Tag: Fr Paddy

The two young ladies were noisy. Vinisha Umashankar and Greta Thunberg. Vinisha said: “We’ll build the future, even if you are stuck in the past....

Recent research shows that levels of mental illness, anxiety, and depression are at an all-time high, especially among younger people. I recently came across these...

Time seems to be flying by. It’s hard to believe that August has arrived so quickly!! I pray that this wonderful Season of hope,...

I was really disappointed for so many children and families who again were prohibited from celebrating baptisms, communions and confirmations. Our churches continue to be...

Pope Francis often refers to the “Poison of Gossip”. Passing on bad news is negative and toxic. The more at peace we are within ourselves,...

The movie The Elephant Man tells the true story of John Merrick. Merrick was born in the slums of England in 1862, and almost...

Peace of mind is a feeling of being safe or protected - it is the absence of worry. It’s achieving a calm state of mind...

The celebration of the Ascension of our Lord into Heaven is an important feast. It brings with it both promise and hope. These days...

Mary Robinson has joined more than 150 former heads of state and Nobel laureates in signing an open letter to US president Joe Biden...

I am greatly inspired by the life of young Cathal Clooney Abbeyleix. His recent death has left an enormous void to his wonderful family. Cathal...

Tommy Tiernan has inched ahead of Ryan Tubridy in the battle for RTÉ’s weekend viewers after his most recent show clocked up 12,000 more...

“He is not here, he is risen”, is the signal message which the women receive as they make their way to anoint the dead...

Will we ever forget last St Patrick’s day? Lockdown had just began, we faced a very uncertain future. Most of us felt frightened and anxious....

Students and staff of a Laois Special School are delighted to be back in their normal routine of going to school. So says Fr Paddy...

He carries a rosary in his pocket, one that belonged to his dead son, Beau. On Election Day, he went to Mass, as he...

On the anniversary of St Francis of Assisi’s death, Pope Francis celebrates Mass before the Saint’s tomb and signed his Encyclical “Fratelli tutti”. Pope Francis,...

Upon his election in March 2013, Pope Francis said: 'Some people want to know why I wished to be called Francis. For me, Francis...

A woman, pushing on in years, boasted to her pastor that she did not have an enemy in the world. He was very impressed. What...

I have a recurring dream, it centres itself around my leaving cert. I find myself sitting my history exam and not having a clue of...

You don’t just wake up one morning, light streaming in from the window, birds fluttering about, and jump from your bed with exuberance declaring...

Jack Charlton’s recent death left many deeply saddened. An iconic personality, that won the hearts of the Irish people. He made people believe in themselves....

I was moved by Brendan O Connor’s interview with Brent Pope recently. Brent spoke of his reflective-time during the lockdown. He thought of his mother...

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ireland have launched a new study, Protection with Dignity: Roadmap to System Change, which identifies necessary steps for system change...

Our world screams out for poetry even if it can’t cope with it. Faith can only exist in a world of poetry. God is always...

These days all of us are confronted with situations which seem confusing and contradictory and we wonder where we are going and what the...

This Sunday we celebrate together the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, celebrating the moment when forty days after His Resurrection, our Lord...

Living through this pandemic, coping with isolation whilst managing our mental health is undoubtedly a challenge. It is completely normal to be feeling overwhelmed and...

How can we use this time wisely? Perhaps the best use of time right now is, as Jesus said, to love one another. In times...

Who says that Christ is not Risen this year? When in fact he is dressed in a blue gown in green and white in our...

On Ash Wednesday we were reminded of our frailty, when we received ash on our foreheads. And we were advised by Jesus in the Gospel...