Some Lessons from a Grand Slam Victory I know we have some Irish rugby fans among those who read this blog. Ireland secured a grand slam victory over England on Saturday 18th March, much to the delight of the home fans in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. A grand slam is secured after 5 consecutive victories […]
Speaking Out on Controversies The news story that has dominated the headlines over the past 5 days or so was the reaction to a tweet posted by the sports presenter, Gary Lineker. The tweet was critical of the government’s policy and language towards migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. It compared the language used to some […]
The Transformation Effect I found myself in tears after catching up on the final episode of this season of one of my favourite television shows. It’s on RTE and it runs for 8 weeks every year from about January to March and it’s called ‘Operation Transformation.’ Every year, many people around the country apply to go […]
Bosses Last week, I paid a flying visit to Dublin for a surprise birthday party to honour one of my former training rectors. He had a significant birthday and I was invited, alongside many of his former colleagues and parishioners, to honour Canon Desmond Sinnamon and his lovely wife, Jennifer. I think it would be […]
The Challenge of Lent Tomorrow marks the beginning of the season of Lent. For many people around the world it will be just another Wednesday with whatever Wednesday involves in their particular context. For Followers of Jesus, Lent marks the beginning of a journey, a 40 day journey in which they try to connect into […]
When awful things happen It was on Monday around lunchtime I heard the terrible news about the earthquake which had struck Turkey and Syria early on Monday morning. The earthquake and subsequent aftershocks were felt in neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel and Palestine. As I write, the death toll has risen to more than 5,000 […]
Celebrating Good News Last week I found myself in an unfamiliar part of town whilst I was getting Vicky’s car serviced. The garage told me it would take a couple of hours, so I had brought a book, but I decided to go for a walk for part of the time. As I walked along […]
Some Lessons from Invincable Fitness I wonder if you have ever heard an item on the radio or the television that completely blew you away with its inspirational content? Earlier this week I had to travel to a meeting in Dublin and, on my return journey, I tuned into an afternoon radio show on RTE […]
Encouraging one another Last week I had the opportunity to speak with one of the ladies’ groups in the church where I work. I was invited to share some reflections on leading a church through a season of pandemic. It brought back a lot of memories as I thought about those days. I was remembering […]
New Awakenings I caught the end of a fascinating interview on the radio recently. A young man described his training in the fields of business and information technology. He never had a problem securing employment, but found after some years his work wasn’t really fulfilling. His mental health began to suffer and he was invited […]