FAITH AND LIGHT CONFERENCE
DERRY
INTERVENTION
BY
MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
6 JULY, 2001

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Alive in his Church he is the source of hope for the world. On the night before he died at the Last Supper with his disciples he prayed: “Father, I ask not only on behalf of these – my disciples – but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word – that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you – may they also be in us so that the world may believe that it was you who sent me.” The unity of Christians is necessary so as to show to the world God’s love in giving his only Son. When this takes place the supreme desire of Jesus will have been fulfilled.
The last millennium was the millennium of the great divisions. Hopefully this will be the millennium of reunions. In 1054 East and West went their separate ways. The Reformation divided the Western Church. Then there was the Enlightenment which saw the separation of reason from revelation, science from faith.
Europe was the continent in which the divisions originated. There is much talk today of the unity of Europe, that is of political and economic unity. But the very idea of Europe was born and developed in the light of one common Christian faith – as the life and teaching of St Columbanus shows for example. At the age of 50 he left Bangor to set out to re-evangelise Europe after the destruction wrought by the Barbarians and he worked first in what is now France, then in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, before founding his last and greatest monastery in Bobbio where he died in 615. He said he could never understand how Christian could ever be in conflict with Christian since such a conflict reveals a failure to understand what being a Christian really means.

Today the scandal of division among Christians is acutely felt in an era when we should be standing together and working closely in the face of our common enemy – namely those who would seek to minimize the Cross of Jesus Christ and to empty it of its meaning by denying that it is in the Cross we have the source of new life. Believers in Christ cannot remain divided if we wish to truly effectively oppose that tendency to reduce to powerlessness the saving death and resurrection of Jesus.

We live at the beginning of a new century and a new millennium which bring its own hope. The last century has seen considerable ecumenical progress. That progress is a sign of great hope for the Church today. It was the recognition that disunity was a major stumbling block in the preaching of the Good News brought by Jesus Christ and to belief in him that brought the modern ecumenical movement into existence. Protestant mission societies meeting at Edinburgh in 1910 came to acknowledge that divisions among themselves were greatly reducing the effectiveness of their preaching of Christianity in such countries as India.

The Catholic Church was a late arrival among those committed to the search for Christian unity. Until the Second Vatican Council the Catholic Church remained officially distant from the ecumenical movement. Pope John XXIII wished to see this changed by having the Fathers of the Council take up the question of Christian unity. That Council radically altered our approach as Catholics to the ecumenical movement.
The Council recognised that the movement for the restoration of unity among all Christians is fostered by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It pointed out that the divisions among Christians prevent the Church from effecting the fullness of the Catholicity proper to her. It noted with gratitude the growing participation of Catholics in ecumenical work. It commended this work to Bishops throughout the world for their promotion and guidance.

This commitment by a Council of the Church remains binding today. In the 36 years since the Council the Catholic Church has gradually assumed a prominent role in the ecumenical movement. It has, with God’s grace, solid achievements which show the sincerity and strength of its ecumenical commitment. There are two basic aspects of the Catholic Church’s work in ecumenism. The first is the promotion of the ecumenical task within the local or particular Catholic Churches or dioceses. The second is the building up of relations with other Churches and ecclesial communions. The approval of the Council document on ecumenism was an important beginning, but it was only the beginning. The next step was to make the teaching contained in that document part of the self-understanding of the Catholic Church. A secretariat for the promotion of Christian unity, now known as the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, was set up in the Vatican. Its task is to help the Bishops throughout the world carry out the ecumenical task. Ecumenical commissions were set up within bishops’ conferences to bring the teaching of the Council into the life of the dioceses. Every diocese was recommended to have its own ecumenical commission or officer.

The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity published an ecumenical directory in 1970; this was updated and enlarged in 1993. In 1995 the Pontificial Council co-operated with Pope John Paul in preparing a special encyclical letter entitled, Christian Unity. It deals with our commitment to ecumenism.

The statement of the Holy Father in the Encyclical that the movement promoting Christian unity is an organic part of the Church’s life and work, brought joyful hope to a lot of people. It gave fresh heart to local communities and communities of consecrated life that are already working in this areas of practical and spiritual ecumenism. The same Encyclical says that the Church must enter into a dialogue of conversion, that is an examination of conscience. Whether in his meetings in Rome with visiting dignitaries or with leaders of other Churches or during his pastoral visits abroad the Holy Father has lived out this commitment of the Catholic Church to the restoration of unity among all the disciples of the One Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

At this time the Catholic Church is in official dialogue with the ancient Oriental Churches, the Orthodox Churches, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Methodist Council, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. It is also having important discussions with the World Baptist Alliance, the Mennonites, some Pentecostals and Evangelicals. In addition it maintains close contact in many ways with the World Council of Churches. Last May a joint working group of the World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church met in Dromantine, Co. Down. These dialogues have produced valuable material for the world ecumenical movement. They have resulted in some outstanding theological agreements which deserve mention.

The theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, known as ARCIC, has produced documents of great value. Some have been officially received by the two communities, for example, the sections of the final report on Eucharist and ministry. Others such as the recent Gift of Authority have offered the Churches valuable matter for reflection and reception.

An outstanding achievement of the ecumenical movement was undoubtedly the signing in Augsburg, Germany on 31 October, 1999, of the joint declaration on justification between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. A very interesting consultation study day organised by the Irish Inter-Church Committee was held in Mount Oliver, outside Dundalk, to get reactions from the main Churches here on this joint declaration on justification. This took place last May. These are all positive developments, which provide us with reason for optimism and hope as we cross the threshold of the new millennium.

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 was foreseen by the Holy Father as a promising opportunity for the fruitful co-operation in the many areas which unite us: these he wrote are “unquestionably more numerous than those which divided us”. You may remember that at the beginning of the Jubilee Year the opening of the holy door of one of the four Roman Basilicas, that of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, was delayed until the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and so on January 18, 2000, leaders from 22 Churches, ecclesial communions and international Christian organisations gathered for the opening of that door. The most moving moment was when the Pope, together with Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury, and the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Metropolitan Athanasius of Constantinople, pushed open the Holy Door.

The value of ecumenical work is now widely accepted. Of course the challenge is to have it pervade all that the Church does and is. A lot of prominence is now given to spiritual ecumenism, meaning a change of heart, and holiness of life along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians. That is regarded as the soul of the ecumenical movement.

On March 12 last year Pope John Paul presided at a solemn act of pardon at St Peter’s Basilica. He led the Catholic Church in an act of confession and repentance so that “humbly viewing the sins of the past in an authentic purification of memory we will be committed to that path of true conversion”. I believe that this is the challenge for all of us.

I have spoke of spiritual ecumenism, which must find expression in practical ecumenism. Practical ecumenism means bringing an attitude of personal conversion to the fore as a basis for ecumenical co-operation in social and charitable areas. There are numerous examples of practical ecumenism at work in many parts of Ireland. This conference is one such example. Everyone will be able to call to mind many others. Since we are in the Diocese of Derry one comes to my mind at once. At the time of that atrocity three years ago, the Omagh Bombing, the co-operation and joint pastoral care among the clergy of all denominations, was very evident and effective. It happened because the churches in Omagh already had a Church Forum which took responsibility for the pastoral needs of the community at that time. I have seen examples of similar co-operation between chaplains of hospitals and prisons, which indicate that practical ecumenism is at work. In every diocese there are examples of joint prayer groups and study groups, cross community social actions groups, which do excellent work.

ECUMENICAL CHARTER

Last Easter 250 official delegates gathered for an ecumenical meeting in Strasbourg which had as its theme, “I am with you always, yes to the end of time”. They represented the Conference of European Churches (KEK) and the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE). There were also 100 young people present. The meeting was in the spirit of two previous ecumenical assemblies, Basle (1989) and Graz (1997). The message from that meeting in Strasbourg was that we are firmly resolved to preserve and develop the fellowship that has grown up among us. We give thanks to God for guiding our steps towards an ever-deeper fellowship through the Holy Spirit.

One of the main characteristics of the meeting was the presence of young people, equal in number to the Church Leaders. Because of their age they grew up in a period and atmosphere already characterised by ecumenical sensitivity. Unlike previous generations they are less liable to feel the burden and baggage of history. That’s why many of them find it difficult to understand and tolerate divisions among Christians. They enter the process of reconciliation with great reason and newness.

The high point of the meeting was the signing of an ecumenical charter. It gives guidelines for the growing co-operation of the Churches in Europe. The charter is the first historical document of this kind and was written under the joint responsibility of KEK and CCEE. The Charter begins by confessing one holy Catholic and apostolic Church and acknowledges that our one paramount task is to show forth this unity which is only the gift of God. It goes on to state that fundamental differences are still barriers to Christian unity, but that we must not be satisfied with this situation. We intend to do our utmost to overcome the problems and obstacles which still divide the churches. We committed ourselves to following the call of the Letter to the Ephesians to “make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you are called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and within all” (4:36).

These are some of the signs of hope of Christina Unity. There are many others. For all of them we give thanks and praise. Let us go forward, with new enthusiasm on the path to full unity. Christ travels this road with us. To him be glory for ever and ever.

DIAMOND JUBILEE
CARDINAL CAHAL B. DALY
ST PATRICK’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL, ARMAGH
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2001

Your Eminence, Bishop Clifford, fellow priests. Three words – Welcome, Congratulations and Thanks.
I welcome Your Eminence and all the other Jubilarians here this evening. You know Your Eminence that you are always welcome back here to Armagh and that we are always delighted to see you. We are particularly delighted to see you on this happy occasion, the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of your ordination to the priesthood. It is good that you have been able to come and give us the opportunity of praising God with you and of thanking God with you for the gift of the priesthood of Jesus Christ to His Church, for the gift of 60 years of priesthood to you and to Canon Desmond Campbell and to Canon Michael Ward and of 50 years to Fr Tony Lambe and of 25 years to Fr Seamus McGinley, Fr Martin McVeigh and Fr Christy McElwee. Yes, it is good for all of us to be here.

Congratulations to each one of you Jubilarians. We gladly share the joy of this Jubilee with you. This evening we celebrate and rejoice in the fidelity of a faithful God; a God who gives the grace and the strength to be faithful to commitments made; a God who never fails to keep the promises that have been made; a God who always has new gifts to offer. This evening we rejoice in the grace of priesthood. We try and relive and evoke the sense of wonder and awe which each one of us felt as we rose from the feet of the Bishop who ordained us and contemplated the fact that we were a priest, a priest for ever, according the order of Melchisedech.

Finally, many thanks to all of you for accepting the invitation to be here. Thanks to the Jubilarians for allowing us to join with them in the expression of gratitude for graces received personally and for the graces conveyed through them to the people whom it is such a privilege to serve and to help.

Your Eminence, thank you for your outstanding talk on St Thérèse which did so much to create the special atmosphere of prayer and peace and recollection which were the hallmarks of the visit of her relics to Armagh.

Our prayer this evening is, for all our Jubilarians that God may continue to bless them and preserve them and protect them and guide them. Our prayer is for priests everywhere but especially for the priests chosen by God to serve in this Archdiocese. We rejoice in the ordination of Fr Eugene O’Neill and joyfully look forward to the ordination of Paul Montague on Sunday next. We ask God to watch over our seminarians and to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

My hope is that our ceremony this evening will help each one of us to realise ever more clearly the privilege it is to be a priest, the strength which we can and should give to each other in the face of challenges and to realise the holiness to which we are called and to which we are called to lead other people.

Let us place all of ourselves and all our attentions, but especially our Jubilarians, under the protection and patronage of Mary, our Mother and the Mother of the one Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, as I ask Your Eminence to lead us in this Holy Eucharist.

DEATH OF CARDINAL THOMAS WINNING
STATEMENT BY
DR SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

18 JUNE, 2001
I am deeply saddened by the death of Cardinal Winning of Glasgow. His death came as a great shock at a time when we were still coming to terms with the news of his heart attack one week ago.

Cardinal Winning will be greatly missed as a person of deep faith and total commitment to the care of his people. His lively wit and warm friendship endeared him to those who knew him.

He was a courageous leader who worked tirelessly and fearlessly in the service of the Church.
I offer sympathy to his family and to the priests and Catholic people of Glasgow and of Scotland on their great loss. May he rest in peace.

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

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

For every Jubilee whether it is of a wedding or of a Religious Profession or of Priestly Ordination is in reality a celebration of the fidelity of God. Tonight we give thanks to God, to a faithful God, for the help and blessings and grace, which has been given so generously to Bishop MacKiernan over the last fifty years. This we do gladly and joyfully, for we in turn have benefited in so many different ways from his generous ministry, whether as priest or pastor, teacher or mentor, counsellor or friend.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCTION

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

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

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

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

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

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