Come & See Inspirations (C&SI)

On this weeks podcast excerpt John and Shane were delighted to welcome Fr Roman Lahish CSsR who is the chaplain to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Community in the Mid West of Ireland. Fr Roman is actually a member of the Redemptorist community and is based out of Mt St Alphonsus in Limerick city and he shares with us his own back ground and vocation story before sharing the highs and lows of the work he is doing with the Ukrainian community who are refugees in Ireland at this difficult time. 

• Background to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (CNEWA)
• Facebook page of the UGCC in Limerick (you may new to use translate tool in your internet browser to read) 
• Facebook page of the UGCC in Dublin ((you may new to use translate tool in your internet browser to read) 
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Ireland topics

On this weeks podcast John and Shane were delighted to welcome Fr Roman Lahish CSsR who is the chaplain to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Community in the Mid West of Ireland. We have our regular run through the saints of the week and local notices. Our prayer space this week is from the Word of Life October 2024 from the Focolore Community. In part three we have our regular reflection on the Sunday gospel (Mark 10:17-30)   

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Mid West
We were delighted to welcome Fr Roman to the podcast this week and chat him about the pastoral work he is doing in the Mid West of Ireland for the Ukrainian community. Fr Roman is actually a member of the Redemptorist community and is based out of Mt St Alphonsus in Limerick city and he shares with us his own back ground and vocation story before sharing the highs and lows of the work he is doing with the Ukrainian community who are refugees in Ireland at this difficult time. 

• Background to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (CNEWA)
• Facebook page of the UGCC in Limerick (you may new to use translate tool in your internet browser to read) 
• Facebook page of the UGCC in Dublin ((you may new to use translate tool in your internet browser to read) 
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Ireland topics

In this weeks podcast excerpt, Br Justin Robinson OSB joins us from Cairo to share with us about the situation of Christians in the Holy Land and the challenges they face. 

Br Justin Robinson OSB is a Benedictine monk of Glenstal Abbey in Ireland. After studying theology at the Salesian Pontifical University in Jerusalem, he is now undertaking an MA in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Cairo. On the podcast this weeks Shane and Br Justin explore who are the Christian communities in the Holy Land looking at some of their history, relations with one another and wider society both Palestinian and Israeli. We focus in on what are their current challenges and what the impact of it means for the wider Christian community around the world and its impact on the Holy Land - the fifth gospel. 

If you wish to support Christians in the Holy Land you can find some additional information at these sites:

• Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Aid to the Church in Need
• Trocaire

Further information about Christians in the Holy Land:

• Terra Sancta News - news channel of the Custos of the Holy Land
• The Tablet - Why the number of Christians living in the Middle East is in decline but Christianity itself is not
• National Catholic Register - Holy Land Pilgrimages Decline to a Trickle, Because of the Gaza War
• CNEWA - Is Christianity in the Middle East Facing Extinction?
• The Economist - Why Christians are leaving the Middle East
• MECC - The Future of Christianity in the Middle East
• ACN - Christian presence in the Holy Land under "extreme threat"

We had a busy podcast this week here on C&SI with a couple of visitors joining John and Shane. In part one, we have our regular run through saints of the week and Sr Caitriona Kavanagh OP joins us to tells us about news from the Dominican community. In part two, Br Justin Robinson OSB joins us from Cairo to share with us about the situation of Christians in the Holy Land and the challenges they face. Part three is our regular weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel (Mark 10:2-16)

As our first guest this week, we welcome Sr Caitriona Kavanagh OP from St Saviour's church in Limerick city. Sister Caitriona is a member of the Dominican Sisters of St Cecilia whose motherhouse is in Nashville in Tennessee. Sr Caitriona shares with us about the celebration of the 800th Jubilee of the Dominicans coming to Ireland and the Irish Dominican's upcoming pilgrimage to Knock Shrine on October 13 2024. She also tells us about the faith formation work her community does in St Saviours parish in Limerick city and extends invitations to others to come and join them. You can read more about their activities here. 

Br Justin Robinson OSB is a Benedictine monk of Glenstal Abbey in Ireland. After studying theology at the Salesian Pontifical University in Jerusalem, he is now undertaking an MA in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Cairo. On the podcast this weeks Shane and Br Justin explore who are the Christian communities in the Holy Land looking at some of their history, relations with one another and wider society both Palestinian and Israeli. We focus in on what are their current challenges and what the impact of it means for the wider Christian community around the world and its impact on the Holy Land - the fifth gospel. 

If you wish to support Christians in the Holy Land you can find some additional information at these sites:

• Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Aid to the Church in Need
• Trocaire

Further information about Christians in the Holy Land:

• Terra Sancta News - news channel of the Custos of the Holy Land
• The Tablet - Why the number of Christians living in the Middle East is in decline but Christianity itself is not
• National Catholic Register - Holy Land Pilgrimages Decline to a Trickle, Because of the Gaza War
• CNEWA - Is Christianity in the Middle East Facing Extinction?
• The Economist - Why Christians are leaving the Middle East
• MECC - The Future of Christianity in the Middle East
• ACN - Christian presence in the Holy Land under "extreme threat"

On this weeks podcast we are joined by Julianne Moran, General Secretary for the Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Ireland to discuss the Synod on Synodality the second part of which is due to be held in Rome during the month of October 2024.

We have our regular run through the liturgical odds and ends for the coming week, and also our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel (Mark 9:28-43,45,47-48).

Synod on Synodality - Part 2
Julianne takes us through the various up coming discussions and the issues to be looked at during the synod based on the working papers issues  by the Synod Secretariat in Rome but also discussing what wont be decided in October  We discuss how the synod work - the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which will be looked at by the synod delegates. 

Resources available:

• The Second Instrumentum Laboris
• Synod.ie website
• Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
• iCatholic have a lot of video coverage including a very good summary of the process and what is happening next The Synod on Synodality - a work in progress.

On this weeks podcast we are joined by Julianne Moran, General Secretary for the Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Ireland to discuss the Synod on Synodality the second part of which is due to be held in Rome during the month of October 2024.

We have our regular run through the liturgical odds and ends for the coming week, and also our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel (Mark 9:28-43,45,47-48).

Synod on Synodality - Part 2
Julianne takes us through the various up coming discussions and the issues to be looked at during the synod based on the working papers issues  by the Synod Secretariat in Rome but also discussing what wont be decided in October  We discuss how the synod work - the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which will be looked at by the synod delegates. 

Resources available:

• The Second Instrumentum Laboris
• Synod.ie website
• Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
• iCatholic have a lot of video coverage including a very good summary of the process and what is happening next The Synod on Synodality - a work in progress.

Finding ways to encourage and help families to pray is always a challenge but on this weeks podcast excerpt, Shane and John share some ideas and resources which may be of help to families following on an article in The Radiant by Dixie Dillon Lane - "How to find your family prayer style".

"Families that pray together, stay together" is very much a phrase which listeners will be familiar but especially for young families today it seems something hard and difficult to do or to form the habit to continue at it. 

Prayer is understood the lifting of the heart and minds to God but also as a dialogue with a friend, an encounter with the God of Love - and you wouldn't talk to all your friends in the same way, so conversations with God will also be different for each person. And so it is for families in all the their shapes and forms - so this week we try to give some simple ideas  

• How to find your family prayer style
• Family Friendly Ways of Praying
• How to pray the rosary
• Magnifcat prayer magazine
• Meditation & Children

Finding ways to encourage and help families to pray is always a challenge but on this weeks podcast, Shane and John share some ideas and resources which may be of help to families following on an article in The Radiant by Dixie Dillon Lane - "How to find your family prayer style".

We have our regular sharing of the upcoming saints of the week and liturgical odds and ends and a reminder that we are still in the Season of Creation.

In part three of the podcast as always we reflect on the Sunday gospel Mark 9:30-37 where Jesus puts forward to us our need to be child like in our relationship with God (as opposed to childish).

Finding was to pray as a family
"Families that pray together, stay together" is very much a phrase which listeners will be familiar but especially for young families today it seems something hard and difficult to do or to form the habit to continue at it. 

Prayer is understood the lifting of the heart and minds to God but also as a dialogue with a friend, an encounter with the God of Love - and you wouldn't talk to all your friends in the same way, so conversations with God will also be different for each person. And so it is for families in all the their shapes and forms - so this week we try to give some simple ideas  

• How to find your family prayer style
• Family Friendly Ways of Praying
• How to pray the rosary
• Magnifcat prayer magazine
• Meditation & Children

On this weeks podcast we take a spin around the world with various news items that caught our eye in the news over the last few weeks.

We have our regular run through the liturgical odds and ends for the coming week and of course a reflection on the Sunday gospel which this week is from Mark 8:27-35 which is Mark's account of the confession of faith from St Peter but also Jesus setting out what it means to be a follower of him.

News Round-up

• Popes visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Singapore (Vatican News)
• Shroud of Turin dates from time of Christ, scientists reveal (Catholic Herald)
• Sr. Wilhelmina’s body ‘lacks any features of decomposition,’ experts conclude (The Pillar)
• St. Teresa of Ávila’s Body Remains Incorrupt After Almost 5 Centuries (NCR)
• Pope Francis Makes Surprise Visit to St. Monica’s Tomb in Rome (NCR)
• Byzantine New Year on 1 September
• Ukraine new law on religious associations 
  • Breaking with Ukraine Catholics, Pope rejects ban on Russian-backed church (Crux)
  • WCC urges caution with new law passed by Ukrainian Rada
  • Pope Francis Sides with Moscow in Ukraine’s Clash of the Patriarchs (NCR - Commentary)
• Nicaragua’s Ortega aims to ‘financially suffocate’ the Church – critics (Irish Catholic)
• Nicaragua forces 1,500 church and civil society groups to close (CNN)
• Nicaraguan dictatorship shuts down more nonprofit Catholic organizations, evangelical churches (CNA)
• Devastating attack on church in France renews concerns over security in places of worship (CNA) 
• Pope writes letter on how literature educates the heart and mind (Vatican News)

On this weeks podcast excerpt we are sharing a reflection from the 2024 Novena for Perpetual Help in Clonard Monastery in Belfast by Marcella Philips on the theme 'Creating a Culture of Care'.

Marcella Philips spoke on 'Creating a culture of care in broken relationships'. She finished by reciting this poem by  Michelle Harverson 'The Shades of Life' which Marcella said encapsulated what she had shared:

We all have a story
a tale to be told
of the joys we’ve experienced
and the hardships we’ve known.
Sometimes we wear them
on our sleeves for all to see
but often they’re hidden
as deep as they can be.
So, let us be kind
for we never truly know
the struggles and the battles
that others undergo.
May empathy and compassion
be the guiding lights we share
and may we always remember
that each story deserves care.
For in our human journey
we all need love and grace
so, let us be kind to one another
and create a better place.