MASS FOR THE DISAPPEARED (WAVE)
THE ORATORY, ST. PATRICK GRAMMAR SCHOOL
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 8 APRIL 2001

We are here today to remember those who have disappeared. We are here to remember all of you who have suffered so much. As we enter Holy Week, we try to unite all our lives and especially our sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

This is Palm Sunday. Today we begin Holy Week. Today we begin the solemn celebration of Our Lord’s suffering and death and resurrection. As we listen to the story of Our Lord’s passion, we unite ourselves in our sufferings to him. We have heard the account of how he entered the Holy City in the midst of applause and acclaim and then, on Good Friday the crowd were baying for his blood.

St. Paul once spoke of his desire to fill up what was lacking in the sufferings of Christ. Of course the sufferings of Christ are undoubtedly sufficient to save the world. Yet Christ seems to have left place for our suffering to be united to his. Wherever the innocent suffer the passion of Christ continues today.
We live in a broken, fragile and sinful world. We find our salvation not by turning our backs on the sad difficulties of life. Like Christ, we face the realities and the difficulties which confront us. One such sad difficulty is that of even speaking of those dear members of your families who have disappeared, who have not been found.

We read in today’s Gospel how Joseph of Arimathaen, that brave and good member of the Supreme Council of the Jews, went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. We are told by St. Luke, that he was an upright and virtuous man. He had not consented to what the other members of the Council had planned and carried out. When the dead body of Jesus was handed over, he took it and wrapped it in a shroud and put him in the tomb which was hewn in stone in which no-one had yet been laid.
The women who had come from Galilee, following Jesus, took note of the position of the body. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

It was a question of basic respect and reverence for the body of the crucified Christ. Every human body deserves respect and reverence. We are all made in the image and likeness of God. Our bodies were washed in the waters of baptism. They were anointed with the holy oils. We were fed with the body and blood of Christ. Our sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ. Our bodies became the Temple, the dwelling places, of the Holy Spirit. Both in life and in death, our bodies are sacred – they belong to God. By baptism we were made one body with the dead and risen Christ. No-one can take away that dignity from us. From the risen Christ we are to pass from death to life – eternal life. In soul we are to be cleansed and taken up into heaven with the saints. In body we dead await the blessed hope of Christ’s coming – the Resurrection of the dead.

As we offer this Mass for your dear disappeared, we offer prayers and petitions for them. As we believe that this memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection can bring spiritual happiness to those who have died, so we hope that it will help to offer consolation to you who are living. We pray that someone may have taken note of where they were laid to rest and, like those good women, they may receive the courage to come forward and reveal that information.

Although the consolation of a Christian burial has been denied to your dear departed ones, God who is all-powerful can find other ways of offering you healing and hope and consolation. God, who is the God of life, can certainly welcome them into eternal life.

In St. John’s account of the Passion, which is read on every Good Friday, Jesus holds a discussion with Pilate about his being a king and what sort of king he is. He also talks about truth. “So you are a king then” Pilate asked. Jesus answered: “It is you who say it. Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, to bear witness to the truth and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice”. Pilate said, “Truth, what is that?” All who are on the side of truth listen to the voice of Christ. We all hunger for the truth, especially in matters that concern ourselves and our family. Today we pray that the Spirit of the Risen Christ may give us the wisdom to know the truth and the courage to proclaim it and to reveal it and to live it in our lives.

I know that it is your very dear wish that the mortal remains of your dearly beloved disappeared relatives, members of your family, should be found and returned to you so that they can be reverently and lovingly laid to rest. We pray earnestly for that intention today. In today’s Gospel we hear the prayer of Jesus which he prayed on the cross for those who had put him to death: “Father forgive them. They do not know what they are doing”. We ask God to give all of us the spirit of true forgiveness, especially in those moments when we find it difficult or impossible to forgive. Not once but twice, in the Garden of Gesthemane, Jesus offered this prayer for his followers: Pray not to be put to the test. Every follower of Christ is put to the test, is tested by temptation at some stage or other. Today we ask the strength to overcome the tests, which come our way. In the Garden of Gesthemane Jesus prayed: “Father if you are willing, take this cup away from me”. He was talking about the cup of suffering – the suffering of his passion and death. Then he went on to pray, “nevertheless, let your will be done, not mine”. Why was it the Father’s will that he should drink the cup of suffering? Suffering onto death, the terrible agony of the crucifixion. I think it was in order that he should pay the penalty for our sins and from the sins of others. He, the sinless one, was made sin, to save us, the guilty. He has paid the penalty, he has repaired the damage of our sins.

When those who were led by Judas came to the garden to arrest him, his followers saw what was happening and said, “Lord shall we use our swords”? In fact, one of them didn’t wait for permission, but struck out at the High Priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Jesus said, “Leave off that will do”. Touching the ear of the servant, he healed him.

There are two important lessons there. Firstly, I think that the answer to violence, in any shape or form, is not more violence, rather it is patience and goodness and kindness. The second lesson is, that our blessed Saviour, Our Saviour Jesus Christ, is a healing person. He healed the ear of the servant of the High Priest. The High Priest’s servant was not free in what he was doing, he was ordered by the High Priest.
Today we pray that the same healing hand of Christ may touch, not alone our eyes and our ears, but our hearts and heal them. The crowd welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. They praised God for all the miracles they had seen. I suppose we have all seen miracles of consolation and strength, given to us by God. My prayer is that the palm branches which are blessed and are carried home today, may become, for each one of us, a sign of victory. They are the sign of Christ’s victory over death. He is the way, the truth and the life. He has conquered death. Today it is the sign of the victory of patience over violence, and it is a sign of the victory of love over hatred.

At the Last Supper Jesus promised that he would confer a kingdom on all those who stood by him faithfully in his trials. They would eat and drink at his table in his kingdom. The women of Jerusalem mourned and lamented for him. Jesus was concerned that they should also pray and weep for themselves and for their children. You have stood by Jesus faithfully in his trials by your refusal to turn away from God in your trials. I am sure you are often tempted to do so. Like Mary, you too have stood at the foot of the cross of Christ. As you have mourned and lamented for your own relatives, you have also mourned and lamented for Christ. I know that all of this has brought you closer to Jesus and to Mary, his mother. May your attendance here today and your abiding love for your families, draw you ever more closely to Christ and to Mary, who stood at the foot of the cross and watched her son die. May the bonds of love, which unite you, strengthen you now and always.
AMEN

INTRODUCTION

I welcome you all here today to St. Patrick’s Grammar School, Armagh. A very warm welcome to the members of the families of Jean McConville, Seamus Ruddy, Seamus Wright, Kevin McKee, Gerard Evans, Charlie Armstrong, Danny McElhone, Columba McVeigh, Brendan Megraw, Robert Nairac and John McIlroy. I also welcome the families of John McClory, Eamon Molloy, Brian McKinney and Eugene Simons. We thank God that their bodies have been recovered.

We come together on a day in which, in union with the whole Church, we begin the solemn celebration of Our Lord’s suffering death and resurrection. We come together first of all, to be together and to help each other with the support of our prayers. We turn our hearts and minds to the God of all consolation. We come to unite ourselves to our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has offered one single sacrifice for sins and then has taken his place forever at the right hand of God. We come to ask the help of a God who never forgets. He says that even though a mother may forget her children, He will never forget them, because He has written their names on the palms of His hands.

We have come to listen to the account of the passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ so that we may get from it, strength and hope for the future. We pray for those who have disappeared that they may be safe with the Lord in his eternal glory. We pray for all who are engaged in the search for missing victims and for a lasting and genuine peace. We thank God for the work of people engaged in supporting and consoling the bereaved and those traumatised through the troubles in Northern Ireland.

OPENING OF THE
COALISLAND WOMEN’S
LEARN AND LEISURE ART AND CRAFT EXHIBITION
4 APRIL, 2001
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Thank you for the invitation to come here tonight. I am very happy to accept that invitation and to see that Dean Cassidy has also agreed to be here. I am delighted to be present at the opening of Coalisland Women’s Learn and Leisure Art and Craft Exhibition of 2001. I am delighted to see, at first hand, this renovated and refurbished Stewart’s Mill. I think it stands as a monument to the energy, vision and imagination of Coalisland and District Development Association.

As far back as 1993 this project was undertaken and carried out under the first Community Regeneration Improvement Special Projects, CRISP in other words. One quotation from the Chairman of Coalisland and District Development Association, Jim Canning, has always stayed in my mind. He once told me. “In my experience people are more than willing to work together when given the opportunity and proper incentives”. We salute the achievements of Coalisland and District Development Association over the past twenty years, since its foundation.

The Association was formed to reverse the rising unemployment problem in this area. That problem had been caused by many of the clay-based and textile based industries closing at that time. The Weaving Company factory on the Dungannon Road was purchased and converted into fifty business units. That in itself is a tremendous achievement. The provision of training in various skills, of up to 100 trainees per year, both manual and clerical, for all the people of the area by Coalisland Training Service Limited became a priority. The renovation and refurbishment of Stewart’s Mill, in which we are gathered tonight, is yet another work of which the Association can be very proud. I think CRISP proves the point that God helps those who help themselves because initially the Coalisland and District Development Association collected £43,000 to buy property and provide workspace and training.

There is the International Music Festival, centred in and around this building, with musicians, dancers and singers from all over Europe. There is the Coalisland Heritage Trust, which promotes the Industrial Heritage of this district as a visitor attraction. The achievements of the town have been rewarded by the AIB Better Ireland Award, the British Urban Regeneration Award and the British Airways Tourism Award.
It has been said that development is the new name for peace. I think the improvements, the refurbishment, the environmental development programmes are very important in giving people a stake – a share in their local community. They gain a sense of pride in their place of origin, their local place, their native place.

The numbers are impressive, four factories and a supermarket employing 200 people on the industrial site. This refurbished four-storey corn mill housing the local Library, the Heritage Centre and providing a neutral venue for over forty community groups is marvellous. This urban development programme is a trend-setter.
It is a model.

I suppose the most heartening thing of all is the change in attitude where people have been transformed from depression to self-esteem, discouragement to self confidence, self respect and respect for each other.

The Women’s Learn and Leisure has also played its part. I congratulate you all on this, your eighth Exhibition. The many and various classes held here throughout the year, in many branches of the Arts and Crafts, indicate the amount of interest that has been generated. I am reliably informed that they are so interesting and well presented that a number of men have seen the benefits and have allowed themselves to be coaxed away from the garden and the golf. I hope the Exhibition is going to attract lots and lots of visitors, especially during Holy Week.

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE
ARCHBISHOP BRADY CALLS FOR
RENEWED VIGILANCE AND PRAYER

The following Statement from Dr Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, was issued today:
“In the light of recent developments, our hearts go out to the farming community, especially to those unfortunate farmers whose animals now have to be destroyed for the common good. Despite the best efforts of so many people, Foot and Mouth Disease has spread to County Louth, causing further anxiety and distress.

It is also a worrying time for people whose livelihoods are seriously affected by the current crisis, not least those employed in the food industry, tourism and several other sectors. They also deserve our understanding and support at this critical time.

It is important that the whole community continue to show its willingness to help by faithfully following the advice, regulations and instructions, given by the civil authorities at local and governmental level.

We believe in, and depend on, a God who is a bountiful Creator.

We hope in a God who is personally concerned with creation.

We are loved by a God who listens and responds to prayer.

I encourage constant prayer and fasting this Lent that this country may be preserved from further outbreaks and that all countries affected may succeed in bringing the disease under control. May God give consolation to those who have suffered loss, wisdom to those who have to make difficult decisions, and success to the work of the hands of all who are striving to overcome this disaster. I know that those who are excused from attending Mass because of the danger of spreading the disease will pray at home for a speedy end to this crisis. With the help of God and a continuation of wonderful solidarity from all sectors of the community, this crisis can, without doubt, be overcome. ‘May your love be upon us O Lord as we place all our hope in you’ (Psalm 32)”.
ENDS 24 March 2001

CLOSE OF MISSION
PARISH OF DUNGANNON
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
SUNDAY 18 MARCH 2001

We don’t like to hear bad news about ourselves. We say we don’t like to learn bad news of others either. Yet, the content of our daily newspapers would seem to cast some doubt on this. Nobody likes to get a warning, yet there is a time and place for warnings in life. This is what today’s Gospel is about. Jesus is told that Pilate had killed two men in Jerusalem. Apparently they had come to the temple to offer their sacrifices. They were caught in the crossfire of a riot, between the rioters and Pilate’s forces. Somewhere else a tower had collapsed, in a place called Siloam and eighteen people had died. And as the people tell Jesus these stories they wonder if they are worse sinners than the rest of us that such suffering and disaster should happen to them?

I was listening to a programme this morning about blame. There is always the tendency to blame someone else, to find a scapegoat when some evil happens – it was the barman’s fault, he shouldn’t have served us that last drink or “It’s all your fault”. What is it about us, that we feel the need to blame the victims of some tragedy for the fact that the tragedy took place? Maybe we feel under threat ourselves so we want to distance ourselves from those people and to say, “we are not like them”. So what happened to them could never happen to us because we are separated from them. We will not be contaminated. We won’t catch whatever it is they have got. But to those who come to him with the bad news of these two disasters, Jesus does not give an explanation. Instead he shifts the focus from them, from those unfortunate people, to us. He says: “If you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the others because they suffered in this way, then I am telling you here and now, you are wrong. They were certainly no worse than any other Galileans”.

Yes, Jesus shifts the focus to each one of us. He says, “Unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. Twice Jesus repeats that warning. For Jesus, all of us, as long as we continue to sin, are equally threatened. We are all threatened by the sword of Pilate. An accident could happen to anyone of us at any given time – tragedy could strike at any time. Unless we prepare ourselves and recognise that we need to repent of our sins, then we will die in our sins. Jesus does not allow any of us to think of ourselves as superior to others. He regrets the idea that accidents happen to people – as a kind of payment for their sins. The point is, not that those people who died in those two disasters were more sinful, not at all. The point is that all are sinners and all will perish if they do not repent. Yes, all of us need to repent of our sins.
Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Patrick. Remember the first words of his writings: “I am Patrick, a sinner”. What a breath of fresh air to find someone mature enough to admit that yes, at sixteen years of age, he had already turned away from God and closed his ears to those who talked to him of his sins.

We got ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday. Those ashes remind us that each one carries within, a weakness, a weakness to sin. Ashes tell us that we are all liable to suffer and to have to endure pain. Above all, the ashes remind us that we are going to die one day.

And so, the message that Jesus has for each one of us today is: in all of your worries for those unfortunate people who met such tragic deaths, don’t think that you are standing safe and sound, that you are all firm and secure. For we could easily fall into the false security of thinking that we are in some way better than they are. False security can be a notion that others somehow deserve what happens to them.

When all is said and done, Jesus Christ is our only security. I think that is the message which the group of 70 and upward Emmanuel missionaries have been giving in this parish over the last three weeks. I welcome them most warmly and I congratulate them most sincerely on their wonderful work. Stephen and Sister came to tell me about some of it on Friday evening last. I must say I was delighted and pleased. We thank God today for the grace of this wonderful mission. I congratulate Mgr. McEntegart and the priests of the parish on the courageous and imaginative decision to invite the Emmanuel Mission. I congratulate and thank the people of Dungannon who opened their hearts and their doors to these scores of mainly lay missionaries. These missionaries have taken time off to come and invite you, and all of us, to open the door to Christ. They have come to offer the healing and the hope, the pardon and the peace, which can only come from the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. The number 70 reminds us of the disciples, which Jesus sent out, in pairs, to prepare for his coming in the various towns and villages. I see these 70 missionaries and more, coming to prepare the way for Christ as he wants to come into your hearts, into your minds, and into your lives, this Easter, with his love and with his mercy, with his forgiveness and with his pardon.

As these missionaries preach the message of Christ’s love and mercy, gradually the coin drops and we get the message. The important question is not where does tragedy and suffering come from, but to where does it lead?

· Does it lead to faith or to despair?
· Does it lead to conversion or just merely to more indifference and apathy, a change of heart?

There is a lovely prayer in the breviary today it goes like this:

God our Father you have shown us that prayer, fasting and almsgiving are remedies for sin. Accept the humble admission of our guilt and when our conscience weighs us down, let your unfailing mercy raise us up.

Yes, what we want is to admit our guilt, to take responsibility for our own lives, not to be always looking around for scapegoats, for somebody to blame. It is a mark of maturity, in the person who can take responsibility for what they have done, right or wrong. Taking responsibility on ourselves can lead to despair, it can lead to self-loathing and that is where Jesus has foreseen all of that and provided a remedy. But it can also lead to freedom and forgiveness.

I know that the missionaries have talked to you about sin. I know that through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving, many of you have already experienced the grace of God’s unfailing mercy in the wonderful penance service of last week. Tonight as we close this mission, we thank God for all of that.

I am sure there are still other people in this parish, and in other parishes, with a weight on their conscience, waiting to be lifted up by God’s unfailing mercy. It will take a bit more prayer to soften the hardness of their hearts. And so, I ask you, you who have experienced the grace and the happiness of this mission, to pray for those other people. There is still time, but there is not an endless amount of time. You know how the devil loves to lure us into a false sense of security. He doesn’t say “there is no danger”, no, he is far to clever for that. He is far too clever to think that we would fall for that ploy. What he does say is, ‘listen, there is no hurry’.

We have been greatly privileged to have had the Emmanuel community in our diocese for the last three weeks; a community dedicated to bringing the mercy of God to all people, in every sort of situation in life. The Lenten call to repent is echoed in Jesus’ words today and it says, ‘yes, there is still time but we don’t know how much. We know that it is limited’. The parable of the fig tree says, ‘the story is not over yet’. The vinedresser says, ‘wait. Give me more time’. Time to repent, time to receive forgiveness, time to experience the pardon and peace, which that forgiveness brings.

And so, let’s continue to pray for those who don’t see that they have any need to look for God’s mercy. Let’s ask courage for those who haven’t got the courage to approach a priest to ask for absolution.

This evening we thank God with all our hearts for this mission. It began with the love of the heart of Mary for the brothers and sisters of her son, Jesus Christ. It ends with the love of the heart of Christ, a heart pierced with a lance, for the love of each one of us. These generous missionaries came to tell us of a God who is determined to remove our guilt from us, if only we will allow it and He wants never more to recall that guilt. To bring home that good news the Emmanuel community went, to the homes and to the schools, to the pubs and to the halls, so as to reach the hearts of all. They prayed and they consoled, they sang and they spoke. They even got an icon from Pope John Paul II, to bring special grace and blessing on their work.

As they leave us, in response to this mission, they once again invite all of us to open the door to Christ. They ask us to open the door of our hearts to the love of Christ and to the pardon he alone can give. If we do so then we will find our own faith strengthened, especially if we keep sharing it with others. I imagine St. Patrick is very pleased to see these missionaries retrace his footsteps, coming from across the seas, imitating once more his example of sharing the knowledge and love of God with the Irish.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY 2001
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
12.00 NOON MASS
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH

The scare of foot and mouth disease has cast a damper over this year’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. I know I have received very few St. Patrick’s Day cards. Perhaps people think we are not celebrating the National Feast-day this year. But, here and in Britain, our usual confidence has suffered an unexpected setback. Suddenly we have realised how little power we have in preventing the spread of a virus, how much we depend on the co-operation of the entire community and how much we need the help and protection of God.

So, our first prayer today is to our National Apostle – St. Patrick. He was himself once a shepherd boy, tending sheep during his captivity. Our prayer is to ask him, most sincerely to intercede for us that we may be rid of the terrible plague of foot and mouth disease.

We shall, however, still celebrate, with great joy and gratitude, the Feast of St. Patrick. Patrick was not only a shepherd of animals; he was much more importantly, the shepherd of the Irish – of Irish men and women. He was very much concerned about the well being of the people entrusted to his care and about their spiritual well being. Patrick, I am sure, would be extremely anxious about the spiritual well being of the Irish if he were alive today. Yes there is a great sense of confidence among Irish people today; there is a strong feeling that we have never had things so good. The Celtic Tiger in the South has transformed society – economically and socially. There is much to be thankful for and much of which to be proud.

At the same time, many people are experiencing growing difficulties in maintaining the balance they want in their lives – between their family and their work, between their standard of living and their compassion for people less well-off than themselves. It is becoming more difficult to give practical expression to spiritual values. Yet it is important to remember that a job, while it is paid, is above all, about service to others. It is essential to protect the quality of time given, first of all, to family and to friends. It is necessary to find time and space for quiet and solitude and to practice prayer and contemplation.

As a young adult, Patrick, realised that he had been neglecting God in his life. That was part of the reason, he believed, for his captivity. Let us listen to his own words:

“I am Patrick, a sinner. I was almost sixteen at the time I was taken captive and I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands of people. We deserved this fate because we had turned away from God; we neither kept His commandments nor obeyed our priests, who used to warn us about salvation”.

I love the honesty of those words. “I am Patrick, a sinner, I did not know the true God”. We live in an age and at a time when it is fashionable to blame someone else for all our faults and failings. How refreshing therefore to find Patrick freely admitting that he deserved what he got. It was the best thing that ever happened to him, he says, because it brought him to his senses. Later Patrick came to see the foolishness of his ways. He was very thankful that he got, what he calls, the great and beneficial gift of knowing and loving God, even if it meant, “leaving my home life and my relatives”.

Patrick was never tired of thanking God for rescuing him from the danger of totally losing his faith. “I give thanks” he says, “to God tirelessly who kept me faithful in the days of trial, who preserved me in all my troubles”. “I am very much in debt to God” Patrick wrote, “who gave me so much grace that through me many people were born again in God”. Yes, Patrick realised that God had made him to be a light to the nations, so that he could be a means of salvation to the ends of the earth. Today, thousands march and celebrate, in so many nations on so many continents, to celebrate the fact that this prophecy has come true.

“All this”, he wrote in another place, “was for a people newly come to belief”. People who the Lord took from the ends of the earth and, as he promised long ago to his prophets, “to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and will say how false are the idols our fathers made for themselves, how useless they are”.

Well the idols, like the saints, are always liable to make a comeback. It is so easy to get so caught up in the culture of getting and having that it becomes the driving force in life and leaves little or no time for God. The result is that people neglect God in their lives and ignore the faith, which St. Patrick brought to us. The result is that when some difficulty arises, where we cannot rely solely on our own resources, such as the death of someone close or the sickness of someone very dear to us, we find it extremely hard to cope. The result often is deep discouragement and the temptation to despair. But, the best antidote is the support and hope that comes with a strong faith in God.

Patrick lived in an age when the pace of life was slower. Life appeared simpler. Yet his message of faith in God has lessons for our own time. It is a time, which sets such a high store on affluence and trusts solely on one’s own resources. The message brought by Patrick tells us that wealth has an enormous power for doing good in a world as needy as our own. The message of Christ helps us to see that either wealth is shared or its owners become the owned and are diminished in themselves. This message sets both rich and poor free. It invites everyone to see through the falseness of making material possessions the goal of human life. Patrick had his faith strengthened here in Ireland. Here in the north of Ireland he got the wonderful gift of knowing and loving God. Yes, it meant leaving his homeland and his relations. It was a price well worth paying. For, removed from his family he had time to think and to pray. In a single day he says, he would say as many as a hundred prayers and almost as many in the night. Separated from his family and homeland, Patrick found himself in a fearful situation. Working in poverty and in slavery Patrick turned to God in prayer for help. Thanks to his perseverance in prayer and trust in God, Patrick survived.

He not only survived but he discovered what God wanted him to do. He got the courage and the strength to do it. When God asked Patrick to come back to Ireland, he simply could not refuse. He had experienced the love and the care and the protection of God so powerfully in the hour of his need, that God won his heart totally and forever. Patrick simply could not say no to God, who had stood by him in his troubles.

Did you know that for the past three weeks a group of seventy and upwards, lay missionaries and priests, from many parts of the world, have been preaching a mission in Dungannon? The group, which includes young people and couples, have taken time off to host this mission. The central focus is on the love and mercy of Jesus. The missionaries are members of the Emmanuel community and they offer a rich spiritual programme of healing, reconciliation and hope. I think that St. Patrick must be very happy that so many missionaries are once again retracing his footsteps to invite people to open the door to Christ.

This feast always raises a few difficult questions for oneself.

· How grateful do I feel for the faith brought by Patrick?
· How much do I feel moved to share that faith with others and to hand it on to those who come after me?

Every time we come to Mass we are reminded that creation is a shared table. God invites all of us to that table equally. Everytime we go out from Mass, the faith brought by Patrick, commits us again to do our best to change the experience of life for everyone we meet into a pleasant surprise at the bounty and goodness of God.

LITURGICAL RECEPTION OF APOSTOLIC NUNCIO TO IRELAND
HIS EXCELLENCY MOST REVEREND GIUSEPPE LAZZAROTTO,
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
PRESIDENT OF THE IRISH EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE
ST. PATRICK’S COLLEGE, MAYNOOTH
12 MARCH 2001

Your Eminence, Your Excellency, My Brother Bishops and Reverend Fathers in Jesus Christ,
At this, our first meeting of 2001, we give God thanks for many new things: the new Irish Cardinal; a new Nuncio, sent by the Holy Father to represent the Catholic Church in Ireland and from the Holy See to the Irish Government; a new system of organisation for those who work in the various Commissions and Agencies of the Irish Bishops’ Conference.

All of us gathered here this evening are engaged in work which extends to many areas of Church life in Ireland today. The activities of all of us are, in one way or another, aimed at contributing to the promotion and strengthening and handing on of the faith in this country. So, this evening we give thanks to God for that faith.

The work of all of us is linked, in one way or another, with the wonderful works of God among His people. Our activities are linked especially by the work of Christ in saving humankind and in giving glory to God. Yesterday, down in Tuam, we buried Archbishop Joseph Cunnane. His motto was: Aedificare Familiam Dei, ‘To Build Up the Family of God’. Each one of us is, or ought to be, concerned with building up the Family of God.

In every Mass the Church celebrates and remembers the deeds by which Christ carried out the work of saving the world. Not alone that but through the liturgy of the Mass, Christ continues the work of saving us from sin and death. Christ gives the dignity of a royal priesthood to the people he has made his own. To that people His Father gives gifts of grace for every time and season as He guides the Church in the marvellous ways of His providence. From the beginning the Church has been marked by a great diversity of gifts and a great richness of grace. That diversity comes from the variety of God’s gifts. It also comes from the variety of all those people who receive the gifts.

This evening we thank God for all those gifts and all those people, especially those working in the Commissions and Agencies. There are different gifts, offices, conditions and ways of life. We ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us meet the challenge of a new situation.

St. Paul urges us to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace so that the richness and diversity of God’s people may not be a threat to its unity. The Church knows that it has been entrusted to the pastoral care of Peter and of his successors. The Church in Ireland appreciates and welcomes that care. That care is exercised in a variety of ways. One of those ways is the practice by which the Holy Father appoints Apostolic Nuncios to represent him in various parts of the world. This evening we welcome Archbishop Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland. He comes as the representative of Pope John Paul II, a man who has a special place in the hearts and affections of Irish Catholics.

Pope John Paul II once had an Irish Secretary, Bishop John Magee. Bishop Magee was not only his Secretary but later his Master of Ceremonies. The Holy Father came to Ireland. He not only came to Ireland, he came to this College and to several dioceses. The notable thing was that he came very early in his Pontificate, immediately after visiting his native Poland, and the much- persecuted Mexico. The Holy Father did so because he wanted to pay tribute to the heroics of the Irish people, to the Catholic faith despite the centuries of opposition and persecution.

So, Archbishop Lazzarotto, we welcome you with great joy. We ask God’s blessing on you and on our work. You come as the representative of the successor of Peter, to whom the Lord entrusted the task of confirming faith of his brethren. That was never an easy task. It is not an easy task today but it is a noble task. We know that the Holy Father is the centre and bond of unity in the Pilgrim Church on earth. Through him and in union with him, we remain in communion with the universal church. We appreciate that we have been entrusted to his pastoral care. We rely on that pastoral care to ensure that we share in a communion of holy things, which Christ, out of love, gives to his holy people, for the building up of his kingdom on earth.

I believe that our new Apostolic Nuncio is excellently prepared to carry out his new role. He comes with considerable knowledge of conditions in Ireland and has followed the knowledge acquired over the years from Irish colleagues, and from his work in six native states. His last posting was in Iraq and Jordan, troubled areas in a troubled Middle East. Here in Ireland we hope and pray that we are at present moving out of a period of troubles into a more peaceful phase of our history. Nevertheless we believe that the experience of the new Nuncio will be invaluable, especially his appreciation of the effects of violence on the lives of people and on their faith.

Finally, our new Nuncio comes from the diocese of Padua, a diocese renowned as the centre of learning, as a centre of art and above all, as a centre of holiness.

Your Excellency, you come to visit us in a week in which we prepare to celebrate the Feast of our national apostle. In his Confession, Patrick reveals his tremendously strong faith in the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Patrick never ceased to confess his sinfulness and his unworthiness for the task which the Lord had called him. He put his trust totally in God. In the midst of his many difficulties he, Patrick, united himself to Christ, especially in his suffering and death.

As we strive to carry on the work of Patrick, this evening’s First Reading gives us inspiration. It is from the Book of Daniel and is one of the loveliest penitential prayers of the Old Testament. The speaker addresses God in the name of the entire people. He confesses the sinful characters who are so forgetful of their Creator and so reluctant to listen to the voice of the prophets. He recalls the great majesty of God. It was prayers like these that hastened the times and nourished the spirituality of the people of St Patrick.

‘Be compassionate, as your Father is compassionate. Be merciful as your Father in Heaven is merciful’ the Gospel tells us this evening. ‘Do not judge or condemn but instead grant pardon. Give not only pardon, give a full measure’. Those words remind us that the moral behaviour of the follower of Christ is inevitably an imitation of God’s behaviour. The emphasis is on the total generosity of our giving. In return we are promised not just an equivalent measure as reward but a super abundant measure. In the celebration of the Eucharist the Christian is united in the charity of Christ. That charity is a perfect imitation of the Father. We are not on our own – we rely on that charity always for in you, Our Lord, we put our trust, we shall not be put to shame.
AMEN

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HOMILY EXTRACT
CONFIRMATION
HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, COALISLAND, CO. TYRONE
ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
SATURDAY, 3 MARCH, 2001, 11.00AM

CURRENT POLITICAL SITUATION

St Paul lists peace as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Peace comes about when people know what they ought to do and also have the courage to do it fearlessly, despite all the obstacles.

When the Good Friday Agreement was signed, I believe the Holy Spirit was very much at work. After long negotiations the parties agreed that certain measures had to be taken in order to establish a lasting peace. They found the courage to take the risks involved and to sign up to the Agreement. As a result there was great joy – which is another fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Since then significant progress has been made in many areas of the Peace Agreement. However, there are other areas where there has been some but insufficient progress.

In the Agreement there is a commitment to the total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations. There is a promise to work constructively and in good faith with the Independent Commission. There is an undertaking to use influence to bring about the decommissioning of all paramilitary arms. Again there was great joy when people read those words in the Agreement.

Good faith is crucial to the survival of the Agreement. If that good faith is to survive more progress has to be made in this area and it has to be made now.

I am delighted to hear that the pro-Agreement parties are planning to meet soon. I pray and I ask all of you to pray that they will sit down together. I hope that in their discussions all will see honestly and truthfully what they have got to do now to ensure that the peace process survives. If they do so I am confident that they will once again get the courage to play their part and to help each other play their part fearlessly, in spite of all difficulties.

If they do so I believe that they will find the Holy Spirit and a huge number of people once again very much on their side. Understanding and trust will grow. The search for a lasting peace to which the pro-Agreement parties have so courageously and so wisely committed themselves could once again breathe life and hope. I ask all who sincerely want peace to pray that this may happen – for the sake of us all and especially for the good of the young people confirmed here today.
ENDS.

ATTENTION NEWSDESKS
IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE – FOOT AND MOUTH CRISIS
FROM DR SEÁN BRADY, ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
2 March, 2001

In a letter to the priests of the Archdiocese of Armagh today, Archbishop Seán Brady said the following:
I ask you to do all you can to offer comfort and hope to all who are affected by the latest threat to the agricultural industry.

I want you to urge people to co-operate fully with the advice of the Departments of Agriculture (North and South) and to act with the greatest responsibility. People should be encouraged to listen attentively to and carry out fully the regulations and restrictions imposed by the civic authorities at local and national level.

Following advice received by the Department of Agriculture I ask priests to take the necessary precautions and to put in place disinfectant mats at all entrances to churches and car parks.

All Masses in the following churches in the restricted zone have been cancelled this weekend: St Joseph’s Church, Meigh; St Patrick’s Church, Dromintee; Sacred Heart Church, Jonesboro; St Mary’s Church, Mullaghbawn; St Oliver Plunkett Church, Forkhill; Our Lady, Queen of Peace Church, Aughanduff; St Brigid’s Church, Glassdrummond; Sacred Heart Church, Shelagh; St Malachy’s Church, Carrickcruppin (Camlough); Sacred Heart Church, Lislea; St Michael’s Church, Killean; St Brigid’s Church, Kilcurry; St Brigid’s Shrine, Faughart. Parishioners who normally attend these churches are excused from the Sunday Mass obligation and are encouraged to assist at Mass via radio or television. They are encouraged to pray fervently in their own homes for an end to this crisis.

In view of the risk involved people from these areas are not encouraged to travel elsewhere to attend Mass. Anyone who believes that by attending Mass this weekend they might risk spreading the disease is similarly excused.

I leave it up to other parishes to decide to cancel or postpone parish functions in view of the risk involved to the common good of the community.

Prayers should be offered at all Masses that further outbreaks of the disease may be avoided. Parishioners affected by the crisis should be contacted by telephone and assured of support and solidarity.
Schools in all parishes should provide disinfectant mats at all entrances and exits.
May St Brigid, Patroness of flocks, fields, and farmyards, protect us at this time.

No interviews will be given.

SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATION
PARISH OF ST JOSEPH, DUNDALK
SUNDAY, 18 FEBRUARY, 2001, 12.30PM
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
OF ARMAGH

“O Israel, Hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast Love
And with Him is plenteous redemption” (Psalm 129.7)
Every anniversary gives an opportunity to look back and see how the Lord always cares for His people with steadfast love. Every anniversary enables us to look forward and renew our hope in the plenteous redemption of the Lord, so clearly professed, lived and preached by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

As we look back at the history of the Church here in Dundalk we realise how fortunate it has been, especially over the last 150 years in attracting religious congregations:

The Sisters of Mercy came in 1847
The Marists in 1861
The Christian Brothers in 1869
The De La Salle Brothers in 1899

Of course the Dominicans came much earlier and the Rosminians, St Louis Sisters, Franciscan Missionary Sisters and Sisters of Our Lady of the Mission came a bit later. The Redemptorists came in 1876. The presence of so many communities, dedicated to the glory of God and to the following of Christ in a special way, is a great blessing for any town. They are an outstanding sign in the Church of the glory which we all hope to enjoy in heaven. They remind us, very powerfully, that we have not here, on earth, a lasting kingdom but we seek one that is to come.

REDEMPTORIST LEGACY

It was on 9 November 1732 that St Alphonsus Ligouri and his companions dedicated themselves to the Most Holy Redeemer. They decided to dedicate their lives to preaching the Gospel to “the most abandoned souls”. This dedication took place in the village of Scala in Italy, near the beautiful City of Naples. So the Redemptorists were “born”.

The Congregation grew rapidly. In 1853 they came to Ireland, a country that was still recovering from the trauma of the Great Famine. Their first foundation was in Limerick. Parish Missions were conducted in Dundalk by the Redemptorists in 1859 and in 1867. At that time the Redemptorists were eager to extend their ministry in Ireland. They were conscious that Dundalk was an important juncture in the country’s train system. They knew that from Dundalk they would have easy access to several parts of the country. They were also well aware that while Dundalk enjoyed much prosperity as a centre of trade and commerce, a lot of poverty existed there. So the Redemptorists, truly guided by God, decided to found a house in this town.

This they did in 1876 in Park St, where Dunnes Stores now stands. Five years later in 1881, under the leadership of Fr Henry Harbison, the community moved to the present monastery in Alphonsus Road, appropriately named after the founder of the Congregation. Father Henry Harbison was ordained for the Archdiocese of Armagh but later felt called, by God, to leave the diocese and join the Redemptorists. One year later in 1882 Archbishop McGettigan opened and blessed this Church of St Joseph. In his dedication homily on that occasion Bishop Healy of Clonfert expressed the hope that the new church would be a worthy successor of the great Abbeys of Mellifont and Monasterboice. We thank the Lord that his prayer was heard and that his hope was not misplaced.

FOUNDATION OF ST JOSEPH’S PARISH

Exactly a century after the foundation of the Redemptorist community in Dundalk, on Sunday, 15 February, 1976, Cardinal Conway came to inaugurate the new Parish of St Joseph and to install Fr Michael Clancy as the first Administrator. The Redemptorists, eager to mark 100 years of their arrival in Dundalk and to answer the call of Vatican II to all Religious Congregations to share their charisms and resources as generously as possible with the People of God and within the diocesan system, had offered to take pastoral responsibility for that portion of East Dundalk in the vicinity of their monastery. This offer Cardinal Conway prudently accepted. In 1976 the new Parish had 600 families. This has now more than doubled to 1,300 families and the Parish continues to grow.

St Joseph’s we could consider as a beautiful and successful marriage between a religious congregation and a parish. This church is renowned in Dundalk and its large hinterland for the traditional Redemptorist devotion to St Gerard Majella and to the Mother of Perpetual Help. None of us can exaggerate the inestimable blessing which the 10 daily sessions of the annual St Gerard Novena, catering for the 12,000 daily participants, bring. St Joseph’s, Dundalk, has been for several generations a great source of grace for the people of the North-East, a spiritual oasis, a place of pilgrimage and spiritual help and consolation, an occasion of confession and sacramental healing. Long may it continue to be so.

St Joseph’s Parish has built upon this rich Redemptorist legacy and has become a most vibrant Christian community. A strong spirit of partnership between priests and parishioners, what we sometimes call collaborative ministry, prevails. An appropriate emphasis on excellence in the liturgy exists with the active participation of the laity. Readers, Ministers of the Eucharist, Collectors, Ushers, Altar Servers, Choirs, junior and senior, and Folk Groups, all play their role to make the liturgy what it should be – a glorious hymn of praise to God, a spiritual encounter between humanity and our Creator, a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. This church has an active ministry to youth – I think of your Growing in Faith Programme, Peer Ministry Programme and Children’s Liturgy Group. You also have a committed Pastoral Council who have worked very hard in preparation for today. You have several pastoral groups and activities – Martha Ministers, Weekly Envelope Collectors, Senior Citizens Group, St Joseph’s Young Priests’ Society, Dues Collectors, St Brigid’s Community Centre, St Vincent de Paul Society – to mention but some.

You have been blessed in your administrators, Fathers Michael Clancy, Brian McGrath and John McAlinden, in your Curates, currently Fathers Cathal Cumiskey and Dan Bray. I also wish to pay tribute to the Superiors and Sacristans, currently Fr Michael Cusack and Br Dermot McDonagh, respectively, and to your parish secretaries, Nuala Begley and Teresa Power, of whom more anon.

SUNDAY AS RED-LETTER DAY

Today, the silver jubilee of the foundation of this parish, is a “red-letter day” in the history of St Joseph’s, Dundalk. Each Sunday, however, is a “red-letter day” for the Christian community. On this day the Church celebrates Christ’s resurrection. It is our weekly Easter. It is the Lord’s day. The Lord’s day is the lord of days. The Psalmist’s cry is rightly applied to Sunday: “This is the day which the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad.” (Ps 118:24). It is extremely appropriate that we should give thanks to God for the past 25 years at a Sunday Eucharist.

The Latin for Sunday is “dies Domini”, day of the Lord. The Irish word, Domhnach, derives from this. On this day we celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death through the power of his resurrection. St Jerome once said: “Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of Christians, it is our day”. It is right and proper, therefore, that we should come to Mass each Sunday to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Dying he destroyed our death. We come to praise God, to honour and to thank Him for His majesty and for His outstanding kindness to us. We open our hearts and our lives to Him. We open our time to Him. We commend the week just completed to Him and beg His protection and blessing for the week just beginning.

In the story of creation in the Book of Genesis we are told that God rested on the seventh day. On Sundays we too are invited to rest a little from our daily toils and to re-discover “God’s joyful gaze”.

SPIRITUAL CHURCH

A beautiful church, an impressive building like this is not enough. St Peter reminds us that we must become a spiritual church, a spiritual house. When St Peter was preparing candidates for baptism he reminded them:

“(Christ) is the living stone ….; set yourselves close to him, so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifice which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. ….You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God.” (1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10).

It takes much longer to build the living house of God which is the parish itself than it takes to erect the visible church building; it is the work of a lifetime. But the architect, the builder, the artist is God Himself. We must open ourselves to His power at work in our lives. The final result is something of a beauty that far outshines the beauty of this splendid building, a beauty that nothing in this world can ever surpass.
We must work tirelessly in becoming the Body of the Christ which is the Church. Prayer and love will be our main tools as Our Lord tells us in today’s Gospel (Luke 6:27 – 38). We must grow in virtue and diminish in vice. As individuals and as a community here at St Joseph’s we must become visible signs of God’s presence and power at work in our lives.

HYMN OF THANKS
Today we thank God for His loving care for all of His people. We thank God for always raising up in the Church people who will be signs of that love, who are, like the apostles, leaving their fishing nets and boats, prepared to leave all in order to follow Christ more closely and to preach his message in season and out of season, who have the generosity of spirit and the courage to say, ‘Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who treat you badly’. That is often not a popular message but it is the only basis for true peace and happiness.

Thanks be to God for St Joseph’s Parish, Dundalk and for the Redemptorist Community. Thanks be to God for the faith, hope and love of the past twenty-five years and for the hundred years before that. We give glory for the generosity of so many people who have made St Joseph’s Parish, past and present, possible and who have been the channels of His graces and blessings. Long may the people of Dundalk come here to listen to the Word of God and to ponder it, like Mary, in their hearts. We can truly make our own today the Psalm for this Sunday’s Mass:

“My soul, give thanks to the lord,
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
And never forget all his blessings.” (Ps. 102)

In the spirit of today’s Gospel may all associated with this church and this parish be rewarded both in this life and the next – “a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into (their) lap”. For dear friends, the amount we measure out is indeed the amount we will be given back.

ST JOSEPH

I pray that under the patronage of St Joseph, chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin and loving foster-father of Our Lord, this community of St Joseph’s, Dundalk, may add and increase in the love and presence of God.

BENEMERENTI MEDAL

The Holy Father was last year informed of the Silver Jubilee of St Joseph’s Parish, to be marked today. Pope John Paul II deemed it appropriate that someone closely associated with St Joseph’s should be honoured in celebration of the occasion. Very prudently the Pope has decided that Teresa Power, faithful secretary of this parish over the past twenty-five years, be awarded the Benemerenti Medal. Benemerenti translates from the Latin as well-deserved and no one of us today can dispute that Teresa is not deserving of this singular honour.

TERESA POWER

Teresa Power, daughter of the late Lawrence and Mary Ellen Power, was born in Ballycotton, Co Cork. Her father worked as a lighthouse keeper. Like many others in public service he was transferred a number of times, so that the Power family lived in various coastal locations over the years. Very fortuitously the Power family moved to Dundalk and it was in Dundalk that Teresa spent most of her youth and settled permanently. Her working career began in the Accounts Department of Hallidays’ Shoe Factory and she retained that post when Clark’s took over that company. During those years at Clark’s Teresa became increasingly involved in the various activities and organisations connected with St. Joseph’s Church. 25 years ago, when St. Joseph’s Parish was first established, Father Michael Clancy, the first Administrator of the new parish, wisely employed Teresa as a full-time Parish Secretary. Teresa has retained that post to this day!

As parish Secretary, Teresa has been very much a part of the overall development of the parish. She has served under three Administrators – Fathers Michael Clancy, Brian McGrath and, now John McAlinden. She has served them well and has left them greatly in her debt.

She has served the whole parish with remarkable dedication. A truly selfless worker, Teresa has made a lasting impression on us all by her constant and untiring efficiency and her remarkable grasp of detail. In addition to her work as Parish Secretary, Teresa has been Receptionist for the local Redemptorist Community. Redemptorists have come and gone over the years, as priests do. Teresa has stayed, however, and has been an anchor, a very useful and necessary link with the past on whom the Administrator and Superior have always so heavily depended.

The parish of St. Joseph’s is profoundly grateful to you, Teresa, for the past 25 years you have given to this parish and to its people. The Priests of the parish, past and present, join with the parishioners in rejoicing at the great honour being bestowed on you by the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II.

HISTORY OF MEDAL

In 1925, the concept of awarding the Benemerenti as a mark of recognition to persons in service of the Church, both civil and military, lay and clergy alike, gained currency. The medal has since been conferred on people who have given extraordinary service to the Church.

The medal which will be conferred on Teresa today portrays the image of Christ on a gold Greek cross. It represents Jesus Christ, who is the same today as he was yesterday, as he will be forever. The Saviour, depicted in radiant splendour, has his hand raised in blessing. The last visible action of Christ on earth which he bestowed on his Church is his blessing. A blessing is a gift from God which touches our lives. It is a gift expressed in words and our prayer today is that the Lord may continue to bless Teresa abundantly.

On the left of the transverse arm of the Cross is a modern depiction of the tiara and crossed keys, symbol of the papacy. On the right, the shield of John Paul II and his motto, Totus Tuus, Totally Yours. On the reverse of the Medal is the word, Benemerenti. The insignia is suspended from a ribbon of the papal colours, yellow and white.

The citation of the diploma which Teresa receives translates from the Latin as follows:
“Pope John Paul II, Supreme Pontiff, has deigned to bestow this gold medal on Miss Teresa Power for singular merit in the Christian state and declares her worthy of being decorated with this insignia. Given at Rome, 21st December, 2000.”

CONFERRAL OF MEDAL

Teresa Power, I now ask you to come forward to receive this award:
Brothers and Sisters, we gather here this afternoon to acknowledge and honour our friend, Teresa, for her outstanding service to the Church. St Paul reminds us that all good gifts come from God who distributes them as he wills to build up the Body of Christ.

Eternal God, source of very gift and talent, through your Son, Jesus Christ, you grant us your blessings that the Church might be nourished and strengthened.

Bless Teresa and confer upon her the gifts of your Spirit that she may remain humble in heart as she serves your household, the Church.

Bring us all into the peace of your Kingdom where all honour and glory are yours, Lord our God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Congratulations, Teresa! Well done, good and faithful servant…..