“He himself is our peace “ (Eph 2:14). As we celebrate Christmas Day, we welcome the Child Jesus and realize that as St Paul says, He, in person, is our peace. In unison with the prayer of the Prelate of Opus Dei we confidently implore our newborn Saviour for the gift of peace in the world, in the Church, in our families and in our hearts. A meditation by Fr Donncha O hAodha.

The Immaculate Conception helps us prepare our hearts to welcome Jesus as Mary did. She shows us how God comes close to us and dwells within us. A meditation by Fr Pat Gorevan.

In the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent, Jesus instructs his listeners to stay awake. We must approach the coming feast of the Nativity of Christ with a spirit of wakeful vigilance – fostering an interior recollectedness even if externally we are surrounded by premature celebrations of Christmas.

As we look on, apparently helpless, as terrible wars take place in the Ukraine and in Israel, the Feast of All Saints reminds that, in the words of St Josemaria, "these world crises are crises of saints".

The life and ministry of St John Paul II was immensely fruitful because he was steeped in the mystery of Christ the Redeemer of man. We can thank God for the great gift of St John Paul and we can imitate his immersion in Christ our Saviour. This meditation is by Fr Donncha O hAodha in memory of St John Paul II, whose memorial would normally be celebrated on 22 October. This year it falls on Mission Sunday.

The Rosary enables us to join the Apostles in the Upper Room with Mary the Mother of Jesus and experience the mysteries of his life. A meditation by Fr Pat Gorevan for the feast of the Holy Rosary, 7 October.

On the 2nd October 1928 God showed St Josemaria Escriva that ordinary laymen and women had to "launch out into the deep" - to seek the heights of holiness in their everyday lives, and not to be content to stay in the shallows where there are no difficulties, no dangers, and no fish.

Today we commemorate the Archangels Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, spiritual messengers and servants of God. Let’s invoke their intercession in our prayer before Christ our Lord, who is the Centre of the angelic world and who at the same time is so close to us precisely  through his angels. A meditation by Fr James Hurley, Parish Priest of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Merrion Road, Dublin.

The vocation of St Matthew can inspire us to give ourselves completely to God, here and now, and to savour the gift of our vocation