How did you decide to become a priest? 

It is a question that is almost always asked at interviews.  I used to think it was due to my outstanding Religious teacher in my final year in St. Patrick’s in Cavan (1956-57).  He explained that perhaps some of us might be thinking of becoming teachers, others doctors and others lawyers perhaps.  “But” he said, “by becoming a priest you can become all three.  You become a teacher of the most important subject of all – the knowledge of God; you are a healer of souls by administering the sacraments – especially the sacrament of God’s peace and pardon and the greatest medicine of all – the body and blood of Christ.  And you plead before the highest tribunal – the tribunal of God’s mercy for the highest prize of all – the eternal life and happiness of our immortal souls”.

As a seventeen year old it sounded pretty convincing to me.  Later on I decided that perhaps the fact that I had two uncles priests might have helped.  But more recently I have come to another conclusion; namely that it was due to the fact that in my native parish at that time the priest was a ‘wanted man’.  He was wanted for all the big events of life such as births, marriages and deaths.  If that was so, I decided that he must have something special to offer.

So what helped me make up my mind?

Well certainly prayer was one big element.  I can still see the place where I used to pray – in the back seat just inside the door – asking God to guide me. 

What did I most fear?

That I would not make the grade and that I would have to leave the Seminary.  Another important help was the encouragement of a priest on the staff of the College.  He was a family friend and his vote of confidence that I could make the grade was vital.

Now people ask me:  Am I happy?

I reply, without hesitation, as happy as I believe anybody can be in this valley of tears. 

Of course I get a lot of support from people in my work as a priest and now as a bishop.  In addition to the prayers offered at every Mass in this diocese for Bishop Clifford and for myself, I know lots of other people who pray for me on a daily basis.  I am deeply grateful to them and I get great satisfaction in praying for them in return. 

I am helped also by the number of wonderful Masses I attend up and down the diocese and the number of outstanding people whom I meet, especially the old and the sick. 

Pope Benedict XVI has written a letter to us all for this World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  He reminds us that, as followers of Christ, we are called to testify. That is, to bear witness to the Good News, not just in word but in deed, in the kind of lives we lead.  It is a call to be free enough within ourselves so as to forget ourselves for a while and to concentrate on passing on the Good News to others.  It is a call to stop being self-absorbed and to think of someone else besides ourselves for a change.  Yes, the call is to all Christians but in a special way it is addressed to priests, brothers and nuns.

We need young people with big hearts; hearts big enough to follow Jesus no matter what the cost.  The seed falls on different kinds of soil but it will only flourish and grow on good soil, that is, people whose parents have ensured that they hand on their faith to their children and on soil that is irrigated by prayer and love.

I once heard a wise missionary say:  “seed needs only three things to grow:

Soil                    water                             Heat

The seed of a vocation needs the soil of faith, watered by prayer and warmed by love and generosity.

So today, on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, I invite you to pray for vocations on a regular basis.  Because really the heart of the Pope’s message for today is ‘pray to the Lord that the harvest will send workers to his fields.  I would like to suggest to you parents, and people in the parishes, that you are the best encouragers of vocations.  Perhaps you could hint or suggest to somebody that you know, to at least think about priesthood or religious life.  In my case I was already thinking about priesthood but when I heard what this other man said to me, it was an immense vote of confidence. 
So today we give thanks to God for the Year of Vocation which ran from April of last year until today.  We thank God for the work of Brenda Drumm.  She was the Project Manager in the Year of Vocation.  We praise God for Father Paddy Rushe, the National Director of Vocations and all who have helped him led by Bishop Donal McKeown. 

The aim of the Year of Vocation was to raise awareness of the common vocation that we all share.  It is a vocation that comes to us through baptism.  That vocation, which each one of us has, finds expression through witnessing, love and service.  Over the past year the specific callings to marriage, to religious life and the single life and priesthood were highlighted and promoted.

We remember with gratitude the highlights such as the National Prayer Campaign for students at examination times.  There was a rally for World Youth Day to coincide with the events in Sydney last July.  There were various pilgrimages to national pilgrimage centres to give people an opportunity to reflect on the theme of vocation. Today a dedicated website will be launched on Vocations.  It will hold all the details and resource for the year.  It can be accessed at www.yourvocation.ie

Today we rejoice in the fact that each one of us has been called, by God, to be holy and saintly.  In case that puts you off and prompts you to ask what is he talking about.  I ask you to contemplate, what is the alternative?  To be a saint means sharing the life of Christ.  Let us remind ourselves that we have access to that life in the Church.  We are all called to be holy priests.  In other words we share in the one priesthood of Christ.  We are all called to bear witness, in our own lives, to the message of Jesus Christ.  That means we are called to know Jesus Christ and to help others to get to know him. 

It has been well said that the question of God is all-important or else it is of no importance.  In the same way we cannot simply be a passive Christian.  You can’t sit on the sidelines or watch from the grandstand.  Being a follower of Jesus demands, in the first instance, that we answer his call and change our way of living. 

Vocations don’t fall out of the sky.  As we have already seen, soil must be carefully prepared, seed sown and nourished.  People with vocations are real people in real life situations.  No two individuals are the same. 

Research tells us that here in Ireland many young men think about becoming a priest.  Some think about the idea only to dismiss it fairly hastily when they know the facts and face the realities.  But thanks to be God many are persevering through the process and gradually coming closer to the day of ordination.  Here in Armagh we have seven seminarians.  One of these is Rev Francis Coll, who will be ordained, please God, on 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary the Mother of God into Heaven. 

So it is clear that the key message of the Year of Vocation is getting through.  Many more are considering their situation with a view to entering the seminary.

In an age where life can often be seen as cheap and dispensable there are some who have the courage to say ‘Hold on a minute –life is a precious gift.  Every human life is something beautiful’.  For every one of us has been called into life by God.  Each one of us is loved by God.  Each and every one of us is loved and valued by God as a person of great worth; not because of what we have or what we own, not even because of what we do, or the job we hold, but principally because of who we are, the kind of people we are – sons and daughters of Our Father in Heaven, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
To a culture that is reeling from the collapse of consumer driven profit centred living, the Year of Vocation has highlighted an important and correct message. 

What is the purpose of life on this Earth? 
•    Is it simply to have a good time and enjoy themselves or is it rather to lead a good life? 
•    Is it to know the price of everything and the value of nothing or rather to seek the truth to grow to love the Lord.

The Year of Vocation has reminded us that we belong to a family – we belong to a community.  We need to take responsibility for one another. 

“I am the good shepherd” – Jesus said.  “He lays down his life for his friends”.  Remember that this thought and especially the crucifix which is where it actually took place, have, for centuries, helped millions through their darkest hour.  At 3.00 am in an accident and emergency room of a hospital it is that one sentence which enables people to hang onto life by a thread.  The reason is that the Good Shepherd himself has actually made that word work.  Yes, he did indeed lay down his life for the world of his own accord.  But he took it up again because he had received power from the Father to do so.  Jesus was by no means a victim of circumstance.  He wasn’t like a leaf blown in the wind and whipped about by evil forces.  No-one took his life from him, he offered it freely.  Before the Sanhedrin, before Herod and Pilate it is quite clear, Jesus is in control.  He declares that they would have no power over him were it not given to them from on high. 

Here lies the power and the mystery of Easter.  The Risen Lord is the faithful shepherd. He has given his life. He paid the supreme price to beat down death, to beat down sin, and rob death of its paralyzing influence.

Here too is the core of Vocation.  It is choosing – our choosing and being chosen by God.  We are not the victims of circumstance or times beyond our control.  We have the choice to follow Jesus or to reject Jesus.  The question of Jesus is of supreme importance or it is of no importance.  This is not the end of the Year of Vocations.  Rather it is end of the beginning.  The task of responding to God’s call is an on-going one.  The building of God’s kingdom is a challenge for each one of us.  Please God we will all have the courage and the strength and the wisdom to rise to that challenge and follow the Good Shepherd. 

AMEN

Sometime around the year 1900, a young girl from County Westmeath was travelling, by train, to Dublin.  It was a big day in her life but also a sad one.  She was on her way to Philadelphia in the United States.  One of the most vivid memories she brought with her to the United States was the sight of the spire of the College Chapel in Maynooth College.  That memory stayed with her and gave her strength.  It reminded her of the Church in her native parish and the knowledge that her family and neighbours went to Mass there every weekend and prayed for her.  This consoled her greatly.  So much so that she told it over and over again to her daughter and grand-daughter.  They, as a result, became great and generous friends and benefactors of Maynooth College.

That story came back to me as I thought about this Church of the Nativity of Our Lady and its 175th jubilee here in Leixlip.  I saw this beautiful Church, for the first time, 52 years ago.  It was my first year in Maynooth.  This Church would have been the last Church we saw on our way to Maynooth.  Its memory and the memory of people streaming in and out would have inspired me, and, I am sure many other seminarians too.  It inspired us on our paths to priesthood as we saw the people here in Leixlip gathered at the Church and we knew the Church and the priest had an important role in this parish and every parish.

We would not have known its history.  That it was built in the distant days of 1833 within four years of Catholic Emancipation, which  restored the freedom to practise religion.  We may or may not have known that it was dedicated to Mary the Mother of Jesus – in memory of her birth.  But, what we did know was that it stood, here in a prominent place in one of the most picturesque towns in Ireland – nestling as it does between the beautiful Rivers of Rye and Liffey.  We would have concluded that this Church was buiilt here through the generosity of good and faithful people – people for whom the worship of God was important – people for whom the provision of a worthy House of Prayer, in which to give praise and glory to God, was important.  And so, we are here today to conclude the year-long celebrations of the 175th jubilee.

I think it is a great tribute to the whole parish community that you have entered into this celebration so enthusiastically and so whole-heartedly.  It is a sign of a people of strong faith

•    A people who are sensitive to the guidance and inspirations of the Holy Spirit at this time.
•    A people who know they belong to a community that has so many gifts and talents which they place generously at the service of one another.

I learned, with delight, that the celebrations began over a year ago – close to the Feast of the Birth of Our Lady.  Under the leadership of your Parish Priest – Father Michael Hurley and the Organising Committee – a lot has taken place during this past year. 

All of that is aimed at handing on the Good News brought by Jesus Christ – Mary’s son.  It is the Good News of God’s compassionate and healing love for each one of us.  Homes were visited to encourage people and let them know that they are important.  Various initiatives were carried out to build up and sustain the wonderful community spirit which obviously prevails here.

The fact that the opening ceremony took place in the open air near a 250 year old penal chapel tells me that you too remember what helped you, and what helped your ancestors, through the trials and tribulations of the past.  The fact that this same chapel became, in turn, a school and now is used as a Scout Den indicates to me your keen desire to preserve all that is good and best from the past and hand it on to those who come after us. 

The extension from Church to school to Scout Den is interesting.  It reminds me of the priesthood of Jesus Christ.  You and I, we all share in that priesthood which we exercise.  Jesus is our teacher.  Jesus is our priest – the one who prays for us.  He is our guide.

By Baptism we continue his work of teaching in the home and in the school.  We continue his life of prayer in the home and in the Church.  Jesus is also our guide and our shepherd. That work is continued in lots of ways such as youth work and Scouting for example. 

To help me prepare for coming here, Seamus Kelly was kind enough to send me a copy of his very beautiful Walking Tour of Leixlip.  It really is a gem.  It reminds us, most powerfully, that Leixlip has both a vibrant present as well as a most interesting past.  I am quite sure that this Church of Our Lady’s Nativity and the people who worship and pray here punch well above their weight in their contribution to Leixlip’s, past and present.
There is one activity which I would like to note and applaud.  During these days we are remembering the thirtieth anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ireland.  In fact, after this Mass, I am going to Drogheda to a Ceremony of Commemoration at the Papal Cross.  When he spoke at Drogheda 30 years ago, the Holy Father pleaded with the warriors to give up the ways of violence.  He asked them to do so for the sake of peace.

Thanks be to God and thanks to the peacemakers, that plea has been heeded.  Of course there is still a small, but determined, group who want to continue to fight.  I hope and pray that they too will listen to the Pope’s plea.  I invite you to pray for that intention fervently.

Ending the violence is one important step.  Achieving reconciliation is the next step.  We all have a part to play in that.  To achieve reconciliation we must, first of all, understand ourselves and appreciate our own localities. Then, secure in the knowledge of who we are, and where we come from, we can proceed to reach out to people who are different from us.  We can try to understand them and to appreciate their history and their heritage.

That is why I want to repeat the words of praise to the teachers, parents and pupils of Coláiste Chiaráin, Leixlip, Newbridge Integrated School, Loughbrickland, Co Down, Confey National School and St. Paul’s Bessbrook, They all took part in the North-South Student Exchange Project – Our Town/Your Town away back in 1999/2000.  Naturally I was delighted to see St. Paul’s especially take part as it is in my own diocese. 

Those pupils – from North and South – and others like them – give us great hope for the future.  In fact, if we had enough such North/South projects, I am quite sure our fears about the future would come to an end.

I was intrigued to read of the difference of opinion between the Parish Priest, Father Savage and Archbishop Murray about the dedication and naming of the new Church in 1833.  Father Savage wanted St Charles Borromeo; the Archbishop proposed that it be dedicated to Our Lady- and specifically in memory of her birth. 

The birth of Mary reminds us of Joachim and Ann – her parents.  They were obviously delighted.  Joachim and Ann are not mentioned in the Gospels.  This is rather strange because they are, after all, the grandparents of Jesus.  By opting for the dedication of this Church to the memory of the birth of Our Lady, Archbishop Murray may have been choosing to focus attention on the important role of the family and of grandparents in the life of the community.  If so, then it was an inspired choice.  The same topic is still very relevant today. 

Two weeks ago the National Association of Catholic Grandparents was launched in Knock.  Pope Benedict XVI has composed a universal Prayer for Grandparents where he describes them as a source of enrichment for families, for the Church and for all of society.  The Pope goes on to pray that they may be for their families:

•    Strong pillars of Gospel faith,
•    Guardians of noble domestic ideals,
•    Living treasuries of sound religious traditions.

I would like to pay tribute to the presence and role of another grouping our society.  Today, in this Church, dedicated to the birth of Our Lady and mindful of her parents Joachim and Ann, I want to pay tribute to the tremendous work which members of ACCORD – the Catholic Marriage Care Service – do in support of sacramental marriage and family life.  They do so in many areas but especially in the area of Marriage Preparation and Marriage Enrichment.  They carry out their work through courses, schools programmes and counselling.  I think they contribute immensely to the achievement of happy, fulfilled marriages. 

I am speaking here of marriage in the sense of a man and a woman who establish a life-long partnership founded on love.  This is a partnership – of its very nature – directed to the happiness and well-being of the spouses themselves and also, of course, to the birth and upbringing of children.  ACCORD – Catholic Marriage Care – provides outstanding help in the essential work of preparing for marriage by focussing on the holiness and obligations of the state of marriage.  I know that one of the outstanding items of parish life in Leixlip is the Family Mass. 

For many years Leixlip was, for me, synonymous with the Hannigan family.  The late Mr Tom Hannigan was our neighbour in County Cavan who moved here, at an early age, and was obviously welcomed and who prospered.  He came from a family of strong Christian faith.  His brother, Father Vincent, was one of the heroes of my youth and was a missionary in Africa for over 50 years.  This is another example of the importance of the family.

More recently, Seán Brady, my namesake – also moved from Cavan to live here and he is playing an active role in the life of this parish.

Obviously Leixlip is a welcoming place and not just a place of great natural beauty but a place of good, warm, human, joyful relationships as well.  Long may it remain that that sort of place and I think it will remain like that as long as  the Sunday Eucharist continues to be the high point of the week and Mary, the  Mother, continues to be asked to help as well.

I end with a slightly adapted version of Pope John Paul’s prayer at Drogheda thirty years ago.

Christ, Prince of Peace;
Mary, Mother of Peace,
St Laurence O’Toole, St Ciaran and all the Saints of Ireland,
I, together with all those gathered here,
Invoke you, to watch over Leixlip.
Protect humanity
AMEN

“We salute with gratitude the Christian vocation of being a grandparent … So I say, tell your grandchildren all you know about God.  [Your] role in Irish families has always been cherished … it is one of the things which made our society strong, especially in the most challenging economic times in our history” – Cardinal Brady

My sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ,

What a joy to see so many of you – but especially so many grandparents – gathered here at Mary’s Shrine. I extend a warm welcome to you all.
I am sure like me, you always feel so ‘at home’ here at Our Lady’s Shrine at Knock. The Mother of God wants us to feel at home in her presence. She wants us to feel at home with her Son and with the whole company of heaven in every celebration of the Eucharist. Here the beautiful representation of Our Lady, St Joseph and St John the Evangelist with the Eucharistic Lamb of God, here at the Apparition Chapel in Knock are a rich and beautiful gift to each one of us and to our country.

I pray that, as a country and as individuals, we will always be worthy of such a wonderful gift. I pray that, as individuals and as a country, we will always honour the faith of our own grandparents and great grand-parents.  It is a faith that is reflected in this serene and prayerful place and treats it with the respect and reverence it deserves.

I extend a particular welcome today to all who have gathered to celebrate this wonderful event of the Third National Pilgrimage for Grandparents. I congratulate Archbishop Neary, Catherine Wiley, Monsignor Joseph Quinn and all those who have been involved in this tremendous initiative. It has certainly touched a chord with so many people.

It has become almost a habit to say that Ireland is changing. This event today reflects one of the most wonderful and welcome changes in Ireland in recent times.  In the past fifty years, life expectancy in Ireland has increased by almost ten years. It is estimated that by 2050 one in four of the population in Ireland will be over sixty-five.
Average life expectancy will also go up five more years to 82. So I think we can continue to count on the National Pilgrimage for Grandparents having a captive audience for some years to come. In fact, I understand there are already more great-grandparents in Ireland today than ever before. So I warmly congratulate all the great-grandparents who are here today. If you keep going the way you are we will soon have to have a special day for great grand-parents too! When you have a few grey hairs like me – that it is a very welcome thought!

Last week I got a letter from an 87 year old lady.  She wanted me to offer a special word of encouragement to parents in their efforts to promote the values of the Gospel.  She said that the people she sees, who are mostly doing this, are the mothers, feeding, washing, clothing, caring, sometimes day and night.  Today I gladly offer that word of encouragement to all parents, and especially to all grandparents who also do their work.  I gladly accept the challenge to get the message of encouragement out there to parents and to all who give themselves so generously in the cause of caring for others.

Yet in acknowledging this challenge I also want to acknowledge one of the other big and very positive changes in Irish society since most of the grandparents present were born. When most of us were growing up the role of fathers in bringing up children was the not the same as it is today. It was just as vital – but perhaps not as involved in the day to day care of the child.  It is wonderful that more and more men in Ireland now have a better sense of the partnership that should exist between a husband and wife in all aspects of bringing up children and keeping a home. It is absolutely right that men should be doing the dishes more, making the bottle and ironing the clothes! The men of Ireland got away with not doing these things for far too long!
It is also critical that men play their proper role in the social and emotional development of their children. The role of both a mother and a father in a child’s life is irreplaceable. Others, including grandparents, can do a marvellous job where either parent or both parents can no longer be part of a child’s life, for whatever reason.

However, nothing will ever replace marriage between a man and a woman as the best environment for raising children. But grandparents have a critical role to play in this regard too. You have the wisdom of experience. You can show the young that being a loving, committed parent is part of being fulfilled and happy, not an obstacle to it.
Any society which diminishes the value of the family, based on marriage between a man and a woman, diminishes the very foundation of society itself.

Another significant change in our society in recent years is the increasingly central role being played by you – the grandparents of Ireland.  I refer to your role in supporting the economic and parenting needs of your own children.

The role of grandparents in Irish families has always been cherished in a particular way. It is one of the things which made our society strong, especially in the most challenging economic times in our history. It was not unusual in years gone by for grandparents to live with their children and grandchildren in the same home. It was commonplace for children to take on financial responsibility for their parents as they grew older.

In recent years, however, the economic and practical dependency of parents on grandparents has increased significantly. The situation has reversed. It has to be acknowledged that today’s generation of grandparents laid the foundation for the society of today.  Over the years they have probably contributed more in working hours and the percentage of their wages paid in tax than ever before. It also has to be acknowledged that it is your time and money which is now holding many families in this country together as they struggle with the consequences of the global economic crisis. The ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’
– or more accurately of ‘Grandma and Granda’ were critical to the success of the Celtic Tiger. As young families search for bigger deposits for dearer mortgages, the resources of grandparents will be critical to the success and pace of our economic recovery.

And yet your greatest contribution to Ireland’s well being and recovery is far more than financial. Last Sunday I spoke to a grandmother.  She told me, with a certain deep satisfaction, how her four grandchildren come to her every evening after school.  In fact, all of her fourteen grandchildren have done this.  She was pleased.
Even though it could be exhausting, it was something she treasured and enjoyed.

So today we salute with gratitude the Christian vocation of being a grandparent. Being a grandparent is how you today, at this particular stage of your life, live out the call of your baptism. In that Baptism you share in Christ’s role as Priest, Prophet and King.

By your many acts of support and kindness towards your children and grandchildren, you are exercising your royal priesthood. By the sacrifices you make of time and money you live out your Royal Priesthood in a real and effective way. By your example of being faithful to God and to his Church you are a witness, a prophet in the lives of your children and grandchildren. By your willingness to so often put your own needs and financial security aside for the sake of the needs of your children and grandchildren, you are a witness to the selfless love of Christ.  You are prophet of the Kingdom of God in your family and in our society. By teaching your children and grandchildren to pray – as you so often do – you give them the most precious lesson they will ever learn.  By teaching them to hope in a higher power and a greater love, you protect them against something more dangerous than something like Swine Flu.  You protect them against the deadly danger of despair.

Then there are all those practical little things you do about the house.  You do them for your children and their families.  You probably don’t take that much notice of them yet they are so important for through them you show your concern for those for whom you have responsibility in the world.  By showing your good deeds in this way you are proving that you have faith.  As St James says in that Second Reading – ‘Faith is like that.  If good deeds do not go with it, it is quite dead.

Today the Catholic Grandparents Association is being officially launched.  This Association aims to help grandparents hand on their faith to their grandchildren.  That will be symbolised by the lighting of the candle and handing it on at the end of the Mass.  You grandparents, have so much wisdom to offer to everybody. Yet you are the critical link between the promise of the future and the wisdom of the past. You are the generation who can help us to keep the current crises in our lives, in our economy in our world in perspective. We have gone through difficult – perhaps more difficult times before. And we have come through them only to go on and to improve our society again and again.

Like the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading you know what it is to strive after the comfort and beauty of material things only to discover that: ‘Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.’ In the words of our Gospel, you know what it is to take up your Cross, to unite your sufferings in patience with those of our Lord, and to survive. Indeed, to find new and deeper dimensions of life.

As ‘older people’ – notice that I didn’t say ‘old people’ – precisely because of your age and your experience you can bring a deeper meaning to the important questions.  For example, ‘

– What will really count when we come to die?
– What are the really important things?
– Who do you say that Jesus Christ is?
– How do you pray?

I once knew an ambassador’s wife who used to ask her dinner guests – ‘And you, how do you pray?’ Could you imagine a Red C Poll based on those questions.  No, I can’t.  The reason is simple:  the modern world is deadly serious and indeed extremely wise about lots of frivolous things but, at the same time, it can be totally frivolous about important questions such as: ‘Who do you say that Christ is?’

And so I make a particular appeal to you today. Grannies and Grandads always love to tell good stories and good news.  How often have you rejoiced at the wonder of your grandchildren as you tell them good news or told them about wonderful things that happened in the past that taught you something important about life..  So I say, tell your grandchildren all you know about God.  Tell them the story of Jesus and the stories which Jesus told.  Tell them who Jesus Christ is for you and why?  You can be absolutely sure they will be very interested.

You have come to Knock to pray for your children and for your grandchildren.  You have come to ask the help of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the help of her mother, St Anne, for those you love, especially for those who are sick.  You have come to ask the help of the Holy Spirit to guide them wisely and safely through life.  You are here to ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit for yourselves, to remind you of all that Jesus said and did, so that you, in turn, can hand on to them the good news that Jesus loves them.  You are here to ask the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Mary, to descend and help you to teach your grandchildren to pray and to talk to them about how God has helped you.  When Jesus was presented in the Temple it was the senior citizens Simeon and Anna who recognised him – not the priests, not the Doctor of the Law.

You are here because like Peter, you believe that Jesus Christ – the anointed one – is the Saviour of the world.  You are here to pray and intercede for many gifts for yourselves and for those whom you love.
You are here to ask that your children and grandchildren may come to know that Jesus Christ is the one and only Saviour.  Perhaps you are here because you have learned from your own experience that if anyone wants to be a follower of Christ, he or she must take up the cross and follow him. Perhaps you are here precisely because you have had to carry a heavy cross – and you know that, at times, you would not have been able to carry that cross without the help which you received from God almighty.

Whatever the reason – you can be absolutely sure that you are here because God wants you to be here for some good reason.

I believe Mary our Mother will help you. I believe Jesus her Son will help you. I believe that Jesus and his Mother rejoice in your every effort to love and care for your children and grandchildren. I believe they look to you in a particular way to pass the light of their faith and love to the next generation of young Irish men and women who will make this country great and each of you very proud.

Prayer to St Anne

O glorious St Anne,
You are filled with compassion for those who invoke you And with the love for those who suffer.
Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you To take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.
Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, And place it before the throne of Jesus So that He may bring it to a happy issue.
Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted.
But above all obtain for me the grace, one day, to see my God face to face, And with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity.

Amen.

I think it is a great tribute to all of you that you are here tonight to honour, in a special way, the birth of Mary – the Mother of Jesus.  Some people are not good at remembering birthdays – and I am one of them to my shame – but I have taken up the habit recently of putting up, in my Oratory, the Memoriam Cards of my friends who have died.  The idea is to remind me to pray for them.  The Church calls the day on which a saint dies a birthday because it is the day of their birth into Heaven. 

I say that your presence here is to your great credit.  It indicates that you realise clearly that Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus – she is the Mother of all of us.  Mary is really our mother in a very real way since Jesus gave her to St. John to be his Mother.  Jesus did that as he hung on the Cross of Calvary, pouring out his life blood for love of us.  He turned to Mary and he said:  ‘Behold your son’.  And to John he said:  ‘Behold your mother’.  It is generally recognised and accepted that John represented all of us on Calvary and Jesus there is giving Mary to all of us to be our mother – to pray for us – to look after us – to intercede for us.  Your presence indicates that you do know that Mary is your mother also and that she is alive in Heaven where she pleads on our behalf.

The birth of Mary brought joy to her parents no doubt.  I can imagine her father Joachim inviting in all and sundry to drink a glass of wine with him on that day in celebration of the event. 
Of course the names of Mary’s parents are not named in the Gospel but they are generally known to us from other sources as Anna and Joachim.  Anna is another name for Hannah or for Hannanial.  The name means ‘Yahweh is gracious’.  For the Hebrews the name of somebody was very important.  It told you something really important about that person.  I would think that the name Anna or Hannah is totally appropriate for the mother of Mary – Mary who was full of grace, in the sense of being the most highly favoured person by God.

Their names given to us in the Gospel of James while a writing that has not been recognised as one of the gospels – inspired by God – it is valuable.  The birth of Mary brought joy to her parents but it also brought joy to the world.  Why is that?  Because from Mary has come Christ – Christ Jesus our Saviour.  He released us from the ancient curse – the curse that came down on the whole world as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve – our first parents.  Jesus, son of Mary – has made us blessed.  By destroying the death that awaited us and by giving us eternal life. 

God is all-powerful – he could have saved us in any one of many ways.  He chose to become one of us.  In Jesus, God enters fully into the reality of a situation.  He just does not ‘jet in and jet out’ for a short time.  In church, God sets us free from sin.

For the Feast of the birthday of Our Lady the Church has chosen the first chapter of St Matthew’s Gospel.  It is the family tree of Jesus entitled:  The Book of the Birth of Jesus – Messiah.  It reveals that Jesus entered fully into the world.  He had a mother and grandparents and great-grandparents like each one of us.  His family tree goes all the way back to the beginning.  His ancestors were real flesh and blood people and they weren’t all saints during all of their lives – far from it.  
Today – the Church invites us to celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It is quite open and honest that we do so in our own interest – that she may intercede for us with her son, Jesus as she interceded at Cana.  Through the birth of Mary – God’s plan to save the world was revealed to all who believe.  The problem is that often we don’t feel any need to be saved.  That is why it is important to pray for faith – greater faith – that we may believe that God sent His Son to save us because we do, in fact, need saving if we don’t accept that then there is no sense in this fuss about Our Lady.  But if – on the other hand – we do believe that Jesus is indeed the Saviour of the world – well then it does make sense to say the kind of things which the Church says about Our Lady today, for example, that the light of her life shines out upon the world.  Her birth signalled the dawn of a new era.  Jesus showed that his day was dawning with the birth of his mother.  We, and many others, sometimes need help to walk in the daylight of His presence.

This evening we pray for the millions who have never even heard the name of Jesus or of his power to save.  We think of missionaries – who may be losing heart because the good news they bring is being rejected.

We think of those who have indeed heard of the Name of Jesus in their homes and in their schools – who have been sealed with the Spirit of Jesus and yet choose to walk away from him. 

On Saturday last we celebrated the Feast of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.  Mother Teresa had this fantastically clear idea of God’s love for each one of us.  It was the same love that led God to decide to send his son into the world and, of course, to choose Mary to be the mother of his son.  Mary responded to that love in both her words and in what she did.  My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.