Western People 17.10.2023 The recent Positive Ageing Week is a timely reminder for us – Oldies, Seniors, Elders, OAPs, Old fogies or whatever we call ourselves now – To Look on the Bright Side of Life, as the song has it. There are particular moments that define the onset of old age. You keep losing […]
Newsletter No 2 is now available. This is the link to sign up for the newsletters, which are most informative. There is also advice on how to follow the Synod on various social media platforms. Association of Catholic Priests
Confession… Tue 17th Oct – Confession – Yesterday and Today It is very rare to come across a ‘thinking’ Catholic who doesn’t have a problem with Confession. The days of queues outside of confession boxes are long gone and vast numbers have voted with their feet. With the current shortage of priests the availability of […]
Western People 10.10.2023 Budgets are not what they used to be. Once they were significant, even formulaic occasions with their own set rubrics and liturgies. A high point was the Minister for Finance holding aloft his ragged briefcase on Budget Day, an image that became the inevitable photograph heading Budget coverage in the national press […]
We gather as fellow-pilgrims at this Sunday’s Eucharist, all journeying to the great banquet of heaven. In our Communion today, we get a taste of what is to come. Penitential RiteThe Lord feeds us in this Sacrament: let us call to mind his gracious help, which lifts us up in our sinfulness (pause)Lord Jesus, you raise […]
Misneach: Tony Flannery A new documentary by Midas Productions Wednesday 18th October 2023 @ 9.30pm on TG4 A personal insight to the life of Redemptorist priest Tony Flannery who was suspended from public ministry by the Vatican in 2012 for expressing his support for women’s ordination, optional clerical celibacy, same sex relationships and his liberal […]
Link: Association of Catholic Priests
Hamas and the Israelis The papers last weekend avoided a mention of the Hamas invasion of Israel on the front pages. They obviously thought they had more important issues to deal with – like Budget minutiae. How could that happen? Or were the papers printed before the news exploded? There was no news either of […]
First, Gerry highlights the opening address by Jesuit Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. As the chief rapporteur, Cardinal Hollerich plays a crucial role in framing the synod’s discussions and synthesizing various elements. “Francis has said time and time again, this is an ecclesial event, a spiritual event; it’s not a debating club, it’s not a discussion club, […]
Revealing Statements Tues 10 Oct – Sight and Insight Sometimes we make statements that are spontaneous, unrehearsed, seldom reflected upon or even remarked at. Yet they can contain a treasure trove of vital information about what might be happening beneath the surface of our lives and probably causing us grief. By becoming aware of these […]
WALKABOUT I leave the church by the main entrance, one hand on the railing, careful on the steps leading down to a safer level. The air fresh, balmy – an Autumn day reluctant to let go of Summer – as I descend… To my right, I glimpse the girls of Corpus Christi national at play […]
Western People 3.10.23. It was an evening in October 1988, at a gathering of Killala clergy in a Westport hotel. We were discussing whether, as a diocese, we should adopt the Parish Development and Renewal (PDR) programme then in use in Dublin diocese. Bishop Tommy Finnegan had just arrived as our new bishop and there […]
Water is fundamental to life on Earth. We can go for many days without food, not without some considerable discomfort of course, but not life-threatening. Without water, the risk to life is far more serious. The adverts on our screens for Water Aid graphically show the huge struggle that so many people have in gathering […]
There are reassuring sentiments for us in God’s Word, with Paul reminding us that there is no need for us to worry. If there is anything we need, we can pray for it and God’s peace will be ours. Penitential RiteConfident in this divine care, we remember our sins in the light of God’s mercy […]
The Catholic Church in Ireland has had little experience of a Synod in the past 100 years. Anyone under 70 is too young to have any memories of such an event: the Fourth Plenary Synod of Maynooth was held at the national seminary of St. Patrick’s College in Co. Kildare from 7th until 15th of August 1956. […]
Vatican News reports: The 16th General Assembly of the Synod kicks off in the Vatican with an emphasis on listening as the core element in seeking to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Listen to our podcasts here: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/podcast.html Association of Catholic Priests
Gerard O’Connell October 04, 2023 As I watched the procession at the opening of the Synod on Synodality start from the bronze doors of the apostolic palace this morning, Oct. 4, and weave its way through the crowd of 18,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to the altar in front of the basilica, my […]
Links to Meditation given by Father Timothy Radcliffe during the Retreat for the Members, Fraternal Delegates, the Special Invitees to the XVI General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops 1st October Meditation: [embedded content] 2nd October Meditation: Link also has script https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-authority.html 3rd October Meditation: Link also has script https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2023-10/synod-retreat-meditation-the-spirit-of-truth-radcliffe.html Association of Catholic Priests
Western People 26.9.23. I suspect I’m not the only one who finds the Garda plebiscite on Commissioner Drew Harris as more than a bit weird. It’s not just the extraordinary thumbs-down vote of minus 98% in a confidence motion but that, like the famous dog that James Joyce encountered in Ulysses who could walk on […]
A HOLY MAN: We had a huge funeral last Wednesday/Thursday. Tony had to be in the church overnight (Oliver Plunkett’s) for his last vigil. He was a Holy man; a modern day Matt Talbot. He moved between Church Street (Capuchins); Rivermount (Augustinians); Ashbourne (Parish Church). But above all, he loved working in The Morning Star. […]
Chris McDonnell reflects: Sycamore Gap Standing in a sloping gap in a dry stone wall a sycamore tree spread its open hand shadow across the starlit Northern sky. A gathering point for years, the Sycamore Gap marked meetings and endless dreams, shelter from rain, shade in summer sun. Now felled […]
Triggers – Some more material in relation to our reactions as this topic has such broad appeal. Tue 3rd Oct – Emotional Triggers It’s a familiar feeling when someone makes a joke at our expense or expresses a comment that might not be a huge deal to another person, yet it totally destabilises us for […]
8 – 14TH OCT 2023 ONLINE ALL WEEK 13 & 14TH OCT, LIVE, IN-PERSON AND ONLINE, ROME ITALY AND BRISTOL UK. Link with full details: WHY? In Spirit Unbounded we nurture the emerging Church. One that works to be safe, inclusive and just. One that strives to live by the teachings of Jesus. One that […]
Reprinted from The Irish Times Rite and Reason column. Link: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/10/01/pope-francis-is-wrong-to-declare-female-priests-a-closed-question/ Rite & Reason: Many Catholics who do not fit in a patriarchal, hierarchical, model of church feel a deep sense of exclusion Recently in Marseilles Pope Francis admonished us – quite rightly – not to treat migrants as hot potatoes. But what about those […]
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