IRISH INTER-CHURCH ECUMENICAL EVENING PRAYER SERVICE
CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAMILY, MILITARY HILL, CORK
5 MAY 2005
ADDRESS GIVEN BY
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

It is a great pleasure to be here this evening as we begin our latest gathering of the Inter-Church meeting in this European City of Culture 2005. The Irish Inter-Church Meeting has its origins in one of the most exciting and at the same time one of the most tragic periods of the interaction between religion and culture on our island. In March of 1972, when the troubles in Northern Ireland were at their most violent, the Irish Episcopal Conference, following a series of ongoing discussions between both sides, issued an invitation to the Irish Council of Churches to attend a joint meeting, quote ‘at which the whole field of ecumenism might be surveyed.’ This initiative in turn established the first Ballymascanlon Meeting in 1973, later to become the Inter-Church Meeting which continues to this day. In the words of one commentator at the time, ‘Never before had the Churches been seen to co-operate together so openly and vigorously. Rallies in Belfast and other towns revealed many thousands willing and anxious to follow their lead… The Churches were seen more clearly in a reconciling role than ever before.’

It was a far cry from the famous faith based riots in Cork in the mid 1700’s which led John Wesley to write the following words in his famous Letter to a Roman Catholic:

“Let us resolve not to hurt one another, to do nothing unkind or unfriendly to each other . . . to say all the good we can, both of and to one another . . . to harbour no unkind thought, no unfriendly temper towards each other . . . and to endeavor to help each other on in whatever we are agreed leads to the Kingdom. So far as we can, let us always rejoice to strengthen each other’s hands in God.”

It is in that spirit of ‘strengthening each other’s hands in God’ that we gather here this evening and commit the work of our meeting to the Lord in prayer. Our prayer during these days will be a very important part of our activities. After all, we are Easter people – Ascension people – but most importantly, we are Pentecost people. The Spirit has come – the Spirit of the Risen Christ who has promised to be with his disciples until the end of time. That Spirit comes with power – the power to remember Jesus, to become more like him, to continue his saving and his unifying work. The Spirit comes with the enthusiasm of love symbolized by tongues of fire, to set our minds, our hearts and our imagination on fire. The Spirit enlivens us with a creative power, to enable us to bear witness by word and deed. The Spirit comes with different languages to undo the confusion of Babel and to unite what had been divided and separated.
The effects of that coming of the Spirit are seen at once in the address of Peter in Acts. It is one of the greatest addresses of all time. He is filled with utter conviction about the identity of Jesus and the mission of the Church. Jesus is the one and only Saviour of the world and ‘repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’.

It is this confidence which is the mark of the Spirit and for which we pray – not a Spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-control – the Spirit of unity and peace, which brings balance and beauty to the world.

From this beautiful Church of the Holy Family on Military Hill, we are well placed to appreciate the geographical balance and beauty which distinguishes the historical city of Cork. Cork is a city of symmetry and convergence. Its skyline is silhouetted by the steeples of a vast array of Churches, representing one of the widest ranges of denominations in any city in Ireland. Its outline is marked by the circle of its ancient Norman walls. The sixth century monastic site, to which the city’s origins are traced, now the Church of Ireland Cathedral of St. Fin Barre, still watches over the south gate of the city. The Catholic North Chapel and the landmark Shandon Steeple watch over the city and its people on the north side. In between, almost every bend of the twin channels of the beloved River Lee is marked with a place of prayer or pilgrimage.

And over the years, within all of this physical symmetry, a wide range of cultural and religious influences have converged to make Cork a worthy holder of the title of European City of Culture 2005, a responsibility which it has lived up to with justifiable pride. I congratulate all of those involved in organising this year of celebration. I would also like to express my particular thanks to the members of the Cork Ecumenical Standing Committee for encouraging the Irish Inter-Church Meeting to hold this reflection on ‘Spirituality and Culture’ in this European City of Culture. It reminds us that our discussion takes place in the context of Europe, with all its diversity of culture and its rich history of Christian faith. But we are also mindful that we meet in the context of what Pope John Paul II described as the ‘loss of Europe’s Christian memory… a kind of practical agnosticism and religious indifference whereby many Europeans give the impression of living without spiritual roots.’

Certainly Europe, like Cork, like Ireland, is not lacking in prestigious symbols of the Christian presence. Yet, with the slow and steady advance of secularism, these symbols risk becoming a mere vestige of the past. Many people are no longer able to integrate the Gospel message into their daily experience; living one’s faith in Jesus has become increasingly difficult in a social and cultural setting in which that faith is constantly challenged. In Ireland today, as in much of Europe, it is sometimes easier to be identified as an agnostic than as a believer. At times the impression is given that unbelief, or hostility to faith, is self-explanatory, whereas belief needs a sort of legitimisation which is neither obvious nor taken for granted.

Hence the importance of our task of reflecting on the series of excellent papers which have been produced by the Working Party on Spirituality. Taking up Gerard Manley Hopkin’s theme of giving new freshness to ‘deep down things’, each contributor has drawn deeply on the richness of her or his own tradition. They have offered us reasons for living; reasons for believing and reasons for hope. They have asked us challenging questions to which we must respond. They have invited us, like the readings of our Ascension Service, to fix our gaze on the things of heaven – to be people of prayer, people of the Scriptures, people of wisdom and theological reflection. They call us to read and interpret the signs of the times – and at the same time to hear the voice of the two men in white robes, drawing us back into active, creative engagement with our surrounding culture.

It is interesting to note that the Scriptures we have just read reveal an early Christian community bewildered and preoccupied with the restoration of the earthly kingdom of Israel. It was a very human preoccupation. Their own place in that kingdom was in doubt. Yet Jesus called them to trust and to hope, to wait in prayerful expectation for the Spirit to empower them with the spiritual gifts, graces and talents to get on with the job. That Spirit would, in time, broaden their horizons and would eventually drive them out with humble confidence to the very ends of the earth. Yet it would also hold them in balance. They were to be in the world, but not of the world, people who understood their surrounding culture but also sought, under the Spirit, to transform it. The kingdom would be both present and becoming.

In her paper on ‘The Way Forward’, I think Frances Bach captures this balance very aptly. She suggests that, ‘Perhaps doing is not the place to start. Perhaps being comes first.’ This was the careful balance between the transcendent and the immanent, between contemplation and action which marked the lives of the early monastic founders of Ireland. It was because they were rooted in contemplation, touched daily by the life and energy of the Blessed Trinity, that they were also intrepid missionaries and exponents of the highest achievements of Irish culture. We have something to learn from these early witnesses to the power of being and doing. Without a careful balance between body and soul, spirit and matter, transcendence and immanence, culture loses it capacity to see beyond the visible and to imagine beyond the material.

In this sense, I think may be more accurate correct to say that Ireland, indeed Europe at the beginning of the third millennium, is facing a crisis of culture rather than of faith. Most people still believe. There are very few considered atheists in Ireland, indeed in the world. Yet there is increasing evidence of a loss of culture, evidence of a loss of sensitivity to the things of the spirit and the soul. You see it on our roads, you hear it in our language, and you read it in our papers. People are not so much rejecting as disconnecting from those things which give life to the soul. Just observe the level of preoccupation in the lives of those around you, perhaps even in our own lives. We are in real danger of losing our balance. Apart from the occasional upward glance at a Church spire or the jolt from a personal or global catastrophe, we are less inclined to ask eternal questions, to ponder the human, to contemplate the beautiful. And when we lose this capacity, we begin to measure the value of things by their usefulness and expediency rather than by their beauty or their being. Impatience, aggression and isolation begin to displace the culture of civility, courtesy and community. There is ample evidence that this displacement is already underway in Ireland. Yet few of our social commentators, apart from the faith communities, appear to be concerned about analysing the underlying causes of this shift or acknowledging its potentially destructive consequences. Hence the importance of our current task.

Our task is to help those around us to see in the many prestigious symbols of Christianity which surround us in this city of culture, the symbols of new hope. That hope is expressed in our being here together, in the ecumenical journey we have made, in our continued commitment to the search for that unity for which Christ prayed. We are renewed in that hope by Pope Benedict’s identification of the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of the followers of Christ as the ‘primary commitment’ of his Pontificate. “Manifestations of good sentiments are not enough,” he said. “There must be concrete gestures that penetrate spirits and move consciences, leading each one to that interior conversion that is the assumption of all progress on the path of ecumenism.” Our gathering here is precisely such a gesture. May it penetrate our spirits and move our consciences as we seek, in the words of John Wesley, to ‘strengthen each other’s hands in God’.

Like Elijah, The Lord Jesus was taken up, and, like Elijah, he cast the cloak-of responsibility onto his followers. This responsibility is to be-His dynamic presence in the world. It is a responsibility that lies upon all of His disciples, in their various ministries, and in the various sister Churches. Jesus gives the power to become His presence to those who ask it. That power is called in the Gospels by different names: The Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, the Advocate, The Finger of God.

Jesus himself, in his life and death, embraced the Spirit of the Father totally and without-reserve. The Father was the Source of his life’s mission. I think that he would applaud the declaration of St. Theresa of Avila:

Let nothing ever disturb you! Nothing affright you!
All things are passing, God never changes!
Patient endurance attains all things!
Who God possesses, in nothing is wanting!
Alone God suffices!

His intimate union with the Father enabled him to see, judge and act with authority and wisdom. The struggle to do likewise in response to the inspirations of his Holy Spirit is the legacy he has left to each one of his disciples. As we begin this third millennium it is, without doubt, a moment of truth for all Christian disciples: a call to discern together.

What is entailed for discipleship of the Lord, and not just for Church allegiance in a contemporary Irish society?

What inherited obstacles to better co-operation is the Master encouraging us all to address and root out?
What are the signs of the times to which we must be much more alert and responsive?
What are the concrete gestures which are required of us?

And finally, are the differences between Christians condoned by the Holy Spirit, or left there to challenge our love of one another or has the voice of the Spirit at times been drowned out by other voices – incredible as that sounds.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will help all of us to begin to hear the answers to some of those questions in our reflections, prayers and discussions over the next twenty-four hours.

In the words of Pope John Paul II, in one of his last exhortations: ‘Do not be afraid… Be confident… Be certain. The Gospel of hope does not disappoint! It is the prophecy of a new world. It is the sign of a new beginning. It is the invitation to everyone, believers and non-believers alike, to blaze new trials leading to a ‘Europe of the Spirit… Europe [Ireland], rediscover your origins. Open wide the doors to Christ!’

MASS OF THANKSGIVING
FOR THE ELECTION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI
HOMILY
MOST REVEREND SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
22 APRIL 2005

We praise you, O God:
We acclaim you as the Lord.
Everlasting Father,
all the world bows down before you,
all the angels sing your praise,
the hosts of Heaven and all the angelic powers,
all the Cherubim and Seraphim,
call out to you an unending song,
Holy, Holy, Holy,
is the Lord God of Angel Hosts.

These words are taken from the Te Deum, the Church’s traditional Hymn of Thanksgiving to God. This evening we give thanks to God with great joy in our hearts. We give thanks to God for our new Pope, Pope Benedict XVI. On Tuesday the bells of this Cathedral tolled out in praise and exultation and they were heard around the world, thanks to Sky television and BBC.

The late Pope John Paul II had asked people to pray after his death that the Conclave might be speedy, harmonious and fruitful. It appears that those prayers were answered. The new Pope was elected on the fourth ballot. We do not know, but this would seem to indicate a lot of harmony and agreement among the Cardinals that they wanted to continue the line followed by Pope John Paul II. Who better qualified than his Number One Assistant for the last 24 years, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

So the fruits of the Conclave are that we now have, at the helm of our Church, a man of vast experience. At 35 years of age he was chosen to be an adviser to the German Bishops for the Second Vatican Council. After that he spent many years teaching Theology. Theology is literally the science of God, the knowledge of God. So before he could teach, he himself had to study and reflect and pray. Anyone who heard his brilliant sermon at the funeral of Pope John Paul II will know just how well the then Cardinal Ratzinger understands the Scriptures, which are the Word of God. He has spent his life reading them, listening to them and studying the writings of saints and scholars about the Word of God and preaching the Good News.

After teaching in many German Universities he became Archbishop of a large German diocese, Munich, in his native Bavaria. Then in 1981 he was called to Rome to head up the most important Department or Ministry or Congregation, that is, the Doctrine of the Faith. As the name indicates, it deals with the teaching of the faith, faith in Jesus Christ. It is concerned with discerning what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. Nobody likes being told that they are doing wrong and that they are not speaking the truth. But what loving Father, who cares for his children, would deprive them of this guidance. Where this sort of guidance and discipline is not present, and is not respected, then there can be disastrous results, as people flounder about in confusion and ignorance. Cardinal Ratzinger’s job was to promote the teaching of the true faith and morals on behalf of the Church, on behalf of the Holy Father.

I met Cardinal Ratzinger in 1991 when he came to the Irish College to speak to the College Community. I found him most gracious and charming, humble and unassuming, clear and learned. I got the impression that he is a holy man, a man of prayer. He speaks and understands English perfectly. He is obviously a man who prays and works very hard. So when he describes himself as “a simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord”, he is stating what is a fact. He leads a simple lifestyle. He works consistently and seriously at the tasks entrusted to him. He, at the same time, realises that he has his limitations, as every human being has, but he puts his trust in the help of the Risen Lord,. As he said in his first words, he entrusts himself to the protection of Mary. He also relies on the assistance of our prayers, as he said on the first evening and again yesterday, he was humble enough and gracious enough to ask for those prayers.

I was thrilled to see that in his first message Pope Benedict XVI asks everyone to intensify, in the coming months, the love and devotion to the Eucharistic Jesus and to express, in a courageous and clear way, the real presence of the Lord. We are in the Year of the Eucharist and he asks this, in a special way of priests. Pope Benedict assumes, as his primary commitment, that of working tirelessly towards the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all Christian followers. This is his ambition, this is his compelling duty, he says, and to do this, concrete gestures are required. He is disposed to do all in his power to promote the fundamental cause of Ecumenism. This is music to my ears, and I hope it will help all of us here in Ireland.

The new Pope knows that his task is to bring the light of Christ to shine before men and women today. For Christ is the way, the truth and the life. There is no other way to God the Father except through Him. He is the way which we must all follow, but before we follow any way, we must know in truth, that this is the way that leads to life, eternal life.

The new Pope sends an affectionate embrace to young people. He is looking forward to meeting some of them in Cologne, in his native Germany, on World Youth Day in August. He says he will listen to their expectations in order to help them meet ever more profoundly, the living ever-young Christ.

Pope Benedict XVI says that he intends to serve only Christ and he dedicates himself to that task with his full power. This evening we ask God’s help for him in his new ministry and God’s help for ourselves that we too will dedicate ourselves and serve only the living Christ. We will not serve a God of wealth, a God of pleasure, a God of power but God of Jesus Christ and we will do that by responding, with all our abilities, to His love which He revealed to us when He died for us on the Cross.
Amen.

CELEBRATION OF MASS FOR THE ELECTION OF A NEW POPE
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
18 APRIL 2005
HOMILY BY
MOST REVEREND SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

One week ago, before leaving Rome, I met Cardinal Connell to wish him well for the Conclave. He asked specifically for the help of my prayers and I assured him that we would all, during these days be praying earnestly for him and for all the other Cardinals whose task it is to elect the new Pope.
So these days, people all over the world, will be asking that God will raise up a faithful shepherd, as Bishop of Rome, someone who will do what is in the heart and mind of God.

To know what is in the heart and mind of God the new Pope will be someone who gives time to prayer. He will do so in order to know God intimately and especially to know Jesus Christ, whom the Father sent into the world to show His love for us. Jesus had experienced the love of the Father in such a powerful way that even in the darkest hour of His suffering He put all his trust in the love of the Father. During his final days and weeks, the late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, showed to the world, in a remarkable way, his absolute trust in the love of God, in the love of Jesus.

To know what is in the heart and mind of God, the new Pope will know how to lead the Church in examining closely the signs of the times. He will think long and hard in order to discover what those signs are saying to all of us and how best to respond to them. He will do this because the Church, which he will be leading, is itself meant to be a sign, a sign of the unity of the human race, as the one family of God, plus also it is meant to be a means of bringing that unity about. And so the new Pope will have an ability to listen to others about what are the best means to achieve that unity.

The new Pope will be well aware of Christ’s command to Peter to confirm His brothers and sisters in His faith. So he will try in his words, and in his deeds, in his attitudes and approaches, to renew and revive faith in the hearts and minds of those whose faith is withering. He will do so in his care and concern for the poor and the oppressed of the world, through clearly and courageously announcing Jesus Christ, Him crucified, to a world that is desperately hungry for good news.

The new Pope will be a man who is himself filled with hope and who will share that hope with the rest of us, by reminding us of the fantastic promises which Jesus has made. He will remind us especially of the promise to remain with us until the end of time, by drawing our attention to the divine mercy for which so many millions are waiting. Finally, he will remind us of that promise by gently but firmly, focusing our sights on the power of Jesus who has promised to be with his disciples until the end of time.

We know that, as a disciple of Christ, the new Holy Father will certainly feel the need and the joy of bearing witness to the fact that God revealed Himself in Christ. And he will do so, I am sure, without any reservation or hesitation but also in the knowledge that Christ and His Spirit are already present in all who live sincerely according to their religious beliefs and convictions.

The new Pope will also engage in respectful dialogue, I am sure, with all genuinely religious people, knowing that the Holy Spirit inspires every search of the human spirit, for truth and goodness and ultimately for God. In that way he will build up trust and friendship, the kind of trust and friendship that comes from an appreciation of one another’s religious families and that will be a good thing.

So tonight we ask the Holy Spirit to create a space in the hearts and minds of the electors where the divine inspirations can be heard and welcomed so that we will get a Shepherd who will walk in the ways of the Lord. A Pope whose ever watchful care will bring to the world, God’s abundant blessing. May we get a Pope who will be an example of goodness, after the model of John Paul II. A Pope who will open our hearts and minds to put our trust, not in ourselves, not in our own powers, abilities and talents, but in the Good News brought by Jesus Christ.

FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION
HOMILY GIVEN BY
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
MONDAY 4 APRIL 2005
IN MEMORY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II

In the preface for the Mass of Holy Men and Women, the Church proclaims its faith in God’s ability to renew the Church in every age, by raising up men and women outstanding in holiness, living witnesses of his unchanging love.

This evening, that faith is renewed again as we celebrate God’s gift to the Church and to the world of an outstanding witness to Christ, a loving Pastor and an historic leader of the of whole human family, in the life of our beloved Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.

Much has been said and written about Pope John Paul II in recent days. There is no doubt that in religious, philosophical and political terms, his legacy will be immense. But this evening I would like to suggest that it is in the Gospel of the Annunciation, which we have just read, that we discover the deepest and most intimate source of his untiring generosity, his utter commitment to the ministry of service and unity, which is the office of Peter and his heroic proclamation of the Gospel of life across the world.

In our Gospel this evening, St. Luke tells us that “Mary was deeply disturbed by these words”. No doubt when, on Monday 16th October, 1978, at 18 minutes before six, one of the College of Cardinals approached the Archbishop of Krakow and told him he had been elected to succeed his beloved predecessor, Albiano Luciani, even the young, strong Karol Wojtyla, was disturbed. We know this because he told us so.

In his very first address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the newly elected Pope John Paul II said: “I was afraid to accept this responsibility. Yet I do so in a spirit of obedience to the Lord and total faithfulness to Mary.”

Then, in his first homily, in words which echo the intimate dialogue of salvation between Mary and the angel in this evening’s Gospel, the newly elected Pope John Paul II, opened his ministry as Pope with the words, ‘Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors of Christ. To his saving power, open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilisation and development. Do not be afraid!’

Opening every aspect of our hearts, our lives and our human and social activity to the life-giving and transforming presence of Christ, this was the defining mission of Pope John Paul II. Everything flowed from and returned to this. While the impact of this mission was immense and its character truly fearless, it’s source was much more simple and profound. This was a man who, like Mary, had learnt from a very early age to rely, not on his own power, or logic, or gifts or talents, but to rely totally on the loving power and providence of God. When he chose the motto of Totus Tuus for his Pontificate, it was an expression of his total abandonment to God and of his untiring generosity to others.

Such total trust in God’s providence and power is often characteristic of those who, like Mary, have discovered two things in their lives – God’s intimacy and closeness in prayer, and God’s sustaining presence in the midst of their suffering.

Perhaps it was the broken heart of a young boy who had lost his mother and only brother at such a young age. Perhaps it was his experience of the Nazi occupation and war in Poland, the cruel treatment of his many Jewish friends in the holocaust or the experience of the oppressive and lifeless impact of atheistic communism on the lives of his fellow Poles. But whatever it was, it was clear that this was a man who, like Mary, had learnt at a very young age to trust in the intimacy of God which he had first experienced in the silence of contemplation and prayer. It is no coincidence I believe, that the theme of his doctoral studies as a young priest was not that of ethics, or Catholic Social teaching, or the renewal of the Church, extraordinary though his insights and teaching on each of this themes has been. His first study was that of mysticism and prayer in the life the great mystic and renewer, St. John of the Cross.

It is so appropriate that the last word spoken by the Holy Father was the word ‘Amen’ – the same response of Mary to the Angel who asked her open her heart, her very body to the presence of Christ – ‘Let it be so’. As we honour his life, his death, his untiring service and his extraordinary legacy, perhaps we could take to heart again those words. The words with which he greeted us as he began his ministry and which he repeated as he carried us across the threshold of hope into a new millennium – Open wide your hearts to Christ. Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid!

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
HOMILY GIVEN BY
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
SUNDAY 3 APRIL 2005

On Sunday 30 April 2000, Pope John Paul II canonised St. Faustina Kowalska. He began his Homily by quoting the words of Psalm 118.1 –
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good
His steadfast love endures forever”

words which the Church sings on the octave of Easter as it receives, from the lips of the Risen Christ, the great message of Divine Mercy and entrusts the task of dispensing that mercy to the Apostles.
The Holy Father went on to say that his joy was truly great in presenting the life and witness of St. Faustina to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. For, by Divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Krakov, in Poland was completely linked with the history of the century. In fact, it was between the first and second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. It is not a new message by any means, but it can be considered as a gift of special enlightenment – a ray of light to the man and woman.

Yesterday evening, as you know, the Holy Father died at 9.37 pm in his private apartment. At 8.00 pm the celebration of Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday began in the Holy Father’s room. During the course of the Mass the Viaticum was administered to the Holy Father and once again the anointing of the sick. Truly the ways of God’s providence are marvellous.

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good;
His steadfast love endures forever.

In the course of that homily five years ago, Pope John Paul II went on to say “It is important that we accept the whole message that comes to us on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on will be called Divine Mercy Sunday”.

So what is this whole message? The Holy Father points two important facts –

1. The path of mercy re-establishes the relationship of each person with God – a relationship ruptured by sin but it does mean mercy creates new relations among human beings.

2. We not only receive and experience the mercy of God – we are called to practise mercy to others.
On this Divine Mercy Sunday I would like to remind you of a couple of incidents from the Gospels which illustrate how Jesus was merciful. St. Luke tells us that Jesus had a preference for poor people. The sinners find a friend in Jesus. He was not afraid to associate with them.

Ø When Jesus went to a town called Nain, he met a widow whose only son had just died. Jesus had compassion; that is, he had mercy on her and told her not to cry. Then he raised her son from the dead and gave him back to his mother.

Ø On another occasion, a man called Jairus came and begged Jesus to come to his house where he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying. Again, Jesus had mercy on him and came to his house and restored the girl to life. Jesus showed his mercy in a special way towards women and strangers.
Jesus had risen on the day he appeared to the apostles and showed them his hands and his side. He said to them,
“Peace be with you. The Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained”.

With these words the Risen Christ brings the great message of Divine Mercy and entrusts its administration to the apostles. In other words, he asked the apostles to bring the divine mercy of God to others. By pointing out the wounds of the passion – and especially the wounds in his heart – Jesus is pointing out the source from which this great wave of mercy flows.

It was in the middle of the last century that St. Faustina had a vision in which she saw two rays of light shining. We are told that these two rays of light represented blood and water. In Mel Gibson’s film The Passion which I saw recently the Roman soldier on Calvary, pierces Christ’s side with his spear. Blood and water flow from his side. The blood recalls the sacrifice of the cross and the gift of the Eucharist. The water represents the sacrament of Baptism and also the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The message is that God’s mercy comes to us through the heart of Christ’s pierced side. Jesus Christ pours out this message on the human race through the descending of the Holy Spirit.

The late Pope John Paul II went on to spell out that mercy is the deepest and most tender aspect of love. It is mercy’s ability to take up and carry various burdens, for example, the burden of grief and sorrow, the burden of pain, of worry and especially the burden of guilt, which is taken away by forgiveness. So, I think we all need the mercy of God because we all, at times, feel crushed under various loads of troubles.
The message of mercy, given by Christ to St Faustina in the years between the first and second world wars was very important. It was a message that gave hope to many in the midst of suffering.
It is not a new message but it does offer a ray of light to the people of our time. For that to happen we must welcome into our lives the Risen Christ, who shows the wounds of his crucifixion and repeats, “Peace be with you”.

The human race must let itself be touched and pervaded by the spirit given to it by the Risen Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart and pulls down the barriers that separate and divide us from one another. At the same time, the Spirit restores the joy of the Father’s love and of brotherly unity.
But we not only receive and experience the mercy of God. We are also called to practice mercy towards one another. “Blessed are the merciful,” said Jesus, “for they shall obtain mercy”. He also tells us that there are many paths of mercy. Mercy not only forgives sins but mercy reaches out to all human needs, especially the needs we have for help to carry the burdens of life and that message of mercy continues to reach us through His hands, held out.

The canonisation of St Faustina emphasises this message of mercy. Pope John Paul II told us that it was important that we study it so that we will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of our brothers and sisters. In fact love of God and love of one’s brothers and sisters are inseparable. But of course it is not easy to love with a deep love that only comes with an authentic gift of penetrating the mystery of God’s love. When we look at God, and are united with his fatherly heart, well then we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and sisters and view them with an attitude of unselfishness and generosity and forgiveness. All of this is mercy.

We all need to hear the message of Divine Mercy. We need to realise that we have all sinned and have need of God’s forgiveness but the message of Divine Mercy tells us that, that forgiveness is available to us if we have the humility to ask.

The message of divine mercy is also a message about the value of every human being. Each person is precious in God’s eyes. Christ gave his life for each one of us. This is a most consoling message especially for those who are crushed by the weight of trouble or the weight of guilt or those who may have lost all confidence in life and are troubled to despair.

Last week I met some people up in Ards in Donegal. I asked them what is the secret of Divine Mercy? They said they just leave it all to Jesus. They take the prayer Jesus, I trust in you at its face value and abandon themselves completely to Him. It dispels the thickest clouds.

We all need to be aware of the depth of divine mercy. We need to experience it ourselves in our own lives and we need to show that mercy ourselves to others. Pope John Paul II won the hearts of others by his goodness and mercy. He spanned all ages to conversion. We are all called to play our part in encouraging sinners to conversion and confession. We can all play our part in calming rivalries and healing hatred. Let us, the evening, say with firm hope:
Christ Jesus, I trust in you.

“Northern Ireland: A New Dawn?”
Address by
Cardinal Seán Brady
Ecumenical Lenten Lecture Series
Rathfarnham Parish, Dublin
8.00 p.m. Thursday 3rd March, 2005

Archbishop Eames, Rev. Woods, Ladies and gentlemen,

When the late Father Liam Carey wrote to me some months ago, on behalf of the three parishes, to invite me to speak here tonight, I felt at once flattered, honoured and challenged. I was aware that Father Carey, in his earlier years, had worked here in Dublin in the area of Adult Education and Community Development. I suppose it was this great interest in authentic and inclusive development that led him to get involved in the Lenten Ecumenical Lectures Series, which he and Reverend Ted Woods were organising together.

In a letter to me on 30 November 2004 Father Carey promised to keep me informed of developments and arrangements concerning this programme. Well, the Lord had other plans for Father Carey. I am hoping that this evening he will keep me inspired during the developments and arrangements of this evening’s proceedings.

I am also happy to note that in these parishes: the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Church of the Annunciation, there are two former students of the Irish College, Rome: Father Eamon McNerney and Father Des Hayden and also that Father Joe Hanlon is Parish Priest.

The title of this evening’s talk which Archbishop Eames and I have been asked to address is: Northern Ireland – A New Dawn? Last evening when I mentioned the title to a friend he said: “A new ridge of low pressure or a trough of deep depression might be a more accurate description of the present situation”.
I am well aware that a lot of people are getting tired of the peace process in Northern Ireland. They are becoming rather cynical and are tempted to say, ‘what peace process’? and, in a sense one cannot blame them. There are good reasons for a certain amount of weariness and disillusionment and disgust and confusion about this whole process and yet the Church does not tire. It does not tire of preaching the Good News – the Good News of peace.

The Church proclaims the Good News that brings salvation. Of course that salvation is achieved definitively in the new life that awaits the righteous after death. But that salvation also permeates the present world in areas such as economy and labour; technology and communications; society and politics; the international community and relations among cultures and peoples.

The Church proclaims the Gospel that brings genuine freedom, not only internally to the person but also to temporal realities. As the Church proclaims that freedom, she is mindful of the solemn advice, given by Paul to Timothy when he said: “Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exalt, be unfailing in patience and in teaching”. Clearly Paul understood that the journey to peace and freedom, like discipleship itself, required unfailing patience and perseverance, both in season and out of season.

Another Pauline character who understood this need for patient perseverance in the search for peace was the great American pastor and non-violent civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. On the 28th August 1963 he made what is generally regarded as one of the most inspirational speeches of the twentieth century. In it Pastor King took up the biblical theme of the slow, often uncertain journey of God’s people from captivity to the land of freedom and promise. It is described for us in the book of Exodus. He addressed a rally of some 200,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington with the following words: ‘When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”.

The crowds arose in prolonged applause and, as you know, this passionate cry for freedom became not only the legacy but also the final epitaph of Martin Luther King. Clearly this heroic Christian advocate of non-violent social and political change had touched on something very fundamental to the human spirit – the search for freedom.
In the years that followed, that search for freedom, that dream of new relationships between peoples of different nationalities, races and religious faith, took hold across the world. Thanks to television and radio, people quickly became caught up in the vision of new possibilities for the whole human family – the possibility of real equality, with respect for diversity; of real justice and solidarity, with a sense of responsibility for each other; of a new solidarity and global concern for others, particularly for the starving and the poor. It was also the time of the Second Vatican Council.
This was also a period of new impetus in Ecumenical and inter-faith relations, of the aggiornamento and rinnovamento of the Catholic Church which would spur on new journeys of dialogue, affection and respect between the communities of Christian faith, not least here in Ireland.

In Northern Ireland, this dream of new possibilities, of which Martin Luther King spoke, found expression in the Civil Rights Movement. That Movement arose from a new level of awareness of social, political and economic inequalities. What was to happen next, however, was to change all of our lives to this present day. While the search for civil and political rights in the US remained largely faithful to the non-violent methodology espoused by Martin Luther King, the journey in Northern Ireland was to take a very different direction. In a complex chain of action and reaction, which defies any simple moral analysis, tempting though that might be, Northern Ireland quickly descended into the dark malaise of violence and political atrophy, which we have come to know as The Troubles. What could be aptly described, in the context of tonight’s presentation, as the dark night of Northern Ireland’s soul. More importantly, and I worry that younger generations will forget this, it was a period of immense human suffering, misery, death and pain. It was a far cry from freedom, a far cry from justice, a far cry from the more dignified and prosperous life which those engaged in violence on all sides were in some sense claiming to protect or promote.
As we consider the question at the heart of this evening’s talk – Northern Ireland: a new dawn (question mark) – two aspects of this period continue to be of particular interest to me.

The first is the very narrow concept of freedom which dominated then and continues to frustrate the dawning of a new era in Northern Ireland. We have a tradition in Ireland of understanding our freedom as a ‘freedom from’, notably freedom from British rule or possibly for Protestants in the north, freedom from Catholic domination. By any standards this is a narrow and profoundly outdated notion of freedom. The biblical concept of freedom, captured in Martin Luther King’s programmatic address, is a much richer and deeper concept. It includes the notion of ‘freedom for’ – freedom for the other, freedom for responsibility, freedom for truth, freedom for service, freedom for the good of others as well as for oneself. It is a concept of freedom, which sees sin, selfishness, anger, revenge, disordered passions and appetites as forms of personal and collective slavery. We must be freed from all forms of slavery if we are to experience life to the full. Critically, though, freedom from fear is the most fundamental freedom of all.

Perfect love, the Scriptures tell us, casts out all fear. Those who wish to hold us back from loving others or acting freely within and beyond our own tradition will often use fear as their first weapon against our freedom.

This is a particularly poignant point in the light of recent events in the Short Strand and in other places. The courage and determination of the McCartney family to ensure justice for their brother, Robert, has been an outstanding example of how the power of love, the love of another person, the love of noble ideals such as justice, fairness and freedom, can rise up and render transparent and weak the efforts of others to bully, frighten and control whole communities for their own selfish or political ends. For my part I would like to express my wholehearted support to the calls from the McCartney family for anyone with information about the vicious and brutal murder of Robert McCartney to come forward to the police and to help to secure a conviction for his murder through the courts. It is not good enough; it is not consistent with the principle of freedom, for people to present this information in a way, which cannot be used to secure a conviction.

Surely it is time for Catholics in Northern Ireland to set aside their historic reservations about the Police, however well founded they may have been, and to assume their full civic responsibility for an agreed and representative system of law and order. A community which was prepared to make a deal which included accepting shared responsibility for devolved powers over policing in December, cannot credibly fail to support co-operation with policing on such a grave and criminal matter in March.

I am convinced that the existence and established reputation of the office of the Police Ombudsman alone should be enough to ensure the confidence of anyone who has information to fulfil their obligation before God to bring those responsible for the murder of Robert McCartney to justice. I appeal to them, for the sake of their conscience and in the name of freedom and justice, to do so and to do so urgently.

For I believe that it is not only dawning, but it is becoming crystal clear that to protect the common good, it is up to the lawful, public authority to exercise the right and the duty to inflict punishments according to the Criminal Code. This right belongs to the lawful public authority alone, not to some self-appointed private illegal groups who specialize in the destruction of evidence of a case rather than its production in a court of law in order to secure a conviction. The power to inflict punishment is entrusted to the Court. That Court of law is not only independent of party political influence, it is also independent of the Legislature and the Executive. This applies right across the board in any authentic democracy.

The second aspect of the early troubles which attracts my particular interest this evening is the role of the four main Churches at this time – the Presbyterian, Church of Ireland, Methodist and Catholic Churches. There was a time at the beginning of the troubles when political discussion was often deadlocked, and many people would not even speak to one another. It was then that many courageous men and women at a local level, out of Christian conviction, and often led by their clergy, established points of contact, places of encounter and dialogue amidst the bitterness and division. At a leadership level, the leaders of the four main Churches began the Ballymascanlon Talks. It was a hugely significant breakthrough at the time of the early seventies. Visually, they provided a powerful symbol of the possibility of mutual respect and dialogue in the midst of an increasingly divided and violent society. It is my own conviction that, in addition to the calming and restraining influence of the main Churches on the dangerous dynamics of that time, the language and concepts which emerged from the dialogue between the main Churches at a local and leadership level, became in large part, the language and inspiration of what has become known as the Peace Process. As one Unionist politician commented recently:

‘On balance, churches have been a stabilising influence. Although the “two communities” are now highly segregated, on the whole there is probably more civility between them than there would have been without the presence of the church. The churches have been one of the factors that have prevented Northern Ireland from following the path of Kosovo or Bosnia.’

The words reconciliation, forgiveness, truth, integrity, peace, conversion, repentance, mutual respect, interdependence, equality, parity of esteem, all of these terms found their place in the specifically religious vocabulary of the people of Northern Ireland. Long before others ever began to use these words here they were used by those who acted out of a heroic conviction of faith and who engaged with one another in the patient search for peace and understanding.

I mention this not simply to give credit to the Churches, though I do feel their role has often been overlooked. I do so rather to point out that the dream of peace, as Martin Luther King described it, is something that comes from, and belongs to, the people themselves, collectively. Indeed, the failure to maintain a broader social base and to invest more widely in forms of social and bridging capital other than party politics has been partly responsible, in my view, for the wearying start-stop nature of the peace process in Northern Ireland. As the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church points out, ‘the goal which believers must put before themselves is that of establishing community relationships among people. It is not one of pursuing selfish or strategic interests. ‘The Christian vision of political society places paramount importance on the value of community, both as a model for organising life in society and as a style of everyday living.’ The Compendium also goes on to say that:

An authentic democracy is the result of a convinced acceptance of the values that inspire democratic procedures. Those values are the dignity of every human person, the respect of human rights, commitment to the common good as the purpose and guiding criterion for political life.

That final phrase commitment to the common good is critical in our current context. It is not personal or party mandates which provide the first point of reference for authentic democracy, but the orientation of that mandate toward the common good of society as a whole. This is consistent with the biblical view that peace is a vision, a dream, a hope which all of the people possess collectively. When individuals vote overwhelmingly in favour of a shared vision of peace, it implies that they are willing to negotiate on some of their deepest held aspirations, for the sake of the greater good of all. Those who receive the mandate to strive for that peace from within a particular political party or tradition, not only receive the right to represent and negotiate for the aspirations of their own voters. They also receive a solemn responsibility to deliver that peace according to the values and aspirations which society as a whole has collectively endorsed.

In my view, this is the moral implication of the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. That referendum was an act of self-determination, overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland on both sides of the border. It was a mandate for an agreed, collective and inclusive vision of partnership and peace, for a new beginning to democracy based on equality and the use of purely peaceful and morally upright means.

The unfolding of that Agreement has, at times, been frustrated and frustrating. At different points different factors were to blame. The most pervasive and consistent factor was, of course, the failure to build confidence and trust. This has led to many false dawns and disappointing days.

As I said at the beginning, it has also led to a growing weariness and disillusionment about the very prospect of peace itself. But, as the history of salvation constantly reminds us, it is sometimes in the midst of weariness and confusion that new and more realistic possibilities emerge that the light of a new and more authentic dawn breaks through.

For my part, I would hope that out of all of this soul-searching and confusion, there would emerge a clearer idea of what is the purpose of political activity. My hope is that it will begin to dawn on all of us that the purpose of political life is not the political party but the human person and the common good.

I would hope that it may begin to dawn on people also that you can only build genuine peace on truth, not on lies, falsehood and deceit. You may ask to whom am I referring? I am talking about anyone who tells lies, any person or group who deliberately conceals their true intent, activity or corporate personality, while at the same time sues for peace. You can’t build trust between people who lie to each other.
I would also hope that people are becoming more aware of the danger of handing over their hard won freedom of thought, action and conscience to the bullying mob for the sake of some outdated and oppressive sense of community loyalty. This is not freedom but a new and brutal form of oppression. And once the people stop being afraid, once they find the courage to stand-up and say enough is enough, it is amazing how quickly things can change.

What is clear is that in the midst of the confusion and disillusionment of the current crisis, we have reached a fork in the road, a defining moment on the journey towards a lasting peace. And like any defining moment in the scriptures, it is a moment of opportunity as well as challenge. The opportunity is to build the peace process and the principles of the Good Friday Agreement on a more certain and transparent moral basis. A situation where all paramilitary groups have given up their weapons, their threats and their subversive economies and finally honoured the will of the people for a normalised society and a normal opportunity for life and for living, and where the rest, as they say, will be politics.

What is certainly becoming clearer every day is that a fundamental shift is taking place in the peace process. The language of constructive ambiguity and moral murk has had its day. People want the real thing. They want transparency and accountability. They want prosperity and freedom. They want local power and effective law and order. They want actions not words.

It is only when this begins to happen, when the people themselves begin to take responsibility again for the pursuit of peace, for exposing the contradictions within their own community, as well as in others, that the new dawn for Northern Ireland will really begin to emerge. I believe that the current impasse, if handled properly, if faced up to with courage, integrity and a concern for the common good, could turn out to be that moment of darkness before the dawn. And when it comes, those who in the name of Jesus have constantly rejected violence and sought the good of others as well as themselves, will be able to join together in singing, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we’re free at last!’

PROMOTING RECONCILIATION THROUGH EDUCATION:
A VISION FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
An Address by
Cardinal Seán Brady
to the
Conference on Promoting Reconciliation through Education
Radisson Roe Park Hotel, Limavady
Tuesday 22nd February, 2005

Distinguished guests, members of the Educational community, colleagues and friends:

I am grateful to Bishop McKeown and the organisers of today’s Conference for giving me this opportunity to address such a large and distinguished gathering of educationalists, community representatives and community relations professionals. The theme is a vital one: Promoting Reconciliation Through Education.
I am also delighted, as a trustee of Catholic Schools in Northern Ireland, to have this opportunity to pay very special tribute to all of you for your outstanding work in promoting education.

The theme I have been asked to address speaks of A Vision for Catholic Schools. A vision is a way of seeing the future. It is a way which inspires confidence, energy and direction. A vision is something which is often caught rather than taught. In biblical terms, the concept of vision is closely related to the concept of dreams. Dreams lift our imagination to new horizons. They extend the limits of what we hope for, of what we believe is possible.

The Bible is full of dreams. There are two aspects of the biblical tradition of dreams which stand out in my mind today as we reflect on the contribution which Catholic Education can make to the urgent work of reconciliation in our divided society.

In the Scriptures, dreams or visions occur at moments of great challenge and change. They transform the challenge of change from obstacle to opportunity. We meet today at a moment of great challenge and change for the whole educational community in Northern Ireland. Imminent demographic change, curriculum change, policy change, notably in terms of the Costello proposals, legislative change, political change, the constant ebb and flow of cultural change among young people and others, this is the maelstrom which currently confronts the Educational community in Northern Ireland. We are searching for direction, for vision, in the midst of uncertainty and change. Yet the biblical view of change is that it is also an opportunity. God always acts most decisively and most powerfully to create new direction and energy in moments of confusion, challenge and change. In this sense, we do not seek to catch or create a vision of the role of Catholic schools today by relying solely on our own human genius or imagination. We rely instead on a vision of history and life which is rooted in the simple, yet profound conviction that ‘God is with us’! Indeed, God in his own creative, transforming and life-giving activity is the supreme educator, the model of all teachers. God is the source and end of all educational activity. From the beginning to the end of time the divine work is to educate the chosen people.

This is very important for the overwhelming majority of people in our society. Through intellectual reasoning and conscience, they have arrived at the freely chosen and persistent conviction of religious faith. The right of parents to have their children educated in accordance with that faith is a human right. It is a human right which has been recognised by a wide variety of national and international instruments. These include the UN Declaration on Human Rights, the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The explicit protection of this right of parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious beliefs is important. It is an acknowledgement that it belongs to parents and to those who act in the place of parents, such as trustees, to determine how the values of a particular religion or philosophical approach to education are best secured and promoted in a school.

As the Catholic Bishops have pointed out in Building Peace: Shaping the Future, it is ‘a source of encouragement that central government [in Northern Ireland] explicitly commits itself to ensuring that parental choice will be a key factor in the provision of educational experience for young people.’ (p.4) This in itself is an acknowledgement that education is not limited to the transmission of knowledge and ideas. Education is intimately connected to the whole philosophical and religious system of beliefs and values which each human being is entitled to hold and propagate, as an essential expression of their freedom and dignity.

This point is often misunderstood by those outside of the Catholic system of education. Catholic education is not simply about the presentation of Catholic teaching in the classroom or about sacramental preparation, as the Equality Commission has apparently presumed in its recent decision to propose the removal of the Teacher’s Exception, or at least to limit it to primary schooling for the time being. Catholic education is a complete philosophical concept of the educational process, one based on a Judeao-Christian understanding of the world and the human person. We have a right to hold that view and to promote it in the same way that others have a right to promote theirs. Governments in a free, democratic and pluralist society, respectful of the principle of subsidiarity, will not impose their own philosophical view of the world on parents and children but will honour the right of parents to have their children educated in a manner consistent with their philosophical and religious convictions. Of course we uphold the right of other faith-communities to have their own schools as part of the rich diversity of a pluralist society.

Building Peace: Shaping the Future, reminds us that we live in a society which has an increasingly diverse, sometimes overlapping range of philosophical and religious approaches to life and the human person. It goes on to state that ‘it is reassuring that in Northern Ireland, the contribution of Catholic education is taken seriously and that it will be treated with parity of esteem.’ (p.4) This appears to me eminently sensible because a homogenous system in education is rarely the best way forward. A diverse society with diverse sources of identity and conviction requires a diverse range of educational systems, bound together by the fundamental principles of respect and parity of esteem. This is the key to any authentic pluralism. The Catholic Church welcomes the current diversity of provision of education in Northern Ireland provided all sectors are valued equally.
There is a second dimension of biblical dreams, which is of particular significance for our theme today. Dreams in the Bible do not just present a vision of the future. They also provide the path to that future. They do so by re-energising and refocusing our understanding of what motivated and inspired us in the past. The convictions, ideals and visions which inspired the prophets to great energy and activity in the name of God were often at risk from fatigue, familiarity or fearfulness. But, when the prophets became tired, disillusioned or overwhelmed by the scale of the task before them, God often intervenes by way of a dream or vision to remind the prophets of what it was that once inspired them. This in turn would refocus their energy on some aspect of their original mission which has particular significance for the new challenge to which God is calling them.

I believe that in focusing today on the role of Catholic Schools in the urgent task of reconciliation, that is precisely what we are doing. We are re-discovering, refocusing and re-energising an aspect of our original mission and task. This is something which has always been there. Now it requires new emphasis and new direction. In the midst of the division in Northern Ireland the Catholic Church has constantly repeated that tolerance and reconciliation is at the very heart of Catholic education. Echoing the words of Pope Paul VI, we have pointed out that the fundamental aim of a Catholic school is to make the civilisation of love a reality. Indeed love, for the Christian, is the foundation of all education. The supreme model and source of that love, in turn, is the Blessed Trinity. The Blessed Trinity is a community of persons who exist with distinct identities. The three divine persons exist in perfect unity, in mutual harmony and communion with each other but with particular missions and roles in the whole work of salvation.

In this theological motif of the Blessed Trinity and community, the vision of Catholic Education finds a potentially powerful and renewing ally – an ally which is a source of imagination and action in its work of reconciliation and contributing to a shared future in Northern Ireland. Renewed theological interest in the doctrine of the Trinity. A doctrine so closely associated with the tradition of our national Apostle Patrick suggests that we find in this primary truth of the Christian faith an important social model for the dynamics of inclusion and diversity in an increasingly pluralist society. On the one hand, the integrity of distinct identities is honoured and recognised. On the other, each identity is enriched and sustained by the generosity, respect, and ultimately the love of the other. This is the source and ideal of human community, living in communion, truth, fellowship, justice, peace and love. This is the origin, and model of the Kingdom of God which Jesus introduces as a radically new and exciting opportunity for the world in his life, death, resurrection and the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost. The key to the harmony of this community of truth and justice, of love, service and peace, however, is that the boundaries of distinct identity are recognised, honoured and celebrated. However, these boundaries are sufficiently selfless and porous as to allow the other to feel welcome, cherished and unthreatened. This is the perfect model of the reconciled, diverse but vibrant community which we wish to see in the increasingly diverse society of Northern Ireland.

This model of Trinitarian communion is also the defining motif for both the internal and external relationships which define the Catholic School. On the one hand it affirms what is and should be the most obvious and defining and tangible aspect of the ethos of a Catholic School. That is, a spirituality and atmosphere of communion and community, in which the individual is cherished and nourished by the community. The individuals in turn celebrate and nourish the community to which they freely assent to belong.

Many people often comment on the community atmosphere of Catholic schools. I believe it is a tangible consequence of our Eucharistic culture, our deep commitment to the family and to our particular understanding of the essential relationship between the family, the parish and the school. Commitment to a pervasive ethos of supportive, nurturing and pedagogically professional community is, I believe, one of the keys to understanding the distinct identity of the Catholic School. It is one of the factors which ensure the continued high demand for this particular type of schooling both nationally and internationally. It also responds to the developing sense of international solidarity and interdependence, which characterises much of modern culture, particularly among the young. Developing and protecting this sense of community which rooted in respect for the individual and in a shared commitment to justice and the common good, in every aspect of the life of a Catholic school, should be a particular priority for principals, teachers and Boards of Governors alike.

In Building Peace: Shaping the Future, the Catholic Bishops have set out some of the implications of this commitment to inclusive community in the particular context of Northern Ireland.
Like others, Catholics believe explicitly in a God who actively and endlessly reconciles. In doing so God draws people to each other and into a loving community of faith. God is a God who heals and who enters into a personal relationship of love with all women and men. To believe in this God is by definition to promote reconciliation, especially where it is urgently needed.

This process, we believe, begins at the level of the individual. Those who learn to be most convinced, realistic and confident about their own identity and worth, I believe are best able to establish mutually-enriching relationships with others. The same is true of communities. By fully appreciating initially their own school community, Catholic schools foster a healthy social awareness that will naturally want to reach out to the wider community. Catholics, by the very nature of their religious identity, rooted in the Gospel of Trinitarian love, are committed to social action and the promotion of the common good. This includes, as a matter of fidelity to their own religious ideals, an obligation to reach out to the wider society of which we are a part.

This is why, for example, Catholic schools have played their part with others in recent years in providing children with a vision of tolerance, diversity and reconciliation. They have played their part in Education for Mutual Understanding, in inter-school activities, in cross-border initiatives, in cross-community exchange, in developing peace education within the curriculum. While it is now a welcome part of the new Core Syllabus for Religious Education, the RE programme for all Catholic schools has, for some time, included extensive material on the beliefs, practices and traditions of other Christian traditions and world religions for some time. The positive and restraining impact of this commitment of Catholic and other faith-based schools in Northern Ireland on the attitudes and behaviour of young people, particular during the worst periods of conflict and disorder, is not often acknowledged by those who perpetuate the profoundly unjust and wearisome notion that faith-based schools in Northern Ireland are inherently divisive. No one system of schooling has a monopoly on seeking or achieving respect, tolerance or reconciliation in our society. Bringing children together in the same school is only one way of approaching this important ideal. The distinct contribution of the Catholic School to the promotion of reconciliation is the ability to ensure that tolerance, respect and openness to others is fundamental to the formation of a confident, respectful Catholic personality. In addition, Catholic schools, while inviting respect for their right to a particular identity and ethos, are welcoming to pupils and parents from the broadest possible range of social, academic, ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds.

In practical terms, it is manifestly unfair to expect schools to heal all the divisions in our society. Catholic schools are nonetheless faced, with others, by the challenge to contribute as far as they can to the resolution of this problem. They do so by:
Reconciling and cherishing diverse identities
Creating a climate of openness and inclusion and
Encouraging young people to play a full part in a just and equitable society
Inculcating respect for and courtesy towards those who are different.
I am happy to see that these are the themes which will be explored in the group sessions to be held this afternoon. It will include considering what we mean when we say in Building Peace: Shaping the Future, that Catholic schools do not exclude and should not be seen to exclude other children. In particularly they welcome children of other denominations – whose parents accept the Mission statement and Aims of the school. That means, in principle, Catholic schools are open to pupils of all denominations. It means unpacking the practical consequences of the Costello Proposals for our understanding of economic, social, cultural and academic diversity within and beyond the Catholic sector. It means exploring more thoroughly the opportunities, which exist for closer and more effective partnership with others in the interests of the common good.

The school is, in fact, the principal means of helping parents to educate their children. Catholic parents have a serious obligation in conscience to seek and provide that system of education which most comprehensively supports their religious and philosophical convictions. Catholic schools exist in support of those convictions and are an essential part of the mission of the Church in a free society. What we are called to do today, is to re-energise those convictions in favour of peace and reconciliation while cherishing the integrity and hard won rights of our own Catholic identity. This is the essence of authentic pluralism. This is the spirit and intention of the working party’s report on ‘Integrating Education’, Towards a Culture of Tolerance, when it asserts that: ‘it is a seminal purpose of the Northern Ireland Education Service to promote a culture of tolerance and reconciliation’.

We acknowledge that Catholic schools have to play their part in breaking down traditional division. We ask others to recognise and celebrate the particular identity and character of Catholic schools and to promote their right to exist and flourish in a pluralist and diverse society.

In this regard it is interesting to note that the Marino Institute of Education, Dublin has recently embarked upon a project entitled ‘Re-imagining the Catholic School’. People engaged in that project have had the opportunity to work in an intensive and interactive way with all sections of the school community, in most of the second-level schools in our diocese. Their considered opinion is that there is still a relatively warm welcome for the Catholic ethos in most of the schools in which they have worked. The warmth with which they have been accepted throughout the diocese has encouraged them. The feedback from staffs has been very positive. They have discovered some wonderfully committed educationalists who are superb advocates for the continuation of the Catholic ethos. They are living witnesses and authentic role models for all the in the school community.

However, in the project there are also clear indications that secularism is alive and well and a growing threat to the religious character of Catholic schools. There has been a constant and persistent erosion of faith practice within the secondary sector. Growing percentages of the student body, the parental body and indeed many of the staff, no longer actively espouse the Catholic ethos. There are few articulate voices that speak cogently on behalf of the Catholic school. As mature teachers retire there is less likelihood that their successors are committed to the transmission of the Catholic ethos.

It would seem that there is danger that the Catholic school may not be valued so much for its transmission of a Catholic ethos or its articulation of Catholic values as for other perceived values such as good academic results, good discipline, and good pastoral care.

The report suggest that most young people still operate out of a pre-Vatican II model of Church, as indeed do most of the adults with whom they spoke to within the school community. This significant failure of catechetics needs to be addressed urgently.

At second level there is lack of connectedness between the school and the parish community. The shortage of full-time chaplains compounds this difficulty. Principals are isolated. They are custodians of such large numbers of students and have a huge responsibility and influence. Yet they have received little training or support in how to be a spiritual leader. This suggests that there is a need to recognise how pivotal their role is and to establish structured on-going methods of training and support, not just in the techniques of management and administration, but how to develop and promote a vibrant and inclusive Catholic ethos.

RE teams often feel beleaguered and isolated. They have a sense of going ‘against the current’ and they feel that too much of the responsibility for the faith life of the school is put on their shoulders That responsibility should be a whole school or a whole community issue.

This suggests that there is a need for a comprehensive catechetical programme to educate people about the Vatican II understanding of the Church, an understanding which has at its heart the vision of the Church as the ‘sacrament of the unity of humankind’, rooted in the life and love of the community of the Trinity. Such a programme should offer effective working models of schools which are vibrant and inclusive communities of faith. Evangelisation of schools must begin with teachers who are a unique group of professionals with incredible influence over the lives of young people. Their spiritual formation needs to be addressed. Innovative and practical ways, to mesh the life of the school community with that of the parish and the diocese are required.

The Catholic school creates a sense of Christian community. The GAA builds a sense of local community as also does the local communications media, for example, local radio, local newspapers, but the Catholic school is uniquely placed to create a sense of Christian community. That is, a society that is noted for its sense of caring, bound together by a sense of belonging and inspired by a spirit of justice and truth. How can this happen? One suggested way is to employ full-time trained chaplains.

We speak of the need to involve home, family, school and parish in the education process. We need to motivate and inspire and empower the students themselves to grow in faith and to engage positively with their education. Students are eager to play soccer, or Gaelic or other games because role models are pointed out or indicated and they are given the good experience of playing sport and watching sport. They find it life-giving and life-enhancing. There is a great need to ensure that they find religion life-giving and life-enhancing in all its celebrations and manifestations.

In the Our Father we pray “Father may thy Kingdom come”. The Catholic school is one instrument for the coming of the Kingdom, that is, for the reign of God to come into our world. We need to remember that fact always, if the Catholic school is to retain its distinctive characteristic. So, let’s hear it again, the school is an instrument in the reign of God which is breaking into the world. That reign is coming; of that we can be absolutely certain. And the certainty of that promise is what assures those who are involved in the Catholic schools that their work will never become just another mundane task.

The Second Vatican Council has said that the future belongs to those who offer hope and reasons for living. This is precisely the task of a Catholic School. We have something unique, dynamic, inclusive and positive to offer in the Catholic school system. If we lose sight of our dreams, of our core vision and purpose, however, we run the risk of settling into apathy, bland pursuit of personal comfort and wealth, or a destructive cynicism about all that aspires to be good.

In conclusion, therefore, let me remind you of one of the first dreams described to us in the Bible. Happily, it involves a young person, a young person who, like so many of those in our schools finds himself disillusioned with family, with life and with God. So much so, indeed, that this young man called Jacob chooses to run away from home and eventually finds himself alone and lost in the middle of the desert. So, in his frustration and his fear he does what many of us have done in our time, he begins to ‘wrestle’ with God. But if any of you have ever wrestled with God you will know what this young man was about to discover – that God always wins! Not by fighting back, or by returning impressive answers to our angry questions, but by simply letting us get tired of the anger and the fighting. And so it was that this young man, like so many before him and since, exhausted his energising in a fruitless fight with God and decided to go asleep in the middle of the desert. While he slept, he had a dream. And in the dream the clouds separated over the place where he sleeping and a ladder descended from heaven. On the ladder, the angels of God ascended and descended, bringing the things of heaven to bear upon the things of the earth, and bringing the concerns of the world up the ladder to be transformed by the vision of heaven. After some time enjoying this dream, the young man woke with a strange sense of calm. The fighting was over and in his mind, the Scriptures tell us, he said to himself – ‘Truly God was in this place, and I did not know it’. What a wonderful phrase to with which to see anew the daily challenges and frustrations of our Catholic Schools – truly God is in this place, and I do not always see it!

This young man then took out the little vessel of oil, which all desert people would carry to keep themselves moist, and much like a bishop anoints the altar of a Church on which the Eucharist is celebrated. He poured the oil over the stone on which he had slept and had his dream. This young man went on to become the leader of one of the most successful and enduring of the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Jacob, and the place of his dreams became a great shrine honoured by the people for centuries.

As we gather here today, to reflect on those dreams and visions which inspire the work of Catholic education, let us turn to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who expands the limits of our horizons of expectation and possibility. We ask the Spirit to renew our sense of the original dream which inspires and motivates us. It is the dream of Jesus, of which Jacob’s dream in the book of Genesis is an anticipation, the dream of in-breaking into human history and affairs of the Kingdom of God. In this dream, which defines the life and mission of Jesus, the Trinitarian life and love of heaven became a reality among and becomes the source and model of all of our relationships and actions, relationships based on justice and truth, on respect and love, on healing, reconciliation and peace.

It is only by events such as today, by courageously and creatively recovering our sense of mission and purpose in the particular context of our own society, that this powerful dream will remain alive in our schools. I wish you well for your deliberations, in which you are not alone or relying on your own power. My prayer is that you will rediscover the dream, and in doing so, like Jacob, become the bearers of new and exciting possibility to the young people in your charge.
Thank you.

LENTEN MESSAGE
FROM
CARDINAL SEAN BRADY
TO
THE PEOPLE OF
THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH
6 FEBRUARY 2005

Dear People,
Lent is with us once more. Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. It is a day when we pray for the blessing of God’s forgiveness and the gift of light to see things more clearly and to recognise that we are sinners. Lent is a time when we learn to see God’s truth, love and mercy revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In His life the healing and transforming love of God was fully at work. He went about doing good. As Christians each of us is called to continue the work of Christ in the world.

Last November, the clergy of the Diocese spent three days in conference in Bundoran. You might say we were examining the signs of the times. We were also gratefully remembering the past, trying to live in the present, whilst looking forward to the future with confidence. In all of this the source of our confidence is always Jesus Christ. He has promised to be with His followers to the end of the age.

The Church tries to watch the signs of the changing times, so as to discover what these signs are saying, and to respond to them effectively and with imagination. This involves directing our thoughts to the future, which lies before us. It also involves change. Change is not always easy or comfortable – but change is often essential.

This Lent, everyone who is interested will have the opportunity to take part in a forum to discuss the formation of an action plan to address the pastoral needs of the Diocese. Regional meetings are being planned throughout the entire Diocese. These will offer everyone the chance to contribute to this process.

I would encourage as many as possible to play their part in contributing to our discussions. 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; to play your part in contributing to the discussions so that we can all look forward to an effective and realistic course of action.

One day, after speaking to the crowds from Peter’s boat, Jesus asked Peter to put out into the deep sea. Putting out into the deep meant a change of plan for Peter and his companions. They had worked all night but had caught nothing. In fact, they had left their boats and, dejected and depressed, were already washing their nets. In other words they were about to call it a day. Yet Peter had such trust in the words of Christ that he changed his plans on the spot. The result – they caught a great number of fish.

It is cliché to say that we live in a time of immense and ceaseless change, very fast change. Change can be exciting, sometimes risky, always different.

It is in an effort to read the signs of the times and plan for the future that we are holding regional meetings to which you are invited. You will be asked to identify what you see as the key actions we need to engage in together in the next three years in order to continue the work of Christ in the world and in this Diocese

I pray every blessing upon you this Lent and I look forward to the receiving the fruits of your discussions.

STATEMENT ON PEACE PROCESS
EXTRACT FROM HOMILY GIVEN AT POOR CLARE MONASTERY, FAUGHART
FRIDAY 4 FEBRUARY 2005

Appealing for renewed efforts in the search for peace during his homily at the Rite of Religious Profession of the Order of St. Clare in the Poor Clare Monastery, Faughart on Friday 4 February 2005 Cardinal Seán Brady made the following appeal.

EXTRACT FROM HOMILY
Recent events and statements have created anxiety about the search for peace in our own land. So, a convent dedicated to the tradition of peace and selfless service associated with Clare and Francis has a particular significance. Located, as it is, in the ‘Gap of the North’ the meeting place between North and South, it is a symbolic frontier of the conflict which has claimed so many lives and damaged so many others in this land. The witness of a community of people who ‘hold all things in common’, who daily put aside their own legitimate desires for the sake of the good of the whole community, is a powerful reminder of what makes for real and lasting peace.

Peace, without a commitment to the common good, to the good of the whole of society in all its complexity of allegiances, identities and aspirations, is a peace that cannot be sustained. For, only a commitment to the common good, to the legitimate structures of social life such as representative and democratic government, just laws and policing, which are instruments of a free society, can provide the social basis for justice and peace.

Some seven years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and some ten years after the first ceasefire, it is the time to gratefully acknowledge the progress that has been achieved and to honestly admit that things are better than they were. It is also the time to realistically see the difficulties that, here and now, exist and which still need to be sorted out. It is also the time to look forward in hope to a future when many of those difficulties will have been overcome and eliminated.

One thing is becoming clearer. There cannot be a peace process without a corresponding justice process, without discussion and agreement about the moral, legal and civic values which should underpin the society we are seeking to create. Perhaps we have all been too tolerant at times of activity, not confined to any one part of the community, which is inconsistent with the vision of a shared, just and democratic society. One consequence of recent events is that such activity is now more clearly seen for what it is – a threat to the shared and democratic future for which the overwhelming majority of people voted for in the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement was a vote for peace; a peace built on justice, truth and freedom. That should not be forgotten.

So, no cause, no sense of alienation from the State, no warped moral logic, can ever regard activities such as armed robbery, racketeering and maiming as anything other than gravely contrary to the common good and therefore criminal, sinful and a constant threat to justice and peace. If ever such activities become part of a general culture of criminality and violence, supported by threats and intimidation; well then they become forms of debilitating oppression to whole communities.

A crime is a crime precisely because it injures the good of other people, because it damages the public good. No one should be in any doubt that the deliberate and intentional killing of the innocent is a crime by any human standard and a grave evil in the sight of God.

Some people have responded to recent events with understandable anger and disappointment. Yet, it may be that the challenge is to see the current difficulties, real and significant, as they are, as an opportunity rather than an insurmountable obstacle. The fact remains that the best way of moving our society forward, the best way of transforming any latent attitudes of tolerance for violent and illegal activity, is to work together to construct a better society – the kind of society we came close to achieving in the run-up to Christmas. Admittedly, the task will now be more difficult. The damage to trust is such that clearer and more reliable commitments will be required about the presence and activities of paramilitary organisations. However, if dealt with patiently and constructively, as with previous difficulties, it is just possible that we could, in fact, arrive at a better position than we have ever been in before. The language of anger, or of subtle threat, of humiliation or intimidation, merely compounds the sense of disillusionment that sometimes prevails among some people about public life. But now is the time for us all to recommit ourselves to the noble task of peace building, peace building with enthusiasm despite the weariness which the setbacks and slow pace of progress naturally instils.

I appeal to all who genuinely desire peace to continue to work together to restore confidence and trust and to appreciate the difficulties which some people may be encountering. I appeal to all of those with influence in the current situation to return to the methodology and language of patient and constructive dialogue and negotiation. We have come too far, learnt too much and raised our sights too high, to return to the futility of threat, violence and blame.

It is always better to overcome evil with good, even if this approach is slower and less self-satisfying and more demanding, than with anger and violence. It is better to bring hope, rather than despair. In this spirit of freedom we need to look deep into our hearts and see what we really desire for ourselves and for those who will come after us. What kind of society do we wish to pass on to them? If we are able to draw closer to our neighbours and open our minds and hearts and imagine what kind of future they dream of for their children, perhaps we would be pleasantly surprised at how much their dreams resemble ours. Then we could all work together to make that dream come true. After all, as St. Francis reminds us, it is in the giving that we receive. In being an instrument of peace that we continue to protect the joy and dreams of the children of our land.

WORLD DAY OF PEACE – 2005
HOMILY GIVEN BY
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
IN
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
1 JANUARY 2005

I have a friend called Mariadas Kagithapu, who lives on the east coast of India in the city of Visakhapatnam. I tried to ring him in recent days to see if he and his community have survived the calamity but without success. It is amazing – every day we hear news of disasters but somehow the scale and the circumstances of this latest one were different.

THE TRAGEDY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA

So today, we are united in grief and concern for the victims. We are united in bewilderment at how something like this could happen. We are united in shock and sorrow at the sudden death of so many hundreds of thousands of fellow human beings. We are united in awe and dismay at our own fragile hold on human life. Gradually we are also becoming united in our awareness and knowledge that we belong to the same family – the Human Family. We may have different countries of origin; different colours of skin; different politics and beliefs but ultimately, we all have a common origin and the same final destiny. We are all citizens of the same planet. No doubt those victims had loving mothers and doting fathers. Their hopes were similar to our own, to be happy and to have a peaceful New Year and to make a difference.

Out of this gradual awareness of our common origin and of our same final destiny, there comes a growing need to help and to rescue, to share and to mobilise in solidarity. We have become more aware of our responsibility to reach out to one another in times of disaster and of crisis. We have come to realise that we are indeed our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

AN INVINCIBLE HOPE

There are many tragic situations in the world but this is surely one of the worst. Faced with such situations Christians believe that God alone can enable people to over come evil and achieve good. Because we are certain that evil will not prevail, we nourish an invincible hope, which sustains our efforts to promote justice and peace. For peace is something good, very good indeed and it is the fruit of solidarity. If you were to ask the average person what they want for the New Year my bet is that peace and good health for themselves and for their families and for all whom they love would be high on their list.

MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY – CITIZENS OF THE WORLD

Each year the Holy Father prepares and issues, some time before Christmas, a message for the World Day of Peace. This year the message was published on the 8th December. But, in the light of the horrific events of last Monday in South East Asia, that Message has now assumed, in my opinion, an importance of far greater dimensions. It states:

“As a member of the human family, each person becomes, as it were, a citizen of the world with consequent duties and rights since all human beings are united by a common origin and the same supreme destiny”.

Pope John Paul II is reminding each one of us that we are citizens of the world since we all belong to the same family – the human family. We come from God. We are all united by the same supreme destiny. We go to God – God is the Alpha and the Omega – God is our beginning and our end. We are, in fact, brothers and sisters, children of the same Creator – God.

THE PLIGHT OF UNDER PRIVILIGED CHILDREN

The Holy Father goes on to spell out some of the rights and duties that flow from the fact that we all belong to the same family – the Human Family. He says:
“By the mere fact of being conceived, a child is entitled to rights and deserving of care and attention and someone has the duty to provide this”.

I was in the Special Babies Unit of the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast a short time before Christmas and I saw there just how much care babies, every baby, needs at birth. But, in particular those babies who have been born prematurely and those who have special needs. But, thank God, there are so many dedicated mothers and fathers as well as so many dedicated nurses and doctors who devote so much loving care and attention to babies in this country. All the babies in the world, however, are not so fortunate.
Recently the Annual Report of UNICEF, that is, the United Nations Children’s Organisation, drew attention to the plight of millions of under-privileged children around the world. It reports that
More than a billion children are being denied the rights contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child agreed by World Leaders in 1989,
For example, one in twenty-one (21), that is, ninety million children are severely hungry,
One in seven (7) two hundred and seventy million have no health care at all.
Children accounted for nearly half the 3.6 million people killed in wars since 1990.
2.2 million children die each year through lack of immunisation while
1.4 million children die each year due to lack of access to safe water or sanitation.

At the time of the millennium eight development goals were agreed upon to be met by 2015 and it was agreed that it would cost somewhere in the region of 40 to 70 billion dollars. In 2003 world military spending was 956 billion dollars. Let us hope and pray that the commitments of meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals will be kept.

ALL THE GOODS OF THE EARTH FOR ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE EARTH

The precious prize of peace is closely linked to the development of all peoples. In other words, if the good things of creation were available equally to all the members of the Human Family, then peace among the citizens of this world would be made much more secure. All the indications are that the earth and all the good things it contains were intended, by the Creator of the earth, for the use of everyone on this earth and of all peoples. Surely the Creator intends the goods of this earth for all the sons and daughters of the same Creator Father, to be shared equally among all the brothers and sisters of the human family.

A POWERFUL MOBILISATION OF SOLIDARITY

In recent days we have seen, and in days and weeks and months to come, we will see, please God, a most powerful mobilisation of solidarity with all those unfortunate people of South East Asia.
What we are seeing here is the application of the principle of world citizenship. It is unfortunate that it takes a disaster of this scale to bring home to us the fact that we are all members of the one Human Family and that we all have responsibilities to each other. But what a welcome change from the mobilisation of international coalitions to wage war and wreak destruction!

We thank God for courageous news reporters and journalists and camera crews who risk their own lives and certainly sacrifice their own comforts to bring these images and stories into our living rooms. As we reflect on this immense tragedy we will be moved to dig deep into our pockets and our wallets to help our unfortunate brothers and sisters of those disaster stricken countries. We will remember them in our prayers and in our sacrifices.

Bishop Patrick Walsh has invited people of Down and Connor to fast on Friday next for the sake of these victims. I would like to think that people in this diocese would consider a similar fast and donate the proceeds of the fast to the victims of this terrible tragedy.

As a result of our reflection we will also hopefully become more sensitive to the needs of the immigrants in our own midst such as the Lithuanians, the Latvians, the Portuguese. We may come to realise their fears and their insecurities but also their hopes and their aspirations for the New Year.
But, as we contemplate this immense human tragedy, let us determine to work for the just and fair development of all nations. For this is the basis – the sound basis – for a real and lasting peace.
ASKING AND GIVING FORGIVENESS – SOMETHING HUMAN

Compared with the tragedy in Asia, our problems seem very slight indeed. Yet it is a great pity that once more the peace process here is halted. Is it a sign that lasting peace needs something more than political structures and mechanisms? Perhaps what is missing is a greater capacity, in all of us, to accept and understand what is different and a greater willingness to forgive from the heart. We all need to be forgiven by others, so we must be all ready to forgive. Asking and giving forgiveness is something profoundly human but it does not happen spontaneously and naturally. However, sometimes it is the only way out of situations blocked by ancient animosities.

The difficulty of forgiving does not always arise from present circumstances but can often have its roots in the fears and suspicions, the hatreds and divisions of the distant past. A sort of healing of memories may be needed to ensure that nobody remains a prisoner of the past. Such a healing may be required to bring about the kind of warmth of relationships, acceptance and understanding, which would be desirable among prospective partners in a shared and peaceful future. Perhaps it is time for us all to bite the lip, let go of our hurts, ask and offer forgiveness and move on for the sake of the greater good. It is not a case of forgetting the past but rather of examining it with a new attitude and a new outlook in the light of suffering endured in order to learn the lesson that the deadly cycle of revenge can, and should be replaced, once and for all, by the kind of freedom which is the fruit of forgiveness from the heart.
It is interesting that World Day of Peace is celebrated on the Feast of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Jesus – the son of Mary – was foretold by the prophet, Isaiah as the ‘Prince of Peace’. When at last he came, the angels sang out:

Glory to God on the Highest and peace on earth among those whom He favours.
Mary is often invoked under the title ‘Queen of Peace’. Today we do so again as we place ourselves, and all our loved ones, under her patronage, as we pray for peace in 2005. This is the year dedicated to the Eucharist – the supreme sacrament of love. By sharing in the one bread we come to realise that we are not only ONE family but GOD’S family as well and that together we can make our own effective contribution to building a world based on the values of Justice, Freedom and Peace.
AMEN