For many of us growing up, there wasn’t much more to Lent than a certain dourness and less chocolate. I remember in school the main focus was, ‘What are you going to be giving up?’ The answers were generally things that it would be a nuisance to do without, but things that weren’t too great…
Sometimes when chatting with those of different denominations, or even with those of no faith at all, Catholics are asked why they confess their sins to a priest. Confessing sins directly to God is usually understood easily enough, but something about sharing our sins with another person in order to receive forgiveness is puzzling to…
The famous quote goes something along the lines of, “The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist”. If the topic of this week’s ‘Questions of Faith?’ column caused you to cringe or laugh, you’re doubtless not alone in that. Whatever about the existence of God, the existence…
One of the great products of the Second Vatican Council has been a renewed understanding of the common priesthood of the baptised. We are all called to exercise our baptismal priesthood through participation, “each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as priest, prophet, and king”, the Catechism tells us. By virtue of this…
It’s commonly argued in today’s world that science and faith are in conflict. Some ardently go so far as to suggest that science and the discoveries about the natural world that it’s made possible to invalidate faith, making religion a superstitious thing of the past. The idea at the core of this argument is that…
An accusation frequently levelled at the Church is that while it talks a good game regarding helping the impoverished, it actually hoards its riches in a very immoral way. Comments such as “The Pope lives in a palace” or “The Church should sell some of its treasure to help the poor” are commonplace in this…
Questions of Faith The Catholic Church teaches that moral values are objective – that is to say, certain actions are always good or always bad, regardless of the circumstances or what anybody thinks about them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states this quite explicitly in CCC 1756: “There are acts which, in and of…
There’s a widespread interest today in the possible existence of life on other planets. With the development of telescopes that are able to reveal things our eyes have never seen and the expansion of human efforts in space, questions have naturally been asked about who, or what, we might bump into “out there”. Many claim…
The first half of Advent sees us praying, watching and waiting for the coming of Christ at the end of time. The second half of Advent, though, focuses on the coming of the Messiah at Christmas – in the form of a new born baby; innocent, defenceless and totally dependent. Right at the beginning of…
Questions of Faith Faith in the power of prayer has been shaken in recent years. Unanswered prayers have left many wondering if there’s anyone listening to them at all, and if not, what’s the point in maintaining the practice? If we ask for things – good things – and God doesn’t grant them, what does…
Ruadhán Jones