I have been thinking again recently about my friends, Monica Brown and Hilary Musgrave who introduced me to the whole experience of sacred clowning. Hilary and Monica lead retreats all over the world and the sacred clown ‘Naofa’ is an integral part of their unique approach to spirituality. Sacred clowning must be experienced because trying…
Notebook Can I begin this month by sharing a brain teaser liberally mixed in with a fair amount of name-dropping. Last week I celebrated Mass in four different countries. However in all four countries the congregation was made up of pretty much the same people, the choir consisted of a list of Irish household names…
Notebook Recently I drove across the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic. To be honest these days you have little sense that you are crossing from one jurisdiction to another but I was reminded of how different it was when I first travelled that route in the late 70s and 80s. It was a…
The Notebook Every year at this time I find myself returning to a beautiful reflection by Joyce Rupp titled ‘Welcoming the New Year’: “A new year stands on my doorstep ready to enter my life’s journey. Something in me welcomes this visitor: the hope of bountiful blessings the joy of a new beginning the freshness…
Notebook I’m a bit of a greeting card junkie. Wherever I go, I buy cards for all kinds of occasions. I seek out the ones with the most interesting messages, be that inspirational, meaningful, quirky or sometimes risky depending on who I have in mind to send them to. Sometime in late October I found…
Notebook Dear Sr Lelia, You will be surprised to see this letter which is almost 50 years too late but please bear with me. Last week I participated in a beautiful celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of your congregation, the Sisters of St John of God. This celebration has brought me into something of…
Notebook The recent revelations about the disposal of organs of babies who died at Cork University hospital were deeply troubling for many reasons. The organs of eighteen babies born at the hospital and who were still-born or subsequently died were sent to be incinerated at a facility in Belgium. The story came to light as…
Some of the readers of this column might remember a band called Milli Vanilli which caused quite a music controversy. In 1990 the duo of Rob and Fab exploded on to pop music scene. They had five big hits, including three number one songs. Then it was discovered that they weren’t really singing on their…
Notebook In recent days four people of my acquaintance have tested positive for Covid-19. The four are from different age groups and all have been fully vaccinated in recent months. In all four cases, the positive test has meant that their families and others within their circles are isolating. This personal experience is having a…
Notebook When I was a student at the Irish College in Rome back in the 1980s one of the features of our lives was the interaction we had with Irish couples who came out to Rome to be married. Sometimes there were four or five couples each week. Many of them travelled to Rome on…