Search Results for 'Who am'

I have always thought it strange why so many women feel isolated from the Catholic Church, when it has at its centre a woman, Mary - the Mother of God. It is not right that many women feel they are ‘second class citizens’ within a church that attempts to reach out to all. Surely without Mary, the New Testament would be worthless. Surely after the Nazarene Himself, the Mother of Jesus, who is venerated by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, is the first and greatest saint in heaven. Mary is revered by all Christian churches, and honoured by Islam. At the very first council of the Church, at Ephesus four hundred years after Christ, she was declared to be the Theotokos, Mother of God (the actual God bearer). But even before that her image, holding the Child, was etched into tombs in the Roman catacombs. Being the Theotokos, Mary could have become remote, unreal from the human experience. After all we are told that she was born free from Original Sin, which as a total ‘theological illiterate’ I don’t fully understand; but I accept the logic that if Mary was not the mother of God, then Jesus was not God. I believe that He was. Yet despite the supreme position of Mary many women feel isolated, uninvolved, as if they have no contribution to make.

Hakomi psychotherapist Rachel Sweetman is now running her popular courses in Castlebar on Wednesday mornings, as well as in Ballina on Tuesday evenings.

Retirement can be one of the most exciting times of your life. Free from the routine and pressures of work, you can now realise long held dreams, indulge favourite pastimes, travel to faraway places or just sit back and smell the roses in your own garden.

EDDI READER is something of an unstoppable force. Despite repeated injuries to her back and ribs, the celebrated Scottish folk-rock singer is touring Ireland this month and has a new album set for release in April. As far as she is concerned, life is very good indeed.