Last week I was down in Bundoran on a course with the priests of the Diocese of Armagh.  Now it wasn’t a golf-course we were on!  It was a learning course – to learn something that might help us to be better models of right conduct for you as priests.

At the end we had the usual assessment of what went on.  One of the questions we had to try to answer was:  What gives you joy in your life as a priest?  I scratched my head for a while.  I decided that one of the things that makes me happy as a Bishop was to discover the different ways in which God comes to help me in my work.  Very often that help comes through other people.  For example, on Monday we had three talks given by a Carmelite Priest.  He spoke to us on how we might help you have a real religious experience every time you go to Mass or go to Confessions or go to a Baptism or go to a wedding. 

On Tuesday we had three talks from three lay people which I found very helpful.  First we had a talk from a young married Armagh mother who is a teacher.  She spoke to us about finding God in the ordinary things and events of life.

Next we had a talk from an ex Manager of a county team who is also a teacher.  He spoke on Time Management – not Team Management – so as to find time for family as well as work in a busy schedule. 

Finally, we had a Tyrone lady – a married woman – speaking to us about the place of the Holy Spirit in her life.

The Carmelite priest was Father Chris O’Donnell.  He took us right back to the day of our ordination as a priest.  He reminded us of some of the things that were said to us on that day. 

Today I went back to that same ceremony and read again a part that gave me great joy as a Bishop.  It is called the Prayer of Consecration of the New Priest.  He is kneeling before the Bishop.  With his hands extended over the candidate, the Bishop says the Prayer of Consecration aloud.  It goes like this:

Come to our help.
Lord Holy Father
When you had appointed high priests to rule your people
you chose others to be with them and to help them in their tasks
In the desert you extended the spirit of Moses to seventy wise men
Who help him to rule the great company of his people
With the same loving care you gave companions to your apostles
To help in teaching the faith:
They preached the Gospel to the whole world.

Then the Bishop takes a deep breath and says:
Lord – grand also to us such fellow workers
for we are weak and our need is great
I think all of this is relevant this evening as we welcome a new fellow worker in the person of Father Gabriel Bannon, OSM – Order of the Servants of Mary and entrust to him this office so that the words of the Gospel may reach the ends of the Earth and so that the family of nations may become God’s one, holy people.

So tonight we install the new Parish Priest of Clonfeacle – in succession to Father Vincent Darragh.  We give heartfelt thanks. 

First, we give thanks to God for that same loving care to help us in teaching the faith.

Next, my thanks to the Servite Order for agreeing to take on this extra responsibility.  The Servites are no strangers to you.  They are the Order of Friar Servants of St Mary – to give them their proper title – founded in 1233 near Florence in Italy.  They have many Saints and Blesseds in their ranks such as St Philip Benizi, St Peregrine and St Juliana Falioniezi for example.  It is a great privilege to have an Order with such a distinguished history in our midst.

Finally, I thank Father Gabriel for agreeing to take on this new task.

Father Gabriel’s arrival is just one more example of God’s loving care for his people.  I can think of many more examples. 

Last Saturday I was in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth.  There 141 young men and women graduated with degrees in Philosophy and Theology, Arts and Communications.  They will be hoping to find jobs in this country so that they can share with us and especially with the young people, the knowledge of God and of his plans for the world which they have acquired in their studies.

Last weekend ten men gathered in Dromantine Conference Centre.  They are preparing and hoping to be ordained Deacons in four or five years time to serve in this diocese.

There are other signs of God’s loving care for his people.  We now have two Polish priests as well as two Nigerian priests working in this diocese.   We also have a number of religious priests who joined the diocese in recent years.  You see God does keep his side of the bargain in caring for his people.

At the same time we have to ask ourselves some basic questions.  In the last number of years we have had only one priest ordained for this diocese. 

•    What message is that giving to us? 
•    What is it saying about our faith and the way we live it?

As we welcome Father Gabriel and wish him well, we reflect that God’s chosen people will always have need of prophets – to speak in God’s name and to proclaim his message. 

There are certain basic things that we tend to forget – such as the fact that Jesus said that he will come again in glory at the end of time to gather his chosen ones into the glory of His kingdom. 

No matter what or how our past life has been, we have still time to put is all right.  In that respect I want to thank the Servite Fathers for the wonderful service they offer in the sacrament of Confession in the Priory at Benburb as well as for the wonderful example of a humble prayerful life.  Fathers and Brothers we thank you.

INTORDUCTION

This evenings Readings tell us that Jesus will cojme again after all the pains and distress of this life have ended.

He will come in glory – brighter than the sun or the moon and call his people.

The big questions is:  We will be ready?

Will we await the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus with fear and trembling or will we learn to meet and greet him now in every moment with our every breath in every circumstance?

I gladly and wholeheartedly congratulate today’s one hundred and forty one graduates.  This is a wonderful day for all of you, for your parents, families and friends.  Of course it is a subject of great good news but sadly I doubt if it is going to make the headlines.  However, I do hope it will produce many photographs for your own enjoyment but perhaps also for publication in newspapers.

I say it is great good news for a couple of reasons.  There are no less than seventeen categories of degrees and awards being conferred here today.  They centre around three or four basic subjects theology, philosophy, arts and communication.  I think it is great good news to find that there are so many people prepared to spend their time and energy and money studying and thinking about such topics as, the ultimate meaning of life, the final purpose and direction of human history and about the experience of the holy and the sacred.

I am delighted to see the growing interest in pastoral theology.  It cannot but be great good news to find people who seek to understand and work out the implications of faith for the actual situation of the Church and specifically for such things as preaching, ministry, counselling and liturgy.
Of course you are well aware that you are the heirs of an ancient and remarkable tradition.  Christian Theology begins with the Apostles.  It has passed through many phases, that of the fathers, the monastic theologians, the universities and the seminaries.  You have the best of both worlds as Maynooth is both a seminary and a university.

This is only the beginning.  As I congratulate you I urge all of you to proceed to the ever greater delight of sharing your wisdom and your knowledge of these sacred sciences with others, not primarily for your own delight but for the sake of contributing to the up-building and formation of other people.  On Wednesday night last I attended a celebration of the Word of God in Dundalk.  The group was a small one but it included Italians, Spanish, Maltese, Brazilians, Ukrainians as well as Irish, of course.  Here were people eager and willing to share their knowledge of the scriptures of theology and of spirituality with others, gladly and generously.  It was a glorious and magnificent occasion.  I would hope that many of you will experience this very deep sense of fulfilment.

When you graduate we all dress up in these quaint outfits.  It is not exactly an extension of Hallowe’en but it just looks like it.  When you graduate you join the ranks of a rather select group as you do so you realise that you stand on the shoulders of many others who have helped you to this point, your parents, families, friends, your primary and secondary teachers, your university professors and lecturers.  The list is a long one precisely because the process is a long one.  There are many who have contributed to today’s achievement of the long desired goal of graduation.  That is why today is a day for great rejoicing and also for great gratitude.

Today I want to note the retirement Dr Brendan McConvery as Dean of the Faculty of Theology and to thank him for his excellent service in that capacity.  I note the appointment of Dr Padraig Corkery as Dean of Faculty of Theology and of
Dr Michael Dunne as Dean of Faculty of Philosophy and I wish them well in their positions.  We note the translator Dr Ronan Murtagh who lectured in Moral Theology has gone back to his diocese for pastoral duties.  We welcome Dr Kevin O’Gorman, SMA as lecturer in Moral Theology.  We call the retirement of
Margaret Tyrell, Theology Office, after a veritable life-time of service.  We wish Margaret well in her retirement and thank her for her outstanding work.

I wish you all the great virtue of humility, that is the gift of keeping your two feet solidly on the ground and not allowing yourself to get carried away with delightful fact that you are a University Graduate.  For unfortunately there have been some graduates, not too many, who have were so fascinated with their university status that they became unbearable.  I heard of two priests having a conversation recently, one had celebrated his Golden Jubilee and had borne the heat of the day in more than forty years of the troubles in Northern Ireland, and the younger said to him “listen I don’t think you have much to offer, remember I have a First Class Honours University Degree.”  So I ask you to please pray for humility to enable you to go forth with your university degree.

Your Excellency, Knights and Dames, esteemed spouses and guests,

The author of the first reading, from the book of Ecclesiasticus, calls on us to praise illustrious men. Without naming them, he lists the characteristics of those who are no longer present in this world but whose life and virtue are clearly well known and still celebrated in the memory of those who are listening.

In the Sermon on the Mount, in the Gospel of Luke, the emphasis is reversed. Our Lord calls on those who are listening to take to heart the attitudes of those who, in the future, will be considered ‘Blessed’. He sets out the ‘Be – attitudes’, the attitudes which will characterise those who have made their own the values of the Kingdom of God – a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, peace and love.

A critical point of convergence between the two readings is their conclusion. Both Jesus Ben Sirach,  the nominal author of Ecclesiasticus, and Jesus the Son of the Father, the Word incarnate, speak of those called to hand on to present and future generations the ‘rich heritage’ which sustained the generations of the past.  Jesus Ben Sirach speaks of those who kept the covenants with God and handed them on to their children. Jesus, the Word, speaks of those who will seek to convince the world in His name that the humble and gentle are blessed. He warns that they will face rejection, misunderstanding and tribulation.
Today, we celebrate the memory of the women and men of this land who were immersed in the truth and love of Jesus Christ. We remember their heroic effort to convince others, at home and in far distant lands, that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life – the pearl of great price, who, when discovered, is of such value that the Saints of Ireland were prepared to give up homeland and comfort to share its richness with others. We celebrate their courageous witness to the values and attitudes of the Gospel. We honour their generous service to the poor, the hungry, the sorrowing and the persecuted at home and across the world. We salute their perseverance in the midst of enormous trials, persecutions and set backs as they brought the Good News to cultures and environments which were often hostile and precarious.

Each of us here today is a beneficiary of the faith, the service, the generosity and the perseverance of all the Saints of Ireland. This places a great responsibility on every one of us – the followers of Christ in this generation. It is their voice which echoes down the centuries of our Christian history with the question – will you carry on the faith which brought us such life and hope? Will you continue our legacy of witness and generous service to the Kingdom? Will you continue to bear the light of the Gospel in Ireland and across the world in our present age?

Just recently, we celebrated those extraordinary days, thirty years ago, when Pope John Paul II, of happy memory, graced our land with a visit from the successor of Peter. He made reference many times during that visit to the immense spiritual legacy of this small island down through the centuries and across the world. He also sounded a prophetic note of caution. In the often quoted words of his final homily of the visit, during the Mass in Limerick, he said very starkly:

Ireland must choose. You the present generation of Irish people must decide; your choice must be clear and your decision firm. Let the voice of your forefathers, who suffered so much to maintain their faith in Christ and thus to preserve Ireland’s soul, resound today in your ears through the voice of the Pope when he repeats the words of Christ: ‘What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? (Mt 16:26). What would it profit Ireland to go the easy way of the world and suffer the loss of her own soul?

Each one of us must make that choice personally. The prevailing culture of our society is ultimately shaped by the witness and influence of individuals.

Tonight I want to salute each of you, the members of the Association of Papal Orders in Ireland. In you the Church has recognised a vital truth which has been given renewed emphasis in our time. All Christians, incorporated into Christ and his Church by baptism, are consecrated to God and called to work for his Kingdom. Every lay Christian is therefore an extraordinary work of God’s grace and is called to the heights of holiness. You are called to witness courageously and publicly to the faith which you have received. By the sacrament of confirmation, you have been further graced by the Holy Spirit with special strength to be witnesses of Christ and sharers in his mission of salvation.

Sometimes, lay men and women do not seem to appreciate the full the dignity and the vocation that is theirs as lay people. As Pope John Paul II said during his sermon in Limerick, ‘There is no such thing as an ‘ordinary layman’, for all of you have been called to conversion through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As God’s holy people you are called to fulfil your role in the evangelisation of the world. Yes, the laity are ‘a chosen race, a holy priesthood’, also called to be ‘the salt of the earth’ and ‘the light of the world’.’

In your own Association of Papal Knights you have had many shining examples of such lay dedication and evangelical commitment. I think in particular today of Servant of God, Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary. In 1916, at only 27 years of age, he published his first pamphlet. It was entitled, “Can We Be Saints?”  In it he expressed one of the strongest convictions of his life, namely, that all without exception are called to be Saints, and that through our Catholic Faith we have available to us all the means necessary to attain this.

He was a man ahead of his time. Some 40 years later the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican Council would re-echo these words. ‘The laity,’ the Council would say, ‘by their very vocation, seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God. They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations. They live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven. They are called there by God that by exercising their proper function and led by the spirit of the Gospel they may work for the sanctification of the world from within as a leaven. In this way they may make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope and charity.’ (GS n. 31)

It is your specific vocation and mission as lay faithful to insert the Gospel as a leaven into the reality of the world in you live and work. The great forces which shape the world – politics, the mass media, science, technology, culture, education, industry and work – are precisely the areas where lay people are especially competent to exercise their mission. If these forces are guided by people who are true disciples of Christ, and who are, at the same time, fully competent in the relevant secular knowledge and skill, then the culture of our world can indeed be transformed from within by the redeeming power of Christ.

I believe God is calling lay people in Ireland today to a strong renewal of their Christian commitment in the public square, to permeate society with the leaven of the Gospel. For Ireland as Pope John Paul II said when he came to us as universal Pastor and Vicar of Christ thirty years ago, we are living in a decisive moment in the history of the Christian faith in Ireland. The future shape and presence of that Christian faith will depend on how each and every one of us responds to the challenges that lie ahead.

It is not enough to rely on past achievements, or to confine our profession of faith to comfortable places and private gatherings of like-minded people. This was not how the Saints of Ireland responded to the vast challenges which confronted them in the popular culture and political climate of their day. Each of us must ask, frankly and before God, what more can I do to bring the leaven of the Gospel to our society, in the particular circumstances of my life? Perhaps some of us can do more in terms of prayer. Perhaps some can do more in terms of charitable activity. Perhaps some of us could do more in terms of promoting and defending the truth of the Gospel in the public and political square.

One area which looms large in this regard in Ireland today is the growing challenge to the belief that the exclusive, mutual and faithful love between a woman and man is the only true basis of marriage and the family.

I realise that as soon as I say this there are some who will feel uneasy. I realise that there are some who believe that this is an area in which the Church is being insensitive or where it is simply out of touch with popular feeling and culture. I have met many committed Catholics who do not understand or who are not comfortable with what the natural law and the Gospel clearly teach about the unique and permanent characteristics of marriage and the family.

However, I have also met many people, of different religious faiths and none, who accept the logic of the complimentarity of man and woman as the only authentic basis for marriage and the bringing up of children. Only marriage can give a child a mother and a father who have made a formal, public commitment to one another. This creates a unique relationship between marriage and society which deserves special recognition and support. The Irish Constitution ‘pledges to guard’ the institution of Marriage with ‘special care’ and to ‘protect it against attack’ (Article 41.3.1). We have duty as Christians and as citizens to defend the cherished institution of marriage, based on the complimentarity of woman and man, as the ideal environment for the upbringing of children.

Yet too often we are afraid to stand up against the tide of what is assumed to be popular opinion on this and so many other issues.

I simply ask you today to inform your conscience on this important matter. I ask you if you think it is acceptable that someone in a same sex relationship is referred to in the same terms as a husband and wife in marriage? I ask you to consider the implications of the Civil Partnership Bill which is about to be introduced into the Dáil for debate and possible amendment. I ask you if it is acceptable that the Irish Government is about to introduce laws, reminiscent of penal times, which will see people fined or put in prison for their deeply held religious beliefs? Under this Bill, a registrar of marriages who declines, as a matter of religious conscience, to register a same-sex partnership or take part in a ‘marriage like’ ceremony same sex partnerships will be subject to a fine and up to six months in prison. The circumstances in which Christians, Jews and Muslims who chose not to make Church Halls and other services available to same-sex partnerships will be amplified and they too will be open to prosecution and fines.

This makes the Civil Partnership Bill an extraordinary and far-reaching attack on freedom of conscience and religion. Freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion are ‘guaranteed to every citizen’ in the Irish Constitution (Article 44.2.1). Respect for freedom of conscience and the practice of religion is the mark of mature and diverse society.
There is still time to change this legislation. Fundamental and important issues are at stake. The values of freedom and respect for the dignity of marriage cherished by generations of Irish Christians are being radically challenged. Your action in defence of marriage and freedom of conscience is vital. Each of us has a right to have our concerns about this Bill addressed by our elected representatives. I encourage you to contact your local TD or member of the Seanad and make them aware of your concerns about the Bill. Write to, text or phone your local media expressing your concerns. Participate in public debate on this issue. This is part of the particular vocation of the lay faithful.

In Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that, ‘To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity. Charity, in fact, “rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor 13:6).’ (n.1)

He goes on to note that, ‘In the present social and cultural context, where there is a widespread tendency to relativize truth, practising charity in truth helps people to understand that adhering to the values of Christianity is not merely useful but essential for building a good society and for true integral human development. A Christianity of charity without truth would be more or less interchangeable with a pool of good sentiments, helpful for social cohesion, but of little relevance. In other words, there would no longer be any real place for God in the world.’ (n.3)

In celebrating the heroic courage and faith of all the Saints of Ireland, in remembering their devotion to the Mother of God and Mother of the Church in all their endeavours, in conclusion let us recall the prayer spoken by Pope John Paul II as he left our shores thirty years ago:

We entrust to your motherly care the land of Ireland,
where you have been and are so much loved. Help this land to
stay true to you and your Son always. May prosperity never
cause Irish men and women to forget God or abandon their
faith. Keep them faithful in prosperity to the faith they would
not surrender in poverty and persecution. Save them from
greed, from envy, from seeking selfish or sectional interest.
Help them to work together with a sense of Christian purpose
and a common Christian goal, to build a just and peaceful and
loving society where the poor are never neglected and the
rights of all, especially the weak, are respected. Queen of
ireland, Mary Mother of the heavenly and earthly Church,
Máthair Dé, keep Ireland true to her spiritual tradition and her
Christian heritage. Help her to respond to her historic mission
of bringing the light of Christ to the nations, and so making the
glory of God be the honour of Ireland.

Ireland, Semper Fidelis – Ireland, ALWAYS FAITHFUL!

Many people detest the fireworks because they terrify the cats and dogs – and that is deplorable.  But these fireworks do remind us that it is Halloween, just as Christmas Eve reminds us that the big feast of Christmas is at hand.

Halloween reminds us that the Feast of All Saints and of All Souls are big feasts – important times – times for thought.  These times are big, not just for Christians but for many others as well.  All over the world people have this custom of setting aside part of the year to remember the dead and to remember that, one day, they themselves will be among the dead.  The Buddhists celebrate their dead in April.  In China and Japan this time is known as the Feast of Lanterns.  We have the month of November, a month in which we pray for the holy souls.  It is also important to remember all the saints.  We do this to spur ourselves on.  One day this will be our feast as well. 

One of the nights last week there was this fierce wind howling.  It was certainly howling strong at the windows in Ara Coeli.  I asked myself:  What is this all about?  I came to the conclusion that perhaps it was a message from the holy souls not to forget them but to remember them constantly in my prayers.

Imagine my surprise then to read last night, as I prepared for this feast, that the Feast of All Souls, which we celebrate tomorrow, actually began with a somewhat similar experience.  It began 1000 years ago in the famous monastery of Cluyn in France.  The Abbot’s name was Odile and he had been talking to a pilgrim on his way back from the Holy Land.  The pilgrim described how he had visited a fascinating island.  This island had an opening which claimed to be an entrance into the Lower World.  There, the pilgrims claimed, you could hear the voices of the holy souls calling out not to be forgotten.  So the Abbot decided to begin to celebrate the Feast of All Souls – a day on which we remember all the faithful departed.  That is how it began, and see how it has spread.  But I don’t want you to imagine that you are hearing voices all over the place.

Today is the Feast of All Saints.  We all hope that one day it will be our feast too.  Meanwhile we rejoice that it is the feast of millions who have gone before us into Heaven – millions of ordinary people, including our parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles and neighbours.  They have reached their real home in Heaven.  Remember Jesus said on the night before he died, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.  In my Father’s house there are many mansions.  I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and take you to that place so that where I am, you also may be’. 

So the saints are at rest after the pains and aches and labours of this world. -at rest in one, long, never-ending holiday.  They are at peace after the trials and tribulations of this world.  They are enjoying perpetual light – after the darkness, the doom and despair of this life.  That light enables them to see God, face to face, and to gaze upon the Sacred Face of Jesus and of his beloved mother, Mary.  Among their ranks are, I am sure, I hope, our  parents and grandparents, our neighbours and one day we will, hopefully, be there also.
The saints have passed from time to eternity. We have still got time.  The saints are home and dry.  They are in the Clubhouse – their cards are marked, to use golfing parlance.  We have still got time – time to change our lives and to love and serve God better.

When the Church chose Readings for today it turned, first of all, to the Book of Revelations – the last book of the Bible.  That book opens the door on Heaven and gives us a glimpse of what life with God will be like.

The Book of Revelations was written to give people hope in times of persecution.  The Christians were being attacked and ridiculed for putting their faith in Jesus Christ. This book tell us ‘hang in there, keep faithful, especially when things get rough – keep your chin up because through Christ, God will finally and totally defeat all his enemies, including Satan.  That victory is a forgone conclusion.  God will reward those who stay faithful with the blessings of a new Heaven and a new Earth.

Today’s First Reading emphasises and underlines the special protection which God gives to his Chosen Ones.  God’s friends will be protected from all the dangers which threaten them.  Despite everything, all will be well.  Have not doubt about that.

We believe we have been chosen by God.  We have all been signed with the sign of the Cross of Jesus Christ.  We were signed on the forehead at our Baptism and our Confirmation.  God does not renege on his promises.  Therefore, no matter what, we can depend on the help and protection of God.  All we need is the humility to ask that help. 

You might conclude then that our first duty is to hang in there and endure whatever comes our way.  That is not exactly true.  Our purpose, here on Earth, is to give praise and glory to God, mainly by the kind of lives we lead but also in our thoughts and words.  That is the message of the second part of today’s First Reading.

The enormous crowd from every nation and race worshipped God around the throne of Heaven.  They are dressed in white robes – these robes have been washed in the blood of the Lord.  No matter what our past has been we too can have sins washed away with the blood of the Lamb of God. 

We can do so by going to Confession which the Church asks us to do this week in order to gain the Indulgence for the Holy Souls.  We can have our robes washed clean by the courage with which we face the trials of life in order to bear witness to Christ.

Today’s Second Reading tells us more.  It tells us about Heaven.  It is our interest to pay attention.  This is talking about our future.  We are already Children of God but it is not yet clear what we shall become.  Later we will see God as God really is.  The saints are already in possession of that vision.  We are not – but we hope we are on the right road and going in the right direction.

•    Who shall climb the Mount of the Lord? We heard there earlier
•    Who shall stand in His Holy Place?

The answer to those two important questions is given – the man with clean hands and a pure heart, who desire not worthless things.

Today’s Gospel give us a road map to reach Heaven.  It provides eight signposts to guide us on our way:

It begins with the need to be poor – poor in spirit.  That means not enslaved by greed for the riches of this world.  Some people possess wealth.  Others, unfortunately, are possessed by their wealth.  The poor in heart are those who are keenly aware of their own need for another kind of riches – the riches which only God can give. 

The poor in spirit have the ability to forget themselves and their own need.  They take up the cross of helping others.  The poor in spirit are those who pray.  Nobody goes to Heaven without praying. 

The attitudes of gentleness and mercy, hunger and passion for justice, purity of heart, are the attitudes of Jesus.  One big challenge is to purify our heart of all worthless desire.  I once asked a friend what he thought of a certain project I was considering.  He said:  ‘Ask yourself – when you come to die, how important will it be then’?

As we contemplate the joy of Heaven and the journey we have to travel to get there, we are called to unite ourselves ever more closely with Christ.  Let his attitudes be our attitudes.  His heart did not desire worthless things – but his desire was that we should have life and have it to the full.

The Body of Christ – the Church – asks us to remember, in a special way, those who are secure on the way to Heaven and those in purgatory but who have not yet reached their final destination

I once had a neighbour called Tom McCabe who loved to visit the graveyard.  “I must go and visit My Second Farm”.  He would say.  This he did often – to pray for the Holy Souls and also to pray TO the Holy Souls. 

I know you are people who go often to funerals.  You are familiar with the great prayer which the Church puts on our lips as we prepare to carry a friend, a relative, a neighbour, for the last time from the Church to the second most sacred place in the parish – the cemetery – Our Second Farm.  It goes like this
Saints of God, come to her aid;
Receive her soul and present her to God the most high

Whether you have no farm or a garden, this is the week for all of us to go to visit Our Second Farm.  From 12 o’clock today, for the next week, the Church grants a special grace or favour, called an Indulgence for the Holy Souls – Everyday.  It is available to all of us under special conditions.We must visit the graveyard and pray there for two intentions

1.    The Holy Souls, and
2.    The Holy Father
Saying the Our Father, and the Apostles Creed, as well as one Our Father, one Hail Mary and a Glory be to the Father. 

It is a great act of charity to help those who cannot help themselves.  But let us remember, they are in a position to help us.  Today and tomorrow, tens of thousands of Italian will criss-cross the length and breadth of their beloved Italy as they visit the last resting place of their loved ones. 

I know of your wonderful devotion to your dear, departed, beloved ones and I know that you too will remember them often this month.

INTRODUCTION

I welcome you all around the Table of the Lord.

I welcome Bishop Clifford and the Canons of the Cathedral Chapter to this Chapter Mass.  This is the Year for the Priest.  Today we remember all priests – living and dead – of our diocese. 

We are here on the Feast of All the Saints in a week when we celebrate the Feast of our own St. Malachy.  We believe the saint both inspire us and help us on the Journey of Life.    We know they met the same problems and difficulties as we meet.  They remained faithful with the help of God.

They ere nourished in their fidelity by the Word of God and by the sacraments of the Lord, especially the Blessed Eucharist.

They now can help us even more powerfully

–    They can plead for us at the Throne of Mercy
–    We ourselves plead for mercy that our sins,  may be taken away

The importance of the work done in ACCORD came home to me powerfully in recent days.  I met a friend and asked her how she was!  “Actually, not very well”, she said.  “My son-in-law has just left his wife.  My daughter is now looking after their six month old baby.  Things don’t always work out in life the way you thought they would…But then perhaps it is better that this should happen now than later – when the child would have bonded much more and so would have felt the loss so much more severely”.  I am sure you have heard many similar stories.  It does give us a flavour of the trauma that separation involved.

My parents never separated – thank God – but they did have an occasional row.  They might not have been speaking too much to each other as a result.  I remember that we children suffered and worried a lot during those times.  I remember one time my father went to a Horse Fair in Cavan.  He was late home and I felt his absence.  I was agonising and imagining what could have happened – had he been knocked by a horse and carried off to hospital.  Incidents like that can only just help me to begin to imagine what the trauma and the agony is for children when the night comes when father does not come home and never again comes.

All of this underlines for me the importance of your work of preparing couples for marriage.  I thank you for all the patient, painstaking work of education – whether it is in the school or in the Marriage Preparation Courses.

I don’t have a huge experience either of celebrating marriages over all the 45 that I am a priest.  I have the experience of seeing my parents’ marriage.  While they were not very effusive or demonstrative in the expression of their love of each other, the essence and substance of that love was never in doubt.  They were willing, at all times, to promote the genuine well-being of each other, and of their children.  That came first – no matter what the cost and no matter what the sacrifices involved.

However, there were 13 years of my life, while I was on the staff of the Irish College in Rome when I celebrated lots of marriage.  During those years I celebrated the weddings of hundreds – maybe thousands of people from all over Ireland. One of the great joys of my life now is to meet some of those people in various places. 

Two weeks ago I celebrated Mass in Ennistymor, Co Clare, Gort, Co Galway and Galway Cathedral – one of the highlights was meeting husbands and wives after all these years later and meeting their children.  I was in Knock for the launch of the Association of Catholic Grandparents.  Afterwards, a lady came up with tears in her eyes and gave me a great hug before introducing me to her two children and bringing greetings from her husband.  The experience of seeing me again reminded her of the happiness of their wedding day and of the joys and, I suppose, sorrows – of all these years and the help which their marriage had provided in enriching those years. 

The drill at the Irish College was that we always met the couples on the eve of their wedding.  All the paperwork would have been done at this stage.  We would have a session lasting a couple of hours – ice-breaking sessions – making the acquaintance of the other couples involved.  Then we would go through the ceremony – line by line – renewing the catechesis of what marriage was all about.  Some would be shy; others might be giddy and nervous; others lonely and pensive; and so there would be a wide spectrum of emotions floating around. 

I think you spot fairly easily those who were serious and those less serious.  I think you could spot those who had done a proper Marriage Preparation Course and those who went through some sort of cobbled up job.  You could see those who were in earnest and those who were merely going through the motions.

One thing I would say – I do not recall ever meeting even one couple who did not have high hopes for their wedding and for their married life.  Now they may have been unrealistic hopes in the circumstances – given the level of maturity or amount of preparation, but those hopes were always there.  That is why I always regarded this marriage work as a very privileged moment in my work as a priest – a moment in which I was allowed to see the deepest desires of the human heart.  They were turning to me to serve God on their behalf; to bring to God their hopes and prayers for happiness and permanence and fulfilment in this most profound area of their lives.  I felt that I was exercising my sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ in a very special way – by instructing them on the true nature of marriage; receiving their marriage vows on behalf of God and the People of God and offering their guidance and advice and wisdom for those same couples.

One of the saddest days of my life was the day I heard of the break-up of a wedding I had attended, not as a Celebrant but as a guest.  At the first whisper of an infidelity or of a jealousy – one of the parties went straight to the Solicitor to initiate divorce proceedings.  Any thought of forgiveness or patience or understanding of weakness seemed t have gone completely out the window.

Of course the Readings we read at the Nuptial Mass are the same Readings.  I never cease to get something new out of them at each marriage.  For instance, today I noticed the phrase in the Gospel – And after the guests had drunk a lot he serves the ordinary wine, or as another translation has it, people generally set out the good wine first, and (then) when people are drunk, the inferior!

We know that Jesus was described by some – comparing him to John the Baptist – as a glutton and a drunkard.  It is worth noting that Jesus, Mary his mother, and the disciples were all present at the wedding in Cana.  When you remember that wedding celebrations often lasted for days at a time, the presence of Jesus, Mary and the disciples is making a big statement about the importance of marriage.  The majority of people were poor.  Weddings and religious festivals were their only break from a life of hard labour and struggle for survival.  Their presence says a lot about marriage and its important place.  It almost reminds me that just as I share in the work of shepherd and guidance offered by the Good Shepherd, so you share in the priesthood of Christ – acquired by Baptism.  Specifically you play your part in that work of guidance and counselling – which is an essential part of shepherding when you act as a Marriage Counsellor.

The First Reading reminds us clearly of the true meaning of marriage as a union of love and life between a man and a woman from which life is naturally conceived.  Let us never forget that this comes from the Old Testament.  It is something we share with the Jewish people and, of course, with all the Christians of the world for the sake of the common good of society and for the sake of the right of the family and of marriage and of children.  We are all morally bound to do our best to support marriage and to protect it.  Marriage is where the vast majority are to find fulfilment and happiness.  The breakdown of many marriages is neither an argument for abandoning marriage or for undermining it.  Rather it should provide the spur for us all to work harder at creating the conditions where the love of husband and wife can grow strong and enduring. 

The Second Reading is from the Letter to the Colossians and it is one of my favourite.  The Missionary of the Sacred Heart in Cork published a little prayer called Heart to Heart.  The word ACCORD comes from the Latin word for the Heart.  That prayer says that in addition to praying to the Sacred Heart, we need to have the attitudes of the Sacred Heart.

The Second Reading also lists those attitudes, compassion (a big word meaning the ability to suffer with someone in their pain), kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.   A big shopping list which does not necessarily come as part of the furnishings of the new house – with the carpets and the curtains – but they are more essential and can be acquired only by practice and prayer.

Bear with one another – forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins.

Shortly after the Belfast Agreement, its architect, Senator George Mitchell gave a talk on Making Peace.  “There is no magic formula” he says which when discovered can be applied to conflicts and quarrels.  There are certain principles which can help.

Firstly, there is no such thing as a conflict that cannot be ended.  Conflicts are created and sustained by human beings; they can be ended by human beings.  But people must be prepared to hope and wish for solutions. It is important to create the belief that problems can be solved, that things can be better.

A second need is for a clear and determined policy not to yield to violence. There is no place for bullying or emotional blackmail.  “Backing peace” he says “requires an endless supply of perseverance and patience and understanding”.  This is what counts in politics and maybe it counts in domestic quarrel also. 

Another important element is willingness to compromise.  There has to be a genuine willingness to understand the other’s point of view and to enter into principle compromised.

Like Mary at Cana, you are the people who often first spot the problem that is looming on the horizon.  Mary did not duck it – or pretend it did not exist – or try to sweep it under the carpet.  There was a crisis.  To run out of wine in the middle of a wedding day would be a disaster.  It would not only cast a damper on the ceremony, it would deeply shame and embarrass the newly-weds and their families for life.  You can imagine the blame game that would follow!

Mary saw the crisis coming. Even though the words of the answer given by Jesus, seemed like a rebuff, she was confident that her son would come through.  Jesus will never reject the humble prayer of faithful people.

I sued to say to couples in Rome – it may not be the wine that will run short – that was in pre-recession days – but I would ask – what if some other essential commodity were to run out – mutual trust.

How do you get all of this across to starry-eyed engaged couples?

I think the Chaplains have an important role here.  The Word of God is alive and active.  It cuts more powerfully than a two-edged sword.  If we could get people to really listen to that Gospel – to listen with the heart as well as the head and to ask and answer these questions:

•    What is it saying?
•    What is it saying to me here and now?
•    What do I want to say to the Lord when I heart that Gospel?
•    What do I really want to say from the depth of my heart?

It could do a lot

The work of ACCORD is vital, especially at a time when marriage is under attack from so many sides.  But we must be hopeful.  When George Mitchell came many said:  ‘You are wasting your time’.  We are not wasting our time working for good, loving marriages.

INTRODUCTION

I welcome all of you here to St. Malachy’s Church, Armagh this afternoon.

We come to give thanks – to give thanks to God for Christian marriage.  We give thanks to God and to the members of ACCORD for the presence of the Catholic Marriage Care Service in Armagh over the last 40 years.

We are grateful for the work of preparation of couples before marriage

•    The work of enriching the marriage relationship and
•    For the counselling of couples whose marriage are running into difficulties.

We pray for all married couples.  We pray that there will be others willing to share the burden of caring for Catholic marriages and since we ourselves all weak in many ways, we pray that we may be always patient and gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes because we ourselves are weak and must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of others but for our own………….

I am very happy to be invited here today to celebrate 50 golden years of scouting in Dungannon.  I will tell you why! 

So many times I have come here to Dungannon to say Mass and as we go from the Sacristy to the Church- now your most beautiful, newly refurbished Church – there is always this wonderful Guard of Honour of Scouts, Cubs and Beavers.  There you are, in hail, rain or snow, and once I see the neckerchief, I know it is the Scouts and their leaders – on a Guard of Honour, offering a salute of respect and welcome. 

I thank you for that.  I know that you are there to honour me, not as Seán Brady, but as the Successor of St. Patrick, the man who came to bring us something great and good – the man who came back to us despite the fact that when he was here the first time, we treated him rather badly by making him herd sheep and pigs and goats on the side of a mountain in hail, rain and snow, just like you in the Guard of Honour.

I notice, with joy, that your Final Hymn is Hail Glorious St. Patrick.  I once had the chance to say Mass for the Irish Soccer team.  It was nineteen (19) years ago and they had reached the World Cup Final and were about to play Italy in Rome.  It was the 29th of June, I think, and they too had, as their Final Hymn, Hail Glorious St. Patrick.  I was told that they always sing that hymn at the top of their voices, especially the verse which goes like this.

Hail Glorious St. Patrick
Thy words were once strong
Against Satan wiles
And an infidel throng
Not less is thy might
Where in heaven thou art
O come to our aid,
In our battle take part.

Today, like the month of January, we look back and we look forward.  Back over fifty (50) years of Scouting in Dungannon.  I thank God for all the good that came from that.  We give thanks for that call which Aloysius McCourt and Patsy McCooey paid to Dean John Quinn one October night 50 years ago.  We are grateful for the support of people like Dr McCluskey and Bernard McBride and Bertie Foley and many others who got the idea off the ground.  We give thanks for the 1st Tyrone Scout Troop which soon became 1st Tyrone Scout Unit.  We remember the fund-raising – like Bob a Job Week, – the weekend camps, summer camps, the overseas trips to Lourdes and Paris; the arrival of foreign Scouts and the building of the new Scout Den in 1970.

I saw the question asked in 2004:  Has Scouting Got a Future?  It seems to me that the answer is this.  Yes, it has got a future if there are enough people, so strongly convinced that Scouting has so much to offer that they are prepared to work hard to ensure that it has a future.  So, as we look forward we hope that there will be parents and leaders, willing to work for the future of Scouting – people who appreciate the part that Scouting and organisations like it can play in helping young people become the kind of people their Creator wants them to become. 

It will have a future if there are Chaplains who will insist that Scouting is more than ‘Scouting’ in the literal sense of the word – the skills of military reconnaissance in every territory, using such skills as camouflage, disguise, mapping and survival.  Today’s liturgy reminds us that there is more to Scouting than that.  The rope – one of the gifts – carried up in the Presentation at the beginning – reminds us of God’s love for us.  God’s love holds us always in a knot.  Like a good knot, God’s love holds us safely –it will never slip. 

The motto of Irish Scouting is Bi Ullamh – Be prepared – be prepared for what?
•    Be prepared to help or to harass.  To help of course.
•    Be prepared to recognise the presence of God’s love in our lives, or be prepared to ignore it.
•    Be prepared to see that we are put on this Earth to praise God – by doing the good we are supposed to do, or be prepared to enjoy ourselves all the time without paying any attention to what others want.

We already said we are here to offer this Mass for all the benefits received through these past 50 years.  Now is the time to stop and remember these benefits – one by one – and to really give thanks for them.

Today we give thanks for all those who gave, and continue to give, freely and voluntarily of their free time to Scouting in Dungannon.  They appreciated the true nature of the noble enterprise of education of children and young people.  The parents are involved – and so also are the schools – they play the major part.  But the local community has a part to play.  The parish also has a big part to play in organisations like Scouting.

Scouting includes adventure in the outdoors.  It provides an opportunity to see the beauty of the sea and the mountains, the forests and the fields. 

The candle, carried up at the beginning, is a sign of the Light of Christ.  The Light of Christ comes to us from two books – the Book of the Bible and we heard three readings from that today.  The Light of Christ comes to us also from the Book of Nature – the Book of Creation.  The Light of Christ shows us the Face of Christ so that we can model our lives on the life of Christ.

Scouting involves working with friends in small groups.  Jesus Christ spent a lot of his time working with a small group of friends.  He called them his disciples.  The work consisted of teaching them his way of doing things.  He said he had come, not to be served but to serve and give his life for others.  He told his friends that they would have to do the same.  Service to others is a big part of Scouting.  Of course you could be convinced of the benefits which Scouting brings and still not be prepared for the sacrifices which Scouting involves.  To get that generosity we need to pray – to pray constantly – especially to pray the Prayer of the Sunday Mass.  There we are reminded of how much Jesus gave and we ask to be made like him. 

I hope that I have said enough to convince you that Scouting has a great future.  One of the priests I most admired was Father Torlac O’Reilly, a priest from my native diocese of Kilmore.  He bought a minibus to bring Scouts around.  He used to give it to me to bring young footballers to matches.  Father Torlac spent a lot of his free time in Scouting – building a scout Den – going on scout outings – producing a Scout pantomime – praying with Scouts and praying for Scouts – because he loved young people with the love of Jesus Christ.  Father Torlac died about ten years ago.  There were tears in the eyes of many young people, and of the not so young, when they laid him to rest in the sticky, grey soil of Drung cemetery outside Cavan town.

Yes, Scouting has a great future for those who take the time to look at it and see what it really involves.

AMEN

I am delighted to be present at this Gathering for Africa.

I congratulate the Armagh Tigers on their courageous and ambitious decision to aim at supplying missionary workers with 50 vehicles.  I commend their leader, Dean Hetherington and Kieran McAnallen on their splendid leadership of this project.

I am delighted that the business community – led by Raymond and Terence Donnelly of Donnelly Brothers, Dungannon have responded so magnificently to this challenge.  When I told a lady yesterday evening what was happening she said:  “Isn’t that fabulous”.  I can barely imagine how those people who are going to benefit will sing and dance for joy they hear this good news.

I have been to Africa twice – visiting Nigeria and Rwanda and Kenya.  I went to Nigeria for the priestly ordination of ten missionaries.  The celebration lasted almost four hours.  I guess the celebration of the arrival of 50 jeeps will last at least four more!

This has been a good week for mission and missionaries.  On Tuesday, Mayor Thomas O’Hanlon gave a Reception to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Foundation of the Apostolic Workers in Armagh.  The Apostolic Workers have been sending supplies to mission fields in Africa for the past 70 years.  Last year they presented a jeep ambulance to Father Thom Marley of Ballyhegan.
I think that the people of Armagh will be glad to know that these jeeps are going to Tanzania – to a diocese established 60 years ago under the leadership of Bishop Eugene Arthurs of Keady – brother of the last Gerry Arthurs of Ulster GAA fame.

There are more than a million people in the area.  It is an area about one third the size of Ireland – the late Father Jackie Reid worked there for many years and so also did Father Gerry Cunningham. 

Tyrone is also well represented in this effort, led by Father Frank Quinn of Ardboe.  Father Frank assures me that the jeeps will be used in the areas of health care, education and rural development. 

They will be used to bring hope in the form of vital medicines, essential food, seeds, fertilizers, and livestock to some of the poorest of the poor on the poorest continent in the world.  This really is a fabulous idea and I hope that it will spur on the rest of us to ask:  How can we help?

I was in St. Kieran’s School, Ballygawley earlier this year and I saw there the amazing work which they are doing to help Father P J Gormley of the SMA Fathers on his African mission.

There are many other local missionaries who work tirelessly on the mission fields:

Sister Joanne Kelly, MMM from the Grange – celebrated her Golden Jubilee this year at home and then returned to carry on the good work.

Sister Zoe O’Neill – Daughters of Charity organises help for Ethiopia, a country which is currently in the news because of its dire plight.

Father Seamus O’Reilly is in Zambia

Father Leo Traynor from Ballygawley is in Nigeria

Father Vivian Ferran Pallotine Fathers, also from Dungannon is in the Philiphines.

Sister Carmel Flynn, Sacred Heart Sister, from Armagh is currently in Uganda and have previously worked in Kenya.  Sister Flynn has also been instrumental in organising young people from St Catherine’s College, to undertake Aid work under the Kenya-HUG Scheme.

Father Michael Sinnott is in the news these days.  He is the Wexford born Columban Missionary, kidnapped in the Philippines, in recent weeks.  He is 79 years of age and in poor health and left without medicines that are important for his survival.  I ask your prayers for his well-being. 

His story and that of Sharon Commins, from Dublin, the GOAL Aid Worker, released in Darfur last Sunday, are powerful reminders of how all these people work on the mission fields at great personal risk and danger.