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Introductory Reflection This month, I would like to share a film that I came across unexpectedly—and which, to my surprise, stayed with me. It is not a film I would have actively searched for, nor one that presents the fullness of the faith as we understand it as Catholics. Yet, it contains something worth noticing. As fathers, we are called to be attentive not only to what enters our homes, but also to how we interpret it. Not every good thing is complete, but even partial t

Date: 11th April Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We began our meeting with a time of adoration, placing ourselves in silence before the Lord. We were grateful to welcome new members, as well as fathers who had been away and have now returned. It was a simple and meaningful start, reminding us of the importance of being present together. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness by Devin Schadt Pillar 1: Listening to dis

Date: 28th March 2026 Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We started with adoration before our reflections. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness by Devin Schadt Pillar 4: Discover the Disciple (Embrace the Child) Reflection #174: Becoming a Father on Earth as The Father in Heaven (Page 401) Anonymous (n.d.) Christ Healing the Paralytic . Yale University Art Gallery. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File

Introductory Reflection Cinema has a quiet way of entering the home. What we watch shapes memory, and memory shapes how we understand life and faith. For fathers, this carries a simple responsibility: to be attentive to what is welcomed into the family space. A good film can open a door to reflection, to conversation, and even to prayer, without forcing it. Keith & the Movies (2018) Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018) . Available at: https://keithandthemovies.com/2018/03/25/paul-a

Date: 14th March 2026 Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We started with a time of adoration before entering into our reflections. Bosch, H. (c.1505–1515) Ascent of the Blessed . Oil on panel. Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice. Available at: Wikipedia Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness – Devin Schadt Pillar 3: Assume Your Authority (Embrace Charitable Authority) Reflection #125: Saving From and Saving For (Page 300) Note

Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026 Location: St. Mary’s Church Pope’s Quay Context We started our meeting with a time of adoration before our reflections. This helped us quiet our minds and place the meeting under God’s guidance. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness Author: Devin Schadt Pillar 2: Embrace Your Essence [Embracing Woman] Reading: 67. A Key to a Successful Marriage Page: 179 Veronese, P. (1563) The Wedding at Cana . Oil on c

Introductory Reflection Cinema can leave a quiet mark on a family. A film watched together does not end when the credits roll. It often continues in memory, in small conversations, and in the questions children ask days later. For fathers, this matters. We are responsible for what enters our homes. Stories shape how sacrifice, courage, and obedience are understood. When we choose carefully, we help form imagination and conscience without noise or pressure. Movie Details Twent

Date: Saturday, 14th February 2026 Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We began our meeting with Adoration. Before speaking or reflecting, we placed ourselves in silence before the Lord. This helped us to slow down and become attentive to His presence. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness – Devin Schadt Pillar: Listen to Discern Your Mission (Embracing Silence) Chapter: The Real Infusion (Page 119) El Greco (c.1590) T

Date: Saturday, 24th January 2026 Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER West, B. (1801) The Ascension . Oil on canvas. Denver Art Museum, Berger Collection. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AThe_Ascension%29_by_Benjamin_West%2C_PRA.jpg (Accessed: 4 February 2026). Context We began the meeting with a time of adoration before moving into our reflections and discussion. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness — D

Movie of the Month – When History and Conscience Collide Modern storytelling often presents revolutions as heroic turning points—necessary ruptures with the past that promise liberation and progress. Yet cinema occasionally pauses long enough to ask a deeper question: what is destroyed along the way, and who decides the cost? There Be Dragons invites the viewer to revisit one of Europe’s most turbulent moments—the Spanish Civil War—not through ideology, but through conscienc

Fathers of Saint Joseph – Meeting Notes Date: Saturday, 10 January 2026 Location: St. Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, Cork (T23 P8ER) Merisi da Caravaggio, M. (1602). The Taking of Christ . Oil on canvas, 133.5 × 169.5 cm. On indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland from the Jesuit Community, Dublin. National Gallery of Ireland. Available at: https://www.nationalgallery.ie/art-and-artists/highlights-collection/taking-christ-michelangelo-merisi-da-caravaggio **(Accessed: 1

Movie of the Month – Rediscovering the Sacred Through Cinema Our culture often encourages us to focus only on what is new, leaving the past behind. Many Catholics feel distant from today’s film industry, which can seem disconnected from the faith, leading to the sense that cinema is no longer a place where God can be encountered. Yet the history of cinema, especially in earlier decades, offers a rich tradition of Catholic storytelling that speaks quietly and deeply to the hea

Date: Saturday, 22nd November 2025 Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We began our meeting with a time of Eucharistic Adoration. This helped us settle into silence and prepare our hearts before the reflection. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness – Devin Schadt Pillar 1: Listening to Discern Your Mission (Embracing Silence) Reading 40: The Kingdom of Noise (page 117) El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (c.1605) Sai

Date: Saturday, 13th December 2025 Location: St. Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context This was our last meeting of the year. We began with Adoration, followed by our group discussion. After the meeting, many of us stayed for Mass. Later, a few of us went for coffee in the city with two Dominican priests who supported our group throughout the year. We finished the gathering at the recently opened Emmaus coffee shop. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of F

Date: Saturday, 8th November 2025 Location: St. Mary’s Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We began our meeting with a time of adoration, grounding ourselves in silence and prayer before entering into our reflection. Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1668–1669. Oil on canvas. The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Source: https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/digital-collection/43413?lng=en Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatnes

Fathers of Saint Joseph – Meeting Notes Date: Saturday, 25th October 2025 Location: St. Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We have returned to our regular meeting format. As usual, we began with a time of adoration before moving into our reflections. Carlo Crivelli, “ Saints Peter and Paul ”, probably 1470s, egg tempera on wood (93.3 × 47 cm), collection of the The National Gallery, London (Acc. No. NG3923) Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherl

Date: Saturday, 11th October 2025 Location: St. Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, Cork, T23 P8ER Context We resumed our meetings at the Dominican Church at St. Mary’s, Pope’s Quay, in Cork City. The morning began with a time of quiet adoration before moving into our reflection. Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness by Devin Schadt Pillar II: Embrace Your Essence [Embracing Woman] Reading 65: Agony and Ecstasy “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galile

Date: Saturday, 20th September 2025 Location: St Joseph’s SMA Church, Blackrock, Cork Context We continue to gather at St Joseph’s SMA Church. While the church itself is closed for works, the parish kindly arranged Mass in the church kitchen. Chairs were lined up, creating an intimate setting where we were close to both priest and assembly. The Gospel of the day was the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4–15) source: Vatican News . It speaks about the Word of God falling on diff

Fathers of Saint Joseph – Meeting Notes Date: Saturday, 6th September 2025 Location: St Joseph’s SMA Church, Blackrock, Cork Circle of Mauricio García. The Virgin of Mercy with Three Saints, mid–18th century. Oil on canvas, 37 5/8 x 26 5/8 in. (95.6 x 67.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1941, Frank L. Babbott Fund, 41.1275.181. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum) Context We continue to gather at the SMA Church. Although the church is closed for work, it remains a fitting plac

Fathers of Saint Joseph – Meeting Notes (by Willie Hayes) Date: Saturday, 16th August 2025 Location: St Joseph’s SMA Church, Blackrock, Cork (James Tissot, The Sermon of the Beatitudes (La sermon des béatitudes) , 1886–1896, opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Brooklyn Museum, accession no. 00.159.124; accessed August 26, 2025, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/en-GB/objects/13418 .) Reflection Reading Book: LEAD: The Four Marks of Fatherly Greatness by De