Thank you Dean (Susan) Patterson for your very generous words. Thank you too for your warm welcome to this Cathedral Church of St. Patrick of the combined Dioceses of Tuam, Killala and Achonry. Please convey my good wishes and appreciation to Bishop Richard Henderson for his permission to occupy this historic pulpit. I realise that it links us directly to the remarkable events of 1798 and to his predecessor Bishop Joseph Stock. In a recent article in the Western People, John Cooney remarked that today I would be stepping into ‘the cathedral pulpit once adorned by the sagacious Bishop Stock.’ I do so very warily indeed!

The pulpit was not always a clerical preserve. It was originally a platform for public shows, speeches or disputations. It was only later that it referred to the raised structure from which the preacher delivered a sermon. As the following verse from 1695 reminds us however, the pulpit has rarely been the only source of dogmatic proclamation in society. I quote:

The Bar, the Pulpit and the Press nefariously combine,
To cry up an usurped power,
And stamp it right divine!

The Bar, the Pulpit and the Press have power. Each with their own autonomy, they represent the key determinants of opinion and policy in all but a few democratic societies – the Legislature, communities of faith and the media. The precise relationship between the three has varied historically. The balance of their influence and power variously shifted. When working at their best each respects the autonomy of the other and the space which the other is due in a free and flourishing society. When motivated by their highest ideals they are united by a common search for the truth and the promotion of justice.

It is in this context that I want to pay particular tribute to John Cooney, founder and director of the General Humbert Summer School. This school and others like it provide a vital forum for the dialogue between these three tributaries of influence which is essential to a vibrant and pluralist culture. Under John’s determined direction the Humbert Summer School has become one of the best known and influential events of the social and cultural calendar. I want to thank John and Chair of the school, Mr Tony McGarry for inviting me to give this Address. As John knows, I don’t always agree with him or with what I sometimes regard as his ‘colourful’ analysis of ecclesiastical events. Yet I am immensely grateful to him and to the other religious affairs correspondents for giving space to the religious view in Irish life. It is the view, after all, of the majority of people on the island.

John also had the foresight to frame this annual address around the memory of Bishop Joseph Stock. Bishop Stock was Church of Ireland Bishop of Killala from 1798 – 1810. His life was probably no more remarkable than many other Bishops of his time but for his famous ‘Narrative of what passed in Killala’. This was a diary of the dramatic events of the ‘98’ rebellion as they occurred here in Co. Mayo.

One of the most noted aspects of this Narrative is Bishop Stock’s repeated reference to the lack of sectarian violence in the towns and villages around Mayo during the 98 rebellion, in contrast to other parts of Ireland. In his own words, Mayo had ‘caught no portion of that malignant spirit of disloyalty and religious intolerance’ which had infected so many other parts of the country. The Narrative also communicates a disdain for violence, other than in the strict conduct of war.

The obligation to maintain a decency and courtesy towards each other in the midst of conflict was taken as a given between Stock and Humbert on the basis of their shared humanity. It is clear from the text that each had a respect for the inherent human dignity of the other.

And it is this which I suggest makes the Narrative of Bishop Stock a narrative of hope for our time. It draws us immediately into three issues which I would like to consider briefly this afternoon:

• The peace process in Ireland;
• The loss of Christian memory and values in Europe;
• The impact of this loss on the culture of aggression and violence in Ireland.

In light of theme of this year’s school, I will give more detailed consideration to the second of these, the loss of Christian memory and values in Europe. But first let me say a word about the Peace Process in Ireland.

The Peace Process

It is remarkable how often the history of Northern Ireland is used to argue that religion is an inevitable source of conflict in society. It is an easy argument for those who wish to see religion relegated to the private sphere.

Yet, as we all know the conflict here, especially in its later years, had relatively little to do with issues of religious dogma. In fact, I think it is increasingly recognised that the main Churches had a largely moderating influence on the levels of violence which might otherwise have emerged.

Europe was another moderating influence. The ideological vision of unity in diversity, the erosion of borders and the reconciliation of a continent marred by centuries of conflict of culture and history, this provided a new canvas for the future resolution of the ‘Northern’ problem. It was a brighter canvas, a wider and more assuaging one. While its influence was only one among many, it was a critical one. Just as people point to the rapid economic transformation of Ireland as an example of the success of the European economic project, so it is right to hold up Northern Ireland as an example of the success of the European social project.

Ireland owes a lot to the European Union. It is difficult to believe we would enjoy the political stability in the North or the economic progress in the South we do today without it. This should give us pause for thought when we reflect on Ireland’s place within the EU and our responsibility towards it.

Thanks in no small part to the EU the peace process in Northern Ireland is now rightly lauded across the world as a sign of hope that age-old conflicts can be resolved. By any standard it was and continues to be a remarkable achievement. Yet it remains a process. I believe it continues to be a robust and secure process. My confidence in it is strengthened by growing signs of maturity around formerly intractable issues such as parades.

In this regard the Orange Order deserves credit for what I believe are sincere and convincing efforts to promote dialogue and understanding. These should be acknowledged and reciprocated. Attacks on Orange Halls, such as those which took place last week around Armagh, deserve to be unequivocally condemned. They are symptomatic of a sectarian pathology which is evil and has to be continually challenged in our selves and every aspect of social, religious and political life.

Efforts to deal with the past are also important and may give deeper roots to the stability we now enjoy. The sensitivities around the commemorations of the tenth anniversary of the Omagh bombing, however, remind us just how difficult a task this will be. Let me take this opportunity to appeal directly to those who were responsible for the Omagh bombing. Before the innocent children, women and men you massacred I appeal to you to do the right thing before God. I appeal to your hearts and human dignity. Give yourselves up to justice in this world before you face judgement in the next. I also appeal to those who have information which could lead to the arrest and conviction of those who made or planted the Omagh bomb. You also have a duty before God to give that information immediately to the police. The families of those killed and the surviving victims have suffered enough. Help them to receive justice. If you have any humanity left in your heart at all, do all that you can to ease at least a little of their pain.

The pain which hovers below the surface of so much of life in Northern Ireland is a constant reminder of another important dimension of the European project – the power of memory.

Both personally and collectively, memory shapes who we are and how we act in the present. If we live apart from our memory and the influences which shape it, we detach ourselves from our deepest roots. Positive memories can encourage and sustain us. They are a source of wisdom and strength in the face of new and challenging situations. Negative memories can haunt us and hold us back. They can make us fearful and vulnerable in the face of new and challenging situations. With help and support we can hope to be healed of these memories. To suppress memory, on the other hand, is perhaps the most dangerous route of all. It leaves us rudderless with neither root nor hope. We have little wisdom to draw on, no experience or tested values to guide us, especially when challenges come.

And this brings me to my second point, the future of Christian memory and values in Europe.

Christian memory and values in Europe

In 1999 I attended the second Synod of Bishops on Europe. It had as its theme Jesus Christ Alive in His Church – the Source of Hope for Europe. One of the propositions of the Synod Fathers asked the European Institutions and the States of Europe to recognise that a proper ordering of society must be rooted in authentic, ethical and civic values, shared as widely as possible by its citizens. In the final message, the Synod Fathers called upon the Leaders of Europe to do a number of things;

• to protest against the violation of human rights of individuals, minorities and peoples;
• to pay utmost attention to everything that concerns human life from the moment of its conception to natural death and;
• to pay attention to protect the family based on marriage, for these are the foundations on which our common European home rests.
The Synod Fathers also asked European Leaders to care for migrants and to give the young people of Europe reasons to hope in the future.

In 2003, in his subsequent reflection on the Synod, Pope John Paul II acknowledged that the institutions of Europe promoted the unity of the continent and were at the service of humanity. He noted with approval the aim of the EU at that time to propose a model of integration which would be supported by the adoption of a common fundamental Charter. This objective continues today in the form of the Lisbon Treaty and the associated Charter of Fundamental Freedoms.

Pope John Paul II, while noting his respect for the secular nature of the European Institutions, went on to ask that any such Treaty would include a reference to the Religious and Christian Heritage of Europe. He also asked that three things would be recognised:

1. The right of Churches and Religious Communities to organise themselves freely in conformity with their proper convictions;
2. That the Union respect the specific identity of the different religious confessions and make provision for a structured dialogue between the European Union and those confessions;
3. That the union would have respect for the juridical status already enjoyed by Churches and Religious Institutions within the States of the Union.

Much progress has been made in these areas. Ireland, as you know, was among the first countries in Europe to initiate the proposed ‘structured dialogue’, which is now legislated for in the Lisbon Treaty. This has been a very positive and welcome development. It is only one of the many reasons why the Catholic Church, as indicated by various Papal and Synodal reflections, is generally positive towards the European project and its founding ideals.

But this is a qualified support. As the recent referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland suggests, at least some of those who were previously enthusiastic about the founding aims of the EU, both social and economic are now expressing unease. The reasons for this are complex. But one reason influencing some Christians may be what Pope John Paul II described as the ‘loss of Christian memory’ in European institutions and policy. Successive decisions which have undermined the family based on marriage, the right to life from the moment of conception to natural death, the sacredness of the Sabbath, the right of Christian institutions to maintain and promote their ethos, including schools, these and other decisions have made it more difficult for committed Christians to maintain their instinctive commitment to the European project.

This coincides with a fairly widespread culture in European affairs which relegates manifestations of one’s own religious convictions to the private and subjective sphere. It has not been unknown, for example, for individuals to have to defend their right to hold political, public or legislative office within EU institutions while professing a public commitment to their Christian faith, sometimes against very public and hostile challenge.

Ignoring this trend within the EU and its impact on people of faith has inevitable political and social consequences, not least on levels of support for the project itself. On the one hand, as Pope Benedict asked recently, ‘if the governments of the Union want to be “closer” to their citizens, how can they exclude from Europe’s identity an essential element like Christianity with which a vast majority continues to identify themselves?’. On the other hand, ‘A community that is built without respect for the authentic dignity of human beings, that forgets that each person is created in God’s image, ends up not doing any one any good.’

This is why it may be important for the EU to look again at a prevailing pragmatic attitude that compromises on essential human, moral and social values on the basis of the lowest common denominator. The experience of many Christians within the EU is that this lowest common denominator invariably coincides with the secular and relativist tradition within Europe – that which denies moral absolutes with an objective basis – rather than the religious view. In the words of Pope Benedict, ‘We end up this way spreading the view that “judging the goods” [of Europe] is the only way for moral judgement and that having a common good is synonymous with compromise. In reality, if reaching compromises is a legitimate act of balancing interests, it becomes a common evil every time it involves agreements that are harmful to man’s nature.’

Such an approach ends up with Christians as such being denied the right to intervene in public debates or at least having their contribution dismissed as an attempt to protect unjustified privileges, such as, for example the right to employ people who support the ethos of a Christian institution.

The same might be said of positions taken over stem-cell research, the status of same-sex unions, the primacy of the family based on marriage, the culture of life – the prevailing culture and social agenda within the EU, would at least appear to be driven by the secular tradition rather than by the Christian memory and heritage of the vast majority of member states.

This is in stark contrast to the prevailing political and social culture of the United States of America, a culture which prides itself on the separation of Church and State and on its diversity. Is it possible that the US has actually been more successful in balancing diversity with respect for religious freedom and conviction than the EU?

I was intrigued to discover last weekend that it was quite natural to expect the US presidential candidates to answer direct questions about their commitment to faith, their willingness to support faith based organisations, their position on moral issues and how it would affect their appointment of public officials. I look forward to the day we have the same level of openness and choice in our own elections here in Ireland and in Europe. Maybe then more people will be convinced that we are living in a democracy which is confident about diversity and respects the freedoms of all.

As it is, in Ireland, as in much of the EU, the prevailing political correctness and dominant media culture is one of relegation of the search for truth and the value of religion in society in favour of a political environment without God.

In this context, it is not surprising that we might speak of a European continent that is losing confidence in its future. From its foundation the EU is an historical, cultural and moral identity even before it is a geographic, economic or political objective. In the words of Pope Benedict ‘it is unthinkable that we can build an authentic common European house by disregarding the identities of the peoples of this continent of ours…. It is an identity built on a set of universal values in which Christianity played a role in moulding them, which gives it a role that is not only historical but also foundational vis-à-vis Europe. Such values, which constitute the continent’s soul,’ Pope Benedict continues, ‘must continue in the third millennium as a “spark” of civilisation.’

Without respect for its Christian memory and soul, I believe it is possible to anticipate continuing difficulties for the European project. These will emerge not only in economic terms but in terms of social cohesion and the continued growth of a dangerous individualism that does not care about God or about what the future might have in store.

And this brings me to my final and very brief point.

Culture of Violence and Aggression

The question of values cannot be detached from the culture of aggression and violence which is now giving rise to so much concern in our own country and further a field. We need a much more honest, respectful and constructive dialogue between the Bar, the Pulpit and the Press in Ireland and elsewhere about values in our society. Like the debate within the European Union, is it fair, is it representative of the views and convictions of the majority of people here in Ireland, that the media is so dominated by a secular view hostile to or disposed to relegate the value of religion? Is it possible to dream dreams and to imagine an approach to each other built on our shared humanism? Is it possible to agree that there are objective values for which we should have serious regard because of their implications for the good of society?

Could we agree for example, that peace is built on truth, including the stark truth that violence is ugly, demeaning and evil and therefore something never to glamorised, romanticised or trivialised?

Where is the honesty, for example, in arguing on the one hand that violence, promiscuity and lack of respect in the media has no influence on the attitude, values and behaviour of the young when billions is spent on advertising through the media precisely because of its power to influence attitudes and behaviour?

A great campaign has been launched recently which seeks to raise the awareness of the extent to which violence is being used, without question, as entertainment on TV, DVD, the internet and films. It asks that on the 2nd October, which is the UN World Day of Non-violence, Gandhi’s birthday, channels refrain from showing films containing violent scenes. This is a campaign which I wholeheartedly support. It poses important questions for the media which I hope they will not be afraid to ask.

Conclusion

The point at issue here is that we all share a responsibility to build the ‘ecology of peace’. We all have a role to play in influencing the social fabric and moral cohesion of a peaceful and what General Humbert often referred to as a ‘happy’ society in Ireland and the EU.

Violence dehumanises us all. Ten years after the Belfast Agreement it may be appropriate for Bar, Pulpit and Press to ask what price we have paid for the moral ambiguity in the peace process by way of encouraging a more general culture of aggression and violence. As it is there is danger that we will forget its evil and horror, that we will allow those with an interest in doing so to suggest it was justified or excusable. It was not. To fail to call it the evil that it was will undermine the ‘ecology’ of peace in the longer term.

Similarly, the claims and influence of secularism and relativism have gone largely unchallenged in Irish culture and media. It could be argued that they enjoy an uncritical acceptance which would never be afforded to religious faith. To a large degree this is true. This afternoon however I would like to suggest that there are signs of a small but significant change.

It may be that a growing number of people are questioning the prevailing orthodoxies of the ‘new’ Ireland, that they are reconsidering the value of faith, community and more traditional moral values. It may be that the still small voice of God is emerging with new appeal in Irish cultural and political debate, albeit it as a whisper!

That these three – Bar, Pulpit and Press – should continue to engage in this debate is essential for the ecology of peace in our own land. It is essential for success of the founding ideals of the European Union which I, with so may other Christians, wholeheartedly support.

Thank you.

One hundred years ago the dedication of the Church of St. Michael was led by His Eminence Cardinal Logue and the preacher on the day was the Very Rev. Dr. McRory, later to become Archbishop of Armagh. On the day Cardinal Logue talked of the generosity of the Corr family saying that we now have one of the most beautiful little churches in the diocese. I’m quite sure that the description of ‘little’ was a term of affection and in no way was meant in any way to take away from this magnificent structure. The new Church was indeed a wonderful achievement. It was built with the generosity of Matthew Corr and his brother Bernard both of whom had emigrated with their other three brothers and one sister to America. Matthew and Bernard settled in Philadelphia and did well in business but they never forgot their roots and when they heard of the plans to build a new Church they insisted that they would take responsibility for the project. We see the results here today.

In his sermon at the Mass of dedication Dr. McRory talked of the princely generosity of one man, Matthew Corr, and of the support from his brother Bernard in building this Church. One hundred years later the beauty and magnificence of this Church speaks for itself. It speaks of the generosity of two sons of this parish who appreciated their faith and were willing to give generously to its building. It was built at a time when life was hard for many. Emigration, as in the case of the Corr family, was a necessity not an adventure. In fact in his homily Dr. McRory goes to great pains to explain that this was their act of indebtedness to a community that had nurtured them in the faith. 

Today it is appropriate that we pay tribute once more to the generosity of the Corr family. Today we look back at their commitment and their dedication. They were indeed a family committed to the faith. One hundred years later thankfully we have a thriving community here in Lissan. But Lissan, no more than any other community today, is not impervious to the changes of our time. Today we live in a very different world to the world of hundred years ago. Today we have a confident people, many secure in home and work. That same security has brought new challenges to our faith and lifestyle. One hundred years ago God was at the centre of everyday life. In the words of Patrick Kavanagh;

God is in the bits and pieces of everyday,
A pearl necklace round the neck of poverty.

And that is how our ancestors saw the faith. It was part of the warp and woof of everyday life. The old sayings summed it all up. People in a crisis said that God never closed one door but he opened another. In Irish they put it even more succinctly; “Is giora cabhair De na an doras”. God’s help is nearer than the front door.   In today’s world people often see religion and faith as a private affair, something between themselves and God. In a more affluent society they do not see the same need for God. For many, not for all, there is a better standard of living. People feel more secure. There are opportunities for young people that were un-dreamt of twenty years ago. Today education is taken for granted. There is a whole new world beckoning.  There seems to be less need for God.

Speaking to young people in Sydney just a week ago Pope Benedict put it this way.  He said; ”We have to let God’s love break through the hard crust of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age” and he asked the question; ”what will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations; building something that will endure?  Are you living your lives in a way that opens up space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom?”  These are searching questions and they apply not just to young people but to all of us.

The centenary of St.Michael’s Church is an opportunity for all of us to take stock. Put into simple words we need to ask the question;  Where is God in my life?. Does my faith in God influence my everyday life? Does my faith give meaning to how I relate to other people. What is my contribution to the world about me, the people I meet, the style of life I lead. Has God any place in my life?.  Life is not just about the search for thrills and happiness. It is about the search for the good and the wholesome. It is about living a life that looks beyond the present to see the bigger picture about life and the meaning of life. It means living a life under a much broader perspective. It means living our lives with the awareness that we are part of God’s greater plan for all of us.

Today we gather to thank God for the faith of generations that have gone before us. We gather too to affirm our own faith and to commit ourselves to that faith. That faith has its firm basis in the family and in the community. I believe that the call in our day is to strengthen family and family life, to support the family in every way, to help young people prepare for marriage, to help couples to be faithful in marriage and to support that in community and parish life.  Today we thank God for the strength of family life and the example of good Christian families. Today we celebrate your own families. We encourage those who are experiencing difficulties. We support them in our words and in our prayers.

The question remains;  what will we leave to the next generation?. That is the question addressed to every one of us today. I pray that our celebration of faith today may help us renew our own commitment as followers of Jesus Christ.  It is the challenge of our day. I trust that every one of us will accept that challenge and do our best to put it into practice in our lives. 

Today we remember her with love and affection.  We remember how she revealed the message of God by her life of prayer and charity to those in need.  She took the Word of God very seriously and reflected upon it.  She tried to live out, in her life, the mercy of God, revealed to us in the scriptures and, above all, revealed to us in the life of Jesus Christ. 

When we were training to be priests – training to give sermons – we were told to give examples.  Give lots of examples of what we were talking about.  In today’s Gospel, Matthew, the author of the Gospel, gives us an example of the prayer of Jesus Christ. How Jesus Christ prayed to His Father.  I think it is worthwhile for us to look at this example and learn from it.  We can model our own prayer from these examples.  Jesus exclaimed:  I bless you Father, Lord of Heaven and earth.  God, his Father, Lord of Heaven and earth. 

When we call somebody ‘Lord’ it means they have authority.  The only Lords I know are Lords created by the British monarchy.  Jesus is talking to his heavenly father in Heaven, who was authority both in Heaven and on earth. 

Jesus goes on to talk about the Father but not to the Father.  I think it is important that we thank God often and everywhere for many things.  I thank God often for the gift of my family – the gift of many families to which I belong and who have helped and continue to help me so often and so well in life.  I thank God for the gift of life and the gift of health.  I do so more often nowadays when I see so many people who are younger than I dying.  But there are so many things for which we have to thank God. 
•    The gift of summer;
•    the gift of friends;
•    the gift of this beautiful countryside;
•    the gift of our faith.

Earlier today I was in Ardee to give thanks to God with the Mercy Sisters.  We were thanking God for the fact that the Sisters of Mercy are 150 years in Ardee.  We were thanking God for their presence there and for the way that they have revealed the mercy of God to so many through their teaching, their nursing, their care for the poor and through their life of prayer and sacrifice.

Here Jesus thanks God, his Father, for hiding certain things from those who regard themselves as very learned and for revealing them to the unlearned.  I don’t think it is a case that God discriminates against those who are clever. But those who are clever and learned and they know that they are clever, sometimes feel that they have nothing to learn from God’s revelations.  But mere children, and people who are childlike, that is, those who retain a trusting belief in their approach to life, accept what God reveals more readily.  They accept it on the word of God alone.  In other words, they are not so full of their own ideas and are no so attached to their own views.  Here Jesus thanks the Father in Heaven because he has shown to the unlearned what he has hidden from the wise and learned and he goes on:  Yes Father, this was how you are pleased to have it happen. God will not ram anything down anybody’s throat but it is sad to see so many people who, once they are educated or, in their own eyes, believe they are educated, proceed to reject what their faith – the faith they received from their parents – had taught them.  They turn away from that faith or they ignore it or cease to practice it.  That is an unmitigated disaster.  This evening I want to pray for those people.  Just a very simple prayer or petition that they may, despite all their learning and their studying, open their minds and their hearts to accepting what God is revealing to them.

Everything comes from the Father.  Jesus is the one who reveals the Father and, above all, Jesus reveals the merciful love of the Father for each one of us.  He thanks the Father for being able to reveal that love.  He is thankful, even though it is going to cost him his life.  This revelation, unfortunately, will not get through to the learned ones because they think they know it all and they know it better.  But the word of Jesus is welcomed by those who are poor in spirit – those who are sick, waiting for a doctor; the sheep who are tired and who are without a shepherd.  But no-one really knows the Father’s son, except the son and only the son really knows the father as well as those to whom the Son chooses to reveal the Father.  We pray that we will all be included among those chosen by the son to receive this wonderful revelation.  It takes place through the acts of the Holy Spirit. 

The spirit of the Risen Christ has chosen to make his home with us.  St. Paul is quite clear there in that Second Reading:  Unless you possess the spirit of Christ, you will not belong to us. If the spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead is living, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own moral bodies through his spirit living in you.  It is all the work of the spirit now because we live in the time of the spirit.  Of course the spirit cannot co-exist in us if we are in the state of serious sin.  That is why it is important that we confess our sins and have them forgiven.  Then Jesus issues a great invitation.  He says:  Come to me all you who are tired and carry heavy loads and I will give you rest. 

In my Bible there is a beautiful little design of the people whom he is inviting.  There is one man on two crutches who has lost a leg.  There is a woman all on her own carrying one child on her back and three small children hanging to her skirt.  There is another man sitting on a chair with his head down and his hands on his head looking either very lonely or depressed or discouraged.  There is an old man walking with a stick, all alone, abandoned.  Finally, there is a man or a woman carrying a heavy load on his back, bent over. 

Well, of course, there are people who have various heavy loads to carry in life.  People who have heavy work to do.  Some are abandoned by their family, by their spouses but Jesus comes to everyone who turns to him, no matter how heavy their load and they will find rest.

“Come to me all you who are tired from carrying loads and I will give you rest”.  That is one of my favourite prayers in the whole gospels.  All of us. at times, feel that we are carrying heavy loads.  Loads of worry; loads of shame; loads of guilt.  Of course the great thing is that if we do come to Jesus he will lift it all off.  Cast your burdens upon the Lord.  We come to confession where we dump the load of guilt.  Unfortunately, again, some people have lost faith in confession and in the power of Jesus to take away the heavy load of guilt, of shame, of discouragement.   Then Jesus says:  Take my yoke and put it on you.  The yoke was a barrel of wood, tied across the neck of two cattle and attached to the plough or the cart which they drew behind them.  Here the yoke refers to Jesus and an interpretation which he gives of the Lord.  The Rabbi spoke of the yoke of the law, the yoke of the kingdom.  Jesus says, Learn from me. The disciple is the one who follows Jesus and is to be a life-long learner.  My yoke is easy he says.

‘We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.  For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all God’s people.  When the true message, the good news first came to you, you heard about the hope which it offers.  So your faith and your love are based on what you hope for, which is kept safe for you in heaven……….and with joy, give thanks to the Father who has made you fit to have your share of what God has reserved for his people in the Kingdom of Light’.

When I pray for my family, as I often do, those words regularly come into my mind.  ‘We always give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.’  I pray with great affection for my family especially when I think of the sacrifices they have made, and continue to make for me.  Then I realise that I belong to several families.  I owe a lot to each one of them – the family of my parish, my diocese and my school.  Then I think of all the families of religious orders which I have met and known.  Among these, the family of the Sisters of Mercy must hold pride of place.  For as I reflected on the theme of this Mass I came to realise that in every decade of my life I have owed a huge amount to the Sisters of Mercy. 

Sixty years ago I first met them in the Surgical Hospital in Cavan when my father was a patient there.  We all knew that in the loving care of the Sisters all his needs, spiritual and physical, would be met.  In the fifties I was a patient there myself and experienced that same attention first hand.

In the nineteen sixties it was my privilege to say Mass in St Felim’s Hospital and
St Joseph’s Hospital, Cavan and to experience the love and care which the Sisters lavished so generously on those in their care regardless of whether they were rich or poor.  In the eighties I met the late Sister Angela Bolster, in Rome, who was researching the life of the founder, the venerable Catherine McAuley, and preparing the documentation outlining the virtues and merits of that Holy Woman, with a view to her beatification.  That work has not yet borne fruit but we should continue to hope and above all, to pray that it will take place.

Finally in the nineties and in this decade, it was my given joy to discover the Sisters of Mercy in this diocese in Cookstown, Dungannon and Bessbrook, Dundalk and Ardee.  I come to realise the treasure they are.

And so here we are today, in Ardee, to give thanks for your presence in Ardee over the last 150 years.  As we do so we concentrate on what you are rather than what you do, not on the contribution which you have made and continue to make to society.  Yes, of course, the latter are immensely valuable.  But the most important thing of all is the kind of people you are.  You are people who, when the Spirit called you by name, you were not afraid to say yes.  At times it may have seemed as if you were passing through the sea or through rivers and yet you were not swallowed up for you are following Christ.  You discovered that you were precious in his eyes. 

At times it may indeed have seemed as if you were passing through fire and yet you were not scorched because you got the freedom and the strength to dedicate yourself totally to God; a God whom you loved supremely and by whom you knew for certain you were loved in return.  In that love you discovered that the love of Christ was true love, a love that never fades or lets you down.  There you got the patience and the confidence to dedicate yourselves to seek that perfect love.  It is a perfect love because it is built on four solid foundations.  It is a love that is not in the service of oneself, it is a love dedicated to the service of others for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.  You undertook this life for the honour of God there can be no greater call than that for the honour and glory of God.  You have given your lives to the building of the Church, the building of the Body of Christ in order to save people.  You have built up the Body of Christ with your prayer and your sacrifices, with your faith and your love, with your teaching and your nursing and above all, with your love for the poor.

The result is that you are a splendid sign in the Church; a splendid sign to the rest of us.  A sign of what you may ask? A sign of the Glory of Heaven to which we are all called but a call which too often we ignore.

Last week I was in the Servite Priory, Benburb to celebrate to end of their Chapter and the 750th anniversary of the foundation of their Order.  Something that has survived for almost eight hundred years surely has something going for it.  A lot going for it as do you, the Sisters of Mercy.  All of you are splendid signs in the Church because you foretell the Glory of Heaven.  We all need these signs to remind us and to redirect us just as we need signposts on the journey of life to head us in the right direction. 

Last week I was down in Clonmel to celebrate the Beatification of Antonio Rosmini founder of the Rosminian Order.  It took place last November in Novara in Italy.  When Rosmini died he left a spiritual legacy to the Italian writer Manzoni.  It consisted of three words:
Adore
Be Silent
Rejoice.
On the way down I visited a house of Edmund Ignatius Rice, the house where he was born.  I saw there the text of his vows and the vows of all Christian Brothers.  They began with these words:
‘In profound adoration before thy infinite and adorable majesty I concentrate myself to thee in order to procure thy glory.’

I was struck by the fact that in the lives of both of these, now blessed people, Antonio Rosmini and Edmund Ignatius Rice the idea of adoration was central.  They realised that we are placed on this earth to give praise and glory and adoration to the God who created us, the God on whom we depended every moment, the God with whom we hope to be happy forever in everlasting glory and that is what we are celebrating here today.  The fact is that you are this splendid sign of this glory. 

It all goes back to your eminent Foundress Catherine McAuley.  Like the apostle Thomas, Catherine McAuley had her faith strengthened immensely by her contact with the wounds of the Body of Christ in the form of her helping the poor of Dublin.  Her faith was also strengthened through lots of trials which she had to endure in order to preserve her faith when it was under attack.  That same faith gave her a tremendous sense of the presence of God.  Her faith urged her to build a house for the glory and honour of God and her own faith was the corner stone of her House of Mercy.  From this followed the fact that prayer was her delight and refuge in all trials.  Shortly before her death she remarked to Sister Aloysius Scott ‘Prayer will do more than all the money in the Bank of Ireland.’  It is prayer that was centred on Christ.  For Catherine McAuley, outside of Christ there was nothing.  She once said ‘The humbled, abandoned, agonising Christ: this is my Christ.  Him will I have and hold.  Outside of him – nothing.’

Once when she was deprived of all outward aids, she was able to discern the cross in the panels of her bedroom window and in the intersecting branches of the trees.  So she had a very deep devotion to the passion and to the death of Christ our Saviour.

Catherine McAuley’s vision of service in mercy was an expression of her love for God.  At Easter 1841, the year of her death, she identified mercy as the bond of union and God’s great gift to her congregation when she said ‘The blessing of unity still dwells among us, and oh, what a blessing.  This is the spirit of the Order, indeed the true spirit of mercy flowing in us, that notwithstanding our own unworthiness God never seems to visit us with an angry punishment.’

Her love of God expressed itself in charity towards all. It was an inclusive love especially towards the poor with whom she identified, and towards her Sisters in religion.  Her charity towards the poor was seen in many ways.  In them she recognised and saw God.  She once said ‘It is for God we serve the poor, and not for thanks.’  Her sensitivity towards the poor was outstanding.  She once said ‘There are things which the poor prize more highly than gold, though they cost the donor nothing.  Among these are the kind word, the gentle compassionate look and the patient gain of sorrows.’  In her special vow formula Catherine included the words ‘The service of the poor, sick and ignorant.’ 

Her concern for unemployed young women, rejected by an unkind society, was outstanding.  It was for them she opened her House of Mercy.  Her compassion for orphans and children otherwise neglected and deprived and her sympathetic care of other neglected persons who required nursing care are indications of this immense charity towards the poor.  She trusted all who came to her for assistance and once said ‘It is better to relieve one hundred imposters if there be any such, than to suffer one really distressed person to be sent away empty.’

For all of this we give thanks today.  We pray that the Spirit of Mercy may long continue to flourish not only here in Ardee but among the Sisters of Mercy everywhere. 

In the Old Testament God is seen as a God who responds to the suffering and need of those who fought to live.  God is a helper who gives people hope.  In the New Testament Jesus sees his mission as one of compassion and healing of suffering.  He is ready to acknowledge the needs of the poor and the politically oppressed.  He shows sympathy for the social outcasts, for the weak and the abandoned.  He brings forgiveness to those who repent, healing to the sick in mind and body, consolation to the sad and sorrowful and patience towards those who of violence. 
It is a hard act to follow.  But today we thank God for the mercy of so many people in this house over the past 150 years.  The Spirit of Mercy nourished on the body and blood of the new covenant, supported by the Risen Christ in prayer and sacrifice. 

Secondly, it is a good time to be silent and to think about the history of this Church – its purpose, its origins, its place in the life of this village and surrounding area.  Finally, it is a time to rejoice and to be glad at what has been done and to give thanks for all of that.
Down through the ages people have always felt the need to come together, in assembly, to acknowledge who they really are and to state, loud and clear, that they depend on God.  Our God is a God who is love.  God has been revealed as a God of love by the fact that He has created us out of love, to share His life, which is a life of love.  In God we live and move and have our being.  Each day of our lives God shows us a Father’s love.  God decided to create us in his own image and likeness.  God has set us over the whole world in all its wonder and beauty.  God has made us to praise Him, day by day, for the marvels of His wisdom and love.

When the children of God sin and wandered far from His friendship, God reunited them with himself through the blood of His Son, Jesus, and through the power of the Holy Spirit.  God never ceases to gather His people into His Church.  They gather so that they may be one, as the Father is one with the Son and the Holy Spirit. They make a House in which to gather, a place where they can hear the story of the marvels of God being recalled and recounted, and build an altar around which they can assemble to offer their gifts.  This evening we are stating a fact, that we are not independent beings but we are needy people.  We need to put our needs before God to implore his help.  That is what we are doing here today.

This Church of St Joseph was built in 1852, four years after the Great Famine.  It was at once a time of great energy and activity and yet a time of great trouble and tribulation.  In 1829 the Catholic Emancipation was passed in the British Parliament, thanks mainly to the efforts of the liberator, Daniel O’Connell.  It restored to the people the freedom to practise their religion after centuries of penal laws and persecution.  There followed a period of great building of churches.  Let me quote to you what Monsignor Raymond Murray says about it in his History of the Archdiocese of Armagh.  He says, “Everywhere a miracle of church building began which never lost momentum for the next fifty years.  Sites were negotiated with landlords and these were sometimes recorded in newspapers: eg. in the Drogheda Argus of 6 December 1845, it was noted that Henry Chester had given Rev. Callan, PP, Termonfechin and Sandpit an acre, rent free, as a site for a Church.  In the Newry Examiner of 10 June 1846, we read that Captain Sever had given forty pounds, and a site on his estate near Meigh, and that the foundation stone was laid on 15 June.  On 26 January 1846, Archbishop Crolly wrote that in the previous ten years he had consecrated seventeen new churches, that five more were nearly ready for Consecration and that the Archdiocese would then have 102 churches.  Then of course there was the building of the Cathedral, which had been planned around that time and had to be suspended, due to the famine.  But that era was an era of darkness as well as light in the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland.  It is dark because it is dominated by the Great Famine when the population was decimated by starvation and emigration.  The famine is the story of the degradation of millions of individuals.  All areas of our diocese suffered from famine and fever but South Armagh suffered in particular.  The Mullaghbawn poet, Art MacBionaid, has vividly described the scene in a letter of 7 January 1846, I quote: 

“I had days of woe and nights of lamentation which caused me to withdraw myself from the Communion of Men, finding myself in the decline of life, my strength prematurely exhausted by hard labour, my help quickly hurried away from me and the last spark of life threatened to be extinguished with hunger by the failure in the potato crop.” 

Daniel O’Connell, the great Liberator, died on his way to Rome, heartbroken at his failure to convince the British Government to give more help to the starving people.

Today we pause in silence before all of those facts.  We recognise the fact that, despite all of that adversity, within five or six years of the Great Famine this beautiful church of St Joseph had been built. 

Finally let us be glad, let us rejoice in the protection of St Joseph, Patron of this Church, who obviously watched over the faith-life of this community down through the years.  Let us rejoice and be glad for the people of vision, Fr Naughton and his colleague, Fr Mulvihill, and their committees who saw the need to have this Church restructured and refurbished and renewed.  Let us rejoice and be glad for the architects and engineers, contractors and workmen, for their skills and talents and hard work and dedication.  Let us rejoice and be glad for the generosity of people who backed this project, with their time, their resources, their energy and contributions. 

Recently I was in Quebec for the forty-ninth Eucharistic Congress.  The theme of that Conference was, Eucharist – Gift of God for the life of the world.   It came home to me that it was because the people of this area realised the importance of the Eucharist for their spiritual life that they were determined to build this Church in the first place, despite the adversity and the hard times.  I know that it is that same faith that convinced the present generation that the Eucharist was essential and central to their life.  So let us rejoice in the fact that, yes, we build temples of stone, timber, metal and marble, but the real temples that are to be built are ourselves.  We are the temples of the Holy Spirit; so we pray that when we gather in the Churches that our worship will be sincere and honest and faithful.  We pray that we will always recognise the purpose of the Church.  It is the place where we worship God and pray for the strength to live our lives as God would want us to live them.  May we find the strength to transform the world into a world where justice prevails and peace is secure; a world built on solid foundations of truthfulness and fair play and honesty and solidarity where everyone pulls their weight and pays their share and gives to those who are in need.

I am always delighted when I hear somebody take the name Monnine at Confirmation.  She is the great patroness of this parish of Killeavy.  Just imagine, her memory is still alive and vivid fifteen hundred years after her death.  She opened her Convent with eight maidens and one widow.  We are told the widow’s child was called Luger and was fostered by Monnine and later became a bishop.  Their life style was so poor that they lived at subsistence levels, we are told, but the fact is their name and their memory lives.  The reason is that they heard the call of God, the call of the Holy Spirit, to dedicate themselves to a life of prayer and adoration and praise.  Today, when we hear of Killeavy, many people think immediately of St Monnine.  We have a year of vocation in progress at the moment.  It is a year when the Church is inviting people to reflect on what God is calling them to be and to do.  Whether we are single or married, God is calling each one of us to adore him.  He may be calling some to lead that adoration, as a priest or as a religious.  My hope is that your newly refurbished Church will be a great centre of adoration, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  As we prepare for the next Eucharistic Conference which will be held, please God, in Dublin, with your help it will be a great success.  If you make this Church a real centre of prayer and adoration, that adoration will bring blessings on you and your children.

There is one other matter which, I think, on an occasion like this, we should advert to at least.  There was one time the Lord got very angry.  It is described in St John’s Gospel.  Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting at their counters.  Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon sellers, “Take all of this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.”  His Father’s house is not a market, it is a place of prayer.  It is not a place we come to talk to each other but primarily we come to talk to God and therefore it is a place in which to be silent.  The words, to be silent, are very important to create the right climate, the right atmosphere, where we really can talk to God about the deepest things, about the things that matter to us.  My prayer is that through the intercession of St Monnine and St Joseph, St Joseph the silent man, this will always be a house of prayer, great prayer, deep prayer, where people can adore from the depth of their hearts.  Be silent, in wonder and awe, and rejoice. 

In the ceremonies this evening we use incense.  You may wonder what is the meaning of incense.  Let me quote you this passage from the Book of Revelation according to St John.  “I John, saw in my vision another angel who had a golden censer and who came and stood at the altar.  A large quantity of incense was given to him to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that stood in front of the throne; and so from the angels the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God and with it the prayers of the saints.”  You are the successors of those saints.  As the incense goes up to the roof, so may your prayers ascend into the presence of God and may they be heard always.

Amen.