Luna is very unsettled this evening. She has looked at me a few times as if to say I’m way too old for hurricanes. I have tried to explain this is Ophelia and that she will come and go but the truth of the matter is I am not sure myself whether this frenzied whipping of trees and mad dance of leaves is the beginning of Ophelia or her end. My poor boxer dog is bewildered by the Read more…
I was first in Medjugorje in the days between Christmas 2001 and the Feast of the Epiphany 2002. It was very cold and the snow was deep and packed tight on the roads and pathways. Despite the fact that several people have expressed doubt about much snow in the village of Medjugorje whatever about the surrounding hilltops, I actually have a very vivid memory of that trip. Whilst the cold was severe I remember well it’s Christmas-card beauty. My Read more…
I first met him when I was very young. I did not know then that he was such a spoilsport and I certainly did not know he was such a robber. As I grew up I began to realise that he was very strong, very powerful. Whilst I do not believe in giving into regret and the pointlessness of ‘what if’, I do still marvel at the influence I allowed him to have on my life. I think Read more…
Many years ago when I was teaching, one Friday after school, around five o’clock, I encountered a few senior students sitting in the Common Room talking about things they might do during the summer. They had been discussing travelling around Europe, and at the point I arrived they were debating the importance of travelling companions. During this brief exchange they asked me about the idea of travelling alone versus travelling with others and I said that in my experience Read more…
I was brought up on movies. Actually the movies are in my genes. I have the world of films in my blood. Now before you go wondering what great acting dynasty do I belong to, let me explain. My mother went from school to work in the ticket office in the old Broadway cinema on the Falls road in Belfast. This is back before omniplex and multi screen and 3D. It was when they were called picture houses. At Read more…
Do you ever feel fed up? Does the sameness of life get you down? Do you feel sometimes that you have nothing to look forward to? Does this feeling sometimes get worse and it’s like you are dragging yourself along? It’s more drudgery than dance, more enduring than enjoying. I do not mean clinical depression which obviously requires your doctors input. Indeed if you feel you may be depressed you should not neglect it and make that appointment. No Read more…
This week in the ‘Rumblings’ I want to share with you a letter I wrote to the veteran broadcaster, Vincent Browne, on his retirement. It was published in The Examiner and featured on ‘It says in the papers’. I have added a few comments for your prayerful consideration at the end of the original letter. MISSING YOU ALREADY VINCENT (A JOB OFFER) Dear Vincent, You were hardly gone and I was missing you. Many a night I Read more…
I guess most of us know how a long and tedious wait or a monotonous journey can be shortened by good company. Sometimes that good company can be hard to find. Now whilst I have often discussed the importance of sacred silence and the ability to spend time on one’s own, I want to reflect a little today on the impact of the people in whose company we spend much of our time. From the outset can I say Read more…
It must be over twenty years ago since I first heard the phrase ‘the redundant sacrament’ and I hope I am correct in attributing it to the theologian Monika Hellwig. It refers of course to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or more popularly, Confession. Now, if it was true back then that this Sacrament had fallen on hard times, then it is certainly true today. My contention is that the neglect of confession by all of us, and I specifically Read more…