Fr. Paddy's Blog

These posts and more are also available on Portlaoise Parish website.

Some Spiritual Tips for New Year 2022

The best resolutions are elastic, they cannot be broken with a single act. If you swear never to touch red meat, one burger ruins the resolution. If, on the other […]

Happy New Year

A new year is here! This means new beginnings, new journeys and new resolutions. The New Year is often seen as an opportunity to improve ourselves or what we have, […]

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This has been a tough year. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect all our lives. The scriptures tell us that after their visit to the new-born Saviour in Bethlehem, the […]

Let The Light Shine

At this time, every year, we hear these words from Scripture: ‘The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light’. Familiar words indeed, and easily left unheeded. But […]

‘O Holy Night continues to inspire hope and comfort.’

The gun should never have been left lying around in the first place. Making the carelessness even worse was that it was loaded. With two unsupervised eight-year-old boys messing with […]

First Week of Advent

Christmas seems to arrive now by the start of November and ends on Christmas day. In a secular culture the  season of Advent, a time of waiting is certainly counter-cultural. […]

Christ The King

This week, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, we are called to work with this King. And this King is the one who dies on the cross, rises […]

COP26

The two young ladies were noisy. Vinisha Umashankar and Greta Thunberg. Vinisha said: “We’ll build the future, even if you are stuck in the past. I’m not just a girl […]

Overcoming Phobias

Many situations in this pandemic world present themselves as almost impossible: coping with stress, keeping going under pressure, addressing tough health issues, coping with death (our own and others) and […]

November- A Time to Remember

Halloween did not come from Hollywood but rather its origins are strongly connected to ancient Celtic roots. In Celtic Ireland, about two millennia ago, Samhain was the point between the […]

In The Name of God

Pope Francis, in a keynote address to the popular movements, a group that includes activists working on a wide variety of justice causes, called for a universal basic income and […]

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One key biblical image is that of building solid foundations, making a dramatic distinction between building on rock as opposed to on sand (Matthew 7:24-27). The point of foundations is […]

Leave The Phone At Home

“God brings forth His Son in thee, whether thou likest it or not, whether thou sleepest or wakest; God worketh His own will. That man is unaware of it is […]

Feast of St. Francis

This week we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis. St. Francis is among the most beloved and most familiar of all the saints of western Christianity. He remains as popular […]

Wisdom of Life

George Carlin at age 102, offered the following  wisdom that is deeply relevant for us all. If you don’t read this to the very end, you have lost a day […]

Harvest Thanksgiving….. A Time for Justice

Perhaps this harvest time is an opportunity for us all, to acknowledge the fruits that we all have in the depth of our being. Fruits that take a lot of […]