In Ireland today we hear and see a lot of homelessness, and many times we come across homeless and poor people. In my former Parish in Borris the Parochial House was right beside the church on the main street and I would have got many callers to the house asking for money and many people […]

Story told of this wealthy person who lived in Scottish Highlands, he was richly endowed with worldly goods. Stately mansion, overlooking a beautiful valley.  There was a basic emptiness in his life. He had no religious beliefs; he was possessed by his possessions. At the entrance to his estate lived his herdsman, John. John was […]

The gospel today gives us three classic parables of Jesus, each one exploring the notion, which is at the heart of the spiritual life, namely that God is the one who searches for us. Today we speak a lot about searching for God but the Bible speaks to us about Gods quest for us. The […]

Discipleship is a costly business. We all know too well that to be a follower of Christ in the world today is a daunting task; sufferings, trials, temptations will be our constant companions. But Jesus never hid this fact from us; look at today’s gospel. Many times we would be tempted to say: ‘God I […]

Some time ago in Florida the Manager of the Miami Dolphins American Football team, Don Shula was on holidays with his family in Maine. One day as it was raining he decided to go to a movie with his wife and five children. There was only six other people present when he went into the […]

One of the questions that often baffle (puzzle) us is; where is God? We all remember the answer of the catechism; God is everywhere. There are many ways of meeting God. We can find God in the world, we can find God in ourselves, and we can find God in our neighbour. To meet God […]

Christ sent his disciples out to help him reap the harvest. In the past we left this to the specialists, priests, nuns and religious, but we are acutely aware now that this mission is for all of us. The people Christ sent out weren’t specialists. Yet they became his instruments. The Lord asks us to […]

One of the great paradoxes of Christianity is how can we reconcile the fact that Christ has called us to be free (as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading) and at the same time Catholicism demands such high standards from us? Many people see the rules, commandments and regulations of Jesus and the […]

The feast day we are celebrating today has often been called the preachers nightmare. What can you say about the Holy Trinity? Saint Augustine, one of the greatest intellectual saints spent many years trying to understand the mystery of God. One day he was walking along the beach he saw a little boy digging a […]

We come to the great feast of Pentecost, the great feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit strengthens us in 3 different ways: In our relationship with Jesus. We all have our heroes in sporting world, in the music world, in politics or history, etc. These are figures we admire but […]