Isn’t it ridiculous how we can allow events to irritate us and get right under our skin? I came across a story in a national newspaper last week about a shopping centre in Stirling, Scotland which declined the request of the Legion of Mary to display a traditional crib on
Continue readingLAST MONDAY was the fiftieth anniversary of the death of one of the most remarkable spiritual figures and writers of the twentieth century, the Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. He was born in France but brought up in his early life in America, where his mother died when he was very
Continue readingThe positivity of the otherness is quite often a forgotten fact, rather a rejected phenomenon. It has created a space for diatribe, which swings to the other end of the pendulum. Instead of celebrating the otherness of the other, it has been converted into a weapon of polarization and division,
Continue readingIt has become a bit of a commonplace that clergy moan at this time of year about how Advent, in the way in which the Church has understood it for many centuries, is effectively eclipsed by people’s determination to celebrate in some way or other, Christmas, nearly a month early
Continue reading‘Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth’. These words are from The Book of Revelation also known as The Apocalypse. Today’s feast day has traditionally been called ‘Christ the King’ although just to emphasise the point that he is in fact King of all creation you will
Continue readingJUST OVER A YEAR AGO the Holy Father established a special worldwide day for Catholics to reflect on the needs of the poor of the world, to be each year on the penultimate Sunday of the liturgical year before Advent; so today we celebrate the second Day of the Poor,
Continue reading‘That for which the whole world has long sighed, which Christianity has implored with such fervent prayer, and for which We too, interpreter of the common sorrow, have never ceased to pray with the heart of the father intent on the good of all – that has come in a
Continue readingI thought I would take this opportunity to share with you part of my journey as a priest. Perhaps it will encourage those of you who have a tendency to put things off! The very first thing I did when I was ordained to the priesthood back in July 2001
Continue readingLAST MONDAY was the feast in the Church’s calendar of St John Paul II. Although it is now thirteen years since he died he was pope for such a large period of the lives of many of us that it’s easy to feel as if his teaching is still contemporary
Continue readingIt has been over a month since Sister Pat, Alicja Krivicky and I (Ruth McConkey) returned from the Adoremus conference in Liverpool. In the words of the Catholic Bishops’ Congress, Adoremus was: ‘A unique opportunity for the Church to gather and reflect on the centrality of the Eucharist and particularly
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