Diocese of…
Sunday Gospel Jem Sullivan Most of us struggle to keep up with new year resolutions if we make them. I’ve fallen behind on my spiritual resolutions already! Thanks be to God that the Lenten season approaches. For in the coming weeks, the Church invites us to return to the Lord with our whole heart, mind…
Lorraine Mulholland We know about saints’ lives through monks called hagiographers. Scholars say that you must bear in mind before you read the stories below, that hagiographers wrote about a saint’s way of life, rather than history as we know it today. One of St Brigid’s seven hagiographers, for example, was St Cogitosus, who wrote…
Pope Francis has expressed his closeness to the small Catholic community in Turkey after gunmen attacked a church during Sunday morning Mass January 28, leaving at least one worshipper dead. The shooting occurred just before noon at the Santa Maria church in the Sariyer district of Istanbul, and was reportedly carried out by two masked…