Gives an overview and critical analysis of some major aspects of a Catholic approach to religious education at the primary level. Themes and topics examined in the book include: the spirituality of the child; the language of religious education; the history of primary religious education in Ireland; the challenge of teaching in a religiously diverse context; the purposes and processes of Christian religious education; a Catholic vision of education; and gender and religious education.The book provides a valuable resource for students at undergraduate or postgraduate level as well as those with a general interest in the area of religious education.

This book explores the meaning and identity of religious education within the cultural context of today.

In times of sickness many people find that they cannot pray. They desperately want to, but they are so tired, worried, or fearful that prayer just wont work for them. Do You Want To Be Well Again? is written to make prayer possible at these times. It is in a simple form , a story of healing, demonstrating Jesus care for the sick; a reflection on how we can find this story in our own story of life; a prayer; a psalm from the Scriptures. If the sick person cannot read this for herself/himself someone else can read it to bring Christ into this very special moment. Whether we are ill ourselves or close to somebody who is suffering

This book aims to help readers to reflect on their experiences of teaching and leading in Catholic schools in the context of gospel values

Nature is a hundred different things all at once. It puts a value on slowness in a world that makes rushing a virtue. It is the fox and the lark and the crest of the ocean wave. It is the gorse and the heather and the promise of summer. It is winter shining. It is the very breath of earth itself, the green grass warm and growing. Nature is part of what we are, part of our humanity. Letters to the Earth is a celebration of nature in all its diversity and richness. Written as a series of letters, this book reflects on the beauty of the changing seasons. In describing the uniqueness of Irish flora and fauna, it contains a very simple and gentle philosophy about relating to and drawing inspiration from nature. In an age that values only material success and takes no account of the spirit Letters to the Earth reminds us of the importance of paying homage to our natural world.

This book offers a light-hearted and accessible look at the benefits as well as the trials of growing older.

Saints can seem remote and distant, close to God but far from people. But theyre more like us than we give them credit for. Their lives were like ours, full of dilemmas and struggles, with bad choices as well as good. But their goodness won out in the end, as ours can. Interest in angels is quite popular at the moment, but it is the saints who are really like us in both their strengths and frailties. Youll find their stories here, told simply and briefly, with cartoons throughout. Theres a saint for every week of the year, and a list of patrons , find out why Clare is the patron saint of television or how Andrew came to be patron saint of Scotland. Who knows , you may even find your own personal saint to pray to!

Many artists over the centuries have interpreted in their varied ways the events the last journey of Jesus, which the Stations of the Cross bring to our mind. In this little book Frances Biggs does this through her own imaginative reliving of the Passion. In his text Fr Neary reflects on Frances art, on the Stations, and the way in which Jesus still lives His passion and death today. Seeing the place in this way was at the heart of St Ignatiuss own spiritual exercises. Intended, of course, for private prayer, this book may also be of some assistance to groups making the Stations on Good Friday. - Peter Costello, The Irish Catholic, 26 March 2009

Think Big, Act Small' is about collaboration. Its origins are in a process which began with a parish mission in the year 2000, leading to a parish survey, a parish assembly and the setting up of a parish pastoral council. The book records the induction and formation process associated with the development of the pastoral council, and the effort to extend the collaborative dynamic to more and more people within the parish community. It is not only the activities which are documented, but the thinking which inspired them. This is what makes the book valuable as a pattern for others to explore in their own context. This book offers heart and hope for all of us who are fearful of new journeys. It is good to hear an account of some who have gone ahead of us and give us a clear sense that the journey is possible. ?Be not afraid? is their message.

This book is the result of a partnership research initiative between Limerick Travellers Development Group and Mary Immaculate College, Limerick in which four Traveller women were trained to conduct a qualitative educational study with Traveller children. Through a series of one-to-one interviews, a small group of primary school Traveller children were invited to chat about home and school. The Traveller children’s experience of school was a particular focus of the study. In Part One the Traveller researchers talk about their experience of participating in this unique project. Part Two covers the setting up of the research programme, the development of the process and a description of the study. Finally Part Three presents the research data, followed by an interpretative commentary and offers a series of recommendations.What is outlined in this report represents a small but significant beginning in the training of a group of local Traveller researchers. It is hoped that in making the limitations and successes of the process available to a public audience, other Traveller Community Development groups may be encouraged to engage with similar educational research endeavours.

Early lists of bishops, identified by Walter Bauer as "literary propaganda," mark critical points in the development of the doctrine of the apostolic succession of bishops. This study delves into the political struggles surrounding the lists and the doctrine they served to define. Ecclesiastical politics in each case reflects the threat to the bishop's authority and clarifies the meaning of apostolic succession in the Church's development. This social history approach, examining the function of the literature within its historical circumstances, reveals how theology developed from politics. The development is as gripping politically as it is illuminating theologically.

This book, on the pneumatology of Origen's Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, illustrates the centrality of the Holy Spirit for his theological project. As both God's exitus into the world and humanity's reditus to God, the Spirit forms the crucial link between Origen's doctrine of God and his spiritual anthropology. Origen's images for the Holy Spirit, understood in the context of second century concepts of 'spirit,' convey the intersection of theology and anthropology in his thought. This book explores Origen's understanding of the multiplicity of spirits found in the Scriptures, with particular emphasis on the Holy Spirit as pivotal to God's outreach into the world.

This book deals with the works of the anti-Chalcedonian hagiographer, John Rufus, and traces the basic motives behind the opposition against the council of Chalcedon in the fifth century through an attempt to reconstruct a specific anti-Chalcedonian culture. As part of the eastern monastic culture, it considered itself a counter-culture guarding purity of ascetic conduct and orthodoxy from being defiled by the perverseness of the majority. Reading John Rufus' hagiography, we find ourselves in the midst of a cosmological warfare between good and evil, where the great heroes of the anti-Chalcedonian movement enter into history as God's warriors against the rebellion of demons and heretics.

Into the Classroom is a series of eleven new books designed for second-level teachers beginning the new Leaving Certificate Religious Education syllabus. Each of the books covers all the content in the relevant syllabus section. With their accessible and engaging commentary, they will also be of great interest to third-level students, educators and a general readership. Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions aims to develop an appreciation of the Early Christian Movement, including the distinctive features of Christianity within the historical, social and religious context of its time, and to correlate this with contemporary expressions of Christianity. It also highlights the diversity and adaptability of the Movement in addressing the search for meaning.

Peace I bequeath of you, my own peace I give you, a peace the word cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27)The role of a hospice is to assist the patient to carry his or her burden. The medical staff will do everything possible to deal with the patients physical pain, but often there are other forms of pain : loneliness, fear disbelief that this could happen, worries , about family and work, emotional pain, spiritual pain, pain of the soul. There is also questioning about how a loving God can allow something like this to happen. I perceive hospice chaplaincy as a ministry of accompaniment of the patient and the patients family - travelling the journey with them.