Dear Friends in Jesus Christ

My warmest congratulations on the happy occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Drogheda.  It is an occasion of great joy and pride for the many wonderful people who contributed to, and supported, the building of this fine Church 50 years ago.

Our prayerful thoughts are with all who worshipped in this Church throughout those years.  Our thanks to the many who served the people with care and compassion through the years.

May the Lord send a special blessing on us as we engage with the challenges of our time.

As the past has brought its many blessings, may the future renew us in the ways of goodness and peace.

May the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes always be treasured as the House of God.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Speaking at a special Mass in St. Joseph’s Dundalk today to mark Temperance Sunday, Cardinal Seán Brady said that it was unfortunate that the word ‘temperance’ was usually restricted to the question of alcoholic drink.  That restriction enables people to conveniently forget that the virtue of temperance refers not specifically to drink but to other areas of life as well and that it implies not necessarily abstaining but going the right length and no further.  The Cardinal said “Restricting the word ‘Temperance’ to alcoholic drink helps people forget that one can be intemperate about lots of other things, with equally disastrous effects on life”.  Cardinal Brady continued:

“However, Temperance Sunday does, once again, try to remind us of the tragedy of so many young Irish lives ruined each year because of alcohol and substance abuse.  Perhaps the economic crisis will help to focus attention at last on the full extent and seriousness of alcohol-related problems such as absenteeism and accidents which are estimated to cost the State three billion Euros per year.  I congratulate the 100,000 Pioneer Association members on their courageous and faithful testimony in the cause of moderation and self-control”. 

Cardinal Brady went on to express his wholehearted support of their campaign to persuade people to refrain from, or at least reduce, their consumption of alcohol during Lent. 

Cardinal Brady also congratulated the Jesuit publication, The Pioneer on its elegant and excellent free edition published to mark Temperance Sunday.

He continued: “Temperance Sunday challenges everybody.  It invites us to review our attitude and behaviour in our use of alcoholic drink.  It summons us to play our part in building a society where people can live to their full potential and alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation”.

The Cardinal believes that the key elements of the spirituality of the Pioneers – prayer, self-denial in the form of fasting from alcohol and reparation received a huge boost in the 2009 Lenten Message of Pope Benedict XVI.  The message is devoted to fasting.  “Fasting”, Pope Benedict says, “certainly brings benefits to our physical well being – but for believers – fasting is, in the first place, a therapy to heal all that prevents them from conforming to the will of God”

It is almost 50 years since I first met Ambrose Macaulay.  It was October 1960 it was in the Irish College in Rome.  He was already a priest doing post-graduate studies at the Gregorian University.  Naturally they were studies in Ecclesiastical History.  We have remained good friends ever since – meeting at such functions as the Oliver Plunkett Union meetings – Past-Pupils Unions etc.

During his years in Rome, Father Ambrose developed a great love for the Eternal City, for Italy, for the Church and especially for the history of the Church.  In the intervening years, despite his many demanding pastoral commitments such as University Chaplain and Pastor of the busy city parishes, Ambrose has found time to continue to do his research in libraries and archives here in Ireland and abroad and to write historical works of the highest standards. 

He is a man who does not believe in wasting time, even on holidays.  During my thirteen years on the staff of the Irish College, Ambrose was a frequent visitor.  His visits were always focussed and purposeful.  I can still see the chair being pushed back from the breakfast table every morning at 7.45 am and him getting ready to set forth energetically for yet another foray into the archives of Propaganda Fide, Secretary of State or the Vatican or the Roma Vicariate.  He has shared the fruits of his research in volumes that are at once scholarly and eminently readable.

In 1983 he published     Dr Russell of Maynooth,
In 1987             Patrick Dorrian, Bishop of Down & Connor.
In 1994             William Crolly, Archbishop of Armagh 1835-49. 

All of this has involved a huge amount of study and travel and research.

I think that it is precisely because he knows so much Church History and knows it so well that Mons Ambrose does not easily panic or become depressed in the face of current difficulties either in the Church or civil society.

Now he has turned his attention to Armagh once again – to the study of the Appointments of the Archbishops of Armagh in the Nineteenth Century.  It is all very interesting – sometimes exciting and also just a little worrying.  It is worrying to think that in a hundred years time future historians may be analysing the events and the facts behind what is happening now.  In fact, it makes the prospect of death so much more palpable.  Thank God I am not going to be around to see all of that.

But, in the meantime, I congratulate you, Mons Ambrose, on this, your latest work of historical scholars.  I wish you every success in your future writing and study and I am delighted to know that you have so successfully coped with recent health problems and that you are back into such good form.

I also congratulate Cumann Seanchais Ard Mhacha and the Ó Fiaich Archive and Library Committee on all the excellent work they do promoting an interest in history, in local history and, in particular, in the history of our local Church.  This work is very precious for it helps show how the Church – the Body of Christ – is a Society – in its own right with its own authority, capable of exercising rights, discharging duties and acquiring property The study of history gives us all a sense of achievement and perspective.

Prospre Procede

I wholeheartedly support the campaign to retain the existing health services in Armagh. 

I have been both saddened and disturbed to learn that the Southern Health Trust is planning a significant reduction in the services offered at Mullinure Hospital.  Combined with the downscaling of St Lukes’s and Longstone Hospitals, this latest move will unfortunately have the greatest impact on some of the most vulnerable people in society.  It is the elderly, the mentally ill and their families who are going to suffer the greatest pain, hardship and inconvenience as a result.

The whole community is united in voicing its strong opposition to the implementation of these plans.

Armagh, once renowned as a centre of a wide range of health facilities and with a proud tradition of excellent medical care, is facing yet another disastrous blow to its economy and its morale.

I beg the Southern Health Trust to reconsider its decision and to withdraw this proposal and not to deliver such a crippling blow to health care in Armagh.

I am very happy to be with you today as you celebrate the opening of the extension to St. Fursey’s Primary School in your parish. Today we give thanks to God for his love, which sustains us in all that we do. Today we focus our thanks on your school. St Fursey’s Primary School is at the heart of this parish community.  It is indispensable to the families of the area.  This school is also of critical importance to the life of the Church in this parish of Haggardstown and Blackrock.

So there is much to give thanks to God for today. The success of your school is a tribute to the entire parish.   I wish to welcome and thank the parents of the children. You are the primary educators of your children.  Today, in particular, is a mark of your commitment and participation in the work of the school.  I thank Mr Owen D’Arcy, your Principal, teachers and school staff who ensure that all pupils receive a first class education in this school with its fine Catholic ethos. Teachers particularly have an indispensable role in the life of the school and parish through their committed service to the education of the young.  Vatican II’s declaration on Christian education says of teachers
“…. that the Catholic school depends upon them almost entirely for the accomplishment of its goals and programs.”

As you know the Board of Management have responsibility for the management of the school. Today marks the completion of the extension to the school. This is the fruit of the sustained planning and commitment on the part of the Board.

In her address to the seminar launching Catholic Schools Week in Dublin on Monday last, Sr. Mary Reynolds of CORI said “In Ireland today there are almost thirty thousand (30,000) people involved in managing our Catholic schools.  Nearly 95% of these are lay. When one considers that this is a voluntary service, provided for the welfare of our schools and our young people, one cannot but marvel at the commitment and generosity of those who contribute so much to the governance of Catholic schools in Ireland.” I thank the Board of St Fursey’s for their dedicated service and I wish to acknowledged the sterling work of Boards of Management throughout the country

We are happy to be joined here today by Ministers Ahern and Hanafin.  Through them, we thank the Department of Education and Science for sanctioning the work and for the funding which made the project possible. There are many here who are justifiably proud of the school.  Your interest, loyalty and support, in terms of time and resources, have contributed to making the school what it is today.  That support will enable it to continue its service to this community.  The architect and builders have delivered a worthy building to house the great work of education. Thank you all for what has been achieved; may all who are part of the school know God’s blessing in their lives.

It is appropriate that the extension to your school is officially opened and blessed during Catholic Schools Week 2009.  During this week parents, pupils, managers and parishes around the country North and South are celebrating.  They are celebrating the extraordinary service of Catholic schools and their staffs to the education and formation of pupils and to the common good of society. Last Monday evening I was present at a seminar in Belfast attended by parents, pupils, managers of schools, teachers, parish clergy and officials of the Department of Education. Earlier in the day a similar gathering took place in Dublin.  Catholic Schools Week will be an annual event marking our historic and future contribution to society.

These seminars marked the beginning of Catholic schools week by reflecting on what it means to be a Catholic school and by celebrating their achievements.  For the past week schools and parishes have been giving praise and thanks for schools such as St. Furseys.  On Sunday next RTÉ 1 will broadcast Mass from St. Mary’s Parish, Lucan at 11.00 am.  A special liturgy has been prepared which reflects the theme of this week and in attendance will be primary and secondary students from the parish.

Some years ago Minister Hanafin was asked what she hoped for schools. Her answer was that they be happy places.  Today we know and feel your happiness and pride in your school.

I believe the parish Haggardstown and Blackrock is rightly proud of St. Fursey’s school. I see it as a beacon of hope forming the pupils and filling them with hope and joy.  St Fursey’s will prepare them for life. We live in a world beset with economic crises and threats to peace, so Catholic schools play a significant role as “powerful instruments of hope”. 
Catholic schools are characterised by an affirmation of pupils’ basic goodness: promoting their dignity, honouring their fundamental rights and developing their gifts to the fullest – as God’s reflections.

Central to the mission of the Catholic school is the education of pupils towards the fullness of life that God wills for oneself and others – as responsible partners. The school is motivated by a concern to convince and mould people to live, knowing that their lives are worthwhile and have historical significance – as history makers.  And so the school aspires to a curriculum which promotes the conviction of Irenaeus that “the glory of God is the human person fully alive.”

As Catholics we believe that we encounter God’s presence and grace in the ordinary things of life. This enables us “to see God in all things” in the “bits and pieces.” This sacramental consciousness enables us not only to see God in everything, but also to see what God wills for humanity and creation. It encourages us to be agents of God’s reign or Kingdom on earth.

A core element of the Catholic school is faith formation. Faith formation involves learning “from” Christ and not just ‘about’ Christ. The Catholic school is involved in formation, not just information, educating the very “being” of pupils. This will be found in a catechesis demonstrating the features of good education, personally and critically appropriated.  It engages pupils as agents, and thus involves all facets of school life.

The Catholic Church has shown a historical commitment to education as central to human development and as part of the work of salvation. Nowhere is that commitment more evident than in our own country. Many would argue that the success of recent years in this country has been made possible by the educational achievement of our schools. Catholics see reason and revelation as essential partners in the life of a Christian. 

Therefore the Catholic values excellence and the pursuit of knowledge. Pupils are not merely told what to think but stimulated to think for themselves. This is reflected in the day to day life of the school by the encouragement of critical reflection in dialogue with others.

Catholic schools stand on five great pillars of our Catholic faith and tradition.

1.    The dignity of the human person.
2.    God who meets us in the bits of pieces of life,
3.    Nurturing the community in which we live and  grow,
4.    The faith tradition to which we belong and the
5.    Commitment to excellence and pursuit of knowledge.

When we reflect on our school today we will find there all these rich threads of our faith which give us the tapestry which is our school.  We gather here to celebrate our school and wish it well into the future. 

Coming here today prompted me to find out more about St Fursey.  During his life St Fursey is supposed to have had a vision of the after-life.  During a state of trance he saw visions of heaven and hell, angels and devils.  

We all need some vision to guide us through life.  May St Fursey’s Primary School give, to all its pupils, the type of vision that will guide them to eternal life.

Thank you

I am delighted to know that some of you are going to pilgrimage to Rome next week.  I hope that you have a great trip.  It is an excellent way of honouring St. Paul – the Patron of your school in this year of St. Paul.  I congratulate all concerned.

But, whether you go on pilgrimage to Rome – or stay at home – every pupil of St. Paul’s – and every teacher in St Paul’s – should know as much as they possibly c an about Paul. 

We are all called to go on a journey of discovering who this character is called Paul. 

•    Why is he so important as to have a school named after him?
•    Why is he so important that we have to have a special year devoted to him? 
•    Why are his writings so special that we have to hear a bit of them almost every Sunday of the year?

The short answer – Saul was chosen by God to do a special job.  Just as each one of you has been chosen by God, to become a saint – because God loves you.

The first thing to remember is that Saul – later called Paul – was not always a saint.  When St. Stephen was stoned to death, by the Jews, for his belief in Jesus Christ – Saul was there urging his murderers on.  Saul stood there watching their coats in case the pick-pockets would rob them.

Saul was so arrogant – so sure that he was always right – that he became a leading persecutor of the followers of Christ.  He spied on them, had both men and women Christians arrested and put in prison.
Then the Lord intervened rather decisively.  Saul was literally knocked off his high horse as he sped to Damascus.  He was brought to the ground and to his senses.  He was struck blind for a time.  Suddenly the fellow who knew it all who felt he could work out his own salvation on his own through his obedience of the law – had to be led by the hand.

“Saul – Saul – why are you persecuting me”?
“Who are you Lord”
“I am Jesus Christ whom you are persecuting”.

A healthy reminder to all of us!  Whatever you do – whether it is good or bad – to another – you do so to Jesus himself.

Saul discovered that despite all his rotten, proud past, God has chosen Him. God has chosen Saul for three things:

1.    To know his Will
2.    To see the just one – Jesus, and
3.    To hear his voice speaking

Then when he had taken all of that on board, Saul is to be a witness.  He is to be a witness before all mankind for Jesus Christ, bearing testimony to what you have seen and heard.

I was a witness once in a law court.  It was before the Dublin Circuit Court and the Dublin High Court.  I had to put my hand on the Bible and say: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and not but the truth, so help me God”.

I was being asked to tell, truthfully, what I knew, what I had seen and heard about a certain business transaction which was being disputed.  In fact it was about a pilgrimage to Rome away back in 1975.

In the opening part of this Mass we prayed each one of us might follow Paul in bearing witness to God’s truth.  What is that all about?  The truth of it is that we have all been called to know Jesus Christ – not just to know a few facts about him such as where and when he was born but to actually know him as a person.  The fact is that we have plenty of opportunities to do so – in class in Religious Education studies – in school assemblies – in a parish – especially at Sunday Mass and in our homes at times of prayer.

Because you have been baptised – this is your birthright.  We live in an era when everyone is well aware of their rights.  Every pupil here has a right to get to know Jesus.  If that happens – you will not be content just with knowing him – you will want to love him because Jesus is totally good and perfect and then you will want to live your life as Jesus lived his life – in obedience to his Father in Heaven and that is the way you will bear witness to the truth.

Now of course there are lots of people who don’t see it that way.  They are OK as they are.  They don’t see much need for Jesus in their lives.  That is exactly as Saul was – riding along on his high horse.  He would live his life his way – do it his way.  But he was brought to his senses. 

Teachers – I am glad to be here at the beginning of Catholic Schools Week.  It has, as it s theme:  Catholic Schools – A Vision for Life.  I know the good work you do in schools to promote the Christian vision of life.  It is a vision that respects and honours the dignity of every human individual at every moment of its existence – irrespective of brains, beauty or brawn.  Jesus said:  “Make disciples of al nations”.  I say:  “Make every pupil a disciple first – to be a disciple is to be one who follows after Jesus.

To follow Jesus we must know him and see the attractive side of him – appreciate the loving Christ.  Jesus came to tell us that we all have, in fact, been chosen by God for great things.  For God loves us – loves each one of us in a special way.  This is why we ar called to live up to who we are.

I had the privilege of celebrating a lot of weddings in Rome – indeed some eminent people ion this school celebrated their wedding in Rome and took part in weddings in Rome. 

Very often the Reading was that Reading we heard just now from the Letter to the  Colossians – you should be clothed in compassion, kindness and humility, gentleness and patience.  St Paul know that for important occasions you have to buy lots of beautiful cloth – dresses, suits, ties, shoes, hats, coats etc.  If you are really serious about following Christ, you should be clothed in the kind of clothes that Christ wore.

Compassion, for example, Jesus had great pity on all those who were suffering or in need. 
Kindness and humility – Jesus said: “Learn from me because I am meek and humble of heart”.
But the overcoat is love.  That is the one that holds the outfit together and completes it- that is love.

Catholic Schools – A Vision for Life – Without a Vision the people perish

The vision of Catholic Schools is based on the belief that the greatest glory of God is the human person, fully alive.  It is built on the belief that when we develop all our talents – not just our physical abilities for example, by doing sport, nor our intellectual ability by studying many subjects and passing examinations, but our spiritual potential for prayer and praise:  our potential for kindness and forgiveness and thankfulness.  It is then that we are at our greatest.

In Rome I am sure you will visit the Basilica of St. Paul – it is outside the Walls of Rome – near the banks of the Tiber.  That Basilica was built where it is built to honour the tomb of St. Paul – which is under the High Altar.  We were there last October on two occasions to celebrate the opening of the Synod of Bishops and secondly to hear a concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. On that occasion they showed us the latest excavations which confirm that St. Paul was buried under the High Altar.

I hope you also visit Treo Fontane. Treo Fontane means three fountains.  The story is that when Paul was beheaded in Rome, at this place, his head jumped three times on the ground landing on a different place each time and that a spray of water gushed up miraculously.  A little church was built on each of the spots.  

Paul was executed in 65 AD – under the emperorship of Nero.  Nero was quite ruthless.  He became Emperor through his mother, Agrippina but later he had her, and many of his rivals, murdered.  Then there was a fire that ruined half of Rome and when suspicions were cast on Nero for starting the fire – and that he was reciting his own poems while it was raging, he turned on the Christians and executed many of them.  Hence you have the statement that Nero fiddled while Rome burned.

Those who go to Rome may see a lot of paintings of St. Paul.  He is usually seen with a long face, long beard and a bald head.  He has a sword and a book in his hand “The Word of God is alive and active.  It cuts more finely than any two edged sword.”  I hope the Word of God is alive and active in the life of each one of us. 

I wish you a great continuation of the year.

On 23 January 1985, I attended a special Mass in Rome in the Basilica of St Mary Major.  The main celebrant on that occasion was the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and the occasion was the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the birth of Mary Ward. 

I went along, prompted no doubt, by some clear instructions from within the family. I heard the man, who is now Pope Benedict XVI, thank the Foundress, Mary Ward, and her daughters for four centuries of tireless work, anchored on faith.  Today we are gathered here to thank Mary and her daughters for the tireless work, anchored on faith, which takes place in the 35 Loreto Schools in Ireland.  For today we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Foundation of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto) by Mary Ward in 1609.  We praise and thank God for the life and legacy of Mary Ward. We greet all who benefit from her legacy. Let them realise how fortunate they are and favoured and graced. They are also challenged and obligated to continue her work and to be faithful to her charism.
The story of Mary Ward is as interesting and inspiring today as it was 400 years ago.  It is appropriate that we should celebrate it on the occasion of the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Just consider the huge contribution of Loreto to the noble task of Catholic education on this island.

Mary Ward was born on 23 January 1585 in Yorkshire into a Catholic family.  It was a family that remained loyal to their faith. The first thing that strikes me about Mary Ward is how much she suffered for her faith, for her Church and from the Church.  Her parents had to move from their home frequently in order to avoid heavy fines.  Her life was influenced very much by her parents.  She said, “My parents suffered much for the Catholic cause.”  She recalls the love of her father for the poor, his care for the faith and his fidelity to his friends.  These were virtues which were to be Mary’s also. 

When she was five she was sent to live with her grandmother.  She remembers how she was influenced by her grandmother’s spirit of prayer and her kindness to prisoners.  Mary went, with her grandmother, to visit prisoners who had been imprisoned for their faith.  Her grandmother herself had been imprisoned for the faith.  Mary was very impressed by her grandmother’s spirit of prayer.  She says she never went to sleep or woke up but she found her grandmother at prayer.  Mary stayed with her grandmother from the age of 5 until she was 10. 

Mary prepared for her First Holy Communion when she was living with her aunt. While there Mary heard stories from the maid about her convent life.  She felt desires, deep within her, to follow this way of life.  So, it strikes me just how much she suffered, how much she had to move home and what a struggle she had to make, to find out what God was calling her to do.  I was struck how others influenced her – especially her maternal grandmother – for good.  There is an Association of Grandmothers – founded recently in Ireland to enable grannies to help hand on the faith. 

Each one of us is put in this life on this Earth to do some good. Sometimes it is quite difficult to know what that good is.  Mary Ward practised mortifications and prayers to prepare herself for what God was calling her to do.  She first told those desires to a priest but eventually revealed them to her father. He brought her to see a Jesuit priest in London.  He tried to dissuade her from following a religious way of life, telling her she would do more good for the faith by marrying and bringing up children. 

Later she travelled to France where she met another Jesuit priest who guided her to the Poor Clare Convent. There they were looking for a ‘begging out’ Sister.  She spent nine or ten months there until a Franciscan priest, on visitation, and told her that this way of life was not for her.  She left that Convent and decided she would found a Poor Clare Convent for English girls who wanted to join an English speaking Poor Clare Convent. 

Mary did found a Poor Clare Convent.  She joined it herself, thinking that her dream of spending her life in prayer and her destiny had, at last been, fulfilled.  But Mary still heard an interior voice telling her that she was not called to the way of life of St Clare but to something else. 

Mary then left the Poor Clares that she had founded, and returned to England.  There she set about doing good: 
•    Visiting those imprisoned for their faith,
•    Attending the sick,
•    Helping those who had lapsed from their faith. 

She used to say, “I love to do good to others.”  This was the theme of her life.  She then got a message that what God really wanted her to do was to bring great glory to God.  She was joined by five young companions who were attracted to the work she was doing in London.  Then she fell ill and as she was recovering she received further light that she was to follow the Jesuit Spirituality, caring for faith in the way that they did and taking their rule as far as is possible for women.  She decided that this was her life’s work.  She strove to get this approved despite a lot of opposition from the Church, and even from the Jesuits themselves,

I said that Mary suffered at the hands of the Church – Mary Ward was asking that her sisters would not to be enclosed and that they would have self-governance – two issues unheard of in the Church of her day.  Not alone that but accusations and false rumours were spread about her from England to Rome.  The Roman authorities were insisting that she follow the Laws of Religious of the day and that they should be enclosed. 
Since the Institute refused, their houses and schools in Rome were closed.  This dispute dragged on – Mary was denounced as a heretic and a rebel and she was imprisoned and the Institute was, for a time, suppressed.  Yet Mary told her Sisters to be confident in God – to have no bitterness against the authors of her troubles but to forgive them cordially and entirely, and to pray for their heartily. 

I was fascinated to hear how the name Loreto came about.  It originated in Ireland when the first school was set up, at Archbishop Murray’s request, in Dublin.  Mother Francis Teresa Ball moved into Rathfarnham House on 4th November 1822.  Because there were three of them on that first evening, Mother Teresa decided to call the house ‘Loretto’ after the town in Italy to which the Nazareth house of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph was said to have been miraculously transplanted.  The Foundation came about in this way. 

Today I thank God for the legacy of Mary Ward to Ireland and to the Church.  We praise God for Loreto Sisters. They not only continue to be involved in education, they also bring the Good News and healing love of Jesus Christ to people in hospitals, in prison and in seminaries, on all five continents of the planet.

Last October I was at the Synod of Bishop in Rome and I met there the Archbishop of Mauritius.  I enquired about my neighbour, Sister Theresa Clarke.  “Oh she is fine”, he said, “Up and down the parish on her bicycle every week of the year”.

We thank God also for Loreto Sisters like Sister Kathleen O’Brien, working in the formation of students for the priesthood in a seminary run by the Mill Hill Missionaries in Kenya.

Thanks be to God today for the eight new foundations set up in various parts of the world in response to the invitation in 2003 of the General Superior.  They were given “Courage to Move”.  We pray fervently for God’s protection on the three Sisters representing the Irish Province who went to Sudan in February 2006.

Today especially we thank God for the Loreto Sisters here in Ireland and for all others involved in their 35 Loreto Schools up and down the length of Ireland from Letterkenny to Fermoy as teachers, pupils, parents, members of Board of Management.  What an immense contribution they make to our parishes and communities.  May they all continue to care for the faith.  May they, like Mary Ward, devote their best attention to discerning the good that God is calling them to do, here and now, and to actually achieve that good.

I know that they will continue to generously commit their resources and to devote their energies to promoting the dignity and freedom of all.  Mary Ward correctly discerned that she was being called on by God to give glory to God in her own life.  Those who follow her have discerned that they give their highest glory to God when they develop their talents and devote them to giving praise and worship to God.

Such only truly live as are wholly God’s – words of Mary Ward quoted on the Memoriam Card of Sister Agnes Walsh – Superior General of IBVM – 1968-1986.  That great lady, whom it was my privilege to know in Rome from 1980-1986 – and whom I anointed in the casualty department of San Giovanni Hospital, Rome – she was called from this life on 7 January 1986. 

I remember her with love and respect from her visits to the Irish College and from my occasional visits to Casa Loreto Convent to say Mass.  I have her Memoriam Card in my Oratory to remind myself of how much I to owe to Loreto Sisters in many ways and ultimately to Mary Ward – Loreto Cavan – Loreto Crumlin Road – Loreto The Green – Casa Loreto – the links go on and on.  Sure I am nearly a Loreto person myself.  It is yet another example of what they call ‘communion; which links us to one another in the Body of Christ.  Such only truly live as are wholly God’s. 

In the Mass for Martyrs we pray: 

Lord, by imitating the fidelity of this martyr and by your patience,
May we come to share the eternal life you have promised.

Mary Ward was not a martyr but she remained faithful to God through all her sufferings.  She was most attentive to the presence of God in her life – while at the same time not pre-occupied about herself or her own self-interest.  Her example of forgiveness for those who offended her is truly heroic.

May her prayers help all of us to endure all suffering for love of God – while doing all we can to reduce that suffering.
May her example help us to seek God with all our hearts for God alone is the Source of Life.
May her vision, anchored on faith, of promoting full personal and social development in caring Christian communities of learning and teaching, continue to inspire the tireless work of the Daughters of Mary Ward. 

Amen

We are here today to see history in the making.  The Edmund Rice Schools’ Trust is being launched in Northern Ireland.  Responsibility for the great tradition of Christian Brother education is being handed over to the in-coming members and Directors of the Trust.  Various schools, primary and post-primary and playing fields are involved.  They are located in four different counties – Antrim, Armagh, Down and Tyrone – namely at Belfast, Armagh, Newry and Omagh.  Those involved include:

Greenpark Armagh;
The Abbey, Newry;
Pim Street, Whiterock Road:
Glen Road, Belfast;
Glengormley;
Omagh CBS.

These are names and places that evoke precious memories and strong emotions in the hearts of past-pupils across the length and breadth of Ireland and beyond.

In taking this step, the Christian Brothers and their colleagues in the network spread across the globe, are responding to the needs of a changing world.  The members and Directors of the Trust are eminent, generous and public spirited people, committed to the mission and vision of Blessed Edmund Rice.  Their task will be to ensure that the spirituality and charisma of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice will continue to be a lived reality in all of these schools. 
That is quite a challenge.  They are assuming responsibility for these schools.  I wish them God’s blessing and guidance in their all-important work – all-important work for the well being of the community.  I pray that they will have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit in abundance.  I hope that they will get generous co-operation from the parents, teachers and pupils.  I thank them most sincerely for being willing to assume this responsibility.

I congratulate Brother Kevin Mullan and his confreres on this courageous decision.  I thank and congratulate the Project Manager, Brother John Henaghan and all who have helped the project to become a reality. 

So we are all here today to celebrate.  We celebrate this important occasion because it marks the handing-on of a praiseworthy tradition.  I am delighted that it is being carried out and celebrated with such dignity and beauty, such solemnity and seriousness. 

Today we give thanks to God for the noble heritage of Christian Brother education.  Last Thursday I was in Waterford City for the funeral of Bishop Michael Russell.  On the way we passed close to Callan, the birthplace of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice.  As I did so, I was reminded of the question posed by Pope John Paul II on the day of his beatification: 

Who will ever measure all the good that has come from the spiritual insight, the warm heart and determined faith of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice?

Spiritual insight:        warm heart:        determined faith

Three wonderful qualities which Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice had in abundance. 

Of course, passing on faith in spiritual realities is never an easy task.  It is not an easy task today but it is a task that must be faced; otherwise we surrender to the philosophy that we live on bread alone. 

In this respect, Edmund Rice was an outstanding success, for a number of reasons: because of his love for Jesus and because of his care for the poor, the needy and the weak.  He built his life on solid prayer and a tender devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

I visited the birthplace of Blessed Edmund at Callan last year.  The story is truly inspiring.  At the age of seventeen Edmund left the beautiful village of Callan to go to work in the City of Waterford.  There he grew wealthy, inherited the business from his uncle, married and lived happily for a time.  But then disaster struck.  Tragedy came when Mary, his wife, died leaving him alone to raise their daughter, Mary, a child with special needs.  It was at that stage, after providing for Mary, that Edmund decided to devote his life and his wealth to helping the poor of Waterford.  He established schools for poor pupils, spent his free time visiting prisons and accompanying prisoners to their executions and helping families in need. 

Blessed Edmund founded two religious congregations – the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers.  That is the inspiring heritage, which comes from the spiritual insight, warm heart and determined faith of Edmund Ignatius Rice.  It is a spirit that is alive and well, thank God, lived by Brothers throughout the world – men who have been inspired by the Founder and decided to devote their lives and find happiness as he did in those pursuits. 

We are here today because Edmund Rice saw through the myth that material wealth brings happiness.  He was not afraid to be ambitious for the higher gifts and to follow the way of self-sacrifice and true love. 

I salute the efforts of those who have identified the five key elements of his spirituality and educational philosophy, namely,

1.    Keeping the faith alive,
2.    Working together in uniting your school community;
3.    Excellence in teaching and learning;
4.    Creating a caring school community; and
5.    Inspiring transformational leadership.

I salute not only the members and Directors of the new Trust but all those who have co-operated with the Brothers in the past and who, please God, will continue to co-operate with the Trust namely, the Principals; Board of Governors; teachers and parents. Each one has an indispensible, essential part in this noble enterprise which we call ‘Catholic Education’. 

Last October I attended the Synod of Bishops in Rome.  It was dealing with The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church today.  One of the propositions agreed was as follows:

The task of announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ belongs to all the disciples of Jesus Christ as a consequence of their baptism.  One of the essential parts of announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ is the imparting – handing-on – of a Catholic education.

So, I call down God’s blessing on all that has gone in the past on all that is here-present and on all that will be in the future.

We are here in a great missionary house – Dromantine Conference Centre of the Society of African Missions.  My hope and prayer is that through the work of this Trust which is being launched today, a new generation of people will arrive who will see that, indeed, as Edmund Ignatius Rice saw, there is a special happiness to be found in spreading the Word of God to the ends of the Earth and sharing the riches of baptism and the knowledge of Jesus Christ with those who have not yet received it.

Edmund Rice’s first school in Waterford was in a renovated stable.  He lived in the spartan loft upstairs.  His new lodgings were in stark contrast to his former life as a successful and wealthy businessman.  But for Edmund, this decision was the fruit of a long period of prayer and reflection.  Inspired by his vision and mission, many joined him and together they formed a community which was built on deep faith, love of neighbour and the pursuit of justice.  That life continues to inspire people today on the five continents.  In this Year of Vocation, let us be brave enough to pray that once again such lofty ideals will find a welcome in young Irish hearts.

The lovely icon of Blessed Edmund has much to teach us, including with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the Irish language, scenes of prayer and teaching and instruction of the faith.  Blessed Edmund was always giving of himself for the sake of others. 

I have seen the fruits of that giving in many places – here in Ireland – in Rome – in Calcutta, India. On every occasion, my heart rose in pride and thanksgiving to God for the great Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice.

Thank you

We are here to pay our last respects to the late Monsignor Peter Shields.  We are here to pray for his eternal rest.  The opening hymn invited us to be still; to be still in the presence of the Lord, for the Holy One is here. 

I am sure that Peter Shields was introduced to the presence of the Lord very early in life in many different ways as he grew up in his home in Portadown and in his native parish.  I am sure his late parents, Margaret and Jack, whom we are also remembering in this Mass, knew very well the meaning of living through love in the presence of Christ.  For the love which they gave to their son, Peter, and to their daughters Chris and Moira, surely revealed to their children, the true face of God as a God of love.  Margaret and Jack knew instinctively that they – because of their Baptism – were called to give not only physical life to their children – but the Life of Faith as well.

This they did, not only by their words, but above all, by their actions; for the example of prayer in the home, as well as worship in the parish, provided the spiritual foundation for their life of loving service to their children and to their neighbours.

In 1939 – almost 70 years ago – Peter was drawing near to the end of his time as a student in St. Patrick’s College, Armagh.  As a young 17 year old, he must have detected the presence of God manifesting itself in his life in some new way.  It was 1939 – a year of massive decisions for many in Europe, but also a year when Peter Shields made his own big decision which was to determine the course of the rest of his life.  He felt himself called to be a priest – to be a diocesan priest in this diocese – and so he presented himself to Cardinal MacRory who accepted him to become a student in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he would spend the next seven years preparing for ordination.
When he went to Maynooth he would have met the President – Mons John D’Alton.  Their paths would have crossed later on in this diocese.  In Maynooth, Peter Shields, the seminarian, certainly developed his love of beauty – especially the beauty of good music such as Gregorian chant and of Classical music.  He also developed a love of good liturgy which laid the inspiration for his foundation of a special choir here in this parish.  He was taught Moral Theology and Canon Law by the then Dr William Conway with whom he would work later on here in St. Patrick’s Dundalk from 1958 until 1963 and, of course, here in the diocese until 1977.

After his ordination in 1946, Father Shields went on loan to the Diocese of Down and Connor.  There he worked for three years in the County Down part of that diocese.  In 1949, he returned to his native diocese of Armagh.  For one year he served as Curate in Stonebridge, outside of Portadown in the Parish of Kilmore.  In 1950 he came here as Curate to St. Patrick’s, Dundalk where he would spend the next 28 years of his life as Curate and Administrator.

Every priest tries to place all his talents and his abilities at the service of the Church – to build up God’s kingdom for the glory of God’s name.  If he has the talent and enthusiasm to take on and carry out big projects, inspired by great ideals, so much the better.  Father Peter Shields had that sort of enthusiasm in abundance and so it was not surprising that he was given responsibility of organising the Annual Armagh Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes.  To understand what that involved you have to know what happened in Lourdes on 2 March 1858.

That day, there was huge excitement in Lourdes.  The first visitors to the Grotto got there about midnight.  When Bernadette arrived at seven o’clock there were some 1650 people present.  With the best will in the world, Bernadette was barely allowed to carry out her usual exercises of kneeling on the ground, kissing the earth and drinking from the fountain.

Our Lady appeared to Bernadette for the third time on that day.  Once the apparition was over she was surrounded by other pilgrims who wanted to know what the Lady said.  And Bernadette told them:  

Go and tell the priests that they were to come there in procession and build a chapel

Monsignor Peter Shields was one man who certainly took that invitation to heart.  He devoted a lot of energy into building the Armagh Pilgrimage into an outstanding manifestation of loving devotion to Mary, the Mother of God in accordance with her wishes, revealed to Bernadette.  He had the ability to enlist the help and the loyalty of a very devoted group of co-workers who gave of themselves and of their time very generously and very faithfully.  The sick and their welfare was his first priority. In fact wherever sick pilgrims and their welfare, while on pilgrimage was at stake, only the best was good enough.

I had the privilege and joy of sharing a table with him in the Hotel Solitude during the Annual Pilgrimage last May.  Monsignor was thrilled to be there recalling by-gone days, meeting old friends and savouring the happiness of the occasion.  It was to be is last visit and it was memorable.  It was the Jubilee year in Lourdes and it is fitting that Monsignor should be born to eternal life in the Jubilee Year of Mary’s Shrine, which he loved so well. 
For everything there is a season
and a time for every matter under Heaven,
a time to be born and a time to die.

Monsignor Shields was happy in Lourdes because he knew that there, above all, people live through love in the presence of Christ.  They live through love and service of the little ones, the sick, the poor, the lame and the blind – the people to whom Christ came to announce the Gospel and among whom he found his most attentive audience.
There is one other event which, in my opinion, stands out in the life of Monsignor Peter Shields.  When it was required, he donated one of his kidneys to his sister – Chris.  It was the mark of a good and generous brother – an occasion in which he lived through that exceptional love in the presence of Jesus Christ who gave his life for us. 

On the inside back cover of your funeral booklet, you will find a prayer.  It was composed by Monsignor Shields in 1975 for the canonisation of St Oliver Plunkett. 

Glorious Martyr, Oliver, who willingly
Gave your life for your faith,
Help us also to be strong in faith.

May we be loyal like you
to the See of Peter.
By your intercession and example
may all hatred and bitterness
be banished from the hearts
of Irish men and women.

May the peace of Christ reign
in our hearts,
as it did in your heart,
even at the moment of your death.
Pray for us and for Ireland.  AMEN

About 1970 Cardinal Conway held a meeting to renew interest and promote the cause of the Canonization.  It was decided that the long-standing League of Prayer should become the Crusade of Prayer.  This change would require the promotion of a new prayer to promote the cause.  All were set to work at the meeting to compose a new prayer.  The composition of Father Peter Shields was adjudged the best and was promoted widely thereafter. 
Cardinal Conway expressed the hope that the canonisation could be achieved within ten years.  In fact, with the help of this new prayer, it was achieved in about half that time. 

In more recent times the group which adopted St. Oliver as Patron for Peace and Reconciliation in Ireland, has distributed over a quarter of a million prayer cards at home and abroad.  Indeed, many people now recite daily this same prayer for the intention of peace and reconciliation in our country.  We can now thank God for the huge progress made in that direction in recent years.  And I want to recommend to you that you recite that prayer for peace in the Holy Land at this time.

At our Baptism and Confirmation – the Spirit of the Risen Christ comes upon each one of us.  We too have been anointed with sacred oil to indicate our sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ.  We are to bring Good News to the poor – the Good News of God’s compassionate and healing love for each one of us.

At his priestly ordination, Mons Shields was anointed once again to carry out publicly, in the Church, a priestly ministry in the name of Christ on behalf of humankind.  For 62 years he served Christ – the Teacher, Priest and Shepherd here in Dundalk but also from 1978 to 1997 as Parish Priest of Ardee.  His job was to preach the Gospel, sustain God’s people and celebrate the liturgy and above all, the Lord’s sacrifice.  Monsignor Shields did this faithfully – celebrating public Masses in the Redeemer Parish as recently as ten days ago.

I spoke to Monsignor Shields in the days before Christmas.  He sounded good and alert and in fine form.  Today we thank God for al of that and for all the graces and favours which people received through his work and prayers.  Today we thank God for all of that and for all the graces and favours which people received through his work and through his prayer. 

He has died in the middle of the Year of Vocation.  It is a year in which we all take on board more clearly the fact that by Baptism – we are called to play our part in announcing the Good News.  But we also recognise that God does call people to be ordained priests and we recommend that intention of Prayer for Vocations to you very specially on this occasion.  Today the world hungers to hear the Word of God.  Today the world is thirsting to know Jesus Christ and to experience His healing love.  Pray the Lord to send labourers into the Harvest.

Monsignor Peter Shields will always be associated with Lourdes and with pilgrimages to Lourdes.  Well, the Great Pilgrim has now come to the end of his earthy pilgrimage.  Often here on Earth he heard the words of the famous hymn:

An angel of mercy led Bernadette’s feet
Where flows the deep torrent Our Lady to greet
She prayed to our Mother that God’s will be done
She prayed for His glory that his kingdom come.
In Heaven the blessed your glory proclaim
On Earth now your children invoke your fair name.

May Mary greet Him now as His earthly pilgrimage draws to its close.  May the Angel of Mercy lead him safely into Paradise.  In Heaven may he join the blessed angels and saints in proclaiming the glory of God in that great unending chorus for ever and ever.

AMEN

On 7 September 1921 a small group of people met in the Parish of St Nicholas of Myra, in this City.  They were motivated by their awareness of the Christian Vocation to bear witness to Christ in the World.  Under the leadership of the great Frank Duff, the Legion of Mary was founded.  During the next 40 years the Legion had grown into 60,000 active units over 5 continents.  I don’t know the current figures but I do know that within 40 years there were already1 million active members and 9 million auxiliary members.  They were acclaimed for their marvellous work of Evangelisation and specifically for the work of helping people back to the Church.  The mustard seed had indeed grown into a huge tree.  By their fruits you shall know them.

In Ireland this has been announced as the Year of Vocation.  The great challenge of this decade is to hear again the Good News, brought by Jesus, the Good News about Jesus and to ask ourselves: What is that Good News asking us to do?

I am delighted to be here to launch this book.  It is of course the text of the talks given at a Conference, on that same topic, held in Emmaus in May 2007.  Once again, I congratulate the Legion of Mary on organising that Conference.  They did so with typical alertness to the signs of the times.  The New Evangelisation was a favourite phrase of the late Pope John Paul II.  He used to emphasise that evangelisation means, making known the Good News about Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ who came to offer to each one of us, the possibility of entering into a relationship of deep friendship with the Father.  It is a new evangelisation, not in the sense that there is anything new being said, but it is being said in a new way to a new generation with new ardour and new methods.

To speak to us about Evangelisation, the organisers invited along the Holy Father’s  Church Minister for Evangelisation, Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of People.

Of course, once people hear the good of Jesus Christ, they realise that they themselves are called to share the love of God by means of Sacraments and to worship and praise God.  Hence they invited along Cardinal Arinze, the Church’s Minister of Divine Worship and the Sacraments to speak on that all important issue.

I came away from that Conference filled up with joy at the achievement of the Legion of Mary and with hope for the future, built on the devotion and dedication of those who attended.  My hope is that people will take up this book, read it, and think about what they find there.  In a time of recession and of doom and gloom, good news is a treasure.  That is what Evangelisation is all about, bringing good news.
I came away from the recent Synod of Bishops filled with the same sort of hope.  The hope that we will experience a new energy in the Church, a new enthusiasm for announcing the Good News about Jesus Christ – the same yesterday, today and forever – alive in His Church – source of hope for the world.

I suppose you could say that one thesis of this Book is that Christianity is the only way to the true and authentic joy.  I love the article by Fionnuala O’Kennedy focusing on examples of how the laity have been encouraged and mobilised by priests.  It is a great morale booster for us priests to read, I can tell you.  In her article, Fionnuala Kennedy ventured to suggest that the Legion remains largely untried here in Ireland.  What difference has association with members of the Legion meant to Fionnuala Kennedy?  She says, “It has given me an awareness of my responsibility to share in the Mission of the Church.”  She said, “In Ireland today the Church has been in the grips of winter, at times frozen, some have turned away, while others have lost heart.”  But she asks, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”  This is the question in the hearts of many, as they await the call from their priests for mobilisation and encouragement to welcome the inevitable spring.

This Book reminds us that St Vincent de Paul was one of the most formative influences in the life of Frank Duff.  The St Vincent de Paul Society always comes into the news at this time of the year and I think it is particularly urgent that we listen to their appeals this year when so many vulnerable people are in danger of suffering because of poverty. 

The work of evangelisation is a task for the whole Church.  The recent Synod of Bishops repeated the same thing, when it said.  “The mission to announce the Word of God is the responsibility of all disciples of Jesus Christ, as a consequence of their baptism.”  This awareness must be deepened in every parish, every community and Catholic organisation; initiatives must be proposed that allow the Word of God to reach everyone, especially to those brothers and sisters who are baptised but not sufficiently evangelised.  Since the Word of God became flesh, in order to communicate itself to all people, a privileged way of coming to know it is through encounter with witnesses who render it present and alive.

Brendan Leahy says, “To evangelise means to show this path towards happiness, to teach the art of living.”  Pope John Paul said we need an evangelisation that is new in ardour, in methods and in modes of expression.  On the one hand there are the Word, the Sacraments and Ministry, Pillars of the Church, the Rock, but the Church is only fully realised when there is a knack of response on our part to the gifts communicated.  Mary is the model of that response, with her, “Yes”, which she spoke at the annunciation and repeated at the crucifixion.  So we too must say “Yes”.  We need to have a deep and personal experience of God.  We need to put God in the first place in our lives and do the ‘good’ God wants.  The new ardour for the New Evangelisation is to see God, who is love, as our ideal.

Cardinal Ó Fiaich described Frank Duff as the greatest Irish man of the century, when speaking at his funeral.  He deserves that accolade because of the graces that were conferred on him to mobilise lay people from all walks of life, in all parts of the world, based on a realisation of the consequences of the reception of the sacrament of Baptism. Recently the Synod says the same thing.  Today he is an Argentinean candidate for Beatification.

Fr John Hogan tells the story of Edel Quinn and her acquaintance with Sr Magdalene, one of Mother Mary Martin’s first companions, who died in recent weeks.  This book contains three models of faith, Edel Quinn, Alfie Lamb and Frank Duff..  It is suggested that we, priests, have a duty to present it to our people, models of holiness, to inspire them in their day-to-day living of the Catholic faith. 

Cardinal Suenans observed, as nuns lived their vocation of prayer in the cloister, Edel would live hers at the typewriter. 

Cardinal Dias told about how he was a junior member of the Legion of Mary.  He says, “There are three pillars of priestly vocation, sanctity, service and spiritual combat.”  Dias spoke about the Miraculous Medal.  “A lot depends,” Paul Churchill says, “on the spirit that a priest and local legionaries build up between themselves and the Legion is often the place where the priest can feel and be at home.”

EWTN doesn’t stand for elderly women talking nonsense, as some WAG put it.  “Mary is the cause of our joy, Jesus Christ is our joy and the source of our joy.” says Fr Deighan.  I like that.  Technological society has succeeded in multiplying the opportunities for pleasure but it has great difficulty in generating joy. 

300 AD in pagan Rome or 2008 AD in an ever more pagan Dublin, people grow tired of pleasures that disappoint and turn to bitterness, man-made pleasures where we assert our greatness and will have our way, pleasures that give no joy.  The Church holds the secret of that joy.  It is the secret which Mary teaches us of allowing God to be great.  It is the secret of humility and the sacrifice of our will. 

The motto of Cardinal Dias is ‘Service’, one word, interesting!  The organisers assembled a very competent and learned group of speakers who not only knew about Frank Duff and the Legion of Mary but they understood the spirituality that lies behind the priesthood, the evangelisation.  So, I really do hope that people will take up this book and read it and pray it. 

In Ireland we don’t really appreciate the contribution we have made to the Catholic Church in various eras.  Last Saturday evening in St Patrick’s College, Carlow, they celebrated the final day of their commemoration of the 175th anniversary of their Cathedral.  The College next door gave more than 3,000 priests to the missionary life of the Church.  The Legion of Mary has given so much to the world.  I think we should really reflect on it and say, “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is His name.” 

So, I congratulate Tommy McCabe and the Concilium and Fr Bede, the Spiritual Director, who planned and carried out this Conference.  I really do hope that people will take this messaage on board, especially the spirituality as true of St Louis de Montford.