Michael was a performer whose musicianship and agility put him in a class of his own. Self-styled the “King of Pop” he broke many records and created many incidents in a life hounded by the media. Even his death last Thursday is shrouded in intrigue.

His professional career started at age 11 with other members of his family and at 13 his talent was such that he went solo. He missed out on childhood and tried in vain to regain it through his “Neverland” ranch, pet zoos and children’s playgrounds.

His brilliant footwork when he “moon walked” in “Billie Jean” incurred many a sprained ankle as fans tried to copy him. Fortunately the fans didn’t try to copy his many facial makeovers!

Financial pressures are thought to have been behind his planned London concert in July. This was the first big event for a long time and all the 750,000 tickets for the 5 nights had been sold. The pressure on this perfectionist must have been intense and with the stress his emaciated body seems to ... Read More »

The age-old dilemma of what to do when you find something valuable got some publicity this week when a winning lottery ticket was left behind in the shop where it was sold.

“Finders keepers,

Losers weepers!”

- is the children’s version of morality but would it become the adult’s version also if the ticket is worth €350,000?

To be honest or not to be honest is the question.

Of course to be dishonest and keep the ticket would involve lying but the escalation of wrongdoing did not seem to enter into the thinking of those interviewed by the journalist as to what they would do.

The majority said they would keep the ticket. They reasoned that the Lotto was all about luck and they were lucky to find the ticket. In answer to the question, “What would you give to the owner of the ticket?” the answer varied from €500 to half the prize money!

Of those who would return the ticket, superstition played a large par ... Read More »

The effect of a church calendar is to bring into prominence certain events of a religious nature on an annual basis. Tomorrow, the feast of the body of Christ will be celebrated in many places throughout the land.

In some countries much festivity attends the procession which always has as its focal point the Eucharist. This is said to represents the presence of Christ in the form of the blessed sacrament being carried through the community. The feast goes back to the 13^th Century when it was attested to by miracle and so entered the church calendar.

It may come as a surprise to learn that the Bible is distrustful of holy objects even ones that have been a blessing to God’s people. The only case it records was in Moses time when a bronze snake fastened to a pole (a symbol adopted today by the medical profession to denote healing) healed all those who looked to it in ... Read More »

In a week of continuing bad news, Mother Ireland made some attempt to clean the filth from her garments. Justice was a long time in coming since the first evidence of bribery came to light in 1992. On Wednesday the press made much of Frank Dunlop’ ... Read More »

The Commission took 9 years to compile its 2,600 page report on child abuse in institutions run by the Catholic Church. It has been a glimmer of light for those who were disbelieved, ignored and discarded by Church and State.

The victims had learned to live off crumbs of comfort, the omission of a daily beating, or someone using your name instead of your number would become a cherished memory.

It’s well that this is so as the Christian Brothers, in a legal action, successfully removed all names from the report denying victims the comfort of seeing their cases recorded.

Any notion of justice in this life would have to be dispelled by the refusal of Church and State to renegotiate the compensation deal which apportioned financially the blame 10 to the State and 1 to the Church.

We have had apologies but perhaps the saddest part in all this is the absence of any Christian comment. It’s as if we were dealing with a secular regime which was in total control of its popul ... Read More »

The raised arch of the East link bridge over the river Liffey was only just wide enough to permit the new Samuel Beckett Bridge, built in Holland, to sail in on its barge. The new bridge, which is in the shape of a harp, has been designed to span the river linking the docklands area with the businesses on south bank.

It was followed by the OM ship “Logos Hope” a converted ferry which plied between Denmark and the Faroe Islands for 30 years and in now used by Operation Mobilisation to bring educational and Christian literature, humanitarian aid and people resources to all nations as it visits ports around the world.

The name Logos comes from the Greek for the word. Included in this is the meaning the word conveys. Its richest meaning comes when applied to Jesus. St John begins his Gospel establishing this connection at the outset. “In the beginning was the Word (LOGOS), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In case anyone was uncertai ... Read More »

When BBC TV4 screened “Endgame” last Monday it came with the citations of Bafta and Emmy awards but nothing could have prepared us for the gripping intensity of the drama that was to follow.

The action takes place when civil war seemed inevitable in South Africa, between the Afrikaners and the African National Congress, over the inequalities of apartheid.

Michael Young, the employee of a mining company, was pivotal in bringing together Professor Esterhuyse, an Afrikaner and Thabo Mbeki the ANC leader with their followers to the company’s Somerset mansion in the UK for secret talks.

There was an understanding that those who supported the regime were as much victims of apartheid as anyone else. This was challenged by Mbeki and Professor Esterhuyse confessed, in a key exchange, “There is a deep rooted fear in us that we will be punished for all the terrible wrongs we have inflicted”. This marked the beginning of trust between them.

The Bible would claim that all recon ... Read More »

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has proposed an amendment to the Defamation Act 1961 which would introduce the crime of blasphemous libel. This crime would carry a penalty of a fine up to €100,000. The Opposition has suggested the fine be limited to €1,000!

Prosecutions cannot be brought privately but would have to be brought by the DPP and require three elements to be present.

1. that the material be grossly abusive or insulting in matters held sacred by a religion:

2. that it must actually cause outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion:

3. that there be an intent to cause such outrage.

One has to admire the Ministers courage in stepping into the grubby pool of religions that are available in our multi-faith society. Of course our Constitution required it by stating; “the publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which will be punishable in accordance with law.” (Article 40.6.1) Apparent ... Read More »

The Immigrant Council has produced a report on the state of the slave trade in Ireland. It deals with the trafficking of women, whose bodies are treated as commodities, in a market where the demand is constant.
The majority of women come from overseas and are considered by the government to be illegal immigrants, rather than as victims of crime. Lured into Ireland by the promise of work and motivated by the desire to provide for their families at home they find themselves trapped when the work does not materialise and the facilitator, who had been so helpful, turns nasty. They are unable to access services, accommodation or legal advice. They are slaves of merciless masters.

According to the “Ruhama” website, “prostitution and pornography work as part of our eroticised consumption culture with the aim of normalising the use of and demand for, commercialised sex, through marketing. There is ample evidence around us on a daily basis of the use of sexuality, a Read More »

In his inspirational studies of the Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis Michael Ward has rescued the planets from the hands of the astrologers!    For too long the heavens have been looked upon as the playground of imaginative mystics.   Ward in his book, “Planet Narnia” enables us to see how Lewis has reclaimed them in his Narnia books - which we thought were simply children’s stories with Biblical allegory! 

Michael Ward sets out to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the seven planets of medieval cosmology - the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn - are the secret templates used by C.S. Lewis in the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia.  Each volume explores the Christ figure via the characteristics of one of the medieval p ... Read More »