What does Easter mean for you? Is it just another of those feasts that turn up on the calendar charting the arrival of spring? Bringing in its wake hosts of golden daffodils fluttering and dancing in the breeze, as the famous poem says? Or does Easter have another deeper meaning in your life’s trajectory?

When we think of Easter at this time of time of year, with spring in the air and the end of winter we can be joyful. But it is also a feast that speaks of who God is and who we are. God who has died for us and we, his children who are so loved.

Here we are in Holy Week, on the cusp of Easter. In a sense, this final week of Lent is like that last final stretch of a marathon; we are nearly there and the end is in sight. Yet this is also the time when we might feel most tempted to give up on those resolutions we’ve set ourselves because…well it’s almost Easter.

About a month ago as I was making my way down to bed, I began tapping on my phone to set my alarm for the next morning. Suddenly the screen froze completely. Realising quickly that frantic continuation of the tapping wasn’t going to fix it anytime soon, I did what any good IT expert would do … turned it off and on again. Unfortunately, nothing.

It happens all of the time. We try not to let it bother us. We blame ourselves for not being where or who we think we should be in life by now. We feel left behind. On this episode, our guest Gobnait O'Grady reminds us that the “University of Life is our best qualification”.

I think it’s fair to say that over time we have grown apart from nature and what we sometimes forget is, we are part of it. Nature is not a place we visit or something we look at from afar: it is home. And with Spring edging closer, now is a perfect time to think about how we can connect to nature.

We are a storytelling nation. Perhaps it comes from the bardic tradition when stories were passed down from generation to generation. Novels tell stories and we all love them, especially those ones that contain the insatiable capacity to remain lodged in our memories long after dry facts have passed over us. Stories impact us because they embody life and tell us truths in an entertaining and unforgettable way.

We often think we are time-poor because we can be bad at time management or disorganised at times. Our guest speaker on this podcast episode, Maria Kilcommins, speaks with us about why this may not be the case and how oftentimes, it is technology that is at the root cause of our time deficits.

Walking through Dublin city centre on Ash Wednesday, I exchanged glances with a gentleman passing me on the footpath. Both of us were wearing ashes on our foreheads. It was a moment of connection, acknowledging each other's faith and observance of the holy day.

The earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010 was the most devastating natural disaster ever experienced in the country. In this episode, Denise O’Mahony describes her experience at the centre of a logistics operation to bring relief to a devastated people.

As a child, one of the first things I often heard people mention about Lent was to ask the question, “what are you giving up?” Random strangers or people who never seemed to talk about anything else to do with matters of faith, would suddenly speak about what they were ‘giving up.’ And the default was always chocolate and sweets!

It seems as though our world is in a constant state of flux. Everything has sped up in a way that forces our brains to deal with an unprecedented rate of change in almost every aspect of our lives; from family dynamics, to personal relationships, to our workplace or even the modus operandi of our work.

Perhaps you feel like you're skimming the surface of life or stuck in a rut ... from a Catholic perspective, it can be a very positive reality because renewing yourself is very much anchored in Christ.

2022 brought with it some great films and documentaries. Here are a list of our top-rated ones from the year just gone.

At this time of year, with Valentine’s Day just around the corner we may find our thoughts are turning to things romantic! Whether or not you’re a staunch believer in the usefulness of Valentine’s in promoting love and affection, or you simply think it’s another money making racket, it’s hard to ignore the cupid’s arrows, cuddly teddies and heart shaped confectionery. All the typical Valentine’s paraphernalia!

Thick in the trenches of parenting small children and balancing professional work, I’ve had my fair share of overwhelm over the years, and in quiet moments of prayer I’ve often thought does God really care about all this? Does any of this actually matter to Him? Do I really matter to Him?

When we think of boundaries we may think it sounds selfish. In this episode, we look at how boundaries are all about kindness to yourself and kindness to others. If setting boundaries hasn't worked for you in the past, maybe it is because you haven't given them a chance.

We set ourselves goals and resolutions for all kinds of areas in our life: ways we want to improve personally or professionally. These are great things to do. But perhaps we could also reflect on the ways in which we can have a positive impact on the world we live in. After all, the way we live has consequences for everyone around us.

Sometimes I ask myself the question: am I happy to live an ordinary, normal life? To be an ordinary person? Happiness, defined as “an emotional state characterised by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment and fulfilment”, is something I think we’re all after.

January is without doubt the time of renewal and fresh starts. When we think of January we think of resolutions and plans, objective and goals. Most of us have an idea of the things we want to do, or the ways in which we want to better ourselves. Whether it’s a change in diet, a new fitness regime, or a new skill we want to acquire.