Is it right to fear God? What is the difference between a destructive fear and a “holy trepidation”? An Advent homily by Fr Stephen Wang: Look around you at the chapel walls. Look at the […]
Faith
World Mental Health Day: how can the Catholic Church offer pastoral support to those who need it?
Mental Health and the Christian response: personal reflections from a Catholic layperson: World Mental Health Day is coming this Saturday, 10th October. The theme this year is Dignity. Thinking about this from a Catholic perspective, […]
How to find Christ as you begin the new academic year
Thoughts for Catholic students as they begin the academic year: finding the positive behind the apparent negative in the bible and the Christian faith; the real reasons for coming to church; the joy of the […]
The merciful heart of a priest
A beautiful sermon by Fr Francesco Donega, about Christ’s mercy and the merciful heart of one of his priests: Fr Tony Sacré, whose Requiem took place on Monday: Two or three days before his death […]
St Maximillian Kolbe
So often the saints we read about were men and women of old. Today’s Saint Maximillian Kolbe is a relative modern Saint. Canonized in 1982 by Pope John Paul II – his life makes fascinating […]
St John-Baptiste-Marie Vianney: the Cure of Ars
If you’ve ever had a child suffer with difficulties at school then St John Vianney is the Saint for you. Born in Dardilly, near Lyon in France on 8th May 1786, John was a child […]
St Ignatius of Loyola
The Catholic Church is made up of so many men and women who started out a far cry from God but who then developed a deep passionate love for him. St. Ignatius Loyola was just […]
Proclaim ’15: A personal perspective
I wasn’t sure what to expect at Proclaim ’15 last weekend in Birmingham. Having been recently to the HTB Leadership Conference and having attended evangelical Catholic conferences like the St John Bosco conference in Steubenville, Ohio, I wondered how […]
Summer events for young Catholics
A few random summer events for young Catholics in the UK. Please add any other ideas into the comments below. EVANGELIUM CONFERENCE, 30 July to 2 August Set in the beautiful grounds of the Oratory […]
The power of the Holy Spirit in our lives
The fourth film in the Sycamore programme is now available to view and download, on the topic “The Holy Spirit in our lives”. For information about how to use this film visit here. For more […]
Ten Reasons to Use ‘Transformed in Christ’ for your Confirmation Programme (Part 2)
(The first part of this post can be found here.) 6. The methodology of each session aims towards conversion. As I’ve written countless times on this blog (just do a search for “methodology”), method is […]
Ten Reasons to Use ‘Transformed in Christ’ for your Confirmation Programme (Part 1)
I’ve been asked a lot recently about what I think about other Confirmation programmes on the market, and why a Confirmation group should use Transformed in Christ. Let me first of all say, there are some other […]
Vocation discernment weekend for Catholic women
This is from the Society of the Sacred Heart: For single Catholic women. Weekends of prayer, discussion, reflection, community… a time to ask questions, find out more… a time to be with others on a […]
Dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness: the meaning of Easter
Happy Easter, everyone! I hope your celebration of the Triduum was blessed… For me, I was back for a few days at Fisher House – the university chaplaincy in Cambridge, and for three years, my second […]
Can catechesis get in the way of making disciples? (Part 2)
(You can find Part 1 of this post here.) In the last post, I suggested there are two ways that catechesis can get in the way of making disciples. First, I wrote about how catechesis can […]
Thinking about death
It’s often said that in our Western culture we hide from the reality of death. The more puzzling and worrying thing is that we seem so uninterested in what awaits us beyond death. A homily […]
An argument for having Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in every parish
I’m reading a book by Fr Vincent Martin Lucia called Come to Me in the Blessed Sacrament, which is one of the spiritual books that Blessed Mother Teresa recommended to her sisters, and which she carried […]
I arise today
Happy St Patrick’s Day! Here is the beautiful prayer attributed to St Patrick. I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness […]
God’s thirst for us
Yes, we thirst for God. As St Augustine wrote, Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. But part of the mystery revealed in Jesus Christ is that God thirsts for us as well. […]
Catching up…
The past month has been non-stop can’t-catch-your-breath activity, and this weekend, I’ve been relishing getting caught up with “normal life”. All of this has been good and exciting, but how much we also need ordinary life, our home, normality. […]
Seven reasons not to go to confession
A homily about the Sacrament of Penance, including some thoughts about: the connection between the Transfiguration and confession; confession as a personal encounter with the Lord; confession as an “Apocalyptic Event”; 7 reasons not to […]
