Category: Features

Rejoice! The Lord is near

Mi 5:1-4a Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Heb 10:5-10 Lk 1:39-45 Ironically, as our Advent journey is drawing to a close, another journey is beginning. It’s right there in the first three words of this Sunday’s Gospel: “Mary set out…” This time of year, I think, a lot of us can appreciate the idea of taking…

The girl from Nazareth

O Blessed Virgin, Immaculate, Inspirer and Cause of so much love for God, and so much good. You know Jesus best of all. You love Him more than any other. I see so much happens through you, so many miracles and healings, God doing them at your request. I see in my life you make…

Why euthanasia is not an answer to suffering

Emily Nelson The debate on assisted suicide has risen to prominence again, particularly with the recent vote in Westminster and calls for changes in legislation elsewhere. What can we do about this? Through my work for FaithVersed, I was asked to organise a talk on this topic, aiming to both inform and equip people to…

The wrong end of the stick

Garry O’Sullivan sat down with columnist and retreat giver Fr Ron Rolheiser and asked him about Catholics and the reading of scripture.   G: Often people see some of the things you say somehow against Church teaching, is there a problem for many Catholics in their reading and understanding of the bible? Fr Rolheiser: I…

Get your hopes up!

Jason Conroy For years, Ronan Collins kept up a great tradition on RTÉ radio: starting from December 8, he would play a different rendition of O Holy Night every day until Christmas. Indeed, they never start playing Christmas tunes on Radio 1 or Lyric FM before that date. What’s so special about December 8? It’s…

Slow down and prepare the way

Gift yourself with precious time for your own spiritual recharge,  says Peter Kasko It’s that time of the year again. The time when we often tend to forget our humanity, to some extent, and pursue all that is not important. In Matthew (chapter 6), Jesus reminds us not to worry, “but strive for the kingdom…

Balancing technology as Catholics

Technology and the Church has been a hot topic since the first iteration of the Internet boom. While many debate the problems that it is causing for people of the Catholic faith to fall back to the different evils that are readily available on the internet, others believe it is now the perfect platform to…

The slave girl who became a saint

Fr Adrian Crowley   St Josephine Bakhita was born in 1869, in Sudan. Her village was surrounded by palms, banana trees, fields, shrubs. Her tribe lived peacefully, working the fields. Her father was an important man in the village. As a child she was full of life and joyful, loved her brothers and helped her…