Homily of Bishop Kevin Doran at the Ordination of Martin Reidy as a Permanent Deacon Church of the Risen Christ – Third Sunday of Advent The Lord is Near – Joyful Anticipation Many of you here will have had the experience of looking forward to someone coming home from overseas, a son or daughter, a...

Ordination of Tony Larkin as a Permanent Deacon, Church of Saints Peter and Paul Athlone, December 8th 2017 Homily of Bishop Kevin Doran If you sit down to watch an episode of Downton Abbey, or some other series, it will often begin with a reminder of what happened in the previous episode and it usually...

Address by Very Rev Dr. Michael Duignan, Chancellor of the Diocese of Elphin, 23rd November 2017 As Evelyn O’Donnell, Chairperson of the Board of Directors has already outlined the founding force behind the establishment of Boyle Family Life Centre was the Catholic Diocese of Elphin. Over the years Bishop Conway and Bishop Jones have always...

Reflection of Bishop Kevin Doran, at a Mass of Thanksgiving for St. Angela’s College, Sligo Graduates, Staff, and Family Members in St. John’s Church, Carraroe, Sligo Friday 3rd November 2017   Gifts Received Becoming Gifts Given Together with Fr. Michael Duignan, Chaplain at St. Angela’s College, I am happy to welcome you to this Mass of...

What do you think of when you hear the word “humble”? Do you know any humble people? Would you describe yourself as “humble”? To be humble is not the same as being powerless or worthless. I can think of a few people I have worked with who are very competent and who have achieved a...

Homily of Bishop Kevin at Sunday Mass in Ballymoe (followed by the blessing of a Cedarwood carving in the Fr Flanagan Memorial Garden) Sunday 24th September 2017 10.30am The image painted by Jesus in this morning’s gospel seems, at first sight, very far removed from the structured society in which we live and earn our...

I have been coming to Lourdes for over forty years and, today, I saw something that I never noticed before. Just on your left, after you come in St. Joseph’s gate, there is a sign which says: “This tree is classified as one of the most beautiful trees in the Department”. I looked up and,...

Talk by Bishop Kevin Doran at Father Flanagan Conference Roscommon Library, 24th August 2017 as part of Heritage Week Over the past few years, since I came to the Diocese of Elphin, I have been surprised at how few people know about Fr. Edward Flanagan. Perhaps I shouldn’t be all that surprised because, although I had...

Making our Families Christian Homily of Bishop Kevin Doran, Knock Novena, 20th August 2017 When we were children growing up in Dun Laoghaire, our next door neighbours were an elderly couple by the name of Bennet. He was Bill, but for some reason, she was just Mrs. Bennett. My grandmother, who came from Protestant stock...

This day last week I was walking the Camino with a group of young people. Some walked faster than others. Some got blisters on their feet. Each day was about twenty kilometres, but we broke it up into stages and we stopped to re-group at the end of each stage, partly as a way of...