Hour by hour countless munitions fall in an exchange of fearsome fire. Smoke erupts from shattered Buildings hanging through the orange glow of flame. This narrow strip of sea-edged land littered streets torn metal, broken brick, shattered tiles, lifeless forms. Costly retribution for a savage act, lost lives, wailing cries and threat of siege. This Read more
The café is a place where I not only find a drink and a croissant but also the convenience of somewhere to write. In so many ways, it has replaced the pub as a meeting place, a stop-off point for anyone and everyone to pause a while over a hot coffee, to read or have Read more
James Joyce once described Kingstown Pier as a “disappointed bridge”. Now known as Dun Laoghaire, it is also where most passenger ships arrive at and leave from Dublin both then and now. The idea of the Kingstown Pier as a disappointed bridge, unable to go all the way across the Irish Sea, says much about Read more
Whenever there is a matter of dispute in the modern-day Church, there is a tendency to ask what would be the opinion of those members of the Early Church? Those of you already familiar with the writing and teaching of Tom O’Loughlin, Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham, will welcome his Read more
The next assembly of the Synod of Bishops must take up the issue of mandatory priestly celibacy. Now is the time. Following the death of a good man, Bishop Edward Daly — who went to the Lord on August 8, 2016 –, there was an appreciation of his life published on the website of the Read more
We don’t ask enough questions. Sometimes that is because we feel we should know the answers and don’t wish to appear stupid. In fact, many others also wish to ask the same question but, for similar reasons we all keep our lips tightly closed. That is a pity, for being inquisitive is the start of Read more
Words are funny things. We all use them, with varying degrees of success, to communicate with each other. Sometimes when we use them in a careless or slipshod manner, their meaning becomes confused and misunderstandings easily occur. One such word is ‘critical’. Unfortunately, the tone of the word is often one-directional. It implies that something Read more