GOLDEN JUBILEE MASS
OF BISHOP FRANCIS McKIERNAN
CATHEDRAL OF ST. PATRICK AND ST. FELIM, CAVAN
7 JUNE, 2001
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Now that I have the microphone I am tempted to offer the prayer of the man who fell into the vat of stout in Guinness’s brewery. He prayed, ‘Lord give me a mouth worthy of this glorious opportunity’. However I had better behave myself and simply say that I am sure that every one of us would wish to be associated with those sentiments of Pope John Paul II and to make his words our own on this happy occasion. We are all delighted to have this opportunity of joining with Bishop MacKiernan as he celebrates the Golden Anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

For every Jubilee whether it is of a wedding or of a Religious Profession or of Priestly Ordination is in reality a celebration of the fidelity of God. Tonight we give thanks to God, to a faithful God, for the help and blessings and grace, which has been given so generously to Bishop MacKiernan over the last fifty years.

This we do gladly and joyfully, for we in turn have benefited in so many different ways from his generous ministry, whether as priest or pastor, teacher or mentor, counsellor or friend.

What makes this evening so special is the fact that the guest of honour is someone whom we know very well, whom we admire very much and who holds a special place in the affection and esteem of so many people.

Bishop Frank, I know that the other Bishops of the country would want me to express to you their warmest congratulations on this joyful occasion. This I gladly do in their name and on my own behalf.

It is now some 49 years since I first met the then Fr MacKiernan. He was in St. Patrick’s College, for the second time, I, for the first – he as teacher, I as student. I was counting up last night the names of those of us who shared that year together. There are not many left but they are: Fr Jim Carroll, Fr Colm Hurley, Fr Joe Dolan, Fr Paddy Sullivan, Fr Ray Brady, Fr Donal Hannon, Fr John Cusack, Fr Thomas Woods, and Fr John Quinn.

I know it is very fashionable now to look back and belittle the days of our schooling and the way we were educated. But I want to say that I feel no such desire. As I grow older I appreciate more and more all that so many people did so generously for us.

Bishop Frank, tonight I want to thank God for the example you set before us then, and ever since, of how to live as a priest. That is, a life spent in the service of others, for the love of God and of neighbour and not for one’s own glory but for the glory of God’s Kingdom. It is all so easily said but not so easily achieved.
However, tonight in his homily, Bishop McKiernan has indicated something of how it was achieved in his case and due so much to the grace of God. I want to thank God for the wisdom of your counsel, the strength of your friendship and kindness, your concern and your hospitality, extended so graciously and so constantly to your priests and to your people, especially in times of sickness and of trouble. I want to thank you for your excellent steady leadership, your commitment and your dedication to the genuine well being of this diocese.

Before we leave this Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Felim on this holy occasion, I want you to join with me in fervent prayer that God may give to Bishop McKiernan good health and strength for many long years to enable him to continue to convey to people everywhere – but especially here in his beloved Kilmore – the warmth of his friendship and of his encouragement. They are in fact signs of the living kindness of Christ himself.

I thank Bishop Leo for the kind invitation to be present at this celebration and to share in the jubilation of this happy time.

To our illustrious Jubilarian I say – Faoi Brath Mhuire thú í gconaí.

VISIT OF THE RELICS OF ST THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX
TO
OUR LADY OF LOURDES, MEDICAL MISSIONARIES OF MARY
DROGHEDA
21 MAY 2001
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Thank God for this visit of the relics of St. Thérèse to our country, to our diocese, to the town of Drogheda and to the Medical Missionaries of Mary. It is a sign that God is granting Thérèse her wish, which she expressed in one of her final conversations when she said, “I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth”.

Already we have seen the good that is being done – people taking time to come and visit. People getting to know more about this most popular of saints by reading the story of her life. People going to Confession and seeking pardon for their sins. People asking St. Thérèse to intercede with the Father for us. We pray that her message – that God reveals the secrets of His life to those who become like little children – we pray that, that message may become more widely known and accepted.

I have heard people asking these days, what do we mean when we say that St. Thérèse is a Doctor of the Church. Obviously she is not a medical doctor, although her intercession and her merits can indeed produce a healing of mind and soul. A Doctor of the Church is someone who has something to teach us about God and about our relationship with God. In 1997 Pope John Paul II declared St. Thérèse’s life and teaching to be worthy of imitation. He said that through her life and writing Thérèse had made the Gospel shine out with great appeal and great attraction for the people of our time.

It is well known that within a few years of her death – through the influence of her own life story entitled The Story of a Soul – Thérèse inspired the faith of countless thousands. Many soldiers, especially during the First World War, turned to her in prayer for help.

Now the basic facts of her life are easily told. Born in Normandy in France in 1873, Thérèse was the ninth child of Louis and Zelie Martin. Four of the children died in infancy or early childhood. Their mother died of breast cancer when Thérèse was four and half years old. Their father was an outstanding Christian. He made sure that his family was brought up in the practice and knowledge of their faith. Probably one effect of her mother’s early death was that Thérèse was shy and very sensitive. Her schooldays were not happy as she was constantly bullied by an older girl.

Gradually Thérèse regained her self-confidence and reached the conclusion that she was being called by God to enter religious life. She showed her strong will in her persistent pleading with the Church authorities, even with the Pope, that she be allowed to enter despite the fact that she was too young.

She got her way and entered the Carmelite Convent at Lisieux when she was fifteen, where she spent the remaining nine years of her short life. It was a life of obscurity, behind the walls of the convent, following out the routine of the Carmelite Order. It was a life dedicated to prayer and reading and to work. It was a life of enduring with patience, the many trials and sufferings that came her way, but trying to do all things with love. She became ill with tuberculosis and died peacefully on September 30, 1897 at the age of twenty-four.

The fact that she said she wanted to spend her heaven doing good on earth, shows that she understood very clearly the three different states of the Church. At the present time, some of the followers of Christ, like ourselves for instance, are pilgrims here on earth. Others have died and are being purified. Still others are saints in glory, contemplating God in full life. Because the saints are more closely united to Christ, they do not cease to intercede. They are interceding all the time on our behalf. They offer the merits, which they acquired here on earth, to God, on our behalf. Thérèse was quite clear that the love, which Christ has for each one of us, is the source in us, of all our merits before God. Like a child she asked everything from God.

She believed firmly in the immense love which God has for each one of us and which was revealed in Jesus Christ. Thérèse believed deeply that God desires, despite our many faults and failings, to draw us into His love and to shower us with the fruits of that love. She thought often and long about the death of Christ on the cross. She came to see that God was calling her to respond to that love. She said, “In the end we will be judged on love alone”. Another time she said, “the Church must have a heart, a heart burning with love. This love alone is the true force which enables all the other members of the Church to act. Love in fact is THE vocation which includes all others”. “Lord” she prayed on one occasion “I want to work for your love alone. In the evening of this life” she said, “I shall appear before you with empty hands for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. I wish them to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love, the eternal possession of yourself. I have come to understand this” she said, “without love, all works are nothing else”.

It would be a great mistake to give the impression that for Thérèse, her faith was always clear. For years it was so and she says that for years she simply could not understand how anyone could be an atheist. But all of that was to change. About a year and a half before her death, her dark night of faith began. The foundations of her faith were shaken. All the joy and peace that she used to have in believing, vanished.

She described the experience in these words, “Jesus allowed me to experience for myself that there really are souls who have no faith, or have lost the faith. He allowed my soul to be covered with the thickest darkness and let the thoughts of heaven, which had always been my joy, become instead a cause of nothing but strain and torment”. Thérèse compared the experience to a journey through a dark tunnel, a tunnel which continued without relief or ray of light. It was to continue during the last months of her life, until her death. She describes this darkness as if it were mocking at her faith and hope. “There is no beyond” the voice seemed to say, “there is nothing beyond”. She was tempted to believe that one day the scientists would be able to explain it all away.

Thérèse’s answer to difficulties in prayer was to keep on praying. “For me” she said, “prayer is a surge of the heart. It is a simple look towards heaven. It is a cry of recognition and of love, which embraces both trial and joy”.

In the same way her answer to difficulties in faith was to keep on believing. She once wrote out the Creed in blood. Her desire was to live her faith through tears and troubles. She came to see that faith is a commitment of the whole person, which lies beyond seeing or feeling. “I have made more acts of faith in the past weeks” she said “than during the rest of my life”.

Lots of people are tempted like that, to give up their faith or to believe that faith is useless. May St Thérèse help them and all of us, to believe more firmly.
AMEN

CENTENARY OF THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION
TULLYALLEN
HOMILY BY ARCHBISOP SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 20 MAY 2001

As early as last November this parish decided they were going to celebrate the centenary of this beautiful Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in May of this year. This was a very appropriate date. Holy Mass was celebrated in this Church, for the first time, in the month of May 1991. That is 100 years ago. Of course May is the month of Our Lady.

To mark the occasion of the year of the Great Jubilee, which has just ended, Father Caraher and his Committee, decided to add a new spire to the Church. An architect drawing of the front of the Church, dating from 1901 contains a spire. However, it was not included in the actual building but you, the parishioners of the year 2001 have rectified that omission. Today we also bless in addition to the parish cemetery, the furnishings of the Church, a beautiful hand-woven piece, which is by a parishioner. All of this is a cause for great rejoicing and celebration and congratulations.

I am delighted that for this glorious occasion we have fine weather and have been joined by a number of people who have long associations with this parish, in one way or another. The Abbot of new Mellifont, Dom Bernard Boyle, is most welcome. His presence reminds us of the monastic history of this parish. That history goes back a long way. The historians tell us that there was a monastery in Tullyallen, founded by St. Colman. St. Colman is said to have died in 726. His monastery continued in existence for over 400 years. Then in the 12th century St. Malachy of Armagh undertook his famous renewal of the Irish Church.

Part of that initiative was the renewal of monastic life and the introduction of Cistercian monks to Old Mellifont in the year 1142. This came about because of St. Malachy’s friendship with St. Bernard of Clairvaux in France. In fact St. Malachy died in Clairvaux during one of his visits to St. Bernard, but not before he had already received the great gift of a monastic Cistercian presence and foundation for Mellifont. The first Abbot was Christban O’Comairde and he also became the first Parish Priest of the new Mellifont parish. That parish stretched over a wide area – from the Mattock to the Boyne and east as far as where the new motorway is going. St. Bernard and St. Christban are featured in the lovely stained glass window behind the altar of this Church. That window bears testimony to the appreciation and awareness of the immense contribution made by the Cistercian monks to this parish and indeed to the diocese over the last 1,000 years. We owe them a great debt. That Cistercian link continued until the suppression of Mellifont Monastery in 1539 by King Henry VIII. In fact the link continued on after the suppression. The Monastery was dissolved but individual Cistercian priests were determined not to abandon their people but to serve them, as best they could, in the face of immense difficulties. We know that Father John McCabe, Parish Priest here from 1718-1744 was a Cistercian.

From a very cursory study, it appears to me that the history of this parish has been marked by outstanding generosity. This perhaps is also a legacy of the marks, which the Cistercians have left on the parish. This is not surprising since they were themselves men who had left all things to follow Christ.

Father Thomas Treanor, Parish Priest from 1821-1870, purchased a farm from his own resources and then left it to the parish for the benefit of his successors. When Father Matthew Kearney was organising the building of a Parochial House in 1868, the parishioners gave their labour free and made the bricks in the field, which became to be known as the ‘Brick Field’.

Father Thomas Taaffe became Parish Priest in 1884. He set about the provision of a new Church and cemetery. We are told that he bought two gardens from Thomas and Mary Caulfield. A price was agreed but never accepted – yet another example of heroic generosity. The architect for the new Church was William Byrne of Dublin and the Contractor was James Wynne of Dundalk. The foundation stone was laid by Cardinal Logue on Low Sunday, 1898. Later that day Benediction was given in the ruins of Mellifont Abbey Church for the first time in 359 years. Father Taaffe was in failing health. His dearest wish and prayer were that he should live to celebrate Mass in the new Church. The Lord heard his prayer and granted him his wish. The first Mass in the new Church, celebrated in May 1901, was Father Taaffe’s last public Mass. We are very pleased to welcome Father Denis Nulty, PP, St. Mary’s, Drogheda, a grandnephew of the late Father Taaffe.

As regards the history of the last 100 years and of this Church, you will have your own ideas and memories and much clearer ones than any I can give you. No doubt they are memories of joyful days, like days of Baptism and First Communion, Confirmation and Marriages. Of course the ordination of Father Malachy Finnegan, SMA, must have been one of the highlights, and it is great that he can be with us today also. There were other days, less joyful, such as days of funerals and month memories and anniversary Masses. They were days tinged with sorrow and grief when you came here to get some ray of hope in the midst of despair and discouragement.

You came to hear the Word of God and to get the strength to keep that Word. You came, because you believe what we heard Jesus say just now, in the Gospel.

“If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make our home with him.”

Those words make clear to me why people decide to build themselves a Church – so that they may have a place where they can gather to hear the word of Jesus, which is also the word of God the Father. It is where they can get the strength to respond to that love in word and deed. In that way they become the kind of person, where God the Father and God the Son, can come and make their homes the Temples of God.

People build themselves a Church where the Advocate – the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Risen Christ – can come to them and to their children, especially on Confirmation day, to teach them what is truly wise and to remind them of what Jesus said and did.

A parish builds itself a Church where it can gather in times of trouble and of great fear, to find peace and reassurance. When Foot and Mouth threatened in the Cooley Peninsula and in South Armagh, people felt a great need to come together and pray and implore God’s protection and peace. When there is the threat of tragedy or where tragedy has taken place, the power of prayer, to dissolve fear and worry is very reassuring.

Over the last 100 years people often came here, burdened with the weight of sin, bowed down with the shame of guilt. They came to find pardon and peace. How often people came here who had been hurt and who were in pain, who were aching. They came to find healing and consolation in the sacrament of Confession. I firmly believe that we have not thought or reflected enough on that wonderful promise which Jesus made in today’s Gospel –

“Peace I bequeath to you,
my own peace I give you,
a peace the world cannot give this is my gift to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid”.

When we sin we hurt ourselves. We do indeed let our hearts be troubled. We are afraid of judgement and loss of everlasting happiness. When we sin, we injure and damage our relationship with God. All of that needs healing and forgiveness and pardon and peace.

We all desire peace from the depth of our hearts. We all hope for true peace. That is, we hope to live in harmony with nature and with our neighbour, with ourselves and with God. But, when we sin we disrupt that harmony. We are not at peace.

The great hope for peace became a reality in Jesus Christ. He has conquered sin. Sin has been conquered by him and in him. Jesus saw that his disciples were saddened at the prospect of his leaving them. He stepped in to reassure them. “My peace I leave you” he said, “My peace I give onto to you”. This peace is not linked to his bodily, physical presence among us. It is the result of his victory. By rising from the dead, Jesus shows that he is stronger than death. On the night of the Last Supper he told his friends, not to fear the evil world which will persecute them out of hatred. “Have confidence, it is the world that I have conquered”. Along with this peace Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit and power over sin.

After his resurrection St. John tells us that Jesus came and stood among his disciples and said, “Peace by with you”. After he had said this he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord – Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I send you”. When he had said this he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained”. That is the road to true peace. There is no other road to true peace. By receiving the Holy Spirit, by accepting the forgiveness offered to us, and by offering forgiveness to those who have offended us, we receive peace.

This beautiful Church was dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. That was 49 years before Pope Pius XII solemnly defined it as an article of our faith that Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven. It was a prophetic decision by Father Taaffe and his mentors. Obviously that decision was inspired by the wish to ask the help of Our Lady. Where she has gone, we all hope to follow. We will follow Our Lady to heaven but only if we unite ourselves to her Son, Jesus Christ. Only if we remove and get forgiveness for the sins we have committed.

Today in the adjoining parish of St. Peter’s, Drogheda, the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux have arrived. As she lay dying, the Little Flower said, “I am not dying, I am entering into life”. Later on she said, “I do not regret, not for a single moment do I regret, having offered myself to love”. Her last words were, “Oh, how I love Him. Oh my God, I love you”.

On another occasion she said, “One never expects too much of God; one receives as much from Him as one hopes for”. Then she said, “One demands of God exactly as much as one expects from Him” for there is nothing that Thérèse would not expect of God’s love.

This suggests one last thought to me – I am told that there has only been one ordination to the priesthood ever in this Church. I find that truly amazing. We all know that the Church needs priests to celebrate and lead all those activities, which we described as taking place in any parish church. Perhaps, as in several other parishes, you presume that there would always be a supply from places like Tallanstown, native parish of Father Caraher and from Coalisland, the native parish of Father O’Kelly. Of course we never miss the shelter until the tree falls, nor the water until the spring begins to run dry. Well the spring has not run dry, thank God, we have eleven seminarians, two of whom will be ordained this summer, please God. Well the supply has become a little less abundant, and so I ask you, I appeal to you, to pray for vocations to priesthood and religious life. Why should there not be vocations like that from this parish? Please, parents, speak to you children about the possibility that God is calling them, not in any forceful way, but in a loving way, in a caring way for them, because if that is what God wants them to do, then help them to carry it out. Remember St Thérèse’s words, “one demands of God exactly as much as one expects from Him”.

ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH
LOURDES PILGRIMAGE
CLOSING CEREMONY IN ST BERNADETTE’S CHURCH
ADDRESS BY MOST REVEREND SEÁN BRADY
MAY 16, 2001

We are gathered here for this farewell and final ceremony in St Bernadette’s Church. It is an appropriate place. It was built about 15 years ago on the very spot where Bernadette stood during the 18th and final apparition to her on 16 July, 1858. The authorities had fenced off the area in an effort to stop Bernadette going to the Grotto. But Bernadette had slipped away to this meadow on this side of the River Gave for her final meeting with Our Lady. “Never had I seen her looking so beautiful” she said.

It occurs to me that never does a diocese look more beautiful or a church look more beautiful than when it is gathered here in prayer in this holy place, young and old, healthy and sick, lay people, religious, priests and bishops.

Prayer, penitence and poverty are the three keys to the Message of Lourdes. Our Lady asked people to come here to pray. On the occasion of the 8th apparition Our Lady said, “Penitence – Pray for the conversion of sinners”.

As regards poverty, Bernadette clearly lived poverty in her own life. Our Lady promised her happiness, not in this world but in the next. Bernadette, who was sick herself, chose always to remain poor among the poor. In 1864 she was too ill to attend the first great procession to bless the statue in the Grotto. It was on that same day that she decided to join the Sisters in Nevers, many miles from here. On July 3, 1866 she went to the Grotto for the last time to collect her thoughts before saying goodbye to her family. She entered the Convent in Nervers on July 7, 1866. “I have come here to hide” she said. And there she died in 1879 after 13 years of very bad health. She had been bedridden for 4 years. She was only 35 years of age. Canonised a Saint in 1933, her perfectly preserved body had already been placed in a Glass Reliquary in 1925.

So this evening we give thanks to God for the grace and the gift of this pilgrimage – a grace that has made it possible for 980 pilgrims to come here to Lourdes from our diocese to hear, once again, the message of prayer, penitence and poverty.

Or course prayer, penitence and a simple way of life are not ends in themselves. Rather they are means which Mary, the beautiful Lady, recommends to all of us. On the cross Jesus established a bond of love between his followers and his Mother. As he was about to die he gave to each one of us his own beloved Mother to be our Mother also. The disciples of Jesus, the followers of Jesus, of all ages, receive her and welcome her as the most precious gift of their Master. Mary will always and ever be the Mother of those who believe. They will always run to her for protection and she, in turn, sees and loves, in each one of us, the image of her own Son, Jesus Christ. We, in our turn, despite all our weakness and our selfishness, try to remain faithful to the advice which Mary gave at the Wedding Feast of Cana. “Do whatever he tells you”.

It is in that spirit that 5,000,000 people come to Lourdes as pilgrims each year. I thank everyone who has made it possible for almost 1,000 Armagh pilgrims to be here. I thank God for that remarkable spirit of generous service and joyful co-operation, which is one of the hallmarks of our pilgrimage. Thank God for the 81 Brancardiers, the 85 handmaids, the 45 nurses and the 28 young people who have come to Lourdes this year. Thank God for the 3 carers, the 7 doctors, for Bishop Clifford, for the 15 priests of our diocese, for Eugene O’Neill who will be ordained priest, please God, on June 17. Our prayers and good wishes go with him.

Thank God for the presence of Cardinal Daly and congratulations to him in anticipation of the celebration, next month, of his 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Thank God for the presence and for the inspirational music and song of the Faughart Parish Choir. They have been the talk of Lourdes all week.

I thank each and every one of you, but most of all I thank you, the pilgrims, who make it all possible and who are ever so faithful and so good. A special word of praise and thanks I give to the 155 sick pilgrims. You have been truly magnificent all week. Your courage and your good spirits have inspired us. Your patience humbles us and your happiness has been tremendous. May the Mantle of Mary protect you and strengthen you always.

The final words of thanks must go to the Central Committee and to the 15 Regional Committees under the leadership of Fr Sean O’Neill. You have done a fantastic job. I am not going to name names but you know who they are. Keep them in your prayers so that they may continue the excellent service in our diocese.

The time has almost come when we must leave Lourdes yet again and go home. We once again leave this oasis of peace, this place of joy and happiness, a place which has been described as the ante-chamber of paradise. We go back, I hope, determined to take up again the pilgrimage of life with renewed love and renewed faith. There is a purpose and a meaning to life. We have not here on earth a lasting Kingdom but we seek one that is to come.

The theme of all pilgrimages to Lourdes next year is water, a very prominent feature of life in Lourdes. The waters of the Grotto remind us of the water that flowed from the pierced side of Christ on the Cross. They were symbolic of the Waters of Baptism which make us children of the Church. Because we are children of the Church we can pray together as we did this week with people from the four corners of the world knowing that we are all children of the one God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. The waters of the River Gave remind us of the River of Eternal Life. On its bank grows the Tree of Eternal Life. Its fruits are sources of health and beauty, symbols of heaven, where all things will be made new. Amen.

MASS WITH THE SEMINARIANS
THE COLLEGE CHAPEL, ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH
IN THE PRESENCE OF
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAYNOOTH
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 13 MAY 2001

I have just come from a great retreat in Dromantine. The setting was marvellous, the Mourne mountains slouched in the background bathed in the haze. The swans on the lake, the cherry trees in full blossom. It was like the ante-chamber of Paradise. The Retreat Master was excellent, Father Benny McHale, of Tuam. One of the many memorable quotes was that “every Offertory Procession should contain a towel and a basin, to remind us priests of what Jesus did on the night on which he gave us his body and blood to be our food and drink”.

It is important to remember the context of the Gospel we have just heard. It was a solemn moment in the life of Jesus. It was the first Holy Thursday evening. Jesus knew that his hour had come. He was about to leave this world and go to the Father. He had just washed his disciples’ feet, to teach them the true meaning of Eucharist, namely, that if he, their Lord and teacher, had washed their feet, they should wash one another’s feet. He is setting an example for all of us to follow. We are his servants, we are not greater than Jesus. We are his messengers, we are not greater than the one who sent us. “Once we know these things”, he tells us, “we are blessed if we do them”.

I am convinced that we should really take those words and the example of Jesus to heart. If we try to offer to our people, the faithful service of preaching the Gospel tirelessly and faithfully and patiently, if we pray with them and for them, if we are available to comfort and console, to guide and direct, humbly and generously. In other words, if we are feet washers, well I don’t think we should worry too much, we won’t go too far astray. That is what Jesus sends us to do. He sends us out in his name, and he assures us that whoever receives us, receives the Father who sent him.

Having washed their feet and explained the meaning of what he was doing, Jesus dropped a right bombshell. “One of you will betray me”, he said. Naturally there was pandemonium. I just wonder was it this washing of feet which finally decided Judas. We will never know. In any case Jesus made one last effort to save him. He offered him the piece of bread, which he had dipped in the dish. It was a sign of honour. One final attempt to win the heart of Judas. After receiving the piece of bread, Judas went out and St. John adds, ‘it was night’. “Yes, it was night” says St. Augustine “and he who went out was also night”. Judas went out in the realms of darkness to carry out his evil plot.

That is the context of the Gospel text we have just heard. The departure of Judas seems to allow Jesus to confide in his disciples in a way that was not possible in the presence of his betrayer. You know the way it is not possible to talk in the presence of an outsider. “Now”, Jesus said, “the Son of Man has been glorified”. Whenever in John’s Gospel Jesus refers to himself as ‘The Son of Man’, we know that he is talking about something important. Here he is talking about glory, his own glory and the glory of the Father. In fact this process of glorification has already begun. The move made by Judas sets in motion the whole mechanism of his arrest, his trial, and his execution. The lifting up of the Son of Man on the cross – sure it is the lifting up of his body above the earth but above all, it is the expression of his triumph over the prince of this world and over sin and over death.

Jesus is thinking beyond his humiliation and his sufferings. He is thinking of the triumph, which he will win with his obedience to the Father. In that way he will achieve victory. The cross, far from being a defeat, is in fact his greatest triumph. Not alone that, but all the glorification of our crucified Lord by his resurrection and ascension, Christ has already entered into glory.

The glorification of Christ is brought to completion in the followers of Christ. Already the glory of the Risen Christ is reflected in his followers, transforming them into his image. We are all made for glory that is quite clear from the context of this morning’s Gospel. When Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going”? he said, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now but you will follow afterwards. I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also”. The ironic thing is that we will achieve that glory, not by seeking self but by forgetting self. The duty of each one of us is to recognise and praise the glory of God. When Jesus comes again there will be one test, how we fulfil the new commandment he gave us in that evening’s Gospel – love one another, just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

The duty of every man and woman is to recognise and praise the glory of God. At the end of history the spouse of Christ, the Church, appears clothed in the only glory worthy of her spouse, Jesus Christ, namely, the virtues, the offerings and the sacrifices of the saints. Yet the glory of the bride comes to her entirely from her spouse. It is with his blood that the robes of the chosen saints have been made white. She is left to clothe herself day after day with the good works which God has prepared in advance. Her glory comes entirely from her spouse. The love of Christ is the basis of this glory for Christ has loved the Church and delivered himself for her. That is why Jesus at the Last Supper says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another”.

Our paths to glory leads us like Jesus Christ over our Calvaries – little Calvaries and sometimes big Calvaries. Only the strength of the love of Christ can keep us going right to the end.

When people recognise the glory of God – they are often disposed to undertake great things for God. Some people go on the Missions, they give their lives to fulfilling another great command of Jesus – “Go teach all nations”. People with a great soul and a big heart practice magnificently the virtue which inclines us to do great works and to undertake the expense that such works entail for the glory of God and the well being of our fellow human beings.

This College Chapel is a case in point. It is indeed a splendid place – a place of quiet – a place of prayer. It is the most abiding memory everyone takes away from Maynooth whether they be priest, student, or visitor. The rest of the buildings on this campus were helped in varying degrees from public funds. The College Chapel is the great exception. It was built entirely by the generosity of private benefactors.

The passing of over 100 years is beginning to tell its tale. One roof has already been renewed with all the care it deserves and result looks very happy but there are four more and this will only be the beginning of extensive renewal after the wear and tear of a century. This renewal will depend entirely on private benefactors as the building of the Chapel itself depended. We are talking about a daunting task but this Chapel would not have been built at all if people were easily daunted.

INTRODUCTION

I welcome all of you to the celebration of the Eucharist on this, the Fifth Sunday of Easter. I extend an especially warm welcome to the Friends of Maynooth, who are making their ninth annual visit. Some have been here often before. About 20 are visiting Ireland and Maynooth for the first time. You are all most welcome.

I thank you on behalf of the Catholic Church in Ireland for your faithful friendship and generous support of Maynooth and of its work of educating priests and lay leaders, to serve the Church, at home and abroad. That work depends on all of you. You are all being remembered and prayed for in this Mass. May I be allowed to mention just a few who are here present:

John and Eileen Elliott
Doctors Joseph and Martha Murphy
Dr Barbara Gannon
Dr Bernadette Casey Smith and Owen Smith
John Biagini
Arthur and Carole Stuchbury
Joan Heaney
Gerry Zoller
Frank and Sue Crowley
Dave and Jackie Mahoney
Ciara Carucci
Dr Bill and Rose McKenna
Mary Reilly Hunt
Wendell Young
This is the ninth annual visit of the American Friends of Maynooth.

This year the Maynooth Mission Outreach is eight years old. Maynooth Mission Outreach sends groups of students to India and Africa to gain direct experience of working on the mission fields. This year it intends to send out its biggest group since its foundation – eleven students, 4 to Kenya and 7 to Calcutta. So, I welcome those who are about to be commissioned and their families to this Mass. We thank God for their missionary zeal and ask the Lord to protect them during the sojourn in these far distant countries.

Of course I welcome the students and faculty of the College who live and work here in order to prepare to serve as priests in the dioceses of Ireland. Today we give particular thanks to God for the work of the past academic year and for a successful completion in the form of examinations. We give a special place in our thoughts and prayers to those who are preparing for priestly ordination this summer.

DEDICATION OF CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK, CASTLEDAWSON
(PARISH OF MAGHERAFELT)
SUNDAY 6 MAY 2001
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

VOCATIONS SUNDAY – 2001
ARDBOE
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

I was in Cookstown for Confirmation yesterday. I was very moved to hear one of the newly confirmed children pray for all those who suffered because of the Foot and Mouth crisis. It is just one more sign of the sympathy and support which people feel at the present time.

You have been in my thoughts and prayers often over the past month. I come here this morning to express to you my sympathy and the sympathy of very many people at the trouble you have suffered over these past weeks. I was brought up on a farm myself and I have a fair idea of the part which livestock play in the life of a farming family and of a farming community. I come to pray with you – to ask God to heal the hurt and to ease the pain of loss. We come to thank God for the help which people have given each other in the present difficulties. We thank God for the understanding and the willingness of so many to make sacrifices, which other sections of the community have shown in recent times.

Above all, we come together to pray for hope. We ask the God of all consolation to give fresh heart and courage to His people at this trying time. We know well that God can draw good out of every situation, no matter how dismal or discouraging it may seem. The all-powerful and generous God, who creates all life – animal, mineral and vegetable – can restore and replace the flocks that have been lost, in His own good time and according to His own good purpose.

Jesus compared himself to a shepherd. He said he was a good shepherd who was prepared to lay down his life for his sheep. It shows that he understood rural life. He realised that the life of the flock was constantly under threat – not only from words but also from plagues and from disease. Jesus said that he knew his own people – the shepherd knows his sheep. They listen to his voice and he leads them out into fresh and green pastures. I think all of that is worth thinking about at this time. In fact I would recommend that you take up the Gospel of St. John and read all of Chapter 10. Why not talk to the Lord about what he says there. Ask him questions.

St. Gregory the Great says that when Jesus says, “I know my sheep”, he is also saying, “I love them”. When he says, “My sheep know me”, he means, “those who love me, obey me”. “I know them” Jesus says, “and they follow me. I give them eternal life. They will never be lost”. That is at once a great consolation. It is at once a source of deep happiness and deep joy, that promise of Jesus, and no misfortune should distract us from this happiness. If anyone is anxious to reach a certain destination, the roughness of the road will not make him change his mind. “The charms of prosperity must not lead us astray, for only a foolish traveller”, says St. Gregory, “when he sees the pleasant fields on his way, forgets to go on towards his destination”.

This is Good Shepherd Sunday; it is also Vocations Sunday. The theme for this World Day of Prayer for Vocations is: Every Life is a Vocation. Each one of us is called, by God, to enter into a relationship with God, a relationship of love. We do so by listening to the voice of Jesus, who was sent by God, by getting to know him and by following him. We follow him when we keep his commandments. That is the one and only way to eternal life, the one and only way to everlasting happiness.

Writing for today – Vocations Sunday – Pope John Paul II says “The great temptation of our western culture today is to put God on the sidelines of daily life, to relegate Him to the margins, to keep Him in a very small box indeed”. So the Holy Father calls the whole Christian community to re-evangelise life. He says, “so many young people are hungry and thirsting for values today. They are often incapable of finding the way, which leads to those values. Christ and Christ alone is the way, the truth and the life”. They must be helped to meet the Lord and to build up a deep friendship with him.

My prayer is this, that you will be able to come together to meet the Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to establish a deep relationship with him. Jesus must enter into the world of each one of us, become part of our history. We must open our hearts to him and learn to know him each day more deeply so that we can follow him more faithfully and more lovingly. May each one of you come to know Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd more fully.

The Message of Jesus Christ – the message of Eternal Life, is that each one of us is called to enter into a relationship with God, a relationship of love. We do so by listening to the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who was sent by God to save us. We are to get to know him. We follow him when we keep his commandments. That is the only way to eternal life, the one and only route to everlasting happiness. Yes, you are God’s building; Jesus Christ is the foundation. The temple of God is sacred and you are that temple.

AMEN

CHURCH LEADERS VISIT TO FLEMING FULTON SCHOOL, BELFAST.
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

I want to thank Dr. David Mehaffey, Headmaster, and the Board of Governors for the kind invitation to the Four Church Leaders to come here to Fleming Fulton School this morning. That invitation was received with joy and accepted without hesitation.

It gives us an opportunity to meet and pray with some of the special young people who study at Fleming Fulton School and with those who teach and work in the school. I have heard of the great work which takes place in the school. I have been told about the wonderful shows that have been produced here. It is a joy to come and meet the people involved.

We have come, to join with you, in thanksgiving and to praise God for all of that – we have been inspired by the Assembly Service just now. We pray that God will continue to bless the pupils and staff of Fleming Fulton School.

It has fallen to my lot to unveil the Memorial Plaque. I regard this as a great honour. I congratulate all those involved in establishing the Memorial Garden. A special word of praise and thanks goes surely to the young people who have played a part in all of this work. I know that I speak for all of my colleagues, the Church Leaders, when I say this is a wonderful idea and thank you to all who have worked so hard to bring it about.

I know that I speak for many other people also when I say ‘thank you’ for this Memorial Garden. I speak for the relatives and families of those in whose memory this beautiful garden is being provided. I say thank you on behalf of all those people who are going to come here, in the future, and get consolation from their visit. I understand that some of the young people will, later on, come to beautify it and make this place lovely for flowers. All of this of course is a sign of a great love which obviously fills Fleming Fulton School and makes it a very special place indeed. Long may it remain so. May the Lord continue to bless all who study here and all who teach here.

Thank you.

ORDINATION AS AUXILIARY BISHOP OF DOWN & CONNOR OF
RT REV. DONAL McKEOWN
ST PETER’S CATHEDRAL, BELFAST
29 APRIL, 2001
ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
PRESIDENT, IRISH BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE

Your Eminences, Your Excellency, Bishop Donal, Sisters and Brothers in Christ.

I gladly welcome Bishop Donal McKeown into the ranks of the Irish Bishops’ Conference. I warmly congratulate him on his appointment. The presence of so many bishops here this afternoon indicates our delight at the news of his nomination. I congratulate his mother, brother, sister and all the family on this great occasion.

In his homily Bishop Walsh has already assured his new Auxiliary Bishop of the support and loyalty of the priests, religious and faithful people of Down & Connor. I want to assure him of the support and confidence of his brother bishops.

We have heard in the rite of ordination that bishops are called to give leadership. I have known Donal since 1975. It was a Holy Year. He was then a seminarian at the Irish College, Rome. I remember how each week over the year he gave generously of his time and energy to help Irish pilgrims give praise to God in the Basilica of St John Lateran. Many of those pilgrims were loud in their praise of his wonderful proclaiming of the Scriptures in word and song. The signs of leadership potential were already to be seen.

Since then of course he has given outstanding service and leadership in St Patrick’s, Knock, St Macnissi’s, St Malachy’s, and in many other areas of the life of the Church. The experience will stand him in good stead now as he is called to take his place alongside Bishop Farquhar in assisting Bishop Walsh in the pastoral and spiritual leadership of the Diocese of Down & Connor.

NEW CHAPTER

Today there is rejoicing not just in Randalstown, not just from Rathlin Island to Carlingford Lough, but especially in Killossy, the Titular See of the new Auxiliary Bishop.

Our prayers are with you Donal as you begin a new chapter of your life of service to the Church. We look forward to working with you in the Conference and especially to the valuable contribution which we know you are certainly going to make.

VIGIL MASS – EASTER 2001
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Every Easter Day reminds us of the message of the most quoted line in Scripture:
“God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that all who believe in him, may not perish but may have eternal life”.

There we have issues that are of huge importance for everyone – life, death, love, the world. Nobody wants to perish. Nobody wants to be annihilated. Everybody wants to live forever. If there is a promise of everlasting happiness, well surely everyone wants to hear about it. And so the Easter Message is one of life.

Jesus has won the victory over death. The Spirit of God raised him up. And so, Easter tells us that suffering and death are not final. They are not going to be victorious. On Calvary Jesus appeared to have been beaten. He was abandoned by his friends, executed by his enemies and denied by his closest disciple. His plan was to establish a kingdom where the dignity of every human person would be upheld, where the poor would be respected, where injustice would be opposed and eliminated. Well, on Good Friday evening those plans seemed to be in tatters. The set-back was enormous but it was only temporary.

The fact that God raised Jesus, His Son, from the dead, showed that Jesus was in fact truthful and honest. He keeps his promises. He speaks the truth. His followers were, in turn, to receive the power of that same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. They were sent out to announce the coming of God’s kingdom. They were charged and tasked to change the world by speaking up for the dignity of people, made in the image and likeness of God and to defend the dignity of that person. They were sent out to try and work to create the conditions in which every human person would be respected. Where the value of every human life, no matter how weak, or how challenged physically or mentally, would be respected and honoured. They were sent out to announce that when life on earth is over, that is not the end. They were sent out to tell people who had a heavy cross to carry, whether it be a cross of illness, or a cross of betrayal, or a cross of abandonment, they were not to give up hope but to have courage and strength. They were to tell them of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Easter celebrates the most important time in the history of the world, when Jesus passed from death to life. He set the world free from the slavery of sin and from the fear of death. He led us all into a freedom that will last forever. He is the Saviour of the world.

Easter is a time of new life and a time of fresh hope. The light of the Easter candle reminds us of the sure hope that the Spirit of the Risen Lord continues to act in our lives and in our world. Easter is a time when we realise that what we long for in the depths of our hearts actually could become a reality. We long for a world that is safe and peaceful; a world where people can live in faithfulness to God and to each other; where people can live with dignity; where people can live free from fear and intimidation. We yearn for a world where everyone, especially the sick and the weak and the old, are welcomed and loved and cared for; a world free from corruption and greed; Where the Church promotes and proclaims God’s endless mercy and justice fearlessly and ceaselessly. Yes, the victory of Christ gives real grounds for hoping that every human hunger can be satisfied, the hunger for truth and beauty and honesty, the hunger for love, respect and fidelity.

“Empty dreams”, “Pie in the sky”, “sweet talk” may well be the comments of those who cynically know so well the weakness of our condition. At Easter we name the forces of darkness that are present in our world and in our lives, and we celebrate the victory of Christ over those forces. We celebrate that victory of Christ with joy because it points to God’s final triumph over every power of evil.

We pray that the light of Christ, rising in glory, may dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds. For only the light of Christ gives hope that does not deceive. Only the light of Christ is powerful enough to banish the hatred and the bitterness from our hearts: hatred and anger nourished on the memory of ancient wrongs but powerful enough to sour and embitter us for life. Only the love of Christ can move hearts, hardened by bigotry and prejudice. Only the light of Christ can enable us to see ourselves as we really are, weak sinners, but called to become saints, and to see those who differ from us whether in race, colour or religion, as equal and precious in the sight of God.

The Spirit of the Risen Christ is with his Church. The Spirit guides the Church to share its wisdom with the world. That wisdom inspires the followers of Christ to do their best to build a just society. The Spirit urges people to live lives of holiness amidst the challenges and distractions of modern life.

The Sprit of the Risen Christ directs the Church to see that there is more to life than a healthy economy or an efficient political system. For human life is sacred and respect for the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision of society. The resurrection of Christ reminds us that every person is precious and people are more important than material possessions – all are destined to rise from the dead and are called to share the life of God, the life of everlasting happiness.

That is the true basis for our Easter joy. Easter joy is a peaceful joy, built on the belief that the death of Jesus is our ransom from death. His resurrection is our rising to life. Sometimes on Good Friday it is difficult to savour the mood of loneliness and grief if all around are busy shopping and celebrating. In the same way, on Easter Day it can be very difficult to experience the joy of Easter in the face of worries and cares and sorrow. Someone may have died who is dear to us, there is the pain of a sick mother or father, the worry about our livelihood in the face of the current foot and mouth crisis.

Easter joy is a deep and lasting joy. It is no passing pleasure or temporary thrill, where problems are ignored or swept under the carpet in an attempt to look always on the bright side of things. Neither is it built by forgetting the passion and death of Christ which still continues, by ignoring the nails and the crowns and the lance, for in fact, those sufferings are still to be found in the lives of people who suffer.

The new life, brought by Christ is the discovery of the secret of how Jesus lived his life. It was a life lived in dedication to doing his Father’s will and of serving his brothers and sisters. It is the discovery that no matter what happens, all will be well and all manner of things will be well, precisely because Christ is risen.

This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave. And, by rising from the grave, Jesus has put eternal life within our reach. The hope of that resurrection is ultimately the motive for all our good works. The Risen Christ gives us all great hope, the hope that we too will be raised, on the last day, to everlasting joy. May it be so and may you all, along with your families, have a joyous gracefilled Easter. AMEN