Faithcast
Faithcast is the weekly podcast from catholicnews.ie, the news source for the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference.
Presented by Brenda Drumm, Faithcast is a mixture of interviews and news from the Catholic Church in Ireland.
Come and See Inspirations
Come & See Inspirations (C&SI) is a podcasting team based out of Ardagh in west Limerick. The C&SI team work on sharing interesting, faith filled conversations about local, diocesan and global issues of interest as they make a small contribution to the New Evangelisation on the digital frontiers.
After all, in 2009 Pope Benedict XVI's urged the users of the internet to
"......bear witness to your faith through the digital world!......Employ these new technologies to make the Gospel known, so that the Good News of God’s infinite love for all people, will resound in new ways across our increasingly technological world!"
View on our page here: comeandseeinspirations.buzzsprout.com
Come & See Inspirations
- November 25, 2023
- C&SI: Bishop Leahy on the Synod on Synodality during Oct 2023 - 26 Nov 2023 (S03E53b) (podcast excerpt)
On this weeks podcast we are joined by Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick to discuss the Synod on Synodality which was held in Rome during the month of October 2023 - the first phase of the meetings on the issue, the second phase is to be held in October 2024.
Bishop Brendan attended the Synod as one of the representatives of the Irish bishops and he takes us through his reflections and observations of the various events including the pre-synod retreat for the participants and then onto the sessions of the Synod themselves. We discuss how the synod participants worked through the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which came up in the final synthesis document.
The final synthesis document is divided into three sections:- The Face of the Synodal Church
- All Disciples, All Missionaries
- Weaving bonds, Building Communities
Each subsection is divided into the areas of convergence, areas or matters for future considerations, and agreed proposals. Every one is encourage to take up the document and work through it.
Resources available:- Synod.ie website
- Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
- Vatican News summary article by Salvatore Cernuzio - Synod Report: A Church that involves everyone and is close to world’s wounds
- Vatican News general reportage under hash tag #Synod2023 including the inputs at the retreat before hand and the daily briefings.
- Ecumenical Prayer Vigil at beginning of Synod
- iCatholic have a lot of video coverage during and since the Synod including interviews with the Irish Bishop delegates
- Learnings from the Synod on Synodality in Rome - Bishops Alan McGuckian and Bishop Brendan Leahy share their reflections after attending the first session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome (4th - 29th Oct 2023)

- November 25, 2023
- C&SI: Bishop Leahy on the Synod on Synodality during Oct 2023 - 26 Nov 2023 (S03E53)
On this weeks podcast we are joined by Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick to discuss the Synod on Synodality which was held in Rome during the month of October 2023 - the first phase of the meetings on the issue, the second phase is to be held in October 2024. We have our regular run through the liturgical odds and ends for the coming week, and also our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel (Matthew 25:31-46) which is the gospel for the feast of Christ the King..
Bishop Brendan attended the Synod as one of the representatives of the Irish bishops and he takes us through his reflections and observations of the various events including the pre-synod retreat for the participants and then onto the sessions of the Synod themselves. We discuss how the synod participants worked through the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which came up in the final synthesis document.
The final synthesis document is divided into three sections:- The Face of the Synodal Church
- All Disciples, All Missionaries
- Weaving bonds, Building Communities
Each subsection is divided into the areas of convergence, areas or matters for future considerations, and agreed proposals. Every one is encourage to take up the document and work through it.
Resources available:- Synod.ie website
- Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
- Vatican News summary article by Salvatore Cernuzio - Synod Report: A Church that involves everyone and is close to world’s wounds
- Vatican News general reportage under hash tag #Synod2023 including the inputs at the retreat before hand and the daily briefings.
- Ecumenical Prayer Vigil at beginning of Synod
- iCatholic have a lot of video coverage during and since the Synod including interviews with the Irish Bishop delegates
- Learnings from the Synod on Synodality in Rome - Bishops Alan McGuckian and Bishop Brendan Leahy share their reflections after attending the first session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome (4th - 29th Oct 2023)

- November 19, 2023
- C&SI - Reflecting on the sacrament of Gods love and mercy - 19 Nov 2023 (S03E52b) (podcast excerpt)
On this weeks podcast John and Shane are joined by Fr Frank Duhig who shares with us some reflections on the sacrament of God's love and mercy - the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Fr Frank reflects on the fact that in the challenge of an internet world, you can't google grace or our relationship with God. Our relationship with God needs to start with prayer but for such a relationship to stay alive we need two way communication including us being able to listen to God. We need to have a consciousness of our relationship with God. Do we recognise our failures to live up to the commandment of love?
When we enter into that communication in the sacrament we need to remember that "we stand on Holy Ground"? It is a sacred space where we can be open to God if we let him. We also need not to be afraid of our sins - the Lord can deal with them!
But at the same time we also need to realise that while God is merciful it is not free gratis. We have to respond to the invitation! But when we do, the giftedness of it is more than we can imagine.

- November 19, 2023
- C&SI - Reflecting on the sacrament of Gods love and mercy - 19 Nov 2023 (S03E52)
On this weeks podcast John and Shane are joined by Fr Frank Duhig who shares with us some reflections on the sacrament of God's love and mercy - the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
We have our regular run through the liturgical odds & ends including the upcoming saints of the week and Fr Frank takes us through a reflection on this weeks Sunday gospel around the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) with the reminder to us that "You have been faithful in small things; come and join in your master's happiness".
Sacrament of God's love and mercy
Fr Frank reflects on the fact that in the challenge of an internet world, you can't google grace or our relationship with God. Our relationship with God needs to start with prayer but for such a relationship to stay alive we need two way communication including us being able to listen to God. We need to have a consciousness of our relationship with God. Do we recognise our failures to live up to the commandment of love?
When we enter into that communication in the sacrament we need to remember that "we stand on Holy Ground"? It is a sacred space where we can be open to God if we let him. We also need not to be afraid of our sins - the Lord can deal with them!
But at the same time we also need to realise that while God is merciful it is not free gratis. We have to respond to the invitation! But when we do, the giftedness of it is more than we can imagine.

- November 12, 2023
- C&SI - Reviewing the Synod of Synodality 2023 with Julianne Moran - 12 November 2023(S03E51b) (podcast excerpt)
On this weeks podcast we are joined by Julianne Moran, General Secretary for the Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Ireland to discuss the Synod on Synodality which was held in Rome during the month of October 2023 - the first phase of the meetings on the issue, the second phase is to be held in October 2024.
Julianne takes us through the various events including the Ecumenical Vigil on 30 September, the pre-synod retreat for the participants and then onto the sessions of the Synod themselves. We look through who was attending and despite the media expectation of "secrecy", the actual level of transparency and sharing of resources from the Vatican is actually overwhelming. We discuss how the synod work - the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which came up in the final document. The final document is divided into three sections:- The Face of the Synodal Church
- All Disciples, All Missionaries
- Weaving bonds, Building Communities
Each subsection is divided into the areas of convergence, areas or matters for future considerations, and agreed proposals. While the final document is only 40 pages, it is quite a dense mouthful so to be read slowly.
We are waiting to see what the next steps will be ahead of the 2024 session next year.
Resources available:- Synod.ie website
- Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
- Vatican News summary article by Salvatore Cernuzio - Synod Report: A Church that involves everyone and is close to world’s wounds
- Vatican News general reportage under hash tag #Synod2023 including the inputs at the retreat before hand and the daily briefings.
- Ecumenical Prayer Vigil at beginning of Synod
- iCatholic have a lot of video coverage during and since the Synod including interviews with the Irish Bishop delegates
- The Pillar - The synodal expectations game

- November 12, 2023
- C&SI - Reviewing the Synod of Synodality 2023 with Julianne Moran - 12 November 2023(S03E51)
On this weeks podcast we are joined by Julianne Moran, General Secretary for the Synodal Pathway of the Catholic Church in Ireland to discuss the Synod on Synodality which was held in Rome during the month of October 2023 - the first phase of the meetings on the issue, the second phase is to be held in October 2024. We have our regular run through the liturgical odds and ends for the coming week, and also our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel (Matthew 25:1-13).
Julianne takes us through the various events including the Ecumenical Vigil on 30 September, the pre-synod retreat for the participants and then onto the sessions of the Synod themselves. We look through who was attending and despite the media expectation of "secrecy", the actual level of transparency and sharing of resources from the Vatican is actually overwhelming. We discuss how the synod work - the "conversations in the Spirit" methodology and ultimately the various topics and issues which came up in the final document. The final document is divided into three sections:- The Face of the Synodal Church
- All Disciples, All Missionaries
- Weaving bonds, Building Communities
Each subsection is divided into the areas of convergence, areas or matters for future considerations, and agreed proposals. While the final document is only 40 pages, it is quite a dense mouthful so to be read slowly.
We are waiting to see what the next steps will be ahead of the 2024 session next year.
Resources available:- Synod.ie website
- Final Universal Synod’s Synthesis Report
- Vatican News summary article by Salvatore Cernuzio - Synod Report: A Church that involves everyone and is close to world’s wounds
- Vatican News general reportage under hash tag #Synod2023 including the inputs at the retreat before hand and the daily briefings.
- Ecumenical Prayer Vigil at beginning of Synod
- iCatholic have a lot of video coverage during and since the Synod including interviews with the Irish Bishop delegates
- The Pillar - The synodal expectations game
