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…
Category: Your Faith
We must look up to the cross
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…
The call to religious life
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 Catholic artist, custodian of the Beatitudes
In the rapid turns of the news cycle, it is easy for some stories to be overlooked. Recently, the Catholic world has focused on the hospitalisation of Pope Francis—and rightly so. Yet amid these headlines, another message quietly emerged: a declaration of the Jubilee for Artists. In a homily written for the occasion, Pope Francis…
Has God stopped calling people?
Praying for vocations usually means praying for more priests. That’s a good and necessary effort, of course, because without priests, there is no Eucharist. But there’s another vocation that may be even more endangered. And what’s been happening in the Church – and in our culture – over the past few decades should prompt us…
Smile, it’s Lent
Bill Dodds How are you supposed to have a happy Lent, a liturgical season that, to quote the glossary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “is the primary penitential season in the Church’s liturgical year, reflecting the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert in fasting and prayer”? The point is learning how…
From the skies towards the altar
I am Oman Ashraf, originally from Pakistan, and I am currently a novice with the Augustinian Order (OSA). My journey toward religious life has been one of faith, transformation, and a deep sense of calling—a path I never expected to take. Growing up in a strong Catholic family, I never imagined becoming a priest. It…
A gift of God
Religious life is something which should be primarily seen as a gift of God. It is a gift of grace which calls men and women to give their whole lives to the love and service of the Lord Jesus, through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. I have been in religious life for over…
Benedict XVI: Hope, Politics, and The Last Judgement
What are you looking forward to right now? What got you out of bed this morning? It’s undeniable: we need something to hope for as much as we need food and water. In his masterpiece encyclical on Christian Hope, Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI starts by comparing the plight of the pagans of St Paul’s time…
The moving life of a man gone to God
Last month, we all went into shock at the news that Willie Walsh had died suddenly while having a coffee with his son in a local cafe in Carrigaline, Co. Cork, his adopted town from his native Ballyphehane in Cork city. Willie, 74 years old, was loved in Carrigaline, in Ballyphehane, in the church community which…