New Year Plea to End War
Statement from the Association of Catholic Priests 31 Dec 2023 The reality of the war in Gaza continuing right through Christmas must have been somewhere in the minds of most…
Month: December 2023
Chris McDonnell: No Room at the Inn
No room at the inn Then plenty of straw. And contented stock. A woman in blue a man leaning on a staff, well-lit, neat and tidy with a baby wrapped…
Presider’s Page for 31 December (Holy Family)
On this first Sunday after Christmas Day, we honour the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We entrust our families to their patronage, and pray for all who have been part of our families, those still alive and those whom we hope have joined the great family of God in heaven.
Séamus Ahearne: ‘Cut from the green hedge a forked hazel stick; That he held right by the arms of the V: Circling the terrain, hunting the pluck; Of water, nervous, but professionally.’ The Diviner (Seamus Heaney).
DELIRIUM: There is something mysterious and delightful about Stephen’s Day. Boxing Day. The old phrase from the distant past comes back: It is a ‘Dies Non.’ In the usual hurly…
Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church Bethlehem, Saturday, December 23rd, 2023 – Christ Under the Rubble
A Liturgy of Lament (full transcript below) Link to Rev Munther Isaac’s sermon: We are angry… We are broken… This should have been a time of joy; instead, we are…
Jim Cogley: Reflections (Based on Christmas Homily) Tues 26 Dec-Mon 1 Jan
Greetings to you all and hope you had a lovely Christmas. In response to some emails requests received for a copy of the Christmas Homily I have edited it slightly in order…
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS 2023
FROM THE ACP LEADERSHIP TEAM With the divinest word, the VirginMade pregnant, down the roadComes walking, if you’ll grant herA room in your abode.John of the Cross Thank you for…
Séamus Ahearne: Who can disbelieve a world drenched in miracle?
(Pádraig Daly – Glimpsing More) Christmas is busy; is full of memories; is childlike; is friendship-shared; is a bridging feast in winter; is nostalgic; is a packed church; is a…
Brendan Hoban: Powerful forces stir within us at Christmas
19.12.2023 Christmas is, well, Christmas. It demands our attention. It insists that we defer – even if only once a year – to liturgies, religious and personal, that we sense…
Jo O’Sullivan: Running Community Events in a Parish
There was a time when the Parish Priest oversaw/ ran all activities that had the name “Parish” in their titles. Pastorally-minded priests recognised that church, a COMMUNITY of faith, involved…
Chris McDonnell: No place is safe.
As the days and weeks roll by and the television images seem to repeat themselves, it is all too easy for our senses to become numb. From the first hours…
Presider’s Page for 23/24 December (Fourth Sunday of Advent)
Presider’s Page for 23/24 December (Fourth Sunday of Advent)
The Association of Catholic Priests Welcomes Fiducia Supplicans
Press Release 22 Dec 2023 The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) warmly welcomes the recent Vatican declaration, Fiducia Supplicans, from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, allowing priests…
Richard Rohr: Today’s Daily Meditation is ONEderful…
Mini Incarnations of Christ Franciscan sister Ilia Delio focuses on the theology of the incarnation and the universal nature of the Christ mystery: The Christian message is that God has…
Eddie Finnegan: The Curse of being a Chosen People with a Promised Land
In May 2019 myself and the wife got to Palestine. Well, not quite. We got to Israel, with a few deviations around Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and an hour in Palestinian…
Tony Flannery: A Different Christmas this Year.
Yesterday’s evening prayer from the Breviary contained Psalm 123 which I have recited thousands of times, but in the present situation it takes on a new and more somber resonance:…
Jim Cogley: Reflections Tues 19th Dec – Mon 25th Dec
Contributor (19th -23rd) Tessa Gallagher UK Tue 19th Dec – Creation I have spent a great deal of time trying to get a handle on God, to understand God. I…
Doctrinal declaration opens possibility to bless couples in irregular situations
Vatican News reports: With the Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, approved by Pope Francis, it will be possible to bless same-sex couples…
Seán Ó Conaill: GAA Referees, Status Anxiety and Suffering Servants
‘Forming a union might be the only move GAA referees have left’ declared Malachy Clerkin in the Irish Times on Sat 16 December – on foot of a frantic last-ditch…
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