In the current economic climate, it is all too easy to be pessimistic and to focus on the negative. The child in the manger beckons us to a future full of hope. And there are many good reasons to hope…. There is much talk about re-capitalising the banks with cash. This Christmas let us recapitalise our families, our local community and our society with concern for one another and with love. It is an investment which each one of us can make. It is an investment which comes with a guaranteed return.

Earlier this year I had the joy of travelling to Bethlehem with Archbishop Alan Harper, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh,  Rev Roy Cooper of the Methodist Church and Dr John Finlay of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It was a remarkable journey.

We learnt that, in contrast to the words of the famous Christmas Carol, the town of Bethlehem is no longer little, nor peaceful and still. Rather, the fears of all the years are present there with stark reality in what is now a small city cut off by a high wall from its neighbours and the outside world. Tragically, Bethlehem has become a byword for conflict and division.

Yet, in the midst of the difficult conditions in Bethlehem there were also vibrant signs of hope, particularly among the young. Young people can transform a difficult situation with their generosity and positive approach to the future. At the Shepherd’s Field Church they led their Irish visitors in an inter-denominational service of prayer for peace. They sang with great joy the words of the Angels to the Shepherds on that first Christmas: ‘Today a saviour has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord…Glory to God in the highest and peace to all people of good will’. The young people then spoke to us of their hopes and dreams for the future, of their confidence that one day Israeli and Palestinian would live together in a just and peaceful way because God had shown us the way to peace in the life and message of his Son.

The next day I had a very similar experience when I made a personal visit to the Catholic Parish in Gaza, tragically now back in the news with the break down of the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire. I wanted to show my solidarity with the small Christian community there.  It was graduation day at the Holy Family Catholic High School. Most of the young people graduating were Muslim. The streets outside bore all the hallmarks of violent conflict. Buildings had been bombed and hospitals were struggling for resources. People queued for even the most basic things like food and clean water. Even so, the young people graduating danced and sang with enthusiasm and pride for their families and friends. They danced because they believed in a future full of hope. They knew that poverty, set backs and difficulties could not rob them of their dignity and their dreams. They also knew the wealth that comes from a strong family bond and a community that cares. It reminded me of the importance of building strong families and communities that care here at home.

It struck me that this generation of young people have more in common across the world than any generation before. It occurred to me that despite the many divisions in the world, the world now has the chance to become more united than ever before. This is what the child born in the manger in Bethlehem came to do – to make us one, to establish among us a civilisation of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace.

In the current economic climate, it is all too easy to be pessimistic and to focus on the negative. The child in the manger beckons us to a future full of hope. And there are many good reasons to hope. If we invest in strong bonds of family and friendship, if we build up communities that care, we will always have good reasons to hope.  If we can turn the current global recession into global growth in a culture of care, then we will be in a better place than we were before the current economic crisis began. If we can turn the credit crunch into an expansion in love and concern for others, then we will move closer to a more united, fair and sustainable world. There is much talk about re-capitalising the banks with cash. This Christmas let us recapitalise our families, our local community and our society with concern for one another and with love. It is an investment which each one of us can make. It is an investment which comes with a guaranteed return. Let us rebuild family and community life as well as our economic system so that our future prosperity will be built on more solid foundations than it was before.

I pray that this Christmas will bring all of us in Ireland the blessing of renewed hope for the future and the peace which comes from knowing that God-is-with-us, not just in this season of good will but in every minute, of every day, until the end of time.  A Happy Christmas to you all and to all those whom you love.

I congratulate all of you on all you have done to mark this important day.  It is a sign of the love which you have for this beautiful Church.  That loves comes, first of all, from your faith.  You obviously believe that your Church is the most important house in this area because it is a house of prayer – a place where you gather to hear God’s Word and to sing God’s praise. 

I think I got a new insight into the affection which you have for this Church when I read Brian Toal’s excellent history.  For when I read the story of the building and the part played by men like Charles O’Hagan and Mick Kelly and Andy Mallon and by women like Mary Rafferty and Minnie Neery, by Anne Kelly and Maggie Hughes, under the watchful eye of Father John Mackle, I began to understand that this Church belongs to this community in a very special way. 

I got a new understanding, not only of how it was built, but of how it was renovated in 1970, altered in 1991, repainted in 1998 and now again redecorated in 2008.  You have invested hugely in your church in terms of voluntary labour at the beginning and in terms of many other kinds of investment since.

I rejoice with all of you who, under the leadership of Father Sweeney and Father McNulty have given so much to prepare of this day.  You have indeed fulfilled the words of Bishop Austin Quinn of 50 years ago.

This beautiful church is built for present needs but not for these alone.  No Catholic thinks of it as for his own day only.  You have put it here in confidence that it will serve your children and your children’s children when you are gone. 

I was struck by a remark by Brian Toal – who wrote:  “The younger generation of parishioners at this point in their lives are perhaps less inclined to have the same sense of appreciation of the true significance of what is now being celebrated. The challenge now is – as I see it – to give them a greater sense of the meaning of what is happening here today.

How can that be done?

I thank that the outstanding appreciation which you, the people of Knockaconey have for your Church – must be due – in some part to the huge part you and your parents played in the building of this Church.  We must try and get our young people more involved.

Last night I was in Carlow.  There were celebrating the 175th anniversary of the opening of the Cathedral of the Assumption.  It also was a wonderful occasion.  The liturgy was led by young people from all of the 56 parishes of the diocese carrying banners representing their parishes.  I had already met many of those young people at World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia last July.  There they were staying the same parish as the 80 young people from this diocese.   But to get the young people more involved we may have to convince them that their local church is a public, permanent statement of faith.  So what was the important Public Statement made by Mick Kelly and his colleagues 50 years ago?

Basically I think that it is much the same statement as that made by St. Paul in today’s Mass.  God is faithful.  From that faithful God we have all received lots of graces and favours and blessing through His son Jesus Christ.  We have all been enriched in so many ways – we like to celebrate all of that giftedness and talents.  We do so when we give each other prizes and medals and awards and distinctions and nominations and personality of the year and so forth. Nothing wrong with that provided we never forget where it all comes from in the first place. 

What have I that I have not received and why should I grumble as if I had not received it?

At the World Youth Day in Sydney Pope Benedict warned of the danger of self-absorption.  He was talking mainly to young people but when it comes to being self-preoccupied, we can all look for and beware.In that reading – St Paul says –

“I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ”.  Paul is well aware that we have been mightily gifted by God.

Today I want to thank God for all the graces – you, the people of Knockaconey – have received through Jesus Christ.  You are indeed a gracious and gracefilled people – dedicated and devoted. Today I think of the late great Father Michael Cullen – may he rest in peace.

I am sure that today you yourselves may wish personally to give thanks for graces and favours you have received in this Church of St Columcille on many occasions. 

Perhaps you want to recall joyful times when you cam here for baptisms and First Communions or perhaps there are, looming large in your mind, those sad tearfilled times when you came for the funeral of a beloved father or mother or spouse or even for the untimely death of a son or a daughter and you did not know how you were going to cope and somehow or other, thank God, you did pull through.  Maybe you want to remember the day on which you made the big commitment of marriage here and you promised to take each other for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. 

Whatever the occasion, you did come under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit – whether you were aware of that at the time or not.  Anyway you did have a real meeting with Jesus Christ, for when you listen to the ~Gospel – you heard the words of Christ and when you prayed you were speaking to God, and when you received the sacraments you did receive the life of God. 

Fifty years ago this Church was opened and blessed on the First Sunday of Advent.  It is a day on which we begin our preparations for Christmas.  In Advent we are reminded that we believe that the Son of God came 2,000 years ago in the flesh to teach and preach and heal, to suffer and to die and to rise from the dead.  We believe that he will come again in glory not to suffer any more but to gather his chosen ones into the glory of Heaven.  In other words, to judge who is ready and prepared to enter the glory of Heaven.  Now we all like glory but this is the glory that matters.  This is the glory that lasts. 

In between those two comings of Christ – the first and the last – there is another coming – just as real but less obvious than the other two.  Here and now Jesus Christ comes in His words and in his sacraments.  Today’s Gospel tell us several time – Stay Awake – be on your guard – be ready.  Am I ready to meet my maker?  It is a good question because I never know when the time will come.

He is coming – that is for certain.  If he comes unexpectedly he must not find me asleep.  What is that all about?

What would be wrong with dying in my sleep?

For many people that would be a nice way to go.  I think that there is something else being said.  If he comes unexpectedly he must not find me unprepared.  The best way to be prepared to meet Christ in death is to meet Him everyday in his word and in his sacraments.  To take up a piece of Sacred Scripture and to read it and to ask myself a couple of questions:

•    What does it mean?
•    What does it mean to me?
•    What do I want to say to God in response to what he is saying to me?

God is clearly saying that the Son of God is going to come again.  God is saying to me – that I should take a look at my life and see if I am ready to meet my Maker.  If not, I would probably want to ask and beg for the grace to make a good confession so that if I do have to meet my Maker I will be ready and if I sincerely ask for that help I am absolutely certain that it will be given to me.

I am certain of many things in life but I am sure of that.  If I ask for help to confess my sins it will be given to me and then I should take myself out to confession.

You know that there is great happiness and peace of mind in knowing that if the Mass of the hour were to come suddenly, he would find me ready.

Earlier I spoke of the challenge of getting young people involved in parish life.  I imagine that many here present have got a lot of happiness and satisfaction out of their involvement in the life of the parish.  You see, we have been put on this Earth to get to know God and, in particular, to know his son, Jesus Christ who came on earth to tell us about the Father’s love.  The better we know Jesus, the better we will love him and the better we will want to serve him.  It is as simple as that. 

I was at the Synod of Bishops in Rome in October.  Pope Benedict spoke one day about Building our Lives.  Do we want foundations of sand or of rock?  The realistic thing to do is to choose rock.  The sand can slip away – like the money in the banks seems to have.

Over 50 years a lot has changed in Knockaconey as in everywhere else.  The Church has been renovated and redecorated a number of times.  The faces of the people have changed, as generation after generation has come here, gathered as one people at an altar of a loving God.

In a changing world one thing has not changed – the gathering – Sunday after Sunday, day after day, of people who celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This is what this building is for – a place where the victory of Christ over death are remembered and celebrated by his people.  Here we are nourished by the Word of God and the Bread of Life.  Here the hope of a Christian people is nourished: here our faith is strengthened; here our love is renewed.  Jesus Christ is the reason for the Church; Jesus Christ is the reason for our community, our Church; Jesus Christ is our hope and our life.

Your Excellency, my fellow bishops, representatives of other Churches and local government, I feel very privileged to be with you this evening to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the founding of this Cathedral Church of Kildare and Leighlin. I want to thank Bishop Jim Moriarty for inviting me to be part of this important event in the life of your Diocese and also to thank the Administrator, Fr John Cummins and the people of the Parish for their warm welcome and the great care I know they have given to the preparation of this liturgy.

In every Diocese the Cathedral Church is a focus of unity and it is wonderful to see representatives of every parish in the Diocese gathered here this evening. I am also delighted to meet again with so many of the young people from Kildare and Leighlin who were present at World Youth Day in Sydney. I hope Bishop Moriarty didn’t insist on you sleeping outside all night in preparation for this celebration as you did with hundreds of thousands of other young people before the Mass with Pope Benedict at Randwick Racecourse! I thank you for your faith and your joy on that occasion. You were an inspiration to me and to so many others and I thank you for bringing that faith and joy back to your own Diocese and now to this Cathedral for our celebration this evening.

Those of you from the Cathedral Parish, or who can remember being here for a special occasion, will feel they owe this Cathedral a particular debt. Although it is only, I think, the third time I have visited and celebrated Mass here, I too, feel I owe a debt, and I will tell you why.  I suspect that by now everybody will have heard of Springfield, Illinois.  It was from the steps of the State Capital there that Barack Obama launched his election campaign.

In the year 1905, my granduncle, Fr Philip Brady, was ordained here in Carlow for the diocese of Springfield, Illinois.  Three years later my uncle, Fr Hugh Brady, was ordained for the same diocese.  In the space of the next fifty years, five other members of my family, uncles and cousins, were ordained here for various dioceses.  I am conscious today that they, and more than 3,000 priests educated in St Patrick’s College, Carlow, would have visited this Cathedral, and celebrated the great ceremonies, the great mysteries of our faith here. I am sure that it was here that they derived inspiration to continue on their faith journey, to stay with their decision to give their lives to the spreading of the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.  So, I regard it as a great privilege to come here today, to thank God, with you, for all that this Cathedral has meant in our lives.  It has meant something in my life and I am sure it has meant much more in your lives.

Perhaps you have been here for a joyful ceremony, like a Baptism or First Communion.  Maybe it was a very sad, tearful occasion, like the funeral of a mother or a father or a dear friend.  Maybe it was on a day on which you made a life commitment, such as the day you were married or the day you were ordained to the priesthood.  Whatever it was, it was a privileged time, a time in which you came with others to hear the Word of God and to receive grace of God.  Whether you knew it or not, you came at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  It was a time you met Jesus. When you heard the Scriptures, you were hearing God and when you received the Sacraments, you received in your soul the very life of God. 

This evening I want to give thanks for all of those privileged times and events in which the presence of God was especially evident and powerful.  They are what make this Cathedral hold such a special place in the hearts of Carlow people.

The late Bishop Larry Ryan once wrote, “Every Church is a public permanent statement of the faith of a community.”  Every church, and especially every cathedral, invites us to pray.  Like their tall majestic bell towers, they turn our minds from earth to heaven.  They raise our eyes to God.

So what was the public permanent statement which Bishop James Warren Doyle, the great JKL, was making when he laid the foundation stone on 18 March 1828?  Basically, I think, it was the message of today’s Second Reading. The message given by St. Paul to the Corinthians almost 2,000 years ago –
•    God is faithful –
•    God has called us and joined us to his son, Jesus Christ.  
•    God has enriched all of us in so many ways. 
•    God has given us so many gifts and graces.

The building of this Cathedral stated all of that and more.  I think it says worship of God is important.  To adore God is to recognise God as our Creator and our Saviour.  It reminds us of what Jesus said:  “You shall worship the Lord, your God and him only shall you serve”. To worship God is to praise God.  It is to acknowledge that God has done great things – in us and for us. 

In 1828 this statement was made, not in words, but in grey-blue stone from the quarry on the Tullow Road, in the white granite of Colonel Bruen’s quarry and in the majestic oak of Oak Park.  To combine all of that diversity, and much more, into the glorious building you see before you, you needed genius and inspiration.  That genius was to be found in the person of architect, Thomas Cobden. He, in turn, looked for his inspiration to Continental Europe. The inspiration for the glorious Bell Tower, for example, comes from the Beffroi Tower in Belgium.

I believe there is a great sense of unity about this Cathedral.  It is a well put-together building.  It retains part of the transept wall of the old 1787 Church, built by Bishop Staunton, reminding us that we all owe so much to the past and to the people who went before us.  The elegant medieval windows evoke memories of the glory of Duiske Abbey.  And while the majestic 150 foot tall Tower lifts our minds to God, and to heaven, as our final destiny, the low-pitched roof reminds us powerfully to keep our feet on the ground and to walk humbly in the sight of the Lord at all times.

In this way JKL, with the help of Thomas Cobden, left us, in stone, a permanent meditation on the unity which is the heart of the Christian life. It is worth remembering that JKL was a member of the Augustinian Order, so he would have been influenced by the spirituality of St Augustine.  This spirituality is fundamentally that of conversion to Christ, to the love that unifies all our energies.
It is also worth remembering that St. Augustine was heavily influenced by the writings of St. Paul. It was St. Paul who reminded us that the Church is made up of ‘living stones’.

These ‘living stones’, you and I, every baptised person, are also called into a love that unites. You and I, through our conversion to the love of Christ, are called to make a living cathedral out of our own lives, out of our homes, out of our towns and cities. We are called to make them a place of encounter with the love of Christ, a love which unifies and transforms all people. I believe the world has never been more in need of this love.

I became particularly conscious of this when I visited the Holy Land earlier this year with the leaders of Ireland’s largest Christian traditions. It was not just a pilgrimage to the Holy Sites of Christianity. It was an encounter with the ‘living stones’ – with the Christian community in Jerusalem, in Bethlehem, in the West Bank and in Gaza. There we also met a group of young Christians who travelled for over six hours from Zebabdeh to meet us!

It was an extraordinary experience. The Christian community in the Holy Land is so full of joy and life but it is also experiencing tremendous difficulty. The number of Christians in the region has decreased dramatically. They need our help and support. That is why I want to commend Bishop Moriarty and Fr Bill Kemmy, his secretary, for the excellent way in which they have connected the celebration of the dedication of the Cathedral to the Christian community in the Holy Land. The peace lamps from Taybeh which will be lit and distributed to each parish in this Mass and the olive wood gifts that will be distributed throughout the Diocese by each Parish are a practical expression of a much deeper bond of solidarity between each of us and the Christians of the Holy Land, based on our baptism.

The Gospel this evening tells us, several times, to stay awake, to stay alert to the signs of the times. In our world today there is no shortage of disturbing signs.  They make us feel anxious about the future. But there are also many positive signs.  They are the seeds below the winter soil. We should never doubt that God continues to fulfil his loving plan. Whether it is in our own lives or in the events of the world, God’s love and peace can break through at a time and in a way we do not expect? People did not expect the Saviour of the world to be born in a stable, yet God’s love made flesh was present there. People did not expect the Messiah to be put to death on a cross, yet it was through the cross that God revealed the depth of his love and achieved the final victory of good over evil.

These first two weeks of Advent call us to renew our faith that God continues to turn all things to our good. Advent calls us to believe that in spite of the twists and turns of world events, God’s time will come.  One day God’s peace and love will prevail. Our Gospel even suggests that it will come at a time we might not expect.

There is much talk at the moment of the credit crunch. I have great sympathy with those who are suffering as a result of that credit crunch. I suspect its impact on all of us, but especially the most vulnerable, may be more profound than had previously been anticipated. Can we dare to hope that despite the many negative consequences of the credit crunch the seeds of a more just and sustainable world are being sown.  Can we hope for a world dominated by global solidarity rather than global rivalry. It will require moral courage and wisdom and self-control on the part of all to avoid the individualism, excess and dominance which fuelled the credit crunch.

Yet the global impact of the credit crunch has reminded us dramatically that, as a human family, we have never been more interdependent.  If we can turn that global interdependence into a culture of global concern for the other as well as for ourselves which is the golden rule of the Gospel, then a more peaceful and sustainable future for the whole of humanity may well be closer than it has ever been before.

We have seen the dreadful pictures from Mumbai in recent days, the scenes from Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan.  They are all vivid reminders of the failure to beat swords into ploughshares, words and weapons of war into words and actions of peace. And yet, it may be that the world has never had a greater opportunity to develop a global culture of peace than it has today.

When I was in the Holy Land it struck me several times that the young people in Gaza city, for example, for all its misery and desolation, were using the same mobile phones, were enthusiastic about the same music and football teams as the young people in Jerusalem, Carlow and Krakow. Yes, of course, there were distinct historic and cultural differences between them but there were also bonds of solidarity and mutual encounter that had never existed before. Is it possible that with the development of global infrastructures of communication and travel, used responsibly, God is providing us with the means of a creating a more global understanding of national cultures and the possibility of more peaceful exchanges between them? Perhaps the Credit Crunch is challenging us to create stronger institutions at a global level which can guide all human activity towards a shared humanism based on solidarity?

I was particularly struck by a comment made to us by a member of the Palestinian authority. He suggested that world faith communities had to play a much more active part in finding solutions to situations of conflict in the world. In an increasingly global era, there is a strong case for making the dialogue between the major faith traditions of the world and the international political community more mainstream and permanent at a global level. The interaction of faith, politics, culture and history is so entwined that a more formal structure of ongoing international dialogue could be an invaluable contribution to the work of peace.

This Cathedral is called the Cathedral of the Assumption – the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven. It is an ever present reminder to us, as Advent is, that our ultimate homeland is in heaven. What we await with joyful hope at this time of the year is not only the coming of Jesus in the celebration of Christmas but also the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ at the end of time. What God has done in Mary, bringing her body and soul into heaven, he offers to all those who accept him with faith, following their judgement on the last day. This is the source of our hope.

As we reflect on the signs of our times, we give thanks for the sign of this great Cathedral and pray that it will continue to nourish the faith of the people of Kildare and Leighlin until the coming of the Lord. We pray that Mary, who pondered all these things in her heart, will bring us closer to the heart of her Son, that we may know the depths of his love and bring to us others the gift of his peace.

Amen.

I am very thankful for the invitation to come here tonight.  I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you on the occasion of Prize giving.  I congratulate, most warmly, all who are receiving prizes and certificates. I wish you well for the rest of your studies and indeed for the rest of your lives.  I wish you all, Principal, Staff and Students the very best for the rest of this academic year.  I pray God’s choicest blessings upon all of you at this vital stage of your life – and a blessing on the hugely important work of teaching and of education.

I have thought long and hard about what else I should say tonight.  I think about football and congratulate Tyrone on winning the All-Ireland championship for the third time.  But there are more people around who know a lot more about football than I do and I will leave the subject to them.

But I want to tell you a sad story.  In 1952 I went to Secondary School – St Patrick’s College, Cavan – it was the golden age of Cavan football – we were All-Ireland Champions and had also contested the minor final that year but unlike Tyrone, did not win it.  But we had won six Ulster titles in the previous ten years, contested five All-Ireland Finals and won three and then, horrors of horrors – we have not won another All-Ireland since.  I am sure that is not going to happen to Tyrone.  But I tell the story for a reason

Of course all through my Secondary School days I was indeed interested in football and I got a lot of enjoyment from both watching and playing football.  But it has gradually dawned on me that there are some people who do not share my passion for football or for sport for that matter, and they too deserve some consideration.

I was in Ennis, Co Clare on Monday night last.  There was a Mass in the Cathedral followed by a meet and greet in the Hall.  As you may know Clare is a mighty place for music – especially for Irish music.  So both the Mass and the Reception were flooded in outstanding music and song and dance.  It reminded me of one night when I was a student in St. Patrick’s College, Cavan and the Tulla Ceili Band from Co Clare came to play for us.  They have been All Ireland Champions on many occasions.  Their music that night was sheer magic.  It gave me a love for Irish traditional music ever since.

On Monday night I met a man who was a classmate of mine for five years in Secondary School.  I met him about once or twice in the past 51 years but our friendship has lasted all those years. 

So, as I racked my brain to discover something good and strong to say to you tonight I was looking for something that will last and something that will appeal to all and maybe something that will give hope to all, whether you are interested in football or not. Whether you are a student or a member of staff or a parent or whomever.

I realise I am in St. Joseph’s High School and that there are many people call Joseph or Josephine.  So I wondered what St. Joseph might want us to say on this important occasion in this illustrious institution that bears his name and is dedicated to his honour. 
St Joseph never speaks in the Gospel.  His life is dedicated totally to the care of Mary – his wife – and of her son, Jesus.  So I suspect that St. Joseph would want the attention turned away from himself and focussed on Jesus and to a lesser extent.  But I expect also that Joseph would not want us to forget the feast day which was yesterday.

What feast was that you may ask?  We are like that in Ireland – we celebrate some things well and others we let pass in a slipshod way.  Yesterday was the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland.

I lived for 20 years in Rome and this was, after St. Patrick’s Day, yesterday was the biggest feast of the year.  We used to have a big celebration – a big dinner and a play – in Irish.  Yesterday was the Feast of All the Saints of Ireland.  In other words, the feast of all our grandparents and great grandparents and of all our ancestors – who have gone forth from this world and, hopefully, safely to their true home with God.  One day, X number of years from now, 10, 20. 30, 40. 50, 100 years from now hopefully this will also be our feast when we too will have gone ar Sli na Firinne as they say in Irish – they have gone on the way of truth, the way of genuineness. 

The saints cannot speak to us directly – but indirectly they can, and do, inspire us and I hope that Blessed Patrick O’Loughlin speaks to you here in Donaghmore. 

If our deceased ancestors could speak to us I suspect they would be saying to us all that there is one thing – absolutely – which all of you and indeed all of us, should learn during our time and that is how to get to know this all-important Sli, that all important way which we must all travel if we are to reach our destination.  The fascinating thing which we will learn and which we must all discover is that the way is, in fact, a person – the person of Jesus Christ.

When I was made Archbishop of Armagh I chose as my motto To Know Jesus Christ. I chose this to be the inspiration of my own life first of all, and then secondly that it might become the inspiration of the lives of those I serve.  That is the ambition of my life – to know Jesus Christ and to imitate Jesus in my life.

So my dear friends, my dear young friends in particular, whatever else you do during your time here, try and build a friendship with Jesus Christ because friendships built during your teenage years last, and they last a life-time as witnessed by my friend of over 50 years in Ennis the other night.

It is not enough however to know about Jesus, the challenge is to know Him – and if we really know Him, we will love him and we will try to make our lives like his – built on the same values – holding the same attitudes as Jesus held; showing the same sort of qualities as Jesus showed in his life. 
Mickey Harte is a very successful Team Manager and has managed the Tyrone County team now for several very successful years and I would say that there are certain qualities he expects to find in his team members.

Firstly, I reckon he is looking for someone who really knows and loves his football.  He does not want to have to be dragging people along against their will.
Secondly, he is probably looking for people who are ready to make sacrifices, ready to put themselves out and to give up their own comfort for the sake of a great dream.
Thirdly, I imagine he looks for someone who is a team person – who puts the team first and who turns up faithfully.  I would say turning up now and then would hardly do.

Building that all-important friendship with Christ will require much the same qualities.
•    That we know Him in order to love Him.
•    That we are prepared to face the rough as well as the smooth.
•    That we make the effort to be part of the community of the Friends of Jesus Christ.

I have just come back from Rome where I attended the Synod of Bishops.  It is a gathering of many bishops from all over the world.  We were discussing the Word of God in our own lives and in the life of the Church.

It came home to me that in reading and listening to the Word of God, we really do meet Jesus Christ.  I saw that by really listening and responding to what God is saying to us in our own words and in our prayers – we get the kind of strength we need to travel our sli na firinne – in other words, to follow Jesus Christ. 
That is why the Synod recommended to the Pope that he should ask every Catholic to have his or her own Bible and to read it often.  There is an idea for a Christmas gift with a difference!
•    It would certainly be a gift for life.
•    We get ourselves phones in order to put us in contact with our friends and our parents when and if we want to contact them.
•    Getting in contact with the One who can really help, in every situation, namely Jesus Christ, seems to me to be also important.

I found the Synod a great experience.  It was amazing to hear how poor people and persecuted people got the strength and courage from hearing the Word of God and praying with it.  It became clear to me that what each one of us has got to do is to open our hearts and minds to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the Bible.  If we do that we will begin to glimpse the real questions of life:
•    What is the purpose of my life?
•    What is the centre of my world?
•    What is my No. 1 priority?
•    What is my most precious gift?
•    What is my main problem?
•    What does the Holy Spirit mean anyway?
And if you keep on reading and thinking you will get the answers.
It has been my privilege to confirm many of you when the Holy Spirit came to make us and help us to understand what the Word of God is saying to us.  One of the things which the Word of God is saying, loud and clear, is that it is the task of all who have been baptised to announce the Good News brought by Jesus Christ. 

I know the strong faith of your parents and grandparents from the various times we have met down through the years.  My dear young friends, Jesus Christ needs you now, more than ever, to stand up for your faith.  You can do so in many ways

By your faithfulness to prayer
By your good conduct, and
By your being loyal to the Sunday Mass

I appeal to you to make Jesus Christ present in our world.  In that way, we can all be champions, not just for one year but forever.

This year has been dedicated the Year of St. Paul.  Paul wrote two letters to a young person called Timothy who later became his assistant.  There is one marvellous passage in which he compares life to a race and I would like to read it to you all:

The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.  They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.  But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances; endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the Good News and perform your whole duty as a servant of God.

As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life.  I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith.  And now there is, waiting for me, the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day – and not only me, but to all those who wait with love for Him to appear.

My dear young friends may the prize you are given tonight be the first of many.  May you receive and recognise all the prizes you will be given in life.  May this prize be a promise of the victory prize of Heaven and may the joy you feel tonight be a foretaste of the heavenly joy.

Thank you

I thank your honourable Council for according me this Civic Reception on the occasion of my visit to your beautiful and historic town for the 10th Annual Ceifinn Conference.  I am well aware that you are according me this honour on account of the office I hold and I appreciate this honour greatly. I thank you for the kind words you have spoken and for your very warm welcome.

I have not been in County Clare very many times but I have had the privilege of knowing a lot of Clare people.  I think I first came to Clare sometime in the 1970s for the Annual GAA Congress which was being hosted by this town.  I was certainly back in the 1980s in Kilmaley, Co Clare for the ordination of Father Albert McDonnell, who is a well known historian and Vice-Rector of the Irish College in Rome. 

Ennis and County Clare have always very fond associations in my imagination ever since the day, way back in the 1950s, when one of the brilliant Clare ceili bands came to entertain us as students of St. Patrick’s College, Cavan.  I think it was the Tulla or it could have been the Kilfenora.  In any case, it was the one with which Mr Reid was associated.  The pleasure and the joy and the happiness which they brought to us on that occasion has lived in my memory ever since.

When I went to Maynooth in 1957, there were many, many Killaloe men in my class.  In fact, my immediate, that is the person who sat next to me, while he wasn’t from Ennis or Clare – he was from County Tipperary but he had spent five years as a student of St Flannan’s. His name was Eamon Kelly and we were close friends.

During my years in the Irish College in Rome from 1980 to 1993, I met a lot of Clare and Ennis people – Father Brendan Quinnlivan, for example.  And of course when I went as a student to Rome in 1960 your bishop, Bishop Willie Walsh was, himself, a student there.  So, my association with Ennis and the diocese of Killaloe go back a long way.

I think some of my greatest memories of Clare people are the fact that during my 13 years on the staff of the Irish College, I had the privilege and the joy of celebrating the weddings of many, many Clare people – Ennis people too – and I hope to meet some of them on the occasion of this visit. 

I have come to Clare for the Ceifinn Conference which is an important event in the calendar of Conferences in Ireland today.  They are discussing a very important topic namely Family Life Today – The Greatest Revolution.  I have been assigned the task of speaking on marriage as the foundation of family life. 

I am delighted that my visit begins with this undeserved, undue recognition on the part of the Civic authorities.  I congratulate Ennis on the progress it has made over the last fifty years.  When I checked it in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, published in 1963, it says:  Ennis is a town of some 5,678 people – statistics of 1961”. 
I rejoice with you and congratulate you on the fact that your population of 24,253 makes you the largest town in Munster and the 6th largest town in Ireland.  Some of the literature points out that Ennis is actually bigger than the cities of Kilkenny and Armagh.  Well now, we will let that one pass!  But of course if Ennis would like to become a city, I would certainly want to support that proposal. 

I know that Ennis grew up around the Franciscan Friary which was an important seat of learning at its peak.  I am glad to number among my friends today, a great Franciscan son of Clare, Bishop Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh. 

At the recent Synod I sat beside the Cardinal Archbishop of Hong Kong.  He was loud in his praise of an illustrious son of Clare and past pupil, I think, of St Flannan’s, Mons Eugene Nugent.  He represents the Vatican in Hong Kong and surrounding territory.

I wish Ennis continued success, peace and prosperity.

Thank you.

I know that you are beginning a Triduum here tonight.  It is a privilege and joy to speak to you all on this occasion.  Today in Armagh we celebrate the Feast of St. Malachy in a big way.  After all, he is a native son and we usually have a Triduum which ends today with special Masses and with the blessing of the relic of St. Malachy.

We have great admiration for Malachy because he led the Church through a huge programme of change.  It wasn’t easy but it was necessary.  People had become slack as regards the celebration of marriage and as regards going to Confession.  The story sounds familiar.  The great abbeys were in the hands of private families, who held them for their own personal use.  When Malachy became Abbot of Bangor he refused to accept the land and revenues but he accepted the work.

In 1124 he became Bishop of Connor and his principal problems were the shortage of priests and neglect of the sacraments.  Again the story sounds familiar.  Well, Malachy set about cleaning things up and was so successful that after three years he was driven out by a local chieftain on whose corns he had obviously walked! 

In 1129, Malachy became Archbishop of Armagh after it had been left to him by Cellach. But Malachy was supplanted by a rival candidate who was supported by the local chieftain and by Cellach’s family.  Obviously they wanted to retain the post for themselves.  For three years Malachy made no attempt to assert his rights until Gilbert of Limerick, who was Papal Legate, persuaded his to overcome his reluctance. 

So, while Malachy ruled part of his diocese, but not the town or the Cathedral of Armagh, an armed peace followed until Muirchertach’s death in1134.  Muirchertach was the rival candidate.  His successor, Niall, left Armagh to Malachy, and this long dispute only ended with Malachy’s resignation in 1137.

Malachy then returned to his own diocese of Down and set out for Rome to secure confirmation of the changes made by the reformers and to seek Pallia for the Archbishops of Armagh and Cashel. 

One result of this journey was the meeting with St. Bernard which led to the foundation of Mellifont Abbey in 1142.  This Cistercian Abbey became the parents of some thirty (30) abbeys in Ireland and, of course, was the forerunner of the Cistercian Abbey, I suppose, at Roscrea. 

He wasn’t given the Pallia on the occasion of his first visit to Rome.  Formal applications had to be made for them.  This was made by the Church in Ireland in 1148.  Once again Malachy was sent to obtain them but he didn’t live to see this as he died at Chairvaux in France in the company of St Bernard on his way to Rome.

I have gone on a little bit about St. Malachy there because he lived in tough times but he was a courageous man and he was a free man.  He wasn’t intimidated by the powerful ones of this world just as Christ was a free man, as we see from today’s gospel, where he refused to be intimidated by the leading Pharisees who were the powerful ones in his times.  In fact, in that Gospel, Jesus addressed himself to the leading Pharisees and other high-class personnel as their superior.  No earthly power can intimidate him.  Nothing can deter him from announcing the truth of the Kingdom.  The fact that he was invited to dine with the leading Pharisees showed that he was as comfortable interacting with Palestine’s leaders as he was looking after their poor and their sick.

Christ sees the invitation to sow the seeds of the Gospels.  That shows that the glitz of power, wealth and fame held no sway over his heart.  That was the way of Christ then and that is the way he would have his followers to be now and I think that was the way Malachy was, as his fairly short life reveals.  He was not afraid to preach the gospel courageously. 

My hope is that as we attend Triduums and ceremonies like that, we too shall become more like Christ.  More like St. Malachy in our following of Christ.

I have just returned from attending a Synod of Bishops in Rome.  For three weeks, some 240 bishops, with some religious and lay people, gathered to discuss the topic:  The Word of God and the Life and Mission of the Church.  We began with Mass, not in St. Peter’s Basilica, but in St. Paul’s Basilica because this is the year dedicated to St. Paul. 

At that Mass, Pope Benedict marked our cards for us, in a sense, when he said:  ‘In this year dedicated to St. Paul, we will hear the urgent cry of St. Paul the apostle of the Gentiles, as follows:  I should be in trouble if I fail to preach the Gospel’ or as another translation has it:  ‘Woe to me if I fail to preach the Gospel’.  It is – says the Holy Father – a cry which becomes, for every Christian, an insistent invitation to place oneself at the service of Christ’. 

I would like you to note that this insistent invitation is extended not just to Cardinals, bishops and priests, but to every Christian.  The invitation is to place oneself at the service of Christ. 

Pope Benedict identifies four classes of people who are ‘in urgent need’ he says ‘of hearing the Good News about Jesus Christ and therefore do not know Jesus Christ.’  Perhaps there are no such people around Ennis but one never knows. 

‘First’ he says, ‘there are many who have not yet met Christ and are waiting for the first proclamation of his Gospel.  Oh yes, they may have been baptised but have they taken the message to heart?
Secondly, others though having received Christian formation, their enthusiasm has weakened and they maintain only a superficial contact with the Word of God.
Thirdly, there are others who have fallen away from the practice of their faith and are in need of a new evangelisation.
The last category, are righteous persons who are asking essential questions on the meaning of life and death – questions to which only Christ can supply and fulfilling response.

The Pope went on to say that for the next three weeks, at the Synod, we would be considering how to render, evermore effective, the proclamation of the Gospel in this our time.  He says, ‘We all sense how necessary it is to place the Word of God at the centre of our lives.  To welcome Christ as our only redeemer as the Kingdom of God in person and to allow His light to enlighten every aspect of humanity from the family to the school, to culture to work,; to free time to other sectors of society and of our life. The Pope advised us that only the Word of God can change the depth of the heart of man’. 

As a result, the Synod came up with a proposal, it says, ‘the mission of announcing the Word of God is the task of all the disciples of Jesus Christ as a result of their baptism.  And the awareness of this task should be deepened in every parish and every community and every Catholic organisation.

It was proposed that every faithful follower of Christ should have its own Bible and should use it to pray, to listen to the Word of God and to pray the Word of God. 

There is one special method of praying the Word of God which involves four steps:

1.    That we read the Word of God, to find out what it is saying.
2.    That we read it again to find out what it is saying to us, here and now, on this date, in this place.
3.    That in response we talk back to God telling him our feelings, our desires, our requests, our intentions.
4.    That we consider, carefully, what the Word of God is urging us to do in relation to our family, our neighbours, and our work situation.
I think St. Malachy had some such similar experience.  As a monk he would have meditated on the Word of God.  Remember he came from that generation of people who carved the wonderful high crosses, depicting Gospel scenes.  The Gospels were their television sets and so he would have achieved that freedom and that courage and that zeal to bring the Word of God to others.  That is the challenge that we too meet today.