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Western People 14.1.2025 Some years ago on a bracing sunny day I visited Auschwitz concentration camp on the outskirts of Krakow in Poland, where more than a million Jewish men,…

Sarah Mac Donald A parish priest’s appeal to the country’s bishops to issue one standardised guideline on funeral eulogies that can be applied consistently in every diocese has been ruled…

My mother grew up in Ennistymon which is in Kilfenora diocese. Except Kilfenora diocese hadn’t really existed for over two centuries having merged with Galway diocese. She enjoyed sharing memories…

Tues 21st Jan – The Power of Words Not so long ago in postings we looked at the power of words to create our reality. This is a theme worth…

THE NEWS: Romi Goner, Doron Steinbrecher, Emily Damari were released. 90 Palestinians were let out. The bombing stopped. The sheer awfulness of that war is frightening. The lack of proportionality…

Here’s the Thing! “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” (Matt 6: 6) Unseen – but there for…

The Word of God is the focus this Sunday, read by Ezra the priest in the Old Testament reading, and by Jesus in the Gospel. By his Word, God reassures…

The 2nd  Sunday Ordinary Time. The title is ‘Stretched’:  

With the backdrop of recent environmental crises like flooding in Spain and fires in Los Angeles, what does care for creation mean for parish communities in Ireland?  How can faith…

Western People 7.1. 2025 When America sets a headline (the wisdom goes) in jig-time Europe tends to follow. Not in everything, thank God. While the United States looks forward to…

Pope Francis’ widely-anticipated autobiography ‘Hope’ hits bookshelves in 80 countries this Jubilee, and includes narrated memories, anecdotes, photos, and elements offered personally to readers. By Deborah Castellano Lubov Pope Francis’…

Taken from Conversations, vol. 2, no. 1, January-February 2025. Used with permission. www.dominicanpublications.com

Each service is recorded and available on ourladysisland.ie or Church Services. A seminar entitled:  Getting the Past out of the Present – Healing our Damaged Emotions facilitated by Jim Cogley…

For two centuries, after the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, the Irish people were persecuted for their loyalty to Catholicism as the British State converted to various forms of Protestantism….

Irish Mail Fri 10 Jan 2025 Tony Flannery on RTÉ’s Drivetime Thurs 9 Jan 2025: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22479408 The Tablet magazine: https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/nuns-vilified-but-afraid-to-challenge-unjust-portrayal-say-irish-priests Tony Flannery on Radio Kerry https://www.radiokerry.ie/podcasts/kerry-today/are-nuns-unfairly-vilified-january-9th-2025-416515

Gerry O’Connor CSsR and ACP leadership – Sunday homily on the Baptism of the Lord, 2025 – ‘Leaven’. Link:

John (Hans) Wijngaards, (30 September 1935 – 2 January 2025) Check link for tribute: https://mailchi.mp/9e8bf7cb69d8/sad-news?e=3c5cccd6ee

Association of Catholic Priests The ACP critical of the way Nuns are being portrayed 8 January 2025 For the past two centuries nuns (sisters) educated people in their schools, and…

The ACP wishes to bring to your notice that Marie Keenan is standing in the forthcoming Irish Seanad elections, one of twelve candidates in the NUI constituency. Full list: https://www.nui.ie/elections/seanadelection2025/candidatesprofiles_2025.asp Marie…