Let us love silence and recollection. When we are at home with silence we are at home with God. Silence seems impossible to busy people. But “silence of the heart”, interior silence, is always possible. COMMENT: We live in a noisy world. And that “noise” is made all the louder by the ever present reality of smartphones and social media. This is especially problematic for young people whose concentration spans …
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December 9, 2017
Holiness and perfection depend on yourself, not on the actions of others. COMMENT: How easy it is for us to blame others, or the circumstances of our lives, for our own lack of holiness. Yes, we may live or work with annoying and frustrating people, but there is always a choice on our part to control our annoyance or frustration. We may have many distractions to our work and to …
November 16, 2017
The children’s book “Man of the People: Fr William Doyle SJ” will be launched next Thursday, November 9, at 6pm in Stillorgan Library, Dublin. The launch will be launched by the historian and writer Tim Pat Coogan. All welcome.
October 31, 2017
The Fruit of the First Week: I realise in a way I never did before that God created me for His service, that He has a strict right that I should serve Him perfectly, and that every moment of my life is His and given to me for the one end of praising and serving Him. I recalled with horror how often I have wandered from this my end, what …
October 18, 2017
Ronan McGreevy writes today’s Irishman’s Diary column about Fr Doyle. It is an excellent tribute to Fr Doyle. Ronan launched my book To Raise the Fallen last night. I am very grateful to him for this. I shall post his speech later. Photo of the article below, and below that a link to a more reader-friendly online version. One small point – while Alfred O’Rahilly was an ex-Jesuit, he was …
August 11, 2017
August 9, 2017
Venerable Fr John Sullivan SJ, who will be beatified on Saturday We continue our reflections on the life of Fr John Sullivan who will be beatified this coming Saturday in Dublin. He was ordained with Fr Doyle on 28 July 1907 and his beatification is of direct relevance to this blog. His beatification is an important good news story for all of the Church here in Ireland which has suffered …
May 10, 2017
A kind word goes far. I stopped to say a few words to a group of men at a street corner in Kinsale, and as I walked away, I heard one of the men say to his companions: “Wasn’t it kind of him to speak to us? He’s a grand man entirely!” COMMENT: Jesus tells us that we shall be known as His disciples by the love we have for …
January 30, 2017
“My yoke is sweet” (Matthew 11. 30). The service of God, the whole-hearted generous service of God, is full of a sweetness hidden from the world. Beneath the rough garb of the monk or the holy nun’s coarse garment there is hidden more real happiness, more true peace and contentment than poor wordlings have ever known or dreamt of. Sweet is the yoke, light the burden of the Lord. COMMENT: …
November 23, 2016
Sometimes God seems to leave me to my weakness and I tremble with fear. At other times I have so much trust and confidence in his loving protection that I could almost sit down on a bursting shell feeling I could come to no harm. You would laugh, or perhaps cry, if you saw me at this moment sitting on a pile of bricks and rubbish. Shells are bursting some …
May 6, 2016