As a teenage schoolboy I was struggling. The end of each school year faced me with a battle to get enough credits to go up to the next year-group. My Achilles’ heel in particular was physics – it was my nightmare for six long years. But, and this is funny, at the same time I was devouring all the available…
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A year ago, when I was still working in Elgin parish, Fr Colin decided to begin the introduction of the new translation of the Missal. We ordered special leaflets, got them, and then he took seriously ill. So seriously that he was completely out of action for three months. Suddenly the task of gradually introducing the new translation became my…
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In our present economic situation news about huge unemployment, particularly among young people, appears on the news on a worryingly regular basis. There are stories about graduates desperately looking for any job they could grab. High education seems to be a fast-track to wealth and position – but far too often graduates find themselves unemployed, in debt and with poor…
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In 1993 a young Polish man was completely paralysed after a motorbike accident. Even his breathing had to be supported. But his mind remained sharp and clear. Despite the great care provided by his parents, he was feeling so isolated that in 2007 he applied to the President of Poland to let him die. Permission wasn’t granted for legal reasons;…
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Recently I’ve seen on the internet a picture of a Catholic priest; the ironic caption read: “the expert on love, sex, marriage and the raising of children”. Obviously, what could a Catholic priest know about these things, supposedly having had no practical experience of them? This way of thinking is quite widely held among many people. Do they all believe…