CHRISTMAS VIGIL MASS
HOMILY GIVEN BY
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
IN
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH

Recently a well-known American singer/songwriter was interviewed on radio. The interviewer noted that all her songs were love songs. “Have you known love”? he asked. “I’ve known heartbreak” was her reply. How true. Sometimes to know heartbreak is to know love – and to know the pain of love is to know its depth and its price.

Christmas speaks to us of love. The love of God for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave us his only son” (John 3:16). The child in the manger speaks of the depths of God’s love, of the self-giving of God, of the emptying of God to become human. “His state was divine…He emptied himself to become as humans are, taking on the condition of a slave, and he was humbler yet” (Phil 2:6). The wood of that manger would one day be exchanged for the wood of the cross, the price of love.

This is the agony and the ecstasy of Christmas, the depth of love and its price conveyed in the simple beauty of the characters and in the simplicity of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the Christmas story.

It is a reminder that Christmas is not a happy time for everyone – that, precisely because of love, it can also be a time of loss, or feeling out of tune with the celebrations and the season.

This Christmas I am conscious of the many people who know the ecstasy and joy of Christmas in their celebration of new births in the family, new marriages begun, fortunes made and won, new jobs secured and qualifications achieved.

I am also conscious of those who know its pain. The families left bereaved through accidents on our roads, through the abuse of alcohol, cocaine and the cocktails of other drugs which sully our streets. I am conscious of the parents separated from their children because of migration or deportation. I am conscious of the number of homeless people for whom Christmas is about surviving in the cold while others are carried along by its warmth.

Christmas also speaks to us of wonder – the kind of wonder that leads to the adoration and joy that are at the heart of Christmas. “Ah, Christmas is only for children” the cynic says. Yes and No. We all need the eyes of a child so that we are amazed and made to wonder at what we hear tonight.

The genius of St. Francis and the Christmas crib is that in its simplicity, it captures the mystery of Christ. It creates the wonder that is calling us to say: “Come let us adore Him”. Only those with eyes to see the adorable one are actually able to adore.

The joy of Christmas is real but it is not superficial. The angels announced news of “great joy” “ a joy to be shared by the whole people” (Lk 2:10). That is why, when we have enjoyed our joy, the real Christmas begins. That work is captured in the Christmas poem of Howard Thurman:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To rebuild the nations
To bring peace among others
To make music in the heart.

Whether Christmas is for you a time of ecstasy or pain, I pray that because God is with us in the child of Bethlehem, it will be a time when we will all know music in our heart.

Jesus came to lead humankind from exile into the kingdom of Heaven. In other words, he came to lead all of us out of exile to our real home in Heaven. That is probably the reason why we all love to be at home for Christmas. I welcome those who have come home to Armagh this Christmas.

But what or where is home?
· Home is where those we love live.
· Home is where the most beautiful and important things happen to us.
· Home is where we hear the truth about ourselves, whether we want to listen to it or not is another thing.
· Home is where we are accepted and understood and loved just as we are.
Our best memories are of home and the good things that take place there. Where gifts are given and accepted as signs of our love and affection for each other.

Home is where we can really be ourselves. We can be at our best and become the kind of people we really want to be. The trouble is that we sometimes spend so much of our time trying to mould ourselves into the kind of people others think we should be. Young people especially are sometimes quite unsure of who they really are so they desperately try and make themselves into the person whom others think is cool or clever. If you know who you are – you may be quite dissatisfied and so you try to change that too.

Christmas is a time spent with family. Where you are accepted for who you are, regardless of how objectively cool or clever you appear to be. Of course, at times, your family may seem awfully irritating, or out of touch, or unreasonable. The great thing however is that they are always there, to accept you as your are, to understand and to help and to love. And the great thing about Christmas and home is that it is a time when you can relax and stop trying to shape yourself into something you are not and enjoy the experience of being with people who love you unconditionally.

Christmas is also a time when, hopefully, we can come to know who we really are in the eyes of God. For like our families, God also loves all of us unconditionally. God loves each one of us as we are, without any “ifs” or “buts”. God sees through the masks and the facades we put on or put up. Christmas is a time when we get in touch with our deepest desires – which usually can be summed up as follows:

· To know the truth,
· To see the beautiful and
· To do what is good.

Of course, the amazing thing is that what we most profoundly desire for ourselves is exactly what God wants for each one of us.

God so loved the world that he gave His only Son. Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the full. Christmas is usually the time, and our family is usually the place, where we achieve the fullest amount of life and love possible on this Earth.

May your cup of happiness fill to the brim this Christmas.

It is still hard to beat this sermon of St Leo the Great although it is more than 1,500 years old. This is the day our saviour was born. What a joy for us – my beloved. This is no season for sadness, this is the birthday of life, the life which annihilates the fear of death and instils joy – promising, as it does, immortal life. Nobody is an outsider to this happiness. Let us then be quit of the old, sinful self and the (bad) self that went with it otherwise it will all be in vain and we will not see His glory.

As we stand before the crib, turn your thoughts to Mary. Think of the joy that was in her heart on that holy night. Let us congratulate her and rejoice with her in the depths of our heats.
To Mary, Dearest Mother,
with fervent hearts we pray.
Grant that your tender infant will cast our sins away.

Tonight, unfortunately, the Little Town of Bethlehem is a city filled more with fear than with hope. In fact, it would be quite impossible for Mary and Joseph to go this night from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Shepherds on the hills around Bethlehem would find their road to the stable strewn with roadblocks. But the only hope for the Israelis and the Palestinians still lies in the sentiments of that lovely carol – In the Spirit of Christmas.

Where children pure and happy,
Pray to the Blessed child,
Where misery cries out to thee
Son of the Mother mild,
Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door
The dark night wakes
The glory breaks
And Christmas comes once more.

May Christmas come abundantly to you and to those you hold dear, wherever they may be this Christmas.

AMEN

SERMON FOR HOMECOMING MASS

By

Cardinal Seán Brady,
Archbishop of Armagh

St. Patrick’s Cathedral Armagh

Thursday 29th November 2007

Your Eminence, My brother Bishops, Lord Mayor, Minister, distinguished clergy of the other Christian Churches, honoured guests, my dear people and clergy of the city and Archdiocese of Armagh,

The last few days have been among the most extraordinary, the most privileged and the most joyful of my life. I have been carried along by an immense sea of goodness, by an unending stream of kindness and faith on the part of so many people.

Tonight I want to thank you all. I want to thank you for your incredible kindness, your outstanding generosity and your invaluable support. I want to thank President Mary McAleese, An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and all the other political representatives who came to Rome or received me formally on my return. I want to thank Archbishop Harper and all the leaders of Christian Churches and other faiths who have been so generous in their good wishes and support. I want thank the people of County Cavan and the Diocese of Kilmore, who remain so close to my heart and some of whom, including my own family are here this evening. I want to thank the thousands of others from across the country who wrote to me, phoned me or came to Rome to offer their prayers and support. I want to thank the media for their generous reporting of these events.

I have been quite simply bowled over and very humbled by the wave of good will and joy which has followed the news of the great honour Pope Benedict has bestowed, not so much on me but on the whole Church in Ireland.

I want to pay tribute to you all, to your faith in Jesus Christ, which is at the heart of all that we celebrated and enjoyed over these last few days.

Tonight I want to pay special tribute to the people of the Archdiocese of Armagh. Shortly after the announcement I was to be created a Cardinal I was greeted by a wonderful lady who has seen all eight Armagh Cardinals. Her joy was so great she came up to me in St. Malachy’s Church and gave me a big hug. That said it all.

The people of the Archdiocese of Armagh, the historic See of St. Patrick, the historic See of St. Malachy and St. Oliver Plunkett, the home of eight previous Cardinals, they feel a particular joy that Pope Benedict has bestowed on them, once again, the honour of a Cardinal. That is why, as I walked through the streets of Armagh tonight, as I prayed with people in so many of the Parishes earlier today, as I look out across the sea of faces before me here this evening, that is why my heart is so full of Christian joy. Eleven years ago, you the people of Armagh welcomed me, a Parish Priest from the Diocese of Kilmore. You made me feel so at home and I will be forever grateful for that. Tonight, indeed since the very day of the announcement, my greatest joy has been for you, the people of the Archdiocese of Armagh. I rejoice in your joy that the Holy Father has honoured the See of Patrick. I know how devoted you are to the legacy of our national Apostle and the founder of our faith in Ireland. I know how loyally you honour the faith of St. Malachy, the Martyrdom of St. Oliver Plunkett and the memory of the Archbishops and Cardinals of this historic See.

That is why I am pleased that, with characteristic thoughtfulness and symbolism, Pope Benedict has assigned to me the care of the titular Church of St Cyricus and Julitta in Rome. Mother and child, Cyricus and Julitta were, like my predecessor St. Oliver Plunkett, martyrs for the faith. They will be a constant reminder to me, just like the colour red I wear as a Cardinal that I must be prepared to give up everything, whether by shedding my blood or by personal sacrifice of my will and desires, for the one who has given up all for me – Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Church of Sts Cyricus and Julitta also contains the mortal remains of Andrew Plunkett, a nephew of St Oliver Plunkett. It is said that on one of his visits to Rome the saint left a stipend for Mass to be celebrated there for his nephew. The Church is also close to the site of the former Irish College and may contain the tombs of students of the Irish College from the time when my grand-uncle, Fr Bernard Brady, former Parish Priest of Belturbet was Vice-Rector of the College. Close to the Forum and the Arch of Titus the Church is in the heart of classical Rome. Perhaps the Holy Father thought it would be a reminder to me of my more carefree days as a teacher of Latin and Roman Art and Architecture in St. Patrick’s College Cavan!

In the near future I will formally receive the Church of St Cyricus and St Julitta as part of my responsibility as a Parish Priest of the diocese of Rome, which every Cardinal must be. I hope that many Irish pilgrims will visit the Church. I hope that they will pray for Andrew Plunkett, for the Irish seminarians buried there and for the Church in Ireland. I ask also that they would pray for me.

I pray that I will have something of the zeal and courage of my predecessors as Archbishop of Armagh, St. Patrick, St. Malachy and St Oliver Plunkett. I pray that I will have something of the faith of St Cyricus and Julitta as I take up my new responsibilities in the Universal Church.

In our first reading the Prophet Ezekiel gave us a beautiful description of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. He described how the river which flowed from it teemed with life and brought health and healing wherever it flowed. This is a symbol of every Church in which the new and everlasting Covenant of the Eucharist is celebrated. Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full. He came that we might have joy and that our joy should be complete.

This is why I can never fully understand people who approach the question of faith as if it were a negative – as if it were an imposition or a mere collection of prohibitions. What brought to me to this day was the discovery, very early in my life, of the joy of following Jesus Christ, of the beauty of the message of love which Jesus taught and which brought meaning and purpose to my life. I learnt it from the simple acts of kindness and neighbourly service of my parents. I learnt it from the faith and dedication of the priests and lay people who taught me and inspired me. I learnt if from the generosity and service of so many of my friends, my neighbours at home and the people I have worked with as a priest over the years. I learnt it from the many outstanding witnesses to Christian life I have had the privilege to meet, pray and work with in the other Christian Churches over the years. I thank so many of them for their presence here tonight.

Faith has never been a negative in my life, it is has been the source of my greatest satisfaction and joy.

Tonight I thank God for that faith and I pray that others might discover the fulfilment, life and joy which full participation in the life of the Church can bring. I pray that even one person will be tempted to lift the Scriptures again and be touched by the Word of Life, that someone might come to Mass again and be uplifted and strengthened by the Bread of Life, that someone might kneel beside their bed again in prayer and be touched by the love of the God who created them and continues to care for them.

Ireland without the Christian faith will not be a better place. That is already becoming clear. Ireland with a humble, compassionate faith could be a beacon to the rest of the world of all that is truly human and truly good. I pray tonight for a renewal of that faith – the faith of Patrick, Brigid, Columbanus, Malachy, Oliver Plunkett and so many others of our kith and kin who discovered the ‘pearl of great price’ which is faith in Jesus Christ.

I pray also for the continued peace and prosperity of our country. These are blessings from God which we are called to nurture and sustain in a just and generous way. They offer to this generation an unprecedented opportunity for hope. Let us ask God to show us how to make the best of this opportunity, for ourselves and for the good of the whole world. I believe Ireland and its people, of all traditions and backgrounds, have a critical role to play in leading the world in concern for the poor, in building a more just society and in building the civilisation of love.

Pope Benedict, just before he placed the red biretta on our heads reminded every Cardinal ‘that in entering the College of Cardinals, the Lord asks of you and gives to you the service of love: love for God, love for his Church, love for our brothers and sisters, with a total and unconditional dedication, “usque ad sanguinis effusionem” [even to the shedding of blood].’

If there is one thing I have learnt with certainty in my life as a priest, it is the importance of the smallest act of kindness, the simplest word of encouragement, the most hidden act of compassion and understanding. These are the building blocks of the civilisation of love. Tonight, in fidelity to the first and greatest commandment of our Lord and to the words of Pope Benedict to every Cardinal, I commit myself to seeking to build that civilisation of love with each and every one of you, through what St. Thérèse of Lisieux called ‘the little way of love’. By doing that, I think we can bring real hope to our world at this time.

For my part, standing in this historic See of St. Patrick, and standing before you, the people of the Archdiocese of Armagh, who bear his memory with such devotion and pride, I conclude by making my own his prayer:

But what can I say or what can I promise to my Lord,
as I can do nothing that He has not given me?
May He search my heart and my deepest feelings….
may God never permit it to happen to me that I should lose His people
which He purchased in the utmost parts of the world.
I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful
witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.’
(From The Confession of St. Patrick)

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

AMEN.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF

OUR LADY, QUEEN OF PEACE CHURCH, AUGHANDUFF

HOMILY GIVEN BY

ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY

SUNDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2007

We are here today because a certain man once said: “Do this in memory of me”. It was the night before he was crucified. Jesus had just taken bread and changed it to his body. He had taken a cup of wine, changed it into his blood. In other words, he had just celebrated the first Mass. Then he gave this command to his followers: “Do this in memory of me”.

Do what I have done to remind yourselves that I, your Lord and Master, have loved you to the end. I, your Lord and Master, love you so much that I am prepared to give my life for you. I, your Lord and Master, am going to give my life, not in some heroic glorious gesture of courage and defiance. I, your Lord and Master, am going to humble myself, even to accepting death, death on a cross, the horrible death of a criminal, preceded by an even more horrible scourging as Mel Gibson’s film The Passion illustrated so vividly. With that command he gave to his disciples the power to do what he was commanding them to do.

Of course, none of this makes any sense unless we remember that it was all done out of love. The love of God for sinner like me and you. So the Church has never, ever forgotten that Last Supper. That last command – Do this in memory of me.

That is why that for many years before this beautiful Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace was built, Mass was celebrated in Aughanaduff School. It was located, on the top of the hill, where John and Nellie Mackin now have their house. Parishioners came from surrounding townlands to the school to attend Mass which was celebrated on Sundays and Holy Days at nine o’clock. But the building was quite small and conditions were cramped for those attending Mass. People were very grateful to have Mass celebrated in the school but it was clear for many years that a new Church would have to be built to meet their needs. Indeed there was a lot of discussion, I understand, about the building of a new Church. When John O’Neill was appointed Parish Priest in 1946, Cardinal D’Alton wrote to him. He said he was glad that he, Father O’Neill, had already realised the necessity of building a church that will serve the needs of the people of this district. The Cardinal went on to say that: ‘Saying Mass on Sundays in the school was out of keeping with the sublime dignity of the holy sacrifice. It was a poor substitute for a church because a church would be a permanent for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and a centre of devotion for the people. Since this was 1946, the Archbishop suggested that the new Church might be dedicated to Our Lady Queen of Peace. It would be an act of thanksgiving to God and of homage to his blessed mother that in the recent World War, which had just ended in 1945, the people of this area were preserved from the ravages of war. Archbishop D’Alton ended his letter with the hope that Father O’Neill’s appeal would meet with a generous response. He said: ‘God will richly reward all who make a contribution whether great or small’.

Well that is exactly what happened. The appeal to have a new church met with a terrific response. We are having commemorations of all sorts of events in the past.

Two weeks ago I was in Dungannon for a commemoration of the Flight of the Earls. A sad event really in the history of our country. Last Sunday I was in Paris for a celebration of the death of Archbishop Dominic Maguire. He was the Archbishop who came after St Oliver Plunkett, who was appointed in 1683/4 but in 1691, after the Treaty of Limerick, and the defeat of the Battle of the Boyne, he had to leave Ireland and spend the last sixteen years of his life in Paris, in exile. That was also a sad commemoration. But today I am glad we are having a joyful celebration.

We are here to celebrate the fact that the people of this community, fifty years ago, took on the ambitious project of building a new church. Building a new church at any stage is a big challenge for a parish. It was a huge undertaking in the 1950s because it was a time of high unemployment and emigration. But, to raise funds for the new church a local committee was set up to help the priests of the parish – Father O’Neill and Father Brendan McDonald. The new Church Committee had two functions
1. To organise events and activities to raise funds for the building of the church and secondly,
2. To oversee the construction work.

This Sunday’s Gospel is about God and money and really I can’t think of any better example of how people could use their money and the example of the building of this Church here in the 1950s.
The Building Committee worked tirelessly over five years. Its tremendous success was due, in no small measure, to the energies of the Chairman, Owen Murphy and Vice Chairman Francis Quinn. May the Lord have mercy on their souls. The Secretary was Michael Murphy, and the Treasurer was Peter McDonnell Snr. The Committee was: Father McDonald, Francis Loy, Patrick Campbell, Arthur Garland, Pearse McGeough, Jack Murphy, Tommy McVerry, James McVerry, and Thomas Walsh.

Down through the years the membership changed of course and I understand that the only surviving members of the Committee are: Louis McDonnell, Michael McKinley, James McKinley, Peter McParland and Emmett McCreesh. All the others are now deceased. May they rest in peace.
One thing I noticed about the Committees in the 1950s only men were appointed to committees. That doesn’t mean that it was only the men who worked hard to ensure the success of the many events. The women were involved, up to their ears, in organising raffles, selling tickets at Bazaars, cooking at the dances and card playing as well as organising guest-teas. The Committee met every Monday night and after the meetings they went for tea to the home of the McKinleys where the debates and heated arguments continued on. The methods chosen were from the collections – house-to-house collections; bazaars; carnival dances and marquee dances; raffles and sweeps; guest teas; card games; local appeals for donors; appeals to emigrants – mainly in America and England. There is a record of a decision of the 18th October 1954 when Mr P Campbell got eight packs of cards at a cost of £1. Some of your may remember the big raffle of 1955 when the 1st prize was an Austin A30 car.
In early 1954 it was decided that the Church would be built here in Aughanaduff and a site was acquired from Bernard McKinley, father of Michael and James McKinley who served as members of the new Church Committee. The Architect was Mr Simon Leonard from Dublin. Work began on 5 July 1954.

There was also a wonderful Ladies Committee presided over by Miss Mollie McKinley and helped by Misses Mary McDonnell; Marie Murphy; Josie McCoy and Anne McCreesh.

There was loud praise too for the help from the American exiles especially Peter and Mollie Murphy in New York, Dr P J and Michael Hughes in Pennsylvania, who gave the bell; Misses Brigid and Katie Faughey who gave the altar and the altar rails and there were many others including Sister Bernadette Owen who was in the Mount Carmel Convent in New York.

The foundation stone was laid at the end of May 1955 and the Church opened in June 1957 in the presence of Bishop O’Callaghan of Clogher, who was a native of the neighbouring parish and Bishop Austin Quinn, Bishop of Kilmore, the Bishop who confirmed me and sent me to Maynooth to study for the priesthood and therefore has a special place in my affections.

The preacher said: “that the dedication of any Church has always been an occasion of great spiritual joy and thanksgiving”. But he said: “the sacrifices which you have made are indeed great and today is an occasion for rejoicing because it is a day which has seen the fulfilment of the hopes and dreams of many generations in this district….. Your ancestors, in this parish, had to endure great sufferings and persecution in order to preserve the faith”. He said, “Let us remember our ancestors and ask God to instil into us the great spirit of faith which characterised them. Let us ask God that we may always preserve it and pass it unsullied to the generations to come”.
That is, I think, one of the great merits of today’s celebration. We recall the fact that this Church was built with tremendous local effort. There was a lot of direct labour, a lot of voluntary labour given. All sections of the community were involved. It took a huge effort. In the process, I am sure, it built up a great community spirit and that is part of the joy of dedicating a church. And now, the challenge is to preserve that faith and to pass it on to the generations to come.

Let me quote the words again of the preacher of the day. He said: “This little Church stands as an example to all. May Our Lady obtain for us all the graces so that we may realise the necessity of doing penance, not just for our own sins but for the sins of the world. Let us be ever faithful to the recitation of the family rosary. This is a great devotion to our Blessed Mother to which Irish people had always been faithful in the days of persecution. When it wasn’t possible to assist at Mass, they resorted to the Rosary and their fidelity obtained for them graces to endure their trials”. He said that “the new Church would bring blessings to the people of this parish as this Church would stand as a lasting memorial to the faith and generosity of the people”.
We cannot omit to mention the work of refurbishment and re-dedication done in this Church during the time when Father John McGrane was Parish Priest here. It was re-dedicated in 1986 by Cardinal Ó Fiaich.

My thanks go to Frank McCreesh whose has compiled this wonderful history and I would love to see it being developed into a little booklet because it is a glorious history – a glorious chapter – in the history of this historic region of Fews in South Armagh.

Today we thank God for the faith and the example of those people. We ask God’s Holy Spirit to help us to, first of all, know Jesus Christ ourselves, personally, and to imitate him so powerfully that everyone around us will want to imitate Him in the same way, and that is a big challenge.

The Church is, first of all, a House of Prayer, a place where Jesus is present. Where people come to adore Him and to praise Him and to thank Him and to make their petitions. One petition I want you to make constantly here and I would love to see is a time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each week or each month, dedicated to this intention, that we renew our faith in the reality of those who are ordained for the service of the people either as bishops; as priests or as Deacons. Those who are ordained and those who are married, receive these sacraments not primarily for their own use or perfection but to serve you, the people.

The men and women who built this Church had a wonderful idea of that call to service – to serve each other. That is why they met and they planned and they worked. We must try and revive that spirit.

I am sure that they got great joy and satisfaction just seeing this wonderful Church. Our job today is to rebuild the monument of faith – the faith of ourselves and of our neighbours in Christ Jesus present in our midst. We must do that through our devotion to Mary, Queen of Peace, Mother of Jesus and our mother too.

AMEN

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF MONASTERY CHAPEL, SIENA CONVENT, DROGHEDA

HOMILY GIVEN BY

ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY

FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER 2007

There is a story told that things were not going for the devil in hell and they called a summit meeting. They wanted to find a better marketing slogan. One proposed was that ‘we will tell them there is no Heaven’. That was debated up and down for quite a while and eventually rejected. Somebody else proposed: ‘We will tell them there is no Hell’. Again this was debated at length but finally rejected. Finally they agreed that the winning slogan would be: ‘We will tell them there is no hurry’.

The people gathered in their thousands to hear Jesus. They were in danger of trampling on each other but they risked the danger because they knew that he had the words of eternal life.

He began talking to his disciples. He tells them to be on their guard against hypocrisy. We must beware of saying one thing and doing another; proclaiming one set of values and actually living out, in the privacy of our own lives, a totally different set. It is an appeal for consistency between our eternal lives and our inner thoughts. Remember, he once said: “This people honours me with their lips but their hearts are far from me”.

One great way we have of guarding against hypocrisy is to examine, not just our conscience, but our consciousness, in order to see how we feel at the different moments of the day about the events of our life. We take a look back to see how our prayer life impacts on these feelings.
There is one very good reason for us to try to eliminate the inconsistencies and contradictions that may be creeping into our lives. It is all going to come out eventually. All will be revealed. We may as well reveal it ourselves, to ourselves, and not be fooling ourselves. We need to face the facts and then he says: “do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more”.

Today the Church celebrates the memory of the American martyrs – eight brave Jesuit Missionaries. They certainly had no fear of those who can kill the body and do no more. Listen to the words of one of them – St John de Brébeuf, he said: “For two days I have felt a great desire for martyrdom and have been eager to endure all the torments which the martyrs endured”. “My God” he says, “I will take, from your hand, to cup of your sufferings. I take a vow never to fail, on my side, in the grace of martyrdom if you offer it to me some day”.

On Wednesday last we had St Ignatius of Antrio saying to the Romans: “I am trying in earnest about dying for God”. Please let me be a meal for the beasts. It is they who can provide my way to God. I am like wheat ground fine by the lion’s teeth. It is they who can provide my way to God”. It is a fantastic saying.

But, just in case all of this too daunting, especially at this early hour, we also celebrate today St. Paul of the Cross who says: “It is an excellent and holy practice to call to mind and meditate on our Lord’s Passion since it is by this path that we shall arrive at a sanctifying union with God”. So, there is an Honours Course and a Pass Course. By meditating on our Lord’s Passion, we shall arrive at a sanctifying union with God.
We must not worry too much about those who threaten to murder us – and can do no more. But we must fear and beware of the Evil One – Satan – the Devil who, after he has killed the body, has the power to us cast into Hell by luring us into temptation and sin. That, and that alone, namely, unrepentant shameless ones, can lure us and send us to Hell and nothing else. That is the one thing we must fear and avoid.

Yet we must not be overcome by that fear but remember that the Evil One has been defeated, once and for all on Calvary. At times his power and his reign can appear daunting but it is only swish of the tail of the fish, doomed to die.

We take confidence from the power and the love of Jesus of God to look after and protect us. We are all precious in his sight. Not alone that, but every living thing is precious in His sight. The sparrow is worth less than a halfpenny, but in the eyes of God, the sparrow is precious. Yet not even one sparrow is forgotten. The Lord cares for his creations. Jesus says, “Why every hair on your head has been counted”. Well, he would have less counting to do on some heads than others. There is no need to be afraid, “each one of you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows”. How much more precious is each one of us in the sight of God?

Since we are talking about the one who has power to cast us into Hell, we must recognise the presence and activity of the Evil One in the world. We must remind ourselves, and those dear to us, of the importance of the Guardian Angels and of the saints and especially of the Holy Spirit in this regard.

I was in Fatima at a meeting of bishops from all over Europe. We were discussing marriage and the family and its state of health, and it is a depressing picture. We need to mobilise in its defence.

I am sure that this community of Siena is well aware of what happened in Siena on Shrove Tuesday 1366. Catherine was praying in her room. Jesus appeared to her. He was accompanied by Mary, his mother and a crowd of the Heavenly Host of angels and saints. Taking Catherine’s hand, Our Lady held it up to her Son. She placed the ring on her hand and espoused Catherine to himself. The scene is often depicted in paintings. Jesus said to her to be of good courage for she was now armed with faith to go out and fight and overcome the assaults of the Evil One.

The world would wish us to believe hat there is no such thing as the Evil One. But Jesus warns us to fear the one who can kill both body and soul.

You know the story of Catherine of Siena better than I do. She was summoned before the General Chapter of the Order but the charges, if any, were dropped. Her reputation for holiness and wondrous grew. Three Dominican priests were deputed to hear the confessions of those whom she persuaded to amend their lives. She had great success in healing feuds. I reckon there are many feuds to be healed in our country; our homes; in our parishes. How many feuds cause the breakdown of marriages? She had at least two secretaries. Her spiritual betrothal marked the end of the years of solicitude and preparation. It was revealed to her that she was to go out and promote the salvation of her neighbour.
You too are contemplatives. One definition of preaching is to hand on what we have contemplated to others. Sometimes we preachers don’t get time to contemplate enough. We depend on people like you to share with us the fruits of your contemplation.

Catherine came to Rome to help the Pope with her prayers, her exhalations and her letters. She came to win fresh support for the Pontiff. You too, with your prayers and your letters to your families and friends, can exalt and encourage them to become more active in the Church. ACCORD for example is looking for new volunteers, that is, the Catholic Marriage Advisory Service. We need healing of feuds. I ask your prayers and your help in all of this.

FAREWELL Of APOSTOLIC MOST REVEREND LAZZAROTTO,

ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH

PRESENTATION BY

CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

SATURDAY 19 JANUARY 2008

It is my privilege to interpret the sentiments of the Irish Bishops and to express their good wishes and gratitude to you, Archbishop Giuseppe, as you prepare to leave our shores.

You and I have known each other for some 20 years, since your days at the Irish Desk in the Secretariat of State and mine at Via SS Quattro.

Before coming to Ireland you had some knowledge of our country through your friendship with the late Monsignor Cyril Mulligan. So, when you came you were not a stranger. But you immediately revealed yourself to be a man of great human qualities, with a wonderful capacity for empathy, understanding and friendship. You were always willing to work with the bishops, offering every assistance you could to safeguard what related to the mission of the Church and the Apostolic See. You gladly travelled the length and breadth of our country. You brought your fellow priests from Padua to visit Ireland and to do their retreat here. The sense of joy and happiness which you obviously experienced yourself and displayed has helped and inspired many others. So, for all of that we thank you. We are genuinely sorry to see you go and we wish you every blessing in the future.

I was speaking to your colleague, Archbishop Franco, earlier this week and he sends you greetings and the invitation to spend some time in Jerusalem with him en route to Australia.

Your superiors in Rome are very happy with your work here and I am sure they know that they are entrusting the immediate preparations for World Youth Day to a very competent Nuncio.

As one who represents the very best of the religious life and culture of Padua with its University, Scrovegni Palace Giotta, Santa Justince etc, we thought a painting with a religious theme might be an acceptable souvenir of your stay in Ireland.

The name of the artist is O’Brien. An name that evokes the kings of Munster. The setting is Glendalough – the Glen of the two Loughs – one of the most evocative names in the history of Irish monastic life with its association with St. Kevin. The Round Tower evokes persecution and threat and defence.

It is a winter scene reminding us all that even in the green island of Ireland it is sometimes winter, despite global warming. The branches of the trees reminds us of nature and the cycle of the seasons – that spring always follows winter.

The love bird is singing – singing the praises of God whose name is great and whose magnificence is always to be glorified.

We hope that as you glance at this picture somewhere it will evoke good memories for you. They say seven is the perfect number so a seven year stay is the perfect term.

We wish you sincerely God’s blessing and hope that someday you will return to our country where you will find many friends.

Thank you.

PRESENTATION OF JOHN PAUL II AWARDS

MILLENNIUM THEATRE, DERRY

WEDNESDAY 23 JANUARY 2008

ADDRESS BY

CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

I am delighted to be here in Daire Colmcille tonight. It is always a joy to come to St. Colmcille’s city and that for many reasons.

Down in Armagh there are many pockets of devotions to Colmcille. For example in the historic parish of Termonmaguirc there is a fine Millennium High Cross, built to honour St. Colmcille.

In the Cathedral Parish of Armagh the out-church of Knockaconey, one of the most beautiful Churches in the diocese, is dedicated to the memory of Colmcille.

Colmcille was a Donegal man, a Tir Conaill man, but, like many others from that county, he was so filled with zeal for the spreading of the Gospel that he felt the need to leave his native hearth and more. That same faith and love has inspired a lot of people to go great things and make great sacrifices down through the centuries for love of Christ.

I am glad to be n Derry tonight because it gives me a chance to meet again some old friends. When I went to Maynooth to begin my studies for the priesthood I met there an outstanding bunch of seminarians from Derry. We studied and prayed together. We played football together and we became friends – such good friends that many of them went to Rome last November to be in St. Peter’s to see and hear Pope Benedict make me a Cardinal. I suspect that some of them could not believe it was rally happening and so they went along to see and hear for themselves.

After three years in Maynooth, I went to the Irish College in Rome to complete my studies and to be ordained a priest.

ORDINATION OF MGR BRENDAN KELLY
AS
BISHOP OF ACHONRY
CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION & ST NATHY
SUNDAY 27 JANUARY 2008
INTRODUCTION
CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

We come together this afternoon in this Cathedral of the Annunciation and St Nathy, to ordain Mons. Brendan Kelly, Bishop of Achonry. Today Jesus, the Good Shepherd, entrusts his people, with unfailing love, to a new shepherd, a successor of St Nathy – the founder and patron of the diocese. With the help of the priests, the new bishop will continue to nurture the flock with the Good News of the Gospel, and to lead them in the ways of holiness through the Eucharist in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Usually the principal consecration of a suffrage bishop is the Metropolitan bishop. I thank Archbishop Neary for graciously bestowing this invitation and honour on me today. So today we entrust Achonry’s new bishop to the loving protection of its patron saints Attracta and Nathy. As we do so, we thank God for the faithful and generous service of Bishop Tom Flynn, over the last thirty-one years. May he continue to live in good health and happiness after the example of his illustrious predecessor, Eugene O’Hart, who lived to be a hundred and is reported to have been administering Confirmation when he was well into his nineties.

I know that you will accompany both Bishop Kelly and Flynn with the support of your prayers and sacrifices which in this Mass we unite to the prayers of Jesus.

FAREWELL MASS FOR APOSTOLIC MOST REVEREND LAZZAROTTO,

ST JOSEPH’S ORATORY

IN

ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH

HOMILY GIVEN BY

CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

SATURDAY 19 JANUARY 2008

Last Sunday I celebrated Mass in a parish in Palestine on the border between Samaria and Galilee. There was a terrific energy and vibrancy in the liturgy. It was really inspiring. Afterwards we were introduced to the Elders of the parish over a cup of Bedouin Coffee in the Parish Hall. The village is about 40 kilometres from Nazareth and quite near to the village of the 10 lepers and right on the road that goes from Galilee to Jerusalem.

There was a community of nuns in that parish and two volunteer women teachers from France and a small Anglican community. The Parish Priest was from Jordan, a Bedouin, who lived, as he said himself, under the tent. But unfortunately he has not been able to get home for two and a half years to see his elderly parents because of the famous ‘Wall’ that divides that country.

As we drove up and down the steep hills and mountains of Samaria, I thought of Jesus, Mary and Joseph on their many journeys back and forth from home to the Holy City.

As I moved from place to place myself during the past week, I thought of the journey of life. For many it involves moving from place to place, meeting different people and adapting to different circumstances. When I came to Rome I took possession of the Titular Church on Wednesday. Its patrons Quiricus and Julitta, who were a mother and her three year old son, martyred for the faith, suggest the Gospel of the Flight into Egypt.

Then I thought of you, Archbishop Giuseppe, and your preparations to depart from here in Ireland to go to Australia. Now, like Levi, the son of Alphaeus in today’s Gospel, with exemplary obedience, you get up and you go to follow the call of the Master. We are all genuinely sorry to see you go. Many bishops, who cannot be here today, have sent their apologies. Over the past seven years you have helped us immensely with your kind actions and wise counsel while always leaving intact the exercise of the bishop’s lawful power. They have not been easy years. But your constant availability has served wonderfully to foster close and cordial relations with the Bishops’ Conference. You were always ready and willing to take pains to contribute to peace and harmony, to do whatever made for progress and united effort. We promise to accompany you with our prayers. Some of us will see you at World Youth Day.

In any case, a spell in Ireland was, for some people, quite a good preparation for life in Australia.

Daniel Mannex was President here from 1903 to 1912 before going to Australia as Archbishop of Melbourne and there he lived for the next 51 years.
Patrick Francis Moran had been Vice Rector of the Irish College in Rome, Secretary to the Archbishop of Dublin, Bishop of Ossory, before setting off for Australia in 1884 to become Archbishop of Sydney where he lived for the next 27 years.
More importantly, you will be accompanied by the protection and intercession of the saints of your native diocese to which I know you are very devoted. Prosdocimus, Justina, Bellinus, San Antonio, of course. Gregorio Barbarico, Blessed Forzate and Blessed Arnaldo. There is more one missing, most recent of all. It has been noted that in sacred art, St. Joseph is rarely depicted alone but usually in the company of Jesus and Mary. We know that you will not be alone either because you will be in the presence of Jesus, under the protection of Mary because you travel in the service of the body of Christ for the building up of God’s kingdom here on earth. May the Lord always bless you as you do so.

AMEN

Address by
His Eminence Seán Cardinal Brady
Post Primary Review Conference
City Hotel, Armagh
Tuesday 5th February 2008

It is a pleasure to be here this morning for this important gathering of principals and governors. Last week many of you will have been busy celebrating Catholic Education Week. And, this week, so many of your primary colleagues will be under huge pressure to process their children through the next stage of the current Transfer Procedure, following the receipt of the Test results last Saturday. And these two events focus our attention on the purpose, not just of this meeting, but of the whole Post primary Review process in which you are engaged. We are seeking to develop our network of sustainable Catholic schools into the future – schools which will proclaim and celebrate the Good News of the Beatitudes, and offer top quality educational opportunities to young people of all faith backgrounds and none

Firstly, I would like to thank all of those who have given so much time to this process. I know that it is one more burden on top of a very full programme that you already have. But this is a time of major social and economic change and it is important that we do everything we can to get a system in place which is fit for purpose, and which takes people forward from where they are at present. Schools are integral to the strength and resilience of any society. As we know from the terrible years of conflict, our schools and churches were and are vital elements in holding society together. We have only one chance to implement the necessary changes. If we make a mess of it this time, it is future generations who will pay. If we get it right, we will have made an enormous contribution to the future welfare of our children and of their children.

What we are seeking to do in this Post-Primary Review process is to provide a continuity of educational excellence from a child enters Nursery school or Primary 1, right through till the time when they leave formal education and enter the world of work – and of the many other responsibilities that they will have as adults. Education, however, is not just about the training of people to be good, employable individuals. Education is the process whereby society seeks to enable its members to learn all those skills and qualities that they will need to help them thrive as individuals and as positive members of their communities. It is about helping everyone to develop as human beings, made in God’s image and likeness, whatever their talents and whatever challenges they face.

The Trustees have been very actively engaged in this whole process. The Northern Ireland Commission for Catholic Education represents all the Trustees – diocesan and religious – and it has sought to co-ordinate the work of the entire Catholic managed sector. The Consultative Group for Catholic Education has done a great service in helping all Catholic schools to clarify their shared vision in the new circumstances that prevail in NI. These bodies have enabled the Catholic-managed sector to be proud of both its identity and its achievements – and to have the confidence to face the future along with all our partners in education. The Post Primary Review process that we have established –with financial support from DE – has developed a way of working which is based on partnership, extensive discussions, wide public consultation and consensus. That is the way forward if we are to develop sustainable educational provision and ensure that parents feel included in the development of this.

I know that Governors, principals and teachers have also already undertaken a huge amount of work in introducing a conveyor belt of change. We all owe them our thanks and praise, because the Trustees and administrators know they cannot simply publish edicts and expect things to happen immediately. Change management in a school is a high level skill. The new is always unsettling and everyone needs to be reassured that change will be for the better and not just change for change’s sake. Despite the workload involved, our schools have introduced the new curriculum – and have also had to cope with the downward demographic trend, and the arrival of many welcome guests from other countries, with the attendant challenges that this brings. Many people are weary of implementing these changes.

So in support of schools and administrators, there are just two key points that I would like to make this morning.

Firstly, I have indicated that the Trustees – and indeed all parties in Catholic education – are happy to engage with DE and with all the other sectors in managing the plethora of change that is coming at us.

But it is vital that the Minister ensures that there is root and branch cohesion across all these initiatives. Thus, while it has been important to announce the end of the 11+ and a transfer at 11 based on parental election, this needs to be accompanied by putting systems in place to promote an area planning process and the announcement of the Sustainable Schools policy. Otherwise, some schools face a very uncertain future and will continue to die a slow lingering death. A society is uncivilised if it leaves the educational welfare of its children – and especially its weakest – to the vagaries of Darwinian economics. The survival of the fittest is neither an acceptable method of method nor an appropriate content for education.

We in the Catholic sector – along with many people across civic society – are clear that this is a social justice issue. All our children deserve the best we can give them. That will not happen unless there is a closely woven pattern of coordinated initiatives. am sure that we will all agree that educational structures would have to be based on seeking quality outcomes for all and not on any other basis.. That lies at the heart of the Core Principles which inform and guide all the 21 Catholic post-primary projects across the North. Thus, the Catholic Trustees are working on the key principle of social justice. However, this exemplary Post Primary Review process will not be able to continue unless the Department gives coherent policy coverage.
Secondly, I am very glad that DE has recognised that the need for sectoral support in those areas where sectoral coherence can complement the responsibilities of the Education and Skills Authority (ESA). The Review of Public Administration is not about a structure that will look streamlined on paper. It is based on what delivers quality outcomes and maximises the efficient use of resources. The Catholic sector has shown that ethos adds value. We have only to look at DE’s own published figures to see just how much Catholic schools have been setting standards in achievement at GCSE and A-level and in attendance at Higher Education. That is the proof that targeted sectoral support is money well spent.

There are those who see any sectoral support as part of a horse trading exercise and who want all power to be concentrated in ESA. There are others who would rather that there were no faith-based schools but that they just be blended into the totality of state-owned schools – with nothing but a brief nod to their historical roots. But we have to see what it is that helps to deliver quality outcomes. A sector, which is motivated by a shared vision, which can inspire staff and governors and which can then help to promote social cohesion, is a vital educational partner. Schools are not numbers on a list or dots on a map. They are part of communities. Grant aid which is targeted at the specific contribution that ESA cannot make, is money well spent, not a sop to anybody. The spirit of RPA is that all partners have an opportunity to focus on outcomes and not on empires, on pupils and not on personalities, on individuals and not on institutions. Thus I know that the Trustees are working with DE to see the establishment of a slim-line Trustee support body. I look forward to an early completion of these negotiations and this planning. Pupils deserve not the leanest structures but the most effective structures.

You have many more issues to hear about from others today. It is most encouraging that the Permanent Secretary from the Department of Education, Mr Will Haire is here. This is a tribute to his consultative style in the enormous task that the Department has before it. But I also see it as a recognition of major role that the Catholic managed schools have made to raising standards, embracing change and facing the future.

To all you who are participating today, I thank you for taking the time to be here and for all that you have already put into this Post Primary Review process. This is an enormous undertaking. With support from DE and from the Minister, we have the potential to develop a wonderful, robust system of sustainable schools into the future.

(I would like to finish on a personal note and thank so many people for their kindness and encouragement since my nomination as Cardinal last October. The goodness of so many people has been a sign that there is still a great hunger for faith, hope and love. These are exciting times to be alive in Northern Ireland – and great times to be involved in Catholic education.)
Guím beannacht Dé ar bhur n-obair.

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?

CONFERENCE IN CROKE PARK HOTEL, DUBLIN

ADDRESS BY

CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

MONDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2008

Archbishop Martin, representatives of other Churches and faith communities, esteemed guests, ladies and gentlemen;

It is a great pleasure to open this Conference on Pope Benedict’s first encyclical letter Deus Caritas Est. It is a mark of the appeal and significance of the Holy Father’s chosen theme, unexpected by some, that this Conference is so heavily oversubscribed. We haven’t quite filled Croke Park, but we have certainly stretched the capacity of this large Conference room in the Hogan Stand and more people wanted to come. I thank all of you for being here.

I thank, in anticipation, our speakers; Professor Conor Gearty, Lucy Fallon Byrne and Bishop Donal Murray. I thank our Chair and speakers on the afternoon discussion panel: Mayor Rotimi Adebari, Sister Joan Roddy, Professor John Monaghan, Dr Duncan Morrow and Dr Fergus O’Farrell.

I congratulate Bishop Raymond Field and the Advisory Board of the Bishops’ Commission for Justice and Social Affairs on this excellent initiative. In a relatively short space of time Bishop Field and his colleagues have brought the ICJSA from a standing start to become one of most active and widely known Commissions of the Bishops’ Conference. On behalf of the Conference I want to thank them for their vital work.

I want to welcome especially this morning the newest member of the Commission’s team, Miss Nicola Rooney from just outside Newry. As the new Researcher and Administrator of ICJSA Nicola brings with her many personal and intellectual gifts, including the gift of youth. I hope many of you who work in this field already will get to know Nicola in the weeks and months ahead. I know that her doctoral studies on the role of the Catholic Church in conflict resolution will make a particularly important contribution to the work of the Commission.

Of course, no event like this comes together without a lot of careful preparation. In formally opening the Conference I also want to thank those who worked so hard behind the scenes to bring today’s event together. A special word of thanks to Sandra Garry, Bernie Moloney and others from the Columba Centre in Maynooth; thanks also to Martin Long, Brenda Drumm, Marie Purcell and Kathy Tynan from the Catholic Communications Office. They are all here today to provide you with whatever assistance you may need as the day goes on.

Our day began with the beautiful prayer service which they prepared. At the heart of that prayer service was the Gospel of the Good Samaritan. It is significant, I believe, that the story begins with the fundamental human question: ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ The Lord responds with the perfect summary of the law, the prophets and the new Covenant: ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind – and you must love your neighbour as you love yourself.’
Clearly this answer catches the questioner somewhat by surprise, and the part which most challenges him, is the emphasis given to making our love of God a reality in our human relationships. His inclination is to deflect the question because something within him instinctively tells him his comfort zones are about to be challenged: ‘And who is my neighbour’? The answer – someone you do not expect, someone from outside your assumed cultural, political, social and religious parameters for inclusion. The answer is the iconic story of the Good Samaritan. It is a story of love, of the face of God, revealed in unexpected people. It is the story of borders in our minds and hearts becoming new horizons of hope and healing for the whole human family because of the message of Jesus Christ.
Three weeks ago this story of the Good Samaritan took on a whole new significance for me. Thanks to Trocaire, who are co-sponsoring today’s event with the Bishops’ Conference, I was in the Holy Land. We said Mass in a Christian village called Zababdeh in the north of Samaria – near the border with Galilee. The village was on the road from Nazareth to Jerusalem. The Holy Family would have passed through there several times. The village is near the place where Jesus cured the ten lepers. I seem to remember that the only one who came back to say thanks on that occasion was also a Samaritan.
Well, we had this extremely lively liturgy – great singing – great participation. After Mass we all went to the Parish Hall for a cup of strong Bedouin coffee and a very hearty Ceád Mile Fáilte from the village elders. I thought to myself that the Lord surely had some of the ancestors of these sturdy people in mind when he told the story of the Good Samaritan. They were so welcoming and so helpful. It was a real joy to be in their company.

As I drove through the Israeli check points on the long car journey back to Jerusalem, I looked, in amazement, at the huge and winding concrete wall which hemmed people in, separated them physically and psychologically throughout the territory. As I did so, I was also struck by how relevant, how urgent the story of the Good Samaritan still is for our world today. Even in Belfast, despite the progress of recent years in our own country, score of peace walls continue to exist. Of course, there are other walls of social, cultural, religious, philosophical and political division in our world and in our society. There are other walls of prejudice and exclusion in our minds and in our hearts, walls of suspicion and distrust.

Hence the significance of Pope Benedict’s compelling exposition of the theological, spiritual and practical consequences of God’s identity – God is love.
Last weekend I was in Drogheda. I called to see the Medical Missionaries of Mary. I love being in the company of people like that who, despite the fact that they are now in their twilight years of life, are so happy that they have given their best days to the love of their neighbours in the mission fields of Africa and elsewhere. By the way, it is wonderful to see so many religious sisters here today!
I met there a religious sister in her autumn years, with her arm in a sling because she had had a slight accident. That was not going to hold her back though. She was setting out the next day to return to her mission field, bringing medical care to those would not otherwise receive it. She didn’t need to be reminded that God is love and that love is the service which the Church carries out to attend constantly to the sufferings and needs of humankind, including material needs. She knew it instinctively. It was a reflex, born of prayer, of a personal closeness to the Lord. She was, like so many others, a person who knows what it is to make the civilisation of love a reality. She did so by transforming the ordinary tasks of everyday life into moments of encounter with God’s life giving love. She was, like so many others – mothers and fathers, medical personnel, carers, the list could on – she was the living embodiment of that which Pope Benedict speaks of in paragraph 19 of his letter when he says: “The entire activity of the Church is an expression of a love that seeks the integral good of the human family: it seeks his evangelization through Word and Sacrament, an undertaking that is often heroic in the way it is acted out in history; and it seeks to promote the human person in the various arenas of life and human activity.”

This Encyclical talks a lot about responsibilities and this is a welcome change. Responsibility obviously has to do with answering for something to somebody.

The first challenge is to face up to the fact that love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God, first and foremost, is a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful. Anyone who needs help, and whom I can help, is my neighbour.

But love of neighbour is a responsibility for the Church at every level – at parish level; diocesan level; the level of the Universal Church. “Love of neighbour needs to be organised” the Pope says. The introduction of Deacons in the early Church was the response to this need. The decision has been taken to introduce Permanent Deacons to Ireland. The realisation that this exercise of charity is one of the essential activities of the Church alongside that of proclaiming the Word and celebrating the sacraments should add a new energy and urgency to our approach to the introduction of the permanent diaconate.

There is a special challenge for bishops in this encyclical. It recalls that in the Rite of Episcopal Ordination, the Bishop-elect promises to be welcoming and merciful to the poor and to all those in need of consolation and assistance. The directory for the pastoral ministry of bishops highlights most specifically the duty of charity as a responsibility on the whole Church and on each bishop in his diocese.

The directory emphasises charity as an action of the Church as such and that like the Ministry of Word and Sacrament, it too has been an essential part of our mission from the very beginning.

The Church’s deepest nature is expressed in this three-fold responsibility:

1. To preach the Word of God,
2. Celebrate the sacraments, and
3. To exercise the ministry of charity.

The Catechism which I learned at school had a question, who is my neighbour? The answer went something like this. ‘My neighbour is all mankind, of every description without exception, even those who injure me or differ from me in religion’.

What a difference it would make if, in fact, we were to love all humankind, of every description, without distinction, even those who injure us or differ from us in culture, politics or religion. What a difference it would make to the history of this country for example, and to the history of the world.

In the words of Pope Benedict, “Love promises something far greater and different than our everyday existence”. But the way to reach the something greater is not simply to give in to instinct but to grow in maturity. This happens when body and soul are intimately linked. Christian faith has always seen the human person as a unity – where spirit and matter mix – where each is brought to a new nobility through purification and self-control”.

Genuine love seeks the good of the Beloved. Love involves care and concern for the other person. Love is ready and willing to make sacrifices but the human person cannot always give but must sometimes receive. And so, biblical faith intervenes in this human search for love by enriching the notion of love. Biblical faith purifies the search for love and enriches it. It does this by presenting, first of all, a new image of God. We are created in that image. We are called to be the living presence of God’s image to others.

Jesus, in the Eucharist, is that living presence to us. Jesus not only offered himself for us on the cross. He now invites us to share his body and blood so that we may be united with him and united with God. But union with Christ also implies union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ for myself. I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become His Own.

This is why for the Church charity is not an optional extra that could be equally well left to others. It is part of our nature and an indispensable expression of our very being. The Church is God’s family in the world. In this family, no-one ought to go without the necessities of life. And yet, charity extends beyond the frontiers of the Church.

This is why, in the words of Pope Benedict “Love of neighbour needs to be organised”. This Conference give us an opportunity to begin the reflection on how we are organising it?

It gives us the chance to:

1. Study the content of this most important encyclical.
2. Take on board the urgent challenges which it addresses to the Church in Ireland at this time;
3. Assess how we are, in fact, responding to those challenges,
and
4. Identify what needs to be done and what can be done to fill the gaps in our response.

The Church is called to ‘reawaken’, the encyclical says, ‘the moral forces without which just structures are neither established nor proved effective’. There is quite a challenge here – are we, for example, to reawaken the moral forces to pay more taxes so as to provide better social services? Are we called to redress the balance between individual pursuit of wealth and our duty to the common good in the form of better education for our children and better health services for the elderly and those who are ill? No doubt these are the kind of questions which will underpin much of what we reflect on today.

Yet it is not to economists, to politicians or even human rights activists that the Church turns in this Encyclical for example, vital and respected as the work of these vocations are. The encyclical turns attention instead to the saints. In doing so, it is not suggesting that these other insights into the human condition are secondary. It is reminding us, in a timely fashion, that what we need are economists, human rights activists, politicians and journalists indeed, who are themselves saints, who are themselves in touch with, motivated by and witnesses to others of the love and care of God. What we need today are more St. Vincent de Paul’s, new Mother Teresa’s, new St Brigid’s of Kildare who built her monasteries to feed the poor, to clothe the naked, to house the homeless.

These are the people who will be able to bring young people to Christ, young people with their instinct for justice and solidarity in a shrinking world. Indeed, one of the great signs of the times is a growing sense of solidarity between all the different people of the world. It is a source of hope for the future of the human family, one which we should build on.
State agencies and humanitarian associations are increasingly co-operating to promote this. Many forms of co-operation between State and Church agencies have borne immense fruit. Here I pay tribute to the contribution of the Irish State and to their willingness to co-operate with agencies like Trócaire in offering humanitarian assistance to our brothers and sisters in need.

In conclusion, let me note that the story of the Good Samaritan ends with words that sum up the whole mission of the Church – Our Lord turns to the man and says – ‘GO AND DO THE SAME!’ These words sums up the reason for the Church has Trocaire, Accord, Cura and all its other activities which support the cause of the human person. It is why Pope Benedict reminds us that the fundamental vocation is every Christian is to make the civilisation love a reality in the bits and pieces of everyday life – from politics and development, to our own homes, parishes and neighbourhoods.

As I formally open this Conference, let me conclude with the prayer with which Pope Benedict concludes his encyclical. It expressed my heartfelt wish that today will be a source of renewal for all is in our knowledge of and witness to the first truth of our faith – God is love! Let us pray:
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Show us Jesus. Lead us to him.
Teach us to know him and to love Him,
So that we, too, can become
capable of true love
and be fountains of living water
in the midst of a thirsting world.
Amen.