PRESS RELEASE
ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH
JUBILEE NATIONAL DAY OF PILGRIMAGE
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
SUNDAY, 21 MAY, 2000

As part of the celebrations to mark the year 2000, the National Day of Pilgrimage was celebrated in the Archdiocese of Armagh on the afternoon of Sunday, 21 May, with Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh at 3.00pm. Cardinal Brady was the chief-celebrant and preacher. The Cathedral was packed to overflowing, each parish having been allocated several tickets.

Inner Journey

In his introductory words at the Mass Cardinal Brady said: “We are a pilgrim people, that is, people on a journey, a journey of faith. Today’s pilgrimage is a preparation for the Jubilee Journey back to the House of the Father. It is essentially an Inner Journey – a journey of heart and soul and mind. It is both an everyday process and a life-long journey. We are pilgrims, not tourist or sightseers. If the tourist, the sightseer, is to become a pilgrim he must hear the call to follow the way. She must pray for the strength to finish the journey.”

Day of Jubilee Joy

It was a day of great jubilee joy, resplendent in colour, loud with festive music. St Jarlath’s Independent Band, Portmor, played at the Cathedral Plaza before the Mass while the O’Neills’ AOH Pipe Band, also from Portmor, led the procession from the sacristy, preceded by a scout colour party. The choir for the day was St Malachy’s Church Choir, Armagh, under the baton of Mr Seán Boylan. Armagh Pipers Club played a number of hymns during the Mass.

Taking part in the entrance procession of the Mass were two representatives of each parish. One carried a banner bearing the name of the parish, while the other carried a geographical representation of the parish. With the representations a vertical map of the diocese was constructed. The parishes were called up in alphabetical order to place their map piece and their banner while a commentary prepared by Fr Benny Fee, Chaplain, St Pauls’ High School, Bessbrook, was read, to the background of the harp. Fr Fee’s commentary on the 61 parishes of the Archdiocese was rich in historical, faith and local allusion. Fr Fee was assisted by Fr Paul Clayton-Lea in reading the commentary. This creative prayer of thanksgiving to God, verbal and visual, the brainchild of Fr Fee and Mrs Isobel McKenna, which took place before the beginning of Mass, was most favourably received by the congregation.

Refreshments were served afterwards for all in St Patrick’s Grammar School.

Primary School Jubilee Christian Heritage Project

A display of art and projects on our national Christian heritage by senior primary school pupils from throughout the diocese was held in the Synod Hall, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, during the week of 15th – 22nd May. The exhibition was described by Cardinal Brady as a “feast of colour and artistic excellence” and was visited by several hundreds before and after the Pilgrimage Mass.

Day of Hope and Anticipation

Speaking after the Mass Cardinal Brady said: “This has been a most memorable day in the Armagh diocesan Jubilee calendar. We have gathered, representatives from the 61 parishes, to thank the Lord for sixteen centuries of faith and worship in this diocese. We look forward in hope and eager anticipation to the unfolding of the future of the Church and of the Christian story in Armagh.”
The Archbishop paid rich tribute to the work of the Armagh Diocesan Jubilee Committee under the chairmanship of Bishop Gerard Clifford.

Photographs available from Vincent Loughran, Armagh
Tel: 028 3752 3938 (Mobile) 077905 49382

23 May, 2000

NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE DAY
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
SUNDAY 21 MAY 2000, 3.00pm

“Come ring our joy to the Lord,
hail the God who saves us.
Let us come before Him, giving thanks,
with song let us hail the Lord.

Yes we have come to Armagh today to ring out our joy to the Lord. We ring out that joy with bands and banners, with music and song. We are gathered in pilgrimage, from the four corners of the diocese. We are here, as representatives of our various parishes, to give God thanks and praise.

What’s the cause of our joy? What’s the reason for this great celebration today? Why was the GAA asked not to fix any championship matches today? Why did they graciously agree to that request? The answer is simple, it is this, that we are celebrating the fact that it has pleased God to reveal Himself and to make known His will.

His will was, and is, that we should have access to the Father through Christ. By this revelation the invisible God speaks to us as his friends. He invites us and receives us into His company.

At first God spoke through the prophets. God spoke through people like Abraham and Moses. But now He has spoken to us through His Son. Two thousand years ago God sent His Son to live among us. Jesus came to tell us about the inner life of God. Jesus did this by his words and by his works, by signs and miracles. Above all Jesus showed his love for us by his death and glorious resurrection. He revealed that God was, and is, and always shall be, with us. God stays with us to set us free from the darkness of sin and death. God is with us to raise us up after death to the fullness of life, to everlasting happiness.
Of course we celebrate that every Sunday but today we celebrate it in a very special way. We are celebrating it by going on pilgrimage because 2000 years ago Jesus came. I suppose you could say he came as a pilgrim to live among us.

God wants us to have access to Himself through Christ. All of Christian life is a pilgrimage. It is a pilgrimage to the House of the Father. That is why pilgrimages are popular. I have just returned from a very successful diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Next Sunday the annual diocesan pilgrimage to Knock takes place. Later on in the year there will be pilgrimages to St. Brigid’s Shrine at Faughart, St. Oliver Plunkett’s Shrine in Drogheda, the Shrine of St. Mochua in Derrynoose. There will also be pilgrimages to Rome and to the Holy Land.

These pilgrimages remind us of the inner journey each one of us must make. This pilgrimage takes place in the heart of everyone. For in the depth of our hearts we all experience restlessness, a certain dissatisfaction. The joys of this earth, no matter how deep, never seem to satisfy us completely. They do not last. We are looking for something better, something deeper, something more enduring.

Really what we are looking for is that happiness, that fullness of life which Jesus Christ promised. And, as we struggle through the troubles of life, we are heartened by the words of Jesus that he has come that we may have life and have it to the full. We are also encouraged by the examples of the saints and especially by the help and protection of Mary, the Mother of God. The saints are the ones who have found the secret of the happiness, that fullness of life which we all desire. I suppose that is why pilgrimages to the shrines of Mary, at Lourdes and Knock and Fatima, to the Holy Land where Jesus and Mary lived and to places associated with the saints, like Lough Derg and Drogheda and Faughart are popular. People find something there, some taste of the peace and joy and happiness which we all seek and search for all our lives.

The real good news of course today is that we are not celebrating past history but present reality. For God has graciously arranged that the things revealed through Jesus Christ for the salvation of all people should remain. They are to remain throughout the ages and be handed on to all generations. Christ commanded his apostles to go out and preach the Good News to the ends of the earth. In preaching the Good News they were to share the gifts of God with all people to the end of time. That full and living Gospel, that Good News, is preserved in the Church. The Good News brought by Jesus Christ and taught by his Church is like a mirror. During our pilgrimage on earth, we, followers of Christ, look in that mirror constantly. For in that mirror, the Church sees God from whom she receives everything. We are to go on contemplating God in that mirror until such time as we are brought to see God face to face as He really is.

As we contemplate God in the mirror of His Good News we are gradually changed. “I am the vine, you are the branches” Christ said. “Anyone who remains in me and I in him, bears fruit in plenty. It is to the glory of my Father that you shall bear much fruit and then you will be my disciples”.

My hope is that each one here today will go home somewhat changed. If not, then we are merely tourists and sightseers and not really pilgrims and disciples. This may be the one and only pilgrimage you will ever make. You may be going back home to homes where there are people who never go on pilgrimages outside their own homes. That is not really important. What is really important is that each and every one of us embarks on the inner journey to discover Jesus and to be united with him and through the sacraments. The important thing is that we all go home determined and committed to travel the journey of life with Jesus back to the House of the Father.

It is to the glory of the Father that you should bear much fruit. Let us live lives modelled on the life of Jesus Christ.

AMEN

LAUNCH OF
‘ARCHDIOCESE OF ARMAGH – A HISTORY’
BY THE RT REV. MONSIGNOR RAYMOND MURRAY
CARDINAL TOMÁS Ó FIAICH MEMORIAL LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
3 MAY, 2000

I gladly join in welcoming you all here this evening. We come together for a very special event in this special year – The Year of the Great Jubilee.

Jubilee connotes joy. That joy is, of course, a joy of the Spirit – deep immense joy – at the news that God loved the world so much that He gave His Son, to be its Saviour.

The coming of the Saviour aroused many kinds of joy – The angels sang at his birth – the disciples rejoiced at his Resurrection. The fact is that God’s Revelation of Himself as Creator and Saviour arouses in people a tremendous joy.

Our celebration this evening is a result of that joy. It is an occasion for celebrating. I am personally delighted to launch Archdiocese of Armagh – A History by Monsignor Raymond Murray.
It is being published as part of our Diocesan celebration of the Great Jubilee. The history of the diocese speaks of God. It remembers the wonderful works that God has done in our local Church. The study of history makes us aware of the past. There we discover the seeds of inspiration and guidance for the future.

I know that this history can play a very important role in increasing our awareness of God’s love at work in our lives. My fervent hope is that it will, in fact, play that part and play it very effectively.

Christianity has been in Ireland for the past 1500 years. There is therefore in existence a history of the Christian religion – there is a story to be told. This short history of God’s people in the Archdiocese of Armagh tells that story. It tells that story from the time of Patrick to the present day and it tells it well. It tells it in summary but also in scholarly fashion, as we might expect from the pen of Monsignor Murray. As the author says in the Foreword “This is a story of the steadfast loyalty of God’s people even though their hearts were darkened by crisis and tragedy”.

Monsignor Murray sets out in 14 chapters, the signposts which give us bearings to our ecclesiastical history. There are facts of life and human characters in it. There are, of course, terrible happenings, for which governments and Churches must beat their breasts. But coming through also is the inner spiritual life of the Church, the piety, humility and charity of many, the wisdom and the beauty.

When you consider the social and political experience of people down the ages, people struggling for an existence, with various powers struggling for dominance and rule, never forget that all the time there have been tens of thousands of priests and ministers and holy women preaching the Gospel. They were challenging people to think of the great issues of life, offering them healing from sin and sorrows, offering them consolation and hope. The number one sign of hope in the Church is holiness.

This book reminds us of the little people. It tells the story of the small and the forgotten but it also tells the story of the saints – canonised and uncanonised, the story of –

Patrick,
Brigid,
Moninne,
Malachy,
Richard of Dundalk,
Archbishop Richard Creagh,
Father Patrick Loughran,
Dean James O Fallagan,
St. Oliver Plunkett,
Dean Brian MacGurk and many others.

I was very impressed by the excellent publications of Éditions du Signe. I was easily persuaded by Dr. Claude Costecalde that parishes and people should celebrate the Jubilee by telling the story of Christianity in our diocese. My belief is that this volume will be an inspiration to them and especially to our young people. For even in the worst of times there was a light that never went out. There have always been people who hold on preciously to the spiritual life. The ordinary Christian piety in Ireland for the past 1500 years appears to me to be something wonderful.

So, I wish to thank the priests and parishes of the diocese who have understood the evangelistic nature and potential of this project and who have responded in such a wonderful way.

Last year I asked Monsignor Murray, at very short notice, to write this book. Within three months he provided the text so that all the other procedures that go into the production of a book could speedily follow and that we would have it for the Easter period. I have read this book. I praise him for his scholarship and thank him for the time and effort he has put into it. I congratulate him on this fine achievement.

In it Monsignor Murray has caught up a tradition in the diocese that goes back to the renowned Father Lorcan O’Múirí. Fr Lorcan has laid the foundations for the history of the diocese in the Co. Louth Archaeological Journal. The late Cardinal Tomás O Fiaich built on those foundations and followed in his footsteps by founding the Seanchais Ard Mhacha. Now it is gratifying to see one of his most brilliant students carry on that work to a further fulfilment and give us an excellent perspective of the Armagh Church from Patrick to the present century.

Of course Monsignor Murray has had plenty of experience in writing. History and the Irish language have always been close to his heart. He was well equipped to write this summary history. I think it was, for him, a labour of love. In the final chapter Monsignor Murray refers to the conflict of the last thirty years. He speaks about priests and ministers of religion and peace activists who helped to defuse many difficult situations. I would like on this occasion to pay tribute to all those who did so and especially to Monsignor Murray and his courageous work for justice, as the essential foundation of any lasting peace.

Monsignor Murray has once again placed all of us in his debt. In your name I express to him our sincere thanks. We can help the fulfilment of his wish that this volume may provide inspiration for Christian living by urging people to take it up and read it. The clarity of the text is equalled only by the beauty of the photography which exemplifies so much beauty that is associated with the Church. This delightful volume illustrates the beauty, which the Christian religion has inspired in buildings and paintings, in stained glass and sculpture and High Crosses.

I was in the USA last week and I presented this history to a number of people. I want to quote from a letter I received from the Bishop of Bellvill, in Illinois, singing its praises. He said, “Thank you sincerely for the gracious gift of Archdiocese of Armagh – A History by Monsignor Raymond Murray. I found it both a delightful and a charming narration of the rich heritage that belongs to the venerable See of Armagh. I shall share it with a host of friends whose personal heritage and deep affection for Ireland are gifts for them as well as for myself”.

I thank you all for coming for this celebration. I am sure you will enjoy the book. Congratulations and thanks to Dr. Claude Costecalde, to Patrice Thébault and to Éditions du Signe for the beautiful book they have produced. Its layout, printing and illustrations are superb. My special thanks to Cumann Seanchais Ard Mhacha for organising the launch and to The Cardinal Tomás O’Fiaich Memorial Library and Archive for the lovely surroundings for the occasion.

MASS OF EASTER VIGIL, 2000
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
IN
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH

The belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. To be a Christian is to believe that God raised His Son from the dead. The faith of all Christians stands or falls with the Resurrection. That belief is a solid cornerstone, rock-solid in fact, for it is based on the evidence of witnesses, trustworthy witnesses, witnesses who saw Jesus after his resurrection and were prepared to shed their blood and give their lives rather than deny what they had seen.

Even though Jesus had foretold his suffering and death, the faith of his followers was drastically put to the test. In fact the shock caused by the events of Good Friday were so great that at least some of his friends did not at once believe the women when they told the news that he was risen. The Gospels present us with a community, completely demoralised and frightened. “Idle talk” was how they described the reports brought back by the women from the empty tomb. In fact when Jesus revealed himself to them later on, on that Easter evening, he raised the matter with them. He upbraided them for their lack of faith and hardness of heart. Even when faced with the reality of Jesus appearing to them, his disciples were still doubtful they thought they were seeing a ghost.

It is impossible to believe therefore that the Resurrection is to be explained by the attitudes and expectations of the Apostles. That theory simply does not hold up. On the contrary, their faith was born on the actions of God’s help. It came from the direct experience of the reality of the Risen Christ. That faith opened the eyes of the Apostles to a new way of understanding life. They saw that the Risen Lord was alive. Gradually they saw that the Risen Christ was nowhere to be seen and touched as he is everywhere unseen. They realised that he is present in the community of risen Christians, the community of those who believe in him. He is present there, through the power of his Holy Spirit.

Of course the Risen Christ did not appear to all and sundry. He appeared only to specially chosen witnesses. Mary Magdalene thought he was the gardener. But all he had to say to reveal himself was, “Mary”. Jesus took a walk with two very disheartened and disappointed disciples. After quite a lot of conversation and explanation they recognised him. Their spirits were lifted immensely. He had an early morning breakfast with Peter and friends on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He ate fish and honey with others and said, “Peace be with you”.

The mood of Easter is one of joy, peaceful joy founded on the conviction that his death is our ransom from death and his resurrection our rising to life. But just as on Good Friday it may be difficult to create a mood of grief if all around us is fine and prosperous, so on Easter Sunday it can be even more difficult to experience the joy of Easter in the face of surrounding cares and worries.

Easter, joy is a deep and lasting joy. It is not to be confused with passing pleasure or temporary thrills, where difficulties are simply pushed out of sight in an attempt to look at the brighter side of life. The joy of Easter is not something superficial, something which rolls easily off our lips and indeed which we deeply desire without knowing exactly how to achieve it. There is always the risk that our Easter joy will be built on loss of memory, like forgetting the Passion and death on the Cross, and forgetting the nails and the scourging. In reality those things are still with us, in the suffering of so many people today.

St. Paul tells the risen Christians that they must seek the things that are above. Since Christ is now their life, they are to set their minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. That will mean a totally new way of life. But we could also suggest to the risen Christians that they must also seek the things that are below. Not what is earthly and sinful of course, but to be raised with Christ means, in a strange way, that the Risen Christian still lives on Calvary. He/she continues to walk his/her own way of the cross and stands beneath countless crosses to which other Christs are fixed with their own nails.

The new life brought by Christ is not simply a cancelling out of his death on the cross, it is instead the discovery of the secret of how Jesus lived his life. He lived that life in total dedication to his Father’s will and the loving service of his brothers and sisters. That discovery is the basis of Christian joy. For me it is beautifully summed up in one of the Easter hymns which says:

Jesus Christ is that morning star
who came back from the dead
to shed His peaceful light on all humankind.
He lives and reigns in glory forever.

CELEBRATION OF OUR LORD’S PASSION
GOOD FRIDAY, 21 APRIL, 2000
ST PATRICK’S CHURCH, DUNDALK
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

A famous negro spiritual asks the question: “Were you there, were you there when they crucified My Lord? It goes on to say, “Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble”.

Can you imagine yourself being there on that first Good Friday? Imagine you hear the nails being hammered into the hands of Jesus. You see the blood gushing forth, you hear the words, “I thirst”. You see the vinegar being offered to him to quench his thirst, a thirst for the love of the world. And then the soldier comes along to pierce the side of the dying Saviour.

We cannot ever forget that terrible suffering or the fact that Christ endured it for love of us. Suffering comes to each one of us. It helps greatly if we can offer our sufferings to God in union with the sufferings of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Christ endured another kind of suffering. It took place inside, in his own inner self. On the Cross he cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Christ, St Paul tells us, became a Curse for us. In the Bible ‘cursed’, meant cut off from God and from people. He became isolated, hounded, banished, abandoned. Cut off from God he really felt accursed. He could only cry out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”?

On the Cross Jesus experienced the loss of God. He suffered all of this to pay the penalty for the loss of God in the world and in each one of us. He, the sinless one, paid the price for our rebellion against God. He paid the price of our lack of interest, of our lack of faith, in God.

Sometimes we feel utterly lost and helpless in life. We are on the verge of despair and in complete shame and desolation. At moments like that it helps to remember that Jesus has been in that place. He has experienced that pain, that hurt, that shame, that devastation, that loss. Not only that, Jesus won for us the strength to cope. He gained for us the will to struggle on. He won for us the grace to handle all situations no matter how terrible.

Jesus committed no sin; yet he bore all our sins. He carried the shame and the guilt of all our sins. He took the rap for all of us. Yes, we are all made for innocence. Guilt upsets us tremendously – even more than suffering. No one wants to be guilty. We all know the bitter experience of being blamed for something. We see how hard it is to openly take the blame without trying to defend ourselves. Jesus went through all of that. He carried that tremendous sense of guilt. Like the good thief on the cross, we must all admit we are suffering justly, because in fact we all have sinned. But only about Jesus is it absolutely true to say, “This man has done no wrong”.

Jesus suffered and died for our sake. At the moment of his death the curtain of the temple was torn in two, the rock was smashed, the tombs opened. It will take the same sort of earthquake in the life of each one of us to make us realise what happened on Calvary.

Christ died for me and for my sins. My sins crushed him to death. That is what Peter told three thousand people in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost Sunday. He knew well that the three thousand listening to him weren’t really present in Calvary, hammering in the nails. Neither were they standing before Pilate demanding the death sentence for Jesus. But they saw that what Peter said was true of them also. They were cut to the heart and they asked, “What shall we do?” Peter said, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you so that your sins may be forgiven”. To us who are already baptised, today he says, “Repent and be reconciled so that your sins may be forgiven”.

Forgiveness is at the heart of this year of the Great Jubilee. Forgiveness, like charity, begins at home. Pope John Paul has asked forgiveness on behalf of the Church and has offered forgiveness. He has asked the Church in this year of mercy to kneel before God and beg for pardon for the past and present sins of its children. He invites Christians to take responsibility before God and before people offended by their behaviour for the offences committed. Today I acknowledge the harm done and the hurt caused by members of the Catholic Church. I ask forgiveness from those who have been hurt or scandalised by the failures of people in the service of the Catholic Church.

Of course, when we ourselves ask for forgiveness we must, in turn, be willing to forgive. The year of God’s Favour is a time of freedom from all that enslaves us. Bitterness and hardness of heart are enemies of Christian freedom. The freedom that Christ came to bring was inner freedom, freedom from guilt and shame, freedom from bitterness and hatred.

The celebration of the death of Jesus reminds us of our own death. It was Woody Allen who once said, “I am not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens”.

Death will happen to all of us and we will be there when it happens. The way to deal with death is to do what Jesus did. He faced the prospect of death bravely and wisely, confident that death would turn out to be for him, a source of life. Jesus freely chose to die in obedience to the will of the Father. Even though he dreaded death, Jesus had that marvellous freedom. It enabled him to obey even to the point of dying on the Cross, for love of us. The great challenge, for each one of us, is to discover that the way Jesus found life through death is our way also, then death becomes the gateway to life, life everlasting. Dying he destroyed our death.

CHRISM MASS
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

You may be aware that Pope John Paul wrote his letter to priests this year in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. There, according to tradition, Jesus and the twelve, gathered for the Passover Meal. There the institution of the Eucharist and the Ordination of the first priests took place.

Today we gather in our own upper room to give thanks to God for the gift of priesthood. We thank God for the gift of Eucharist. We thank God for so many priests who are to be found standing courageously at their place of work toiling generously and with great spirit of sacrifice. We thank God for their commitment, friendship and loyalty.

This is the day on which we celebrate the Church as communion. We celebrate the fact that the love of Christ has made us, out of many, one. For in our midst is dwelling God’s eternal Son. So, we thank God for the communion that exists between God and His people, for Holy Communion and for the Communion among God’s people, It exists, not only among the priests and bishops but among the secular and religious, between the clergy and the lay faithful of our diocese. We thank God that so many of them are represented here today.

On the first Holy Thursday the disciples watched in amazement the actions of the Lord. They listened, with deep emotion, to his words at the hour of great struggle between good and evil. Pope John Paul II says that in the Upper Room, he tried, as he wrote that letter, to imagine the priests in different parts of the world. Some are experiencing joy and enthusiasm, for other perhaps, it is a time of suffering or tiredness or discouragement. But he says in all of us he wants to honour the image of Christ. We received that image on the day of our ordination. That image is a sign of the special love which each one of us has come to know that Christ has for us. Upon that love we can always rely. Let us never forget that. We can rely on that love for the energy and enthusiasm to renew our commitment to press on with the work entrusted to us. We can rediscover that love to make a fresh start.

Today we remember that we have been each one of us, chosen from among mortals. We have been put in charge of things pertaining to God and called to offer gifts and sacrifices for our sins. We are well aware that we ourselves are subject to weakness and so we are able to deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward. We must offer sacrifice for our own sins first of all and then for those of the people. We know that we have been called and chosen to continue the work of Jesus. To offer up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, for ourselves and for all people.

In our moments of weakness and discouragement it is important to create the time and the space, to hear again those magical words of Christ,
‘Come to me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble of heart. You will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light’.

These words of Jesus are re-echoed in today’s Gospel. He was sent to bind up broken hearts, to console the afflicted and to bathe them in the oil of gladness. We can be certain of this – if the Lord has called us to serve him here and now as priests and bishops, it means that he will provide us with more than enough grace and resources to do the job. He will give us what is necessary to ensure that God’s name is glorified and that we ourselves can grow in holiness, and in faith and in hope. If we remember the patrons of our dioceses, Patrick and Malachy, and the martyr Bishop, Oliver Plunkett, we realise that they all worked in difficult times. There were huge divisions and conflicts and obstacles to be overcome.

As we gather today to renew our commitment to act for people in their relations with God, we review again the resources that are available to us. We look at the sources of energy for the work. Today’s words from the Introductory Rite of the Chrism Mass give us hope: Jesus Christ has made us a kingdom of priests. Through his cross and resurrection he has made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood. That is said about all Christians. For all Christians share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. It is our job to lead them to see what this is all about. Granted it may involve a lot of persuasion and affirmation. It will take encouragement and patience. It also means that we let go and share with them the task, not because we are compelled to do so because of lack of priests but because it is their right by reason of their baptism and confirmation.

Today is one of the days in which we celebrate the diocesan communion – the communion that exists between us, between the parishes and people of this diocese. That is symbolised in a very special way by the presence of people from as far apart as Beragh in the north-west and Dundalk in the south-east.
There will be other days for celebrating in this Jubilee Year, when we try and strengthen our diocesan identity. One such day will be Sunday May 21, the day of National Pilgrimage for the Great Jubilee. On that day I hope that you will do your best to ensure and pack the Cathedral here in Armagh with people who will be truly representative of the feeling that exists within the diocese from Termonmaguirc to Termonfechin.

There is one great temptation that we must resist at all costs. It is the temptation to think that this generation is any less suitable than others for the preaching of the Gospel. It is precisely here and now that God’s kingdom comes. God never asks us to be successful, simply to be humble and faithful. Jesus said, “learn of me because I am meek and humble of heart”. He never sought to impose on people, instead he appealed to their free will and he notes the refusals and the failures as well as the victories and the successes. Above all he knows how to draw happiness out of persecution. God Our Father will never allow us to be tempted beyond our strength.

Nowadays I detect among priests a need for great fraternity. We need to support each other a lot more in the faith and in the following of the Lord. In that way we can help each other to lighten the yoke of the Lord. Last year at the Chrism Mass in Milan, Cardinal Martini had this advice for his priests:
“Dear brothers, work less, work better, work more united together, pray more”.
And to some he says:

“Celebrate less Masses and spend more time listening to the Word”.
Pope John Paul has similar words in this year’s message, he says,

“May we always celebrate the holy Eucharist with fervour. May we dwell long and often in adoration before Christ in the Eucharist. May we sit at the school of the Eucharist. Through the centuries countless priests have found in the Eucharist, the consolation promised by Jesus on the evening of the Last Supper, the secret to overcoming their solicitude the strength to bear their sufferings, the nourishment to make a new beginning after every discouragement and the inner energy to bolster their decision to remain faithful. The witness which we give to the people of God in celebrating the Eucharist depends in large parts upon our personal relationship with the Eucharist”

EASTER MESSAGE 2000
FROM CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

The belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. To be a Christian is to believe that God raised His Son from the dead. The faith of all Christians stands or falls with the Resurrection. That belief is a solid cornerstone, rock-solid in fact, for it is based on the evidence of witnesses, trustworthy witnesses, witnesses who saw Jesus after his resurrection and were prepared to shed their blood and give their lives rather than deny what they had seen.

Even though Jesus had foretold his suffering and death, the faith of his followers was drastically put to the test. The shock caused by Good Friday was immense. His friends did not believe the women when they said that he was risen. Even when faced with the reality of Jesus appearing to them, his disciples were still doubtful. They thought they were seeing a ghost.

The Resurrection cannot be explained as a product of the expectations of the Apostles. Their faith came from the direct experience of the reality of the Risen Christ. That faith opened the eyes of the Apostles to a new way of understanding life. They saw that the Risen Lord was alive. They realised that he is present in the community of those who believe in him.

The mood of Easter is one of joy, joy founded on the conviction that his death is our ransom from death and his resurrection our rising to life. On Good Friday it may be difficult to create a mood of grief if all around us is fine and prosperous, so on Easter Sunday it can be even more difficult to experience the joy of Easter in the face of surrounding cares and worries. Easter joy is a deep and lasting joy. The joy of Easter is not something superficial. There is always the risk that our Easter joy will be built on loss of memory, that is, forgetting the Passion and death on the cross. Those things are still with us, in the suffering of so many people today.

St. Paul tells the risen Christians that if they have been raised with Christ they must seek the things that are above. To be raised with Christ means, in a strange way, that the risen Christians still live on Calvary. They continue to walk their own way of the cross and stand beneath countless crosses to which other Christs are fixed.

The new life brought by Christ is not simply a cancelling out of his death on the cross. It is instead the discovery of how Jesus lived his life in total dedication to his Father’s will and to the loving service of his brothers and sisters. That is the basis of Easter joy.

Jesus Christ is that morning star
who came back from the dead
to shed his peaceful light on all humankind.
He lives and reigns in glory forever.

ADDRESS RE: VOCATIONS TO
MEMBERS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION
BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
MONDAY 27 MARCH 2000

First of all I want to thank you all for accepting the invitation to come here this evening. I want to congratulate and thank the Vocations Commission and Mgr. McEntegart in particular, for taking up the suggestion made earlier this year by one of the Commission. The idea was followed up and a very successful meeting was held some months ago in Castlebellingham and then, last week, we had a similar sort of meeting in Armagh. A very useful exchange of views took place – views which were, I hope, helpful to many of those present.

I first of all want to thank you for the excellent work you do in schools for that section of our young people who are under a lot of pressure to do well academically as well as on the sporting field. They do this while also being embroiled in sorting out their relationships. In the midst of all that, the work of helping people to make good choices and take the right road in life, is very important. I suppose we all can remember the help we got at that stage in our lives to help us make choices and I think Father Dermot Maloney is going to speak about that later on.

We can have a useful exchange of views about the teaching of Religious Education (RE) in the schools and the problem which you encounter there and the help you would like to get from your local priests. Specifically, however, we are focusing on the point that we believe God is continuing to call young men and women to religious life and the priesthood. The Lord has done that in the past and no doubt continues to do so because He does not leave His Church without the services of priests. We will never be found wanting that way. I know enough about the character and calibre of the prayer life and sacramental practice of so many homes in this diocese that I am sure God is continuing to do the same.

The job of Guidance Counselling extends throughout the whole education and career of young people. It helps them to make good choices – choices of subjects – so that they will be led to the right road.

The purpose of this meeting is not to ask you to do the work of promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life but simply to enlist your help in one very specific area. As good professionals I know that you place before the young people a wide range of vocations, professions, Third Level Institutes of Technology, Universities and Training Colleges. Among the Third Level Institutes the possibility also exists that some people will find their fulfilment and their happiness in seminaries and in following that road. If God is calling us to do a certain good in life and we do not achieve that we will not be as fulfilled as we might be. I just want to ask you not to omit to facilitate your students in considering this possibility, in a fair and impartial way.

CHURCH OF IRELAND CONFERENCE
RESPONSE TO THE ADDRESS OF DR. GEORGE CAREY,
ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
BY MOST REV SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
18th March 2000

I congratulate the Church of Ireland Diocese of Armagh and Archbishop Eames on this St. Patrick’s Tide Conference. I am thankful for the gracious invitation to come here and speak which I am very happy to accept. I bring good wishes from the Catholic Church and I pray God’s choicest blessings on your Conference and deliberations.

I gladly join in welcoming Archbishop George Carey. Some years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Archbishop Carey. That meeting took place in Rome, in St. Paul’s within the Walls. I am pleased to meet him again today, within the walls of this historic city of Armagh, and to have this opportunity to speak in response to his very interesting, challenging and stimulating paper. I just want to pick up on a couple of the many points which Dr Carey has made.

Archbishop Carey took us back eleven weeks to the celebration of the beginning of the Third Millennium of the New Era. I was very happy that he was able to be in another St Paul’s, St Paul’s outside the Walls in January for the inauguration of the Great Jubilee there. All of these celebrations remind us that, in Christianity, time has a fundamental importance. The history of salvation unfolds within time. That history culminates in the fullness of time in the Incarnation and its goal is the glorious return of the Son of God at the end of time. So we face future time with confidence.

CONFIDENCE IN THE POWER OF GOD

I was pleased to hear Archbishop Carey speak, first of all, of confidence in an age of change. He stressed the need for a confident faith nurtured in a theological vision of the awesome power of God. Patrick, whose feast we celebrated yesterday, despite describing himself as a sinner and the most rustic and least of all the faithful, had that confident faith. It was a confidence, born not of his own abilities, but based on the awesome power of God.

Confidence and confidence-building are crucial issues here in Northern Ireland right now. We look to institutions to build confidence and they can play an important part. We also speak of confidence-building measures. However genuine-confidence building depends on people. Confidence implies an attitude of trusting in, or reliance on, something or someone. Confidence-building is based on building up trust between people. Further progress can come about through the restoration and deepening of trust within the political process, certainly, but all sections of our community must play their part.

As the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said earlier this week: “The task of building trust in a divided society is always difficult. No one should expect it to be otherwise. However the expectations of the younger generations and the immense progress which has been made in recent years should encourage all those involved in the political process to remain firmly focused on the future and to do all in their power to restore hope and confidence to the whole community”.

I hope that throughout this special year of a new century there will be many occasions when we, as Churches, can continue to work together and to build up confidence among our people. That is one of the reasons why I am particularly happy to be here today and to speak in response to Archbishop Carey. There was a encouraging event, I believe, recently in the Diocese of Clogher. Certainly I look forward very much to welcoming Bishop James Mehaffey to speak in our Cathedral on the eve of Pentecost and I hope that some of you may be able to take part in that Inter-Church Service of Prayer for guidance for all of at the dawn of this new Millennium.

Young People

I was especially interested in Archbishop Carey’s remarks about the idealism, faith and hope of young people. The Church needs the energy, enthusiasm and youthful ideals of this generation in order to make the Gospel of Life penetrate the very fabric of our society.

We also need to be conscious of and respond to the needs of these young people. The age of youth is a time of idealism and hope; it is also a time of uncertainty and restlessness. It is a time when confidence needs to be nurtured and supported. It is a time when young people become increasingly aware of their identity and their gifts and talents. In youth ministry we come into contact with young people at a time when they are searching for a way of life which both makes sense of their experience and which turns them towards an adventure, an adventure in which they can pour out their energy and find expression for their idealism.

The Church, at the beginning of this New Millennium, is challenged to journey with young people on this adventure, as they respond to the call of the Gospel and become co-creators of the Church of the Third Millennium. Changing times, though, demand new approaches. What worked for one generation will not necessarily guarantee success for the next. Changing times demand creativity and imagination.

Archbishop Carey has referred to the pace of change in our world. This pace of change will only increase as we continue our journey into the 21st century. There is a real danger in many fields that what was once alive and vibrant, will quickly become dated and obsolete. Nowhere will this happen more rapidly than in the field of youth ministry. In the words of the poet, T. S. Elliott:

“…last season’s fruit is eaten
And the fulfilled beast shall kick the empty pail.
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language,
and next year’s words await another voice”.

(Little Gidding in four quartets)
INTERPRETING THE “SIGNS OF THE TIMES”

Each generation of leaders in the field of youth ministry has been faced with the same challenge. That challenge is to be a voice that interprets the unchanging message of the Gospel into a language that captures the imagination and commitment of young people.

With what voice then are we challenged to speak to young people in this new age? It will only be possible to capture their ears and their hearts if we speak with the voice of one who has become a trusted travelling companion on their journey of life and faith.

GOALS FOR YOUTH MINISTRY

It is important to set goals for youth ministry. In my opinion one of these goals should be to draw young people to a responsible participation in the life, mission and work of our faith-communities.
We can do this by:

· Proclaiming the good News of Jesus Christ through witness and word to young people.
· By enabling young people to live as disciples through providing opportunities for them to engage in service, ministry and leadership.

· We can do this especially by being involved in the work of peace and reconciliation. In our own divided community, our ministry to youth will address the hurt and brokenness of our community. It will constantly call us to engage in the task of reconciliation. I believe that young people in our Churches have a critical role to play in the process of promoting peace and reconciliation and the building of a new society in Northern Ireland. This is one of the great tasks that faces all our Churches in the immediate future.

It is important to promote a sense of pride in young people in their identity as followers of Jesus Christ. When this takes place their commitment and enthusiasm are considerably enhanced.

We are called to respond to all the young people of the community, not just the ones who still attend our programmes and our liturgies. We recognise the wide variety of gifts and approaches that can be used in the community’s outreach to its young people.

CELEBRATING AND AFFIRMING OUR STRENGTHS
A temptation in all aspects of ministry and Church life is to complain about what is not happening. It is important to celebrate the abundance of gifts in every community. All the efforts, no matter how small or indeed successful they may seem to us to be, should be affirmed. The possibilities and the resources, in our community, that can work together for our young people, should be recognised.

Vincent Donovan in his book Christianity Rediscovered challenges us:

“In working with young people…do not try to call them to where they were, and do not try to call them to where you are, as beautiful as that place might seem to you. You must have the courage to go with them to a place that neither you nor they have ever been before”.

WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON

Archbishop Carey referred to how much we have in common; Sacred Scripture, the Creed, prayer, sacraments, 1000 years of common history. The ecumenical charter proposed by the Second European Ecumenical Assembly at Graz asks that our lives actually and accurately reflect what we have in common.

Dialogue brings home to us how much we have in common. The dialogue carried out in the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission has done important work. I hope that its work can continue.

Closer co-operation among the Christian Churches is an urgent requirement at this time. That co-operation will be most fruitful if it is based on generosity, humility and respect, especially respect for people in the place where they are, respect for teachings and universal disciplines.

INCREASED CO-OPERATION

When people meet and really know each other as fellow believers in Jesus Christ, they are able to appreciate and reverence each other, to thank God for the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The task of reconciliation is immense. It is going to require increased levels of real inter-Church relationship and co-operation if it is going to get anywhere. This will be needed at all levels but especially at local level. What is required is a sustained conversation about the divisions that exist, about the reasons for their existing and about ways of bridging them that will contribute to healing them.

As we reflect on the positive developments of the recent past, we do not lose sight of the challenges which lie ahead. As we do so we turn to the God of hope, the God of all consolation, from whom every blessing comes. We gladly join with all our Christian brothers and sisters in prayer for the day when God will turn our mourning into joy. We commit ourselves to use only helpful words. Let us be kind-hearted to one another and forgive one another as God has forgiven us in Christ.