St Nicholas Church, Adare, with Croom, Kilpeacon and Kilmallock

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St Nicholas Church, Adare, with Croom, Kilpeacon and Kilmallock Four Church of Ireland congregations in the Diocese of Limerick and Killaloe, located just south of Limerick City .

Each of the four churches has a service every Sunday, plus a YouTube channel. With Sunday schools at Adare, Kilpeacon and Kilmallock.

In his encounter with the Canaanite woman, and a Gentile, someone that a respectable Rabbi would avoid completely; Jesus...
15/08/2026

In his encounter with the Canaanite woman, and a Gentile, someone that a respectable Rabbi would avoid completely; Jesus was challenged with his own teaching.
Their conversation can make us feel quite uncomfortable.
For Jesus initially seems to employ a rather rude and offensive tone, apparently refusing to help the woman and somewhat abusively referring to her (and by implication to all non-Jews) as ‘dogs’.
Did Jesus intend to provoke his later decision? Was this all some kind of clever teaching device – a set-up? There are some, especially in those traditions who find it hard to see Jesus as anything other than perfect, who might try to construct such an argument. But that sounds rather desperate, trying to square a circle.
There is a powerful strand in his teaching that shows that he probably had a fairly exclusive idea of who his message was for.
It's likely that Jesus did see his ministry to the Jews as the most urgent core of his calling to the end of his days; still, it is comforting to remember that, however passionate he was, however focused on his urgent goal, he was able to hear a voice of appeal and dissent and recognise the justice of the rebuke.
That whilst he had a primary audience, he came to understand that others were listening too.
By implication, we are challenged to ensure that we do not erect such barriers and obstacles, such inflexible regulations, as to welcome and embrace within the Christian family, and indeed the wider human family, only those who conform to such narrow definitions of sanctity and approval as to create for ourselves an ever-diminishing club of the righteous and oh so special few.
A faith, any creed, should be judged by its compassion, its forgiveness, its forbearance, its commitment to mercy and justice, the degree to which it extends arms of enfolding love and understanding rather than the harsh, prideful and stony-faced rebuke of exclusion and condemnation.
Reflecting on the story of the Canaanite woman, if Jesus can change his heart and learn new ways of living and loving – then so can we.

In his encounter with the Canaanite woman, and a Gentile, someone t...

When we hear the story of Jesus stilling the storm and walking on the water, and in Matthew’s account, Peter too, if onl...
08/08/2026

When we hear the story of Jesus stilling the storm and walking on the water, and in Matthew’s account, Peter too, if only for a moment, it is important to fill in the background, the context of the time, and the biblical language and imagery that the people were so familiar with, in order to understand, at least in part, what the gospel writers are trying to tell us.
For just as Jesus told parables as his main way of teaching, so too the gospels tell stories and parables about Jesus.
Matthew’s use of dramatic miraculous imagery and his own particular shaping of the story makes it clear that here we are dealing with profound religious symbolism, as much as accurate factual history.

When we hear the story of Jesus stilling the storm and walking on t...

There is a long-running dispute in the church, sometimes cordial, sometimes less so, and with seemingly no end in sight,...
01/08/2026

There is a long-running dispute in the church, sometimes cordial, sometimes less so, and with seemingly no end in sight, about how to interpret and apply scripture.
Part of the intractable nature of the issue is that the positions taken, not only represent different theological scholarly traditions, but are informed by our different mindsets, our different ways of seeing the world and reality, and our preferences and personality traits, that are not easily persuadable because they are embedded in our very DNA.
We might like to think that we make up our minds completely independently, although we can also admit that our upbringing may have formed some of our views.
But we also need to acknowledge that our genes play a role, not only in how we look, but also how we think.

There is a long-running dispute in the church, sometimes cordial, s...

In the parable of the Mustard seed, one of a number of agrarian parables, the seed acts as an analogy for the Kingdom of...
25/07/2026

In the parable of the Mustard seed, one of a number of agrarian parables, the seed acts as an analogy for the Kingdom of God.
Implied within that phrase is all that could be, all that would be, if this world were conformed more closely to the rule, the measure of divine love and selflessness.
The Kingdom of God speaks of how all our lives, and those of all humanity would be, were we to build and behave according to the principles that Jesus taught us and that we and the church profess to seek to follow.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed might be one of the shorter parables of Jesus, but it speaks of greatness locked, encapsulated within the smallest of things. This is the analogy that Jesus draws, that the smallest of our actions done with love, can have enormous ramifications.
And furthermore, we are called to focus on this present life, to be consoled, not by hoping for divine compensation in the future, when our life is done, but to seek the Kingdom now, in this world, in this life. To make our own contribution, whether great or small, to bring it about.

In the parable of the Mustard seed, one of a number of agrarian par...

We need to be clear about the parable of the wheat and the w**ds, and just how far we should follow an analogy, any anal...
19/07/2026

We need to be clear about the parable of the wheat and the w**ds, and just how far we should follow an analogy, any analogy, and no further.
A danger, is to interpret the story in a literal and simplistic way, that the world is divided into yes or no, good or bad, us and them, inside or outside. That can lead to the sort of churches where those who already attend consider themselves to be the wheat and those on the outside w**ds.
And, of course, even those on the inside can look around and think that a few w**ds have crept in anyway.
Such churches will eventually die........., they die partially through attrition, just through the passing of time, as members leave, they are not replaced........But mainly they die because they no longer pronounce or live the gospel. Far from being places of sanctuary and healing, some churches can psychologically damage and scar some of their members for a lifetime..
The so-called ‘outsiders’ can spot the hypocrisy and rightly turn away – one dearly hopes at least to find a welcome elsewhere – but sadly many, never to return.
All analogies fail when taken to an overly literal extreme, for in reality, there is no such thing as someone who is wholly wheat or wholly w**d.

We need to be clear about the parable of the wheat and the w**ds, a...

The Christian faith, if we let it, can help us grow into someone far beyond what we might have been, of a life rich in l...
11/07/2026

The Christian faith, if we let it, can help us grow into someone far beyond what we might have been, of a life rich in love and honour. That seed, if allowed to grow within us, can achieve extraordinary things, change the lives of those around us, even transform our world.
That is what Jesus offers us in his teaching and in the baptism that we all share. To be transformed, to be remade, to realise all the potential within us, and more.
In his parable of the sewing of the seeds, the earth is not neutral or uninvolved, it is not passive or without its vital role. The seed may contain everything within it for life, but it needs to take root, it needs to be held and nurtured – it needs to find a home.
For inevitably not all seeds do grow, not all find healthy soil and water and sunlight. Some of the seeds fall where they cannot come to life. Some fall onto ground that is hard and unforgiving, arid and barren, some of the soil is shallow.
What kind of home are we for the seeds that he sows?
His message of faith, hope and love – just how well do they fare with us? And above all - where is that home - not in the future, but now?

The Christian faith, if we let it, can help us grow into someone fa...

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another...
04/07/2026

‘But to what will I compare this generation?
It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
“We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
One group shouts out we have just been playing happy music for you, or we’ve been playing happy games, but you wouldn’t dance and join in. And the others call back, well, we’ve played you sad songs and you weren’t affected by those either. As if to say does anything touch you, can nothing get into your hearts? Can nothing reach you? Will nothing change your ways?
Jesus is reminding them how John the Baptist came along with a stern message, he told you that you were sinners and that you needed to repent – to say sorry – to put the old ways behind you, to realise that faith is a pilgrimage, a journey that requires dedication and effort.
But most of you didn’t listen, in fact many of you were insulted and hostile – you didn’t like his straight talking.
He wasn’t greedy, or selfish, and he didn’t live it up, he was stern, so you said he had a demon in him – ‘why else would he be so critical of us’?
Now I come along, and I am more joyful, I enjoy company and a glass of w**e, and I bring you good news, but you call me a drinker, a glutton, and you don’t listen to what I have to say either!
Something is telling me that you don’t want to listen at all, no matter who brings the message comes to you and in whatever form it comes – I can’t see that you have any desire or intention of changing your ways.
So what do we want – and should we even want it?

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children s...

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not w...
20/06/2026

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”
All too easily we can hear those words, sigh a little and say “Well that’s just another of those impossible demands, that few ever achieve. But let’s put this in proper perspective, also with the understanding that in ancient Palestine rhetoric, over-exaggeration was widely understood to be a normal form of emphasis.
In the same way that we might say that we have seen a movie ‘O, millions of times’.
And also remember that in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus previously said:
‘If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the corrupt do the same?’
After all where would organized crime be without a sense of family, all those dictators and cartel bosses who are loving grandparents, monsters with a cosy home life?
The answer, or at least part of the answer lies in contemplating sentiment and sentimentalism.
"A sentimentalist", Oscar Wilde wrote, "is one who desires to have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it.” In other words, when our emotion become a selfish thing – self-centred and self-limited.
As James Baldwin, the Amercian author and civil rights activist, considered that "Sentimentality, the ostentatious parading of excessive and spurious emotion, is the mark of dishonesty, the inability to feel...the mask of cruelty".

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: a...

Jesus said ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice’.What he tells us is this: If religion is only concerned with pietism and ‘bein...
06/06/2026

Jesus said ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice’.
What he tells us is this: If religion is only concerned with pietism and ‘being proper’, if worship simply becomes a matter of outward sacrifice or ‘show’ then it bears no fruit, and if worship bears no fruit, it is worthless.
But tragically how often can we point to people who claim to be Christian, and yet there is little, if anything, distinctive in their words or behaviour, that honours the faith they so loudly profess to espouse.
Worst still, how all too obviously, there are countless numbers of people declaring themselves to be Christian, but who have appropriated warped teachings of the faith to justify hatred, bigotry, prejudice against minorities and different races, which clearly have far, far more, to do with extreme social and political views, shot-through as they are with anger, violence and fear.
By all means, they say, worship guns and violence, espouse prejudice and discrimination, define yourself by who you hate rather than who you love, and condone cruelty, corruption and lies, just so long as the most extreme politics and fierce nationalism are professed.
In certain places and countries, the faith has become so debased, that people of kind and generous hearts are now almost ashamed to call themselves Christian. So dishonoured and debased has that name frequently become…..

Jesus said ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice’.What he tells us is this...

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St Nicholas Church
Adare
V95XHH4

Telephone

+35361396691

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