Getting older is about to get a lot tougher if a recent article in The Irish Times is to be believed According to bureaucrats politicians and social scientists in Japan the latest phenomenon to become worried about is the problem of how to handle the increasing growth of what is called the ldqu

The long wait is over The greatly anticipated encyclical letter of Pope Francis that has been the topic for much discussion and speculation for well over a year has now been published The encyclical on the environment is now available for the entire world to see read ponder mdash and most importa

Catholicism has untold numbers of saints and many of them are beloved It is only right that in a ldquo universal church rdquo that this should be so sanctity and holiness are not the exclusive property of a few and the seemingly exponential variety and kinds of sainthood there is offers great ho

It was all so beautiful heartbreaking and sad the haunting drones of the Celtic bagpipes the slow procession of a grieving family behind the casket of the loved one the packed church with over 1 000 people gathered together in the solidarity of sorrow the comfort of the familiar prayers and th

There is that old refrain mdash or retort mdash from childhood that is usually said upon instances of bullying or teasing ldquo Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me rdquo Unfortunately when it comes to the reality of living in the Holy Land mdash specifically Israe

In our daily lives we often find ourselves immune to the constant parade of images voices and ldquo opinions rdquo which cumulatively make up the background ldquo noise rdquo of our existence We become jaded from having to deal with the complexity as well as the enormity of things and situati

Much of the world rsquo s attention was riveted recently with the referendum on marriage equality that was held in Ireland the events of which were blanketed on the front pages of newspapers everywhere and covered extensively on radio and television and all the social media But there was another e

The next time you are about to throw out that half-eaten container of fast-food take-out consider these facts about one-third of the world rsquo s food production and consumption nbsp systems either gets lost or wasted mdash that comes to about 1 3 billion tons the value of which comes to the as

We have many teachers in our lives and I remember my first one very well She has always been very special to me and encouraged me in every way As she taught she did so with great patience and fortitude and with an equally great and fervent faith not only in her charge mdash me mdash but also in

As this is being written the general election of 2015 will have been concluded in Britain the voters will have cast their votes and a long night will await those who have campaigned incessantly in the five-week period leading up to this day It will be a very long night for those whose lifeblood i