Happy New Year
John Looby, S.J., Editor - 01 March 2010
I wonder how many people know that for centuries New Year’s Day was celebrated on the feast of the Annunciation, 25 March. In the ancient world a great variety of dates were chosen as New Year’s Day at different times. The Romans, who liked things to be well organised, introduced a new and more accurate calendar in 46 B.C. and decided that January 1 was to be the official new year. With the breakdown of the Roman Empire, however, even that date was not consistently recognised as New Year and the Church suggested different dates, with March 25 probably the favourite. March 25 was nine months before we celebrated the birth of Christ on December 25, and marked God’s great intervention into human history, when he began to make all things new again. It marked each new year as the Year of the Lord, when God was with us, and we could begin again in hope and be assured of God’s blessing on our endeavours. Not a bad way of beginning a new year.
Read More...The Biblical Prophets
Prof. Carmel McCarthy, RSM - 01 March 2010
In this new series, Prof. Carmel McCarthy, RSM, enlightens us on the lives and works of the Biblical Prophets. (1)Who were the biblical prophets? What did they do? And when did th ...
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Young Adults and Prayer
Sli Eile - 01 March 2010
Pray as you can, not as you can’t. Pray simply, and with all of yourself, just the way you are. Second of a three-part series from Slí Eile on young adults and p ...
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