Nothing is so beautiful as Spring – When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush… From ‘Spring’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins Even the weeds in spring delight the heart of the poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins. After the dark days and cold winds of winter spring...
As we look back on the past year and begin a new year, it can sometimes be quite a challenge to put into practice the saying of the former UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld: “For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes!” The year we are leaving...
Advent is a time to pause, listen and look back on the past year, writes Columban missionary, Sr Rebecca Conlon. There is much to ponder. Mother Earth is suffering. There have been droughts and famine in some places while in Pakistan there have been floods of epic...
Fr Tim Mulroy recalls a friend’s theory that nothing captures the spirit of Advent like a fishing expedition. Each year, at the beginning of December, as those around him begin preparing their Christmas shopping list, Ben begins preparing his fishing gear. Then, as...
A ‘Thin Place’ according to the late Irish philosopher and poet John O’Donohue is a place or time where heaven and earth meet and we have access to ‘light’ or the beyond in a different way. It is a threshold experience where time and eternity embrace. John...
November is the month of the Holy Souls writes Columban missionary Fr Michael O’Loughlin. Every year in the month of June a Memorial Mass is celebrated in Dalgan Park on Cemetery Sunday for deceased members of the Columban Fathers. Families of those who have died...
Fr Bobby Gilmore wrote this last year as he watched the swallows gather on the roof in the sun as they prepared to leave. The Chill As if awakening to the tinkle of alarm clock On cue they arrived from a seeming elsewhere Lining up on the apex of the roof In single...
Three significant events keep niggling at me as I reflect on life in recent months: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the presidential election in the Philippines, and the synodal process in the Church. There might be no obvious connection between these three but...
Made to Feel Welcome By Monalisa Esteban A few months ago, I had the strange experience of having my hands washed by an old lady in a village in rural Pakistan. She grabbed my hands and started washing them. I did try to stop her, but then I decided to surrender to...
Giving Honour Every day in our lives we meet people of various ages from different backgrounds. Many of them we don’t know but some of them we get to know and interact with. Sometimes certain people, whether we know then personally or not, have an impact on our...