PATRICK MULDOON :: I find that the physical challenge of preparing for and competing in a marathon gives me strength and resilience for the challenges which I face in life.

BILL TONER SJ :: After Vatican II hell was downplayed. The dominant message was that God wants all people to be saved. But saved from what, or for what?

EOIN CARROLL :: Pope Francis is saying to the world, 'let people out of prison'. Is this fantasy or opportunity?

PAT COYLE :: The mind may be ravaged by Alzheimer's and the body devoured by cancer, but there are some things which cannot be destroyed.

TOM CASEY :: Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah” stands out from a lot of contemporary pop. It shows the singer's awareness of a key theme of the Bible: surrender.

BRIAN O'LEARY SJ :: The warmth and sense of community during Pope Francis's visit to Lund, Sweden, helped to put paid to the myth that the Jesuits were founded to destroy the Lutherans.

PAT COYLE :: In this month of November, as we remember our departed loved ones in a special way, their absence need not prevent us from seeing how close they are to us.

DERMOT ROANTREE :: Pope Francis's efforts to bring a neglected theme – in this case mercy – to bear on the life of the Church is fully in keeping with normal traditions of development.

DERMOT ROANTREE :: Leonard Cohen's new album, 'You want it darker', is a fitting conclusion to a life of art that probed the mystery of the divine and the human.

TOM CASEY SJ :: During convalescence, Ignatius of Loyola learned to examine his life and discover the good desires that were drawing him to God – in other words, he learned 'discernment'