Nano Nagle was a prophet of love. Her dying words were: “Love one another as you have hitherto done”. Nano Nagle died on Monday 26 April 1784 aged 65 years. Her vision is still relevant Nano Nagle is not a figure confined to the past but someone whose vision is as relevant today as it was in her own time.  ...

Just recently, on 7th April 2025, the  McGrath Institute for Church Life generously shared a presentation by the Erik Varden, the Bishop of Trondheim, Norway, on “Living with Wounds: The Passion in Theology and in Our Lives”.* In the course of his talk, Bishop Erik said: As Christians we are called to freedom, and to the fullness of joy, and ...

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better ...

This particular Urbi et Orbi prayer (2020) and blessing by Pope Francis were a beacon of hope, a reminder that even when everything seemed dark, God never abandons us. Do not be afraid! Five years later, that moment remains vivid in the Church’s memory. The image of the Pope in the rain, walking with a serene step, has become a ...

Pope Francis has released his message for the 62nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which falls this year on May 11, 2025. Entitled “Pilgrims of Hope: The Gift of Life,” the Pope’s message recalls that every vocation—be it to ordained ministry, consecrated life, or the laity—should offer the world a sign of God’s hope for every person. The Holy ...

St. Joseph teaches us to see and care for the those people overlooked by the world.  Jesus went in search of sinners, the suffering, the hungry, and the poor, while he walked the earth, and he continues to go to the “peripheries” in our lives.  God knows the peripheries of our heart, the peripheries of our soul, the peripheries of our ...

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches this year with all the blessings and celebrations that it brings, we give thanks for the life of St. Patrick and the seeds of God’s presence that were sown here in the challenging social and historical landscape of  (c. 385 – c. 461) Ireland. However, Patrick’s life still speaks in our times. Patrick’s life  journey ...

The Christmas of our lives is beginning again and again, in each moment, as we rediscover Jesus with us at each unfolding. Each moment a realisation, a one-off event of welcome and joy to this Divine Presence – God with us always.  Once born amongst us, the seemingly ordinary events take on a resonance and light far beyond ourselves if ...

The early annals of the Presentation Congregation record that the Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple was the date chosen by Nano in 1782, to receive two young women into the novitiate. Nano’s choice of this day for this ceremony, indicates that this Feast had a special place in her spirituality. Following Nano’s death, her fledging Congregation continued to ...

Pope Francis’ three-year consultation on the future of the Catholic Church concluded on October 26, outlining the challenges and proposing ways for all the baptised to be involved in mapping the path ahead.  Part five of the Final Document “So I Send You”, “allows us to look at the first step to be taken: caring for the formation of all, of ...