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There is “no greater mistake … than that of trying to make charity do the work of justice”. ~ William Jewett Tucker There are more philanthropists than ever before. Each year they give tens of billions to charitable causes. So how come inequality keeps rising? asks Paul Vallely in this recent Guardian Newspaper article – How philanthropy benefits the super ...

We share a common role as caretakers of God’s creation. Our well-being is interwoven with the well-being of all of creation. So we rejoice in this opportunity to care for our common home and for the sisters and brothers who share it with us. The Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios proclaimed September 1 as Creation Day for the Orthodox in 1989, followed ...

 …. we pray for all those in our world who are suffering from injustice: For those who are discriminated against because of their race, colour or religion; For those imprisoned for working for the relief of oppression; For those who are hounded for speaking the inconvenient truth; For those tempted to violence as a cry against overwhelming hardship; For those ...

Reading the recent insights shared by Pope Francis at his Wednesday Audience on August 19th, where he reminds us that we must always keep in mind the “preferential option for the poor.” He said: “This is not a political, ideological, or partisan option” … rather, “the preferential option for the poor is at the centre of the Gospel.”  He goes ...

It is past mid-summer.  Our lives seem in these days to be juxta-positioned as part of a profound and challenging landscape of suffering humanity. Perhaps we have never been so inter-connected and so interwoven into the lives of others by the very separation we endure in this COVID-19 environment, that it challenges us to love and care for the other ...

The Church has been celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) since 1914 as an occasion to express concern for different vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges; and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers.  Every year the WDMR is the last Sunday of September; in 2020 it ...

‘A quarantine of consumption’ – not my phrase but one that powerfully stayed with me from a recent article by Marcus Fairs  in dezeeen.com .  It was coined by Li Edelkoort in an interview – the full transcript of which is available in this link.  Edelkoort was born in the Netherlands in 1950 and is regarded as one of the ...

We are all too familiar with the existence and impact of the fast fashion industry (reflected in the prolific production and purchase of low quality clothes which need to be replaced more quickly to meet consumer demand).  This industry managed to entice us to embrace the so called ‘disposable clothing’ culture where the price of these garments never truly reflected ...

In Ireland story-telling is embedded in the culture of who we are.  As far back as we can remember there must have been story-telling and the sharing of ‘a good yarn’ in the dusk of an evening at the fire or in the coming together at the crossroads after a hard day’s work in the fields.  This seems even now ...

The genealogy of Jesus in Mathew 1:1 – 17 names only five women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary.  For centuries people have been intrigued by the inclusion of these diverse and often unorthodox women.  This online course offered by Mount St. Anne’s Retreat and Conference Centre is an opportunity to explore their individual stories through scripture and art, and ...