NEWS & MEDIA
A Vow of Disobedience
In a world that esteems wealth, sex and power above all, what place is there in the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience? In a recent blog we looked that how the Vow of Celibacy was not about closing ourselves off as human beings, becoming the ‘frozen chosen,’ but...
Don’t Worry – Be Happy
I remember living in our parish in St. Albans when the British Humanist Association's bus advertising campaign came out. Eight hundred buses ran throughout the UK for a number of weeks with the slogan, 'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.'...
Happy St Patrick’s Day
"Who am I, Lord, and what is my calling that you should co-operate with me with such divine power? Today, among the people, I praise and proclaim your name in all places, not only when things go well but also in times of stress. Whether I receive good or ill, I return...
The Frozen Chosen – The Vow of Celibacy
Very often I'm asked "Should priests be allowed to marry." "Only if they really love each other," I reply. It's an old joke in response to an increasingly popular question. The evangelical counsels or the vows, as they are popularly known, are seen by society at large...
Flash Mobs, Bacon and Religious Community
'Flash mobs,' said Fr. Jim, our resident artist and proud Kerryman. Thus started another lunchtime conversation in the community of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. We tend to follow a stream of consciousness approach to mealtime discussions, which is a polite...
Williams and Dawkins Debate
It was perhaps long overdue. The stage was set for a showdown between one of the greatest minds in the Church of England and Britain's most famous atheist. Some even pitched the event as a philosophical / theological Frazer and Ali type match. The subject of the...
Killinarden Youth Receive JP II Award
Fourteen young people from the Community School in Killinarden received the Bronze John Paul II Award last Friday week. Starting in January last year Emma Jane Hearst, Kevin McCabe, Ciara Walker, Samantha Byrne, Shannon Corcoran, Shauna Holt, Jodie Curtis, Amy Ford,...
Sean Moncrieff Surveys Irish Priests
Newstalk’s Moncrieff Show National Priest Survey 2012 Last week I got a hurried phone call from a friend to switch on Newstalk, because Sean Moncrieff was doing a show on priests in Ireland. My first reaction was not again! Sometimes you can script these programmes,...
Olympic Spirit
Olympic Spirit We are hearing a lot about the Olympics these days as London prepares to host the 2012 Games. But it would be a pity if we only focused on the fastest, strongest, best and brightest who will bring home gold! There is much more to it than that. On school...
Alternative Oscar Fashion
[youtube NnClOk-VWTg nolink] Oscar night is all about the stars and the fashion. But last Sunday night during the Oscars one of the people turning heads wasn't wearing Gucci or Dior. It wasn't the rapper Nicki Minaj either. It was Sr. Dolores Hart. It is a...