After a child’s funeral Mass
A reflection composed after concelebrating the Funeral Mass of a child. — I can’t take my eyes off his hand as he rests it on his wife’s shoulder. I don’t think it is a conscious gesture. His arm just instinctively […]
A collection of personal musings and photos!
A reflection composed after concelebrating the Funeral Mass of a child. — I can’t take my eyes off his hand as he rests it on his wife’s shoulder. I don’t think it is a conscious gesture. His arm just instinctively […]
The Referendum to Repeal the Eight Amendment to the Irish Constitution will change several aspects of life in Ireland but it will also leave several unchanged. The removal of the 8th amendment means that for the first time the Irish […]
The rapid expansion of online media in recent decades has brought about a lot of good. But in its wake it has also fuelled a new kind of commentary which is unsavoury and which is lethal. It has never been […]
My historical sense of catholicism in Ireland, which I learned in school, was speckled with events that were depicted as reference points in Irish history. The Wild Geese, Cromwell, Fr Murphy of Boolavogue, Nano Nagle, Daniel O’Connell and Catholic Emancipation, the Great Famine […]
“The Minister for Health has said there must be “no question of religious interference” with the new National Maternity Hospital. Simon Harris made the statement after a protest was held outside the Department of Health in Dublin over the ownership of the new […]
The women who were the first witnesses to the empty tomb and the Resurrection of Jesus summarised the situation in this way for the Apostles. “They have taken the Lord out of he tomb,” Mary said, “and we don’t know […]
I’ve been doing a lot of twisting and turning in my mind of late, trying to describe accurately what it’s like being a priest in the Irish Catholic Church these days. The scriptures are loaded with images and parables but […]
I heard a few minutes of two radio programmes today and both were dealing with funeral related topics! Then into my Facebook status comes an update from the Tablet magazine in London to tell me that the Vatican has issued […]