Pen to Prayer

By Father Frank Ryan OMI Why PrayThe New Testament is very much a a historical account of the life of Jesus, andthe pages hold records of over 38 miracles that benefitted thousands (loaves andfishes) of people. We see clearly Jesus’s empathy with the suffering and distressof ordinary people. He gives us hope when all other solutions have beenexhausted. Prayer is […]

By Father Frank Ryan OMI We seldom recognise the plank in our own eyes, and indeed as we look around the faults of other people can make us feel quite virtuous. So, no need to look hard at ourselves? When I was involved in the running of a hostel for young Irish men, who had been homeless, we noticed that […]

By Father Frank Ryan We refer to Confirmation as being a sacrament – a real encounter with the Divine. Sacraments give us strength for those stages in our life that bring identifiable challenges. The Apostles were given the power of the Holy Spirit as they were being sent to live and proclaim the message of the risen Christ. That same […]

The parish Priest of St. Joseph’s Catholic church, Colwyn Bay offers this reflection for our parishioners and the wider community.

Occasionally when I go into the hospital (Glan Clwyd) to visit some parishioners, I bump into Sheila Johnson. She is the R.C. Chaplain to the hospital, and is a parishioner at St. Mary’s, Rhyl.  I am extremely grateful for her dedicated service to the ill and indeed the dying in the hospital.  Trying to negotiate the frequent blockages on the […]

I always wondered why they called it ‘Good Friday’.  You look at the crucifix, and there depicted is the most horrible image of death that could be inflicted on a human being by the Roman empire.  Why should my desire to be justified require this kind of immolation?  What makes me worth it? Strange, how love and pain always seem […]

The mind of a child has the capacity to cut through the flotsam and jetsam of life and focus in a profound way on what is essential.  Their belief in God can not only be real but that conviction can be translated into feelings of confidence and acts of kindness.  Their sense of right and wrong can, when not tainted […]

The beautiful house that played such an important part in the life of the Ratzinger family is falling down. Situated in a beautiful part of Bavaria with the Alps as a background and Berchtesgaden just 33 miles away, it is in an idyllic part of the world. The house was built in 1726 and reflects the history and the culture […]

There were eight children in our family. We lived on the outskirts of Dublin and we were able to do a little farming to make ends meet.  My job was looking after the hens – all 72 of them.  I fed them, watered them, collected the eggs, and had a list of people who who would buy the eggs.  We […]

I well remember the 2002 referendum in Ireland on abortion. On the day before (5th March 2002) I was present at a meeting in which Cardinal Desmond O’Connell, leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, spoke to a gathering of Catholic School Administrators in St. Patrick’s Training College in Dublin. Addressing the subject of the Referendum he said “The referendum […]