LAUNCH OF LOVE IS FOR LIFE VIDEO
GLENAVON HOTEL, COOKSTOWN
THURSDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER, 1998, 2.30pm
ADDRESS BY MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY, DCL
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

It was my good fortune to work in the Irish College Rome from 1980 to 1993. I was very happy there. The work involved the training of seminarians for the priesthood here in Ireland. But one other very pleasing aspect was the celebration of marriage for Irish couples who came to Rome each week to be married. Over those thirteen years I am sure I had the privilege of celebrating hundreds of weddings of couples from Ireland, England, Scotland and the United States. I say that it was a privilege. It is always a privilege to be present when two people join hands and say, “I take you as my husband, as my wife, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, all the days of my life or until death do us part”. I was always very happy to meet the couples the day before and to go through the marriage ceremony with them and to see the great desire in each one that their marriage would be for life, that it would last, that it would be fulfilled and happy. Many of those couples were very well prepared. They had obviously thought seriously about what they were doing and made their preparations. Some indeed even chose to come to Rome to avoid the hustle and bustle of a big wedding back home so that they could concentrate on what they were doing. That all came back to me last week when I was staying in a convent in Italy where there are a lot of weddings taking place. It was great to see the amount of flowers that were being carried in. Mothers coming in at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning to decorate the altars and prie-dieux for the weddings of their sons or their daughters later on in the day. Then there were the photographers and the dresses and all the beauty, all the lovely trappings people surround an occasion like this with. People do realise that it is a very special moment when people pledge themselves to each other for life, and that is why it has to be photographed and videoed and remembered and albums stored in safe places. Of course, in my experience, there were people who came not well prepared, not ready for what they were undertaking. Inevitably that showed. I remember one big row that broke out after a wedding when the papers were being signed and for the first time the bridegroom discovered the real age of the bride. She was quite a few years older than he thought and it provoked quite a crisis. There wasn’t very good communication there I’m afraid. On another occasion I remember when the bridegroom said his words the bride proceeded to burst out laughing. It was a hysterical, nervous laughing which went on for minutes and minutes. I was at my wits end to know how she could be stopped and how she could be persuaded to say her part of the ceremony. So I am very happy that Fr John Doherty has produced these tapes. I think they are going to be very much in demand, I certainly hope they will be very much in demand. I hope that they will be bought and watched and pondered by people who realise – no matter at what stage – the importance of their love relationship with their spouse. I hope they will be watched by people who come to see that they can improve that relationship by working at it and nurturing it and fostering it.

As the song says, it is love that makes the world go round. The Italian poet Dante puts it a little more elegantly in his Divine Comedy. He spoke of the love that moves the sun and other stars. Certainly love is what keeps the world going. Every human being, each one of us, has a longing to be loved and to love. There is a natural in-built urge and need to give and to receive love. But only those who have love in themselves are fully free to give love. In God’s plan we are meant to receive love from Father and Mother. The child is meant to grow to like and love self. Self esteem is not self indulgence or selfishness. A person who has been loved loves self and is free to love. So it is true to say that all you need is love, but not any old love will do. A preacher became so fed up with people saying that all you need is love that he decided to tell this story: There was this elephant, a very loving elephant, who lived beside an ostrich. He noticed the ostrich sitting on her nest hatching her eggs. Every so often the ostrich had to leave her nest to go to the river to get a drink of water. So the elephant, this loving elephant, was worried in case that in her absence the eggs might get cold and perish. So as soon as he saw her leave the nest the elephant rumbled over and, out of pure love, sat down on the ostrich’s eggs to keep them warm. “Love”, said the preacher, “can be a fuddy duddy elephant kind of thing”. That story is quoted by the American Jesuit, Fr Walter Burchart, to say two things. First of all that love, and specifically married love, is tough, it is costly, it makes heavy demands, it is extremely difficult to cope with because love, yes love, is patient, but lovers can be very impatient and such love is possible only if the married couple are not two but three. For what makes a couples love for each other particularly precious, what lends high promise for love that never ends is the fact that it is God’s love. God is love. God loves you, God lives in you, God ties your love to his.
I congratulate Fr John Doherty on the production of Together Forever. I thank him and those who have worked with him, Liam and Dan Doherty from Derry, Frank and Aileen Dulaghan from Newry, on this important work. I thank them for the support which they are giving to married couples who want to deepen their relationship. I wish the Love is for Life Trust continued success in their work. This programme is the fruit of the efforts of people who have worked with married couples for the past twenty years. It is a support for married couples who want to deepen their relationship. The programme consists of five videos. Each video lasts about 30 minutes. A guide has been produced which gives good detail. It is meant to help leaders who will be directly involved in discussions and asking questions of the groups who will watch this video. This is an important support for the sacrament of marriage. The risen Lord has promised to be with us always to the end of time. People sometimes ask: How can we get in touch today with Jesus Christ? He no longer walks the earth in the same way as he once did. We believe that his presence is made visible through the sacraments. The sacrament of marriage for example is an effective sign, the same as every sacrament is an effective sign. It is a way in which the risen Lord makes his presence effective in our midst and because the Lord is present and at work in them, the sacraments, and especially the sacrament of marriage, brings into the lives of the married couples the life giving action and even the self giving of Christ himself. That self giving of Christ himself is very important in a relationship where self giving is all important.

The sacrament of marriage is an outward sign. It is a visible sign of something that is invisible, but very real. That in reality the invisible reality is God’s grace. It is God’s grace and favour given to a couple to help them in their married life. Grace builds on nature. God’s grace builds on human nature. The grace of marriage builds on the nurtured love, the wholesome human love which a couple getting married have for each other. People love only what they know. They love only what they know to be good, so it is important that knowing each other well is important in a marriage relationship. We only love and respect what we know to be good, for respect means seeing again the beauty which first attracted one to the other. Then there is the importance in married life of what is dealt with in that first video, spending time together. The art of communication is emphasised and studied because it is by communicating we tell people who we are and what we like and what we are like. The second tape deals with respect for each other, respect for each other’s rights and each other’s needs, but again we need to look and see what our own needs and our own rights and therefore our neighbour’s rights and needs are.

In a marriage ceremony those getting married say: “I take you Mary/John for better for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part”. I am taking you, not your beauty, not your wealth, but you the person and if I am taking somebody for life it is important that I have affection for that person, that I show that affection in word and action and in a sexual relationship.

Fr John Doherty and those couples who help him have done a great service to marriage but they need more help. We all need to commit ourselves to the care of marriage, to its preparation and enrichment, both are important. The pressures on marriage are tremendous but they can be resisted. That is what the sacrament of marriage is all about. A sacrament that brings Christ’s self-giving love into the lives of the people who are committed and have committed themselves to self-giving.

It is said that the greatest form of love is self-sacrifice. Marriage calls, within reason, for great self-sacrifice. A spouse will frequently put the interests of his partner before his own, while feeling enriched by this self-giving. Selfishness and self-seeking are the very antithesis of the true meaning of marriage and are very destructive of the marriage bond.

The marriage breakdown rate in the Western world is unacceptably high. While undoubtedly some marriages will break down since some individuals are simply incapable of a lifelong commitment of this kind or because the preservation of the union due to the conduct of one spouse becomes essentially impossible for the other single-handedly to maintain, the marriage breakdown rate in the Western world should simply not be as high as it is. It seems that modern Western society has lost a sense of what marriage is about. Marriage is not about feeling good all the time or enjoying a relationship that makes no demands or fails to challenge. Demands and challenges are part and parcel of life. Through them we grow and become more mature. In them we learn to accept legitimate duty and responsibility by which we and others are enriched. We all must learn not to uncritically follow our feelings and emotions but rather to be guided by a higher code of conduct and set of values within which the institution of marriage lies.

The divorce culture fails to accept the awful effects which separation and divorce can have on children. Children are a great gift from God, the fruit of the love of their parents. Just as children are given in trust by God, so the responsibilities of guardianship may not lightly be divested by their parents. It seems that if parents were to more seriously take into account the needs and rights of their children, the marriage breakdown rate in the world would be considerably lower.

Like all things in life marriage must be worked at. Allowing love grow and develop and indeed change through the vicissitudes and various stages and situations of life is a lifelong task. It is one, however, to which the marriage bond commits its partners. I am convinced that these videos are a very helpful aid to helping all understand the true nature of marriage and to assisting couples in growing and working through the inevitable difficulties.

POPE JOHN PAUL II
MESSAGE FOR THE IRISH CATHOLIC
FROM THE MOST REVEREND SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

Pope John Paul II repeats often the words of Christ: “Be not afraid”. He sees them as an inspirational call not to fear the truth about ourselves or about God, but to believe.

His courage in accepting and preaching the truth comes from his faith in Jesus Christ, the true light that enlightens everyone.

I have seen the Pope many times at prayer. I am convinced that his strong faith is constantly nourished by the hours he spends in conversation with God.

Pope John Paul II has suffered immensely during his life, losing his mother at the age of eight, his sister soon after birth and his brother in his 20s. He sees suffering as a test of physical and spiritual strength and as an incentive to pray with and for those who suffer.

Pope John Paul speaks directly and with passion to all people about the existence of God, about human dignity and about pain, about hope and about the civilization of love which we are called to create.

– His love of his native Poland – and of Ireland – which he visited so early in his pontificate is remarkable.
– His readiness to forgive his would-be assassin.
– His devotion to Mary, Mother of God and Mother of Mercy.
– The list of what inspires me about Pope John Paul could go on and on.

October 13, 1998.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWARD OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE TO
JOHN HUME AND DAVID TRIMBLE
STATEMENT BY MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
16 OCTOBER, 1998

I am delighted to hear the news that John Hume and David Trimble have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1998 and I congratulate them.

It is a well-deserved recognition of their outstanding work for the cause of peace and of their part in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement. Their belief that an honourable and fair peace is possible has inspired them and many others to work tirelessly to achieve that goal.

The award is also a tribute to countless other people who have taken risks for peace and who continue to build the trust that is essential to any lasting settlement.

On of the aims of the Prize is to encourage others to follow the example of the winners. I hope this will help to convince those who have still to be convinced that the Good Friday Agreement is the best way forward.

That Agreement lit the light of hope in many hearts. It challenges us all to walk together the road to greater understanding and to help each other and to rely on each other to build a better future for ourselves and for those who come after us. David Trimble and John Hume have signalled the way. Let none be afraid to follow.

LAUNCH OF TACKLING DRUG PROBLEMS TOGETHER
THE IRISH BISHOP’S POLICY STATEMENT ON DRUGS
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
SLIGO, FRIDAY 13th NOVEMBER 1998

The misuse of drugs is one of the gravest problems confronting the world today. It has destroyed, debased and diminished many lives. A sense of helplessness is often manifest among its victims, their family and the communities in which they live. Our Holy Father has rightly called it “an insidious social plague”.

In Ireland, the problem of drug abuse has reached serious proportions in many of our communities, both urban and rural. Many families suffer grievously because one of their member’s abuse of drugs.

I need hardly labour the point: the misuse of drugs can be very bad for the abuser, for his or her family, for their communities, for society and for the future of our young people.

The policy document I launch today on behalf of the Irish Bishops’ Conference is another step in a process, which we initiated in the summer of 1996. We began by recognising that the Church, the people of God, has a responsibility to play its part in trying to tackle the problem of drug abuse.

To try to discover how the Church could most effectively make that contribution, we consulted widely. Views were sought from many agencies and groups with practical and professional experience in the treatment of substance abuse. As a result, it became clear that the key concept that should underscore the Church’s contribution is “partnership”. Partnership, especially, with those in the voluntary and statutory sector who have been engaged in the arduous work of healing and rehabilitation for many years. They have cared generously for the broken. Their work has not always received the public acknowledgement it deserves.

When we issued our pastoral statement, Breaking the Silence in the spring of 1997, we saw it as a call to the Christian community to play its full part in confronting the drug crisis. Jesus himself said that he had come “that you may have life and have it to the full”. As Christians we believe that there is a meaning to life which is stronger than any of the things which frighten us.

We outlined three practical ways in which the Christian community could give expression to that belief in the context of drug abuse. The key words of our policy continue to be inform, support, and act.

Firstly, to inform ourselves about the nature of substance abuse, its effects on those who abuse and on their families and communities. The Church, through its network of parishes, is ideally placed to spread the word on this. By making information about the nature and effects of drugs easily accessible through parishes, the Church has tried to help people come to a better understanding. Knowledge is the first step in prevention.

Secondly, in our parishes and communities we should support and make better known the services that are available for people who need help. Our policy on drugs is not to replace what is already being done by others, but to support their efforts.

Thirdly, we must reach out to those hurt by drugs and addiction. We must remember who these people are. Some we have gone to school with, some we have worked with, and some are our friends. All are our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. If we don’t welcome them, who will?

Our policy document, Tackling Drug Problems Together, confirms and consolidates the strategy of informing, supporting and acting which we outlined in Breaking the Silence. By setting down the guidelines detailed in this policy document, we are reaffirming our commitment, and that of the Church, to playing our part in helping to tackle problem drug-use in our society.

By the term ‘drugs’ we include any substance, legal or illegal, which alters a person’s physiology, perception, mood or feelings. We do this advisedly. Alcohol, for example, is often thought of as a benign substance and, for most drinkers it is. Yet, it is a striking fact that alcohol causes more problems for young people and for families than any other drug available in Ireland.

That is why our policy emphasises the importance of preparing young people in school for a world in which many of them will drink alcohol. We would also want, for example, to encourage alcohol-free options for young people.

Our policy statement emphasises prevention, because this, in the practical sense, is the responsibility of us all. We want to encourage schools, through educational and prevention programmes, to focus on what can be done to avert problems in the first place.

Our policy recognises that the phenomenon of drug use is a rapidly changing one and any policies will have to be reviewed and updated at least every two years. It is our intention to identify each year a priority issue regarding drugs.

For the coming year we have chosen to focus on education and prevention. The Church has considerable influence in the education sphere and we particularly ask that it uses that influence at Board of Management level to encourage educational programmes in schools. We also want to encourage the development of supports for parents in how they can develop skills in promoting prevention at home.

Finally, I want to thank the Network for the Prevention of Drug Problems. which is established in all dioceses for helping us to formulate the proposals in this policy statement. The people involved in the Network are knowledgeable and committed and many are professionally involved in various aspects of drugs awareness, treatment and prevention.

The Network will continue in existence until at least the end of next year and the fact that the bishops will continue to provide funding for secretarial service and for co-ordination of the Network until then, affirms our commitment to supporting the Network.

I am happy and privileged to launch this initiative. I do so in a hopeful and confident spirit. The hope is that it will empower people to find their own solutions by availig of all the resources already there and, where necessary, by devising new strategies. People in the grip of addiction need to be awakened to hope. The Christian community is the instrument of God in this awakening and in bringing what help they can to their sister or brother in need.

INSTALLATION OF BISHOP LEO O’REILLY
AS BISHOP OF KILMORE
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15, 1998
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Your Eminence, brother bishops, priests, religious, representatives of the other churches, representatives of the civil authorities and of the parishes of the diocese of Kilmore, my dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

This is an historic day for the Church in Kilmore. It is right therefore that we celebrate this joyful occasion. with solemnity and dignity, with music, song and prayer and thanksgiving. Bishop MacKiernan, after twenty-six years as Bishop of the diocese of Kilmore steps aside and welcomes Bishop Leo O’Reilly, his successor in the see of St Felim, to take over the helm and guide this beloved diocese through the celebration of the Great Jubilee of the birth of Jesus Christ and into the new millennium.

Today Bishop Leo is being solemnly installed in his Cathedral Church surrounded by his family and his friends, by the priests religious and fellow bishops, by representatives of the other churches and of the civil authorities and by representatives of each of the thirty-six parishes.

This is a happy day, not just for the O’Reilly family, but for the O’Reilly clan, traditional chieftains of East Breffini as they continue their record of providing a Bishop to this diocese in each of the last seven centuries. There was Richard in the 14th, John in the 15th, Dermot in the 16th, Primate Hugh in the 17th, Charles in the 18th, Farrell in the 19th, and now Leo in the 20th. Granted they left it late enough this time but it was a similar story two hundred years ago when Dr. Charles O’Reilly was made Bishop in 1798.

This is also a proud day for the parish of Kilsheridany where Bishop Leo was born as it continues its tradition of providing leadership in the Church. Bishop Charles O’Reilly’s mother was from Kill. At the beginning of this century Bishop Edward Maginnis was Bishop of Kilmore, native of Tullyvin, Co Cavan and the parents of William Cardinal O’Connell of Boston were natives of this parish. Earlier this year Father Eugene King, native of Corick, Tullyvin (Kill parish), was elected Vicar General of the Order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the renowned missionary order in the Church. No wonder that Father Vincent Hannigan, a native of Lappan, next townland to Corgreagh was very happy as he headed back to Nigeria in recent weeks. Father Hannigan is eighty-two years young and is now in his fifty-fifth year as a missionary of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, Kiltegan. He was noting, with a certain pride and joy, that a neighbour’s son was soon to take over as Bishop of Kilmore and his comment was: “There was always a bit of faith in this part of the country”.

Today we are all here to do two things; to once again show our respect and appreciation, our affection and esteem for Bishop MacKiernan. We thank God for all that he has been over these many years. Today he steps aside from the frontline of leadership but I know that he will continue his ministry of prayer for all who are in need and his great concern for the sick. I would be immensely surprised if he doesn’t find time to drop into the library and the archives to continue his historical research in the records of the life of the Church in Ireland and Kilmore.

Secondly we come today, to this Cathedral of St. Patrick and Felim, to welcome the new Bishop to wish him God’s choicest blessings and to assure him of our help and support. At the beginning of this Mass he was accompanied to the Chair. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit he will preach eloquently from that Chair. He will teach the faith so as to make people holy in the truth and give them spiritual nourishment. And I am sure that he can count on the help of everyone here present, clergy, religious and laymen and women, to help him in that formidable task.

Last Tuesday we celebrated the feast of St. Leo the Great, the patron saint of our new bishop. He was a Pope in Rome in the time of St. Patrick. It was a time of great upheaval as various hordes of Barbarians, like the Huns and the Vandals, swept down on the Holy City and threatened to destroy it. We are told that Pope Leo was a rock-like figure. He worked tirelessly for the people and strengthened their faith and I am sure that Bishop Leo will do likewise and that he will be supported, not only by his great patron, St. Leo the Great, but also by the saints of this diocese:

St Felim of Kilmore
St Mogue/St. Aiden of Templeport
St Dallan of Kildallan
St Cillian of Mullagh
St Laighne of Killinagh
St Laisir of Killesher
St Osnat of Killasnet
St Mochanna of Annagh
St Fincheall of Kilsheridany

CENTENARY OF
THE PIONEER TOTAL ABSTINENCE ASSOCIATION OF THE SACRED HEART
MESSAGE OF CONGRATULATIONS FOR PIONEER MAGAZINE
FROM CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY, ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
9 November 1998

I gladly congratulate the Pioneer Association on reaching the centenary of its foundation on 28 December 1898. Within twenty years the Association had more than a quarter of a million members. Today it has half a million throughout the world. That growth tells its own story.

The founder, Father Cullen, wisely concentrated on commitment rather than numbers. He emphasised prayer and fasting as means of reparation to the heart of Christ for sins of intemperance. He believed that the ‘demon’ of intemperance could only be driven out in this way.

The Association has inspired amazing loyalty and enthusiasm. The witness of the Pioneer is silent and humble, gentle and kind, devoid of all superiority, arrogance, or pharisaism. It makes other people reflect on their own attitudes and actions. It calls for honesty, integrity and dependability. That integrity, one of its great strengths, explains its success over the last 100 years. No-one can calculate the immense contribution of the Pioneer Association to the stability of family life in Ireland during this century.

I am convinced that the Association will continue to play a very significant role in Irish society. Intemperance is still a large problem. There is need for a counter sign, another way. The Pioneers provide that sign splendidly. With initiatives like RAY and Young Pioneers they have proved their adaptability and capacity to survive.

The many Centenary events will demonstrate once again the transforming power and vibrancy of the Association. They will not only dispel the doubts of the faint-hearted but instil new heart and new courage. May they inspire a new commitment to the self-sacrificing prayer and abstinence of Father Cullen. Those ideals have served the Association outstandingly during the century that is ending. There are many good reasons to believe that they will do the same in the Millennium that is about to begin.

HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
AT MIDNIGHT MASS
December 25, 1998
IN
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH

Recently I read of a survey which found that Christmas is a very stressful time for many people. What a pity! I am sure Jesus never intended his birthday to be like that. But that is the way it is. Can anything be done about it? Yes, we can remember that really only one thing is needed for a happy Christmas. That is, a grateful heart. A heart filled with praise and thanks to God. Thanks for the sending of His son into the world. There is just one main reason for Christmas really and that is to remind us constantly of the great love which God has for each one of us. A love so great that He sent His son. Now Jesus is ready to come to us again, at any minute. He comes to make his home spiritually within us. All we have to do is remove the barriers and open the gates and let him in.

Christmas is a great time for remembering. And of course one of its loveliest features is the giving of gifts. A gift is a sign of love and affection. We give gifts and send cards to let people know of our love for them. But it is most important to remember the gift God gave to us at the birth of Christ – His beloved Son.

It was news of great joy. A Saviour has been born. Christmas also reveals the full meaning of every human birth – the birth of every child is an occasion for great joy and something to celebrate. For every human person has a sacred dignity and an intrinsic worth and value. So, at Christmas we celebrate and remember the dignity of everyone: the dignity of the rich and the poor, the old and the young, the weak and the strong, the useful and the useless, the loved and the despised, the ugly and the beautiful. For each and every one is made equal in the image and likeness of God. That likeness may have been deformed and defiled by crime or by sin, but remember Christ came to reform and renew and restore with His love and forgiveness. He came to call, not the just but sinners. Christmas reveals the full meaning of every human birth – the worth and dignity of every human person.

You see God has this wonderful plan; to unite everything in Christ, things in Heaven and things on Earth. Sure it is almost too fantastic, too good to be true but that is how it is. Jesus came to call us into the Family of the Father. It is a family that is essentially one, united in a unity that allows for human difference. Jesus is the centre of that unity. He is the universal reconciler – the breaker of barriers, the dismantler of divisions. No wonder the angels sang at his birth – ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace on Earth to all who are pleasing to God’. That peace is at once a gift of God and a task to be accomplished. The work of peace is a building of bridges and the healing of broken relationships and friendships.

Christmas is a time for reconnecting. Reconnecting with each other and with our Father in Heaven. We do this reconnecting in many different ways – through letters and Christmas cards, phone calls and presents, through Email and Internet, through homecomings.

But how do we reconnect with God our Father? Well, in much the same way. Jesus came to make it easy. He told the story of the prodigal son. He is saying to us that his Father is like that – rich in mercy and slow to anger. 1999 is going to be the Year of the Father in our programme of preparation for the Millennium. It will be reminding us that the whole of life is in fact a coming home to the House of the Father.

These dark December nights give added grandeur to the words of Isaiah. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light”. Light and heat are essential at all times but especially at this time of year. Remember the panic the power failures caused this time last year. Jesus came to bring the light of God’s wisdom and the warmth of God’s love into our lives.

We have walked through some dark and dismal days during the past year. Now the light of fresh hope and new possibilities emerge with the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent developments. As we celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace we give thanks for the peace that has been achieved and for the peacemakers who have achieved it. We pledge ourselves to play our part in consolidating the peace and pray for the strength and courage to do so.

We remember how the shepherds on that first Christmas night were terribly afraid. They had to be reassured and told not to fear. For the news was almost too good, they couldn’t believe their eyes, they couldn’t trust their ears. It is hardly surprising that we, who live in a world weighed down by unbelief should sometimes be afraid even to believe and to hope. We need to renew our faith that the promise contained in the Good Friday Agreement will be fulfilled.

Jesus Christ came to calm fears and to strengthen faith in the midst of uncertainty and doubt. We need help to dispel our doubts about whether the troubles are really over and about whether people are really prepared to move and to change. We know that God has plans for us, plans to bring prosperity and not disaster. We need to be convinced that without reconciliation the world cannot be at peace. We need to increase our understanding of the difficulties that have to be overcome on all sides. There is need for patience, great patience to deal with the problems which are encountered on the road. There is need for courage to transform the peace process into a reconciliation process. That transformation will involve overcoming the fear and the lack of trust and the bitterness and the desire for revenge.

Christ came into the world to overcome hatred with love. We know that He is present with us and close to us when we struggle to overcome bitterness and fear. We must not underestimate the difficulties that lie ahead nor, at the same time, be overawed by them.

Great things have been done, great things remain to be done. There are solid grounds for hoping that they will be done. May the coming of Christ help us all to pray:

“O come, desire of nations, bind
In One the hearts of humankind.
Bid now our sad divisions cease.
And be yourself, our King of Peace”

Tonight then we pray for the ability to dispel the fears that exist: the fears of change and of lost position, the fear of betrayal, the fear of defeat. We pray for trust; that our divided community will begin to trust in its own ability to deal with the wrongs of the past by working together.

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light”. The word made flesh was the source of life. This life brought light to the world. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. The light calls each one of us to be a light for our neighbours, to be a sign and instrument of God’s love in the world. By lighting our own series of lights, we give hope and courage and strength to those around us.

May your Christmas be happy in the knowledge that in our union with Christ, God has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. God has chosen us to be His through Our Lord Jesus Christ so that we will be one day holy and without fault before Him. That is the basis of our Christmas joy
AMEN

CORRYMEELASUNDAY
ECUMENICAL EVENSONG SERVICE
IN THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH
OF ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY (ANGLICAN), PORTSMOUTH
Sunday, 16 March, 1997, 6.30 pm
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEAN BRADY

It is a source of great joy to me to be with you this evening here in the Cathedral Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth, on this, the eve of the Feast of St. Patrick, for this Ecumenical Service to celebrate the Corrymeela Community. Today marks the beginning of Corrymeela Week and so it is a special pleasure for me to join with you as we celebrate Corrymeela Sunday, organised by the Corrymeela Link, based in Reading, in partnership with the Provost of St. Thomas’ Cathedral and with the Elmsworth and Paulsgrove Corrymeela Support Groups. I thank the organisers for this invitation to preach.

The Corrymeela Community was founded in 1965 shortly before the outbreak of the present troubles in Northern Ireland. Its members come from all the main Christian denominations in Ireland. They have bound themselves together as instruments of God’s peace in church and society. They strive to achieve that peace through prayer, mutual support and commitment. The Community’s Vision is expressed in the healing of social, religious and political divisions that exist in Northern Ireland and throughout the world. Corrymeela has two centres, one in Belfast which acts as a resource for local groups and looks after administration. The other is in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, which has residential space for 120 people. Through its series of programmes for various groups as well as various “open events” which the community hosts, Corrymeela has enabled relationships of trust to grow, bridging the widest divides. Corrymeela believes that this change is possible when people feel accepted for who and what they are, and when they are given an opportunity to tell their story and listen to those of others from a different background. Corrymeela provides such an opportunity through its provision of “safe and shared spaces” where people can meet and share together. There trusting relationships can grow, providing hope of a new way of living together.
Corrymeela is committed to reconciliation. Its experience in Northern Ireland over the past thirty-two years has shown that reconciliation is possible. The past months in Northern Ireland have been difficult. It has been a time of increased tension, fear, mistrust and indeed bitterness. The result has been a breakdown of relations between neighbours and between communities. Now, more than ever it is important to offer encouragement and support to those who are caught up in the situation. It is necessary to support and encourage those who continue to work painstakingly for peace like the Corrymeela Community. That is why I am with you today, the Corrymeela Community deserves the support of us all. Despite all the obstacles and setbacks there is still hope. A great number of people continue to work away ceaselessly in the cause of peace.

For sixteen years Corrymeela and the Irish School of Ecumenics have co-sponsored a residential ministry conference at the Corrymeela Centre, Ballycastle. The theme of this year’s Conference is: “Through disillusionment”. It is a recognition that this is a time of deep disillusionment in Northern Ireland. People are disillusioned with the Peace Process. They are disillusioned with each other. They are disillusioned with their leaders. People are even disillusioned with themselves as they see the shadow side and the bigotry and sectarianism which have been discovered deep within themselves. There is a profound sense of failure and helplessness in not being able to achieve what is so eagerly desired.

Disillusionment means freedom from illusions. It can be a positive thing therefore. To be set free from our misapprehensions of the true state of affairs is something good. It must be said that there was an unreal optimism, an illusionary optimism during the time of the cease-fires. People were talking about the peace dividend who hadn’t invested much effort in the real work of making peace.

People were obviously ignorant of how arduous the task of making peace really is. They forgot how much the conditions of human existence can wound our will for good. It was unrealistic to think that the effects of 25 years of violence could be undone in so short a time.

So if there is disillusionment, that is, freedom from an illusionary optimism, it can be something positive. The antidote to disillusionment is patience. Patience is predominantly a religious attitude linked intimately to trust in God. If patience is the trustful expectation that God will come to set us free, so the peace of mind and serene courage which patience gives to people, when faced with difficulties, are in reality an act of hope. A hope that is filled with confidence and the saving power of God.

You may ask why is Corrymeela Sunday held on this particular day, why this week? It is no coincidence that this is the Sunday nearest to St. Patrick’s Day. It is entirely appropriate that Corrymeela Sunday should be held today. St. Patrick was a model of reconciliation, indeed, an apostle of reconciliation. A Briton captured and oppressed and wronged terribly by the Irish at the tender age of 16, he was originally probably filled with hatred for his oppressors. More than this he was also drifting away from his own faith, had become careless about matters of faith, he was self-sufficient and self-contained, we note how he describes himself in his Confession, “I Patrick – a sinner”. However, Patrick uses his time of exile and suffering to return to his God and to appreciate his faith better. He escapes and gets back home and it is in these safe, secure and familiar environs that he receives the call to return to Ireland and to the people whom he had once feared and perhaps hated so much.

Patrick was free enough to come back, free from hatred, suspicion toward his formers captors and free from fear. He felt he had something to give, that he had a contribution to make, to the Ireland of his day. This is immensely important. He had new energy and a new vision of the Irish. So he came back. Patrick is the example par excellence of being reconciled. Who can deny that a new energy and a new vision is what we need in the Ireland of today in order that people may be reconciled one to the other and overcome the barriers of hatred, fear and suspicion.

The 2nd Pan European Ecumenical Assembly to be held in Graz later this year has as its theme Reconciliation. It recognises that reconciliation is above all a gift from God, it emanates from God. God is its source. At the same time it sees reconciliation as a source of New Life. It makes new relationships possible, relationships without fear, without suspicion, relationships built on openness, mutual forgiveness and trust.

Over the past year peace in Ireland has been shattered in many different ways by acts of violence and bombings, and by summary beatings. The atmosphere has been soured by protests and pickets and boycotts. Our streets have been blighted by demonstrations of bigotry and sectarianism. Homes, churches and schools have been attacked. On 13 February we had the murder in Bessbrook of the young soldier, Stephen Restorick, a truly evil deed which served only to increase a sense of fear and terror among the entire community. And yet in the midst of the horror generated by the tragic death of Stephen, the voices of his grieving parents John and Rita ring out with a message of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. One cannot have anything but admiration for, and be inspired by, their tremendous generosity of spirit and nobility of heart. Their lack of bitterness and message of forgiveness have edified many.

The desire for peace is very deeply felt throughout the whole community of Northern Ireland. Despite all the setbacks, there remains a great yearning for peace. There is horror at the prospect of a return to full-scale violence and there is the earnest hope that the peacemakers may not lose heart but continue to do all they can to resolve the tragic situation.

The longing for peace was made all the more intense by the experience of the cease-fires that were in operation in 1995. People realised then what they had been missing for the previous 25 years. It was hoped that a return to normal living would have become enduring. Hope turned to frustration as the opportunities for negotiation were let slip.

There is great fear at the prospect of a return to violence. In fact the most impregnable border of all remains the barrier created by fear and mistrust. Fear and mistrust are learned emotions.. They are the burden of memory and history that separate people in a deeper way than any physical barrier. It is only in overcoming this legacy of fear and suspicion that the true border can be crossed into the country of freedom.

We are busy preparing for a new Millennium. The idea of newness is found frequently in the Bible. There, people and the earth grow old like a garment. We talk about things being “old hat”, but in God nothing is old, all is new. All creation belongs to God. So in the Bible things which have not been profaned by use, are sacred. The first fruits of the harvest and the new-born are reserved for God. The prophets were waiting for a new David, a new Temple, a new Holy Land, a new Jerusalem, and all these things will be characterised by the eternal unchanging love of God. Yahweh and Israel, his Chosen People, will resume their relationships of love. This covenant, this pact, this agreement, will be everlasting, but at the same time it -will be a new covenant, a new agreement, a new beginning, made possible by God who will give His people a new heart and a new spirit and it is the divine wisdom which effects the renewal of all things.
A new beginning, how we in Ireland need a new beginning, a fresh start. Both the British and Irish Governments recognise that there is much for deep regret on all sides in the long and often tragic history of Anglo-Irish relations and of relations between the various communities within Ireland itself. In the 1995 Framework -Document they expressed the belief that it is now time to lay aside, with dignity and forbearance, the mistakes of the past. They recognised that a collective effort is needed to create, through agreement and reconciliation a new beginning. That new beginning is to be founded on consent for relationships within Northern Ireland, within the island of Ireland, between the peoples of these islands.

It is time that we realise that we need one another. Unionist and Nationalist, Irish and British, North and South, Protestant and Catholic. Sure there are huge difficulties to be overcome. These difficulties are rooted in our different identities, our different cultures, our different religious beliefs. Our history carries a heavy load of violence and conflict. That load cannot be easily set aside. Unfortunately the destructive effects of past suffering live on; those effects fuel fear and suspicion, hatred and distrust. But we cannot remain prisoners of our past. Of course sometimes it is easier to live in the past than to face the present and plan for the future. A sort of healing of memories is needed so that past evils will not come back again to destroy the present and the future. This does not mean that we forget the past. It is sometimes said that we Irish have a dangerous obsession with history.

Escaping from our past is not the same as forgetting the past. Forgetting the past can bring no understanding of the present. Overcoming the past can, however, and where the legacy of the past perpetuates animosities, it must, of necessity, be overcome, especially if we want peace in the present and in the future. Overcoming the past is not merely different from forgetting the past. It is the exact opposite of it. Striving to build a future without a past is like building without foundations. Overcoming the past means confronting its difficulties, not forgetting them.

As I have said, a sort of healing of memories is needed so that past evils will not come back again. This does not mean that we forget the past. It means that we look at it with a new attitude. It means learning from it the important lesson that only love can build up. Hatred produces nothing but destruction.

A correct reading of history will make it easier for all to accept the differences which exist between the communities. It will show that mistakes are not all one-sided. Respect for differences is a necessary condition for genuine and harmonious relationships, and it is that I long and pray for, it is that which the vast majority of people on these islands long and pray for; God will surely answer that prayer.

During the first Millennium there was a great Christian exchange of gifts between these islands with the great missionaries. Patrick came from Britain to Ireland. Columcille went to Iona and Scotland. St. Aidan went to Lindisfarne and England. They exchanged a common faith and shared a common creed, it was a generous exchange of spiritual gifts and insights and a sharing of the love of God which burned so intensely in their own lives. The first millennium could perhaps be described as the millennium of unity between us. If that is so the second can only be described as the millennium of splits and division. Perhaps in the third millennium which we are about to enter we might rediscover our common heritage and use this
All is not gloom. There are signs of hope. There were the Orangemen who turned up at Harryville in support of Catholics attending Mass and who guarded a Catholic school in a predominantly Protestant town in Co. Down. The Catholic parish of Omagh raised funds for a damaged Methodist church in that town. Protestant Churches raised money for a local Catholic school which had its laboratories damaged.

There is hope that those who persist in using violence to achieve political ends will see the folly of their ways and the futility of that approach. There is still hope of a restoration of the IRA cease-fire if a place at the negotiating table could be assured. Despite provocation, the Loyalist cease-fire remains in place and their place at the talks is assured. There is hope that a similar solution can be worked out for the Militant Republicans.

What is needed is a total cessation of violence. No-one can really claim to be for peace in Northern Ireland who rationalises or justifies the use of force to pursue political ends. There must be an end to the killing and bombings, to the punishment beatings, to every type of intimidation and boycott, to the harassment and attack on churches and church-goers.

The current impasse in the peace process does not justify a return to violence. Neither does it justify the maintenance of the Status Quo. Political leaders in Northern Ireland, as well as the British and Irish Governments, must be urged persistently to move forward to serious and substantive political talks.
There is hope that through dialogue and understanding the two communities will begin to appreciate and take account of each other’s fears, resentments and suspicions. Some feel isolated, betrayed and insecure. Others feel hurt, powerless and ignored.

Each community has to take account of the feelings of the other community. There are many Unionist people who feel betrayed, abandoned and lost. They feel let down by the Anglo-Irish Agreement, The Downing Street Declaration and the Framework Document. They do not trust Northern Nationalists. They fear the Government and people of the Republic. They even suspect the British Government.

Nationalists have their fears and their resentments also. They are angry that the period of the cease-fires was not put to better use for negotiations. They are afraid that another cease-fire would get similar treatment. They resent being treated as second class citizens. They want parity of esteem and parity of esteem is taken to mean that the political and religious views of both communities be treated with respect and should be accorded equal weight.

There is another important sign of hope. There are indications that thinking people now see and accept that there is a British identity and an Irish identity in Northern Ireland. Nearly a million people owe allegiance to Britain. They identify themselves as British. A very large minority see themselves as Irish and wish to have their way of life and their culture and tradition accepted as worthy of respect and esteem.
The restoration of a proper peace process remains the stated priority of the various parties to the conflict in Northern Ireland. Any overall political settlement that will endure has to be achieved through agreement. It has to be founded on consent. Negotiations are needed to address all the issues relevant to such a settlement.

On 1 January, 1997, Pope John Paul II appealed to us to seek peace along the path of forgiveness. One of the most moving statements of 1997 has been that of John and Rita Restorick, parents of the young soldier murdered in Bessbrook, Co. Armagh, last month. Their spirit of forgiveness truly amazed millions. Of course forgiveness can seem contrary to human logic. But then forgiveness is not inspired by human logic. Rather forgiveness is inspired by the infinite love which God has for each one of us. Patrick knew that and so he could become an Apostle of Reconciliation.

Lasting peace is built on mutual acceptance and on the capacity to forgive from the heart. Our faith in Christ gives powerful reasons for hope, despite all the setbacks. Peace comes, dropping slow, the Poet Yeats said in another context, but come it will, that is certain.
Its coming is captured well in these lines of the poet, Patrick Kavanagh:

“Then I saw the wild geese flying. In fair formation to their bases in
Inchicore, and I knew that these wings would outwear the Wings of War.”
Yes they will outwear the wings of war because that is the plan that God has for us:
“I know the plans I have for you. Plans for good and not for evil. To give you a future and a hope.”
May Christ who is our Peace and who has made us one, give us that future and that hope soon.