175TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
PARISH OF ST. MARY, DOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA
HOMILY GIVEN BY
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2005

My brother bishops, Reverend Fathers, Brothers and Sisters and dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
I feel greatly honoured to be with you all this weekend in St. Mary’s Parish, Dover. It is a real privilege to be here with Bishop McCormack as you ring out your joy and come before the Lord giving thanks for the blessings of the last 175 years.

They say that those who love – remember. They remember such things as birthdays, anniversaries and jubilees. Well, I have come to the conclusion that there is a lot of love in this Parish of St. Mary’s because I have the impression that a lot of remembering is going on this weekend in this parish.

We remember that the first parishioners came here in search of work in the mills. With the work of their hands they transformed cotton and wool into a huge variety of beautiful materials to be used as garments for human use and adornment. But the Lord, in His wisdom, has chosen to weave another fabric into this parish, a fabric of great praise and glory to His name. The original threads were provided by the Irish, the French and the Italians, but now, the garments resemble the multi-coloured dreamcoat of Joseph with the arrival of people from Central America, Africa and Asia. For all of that we give thanks today.

The words of Solomon, which we heard just now, seem so right for an occasion like this:

Lord, God of Israel, May our eyes watch night and day over this temple
The place where you have decreed you shall be honoured
Listen to the petitions of your people, which they offer in this place.
Listen from your heavenly dwelling and grant pardon.

I think we can all gladly make the great prayer of Solomon our prayer today as we gather to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of St. Mary’s parish, Dover.

You recall that Solomon was standing before the altar of the Lord. He was in the presence of the whole community. It appears to me that the whole community of St. Mary’s Dover is gathered this afternoon – plus a few others besides.

Like Solomon, we begin by praising God who, from the living stones, the Chosen People of this parish has, down through the years, built an eternal temple to the glory of His name.
Then Solomon asked the question of the community gathered in his presence: Can it indeed be that God dwells among people on earth? He then went on to exclaim to his listeners:

“If the Heavens and the Highest Heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built”.

I believe that it was this same conviction that God does indeed dwell among his people here on earth which inspired Philip Scanlan and his companions to take up their quill and compose a letter to Bishop Fenwick down in Boston in the early part of the 19th century. Their request was very simple and clear – they would like to have a priest to minister to their pastoral needs.

The request was clear – but no so easy to grant for Bishop Fenwick had only a handful of priests to minister to the needs of Catholics scattered across six different states. Nevertheless, the prayers of Philip Scanlan and John Burns and the others were eventually answered.

First a priest came to say Mass in October 1826. The next year the Bishop came in person to give encouragement and hope. As a result, Father French, a Dominican Missionary, began to come here from his station at Portland, Maine. It was he who bought the land on which we stand and laid the cornerstone for St. Aloysius Church in May 1828 which was dedicated by Bishop Fenwick on September 26, 1830. The rest is, as they say, history, and is the reason why we are gathered here today to give praise and thanks to a gracious God who never leaves His people untended.
So, it is with great joy in our hearts that we sing:

One plants the seed;
Another waters it
God makes it grow
All do God’s work.
We are all God’s workers.

The present St. Mary’s Parish came into existence under the protection of St. Aloysius 175 years ago. Since then it has survived various flames of fire and some initial prejudices. But, it has indeed grown and flourished. It has, in turn, mothered a new parish and is now continuing to play a pioneering role in modelling new structures to meet the needs of the times.

I presume that many of you here today were baptised here, made your first Communion and received the sacrament of Confirmation here. In other words, it was here, in this building that you were initiated into the Church – the Body of Christ. My hope is that the events of this weekend and especially the Mass of Thanksgiving will help you to relive something of the joy and the happiness of those by-gone days. May you all experience today something of the presence of God and the power of the Spirit working within you.

Our opening prayer speaks of us all being Living Stones. The elegant souvenir programme reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the mortar that binds these living stones that make up the Body of Christ. We have also received the Holy Spirit at our Baptism and our Confirmation. May today’s ceremony revive and renew the gifts of the Holy Spirit for each one of us.

Last night, Tommy Makem, was wondering if the Corinthians wrote back to St. Paul in answer to his letters to them. Our Second Reading today comes from that same letter to the Corinthians. It talks about the different kinds of spiritual gifts, given to us by the Holy Spirit. When we welcome those gifts of the Spirit into our heats and into our minds and into our lives and work, well then, they bear fruit and issue forth in the form of the various services, which we perform for our neighbours and for our God. Tommy posed the question: Whether the Corinthians ever replied? I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that the people of Dover certainly have replied, and continue to answer St. Paul’s invitation to use their gifts for the service of others.

Last evening I had the privilege of meeting many of the people who serve on Father Fitz’s many committees. It appears very clear to me that those various committees are in existence in order to co-ordinate and encourage the people of the parish as they place their time and their energy and their talents at the service of building up the Kingdom of God in this parish and, in this way, they follow the inspiration of the Spirit.

Ever since I got the invitation to come here for this Mass I have often thought of those valiant founders – Philip Scanlan, John Burns, Luke Murphy, Patrick Hughes and their companions and families. When I originally heard the story I got the impression that it was the ladies who were insisting that if they could not get to Church on Sunday – they were contemplating leaving their newly found employment and returning to Ireland. These people had taken the sad and difficult decision to leave home and homeland and come to the New World in search of a more secure way of living.

In Ireland we have the American Folk Park, situated in the ancestral home of the famous Pennsylvanian Banking family – the Mellons. It is located near Omagh, Co Tyrone. In it there is a model of the Emigrant Ship which used to sail from Derry across the Atlantic to these parts. A visit there will tell you that it was a precarious existence which those people left – a rather precarious journey which they undertook and an unpredictable future which awaiting them.

They did not have much of the goods of the world but they did have their faith. In those Pre-Emancipation times they did not have churches but they did have parents and grandparents who had faith. They were people who believed that they came from God, that they belonged to God and they were descended from God. They passed on their faith to their children – by word and example.

It was a faith that came originally from St. Patrick. He was a man who himself was destined to suffer much, first as a slave herding pigs and later as a missionary. His efforts to evangelise the Irish were not always welcome because the cost of changing their life-style was considered too high by some of the Irish. But the opposition and hostility, which Patrick experienced, did not deter him in the least. In fact, it only spurred him on to greater efforts and to put his trust more fully in the protection of God the Father, in the love of Jesus Christ, the Son, and in the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, St. Patrick is said to have summed up all of that in his use of the Shamrock to illustrate the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity – One God and Three Divine Persons.

So, I imagine that all those elements would have been present in the minds of the founders of this parish. Also, they would have been deeply grateful for their safe arrival – many did not make it- they would have been conscious of the sacrifices, which those they left behind had made to get them here. So, was it any wonder that they told Bishop Fenwick that they wanted a priest, a priest to help them deepen their faith and lead them in prayer and celebrate the Eucharist for them and bind them together into living stones in the temple which is the Body of Christ.

Today we give thanks for all that has been, and especially for the financial help which they received to build the initial Church from the Protestant community. I was glad to hear Tommy Makem remind us of that last night.

Today we remember the past but we live in the present. We live in the present with great hope in our hearts. That hope is built on the solid promise of Christ to be present with His Church to the End of Time.
I think that it is not without significance that our celebration is taking place as we draw near to the end of the Year of the Eucharist. The late Pope John Paul II called this Year of the Eucharist to renew our faith in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and, in particular, to renew our devotion and fidelity to the Sunday Mass. Next Sunday a General Synod of the Church begins in Rome. It will discuss the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Life and Mission of the Church. I ask your prayers for the success of the deliberations of the Synod.

I am quite sure that Jesus Christ – present in the Blessed Sacrament – has been and will always be, the source of the activity of this parish. In this sacrament we all find the strength to follow Christ and to imitate Christ – especially in the difficult parts – like giving and asking forgiveness.

The late Pope John Paul II liked to remind us that it is the Eucharist, which makes the Church. The Church lives on the Eucharist and gets grace and strength. But, on the other hand, it is the Church which make the Eucharist. It prepares and ordains priests to celebrate the Eucharist. It gathers the people together to hear the Good News and to be nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ.

Earlier this week I attended a number of gatherings of the Friends of our National Seminary, Maynooth. At each of those functions we heard a beautiful rendition of Panis Angelicus composed by St Thomas Aquinas. At all of these functions there was one thing that characterised those taking part:

A great love of the Eucharist
A great concern for the future of the Church

I think I detected a similar love and devotion to the celebration of the Eucharist in this parish also.
You know, although it is my first time in Dover, I feel very secure and very much at home here today. With St. Patrick and St. Bridget at my back, up among these eight beautiful statues, and with St. Patrick represented in the stain glass window, which was given to the Church by the Ancient Order of Hibernians – I really feel among friends. Here behind me we also have St. Aloysius gazing down. The Patron of Youth who is also represented in stain glass in the Cathedral of St. Patrick, Armagh, though he is represented there receiving First Holy Communion from the hands of another Saint, Charles Borromeo of Milan. But the real reason why I feel happy and secure here is because I am united to you by faith and baptism. I am happy to be with you today because in Holy Communion we are being prepared for society with God. We are being prepared through communion of a holy body to be thereafter given a place in the communion of a holy body – the Body of Blessed in Heaven.

My most fervent prayer is that one day we will all be reunited in the Holy Communion of the Blessed in Heaven.

May God, who began the good work in us, carry it on until it is finished and may we all be reunited on that day in the communion of the Blessed with all those who have gone before us and with all those who will come after us.

AMEN

‘TOWARDS THE GLOBAL COMMON GOOD’
ADDRESS BY
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2005
MANSION HOUSE, DUBLIN

Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Irish Bishops’ Conference can I thank you for being here for this launch of our Pastoral Letter, Towards the Global Common Good.

On Wednesday past, the urgent issue of wealth and poverty in an unequal world was brought powerfully to our attention, once again, with the publication of the United Nations Report on Human Development.

This Report confirms that Ireland is now ranked eighth in the world for human development, up from tenth position in 2002. That is a major achievement by any standard. The Pastoral Letter points out that this recent economic success, as well as the economic progress which has flowed from the peace process in Northern Ireland, is something to be welcomed and celebrated. The creation of wealth is a vital and legitimate aspiration of every individual and every national economy. All who contributed to this success deserve praise and recognition. Their efforts have brought to many, increased opportunities and higher standards of living.

Something else has become equally clear in recent days. While our economic progress continues apace, it does so without adequate reference to the moral principles of justice, solidarity and concern for the poor.

These are the values, which ensure a society worthy of the human person. On the same day (as the UN Report on Human Development published details of our ever increasing prosperity), the Combat Poverty Agency reported that one hundred and forty thousand Irish children live in poverty. At the same time the UN Report indicated that Ireland is one of the most unequal states among the eighteenth wealthiest nations of the world. It ranks only behind Italy and the United States. Such gaping inequalities are a serious challenge to our reputation as a caring and generous nation. They call for an urgent reassessment of our moral and spiritual priorities as a country.

The Scriptures remind us how quickly the legitimate pursuit of economic growth can become separated from its proper orientation to the common good and the universal destiny of the goods of the earth.

When this happens, those individuals and states, which have benefited most from increased prosperity, can sometimes lose their sense of responsibility for the progress of society as a whole and for the global common good. In the search for financial security, we can, as individuals and as a state, become convinced of our own self-sufficiency. More and more, morally and psychologically, we can become disconnected from the plight of those less well off than ourselves.

Through this Pastoral Letter we, the Irish Catholic Bishops, hope to initiate a discussion about the moral and spiritual implications of Ireland’s status as one of the most successful and globalised economies of the world. We do so in anticipation of next week’s meeting of the UN Millennium Plus Five Summit. There, the leaders of 189 countries, including Ireland, will assess the progress of the international community towards the Millennium Development Goals.

These goals were first established in the Jubilee year 2000 and include the eradication of extreme poverty and the provision of primary education for every child in the world. The commitment made by the leaders of the G8 Summit in Edinburgh in July, to reduce the debt of some of the poorest countries of the world was very welcome. Nevertheless, all the indications now are that not one of the eight millennium development goals, will be met by the target date of 2015. This is, in itself, a tragic and eloquent statement. It highlights our lack of moral determination, as individuals and as the richest nations of the world, to deal with the most urgent issue confronting our shared humanity. The unnecessary death of a child every three seconds, for want of food or medicine, is such a stark and appalling reality. While national and global inequalities are widening, no disciple of Jesus can feel at peace with his or her conscience.

This Pastoral both celebrates and challenges our reputation as a generous nation. On the one hand, our record in relation to voluntary aid and our response to human tragedy across the world are both outstanding and widely recognised. We have one of the highest levels of public support for such aid in the western world. On the other hand, as the Pastoral indicates, the virtue of solidarity put before us by the Gospel, ‘is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.’

This is the key message of our Pastoral: the call to a persevering ‘commitment to the good of one’s neighbour with the readiness, in the Gospel sense, to “lose oneself” for the sake of the other’, not only in personal but also in national and global terms. This, in turn, requires a spirit of cooperation and a willingness to sacrifice personal or national interest for the sake of the global common good.

We saw one very welcome expression of this principle in the Jubilee year 2000. That was the commitment by the Irish Government that Ireland would reach the UN’s goal of setting aside 0.7 per cent of GNP for development aid by 2007. I believe that this initiative was widely supported by Irish people. It also set a compelling standard for the rest of the world, one from which the poorest countries of the world took great encouragement and hope. As Bishops we believe that the poorest nations of the world continue to look to Ireland to set the global standard for commitment to development aid. We also believe that there is substantial support among the Irish people for a compelling and world -leading target, which will express their commitment to a more just and compassionate world. We therefore appeal to the Irish Government to further enhance its reputation as a global leader in development aid and to commit itself to reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP by the year 2010 at the latest. Confirmation that we have moved further up the table of world development, since the original target was set, suggests that there is no justifiable reason why such a target could not now be achieved.

More needs to be done to highlight the link between development and the way in which we treat our natural environment. Global warming and climate change are pressing problems. They are certainly aggravated by the sort of economic development that is heavily reliant on burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Unacceptable waste disposal, wanton depletion of fish stocks, and irresponsible pollution, are by-products of an economic activity, which pays insufficient attention to its effects on the environment.

Pope John Paul II once called for ‘ecological conversion.’ It has to do with the type of energy we use to heat our homes, the method we use to dispose of our waste, or the form of transport we use to get to work. Every decision we make in favour of a more sustainable environment is a decision in favour of the global common good.

This means that on a national level, much more needs to be done to cut Ireland’s greenhouse emissions. The Pastoral reminds us that as a nation, we are legally bound to fulfil our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in February 2005. According to the most recent review of the Government’s National Climate Change Strategy projections, Ireland, unfortunately, will not reach its targets set under the Kyoto Protocol. It is a imperative, therefore, that the measures set out in the National Climate Change Strategy in 2000, are implemented with greater speed. All of us have a part to play; in our homes, schools, parishes, businesses, industry and government. A critical point made in the Pastoral is that ‘All of us can review our own practices and establish our own challenging targets to ensure that we meet our moral obligation to care for creation as God intended and to create a sustainable global environment.’ We appeal, in particular, to every parish and church organisation to assess their commitment to the care of the environment. They are encouraged to set their own targets and develop their own strategies for ensuring an ambitious commitment to meeting their responsibilities as stewards of creation with a sacred vocation to care for the global common good.

Thankfully, there is evidence of a growing global consciousness of our interdependence as a human family. More and more people are becoming impatient and concerned about the stark inequalities in the distribution of the goods of the earth. They are keenly aware of our collective responsibility for the developing countries of the world. We hope that this letter will contribute, at least in some small way, to a further moral awakening on this issue.

The future of the human family has to be addressed in global terms. The dignity and development of the human individual are the priorities. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church balances it all up eloquently when it calls for ‘a shared humanism based on solidarity’.

It is in that spirit that the Irish Bishops’ Conference has asked Trócaire to prepare a Report on International Development. That Report will look at the issues challenging the Global Common Good today. We hope that it will serve as a stimulus for reflection and action. What is required is a social and political culture, inspired by the Gospel and animated by a spirit of global solidarity.

The Pastoral states that if the ‘civilisation of love’ proposed by the Gospel, is to become a reality, then what is required is a ‘moral and economic mobilisation’.

The Irish Bishops’ Conference appreciates the persevering commitment of Trócaire to the work of international development. On that note, I now hand you over to its Chairman, Bishop John Kirby.

FÉILE AN PHOBAIL – WEST BELFAST FESTIVAL
ST. OLIVER PLUNKETT TALK
“BORN FREE – WHAT FREEDOM IN IRELAND MEANS TO ME”
SUNDAY 31 JULY 2005

A Chairde, A pobail Dé. Ta an athas orm beith in bhur measc agus sibh ag ceiliuradl Féile An Phobail. Béal Feirstá
I am very pleased to be with you this evening for this 2nd Annual St. Oliver Plunkett lecture. Here in St. Oliver Plunkett’s Church I already feel at home, not only because St. Oliver Plunkett was one of my predecessors as Archbishop of Armagh, but also because the Parish Priest, Fr Martin Magill, like myself, studied at the Irish College in Rome. There St. Oliver Plunkett himself was once a student. Fr Martin and I were in the Irish College together in the 1980’s, he as a student and I as a member of staff. I would like to thank you Fr. Martin, along with Fr Terence and Fr Patrick, for your warm welcome this evening and for your very kind words of introduction.

I would also like to thank Glen Philips and the organisers of Féile an Phobail for their kind invitation to be part of this very impressive programme of events. The Féile in West Belfast has become a marvellous example of how to build a stronger and more united sense of community through constructive leadership and events, which both celebrate and challenge, who we are. In an area which has experienced so much of the trauma of recent years, those who inspire and develop this initiative deserve the highest praise. Helping individuals and communities to feel more positive about their identity and about their future is an essential part of building a more secure and peaceful society.

Thankfully, similar initiatives are developing in other parts of the community as well. I think we are slowly beginning to learn that confident identities do not have to be conflicting identities. Celebrating our culture, our convictions and our identity in a way which is both secure, yet respectful of others, open to dialogue, and accepting of criticism and change, is itself a mark of real freedom. And this brings me to the topic which I have been asked to address this evening: ‘Born free! My vision of freedom in Ireland today.’
Let me say first of all that when I received the invitation to the Féile I reached for my Irish dictionary, compiled by the Reverend Patrick S Dineen in 1927. There I saw that Féile means a ‘festival’, a ‘holiday’. And several féilta – festivals – are mentioned. La Féile Phadraig, la Féile Brighe and a host of other festivals of saints and religious events. When I investigated a little further I discovered that what united all these Féile’s was the celebration of a person or an event which represented the highest ideals and deepest convictions of the people. What also characterised the Féile was the gathering of a community. It is very hard, as you know, to celebrate on your own. We are, by our very nature, social people. A festival builds community. We like to dance and to sing, to gather and to play, to worship and to march, because we like to celebrate with others. Catholics in particular value this sense of community, stemming as it does from our deep, sometimes unconscious Eucharistic culture. The Mass, the Eucharist, creates community. As the Fathers of the early Church used to say, the Eucharist creates the Church.

And this brings me to the first part of my vision of freedom in Ireland today. The Ireland I would like to see is one in which we all have the freedom to celebrate the best of who we are. An Ireland where we take responsibility for the freedom of others as well as our own. As Archbishop Oscar Romero once said, ‘The surest way to protect our own freedom, is to fight for the freedom of others, especially of those who oppose us most.’

This is what Christianity calls the ‘Golden Rule’: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’

Whether it is the right to march as a Republican, an Orangeman or a Hibernian,
Whether it is right to funding for the Irish language or Ulster Scots,
Whether it is the right to have Catholic, Integrated or Irish schools, or
Whether it is the freedom to identify yourself as a migrant, an asylum seeker, or a refugee,
A genuinely free and confident Ireland will only come about when we stop thinking of our own rights and freedoms first, and take responsibility for the freedoms and rights of others, not least the other whom we find it most difficult to accept or to tolerate.

Such a formula for freedom was given to us by Christ himself. It has the potential to take us beyond mere tolerance and benign apartheid into the realms of interdependence, respectful understanding and mutual liberation. The truth is that there is no freedom in this society without the freedom of the other, whoever that other may be. I think that what we are only now beginning to realise is that, as a historically divided community, we do not hold our freedom in our own hands, we hold that freedom in each other’s hands.

Peace, in that sense, is not merely the absence of war. It cannot be reduced simply and solely to the maintenance of a careful balance of power between opponents. Rather, as the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church points out, ‘it is founded on a correct understanding of the human person. Genuine peace requires the establishment of an order based on justice and love’. (494)

Peace is always threatened therefore when a person is not given all that is due to him precisely as a human person, when his dignity or equality is not respected or when the political system is not oriented to the common good. The defence and promotion of human rights, therefore, is essential for the building up of a peaceful society and the successful development of individuals, peoples and nations.

Violence on the other hand, is a lie. In the words of Pope John Paul II, ‘Violence is unworthy of man. Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life and the freedom of human beings. The contemporary world therefore needs the witness of unarmed prophets.’

In this regard, I would like to say that the statement by the IRA on Thursday was, in my view, potentially the most powerful, significant and welcome move towards genuine freedom in Ireland to have emerged from any paramilitary organisation since the beginning of the troubles. By setting people free from the fear of violence, by confining the search for freedom to purely democratic and peaceful means, such actions open up the possibility of addressing the deeper and more urgent dimensions of human freedom. I hope that the words of the IRA are followed through. I hope others will respond with the same level of constructive thinking. Then, I am convinced, the way will be quite literally ‘freed up’ for new and previously unthinkable relationships to develop between people, parties and even religious leaders across this island and between this island and Britain.

We are in a new place. I commend the efforts of all who have worked so hard to get us here. Things will never be the same again. We have all learnt too much from the pain of the past to remain unchanged. Tragically, we have probably learnt most from our collective mistakes. But I believe that Ireland today has never been closer to the freedom for which she has yearned for so long. A new era of peaceful and fruitful progress between her diverse people and with her nearest neighbours is very close at hand. I am utterly convinced of that.

This brings me to the second part of what freedom in Ireland means to me. When I read the book of Exodus, I am reminded that the journey from captivity in Egypt to the promised land of modern day Israel, was a long and very often a confusing one. The chosen people spent almost forty years quite literally going round in circles. I think the parallels with our own peace process are fairly obvious. The search for freedom, whether at a personal or at a community level, is rarely straightforward.

Then we have those famous words which echo in the heart of every one who has undertaken the struggle for liberation across the world – the words of Moses to Pharaoh – ‘LET MY PEOPLE GO!’. All of this could lead you to believe that the story of the Exodus is a very powerful justification for everyone who ever opposed an oppressive regime. But that would be to miss the point. The point is that political freedom and the creation of a just social order are a noble and necessary aspiration, something deeply desired by God! Yet political freedom is only one part of the story of human freedom. Not only was the promised land a difficult place to get to. Once it was found, it required a lot of hard work to ensure that it was always a place of milk and honey. In that sense it was not just a place of freedom, but also a place of responsibility. This included a sense of responsibility to the widow, the stranger, the old and the orphan. It also involved forging new and mutually beneficial relationships with Israel’s neighbours, including Egypt her ancient adversary.

Economically and politically Israel, under David and Solomon, was always at her most successful and secure when she enjoyed constructive and peaceful relationships with her nearest neighbours. It is interesting that even today, one of the closest allies of Israel is Egypt, the country of her former captivity.

Again, the parallels with our own situation are obvious. Any dreamy notion of an ethnically pure, totally independent, ‘British-free’ concept of Irish Nationalism is just unrealistic, antiquated and unachievable. The relationship between Ireland and Britain is so complex and intertwined that there is no future for either the British or Irish traditions within the island of Ireland without the other. There is no future other than a shared future. What we are trying to work out at this period of history, however, is what the fairest and most favourable form of relationship between our historic and deeply cherished identities is. In this regard I believe there is no escaping the logic of the underlying principles of the Good Friday Agreement. The overwhelming endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement by the people of this island North and South was an act of self-determination. It aims at drawing an irreversible moral line under the complexities of the past. It established the principle of majority consent, with the assurance of continued devolution in Northern Ireland, as the democratic and peaceful way of resolving this historically difficult issue.

The latest IRA statement is bound to spark debate about the issue of a united Ireland. I hope it will also allow that debate to occur in a freer and much more constructive, perhaps less emotive atmosphere. What is still unclear, however, is to what extent elements of the unionist and loyalist tradition are also willing to commit to taking part in such a debate on purely peaceful and democratic terms. Part of the moral complexity of our past, was the part played by the threat of violence from the Unionist community in the decision to create Northern Ireland as a separate entity.

What freedom in Ireland means to me is that that historic threat from the Unionist tradition is also manifestly and verifiably removed from the debate about our shared future. Hopefully, in coming months this issue will be subjected to the same level of scrutiny, political determination and media interest as has quite properly focused on the issue of the threat of Republican violence in the past.

In this context, what freedom in Ireland means to me is a total end to the fear-threat relationship. That threat has existed for far too long between the British and Irish traditions on this island. Too many lives have been sacrificed in the pursuit of a superficial and outdated understanding of freedom. It is time to construct a new vision of Irish Freedom, one which is the fruit of respectful dialogue, trusting interdependence and mutual liberation from the things which hold us back from creating a shared and better future.

Part of this liberation includes taking shared responsibility for law and order. One of the most important consequences of the Exodus story is the vital connection between a successful society and an effective system of law and order. Just when the people were at their lowest ebb in the desert, when they were beginning to quarrel among themselves and lose their sense of purpose as a community, God introduced the law of the covenant through Moses. It is expressed in the Ten Commandments. The purpose of the law was to protect the common good, to support and protect the cohesion of the community. In recent years, there has been a danger that the new language of freedom and morality, the language of human rights, is becoming disconnected from the corresponding sense of responsibility towards the community. More and more people are saying ‘I know my rights’ but fewer and fewer people seem to be willing to acknowledge that they also have a duty, a responsibility to the community in which they live. To declare that ‘I know my rights’ without any sense of duty towards the community is an expression of selfishness rather than an expression of freedom.

This is one of the many reasons why I am so pleased to see so many representatives of the other Churches here this evening. One of the many things which the Churches share in common is a concern that the promotion of a culture of rights, without any corresponding emphasis on the duty of the individual toward society, will further emphasise the false concept of freedom. That is, freedom seen as a licence to do what I want without regard to anybody else. The Gospel affirms and the Catholic Church in its teaching constantly defends the inherent dignity of the human person and the importance of the personal rights and freedoms which flow it. The document Joy and Hope of the Second Vatican Council points out that our contemporaries greatly value freedom, and rightly so. But it goes on to say, ‘Man’s dignity requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint.’ (#17) Furthermore, ‘the social nature of man shows that there is an interdependence between the personal development of the individual and the improvement of society as a whole… Life in society is not something accessory to man: through his dealings with others, through mutual service, and through fraternal dialogue, man develops his talents and becomes able to rise to his destiny.’ (#25) As such, the document goes on to say, ‘Every group must take into account the needs and legitimate aspirations of every other group, and still more of the human family as a whole.’ (#26)

During these days the images of the terrible famine in Niger are etched firmly in our minds. It is difficult not to feel that all our talk of politics and peace processes is somewhat of a luxury in comparison to the appalling deprivation which is being suffered by so many people in the developing world. It is a stark reminder that not all struggles for freedom are equally important or equally urgent.

Poverty, lack of water, medicine, education and economic access, wherever they are to be found, these are real forms of oppression. They happen as a direct result of our choices here and in the other richest countries in the world. Yet why do we not feel the same passion, invest the same determination, focus the same resources into responding to death of a child every three seconds through hunger as we do about sorting out our long standing and somewhat self-sustained difficulties? Why do we feel so passionate about equality in our own society and yet tolerate with such cavalier detachment, the gaping global inequalities of which we are a part?

What freedom in Ireland means to me is to be part of a society which has a deep sense of responsibility for the poor and deprived of the world. An Ireland which not only keeps its promises to meet its Millennium Goals for development aid but which is free enough from its own preoccupations to heed the needs and the cry of the poor and place them firmly before the gaze of the world. It is about living in a country which aspires to economic and social inclusion for all its citizens and which values equal access to the very best in education, a key avenue to personal and political emancipation.

Another aspect of freedom which is important in my vision of Ireland is respect for the right to religious freedom. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church points out that ‘the effective recognition of the right to freedom of conscience and religious freedom is one of the highest goods and one of the most serious duties of every person that truly wishes to ensure the good of the individual and society.’

I sometimes worry that, in the context of the parading issue, Catholics are not always sufficiently aware of the serious nature of this principle in terms of their duty to respect the religious character of such parades. While parading in public spaces does not form a major part of Catholic religious practice, except for Corpus Christi processions, the duty to respect the conscience of my neighbour, especially in religious matters, is a formal tenet of Catholic teaching. It is up to others to determine what they regard as worship, to the extent that such parades are specifically religious events, the claim of religious freedom suggests that they should be treated with great respect.

On the other hand, the right to religious freedom is not of itself an unlimited right. As the Compendium explains, ‘The just limits of the exercise of religious freedom must be determined in each social situation with political prudence, according to the requirements of the common good.’ (422) In other words, the limits of my own rights are the rights of others. When there is a conflict of rights, recent experience in Derry affirms that dialogue in an atmosphere of generosity and mutual respect is the most effective way of reaching an accommodation. I am always struck by the fact that in the Gospels Jesus is always willing to talk to those he wishes to change, irrespective of their status or their state of life.

What freedom in Ireland means to me, therefore, is a society in which the rights of religion, including the right to a religious procession in a public place, are treated with deep respect and where those who wish to demonstrate their faith in such a way, do so with due respect and courtesy for their neighbour. In imitation of Jesus, I would suggest that such respect includes a willingness to dialogue with those whom we wish to change and whose interests may be affected by our acts.

As I hope the other ministers of religion present will agree, religion can also have a vital role in responding to one terrible form oppression which is claiming the lives of more and more of our young people in particular. I refer to the oppression of lack of meaning and despair. What freedom in Ireland means to me is living in a society which is not embarrassed or afraid of its religious and spiritual heritage. That heritage has provided its ancestors with meaning and strength of character for centuries and millennia. Genuine freedom means living in a country in which people are not held captive to an enslaving craving for wealth, success or pleasure without meaning. It means belonging to a society which acknowledges that we are not only social beings, but that we are spiritual beings. It means seeing that without some access to meaning and values beyond ourselves, we are vulnerable to new and enfeebling forms of slavery. Just talk to those who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex or car crime as a means of escaping from the dreariness of life or despair. They have become slaves of the very thing which they believed would set them free. What freedom in Ireland means to me is setting aside sufficient resources and providing sufficient personal support to assist those who are tempted to despair or held captive by addiction.

I also believe that the price being paid for the absence of support for policing in certain areas at the moment is too high. Every free society requires an effective system of law and order. Such systems are human and therefore, like all things human, are less than perfect. But as the Patten Report acknowledged, they can be changed. They can be changed from within, especially when sufficient numbers participate to make that police service representative of the community.

There are growing fears that the constant criticism and demonisation of the police service is contributing to a more general breakdown in society and to a lack of respect for law and order, particularly among the young. I have great confidence in the ability of young nationalists and young unionists, along with others, to play their part in constructing and maintaining a police service which all sections of the community can support. I have no hesitation in calling on young Catholics to join their Protestant counterparts and others in following the noble vocation of policing and serving the whole community with courage and pride as members of the PSNI. What freedom in Ireland means to me is that those same young people would be respected and accepted by others in their community for the choice they have made, whether they are from West Belfast, Portadown, the Shankill, East Tyrone or South Armagh. What freedom in Ireland also means to me is that those young people, once they have entered the police service, would feel free, if they are unhappy about any aspect of what they find there, that they will to seek to change it,
Finally, what freedom in Ireland means to me, is living in a society which cultivates the values of genuine freedom as well as the attitudes which underpin it and the laws which protect that freedom.

And this brings me back to where I started, to St. Oliver Plunkett. If St. Oliver Plunkett’s life testifies to anything, is testifies to the truth that all authentic freedom begins within. If we are not free within ourselves, then we are not free at all.

After he was condemned a tremendous peace and serenity came to Oliver as he prepared for death. Let me quote from a letter he wrote at the time:

‘The sentence of death was passed against me on the 15th but it has not terrified nor caused me to lose even a quarter of an hour of sleep. I am as innocent of all treason as the child born yesterday. I have considered that Christ, by his fears and sufferings, merits for me to be without fear. I do forgive all who had a hand, directly or indirectly, in my death and in my innocent blood. My accusers swore that I had 7,000 men in arms to promote the Catholic cause and that I had the harbour of Carlingford ready to bring in the French. Such romances as these would not be believed by any jury in Ireland. I salute all my friends over there as if I had named them and I recommend myself to their prayers. None of them are to be grieved for my death, being as innocent of what was laid to my charge, as the child unborn’.

And so, I ask you to consider the example of Oliver Plunkett. He wasn’t free from external coercion because he was arrested. He was brought to Tyburn, where he was brought to the scaffold and put to death. But look at the marvellous freedom he had – the inner freedom – the freedom within – totally free of fear. He didn’t even lose a quarter of an hour’s sleep – not even the night before his execution. He wasn’t afraid to face his accusers or his God. He was free from self-pity. He was not moaning and groaning.
This is the kind of freedom I believe in. Freedom from the captivity of fear, of greed, of anger or of revenge. Freedom to be able to forgive, freedom to acknowledge my part in the wrongs of the past, freedom to deal constructively with the past and to bring it healing, especially to those who have been hurt by it. Freedom to move from the feeling of being a victim to that of survivor, to that of victor – victor over past adversity. For that victory to take place, two things are needed – the healing of past memories and the forgiveness of past wrongs.

Oliver Plunkett was free from bitterness towards those who gave false witness – people from his own flock, who had given false testimony against him. The evidence needed from Ireland to corroborate the allegations against Oliver Plunkett, was supplied by some of the suspended and renegade priests whom Oliver had disciplined over the previous decade. Later some other people were enlisted, including some lay people, who were promised freedom from jail along with money if they would testify against him. Oliver was well aware of this but said that he was completely free from any bitterness towards them. He forgave them totally from the heart.

And this is where we come ultimately to the example of Jesus. Others focused on external observance of the laws of religion and social custom. Jesus, in his great Sermon on the Mount, focused on the attitudes and the values from which all our actions flow – the beatitudes. Happy are the gentle, the pure in heart, those who hunger and thirst for what is right, those who mourn. He wrote the law of freedom not on tablets of stone, but on our hearts. That is the freedom I celebrate at this West Belfast Feile – Freedom of the heart. WB Yeats once said that ‘too long a sacrifice, makes a stone of the heart’. Maybe that is what we have come to realise. Thirty five years is a very long time. What freedom in Ireland means to me, therefore, is removing the stones from our hearts and allowing ourselves to be touched by the pain and sorrow of those who died, by the love and courage of those who suffered and touched by the heartbreak of those who are left behind. The greatest freedom of all is the freedom of Jesus on the cross to forgive and to love. What freedom in Ireland means to me is that nobody is free, until everybody is free. The free and selfless heart of Jesus speaks to all, especially the least and says, you are not free, until he or she too is free. My prayer is that, in imitation of St. Oliver Plunkett, we may come to know that freedom of the heart by which Jesus has set us free and be willing and able to forgive those who have trespassed against us.

A pobal Dé – Guimid orthu siud uile a bhuil cúram poiblí orthu. Go saothrai siad ar son an Chirt agus na Siochána Fírinní.
Thank you

MESSAGE FROM
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
TO THE PEOPLE OF
THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH
JULY 2005

Dear People,
You might remember last Lent, I wrote encouraging the people of the Diocese to take part in a consultation process to discuss the formation of an action plan to address the pastoral needs of the Diocese. Regional meetings were held, offering everyone the chance to contribute to this process.
I am pleased to report that following these regional meetings the findings of the consultation process have been collated and summarised and priorities have been identified.

Concrete steps are now being taken to help address the priorities that have arisen. Nine working areas, as outlined below, have been identified for action. (These areas are not in any order of priority):

· Faith Formation
· Youth Ministry
· Prayer and Spirituality
· Meaningful Liturgy
· Care for Priests
· Developing the Role and Ministry of Women in the Church
· Family Ministry – Life Issues
· Outreach to Others – Ecumenism and Interfaith Dialogue
· Leadership and Training – ( which includes: Diocesan / Parish Survey – Attending to Diocesan and Parish Structures – Parish Pastoral Councils.)

Working groups have been set up to address each of these areas, with the task of looking at the main themes which have come through both from the consultation process last Lent and the discussions of the priests of the Diocese at the annual conference of clergy, which took place at Bundoran last November.
I look forward very much to seeing the aims of this ambitious pastoral plan addressed in practical ways. I appreciate that this will be an ongoing project. Our intention is to have initial targets for the next three years, but the work of ministry and evangelisation is an ongoing one, needing constant re-assessment, re-evaluation and renewal. This present plan is but one step in this process.

No one is approaching this project with a naïve lack of realism about the magnitude of what should or could be done. At the same time, no one should be discouraged or overwhelmed by the difficulties to be faced, or perhaps better put, the opportunities to be embraced. The disciples, gathered in the upper room after the Ascension of Jesus, were petrified and paralysed by fear, even though they had just experienced the very presence of the Risen Lord. It was only when they received the gift of the Spirit that they were liberated to go forth and do what had to be done. In reality nothing in the outside world changed for them. What changed was their own faith and their capacity to believe and trust. We too pray for such an infusion of the Holy Spirit which will transform and direct us to face the new challenges of faith which we encounter today in our world.

I have no doubt that implementing this pastoral plan will be a learning experience for all involved, and that it may well lead us in directions totally unforeseen. Success will be slow and at times hard to quantify, but I know that with the assistance of people of faith and goodwill, much can be achieved to help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make the presence of His love and the consolation of His truth more effective in our world through the mission of the Church.

I would encourage as many as possible to play their part in contributing to our diocesan pastoral plan. As I have said before, I know from past experience how generously you have responded with your time, commitment and generosity to various initiatives at diocesan and parish level. Once again I invite you to collaborate in this exciting project, in our Diocese, to participate in the mission of the Church, as we are all called to do through our baptism.

I end with a quote from our late Holy Father, John Paul II, from his message for this ‘Year of the Eucharist’, which ends in October with a Synod of Bishops in Rome, which I will have the privilege of attending.

In this passage, His late Holiness is urging local Churches to renewal and to a deepening of faith through new initiatives; ‘I do not ask, however, for anything extraordinary, but rather that every initiative be marked by a profound interiority. If the only result of this Year were the revival in all Christian communities of the celebration of Sunday Mass and an increase in Eucharistic worship outside Mass, this Year of grace would be abundantly successful. At the same time, it is good to aim high, and not to be content with mediocrity, since we know we can always count on God’s help.’

I pray every blessing upon you all, I wish you an enjoyable summer and I look forward to the fruits of our work together.

ORDINATION TO PRIESTHOOD
LIAM McKINNEY
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
SUNDAY, 26 JUNE, 2005, 2.30 PM
MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY, DCL
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

INTRODUCTION

I welcome you all most cordially to St. Patrick’s Cathedral today for the Ordination to the Priesthood of our Deacon, Rev Liam McKinney.

I welcome Eugene and Colette, Liam’s father and mother and I thank them for giving Liam to be ordained a priest and for all the support and encouragement they have provided for Liam over the years. I welcome his sisters, Ann, Colette and Bernadette and his brothers, Michael, Gerard and Eamon and all his nephews and nieces and extended family. I thank you also for all your help to Liam. How could we begin this ceremony without remembering Mary and Thomas Joseph. Our belief in the communion of saints tells us that they too have played their part.

I welcome Mons Liam Bergin, Rector of the Irish College, Rome where Liam has studied for the last five years. I thank him and the staff for all their help on Liam’s road to priesthood.
I welcome all of Liam’s friends and relatives who have come from many places and travelled many kilometres to be with us today. I hope no-one will mind my singling out one or two in particular. Father Cassian, is a student in Rome and comes from Burundi in Central Africa and is most welcome.
I also welcome Father Malachy Hanratty – who needs no introduction from me, in Armagh. He is a Columban Father and a neighbour of the McKinney family. Father Malachy you are most welcome home from Japan and I wish you a great celebration of the Golden Jubilee of your priesthood. You and all our visitors are most welcome.

I welcome the people of Armagh Parish. This is a wonderful and joyful day. As Liam aptly says, “This is your day as much as mine”.

Every priest has been taken out of humankind and is appointed to act for them in their relations with God – to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Every priest lives with all the limitations of weakness that are part of human nature. For he has to make offerings for himself as well as for the people. That is why we begin every Mass – priests and people – by humbly confessing our sins and imploring the Lord to pardon them……….

HOMILY

At this point in the ordination the Church asks the Bishop to explain what exactly is taking place. Liam is now about to be ordained a priest. Let’s pause for a moment to consider what exactly a Catholic priest is.
It is true that at our baptism God has made His entire people – that is, each one of us, and not just the ordained Deacons, priests and bishops, but all of us, a royal priesthood. Jesus Christ has called us – all of us – to the glory that has made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart.
And yet, it is also true, that Jesus chose some of his followers – not all – to carry out publicly – not in private – but publicly – for all to hear and see – the work of a priest – in His name and on behalf of humankind. And we, we priests and bishops, do our best to act, not in our own name, but in the name of Jesus, that is, the holy name by which all people must be saved.

We act in the name of Jesus and on behalf of mankind – not in our own interest – not on behalf of our families but on behalf of the whole human race. For Jesus Christ himself, sent by the Father has sent, in turn, his apostles, Peter, James and John and all the others, out into the world. Out to the ends of the earth. Through the apostles and through their successors who are the bishops, Jesus continues and carries on His work, His work of sending people to the ends of the earth. That is why Father Malachy went to Japan and his colleagues like him.
During his lifetime, Jesus went about teaching and preaching. He prayed often and long and fasted and towards the end of his life, at the Last Supper, he took bread and wine and changed them into His Body and Blood and asked the apostles to do likewise in his memory. He said, ‘I am the good shepherd who leads the flock to grass and water and protects them from the attacks of wild animals’. That is the kind of work which clergy – bishops and priests who are co-workers – that is the kind of service which we try to offer to you, in God’s name and to you, who are God’s people.

Liam McKinney has seriously considered the step he is taking today. After his graduation in Maynooth – before he became a seminarian – he decided that he would like to be a priest. So he presented himself to begin the long period of discerning whether that was what God had in mind for him also. And if so, to embark upon the programme of preparation and formation. He spent in two years in Maynooth studying Philosophy, which literally means, love of wisdom. Then he went to Rome where he spent the last five years studying Theology, which literally means the science and knowledge of God. During the final two years he specialised in Liturgy, which is the study of the worship of God. To all of this he devoted himself wholeheartedly, earnestly and patiently.

Of course the study is only one part of the course, an important part yes, but not the most important part. The prayer, the reflection, the spiritual direction, the counselling, the pastoral work, helping out in parishes over the summers, learning from other priests, this is by far, the most important part.
Remember he was preparing, and is now about to begin, to serve Christ. Christ – who is all the time present and active and at work in the Church. For the Church is the body of Christ. And Christ is at work in His people to help us grow into the People of God. Christ is always present, building us up into a Holy Temple and each one of us is a building block in that Holy Temple.

And so, Liam, like every priest and every bishop, is called to grow and become more like Christ. He is called to take on more and more the values which Jesus had and make his own, the attitudes which Jesus showed to friends and foes alike.

Today Liam is being set apart, to preach and explain the Good News – to sustain, support, encourage and console God’s people in their efforts to live that Good News. He is set apart to pray with and for people, to forgive them their sins and, above all, to celebrate the Holy Mass.

Liam, you are now to be ordained a priest. As you know well, you are called to apply your energies to preaching and teaching in the name of Christ – to writing sermons – preparing talks – explaining the Readings – preparing people to celebrate sacraments worthily and fruitfully. The faith formation of our people is a number one priority. Faith comes from hearing. So, share with all the people at every opportunity, the Word of God, which you yourself have received with joy over all these long years of preparation. Give interesting and attractive examples from your own experience of life and of study and meditation. Take time to meditate on the Law of God. Jesus did not come to abolish that law but to bring it to completion. Pray constantly for the gift of believing what you read because, after all, God is the one and only infallible truth which can neither deceive nor be deceived. And, teach in turn what you yourself believe. Try your best always to practice what you preach.

The Roman Pontifical says that the doctrine you teach should be true nourishment for the people. Make sure they can digest it and that it gives inspiration and consolation. Flavour it with real-life examples. Throw in the sauce or dessert in the form of a good story that has a moral to impart. The examples of your own life will be crucial. People are most impressed by those teachers who model in their own lives what they advocate in their sermons.

When all is said and done, every priest is called to make people holy – not with his own power – but in the power of Jesus Christ – who is the Holy One. So, when you offer Mass and you raise up the host and the chalice – the body and blood of Jesus Christ – the fruit of His sacrifice on the Cross on Calvary. Remember you are also offering up the countless sacrifices of the people – their pains, their sufferings, their hurts, their crosses. Listen to them as they tell you about them and unite them and your own sacrifices to the perfect and all-powerful sacrifice of Jesus Christ. At every Mass the one great sacrifice which each one of us is called to make is to die to sin in our own personal life and to try to rise up living the new life of Christ.

When you baptise you will bring men and women into the People of God. in the sacrament of Confession, you will forgive the sins in the name of Christ and the Church. In your preaching, remind the people of their need to have their sins forgiven. With Holy Oils you will offer praise and thanks to God throughout days you recite the Divine Office, praying not only for the people of God but for the whole world. Remember that you have been chosen, from among God’s people and appointed to act for them, in relation to God.

Finally, always try to bring people together in God’s family and to lead them effectively to Christ and in the Holy Spirit to God the Father. Always remember the example of the Good Shepherd who came not to be served, but to serve and to seek out and rescue those who are lost.

The good shepherd is the one who has loved your and chosen you. He is now commissioning you to go out and bear fruit – fruit that will last. He is the one who brings joy to the world and to you and to your family on this holiest of days. May God guide and bless you always as you travel the road of life.
AMEN

DEPARTURE OF THE PRESENTATION BROTHERS FROM DUNGANNON
HOMILY GIVEN BY
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
SATURDAY 18 JUNE 2005

I was in my native Cavan earlier today and now, here I am in Tyrone on the eve of an Ulster semi-final involving those two same counties so you would have to say that I am being very ecumenical.
We are all here in Dungannon this evening to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving to God who is the giver of all gifts – the gift I have in mind is the presence of the Presentation Brothers in Dungannon over the past 100 years.

They arrived here in 1902. They came because the Parish Priest invited them. They came to take charge of the Boys’ National School which, at that time, was in Ann Street. However, they soon moved to an older but bigger Chapel School here in the grounds of St. Patrick’s Church. Then, four years after they came, a new two-storey building was opened across the road, which was extended in 1958.
Why did this group of men come to Dungannon? They are a teaching Order. They came to teach but, as we all know, they did a lot more than that.

They looked after sick people;
They comforted those who were mourning the death of a loved one;
They trained choirs;
They managed football and hurling teams;
They organised
They prayed with people and for people.

They were able to do all of those things because of a number of reasons. They were not married and so they were freer and had more free time. They had taken a vow of poverty and so they were not in the business of making big money and getting rich in the eyes of the world. They had also taken a vow of obedience. So, when they were asked by their Superior to answer the invitation of Dean Burn, they responded generously and graciously.

And so, this evening we thank God for all of that. And while there may be an inclination to be sad at the thought of Brother Majella leaving Dungannon and of our saying farewell, of course that is right and proper, but there is also a note of great hope. We are closing one chapter in the history book of God’s dealings with His people here in Dungannon, and a new chapter is opening.

I am quite sure that the good seeds planted here in the hearts of so many children will continue to grow and bear fruit. The Lord is, as always, at the side of His people. God is, as always, the strength of His people. People share in God’s life. So, as we thank God for all Brothers, but especially for Dom Brother Andrew team, from the Superior down to Brother Majella Burke, and the lately deceased Brother Canning, we give thanks. We give thanks first of all for what they are in themselves before we give thanks for what they have done and what they are doing.

Presentation Brothers are, like all religious, people who have dedicated themselves and their lives to God. Like Jesus, they do not marry so that they may be free to serve and love people as Jesus did. Free to go and visit the sick and bring some healing. To go and visit the bereaved and offer sympathy and consolation like Jesus did. All religious are people who have chosen this road through life so that they may, like Christ, have time and energy to pray for people and with people and teach them to pray.

I think, for example, of Brother Majella and his involvement in so many aspects of life in Dungannon. Giving of himself and his time and his talent in order to make Dungannon a better place in which to live – the kind of town where people can come to know that we have in Christ a mighty hero at our side at all times. For he is One who has won the victory over sin and death.

I would hope that, that Reading this evening would help us all to understand what the Church is. The Church is the Body of Christ, which has the task of continuing the presence of Christ. We all have a part to play in that work. This evening we are celebrating and honouring the memory of the part played over the last 100 years of the Presentation Brothers. The Church has to go on saying and doing what Jesus Christ said and did, preaching his message, in season and out of season. Just as Jesus met opposition, so all true followers of Christ can reasonably be expected to be criticised and opposed and taunted and put to shame and even sometimes persecuted and martyred. But, we must not be afraid. We must be afraid of only one thing – the loss of our friendship with God.

Those who instruct many in virtue will shine brightly in glory. That sentence from the Old Testament promises a rich reward to all who teach people in virtue. It should give fresh heart and encouragement to every parent who teaches his or her child the difference between right and wrong, who tries to persuade others that they are to try and live good lives by doing good and avoiding evil; it should delight all teachers, and I think it should especially delight the Presentation Brothers who, ever since 1902 have had the job of educating the young people here in Dungannon.

Yes the departure of the last Presentation Brothers from Dungannon is an occasion of mixed emotions. In one sense there is a sense of pride and joy and deep gratitude that when Dean Burns sent out his invitation there were these men willing to come to a strange town. Men who were willing to leave their native place and willing give of their very best to help families that were complete strangers. In a sense, I suppose, we could be disappointed that there are no more to replace them but that, I think, would be going down the wrong avenue.

The spotlight must now focus on the parish and the community that has enjoyed their services for the past 100 years. Now the challenge is to find people who will pick up the baton of Catholic education and carry it to the finishing line. The torch is now being passed to another generation to continue to build on the excellent foundations already set by the Brothers. And, we can be absolutely sure of this; God does not abandon His Church. People are to be found or are already found in the many excellent lay teachers. Just as Dean Burn identified the Presentation Brothers in 1902, now we must look to the signs of 2005 and assess the situation.

Catholic parents, Catholic teachers and the Catholic parish must work closely together to ensure that the children of this generation and the generations to come will not want for the best possible Catholic education. It will mean working together, for example, in preparation for the sacraments of First Confession and First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

We have been greatly enriched by the Presentation Brothers here in Dungannon. I think there are three ways in particular in which we have been enriched.

Firstly, we have been enriched by the statement, which their religious life makes to all of us, namely, that God is our first beginning. God is our last end. Therefore God should have first place in our lives. We live in a world where the sense of God’s presence is often diminished, if not completely eliminated. It is the world where God is often missing but not missed. But people like the Presentation Brothers or the Sisters of Charity are a powerful witness to the primacy of God and to the existence of a life beyond the life on this earth. That witness is a treasure of great price. We all count on people like religious. They are our guides in the search for God. It is a search, which has always stirred, in the human heart that reveals itself today in so many forms.

Secondly, by living in community, religious bear witness to the values of Christian fraternity – Christian brotherhood. They bear witness to the transforming power of the Good News. We live in a time when the family is under fierce pressure. The evidence of family breakdown is all around us. Family breakdown is essentially a breakdown in community living but religious, by living in community, can provide inspiration for families to stay together and not to split up. No community is perfect or totally happy. It is a constant struggle. But the temptation nowadays is for people to feel that they are not as happy in marriage as they had expected and so the temptation is to draw the conclusion that, since I am not happy, and I should be happy, and I have a right to be happy, so I must be in the wrong place, let me get out of here. But the witness of people living together in community, with all their different temperaments, all their different views and yet, holding together, can be a powerful inspiration.

The final sign, I think, that can be very powerful and which has been very powerful and we have already commented on it here, is the sign of unselfish, generous service to others. In all the accounts of the work of the Presentation Brothers here in Dungannon over the last 100 years, there emerges this self-giving love for other people. It is something, which inspires Christians and non-christians alike, down through the centuries. It is the kind of thing which has moved people to go beyond the nine to five job and to involve themselves in sporting activities, in religious activities and cultural activities.

So today we thank God and the Presentation Brothers for the enrichment which your presence and your ministry has brought to Dungannon over the past 100 years. I thank you for constantly reminding all of us, by word and example, that we have not here a lasting kingdom but we seek one that is to come. Thank you for recalling to all of us that Christ, who is the wisdom of God, is not only preached by his ministers and not only taught in the class or in the pulpit, but is also manifested and made real in his servants.

We pray for the eternal rest of all the Brothers who have gone to their eternal reward. May they enjoy their just rewards in the presence of God. We pray finally for the people of Dungannon that the lessons which have been given by the Brothers and their co-workers in the schools and in the parish down through the years, will not fall on stoney ground but will fall on rich soil and will continue to bear fruit. It will require self-sacrifice, it will require courage, it always does, but the only thing we must fear is the One who can destroy both body and soul and cast us into eternal sin. It is not that God wants to do that, not at all. His plans are peace and reconciliation but if we, or anyone, persist in ignoring His word and ignoring His promise, well then, the future is bleak. But I know, and I hope and I am quite sure that there are people here, great and generous people in Dungannon who will not let the memory of the Presentation Brothers die.

Yesterday I was in Cavan for the unveiling of a plaque in honour of Pope John Paul II in Cavan town. About 25 years ago they named a street there called John Paul Avenue. While it was a fairly enlightened vision, of course as the years past, they got more and more inspiration, I suppose, from the man after whom it was named and now want to put on record that inspiration with this memorial. But the more important memorial is the memorial in our hearts. The memory that inspiring teachers produces I know that in the hearts of the Dungannon people the ideals and the values and the lessons imparted by those generous self-sacrificing men called the Presentation Brothers I am sure that will continue to bear fruit for many a day.

Do not be afraid, Jesus tells us. You are worth more than hundreds of sparrows. We pray for the courage to declare ourselves for Jesus in the presence of men and women. No matter what the cost – because if we don’t, then He has promised to declare himself for us in the presence of His Father and that is what matters. We must dread and avoid at all cost disowning Jesus here on earth.

AGM – CONFERENCE OF RELIGIOUS OF IRELAND
GREAT SOUTHERN HOTEL, ROSSLARE, CO WEXFORD
HOMILY GIVEN BY
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE 2005

Ever since receiving your kind invitation I have looked forward to this evening with a mixture of eagerness and awe. Naturally I am very pleased to have been invited to meet you all and to have this opportunity of celebrating Mass with you, especially in this Year of the Eucharist. At the same time I am rather apprehensive at the thought of preaching to people who have, not only dedicated themselves to the following of Christ closely in religious life, but who have attained a leadership role within their Congregations and a certain expertise of the spiritual life which that implies.

Straightaway I have to confess that my first experience of the cloister was not a very happy one. At a very tender age, my mother took me to visit an elderly cousin in the Poor Clare Convent in Cavan. The sight of this strangely clad lady peering out from behind a rather intimidating looking grill was just too much. So, I promptly bolted out of the room in tears.

I am very happy to say that I have, I hope, long since overcome that childhood fright. The explanation is simple – I have met and known so many outstanding religious all over the world who so wonderfully show forth God’s love to the rest of us by their outstanding witness to the sacred mission of Jesus Christ.

The older I get, the more inclined I am to count my blessings. One of those blessings definitely is, it now appears very clear to me, the number of wonderful outstanding consecrated people that it has been my good fortune to have met and known in life. Their love and their kindness, their faith and their faithfulness, their service and their self-sacrifice, have inspired and enriched my own life a lot. One is already a ‘Blessed’ in Heaven – Blessed Therese of Calcutta. But, she is only one and typical of so many others. I am talking about those whom I have known personally and of course if we include those whose books I have read or whose preaching I have heard, well then the horizon widens vastly. So, for all of that I give thanks this evening. Thanks to God the source of all good and thanks to you as the successors and confreres and colleagues of so many holy women and men.

Here I am Lord – I come to do your will
Your law is written on my heart

Those words of Psalm 39. 8.9 form the Entrance Antiphon of one of the Masses of Religious Profession. We live in the era of the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, would have chosen those words after careful study and prayer and reflection because, in a sense, they say so much about the essence of religious life. I am sure you have mulled over them and reflected on them often.

When I was discussing with Father Paul Murphy what Readings to read this evening, we decided to stick with the Readings of the day. I am glad that we did so. The First Reading comes from Chapter 3 of the second letter to the Corinthians. In it St Paul says that we are ministers, that is, servants of a new covenant – a new covenant of the Spirit which gives life. Earlier he had been waxing rather eloquently in flowery language saying,

“For we are the aroma of Christ to God, among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. For through us”, Paul says, “God spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing Him”. And then he pulls himself up with the question: Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? And he says, surely we don’t need – as some do – letters of recommendation to you or from you, do we? You yourselves, he says, are our letters, written on our hearts. Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. And then begins the reading which we have just heard, “such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God”. That confidence is based on love. – the love of God for us and the love that is written in our hearts for God. Confidence is an important virtue for all of us. It is important that we be confident but with a confidence that is built on the qualification which we get from God – not from our own efforts. For what have we, that we have not received and if we have received it, why do we glory as if we hadn’t received it. After this, in the passage just read, Paul says. Since then we have such a hope that we act with great boldness.

It was my privilege to be present at one General Synod of the Church in October 2001 dealing with the topic The Bishop – Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World. I hope to be present at another next October, please God. But, in the document published after the 2001 Synod the Bishop was reminded of his duty in the Church, to esteem and promote the specific vocations and mission of the consecrated life. A vocation which belongs solidly to the life and holiness of the Church. So, in an effort to improve my own esteem for the consecrated life in the Church, I returned to what was said after an earlier Synod. I also recalled my own contact with people consecrated like the St Clares in Cavan, Sisters in St. Patrick’s College, Vincentians Fathers who are the Spiritual Directors in Maynooth, the Religious Sisters of St John of God. The list is endless and it is wonderful.

Now, as I reflect a little more, I see how the theory and the practice match perfectly. You reveal God’s love to the world. “I will be love at the heart of the Church” said St. Therese. So, your vocations is to be love at the heart at the Church. The Eucharist is always at the heart of the Church. Your love is maintained, nourished and strengthened by your participation in the Eucharist and your reception of the body and blood of Christ who was totally consecrated to the Father. Of course, by so doing, you also give hope to the world – a world that is often despairing and starved of hope. The reason is this. For every person, for every one of us, charity received and given is the fundamental experience that gives rise to hope. We simply cannot live without hope. We get our hope from the experience of giving and receiving love. Thank you for people like Sister Dorothy Stang, shot dead last February in the heart of the Amazon, where she had been since 1956 defending the poor.

I think it was Synod for Asia which picked out three characteristics of religious life which can inspire people today in an especially relevant and powerful way. Those characteristics were
The Search for God
Living in community
Service of others.

THE SEARCH FOR GOD

We live in a world where the sense of God’s presence is often diminished, if not completely eliminated. Where God is often missing but not missed. But you are a powerful testimony to the primacy of God and to the existence of a life beyond life on earth. That testimony is a treasure of great price. We all count on you. You are called to be our leaders, our guides, in that search for God. This is a search, which has always stirred the human heart but reveals itself today in so many forms.

There is much talk today about new evangelisation. I think religious have an immense contribution to make to that. I am thinking of, for example, pre-sacramental preparation, which will have to be undertaken more and more in the parishes. Your experience of prayer and living the Christian life, could play an immense part in training the formators for example.

LIVING IN COMMUNITY

By living in community you bear witness to the values of Christian fraternity and, I suppose, I better say sorority. You bear witness to the transforming power of the Good News. We live in an era when the family is under fierce pressure. The evidence of family breakdown is all around us. Family breakdown is, essentially, a breakdown in community living. Living in community can provide inspiration for families to stay together and not to split up. No community is perfect or totally happy. It is a constant struggle. But the temptation nowadays is for people to feel that they are not as happy in marriage as they had expected. The temptation is to reach the conclusion ‘I am not happy but I should be happy, I have a right to be happy, so I must be in the wrong place. Let me get out of here’.

SERVICE TO OTHERS

Lastly of course there is the self-giving love of everyone, especially from the hearts of religious brothers and sisters and fathers. The self-giving which has inspired Christians and non-Christians alike down through the centuries.

Today I thank God and the religious concerned for the enrichment which your presence and your ministry brings to parishes throughout the world. The way you follow has often been called a Way of Perfection and the State of Consecrated Life. Obviously it means a way of perfection to be acquired and not of a perfection already acquired. The failure to appreciate this vital distinction may have led some people not to speak in those terms any more and I think that is a great pity. Of course you are not actually claiming to possess perfection, you acknowledge that you are sinners like all human beings. But you do feel and you are more expressly called to strive for perfection, which consists essentially in charity. We are all called to perfection.

I thank you for your constant reminders by word and example that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. Thank you for taking up the invitation of the Lord to fulfil and perfect, in our time and bring to fulfilment, the Laws and the prophets. Thank you for setting constantly the message that, of course values must be written into constitutions and rules but they must also be written in love on the hearts of people. Thank you for recalling to all of us that Christ, as the Wisdom of God, is not only preached by his ministers but is also manifested by, and embodied in, his servants. Long may you continue to do so. All of the charisms given by a gracious God to His Church, are for all of the People of God. This evening we give thanks for the Communion of Saints and for the communion of holy people and of holy things given by God to His people.
AMEN

ARMAGH DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO KNOCK
HOMILY GIVEN BY
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 29 MAY 2005

We have come on pilgrimage to Mary’s shrine here in Knock on the Feast of Corpus Christi in the Year of the Eucharist. Every pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place for a religious reason. So perhaps we could begin by recalling the reason we have made this journey. We have come to honour Mary, the Mother of Jesus, on this, the feast of the Body and Blood of her Son, Jesus Christ. Perhaps we have come to give thanks for a favour received or to ask a favour in the future – a recovery from illness, the passing of an examination, the revival of someone’s faith. I have come to ask Mary to strengthen my faith in the Eucharist so that I may celebrate it more devoutly and live out the implications of the Mass in my own life.
We have gathered in this Basilica to celebrate Mass. We remember that every Mass is a re-enactment of what Jesus did on Calvary. We ask that we may understand better that Mary is our mother, given to us by Jesus in his last will and testimony.

When he said to St John: “Woman, this is your son. At that moment he was suffering and dying on the cross for love of us. And St. John tells us that there stood by the cross of Jesus, Mary his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas and Mary of Magdala”.

After the dark night of betrayal and abandonment, there followed the bitter morning of mockery and scourging. He had been stripped of his garments and nailed to the cross. His mother and his aunt, a close friend Mary Magdala, and the beloved disciple, John, stood there with him, courageously and faithfully to the end. And there, at that moment, a new family is being created as the human family are represented by his mother and his aunt and his faith family are represented by Mary of Magdala and John, are brought together around the cross.

Then, in the midst of this loving group there is the last final, caring, gesture of the dying son for his widowed mother and an act of trust in his beloved disciple as he gives them to each other. There they stand, close to the heart of the crucified One – a heart that soon will be pierced with the soldier’s lance. There they stood at the cross, united in deep love for the Son of God made flesh and through their suffering and grieving for him they are caught up in the mysterious love between the heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Here at Knock we hope to be caught up in that same love. We want, with the help of Mary his mother, to become one with Jesus. For in Calvary his hour had come, at Cana when he worked his first miracle his hour had not yet come. Now it had come and we are told that from that hour, Jesus the beloved disciple, took Mary into his home. There is an invitation here for all of us to aspire to be ourselves, beloved disciples. To take Mary into our hearts and into our homes and into our lives.

You may know that our new Pope, Benedict XVI has decided to include the scallop shell in his Coat of Arms. The shell is the emblem of the pilgrim. He is reminding himself and all of us, I suppose, that we have not here an everlasting kingdom but we seek the one that is to come.

Our dearly beloved, deceased, Pope John Paul II, went to another Marian shrine on his last pilgrimage. He went to the Shrine of Mary in Lourdes to whom he had dedicated his whole life. He did so in the sure hope that she would lead him safely to her Son, Jesus. On that occasion he said, “I wish, first of all, to greet the sick, who come in ever greater numbers to this shrine, and to greet those who accompany them, their care-givers and their families. I am here with you – dear brothers and sisters”, Pope John Paul said, “as a pilgrim to Our Lady. I may my own, your prayer and your hope”.

What a marvellous example he has set to all us in an age which hides away those too often who are suffering in any way. Here in Knock the sick have pride of place. There are many, many people who surround them with love and care. Right to the end, Pope John Paul II, despite his illness, was faithful to his mission. Just imagine that on a Wednesday before he died, he rose from his sick bed to come to the window of St. Peter’s Square to bless pilgrims. His courage in facing sickness and death inspires us all. Pope John Paul died in the middle of the Year of the Eucharist, within an hour after the holy Mass had been celebrated in his apartment. I think it is a lesson. He knew well that many followers of Christ are turning their back on the Eucharist, forgetting the words of Jesus. “Unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, we shall not have life in us” Mary, the mother of all the disciples, must also be concerned about this situation.

On Thursday last I was in London along with bishops from all over the world. We went to see Gordon Browne the Chancellor of Exchequer. We wanted to encourage him in his efforts to make poverty history. In order words, to put an end, once and for all, to the scandalous situation where 24,000 people die every day of hunger, that is, 1,000 people every hour. It is estimated that the vast majority of these are children with one child dying every four seconds. Surely that is a scandal.

Next July the leaders of the eight major industrialised countries in the world will meet in Gleneagles in Scotland. They will have a historic opportunity to do something to give to the poor of the world their basic rights. That is, their basic rights to food, clean water, education and healthcare. I ask you all to pray fervently that the leaders of the world – not only of the eight most powerful countries, but also of the United Nations and European Union – will play their part. At present it appears that the United States and Japan need a bit of persuading. In Europe – Germany and Italy seem a bit reluctant but Tony Blair appears to have persuaded the Italian on Friday last. Earlier this week the European Union took a decision to dramatically increase their aid. That is all good news. Let’s hope and pray that they keep their promises.

Certainly Gordon Browne seemed to me to be both sincere and determined to do his best. With Britain about to become President of the EU and of the G8 – they seem well placed to make a very great difference.

Of course Jesus was talking, not about the life of the body, but about the life of the Spirit when he said, “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you”. Yes, the life of our bodies is important, very important. I suppose the fact that the five schoolgirls, so tragically killed in Navan last week were so young and had apparently a long life before them – all of that made the tragedy so much more sorrowful and heartbreaking. But we all know that life on this earth will come to an end at some stage or other and then we hope for eternal life – the life of the spirit. So, when Jesus said he was going to give his flesh to the world, the Jews were shocked and scandalised. How can this man give us his flesh to eat, they asked. Have you noticed that Jesus didn’t answer that question? Of course he found a way to deliver on his promise as he always does. The problem is, will we have enough faith to take Him at His word?

That’s the more important question. And what will happen if we ignore this fantastic promise? Well, Jesus made it quite clear in a very solemn way when he said, “I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you”.

Now, unfortunately, we live in an age when more and more catholics, despite the fact of their baptism and their First Communion, are turning their back on the Mass and therefore they are not eating the flesh and blood of the Son of Man. They don’t seem too worried about the warning which Jesus gave about those who refuse to eat his flesh and not having life. That is a sad state of affairs.

You know if people went on hunger strike, many others would be very concerned. A lot of strenuous efforts would be made to entice people to come off their hunger strike but here we have a situation where are starving themselves of the Eucharist.

The late Pope John Paul II was one man who was very concerned about the situation. That is why he declared this to be the Year of the Eucharist – a year in which he asked us to devote our attention to three things:

1. A renewal of the Sunday Mass,
2. Adoration of the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament;
3. To the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi

Jesus promised to give His flesh and blood to be our food and drink. At the Last Supper he kept his promise. He took bread and wine and changed them into his own body and blood and then he said, “Do this in memory of me”.

You may ask why was it important for Jesus that this should be done in memory of Him? He left us the Eucharist to remind us of how he loved us. He loved each one of us to the point of laying down his life for us. He also prepared his disciples for what he was going to do by getting up from the table and washing their feet. Sure, he shocked them but went on to explain that he had washed their feet precisely to give them an example so that they would copy what he had done to them. St John put it well when he said, “Jesus, having loved his own, loved them to the end”.

For the last almost fifty years I have been eating the body and blood of Christ almost daily. I often ask myself why am I not more like Jesus Christ? Only this week three people conveyed to me their criticism of what I said or did or failed to do. I suppose what in effect they are saying is that I should have more of the courage and more of the love which Jesus had for all of us. And so, I have come to the conclusion that it is not enough just to celebrate Mass and eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. I must prepare myself by understanding the meaning of what he did. And secondly, I must go out from Mass and imitate the love of Jesus in my own life – no matter what the cost.

Jesus poured the water into the basic and wiped their feet with the towel. He did all of this so as to remove the dirt and the sand from around their ankles and between their toes. It was a rather personal and embarrassing sort of task. So I wonder, what is the equivalent which we can do for our brothers and sisters today, especially for those sisters and brothers who have lost their appetite for going to Mass?
Well at Mass we get the opportunity to listen carefully to what Jesus says in the Gospel and this Year of the Eucharist gives an opportunity for us to help those who find it hard to go to Mass. When we come to Mass as a parish family, there may be some Catholics who are not here with us. Now there could be different reasons for this. Maybe some were never given the habit of going to Mass by their parents.

Others may have dropped away when they were young, others may feel hurt by something said or done to them in Church. Others may feel too tired or too busy to find the time. Whatever the reason, I would like them to think again. To think of what they are missing.

We should not think of going to Mass as a duty or an obligation. We should think of it as a response of love to love – of our love to the greatest love the world has ever seen. But, whatever their reasons for staying away, every Catholic in this Parish is part of our parish family. Every Catholic in your area is a member of your parish family. For those Catholics who do not join us at Mass, are still our brothers and sisters. They are family and, like members of any family; we are all responsible for each other. They may be a member of our own family, our children, our parents, brother, or sister. It may be your next door neighbour, someone at work or someone you meet at the pub. It may be a friend at school or your boyfriend or girlfriend. But we are all responsible for each other – we are all to bear each other’s burdens.

So, I ask each one of you to focus on at least one person with all of your faith and love and care. First of all pray for that person every day. Pray that this person may be filled with the living waters of God’s love. If the opportunity arises, be ready to talk about your own faith. Gently and sensitively talk through the reasons why they are not more involved in the life of the Church and eventually invite them to come to Mass with you. I think that might be the equivalent of washing their feet. I am sure Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is concerned about this also. What mother or father would not be worried or concerned if her child was refusing to eat or drink. Let me end with a story.

About 1830 – just after Catholic Emancipation, a bunch of women from Armagh were working in the cotton industry in New Hampshire, United States. Despite their secure employment, all was not well. They were spiritually undernourished – their faith was in danger of withering as a result because they were not able to get to Mass every Sunday. They were not prepared to set at risk their immortal and everlasting life, not even for the sake of a better standard of living in this life. So they announced they were giving it all up and going home. But these ladies were not just good Catholics, they were good workers and their employers did not want to lose them. And so, a Church and priest were provided and they are preparing to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the celebration of the first Mass on the last Sunday of September this year. I don’t know where they said Keady on your cart came from, but I do know that there were Keady people who set an example to all of us which is just as relevant today as it was then.

So, what can we do? We can put our weight behind the campaign to make poverty history. We can show that our attendance at Sunday Mass makes a difference in the way we live our lives. We could decide to spend some time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Every mother or father worries if their child is not eating properly. They know that if they do not it will lead to other problems. I am sure Mary, our Mother in Heaven, is no different. Today the Archdiocese is on pilgrimage here at Knock where we will pray earnestly for a greater commitment to the Sunday Mass in this the Year of the Eucharist.
AMEN

ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
British Embassy and Fondazione Corriere della Sera,
Milan, 23rd May, 2005,

Title: Religious identity, national identity: citizens or believers?

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In his poem, The Republic of Conscience, the Irish Poet Laureate Seamus Heaney reflects on his status as a ‘dual citizen’ of a place where, in his words, ‘no ambassador would ever be relieved.’ As we gather in this beautiful city of Milan, and as I remember with deep gratitude my many happy years as a student and later rector of the Irish College in Rome, I would like to echo Heaney’s sentiment. To be in Italy is always a joy, a pleasure from which no guest and no ambassador would ever wish to be relieved. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Sir Ivor, his staff at the British Embassy in Rome, and the members of Fondazione Corriere della Sera, for affording me the opportunity to return to this magnificent country, which with great affection, I have come to know as my second home.

Heaney’s poem also touches on the theme which I have been asked to address: Religious identity, national identity: citizens or believers? The title, which I have been given, hints at a ‘dual citizenship’. It suggests a double claim on our conscience and on our identity. It alludes, on the one hand, to the legitimate claims of the state to which we belong, and for which we have a responsibility with others. And on the other, to the legitimate claims of divine revelation, which, if we are faithful to the human search for truth, once discovered, require the full assent of our conscience.

The question also hints at the possibility of conflict between these two critical sources of our identity. What do we do when our religious conscience conflicts with the claims of our nation, or vice versa? To which do we owe our principal allegiance and to what degree? It was precisely this issue which absorbed the attention of the Emperor Constantine Augustus in the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. After Constantine had originally persecuted Christians for refusing to offer their allegiance to the gods of the State, his victory in battle at the Milvian Bridge, under the sign of the cross, changed everything. It was sufficient to bring him to an understanding of the necessary interdependence of peace, respect for the freedom of religion and the demands of the common good, in a society of diverse beliefs. As he explains:

When I, Constantine Augustus, as well as I, Licinius Augustus, fortunately met near Mediolanurm (Milan), and were considering everything that pertained to the public welfare and security, we thought, among other things which we saw would be for the good of many, those regulations pertaining to the reverence of the Divinity ought certainly to be made first, so that we might grant to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred.

Critically, in the Milan of diverse identities in the 4th century, Constantine came to realize something, which holds true to this very day. That the ‘good of many’, what we might call today the ‘common good’, in a diverse, or what we might call today, a ‘pluralist’ society, is best secured when the state, through ‘regulations pertaining to the reverence of the Divinity’, protects the principle of freedom of religion. As Pope John Paul II repeated on several occasions, no doubt mindful of his experience of two totalitarian regimes, “Religious freedom, is an essential requirement of the dignity of every person. It is a cornerstone of the structure of human rights, and for this reason an irreplaceable factor in the good of individuals and of the whole of society.”

It is a lack of acknowledgement of this intimate connection between freedom of religion and the very structure of human rights, which has left many in Europe today feeling uneasy. They are uneasy about the disproportionate influence of what is often presented as secular ‘neutrality’. Yet there is no such thing as a neutral philosophy of life, death and the human person. While there may be degrees of commonality between religious and non-religious views of life, it is difficult to see how secularism can claim this commonality for itself, not least when the philosophical commonality of Europe manifestly remains one of belief in God. As the Edict of Milan reminds us, authentic pluralism requires active tolerance of religious expression and the protection of religious freedom within the limits of morality and the common good.

This means that the state has a profound obligation to respect and protect the rights of the believer. The believer in turn, where the authority of the State is exercised within the limits of morality and according to a juridical order enjoying legal status, has a duty in conscience to obey. However, in the words of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, ‘citizens are not obliged in conscience to follow the prescriptions of civil authorities if their precepts are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or to the teachings of the Gospel.’ (#399)

In other words, when it comes to a clear choice between being a citizen and being a believer, the civil authority ‘must enact just laws, laws that correspond to the dignity of the human person and to what is required by right reason.’ (#398) Where this is not the case, ‘it is a grave duty of conscience [for the believer] not to cooperate, not even formally, in practices which, although permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to the Law of God.’ (#399)

In the end, therefore, whatever their level of involvement in the authority of the State, citizens who are believers, as well as those who are not, are obliged to the final authority of conscience, as determined by the objective moral law. In this sense, the believer will always have recourse to a final authority beyond his or her earthly citizenship. As St. Paul says, ‘for here we have no lasting city, rather we seek the one to come.’ Of course this conviction is not unique to Christians.

This then leads us to another dimension of the relationship between national and religious identity. That is the complex relationship between religious, cultural, historical, political identity as played out in situations of violent conflict.

Indeed, a quick glance at the global scene suggests that this is the one key fault lines in many of the violent conflicts in our world at this time. One only has to consider the complex interaction between religion, history, politics and power at work in the conflict in the Middle East, or in the neighbouring area here of the Balkans, or that which underlies the current tensions between Islam and the West on the world stage, to realise how potent this mix between political and religious identity can be.

This is not to suggest, however, that religion of itself is an inevitable source of conflict in our world. Indeed, quite the opposite. More people have been killed, more rights have been and continue to be suppressed in the name of non-religious ideology than in those conflicts which have a religious dimension.

And despite the common assumption that the conflict in Northern Ireland is primarily about religious identity, I am happy to be able to explain to you that it is not. It has a religious dimension, though less and less so as time goes by. It is also generally agreed that the influence of the main Churches over recent years has been to restrain conflict and to play a critical part in promoting reconciliation, mutual understanding, forgiveness and peace. Indeed, a quick survey of the joint statements of the four main Churches in Northern Ireland in the 1970’s and 80’s would suggest that they contain the very concepts and vocabulary which became the building blocks of the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement, reached between our politicians in 1998.

Shortly after the signing of that Good Friday Agreement, Senator George Mitchell, who had chaired the negotiations, wrote the following: ‘I recall on my first day in Northern Ireland, nearly four years ago, I saw for the first time the huge wall that physically separated the communities of Belfast. Thirty feet high, topped in places with barbed wire, it is an ugly reminder of the intensity and duration of the conflict.

Ironically it is called the ‘Peace Line’. On that first morning I met with Catholics on their side of the wall and in the afternoon with the Protestants on their side. The messages had not been co-ordinated, but they were the same. They said that where men and women have no opportunity or hope, they are more likely to take the path to violence. As I sat and listened to them I thought I could just as easily be in Chicago or Calcutta. Despair is the fuel for instability and conflict everywhere…’.

Senator Mitchell’s graphic description of two communities, divided by 30 foot walls, caught in a spiral of economic despair, is a powerful symbol of the ability of political and religious identity to become a potent source of mutual fear and threat between ordinary, good hearted people, with essentially the same human needs and aspirations.

In this context, Churches and people of faith can either become chaplains to the collective despair or prophets of new possibilities and opportunity. As an Inter-Church group, which meets regularly to discuss issues of faith and politics in Northern Ireland has said, and I believe you could substitute the word Church here with the place of worship of any faith community which is working in a situation of conflict:

Churches are part of communities; they cannot be other… They are places where the ‘specialness’ and stories of communities and nations can be celebrated. Much of this is necessary and good, but there is another side. ‘Specialness’ can lead to exclusivity and a sense of superiority. Churches [and other places of worship] can be places where we are told – implicitly and explicitly – who does not belong to our community; by the contents of sermons, and by the symbols displayed or not displayed, by those included or not in the prayers of intercession.

The key words here are ‘exclusivity and a sense of superiority’. Both can be generated or sustained by a number of powerful sources, including religion, politics, history, wealth or physical power. From the time of Cain and Abel to the present, these basic dynamics of conflict based on superiority and the desire to dominate have always been the same.

In the Genesis story, Cain and Abel are first presented as equals. They are two brothers, born of the same parents; they engage in two equally respectable occupations, the complementary vocations of a keeper of sheep and a tiller of the ground; they offer two equally appropriate sacrifices to God, an animal offering and a fruit offering. Into this God-given opportunity for mutual co-operation and success, comes the envy of Cain when his brother’s gift is accepted and his is not. Cain, though the older, the richer and the more highly regarded by dint of birth and profession, cannot cope with God’s inversion of his natural superiority. Envy leads to anger, which in turn leads to exclusion, which in turn leads to murder among brothers.

An interesting dimension to the story is Cain’s reply to God. After the murder, when God asks him ‘Where is your brother Abel?’, Cain tells a blatant lie, indicating further moral disintegration. He says ‘I do not know’, and then goes on to ask a critical question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’. The suggestion here is that the sense of responsibility for the other has collapsed into a preoccupation with self. Exclusion has now become self absorption and an inability to take responsibility with or for the other. The sense of interdependence has been lost. This is why structures which rebuild a sense of interdependence, at a local or international level, are one of the surest bulwarks against further conflict. We see this at work, for example, in the concept of the European Union, following the tragedy of the Second World War.

Breaking the cycle of exclusion and rebuilding the sense of mutual responsibility for each other’s success is a critical dimension to building peace. A critical moment in the search for peace in Northern Ireland, for example, was the realisation by all the armed protagonists that no military solution was possible, and by the two communities themselves, that there was no future possible which would exclude the culture, identity and aspirations of the other. Our future was inextricably linked to our willingness to take responsibility for the other as well as for ourselves. It involved recognising that the only future which was available was one that was shared.

To arrive at this point however involved creating porous boundaries of encounter and dialogue across the social, religious, cultural and psychological barriers between the two communities. It is what the Croatian theologian, Miroslav Volf has described as making the move from exclusion to embrace. As he explains;
In an embrace I open my arms to create space in myself for the other. Open arms are a sign that I do not want to be by myself only, an invitation for the other to come in and feel at home with me. In a mutual embrace none remains the same because each enriches the other, yet both remain themselves.

I am happy to say that the Churches were often at the forefront of this activity in Northern Ireland. Many individual ministers and believers sought to create safe spaces where such dialogue and encounter could take place, often at great risk to themselves. The real heroes, however, were those many extraordinary people who, in spite of suffering the most terrible atrocities and loss, issued heroic words of forgiveness to those who had hurt them so badly. It was here that I encountered the real dividing line between the citizen and the religious believer.

The state cannot oblige the citizen to forgive, or to engage with one’s enemy yet both engagement and forgiveness are necessary if the cycle of violence and revenge is to be broken. By doing both, the believer unleashes whole new horizons of hope and possibility to communities, which are searching for the way of peace.

But this requires a change of attitude to what can often become our exclusive and excluding religious, political or cultural identities. As one commentator has said, we are not just citizens of one country, members of one religion, members of one family, and members of one race and gender. We are citizens of the whole world, one with all who believe, brothers and sisters with all who are sincere, and part of the one family of humanity.

Jesus said as much: “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers and sisters? Those who hear and keep the word of God are mother, brother and sister to me!”. In saying this, Jesus redefined both our citizenship and our loyalties. Real family, real country, real religion, and real identity are not based upon blood relationship, skin colour, gender, church affiliation, or shared geography. What makes real family, country, religion, or identity is a shared spirit, the Holy Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, perseverance, faith, fidelity, gentleness and purity. These transcend all other boundaries of country, religion, family, race and gender. They are what ultimately ask for our loyalty.

This in turn makes great demands on the believing politician. To have this broader horizon of identity and allegiance, arising from Christian faith, requires politicians who:

Are involved in politics primarily out of a commitment to the service of others, who seek the genuine good of the community rather than personal advantage;
Who pay particular attention to situations of poverty and suffering;
Who respect the autonomy of earthly realities, who knows that these have their own laws and values, which must be respected and properly regulated;

Who do their utmost to promote dialogue and peace in the furtherance of solidarity and do not use religion for political ends.

This last point is of particular importance. The Catholic Church believes in the mutual autonomy of Church and State in the democratic order. This doesn’t exclude the possibility that a particular religious community might be given special recognition. That recognition must in no way create discrimination within the civil or social order against other religious groups. In Northern Ireland one of the contributing factors to the conflict was the presence of discrimination on specifically religious grounds.

Happily, in both parts of the island, significant improvements have been made in this regard. In the north, comprehensive legislation and the support of both Governments for the power sharing arrangements enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement, mean that the prospect of policies of inequality or dominance are now unlikely. Yet it is true to say that following the recent Westminster elections, many Catholics now anxiously await signs that both their religious convictions and their political aspirations, in as much as these may differ from that of the unionist tradition, will be treated with respect and parity of esteem.

This includes the need to be reassured about the willingness of all parties to share power. Anything less would be extremely problematic and would ignore the fact that Northern Ireland, unlike other parts of the United Kingdom, continues to be a contested space. As such it requires unique structures which acknowledge both the identity and the aspirations of the two largest sections of the community and the interdependence of our shared future.

For my part I look forward to the prospect of engaging with Ministers from all parties in the exercise of the civic, social and educational responsibilities of the Catholic Church in a modern, pluralist democracy. Such engagement would be an important signal to the whole community that the normal standards of decency, respect and tolerance associated with a modern democracy have become the new backdrop to a more mature and confident Northern Ireland. Such engagement on matters of mutual responsibility in the civic domain does not compromise the sincerely held religious convictions of anyone. Indeed, there are many aspects of public policy and social concern, including the defence of religious liberty and certain fundamental moral values about which we could all agree.

I am optimistic that progress on all of these matters will be made and that in coming months, significant, at one time unthinkable developments, will emerge which have the potential to unlock the last doors to a stable peace and the sharing of power at a local level in Northern Ireland. At the end of the day, Northern Ireland is a story of immense progress which should be a source of hope to other places in the world.

In conclusion then, let me end where I began, by quoting another poem of my fellow countryman, Seamus Heaney. In concluding with this particular poem, I wish to pay tribute to those Christian believers who, in my country, did much more than mere citizenship can ever demand. They issued words of heroic forgiveness and embrace. It is only this willingness to go beyond what national or cultural or religions identity demands, which can bring whole societies closer to what Heaney describes so eloquently, as the far side of revenge.

History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.
So hope for a great sea-change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that farther shore
Is reachable from here.

Thank you.

BLESSING OF DAVOG HOUSE, LOUGH DERG
HOMILY GIVEN BY
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 22 MAY 2005

Your Excellency, my brother bishops, Mons Mohan, Prior, Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ, we gather in this holy place of pilgrimage, on the Feast of the Most Blessed Trinity. We come together in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I suppose it is not very original to say that life is a pilgrimage, a journey from birth to death, a voyage of discovery so to speak. At the same time it is a truth that we are inclined to neglect and to push to the back of our mind. What is even more neglected, in my opinion, are questions such as these:

What is there before birth?
Where do I come from?
Why am I here at all?
Where am I going?
Where am I meant to go after death?
What should I be doing now to ensure that I get to my final destination?

And yet, I am sure that these are the sort of questions that are obvious to lots of people. They must occur to everyone, at some stage or other. Perhaps it is precisely because today we run the risk of “losing our Christian memory and of squandering an inheritance entrusted to us by history”, that Pope Benedict XVI decided to include, in his Coat of Arms, the scallop shell. For traditionally the shell is the symbol of the pilgrim.

For example, every pilgrim who goes to Compostela, Spain’s most famous place of pilgrimage in honour of St. James, receives a present of a shell. I am also told, that once upon a time the pilgrim received only as much food as the shell could hold. So today, as we stand on Ireland’s most ancient place of pilgrimage, for the happy event of blessing a most welcome addition to the already extensive and well-appointed facilities, on which we congratulate Bishop Duffy and the diocese of Clogher, I think it is appropriate that we should reflect a little bit on this notion of pilgrimage.

A Pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place, places such as
The Holy Land
The shrines of Our Lady such as Lourdes, Fatima and Knock;
The tombs of the apostles, Peter and Paul in Rome;

Places associated with our national apostle Patrick, such as Lough Derg and Croagh Patrick.
Pilgrimage is a feature of religions right across the borders of time and culture. Christianity, alone of the three great Monotheistic religions, does not impose pilgrimage as a religious duty. Nevertheless Christians have been going on pilgrimage since the earliest times.

A Pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place for some religious purpose. The journey reminds us of the journey of life. We are a pilgrim people – away from home – Heaven is our real home. We have not here a lasting kingdom; we seek one that is to come. In ancient Syria there were monks who took as their rule, walking from dawn to sunset to tell people that we are all on a journey to Heaven. We hold that our earthly pilgrimage is driven and directed by the human capacity and desire for a life of communion with God.

The words of Augustine sum it all up when he said, “You have made us for yourself O Lord and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee”.

But pilgrimage also means another type of journey – the journey inwards. The journey towards knowing one’s self. It is a journey, which all believers must undertake. We talk about arriving at the Pearly Gates and being met by St. Peter. Of being introduced to a wonderful banquet where we will behold the face of God, and feast on its delights and have all our desires fulfilled in a joy that knows no ending, that is total gladness and perfect bliss. But that is the final destination.

What about the stations along the route? The first station is that of knowing self. We believe that each one of us is made in the image and likeness of God. So, the first pilgrimage we are called to make is a journey involved in really knowing ourselves. We are meant to accept and cherish our deepest self as an image of God – the first image of God we have. We must know and love ourselves as pilgrims in order to sustain the journey and grow to maturity along the way.

The pilgrimage of life is a life-long process. There is no such thing as standing still. It is a process of discovery, of uncovering the image of God that each one of us is in the depth of our being. It is not just a matter of uncovering something already there – but also of developing and embodying that image of God in every aspect of our life and world. It is a pilgrimage and task of never-ending conversion. Always we are being changed into the reality, which we reflect.

The second station is to notice that we do not journey alone. We move within the community of faith, a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us and the struggling pilgrims at our side. There are those who have gone before us. They have mapped out the journey for us by the example of their lives. Through their example and their legacy, we have some idea of where we come from, where we are going and how to get there.

The only way by which we will know whether we are making progress on this pilgrimage is if we show compassion towards the other pilgrims at our side. We can never fully know where they are on their journey, what they are going through, what may be holding them back from progress. The real journey takes place in the depth of the soul – it cannot be seen.

The third station tells us that yes, we are travelling through this world but we are not unaware of this world – we are not neglectful of this world for our spiritual journey involves a commitment to the improvement of creation. All Christians must help to make present the Kingdom of God and its justice in all those areas and situations in which they find themselves – each one according to his or her unique journey and call.

Finally, the spiritual pilgrimage is only possible in relation to the final destination, which is the mystery of God, Father, Son and Spirit. The pilgrim is from beginning to end accompanied by a good and gracious God. God takes the first initiative, supports our every step along the way, and delivers the final fulfilment in the form of face-to-face communion. It is up to us to believe in Word who calls us, to hope in the promise that keeps us going and to surrender in love to the One who will carry the journey through to completion.
We stand on holy ground – ground made holy by the footsteps of millions of pilgrims over a millennium of years. Pilgrims who were disciples of Christ and who came here to fast and to pray, to stay awake and deprive themselves of sleep, to chastise their bodies and bring them into subjection lest they become castaways. They came inspired by the memory of the fast of Jesus in the desert and by the six years of Patrick on Slemish. They came that they might make progress in the voyage of discovery of the knowledge of themselves, made in the image of God. They came to be apart – clear their heads and sort out their priorities. They came that they might grow in maturity of their relationship with their fellow human beings. They came that they might make progress on the journey of appreciating the beauty and goodness of all of creation. They came here on their pilgrimage towards their final destiny – union with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Or perhaps they came for more ordinary motives:

To pray for the health of a sick child or for their own health;
To give thanks for the birth of a child or the cure of a loved one;
To express their gratitude that someone had regained their faith and come back to the practice of their religion.

Perhaps they came in moments of confusion or despair to rediscover hope.

It is one of the miracles of the mass media of communications that they often filter to the general public the insights found in the human science – for example, the science of psychology. The result is that more and more people nowadays see human life as a journey of development, a voyage of discovery, a growth towards maturity and pilgrimage towards wholeness and fulfilment. To be human is be a traveller, a wayfarer, a pilgrim.

Of course the believer has known this all along since he holds that the pilgrimage in question is driven by the capacity which every human being has for the life of friendship with God. The believer holds that on the journey of life we are, at all stages, accompanied by a loving God. Hence the importance of places like Lough Derg where people can draw apart and be still and silent for a while and come to recognise the spirit of the Lord and his gracefilled presence that accompany every stage of life.

So, my hope is that Lough Derg will continue to be a place where people are set free – set free of fear; especially of the fear of the future which is often seen nowadays as bleak and uncertain, and from the fear of loneliness for example. Set free for works of charity and solidarity and affection.

My hope is that many young people will come here and enjoy the peace and security, which only a place of prayer and penance like this can offer. Its Patron, Patrick came to Ireland as a boy of sixteen years, rather lukewarm in his faith and indifferent in his practice of the faith. But thrown on his own on the slopes of Slemish, he learned to put his trust in God. In the process he came to know a loving Father a compassionate Saviour and a consoling Advocate. May that be the experience of everyone – young and old – who come to Lough Derg. The spirituality of Patrick has much to offer us as we come to terms with the fact that the only future in this part of Ireland is going to be a shared future. My hope is that, young and old, Protestant and Catholic, will come to share their hopes and futures in the safe space of this lovely island and learn from the example of Patrick who returned to the help of the Irish despite their earlier appalling treatment of him.

So today we thank God for Lough Derg and for place like it – places where people go apart and savour all that God has prepared for those who love him. A place where we jog our Christian memory and take steps to ensure that the inheritance entrusted to us by history will not be squandered.

We gather in the context of the Year of the Eucharist – a year dedicated by Pope John Paul II to renewal of our devotion to three things:

1. The Sunday Mass,
2. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and
3. The Celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

The pilgrimage from the home – the domestic church – to the parish church, which the family makes each week to worship God in the celebration of the Holy Mass, is probably the most important pilgrimage of all. It has immense importance for the development of our relationship to oneself, to others, to the world and the mystery of God.

The celebration of the Blessed Eucharist has always had a central position in the ceremonies on Lough Derg. Today we thank God for the priests who have provided that service – first there were the Augustinians, later the Franciscans and since 1790, the priests of the diocese of Clogher. The three-day order of exercises still observed is based on a scheme drawn up in 1613.

Today we thank and congratulate the Bishop, the Prior and the priests of Clogher – not alone for the high quality of liturgy and preaching which are synonymous with Lough Derg and made available for pilgrims from all over the world – but we congratulate them also on the vision and the courage revealed in the development of Lough Derg over the last twenty-five (25) years. The modern Lough Derg is a Sign of Great Hope because it is a sign of Jesus Christ alive in His Church and a sign of hope for all.
AMEN