Fr. Paddy's Blog

It is quite amazing that we who have faith and believe we will live forever can sometimes allow ourselves to be influenced or contaminated by the unspiritual viewpoint of western culture. We could have heaven on earth, but sometimes we create hell on earth. So many carry the burden and mental exhaustion of living hectic lives that fail to nourish

November 2017 is a time to remember all our loved ones who have gone before us. Death is that challenging confrontation that reminds us “We are only here for a short time”. Death points us to mystery. A Christian proclamation, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again”.

As millions of children and adults participate in the fun

Housing is perhaps the greatest challenge this government faces. The chronic lack of social housing coupled with rising house prices intensifies the issue of growing homelessness. In recent years four Government housing strategies, addressing this crisis seems to have failed to bring solution to this real issue felt by too many citizens in this Republic. In a statement on Tuesday

In a growing secular world it seems much more cool to do mindfulness as opposed to pray. Last week the minister of education announced huge funding for training teachers in the art of mindfulness for their future students to partake in. My Sense is that  mindfulness empties our minds of clutter, a process of deleting what’s blocking us from entering

This week Portlaoise bid farewell to a wonderful friend of this town; Hesh McCormack. One of his many gifts was his love of poetry. The following poem written by Hesh reflected on his mortality. As we journey through October we encounter nature dying, leaves falling, land lying fallow, a time of the year when nature reflects our human mortality. His

Harvest is from the Anglo-Saxon word hærfest, “Autumn”. It then came to refer to the season for reaping and gathering grain and  other grown products. The full moon nearest the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon. So in ancient traditions Harvest Festivals were traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon. This moon is the full

The passing of Bernard Fitzpatrick from our faith community leaves a large loss, not just to his beloved family and friends but to so many who were inspired by his life. Bernard was small in stature but a giant when it came to the abundance of Christian values he personified throughout his Seventy Five years of life. A life, that

Recent extreme weather highlights how vulnerable humanity is in the context of climate. Pope Francis has warned the recent spate of hurricanes should prompt people to understand that humanity will “go down” if it does not address climate change and history will judge those who deny the science on its causes.

He also chastised politicians who doubt man-made climate change,