Daily Homily 498
Diary date! ACP AGM Wed 19th Oct 2022, Radisson Blu, Hotel, Athlone, 2.00-5-00pm. In person! All welcome. Details to follow.
Paddy Ferry Brendan, an excellent and very fair appreciation of the late Queen Elizabeth, her life and, also, of the whole funeral process and ritual. Apparently, her faith was such that she knelt at her bedside every night –I presume until her legs would no longer allow her — and prayed. How the whole process […]
Séamus Ahearne: Collecting the Vicar
Refreshing the spirit: It is a luxury to be away. To be in the Algarve. To be with friends. To walk and to sit. To let the air speak to me. To listen to the sea. To hear the gentle breeze. My walking stick helps the rambling. All steps everywhere are becoming more difficult. What […]
Diocesan boundaries set down in 12th century unfit for 21st century
From the Irish Times: Article by Rev Dr Eugene Duffy, vicar for pastoral renewal and development in Achonry diocese. His book The Restructuring of Irish Dioceses will be launched in St Nathy’s College, Ballaghaderreen, next Friday at 7.30pm. The Second Vatican Council expressly requested that “a prudent revision of diocesan boundaries be undertaken as soon […]
Presider’s Page for 25 September (26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Day for Migrants & Refugees)
Today’s readings remind us that God is on the side of the poor, defending their rights. Providentially, today is also the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.Penitential RiteWe gather to praise God’s justice and beg God’s mercy, as we call to mind our sins: (pause)You raise the dead to life in the Spirit: Lord, have […]
Chris McDonnell: It’s Time To Listen!
It’s time to listen! Chris McDonnell CT 23 September 2022 Listening is not a one way process but should be a matter of mutual concern, each paying attention to the other. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus concludes the parable of the Sower with the words, “Listen, anyone who has ears to hear”. Talking is not enough. […]
Seán McDonagh: COP 27, Egypt, Nov 2022
COP27 which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in November 2022 will it confront the current global climate crisis? Fr. Sean McDonagh The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began its work in 1988. Its object was to provide the world with a clear scientific understanding of climate change and its environmental and socio-economic […]
Nine students begin seminary studies
Nine students have begun formal seminary studies for the priesthood for Ireland’s 26 dioceses this month. It is up on the six who entered seminary last year. A further ten men will also begin a preparatory programme – known as a propaedeutic year… Link o article in The Irish Catholic: https://www.irishcatholic.com/nine-students-begin-seminary-studies/ Association of Catholic Priests
Brendan Hoban: Religious faith was the bedrock for the Queen
Religious faith was the bedrock for the Queen Western People 20.9.2022 (Yesterday), September 19, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II of England, after her funeral service at Westminster Abbey, was laid to rest in the grounds of Windsor Castle. After a long lifetime by any standards – stretching almost to the full century – and an […]
Seán Ó’Conaill: ‘Sin’? Time to Put Up or Shut Up
‘Sin’? Time to Put Up or Shut Up The recent Church document Towards a Spirituality for Synodality admits that ‘the Church has consciously and unconsciously been an agent of oppression’ in the past. Precisely what sin is being called out here? This is an important question given the strong association of ‘sin’ that so many make with the sixth […]
Séamus Ahearne: INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY (Wordsworth) (Or Even – MORTALITY.)
INTIMATIONS OF MORTALITY: We reached the airport. We arrived in Faro. Somehow we maneuvered the cases along the narrow aisle. Ryanair minimizes the space. We got down from the aircraft. A woman with a baby in her arm arrived and took one case. Another woman (who looked older than myself ) took my case. Clearly, […]
TOWARDS A SPIRITUALITY FOR SYNODALITY
From the General Secretariat of the Synod One of the most significant aspects of the 2021-2023 Synod is the recognition that it is informed and shaped by a spirituality. In developing a ‘spirituality for synodality’, we find that it assists us in integrating our theological reflection and expanding our experience of the Church as we […]
Presider’s Page for 18 September (25th Sunday in OrdinaryTime)
We gather to worship the Lord of glory, asking for help to be God’s servants before all else.Penitential RiteBefore we listen to God’s challenging Word, let us call to mind our sins, relying on the divine mercy: (pause)Lord Jesus, you have shown us the way to the Father: Lord, have mercy.Lord Jesus, you have given […]
Br Mark O’Connor FMS – Soundings from Rome: Seekers not Dwellers – Towards a Spirituality of Synodality
The last of four reports from the Vatican by Brother Mark O’Connor FMS, Vicar for Communications, Diocese of Parramatta and Pope Francis Fellow, Newman College, University of Melbourne. “PEOPLE…ARE SEEKING, AND NOT WITHOUT SUFFERING, SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WHOM THEY SENSE BUT CANNOT NAME.” – PAUL VI, EVANGELII NUNTIANDI (PAR.21) Diagnosis comes before a cure. In this final Sounding from Rome 2022, I suggest that […]
Tim Hazelwood reflects on Cloyne’s Council of Priests report on the Synodal Synthesis.
It was with some dismay and disbelief I read the minutes of the Cloyne Council of Priests discussion on the submission of the national committee which had recently been published. While some dioceses engage enthusiastically and others forge ahead on the Synodal Pathway we (in Cloyne) seem to be taking a different direction. The minutes […]
Br Mark O’Connor FMS – Soundings from Rome: The Pilgrim People of God navigate the journey
The third of four reports from the Vatican by Brother Mark O’Connor FMS, Vicar for Communications, Diocese of Parramatta and Pope Francis Fellow, Newman College, University of Melbourne. Most of the international Cardinals have now departed Rome, after last week’s fascinating Consistory. Some further analyses on the significance of their meetings are well worth your reading. […]
Micheal Seán Winters in NCRonline: Synodal process cultivates a sense of spirituality and wonder
As we read the reports about the synodal process, such as my colleague Brian Fraga’s fascinating look at the synodal reports from non-diocesan organizations in the United States, it is clear that the practicality of the American character is shining through. The reports tend to get right to the issues: a more inclusive church, increased lay involvement […]
Brendan Hoban pays tribute to his friend, Fr Brian Conlon.
A poignant farewell to a lifelong friend Western People Sept 6, 2022 I was reading some time ago about a priest who was visiting a colleague in hospital who was dying. As they parted the last words of the dying man to his friend was: ‘We had great fun’. When I visited for the […]
Séamus Ahearne: ‘I am loath to interrupt the rapture of mourning in which the nation is now enjoying its favourite festival – a funeral….’ GBS
Royalty: The Queen has died. The tributes are plentiful. Even Theresa May has added a comedic flavour to the picnic of celebration. GBS was exasperated. Not with these tributes but with the splurge of grief in the nation when Victoria died. His letter to the papers was rejected on the matter. The surfeit of emotional […]
Presiders page for 11 September (24th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
The mercy of God has no end; even humans who disfigure God’s beautiful creation can turn back to God’s ways and find mercy. We continue to mark Creationtide all through September, and we gather for worship, drawn in by God’s endless love. Penitential RiteAs we enter into the celebration, we call to mind our sins: […]
Chris McDonnell: Seamus Heaney – a poet remembered
a poet remembered Chris McDonnell “Walk on air against your better judgement” Heaney’s tombstone Not many live lives that, in their passing, are so noticed and admired as that of Seamus Heaney who died at the end of August nine years ago. And even fewer poets are afforded spontaneous recognition of their work, but […]
Brendan Hoban: The Catholic Church can change if necessary
Western People 30.8.22 Pope Francis’ reforms have received significant, it might even be said overwhelming, support in the reports on the recent listening process carried out in Irish dioceses. The national committee, synthesising the reports, discovered an extraordinary alignment of issues that Catholics feel now need to be addressed, from the language we use at […]
Presider’s Page for 4 September (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time)
The Season of Creation is marked throughout the Christian world from 1 September to 4 October. It celebrates the joy of creation as well as encouraging awareness-raising initiatives to protect the natural environment. The theme for the Season of Creation 2022 is “Listen to the Voice of Creation”, and its symbol is the Burning Bush. […]
Gerry O’Hanlon SJ: Ireland’s synod report reveals a country that is largely ‘suspicious’ and ‘intolerant’ of its Catholic inheritance
Gerry O’Hanlon SJ writing in America magazine: August, vacation time, can often be a quiet time in the news and opinion cycle. But the quiet was disturbed this year in Ireland with the publication on Aug. 16 of the synthesis document for Ireland’s contribution to the universal synod on synodality. The Irish Times, Ireland’s premier newspaper, led […]
Association of Catholics in Ireland Zoom: Transmitting Faith in Contemporary Culture with Michael Conway
Zoom : Thursday October 6th, 2022 at 8.00 p.m. – Transmitting Faith inContemporary Culture In processing the diocesan synodal reports the ACI steering group concluded that no issue seemed of greater concern than the growing absence of young people, including younger parents, from regular weekly liturgies – even before the onset of the Covid 19 […]
