ST OLIVER PLUNKETT
SILVER JUBILEE OF CANONISATION
ST PETER’S CHURCH, DROGHEDA
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
12 OCTOBER, 2000, 7.30PM

I am very thankful to all who have organised and celebrated this Silver Jubilee of the canonisation of St Oliver Plunkett. Happily the celebration coincides with the celebration of the Great Jubilee of the Birth of Jesus. I am very pleased that the Organising Committee, along with Monsignor Donnelly, the priests of the parish and especially, Fr Paddy Rushe, have got such a wonderful response. My thanks to Tommy Burns and the Co-ordinating Committee and to the Committee who organised the book on music, launched the jubilee tours, the charity dinner and so much else.

To the schools who took part in art competitions, in the school Masses, the many competitions, I say thanks. To those involved in the ecumenical celebration for Peace and Reconciliation, I am most grateful. To those who arranged the exhibition of artefacts, to Monsignor Hanley for the anniversary lecture, which I hope will become an annual event, my sincere thanks. To the MMMs for their generous co-operation for the parish tea, St Vincent de Paul for the use of their hall and for all this, we give thanks to God. To all who gave of their time and of their talents so generously and so joyfully, may God bless you. To those who received awards, I say a heartiest congratulations. I know that you do not work for the reward which you receive of this earth and I know that you realise that you are often the representatives of a lot of other good people. Yet we rejoice with you, congratulate you on all the good you have achieved and on having your efforts recognised.

I hope people won’t mind me singling out for a special mention, the National Day of Prayer, which you have proclaimed for today, 12 October. It is of course the actual anniversary of the canonisation. This is a most welcome initiative, which has been taking place now for a number of years. In previous years Tommy Burns and the enthusiastic and energetic committee wrote to the parish priest of every single parish in Ireland. The idea was to invite them, and their people, to unite themselves in prayer on the anniversary of the canonisation. This year the Committee went one step better. They decided to telephone every single parish priest. I reckon you met quite a few answering machines in the process. The important thing is that it was done. You invited the priests, and their people, to offer special prayers at Masses and speak for a very special intention, peace and reconciliation. For all of that we are gathered here tonight to give praise and thanks to God.

Successful people generate a lot of enthusiasm and attract a lot of attention. You saw the crowds that were out to welcome Sonia Sullivan home to Cork yesterday and those who hailed the Olympics success of the British team. We cannot all be as successful as Garry Kelly or Ian Hart, cannot all be as rich as Tony O’Reilly or cannot be as intelligent as Einstein, as politically successful as successful politicians, but we can all be holy, like St Oliver Plunkett. Not only can we be holy but we are all called to be holy. We are all expected, by God, to be holy and if God expects us to be something special, and to do something special in life, God will most certainly give us the resources to become that sort of person. Think about the matter for a minute. Ask yourself. Who are the real success stories? Who have shown that they have succeeded in the really important things? Who have succeeded in winning the gold medal that really matters? The medal that lasts, not only for a year, or four years, but forever. The medal that brings happiness not just for a day or a week or a month or a year but for all eternity. We admire people who are rich, rich in money terms and property, but also rich in doing good deeds. Saints are rich in that respect. They have succeeded in resisting the temptation to take revenge and instead they are able to offer forgiveness to those who torture them. That was what Oliver Plunkett did. Oliver Plunkett was betrayed by his own. False charges were brought against him that he was planning to overcome the government of the day.

We all need to be forgiven by others, and so we ourselves should be ready to forgive. In our world there is a lot of hurt, a lot of brokenness. Broken promises, broken vows, broken dreams. There is a lot of fear and suspicion. There is a lot of hatred and division in families. Hands which should be used for welcoming and greeting have been used for harming and hurting. Feet which should be used for visiting and standing up to meet responsibilities have been used to run away from responsibilities.

I heard someone pray: “Give us this day our daily bread of encouragement and forgiveness”. For the truth is: we cannot remain a prisoner of the past forever. Individuals and indeed people need a sort of healing of memory, so that past evils will not come back again. This does not mean forgetting past events. But as Pope John Paul II has said, it means seeing past events with a new attitude. It means learning from the experience that only love can build up and restore.

Hatred produces only devastation and ruin. The death cycle of revenge must be replaced. It must be replaced by the freedom which only forgiveness can give. We all need to be forgiven by others. Because we are all sinners, we all need to be forgiven by God. That is why Jesus left us a special sacrament of forgiveness, the Sacrament of Confession. He had already spoken eloquently about the joy there is in the presence of the angels of God once one who sins repents.

Some people see Confession as a torturous procedure. Jesus meant it as a source of blessing, a means of forgiveness, forgiveness in its highest form, a free act of love.

When you, I, do wrong, we, on first impulses, want to talk to someone about it to ease the pain and to share the guilt. Until this happens we carry a heavy load. We have no peace of mind. Jesus knows human nature through and through. He knows the amount of damage and hurt and brokenness which we are all capable of inflicting on, and of suffering at the hands of, each other. If we break a leg we have it attended to.

This evening we gladly raise up St Oliver Plunkett as a model of building peace and of reconciliation. He found many situations marked by hatred and violence. He tried his best to build up a world which is reconciled and fully human. At this, yet another, critical time in the history of the peace process in Northern Ireland, we ask the help of St Oliver to look upon all people as brothers and sisters and to reach out to them without prejudice but with an attitude of trust and acceptance. May his intercession help us all to live in every situation the virtue of tolerance, understanding and respect. Our young people hold great hopes in their heart; these hopes can only be realised if they learn to live with one another in peace.

We must build bridges – not barriers. Whoever cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.

Forgiveness is at once our deepest need and our highest achievement. It was precisely because Oliver could say, “Have mercy on me God in your kindness, in your compassion blot out my offence”. That he could also offer forgiveness to those who have betrayed him. Forgiving from the heart can sometimes be actually heroic. Oliver was heroic. So also was Rabbi Leo Beck, a Jewish leader in Germany at the time of the holocaust. He was arrested five times. Finally sent to a concentration camp, sentenced to death. On the day planned for his execution the Russians arrived and the Germans fled. Rabbi Beck could have fled but he stayed behind to plead for mercy with the Russian soldiers on behalf of the German camp guards. The Russians handed the guards over to the inmates and Beck managed to persuade them not to take vengeance, the vengeance they had been thirsting for.

We asked God just now to help us by the prayer of St Oliver, to follow the way of reconciliation, which he showed by his example. What example are we talking about? The fact that Oliver Plunkett was arrested for his faith and that in fact in his trial he was betrayed by some of his own. And yet on the day of his execution, he was brought on a sledge to Tyburn. In his speech he refuted his accusers, point by point, but went on to forgive all of them including the judge and those who had given false evidence against him. He said, “I beg my Saviour to grant them true repentance. I do forgive them with all my heart”. And then he went on to ask forgiveness of all those whom he had ever offended by thought, word or deed. Of course in doing this Oliver was putting into practice what Christ commands all of us to do when He said, “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you”. He knelt down said the act of contrition and died.

Precisely because Oliver was sincerely able to say, “Have mercy on me God in your kindness, in your compassion blot out my offence”, that he was able to forgive his enemies. We all need to be forgiven by others. So we must all be ready to forgive. Asking and granting forgiveness is often difficult. Yet it is something which is profoundly noble and worthy of the human person. Sometimes it is the only way out of situations which have been marked by age old hatred. Let’s not cod ourselves. Forgiveness doesn’t come spontaneously or naturally. Two people, forgiving from the heart, can sometimes be very heroic.

JUBILEE CELEBRATION FOR TEACHERS
St John The Baptist Church, Moy, and
Franciscan Missionary Sisters For Africa, Mount Oliver
21 & 22 NOVEMBER, 2000
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

You have only one teacher, the Christ. In this evening of celebration for teachers we give thanks to God for the way, you teachers have been chosen by God to carry out Christ’s command and are in fact, carrying it out. I am talking about the last command which Christ gave to his disciples before he ascended into heaven. He said, “Go, make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe what I have commanded you, and baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. We know that the disciples didn’t do very much about that until Pentecost came. Then the Holy Spirit gave them new courage and new strength. Then they went out and began to preach and teach and baptise. Gradually they realised that they couldn’t do it all on their own. They also realised that they did not have to do it all on their own because the Sacrament of Baptism made those who were baptised sharers in the teaching office of Christ. And so this evening we praise God for the generations of teachers who over the last 2000 years, 1500 years, I suppose, in this case, handed on to the children entrusted to their care what they themselves had received.

We thank God for parents, the first and often the best of teachers, for Boards of Management, for Boards of Governors, for Trustees and for all who play a part in what, I like to call, the Glorious Enterprise that is Christian education.

Last week the priests of the diocese were gathered in Bundoran. We were thinking about last Sunday’s gospel. You may remember that it talks about tribulations and trials of this world and then it spoke of the signs of hope, symbolised by the fig tree with its new leaves, new buds. Among the trials which one priest mentioned was the number of modern homes where the parents have never bothered to put up any sign of their Christian faith to inspire or excite the interest of the child. And among the signs of the hope mentioned was the wonderful band of countless enthusiastic hard working teachers. I can identify with that sentiment from my own visits to classrooms which are busy places and lively places and very spiritual and religious places. I am thinking of the lovely decorations, religious symbols, the prayer life, the preparation for the Sacraments, First Confession, First Communion, Confirmation. Tonight we celebrate all of that and much more, your constant efforts to hand on all that is best to your pupils.

What a lovely icon you have chosen for this evening’s celebration, the Icon of the Most Blessed Trinity. An empty space at the table of the Trinity is reserved for you and for me. It is a place where each one of us can sit, as Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to his words. I suppose that icon is a reminder to all of us who preach or teach, that before we do so we must sit and be ourselves a disciple. We must listen and learn. We have only one teacher – The Christ.

The poet says: Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

God has a dream for you and for me. God’s dream for us calls us to discover the true faith, that is the true face of God. Our teachers help us to interpret the dream.

God’s dream is a prayer that we will discover the true face of God in Jesus. “When the fullness of time came God sent His Son, born of a woman”, to reveal to us His true face. This face looks lovingly at us no matter what mistakes we make. It is a face reflected in the face of all who look at us with love. It is a face that calls us beyond rivalry and jealousy into community and to everlasting friendship. Tonight we give thanks for all those teachers who have helped their pupils discover God’s dream for them, who helped to discover the depths of goodness that lie, like buried treasure, in their hearts. For in so doing they help them to discover their God. We thank God for all those creative and imaginative teachers who helped their pupils wake up to the miracle and beauty, that is life. We give thanks for those teachers who help their pupils prepare for the sometimes painful and heart-breaking contradictions of life by telling them clearly that there is more to human life, than comfort, entertainment and the avoidance of suffering.

There was another verse in the first reading of last Sunday’s Mass. It goes as follows:

“The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity”. What a wonderful promise is contained in that vision from the book of the prophet Daniel. In that vision there was revealed for the first time the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead when it says: “Of those sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace”. Tonight we think of the many past teachers of this Archdiocese who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth of the graveyards in Louth and Derry, Armagh and Tyrone. There they await the call to arise in glory and shine as bright as stars for all eternity. For those who have instructed many in virtue will shine as brightly as stars for all eternity. And so I hope our celebration this evening will send us out determined to continue to instruct people in virtue. Pope John Paul II decided that this Jubilee Year would be filled with celebrations of different categories of people.

Last Sunday, for example, was the Jubilee of the Police and the Armed Services. The previous Sunday it was the Jubilee of farmers. Tonight we are celebrating the Jubilee of teachers. Really what we are doing is celebrating the part which different professions of people play as followers of Christ in building up the Kingdom. When he came he said: “The Kingdom of God is near”. As teachers you have a very important part to play in building up that Kingdom.

At present a very important debate and consultation are taking place here in Northern Ireland about our system of education. You teachers have a very important contribution to make to that debate. The Catholic Church has a long history in education. As Catholic educators I know that it is your primary concern to care for your pupils in such a way that all their physical, moral and intellectual talents may develop. I know that you are concerned about the formation of the whole person, so that your pupils may reach their eternal destiny and at the same time promote the common good of the society to which they belong. I hope this Jubilee celebration will, once again, renew the joy of all teachers. I hope it will arouse in all of us a sense of gratitude for the outstanding teachers who know that they have been called by God to do a very special task, preparing citizens for this life and for the next.

We are drawing near to the end of this year 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee. This evening as teachers we come together to celebrate 2000 years of our faith history, 2000 years of telling and teaching, retelling and learning the story of that history. This is a holy year, a sacred space.

It is a space in which to pause at the threshold of the future. It is a time to look back, to look back and celebrate the story of our own people, of what we are. In that story the local school and its teachers always have a treasured and special place. We need to look back in order to understand where we now stand. As someone looks back in a climb up a hill or up a mountain to review the progress made and the distance travelled. We need to draw breath, the breath of the Holy Spirit, so as to understand where God is calling us, where God wants us to go for the future.

We face the future with confidence. We rely not on our own wisdom but on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. We face the future with the Words of Christ ringing out loudly in our ear. “Heaven and Earth will pass away. My Words will not pass away”. I was a teacher myself for 13 years. I was always very conscious of the huge act of trust which parents place in those to whom they entrust the education of their children. It falls to the lot of the teacher to help their pupils open their hearts to the gift that is our Church and our Sacraments. To help them open their eyes to see in the Church and the Sacraments – the healing touch and the Human Face of the Risen Christ for our time.

It is your wonderful calling to help children open their ears to hear the voice of God as He speaks His dream for His people, in the Sacred Scriptures.

This dream nestles in the heart of each one of us, longing to fly free and live life to the full. “Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die,
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly”.

You have only one teacher – The Christ. As the words of our opening hymn said:
Longing for the light we wait in darkness,
Longing for truth we turn to him.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see.
Amen

SERVICE FOR THE ‘DISAPPEARED’
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
SUNDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2000
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

We come here today to remember, to remember people who have suffered an immense sorrow. We are here to be with you as you remember the terrible wrong that was done to your dear ones. We really only have a slight idea of the hurt you have endured. We have only a hint of the trauma you have suffered, not only in the loss of someone you loved but in the difficulty you met in finding people to talk to about your sorrow; people who were willing to share your grief. We are here to make sure that you and your beloved ones are not forgotten, that your suffering is remembered. We come to pray that out of that remembrance may come the strength to accept and even to forgive. We are here to show our support for one another.

We gather today to bind up hearts that are broken with sorrow and with loss. We do so with our presence and our prayers, with our sympathy and our support. We are here to be with you, you who have been devastated by the loss of someone you love. We have come to comfort you who mourn the disappearance of your dear ones.

We have come to pray. We acknowledge our own helplessness. We turn to God, the God of all consolation. He comforts us. He comforts us in all our sorrow. We know we ourselves have been comforted by God in our times of sorrow. So, we have the possibility to offer others, in their sorrow, the consolation which we ourselves have received from God.

As Christians we share the same baptism. But Christians also share responsibility for one another. When they are sick, Christians have a responsibility to do all they can to help the sick return to health. In the same way we are all called to offer consolation to those who have suffered the loss of someone they love. Christian consolation is rooted in hope. It is built on the hope that comes from believing, believing in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As he has risen from the dead, we hope that we too shall rise from the dead.

A Christian community gives consolation to a bereaved family in many ways. It does so in a special way by taking part in the funeral rites of the deceased. Funerals have always been important in the lives of a community. They provide the opportunity for the bereaved to commend their dead to God. They raise up our hopes in times of sorrow. Funerals are very important for those who believe in Christ. They give us an opportunity to express our own faith that we are destined to rise from the dead with Christ, our Risen Lord. A Christian burial is very important in the context of allowing people to heal, and to overcome their sorrow, and their shock. A grave gives us a focus for grief. It is a place to visit where flowers can be brought and prayers offered. That is why it is so important that the search for the location of victims’ remains should continue.

Today we pray for guidance for those involved in that search. We pray for people who may not have yet done so, to have the courage to come forward and provide information, which may be of help, in the search for the bodies that have not yet been located. Families have a need to know the truth about what happened. They have a right to know that truth. It is essential for their peace of mind they should receive the information that will set their minds at rest and enable them to get on with their grieving. Otherwise they are liable to be haunted by the memory of this tragedy.

I have been told that your deepest desire is to fulfil your sacred duty to your loved ones by laying them to rest. I believe that this is true. I believe that you have no desire to engage in recrimination or prosecution.

You have been carrying an immense cross of suffering. You have endured that cross with wonderful courage. That endurance has given you strength, strength of character. It deepens your faith. That strength of character has given you hope. You are an inspiration to all of us.

In the Gospel, which we have just heard, Jesus spoke solemnly to his friends. It was the night on which he was going to be betrayed. He asked them to put their trust totally in him. He promises to come back and take them with him so that where he is, they also may be. Today we commend our sister, and our brothers who have disappeared, into the hands of the Father of Mercies. We do so in a sure and certain hope. Our hope is that, together with all who have died in Christ, they will rise with him on the last day.

We belong to God. Every moment of our existence we are in His gentle, loving care.

The memory of the disappearance of these people saddens and shames us. It should also spur us on to do all in our power to ensure that such things can never happen again in our society.

The Gospel speaks of trust. The seeds of mutual trust planted in recent months must be given a chance to bear fruit. The relationships that were only beginning to be built up must be given time to grow. Those relationships and only those relationships, can help us understand each other’s hopes and fears as well as the hurts and difficulties. Without that understanding, other attempts at peace-making and bridge building will, I fear achieve little.

The words of Nelson Mandela, seem particularly appropriate at this moment.

“Our deepest fear” he says “is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Now if we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”.

I say these words are appropriate because if we let our light shine and create together the kind of future which we really want, instead of accepting a future shaped by the fears and suspicions of the past, then I believe that future to be one of great hope. Despite the recent setbacks, I am convinced that the conditions and the goodwill still exist to deliver a lasting peace.

Among ancient sailors it was the custom to send forth birds to look for land. Noah, you may remember, had no success with the first bird. It had to come back. The second was a dove and it had a little more success. It brought back an olive branch in its beak. The olive branch was a sign of peace, it signalled the end of angry judgement. It gave hope. Then finally, the third bird didn’t come back and Noah knew he was safe. Despite everything, I think that the dove with the olive branch can be seen on the horizon. Let us all work and pray that this may be so. It would ensure that those who have suffered such terrible suffering did not suffer in vain.

We gather in a Cathedral, devoted to St. Patrick. His family had the experience of him disappearing at the age of sixteen and not returning until he was many years older. May his intercession gain for us the grace of an end to the sorrow and the prize of a lasting peace.
AMEN

2000 CONFERENCE OF
THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PRIESTS OF IRELAND
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2000

First of all I want to thank Father Jim and the Executive Committee for the invitation to come here tonight. I am pleased to accept that invitation and to be with you. I wish you a very fruitful discussion of the important topics which you have chosen.

I remember well being a delegate to the NCPI from the diocese of Kilmore. I am trying to recall my feelings as I set off to the Annual Conference. I am sure there would have been a certain amount of questioning, wondering was it worthwhile, was it worth the effort? For to be quite honest, as a delegate, I often wished for more interest among the priests of the diocese in what went on in the National Conference of Priests of Ireland.

Of course those were the days when NCPI was confined to diocesan priests. Now it has been enriched by the welcome presence of representatives of religious and missionary priests of this country. I think it is good that priests come together to discuss how to promote their ministry in all its aspects. For it is a challenging time to be in ministry, an exciting time, but also a difficult time. That’s why I think it’s very important to come together to discuss current issues in the country and the Irish Church. It is vital that we have maximum communication, communion and solidarity if we are to successfully address the problems that confront us in Ireland today.

Yes, ministry today is taking place in a changed Ireland and in a changed Europe. The Synod on Europe last autumn discussed the crisis of faith in Europe. It came to the conclusion that the crisis is not just one of faith, but a crisis of culture and of life.

Last week I visited Expo 2000 in Hanover in Northern Germany. I found it a fascinating experience. One hundred and sixty national pavilions took us on a mini world cruise of the five continents. I thought one of the most interesting pavilions was that of the Czech Republic. It featured seven statues of the Madonna and child and seven drawings of modern women. In the drawings the hands were in the same position of those of the Madonna, with one significant difference, there was not a child in sight, and not one word of commentary was offered. It was, in my opinion, an eloquent testimony from one of the most atheistic countries in Europe to the crisis which faces much of Europe, crisis not only of faith but also of culture and of life. The fact is that modern Europe has a problem passing on faith and culture, but not alone that, it has a problem passing on the gift of life.

One of the key elements in the winning of a relay race is passing the baton securely, swiftly, from one runner to another. We get the impression that in this generation, the baton is in danger of being dropped.
We ask ourselves; is it through some fault of mine or yours that this is happening? We come here with fears in the backs of our minds that the scandals are going to do irreparable damage to the Church. We are afraid that the message, as we bring it, seems irrelevant. There are fears that there will be nobody to take our place. Yet, despite all those fears, you have come here tonight. You have taken the decision to come in great numbers and I salute you for that. Let us hope that at the end of this Conference, you will have received some message that will bring you hope and lift morale. Hopefully, you will say to yourself, ‘Ah, those days at the NCPI were not a waste of time after all’.

I mention all of this, not that we might be plunged into panic or discouragement but rather, I hope, to encourage a calm objective assessment of the situation. My hope is that after your discussions on collaborative ministry, you will all go back to your desks and to your parishes with a lilt in your voice and a bounce in your step, eager to put your hand to the plough once more. I am confident that it can happen. There is a wealth of experience in this room on those very topics. You represent hundreds of priests who have invested immense effort and the best years of their lives on these very tasks. I would like to think that priests will go away from this Conference more hopeful than they came.

The Synod on Europe last year, had as its theme, Jesus Christ, Alive in His Church, Sign of Hope for Europe. The Synod decided that the first sign of hope in the Church is ‘holiness’. As a sign of hope and example of holiness for the priests of Ireland, I put before you, Blessed Joseph Columba Marmion. A lot of us can identify with him in one way or another. He was Irish – born in Dublin – a North-sider. He was a student of Belvedere College, a layman for approximately one third of his life. After studies at Clonliffe and at the Irish College, Rome, he was ordained for the Archdiocese of Dublin. After serving in the Parish of Dundrum in the City and teaching in Clonliffe, he joined the Benedictine Order. He was a Religious with a missionary vocation which took him to live outside his native country, a European living in different European capitals and countries long before the Treaty of Rome or the Commissions in Brussels. Blessed Columba Marmion was first and foremost one of Christ’s faithful. Through his writing and preaching of the Word of God, people came to know in a new light their dignity as children of God. They came to see and live all things in union with Christ. The challenge for all of us is to go and do likewise.

Thirty-five years ago the Vatican Council told priests that they must discover, recognise and foster the many and varied gifts of the laity. When your President asked me what I was going to talk about tonight I offered to talk on that topic because I happen to believe, with a lot of other people, that collaborative ministry has become one of the major challenges for all people who minister in the Church today.

“Who are the laity?” John Henry Newman asked in 1859, and added, “the Church would look foolish without them.” The laity are our brothers and sisters in the faith and sometimes in the flesh. They are the baptised; they are members of the People of God. They have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are our special partners in carrying out the mission which God has entrusted to the Church. The laity are those people who, with a noble and generous heart, have heard the Word and have taken it to themselves and have yielded a harvest through their perseverance. They often inspire us with their courage and humble us with their holiness. In their families they strive to ensure that Christ is born again in the hearts of his children. Each and every one of the People of God has an essential part in the mission of the Church to the world. We need to reclaim for ourselves (priests) and for our lay brothers and sisters, an awareness of the nobility of our vocation to build up the reign of God in the world. Maybe we should broaden out our discussion and discover with faith and recognise with joy and foster an appreciation of the many and various charismatic gifts of all of God’s people, lay, religious and other clergy. These gifts were given by a gracious God for a good purpose. We should try to develop all of those gifts together and work together to achieve that purpose.

Lay people love to hear those words and understandably so. For they are very affirming of the gifts of lay people and form part of that rich vision of the laity produced by the Vatican Council. It says, first of all, that the lay Christian is called to seek the kingdom in the world by engaging in temporal affairs and ordering them according to God’s plan. That is the arena of the laity’s activity, building up the Kingdom of God in the world, taking part in temporal affairs and making sure that they are in accordance with God’s plan.

The Council has a warning for pastors. As bishops and priests we are not established by Christ to undertake alone the whole salvific mission of the Church to the world. We are instead to be ‘Shepherds of the Faithful’. We are to recognise their contributions and charisms so that everyone in his or her own way will, with one mind, co-operate in this common task. An awareness of this common task has grown in the Church over these last thirty-five years, I think. You have the example of a lot of lay people on the missions now for some time. It is an awareness that they too share in that responsibility. This idea of co-responsibility has emerged, but it needs to be fostered more closely.

Thirty-five years later I thought it would be a good idea to do some stocktaking and try to assess how much has been achieved. Where have we failed? What have we missed out on? What can we learn from the experience of other countries? Yes, the help of the laity is urgently needed. We can’t do it all on our own. However all the baptised – lay faithful, religious and priests – are equal members of the people of God.
We all have responsibility for the mission of the Church. There is no point in loading that responsibility onto one section. So, if there are less people in the seats, then that is a critical situation. It is a critical and potentially disastrous situation, first of all, for the people who are missing, who are missing out on so much by not being there. Karl Rahner once said that, ‘There is not, and there should not be, any lay person, given that in its theological meaning a lay person is a member of the Laos, a member of the people of God, that is, someone who is consecrated’. The lay person is the baptised Christian who stays in the world and remains there to change the world into Christ.

DISCOVER WITH FAITH

So how do we discover with faith the gifts of the laity? I think to discover the gifts of anyone, we must know that person. We believe that they are gifted. ‘God does not make junk’ was a favourite saying of the Marriage Encounter people years ago and it is still true.
The first thing that needs to be said is that quite a lot of discovery of the gifts of the laity has taken place. A modern author/observer/commentator, says, ‘for all the adverse criticism to which they have been subjected, the priests and preachers of the late 60s and early 70s, did much more than they have been credited for, certainly more than the huge slow moving bulk of the laity’.

I do not to claim to have the answers to all these questions, far from it. However, from my experience, I know there are great talents among the laity. I come as a fellow-pilgrim. We priests and bishops are called to give leadership to the people but not any sort of leadership. It must be prophetic leadership. We must bring and interpret the Word of God. That leadership is given, not only by the words we speak, not only by the actions we do, but also by our whole lives. The Word of God must first come to us and live in us before we can pass it on to others. A prophet was always someone who has had an experience of God.

The prophet is the one to whom the holiness and will of God have been revealed. To give prophetic leadership the cleric, the leader, must contemplate and meditate on the present and the future, through the eyes of God. Prophetic leadership is a means used by God to guide His Chosen People. Tonight we pray, Lord, help us to listen and to learn from this meeting. Help us to be nourished by your Word before we proceed to nourish other people. Every Christian is an apostle. It is up to us to make people aware of their dignity and their mission and to help them to live up to that dignity and carry out that mission.

I would like this meeting to bring together people’s experience of how they find the achievements, the experiences, and the expectations, of the laity today. You have vast experience here in your midst. Sure, the participation of the laity in the life of the Church since Vatican II has increased and intensified magnificently. It is abundantly obvious in Liturgy but also in catechesis and other different forms of the apostolate.

Like every good educator, the priest is meant to draw out the gifts and talents and leadership qualities that are in the parish. The Holy Spirit, whose work Paul described in Corinth, is not on strike in your parish or in mine. There will be people who are talented in many ways in which the priest is not gifted, for example, music. They will be able to take initiatives, which the priest would never be able to take. The priest should not feel threatened or obliged to stifle such initiatives. The parishioners, like the pastors, are called and obliged to use their gifts for the good of the body, the Church.

During the recent World Youth Day 250 young Irish people were billeted in one parish on the outskirts of Rome – the parish of St. Patrick. They came from Derry, Raphoe, Kilmore, and Armagh. It was quite a challenge in the month of August, at a time when 80% of the parishioners were away of holidays. In the midst of it all the mother of the Parish Priest died and he was on his own in the parish. However, in his absence, his lay committee carried on brilliantly. It was an example of a parish where the Parish Priest knows he does not have a monopoly of leadership, he doesn’t have to initiate everything and he certainly does not have to do everything.

How can we discover, with faith, the many and varied gifts of the lay people in our parishes? First of all by getting to know those people, by visiting their homes, building up a relationship with them, by respecting those people and looking again and seeing their potential and by allowing ourselves to be seen as people who need their help. Sure, we cannot do it alone. The Church today needs all the gifts the Spirit of God gives to the community. But how do we realise and call forth and muster our different strengths and talents? One of the ways is by coming together in a Conference to discuss it and find new strategies and ways and associations.

Among the gifts that have been discovered, and maybe have yet to be discovered to a greater extent, is that people have a hunger for God and a thirst for prayer. Do we under-estimate our ability to discover and recognise this gift and foster it in our people? There is a tremendous hunger for God. We are called to be teachers of prayer. People desire to know the answers to the basic questions of life. There is a desire to know the author of life. Perhaps we are over-dependent on the Sunday homily as a means of reaching and catechising and forming our people. People like to be contacted and challenged. Are we being too diffident? Returned missionaries sometimes marvel at how difficult it is to get readers, altar-servers, gift bearers. Have we failed to put across to them the great honour it is to read at Mass, to read the Word of God. Have we lost something of our own appreciation of the majesty of God?

I was watching television last week and Gary Fahey was being interviewed, a bright, intelligent, young man. He was talking about what an immense honour, a huge honour, it was to play for his county in an All-Ireland final. You could see the pride and the joy surge up in him. Can we somehow put across what an immense honour it is to read the Word of God? To sing God’s praises if we have a singing voice, to bring gifts to the altar, to bring the bread and wine that will be turned into the body and blood of Christ? Have we lost our nerve in saying all of that?

RECOGNISING WITH JOY

Father Enda Lyons, in his book, ‘Partnership in Parish’, talks about the difficulty people have to see themselves as working in partnership with the priest. They see it simply as helping the priest do his job. We obviously have some work to do here to convince them that it is a matter of all the members working together, to do the work of the parish, the Church’s work, which is their own work. The use of the term ‘lay apostolate’ is not in favour nowadays. Because ‘lay’ suggests amateurish and apostolate suggests the 12 apostles and being confined to 12 and so on. But the priest recognises with joy the gifts which a gracious God has given, for a good purpose, furthering the reign of God on earth.

I am sure you have all heard of the famous crucifix of Dresden. After the bombing of Dresden the crucifix survived but without its arms. They decided to leave it like that to emphasize that now in the world, Christ has no arms or hands or fingers, except the arms and hands and fingers of his followers, to carry on his work.

The talents of lay people can be employed in many areas to which the priests or bishops do not normally have access, for example, the realm of business and high finance, the world of media and journalism, the world of sport and entertainment, the world of politics and public life. We all know examples of people who do immense good in all of these domains because of their values and their convictions. They do so in the defence of truth and the promotion of justice. What these people have, is the right to expect help from their pastors to inform their conscience, in the light of their responsibilities and of the decisions which they have to make. The recent document of the Irish Bishops on Prosperity with a Purpose was written to provide some of that help.

Why should priests recognise, with joy, the gifts of the laity? The reason is that by naming and celebrating one another’s gifts we enter into a deeper relationship with people. We commit ourselves to a deeper level of Church. We are committing ourselves to discuss and debate, to forget and forgive and in the process to build up mutual respect and love. The goal of our ministry is to bring about the reign of God. The vision is the path we choose and to which we commit ourselves. We remember that the part of the laity is in the world, there to bring the values of Christ into the world, particularly in the areas of marriage and the family, in the areas of public life and public service, and the areas of professional life and business life.

FOSTER WITH DILIGENCE

Fostering the gifts of laity will mean a new style of leadership. It is a style which involves coaxing and cajoling people, inviting people, promoting small groups discussions, listening, clarifying issues, providing information, and agreeing a way forward. All of this interpersonal action leads to deeper relationships and more lasting commitments. Obviously it can be messy, time-consuming, painfully slow, but eventually more effective. Collaborative ministry is not about efficiency, it is much more efficient to decide on your own, you know best. The role of the leadership in a parish is leadership in a community of brothers and sisters. It should not be seen in terms of power. The fact that the priest is the overall and official leader in the parish does not mean that he is the only leader in it. It is a mistake to think that the priest must initiate everything, not to mention do everything. In every parish there will be people gifted in ways in which the priest is not.

The leader recognises with joy the potential of small seeds and humble beginnings. Who could have recognised the potential of those 15 girls, mostly in their late teens or early twenties, who gathered with one lay-man, and one priest, on 7 September 1921 in Myra House, Francis Street, in this city. Who could have foreseen that what was beginning on that night in those humble circumstances would give rise to a movement that today has members working in 245 radio and TV programmes in Rio Janeiro and 28 branches in one Catholic University in Korea. I am talking about the Legion of Mary. Let’s never despise small beginnings or humble gifts.

New Boards of Management for primary schools are being set up at present. They, and other bodies, like Pastoral Councils, Finance Committees, are the means of ensuring that parishioners can exercise their right to make their needs and wishes known to their pastors. In the past, inadequate preparation and the inexperience of available lay-people, brought setbacks. The best people are not always the easiest to work with and the easiest to work with are not always the best people for the job. Parishioners have the right to express opinions concerning the good of the Church to their pastors. The challenge now is to prepare people to play the full part, appropriate to them in the life of the Church. Pastors have to respect the intelligence and maturity of their parishioners. People are more likely to listen to and obey pastors when they find that their own views are considered and their dignity appreciated. It is a question really of mutual trust and respect. Preaching catachetical formation, pre-sacramental preparation, care of the souls, these are the ordinary means by which lay faithful receive the spiritual assistance from the Church and the Word of God and the sacraments to which they are entitled.

One of the great strengths of the Catholic Church in Ireland has been, and still is, the close links between the lay faithful and their clergy. Those links have been forged by home visitation, especially in times of tragedy and bereavement, pastoral care, involvement in youth ministry and education. They have also been forged by involvement in fund-raising, parish missions, circulation of religious magazines. There is a proud tradition of inter-dependence, deep and loyal friendships and generous mutual support. The priests depend on their people for material support while the laity looks to their clergy for guidance, intercession and consolation.

In recent years the tendency is for pastoral care to become more structured and formalised with the introduction of various ministries into parish life. Due to the age profile and the diminishing number of priests, that process is set to continue and expand. The key factor is not the number of ministries the parish has but its willingness and capacity to become a ministering community. That development depends ultimately on people becoming aware of the needs of others and being ready to meet those needs.

A lot of progress has been made in the introduction of such ministries. Much more needs to take place. With the growing awareness that responsibility for the mission of the Church belongs ultimately to all of the faithful, I am confident that we will rise to that challenge. It will require a big effort of thoughtful planning, determination and commitment to follow through. Working with the laity is no longer an optional extra in parish ministry. It is the standard model nowadays, par for the course.

The vision of competent and committed people, working together in the complex task of ministry, is inspiring. That vision is the path to which we must commit ourselves in order to realise the common goal. Collaboration in ministry means working together to achieve the goal of furthering God’s reign in the world. Jesus entrusted the awesome task of furthering that reign to his disciples when he said, ‘Go, make disciples of all nations, baptising them and teaching them’. However, he did promise to be with them always, to the end of the age. It is the glory of the baptised to share in that office and to have received that mission. It is only by working together that we will fulfil that task and reach our eternal destiny.

FRIENDS’ SCHOOL, LISBURN
SPEECH DAY
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
22 SEPTEMBER, 2000

I am most grateful to the Board of Governors for the invitation to Friends’ School, Lisburn, 2000 Speech Day. It is truly a great privilege for me to be here with the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr Haire, the other governors, parents, the headmaster, Mr Green, staff and pupils, to present certificates, prizes and Records of Achievements. I see this invitation as a powerful sign of friendship in the best Quaker tradition and I am very grateful for that. I thank you all sincerely for your warm welcome. I heartily congratulate all those who are going to receive certificates, prizes and Records of Achievements today.
I have to admit that when I received the invitation I was a little overawed at the prospect. And when I told some people that I was coming here today, they were pleasantly surprised. “Well” they said, “that will be a new experience for you”. Yes, it is a new experience and a good experience. I am pleased to be here for many reasons.

I spent thirteen (13) years in a previous chapter of my existence, teaching in a Post-Primary School. That was in my native Co. Cavan where I taught Latin, French and football, among other things. So I was delighted to hear that Jonathan Bell is a past pupil. I watched him brilliantly help Ulster win the European Cup last year in Dublin.

As I wondered what I might say here today I received consolation from something I once heard on ‘Thought for the Day’ on BBC Radio Ulster. The speaker was the Reverend Sam Hutchinson, Clerk of the Assembly and General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. He lives here in Lisburn. He was recalling the Prize Days and Speech Days of his youth. He said that he has still got the books that he received as prizes then. He does not however, remember a word of what was said in the speeches – so that is some consolation!

Another reason why I am happy to be here is that the Friends in Ireland, as elsewhere, have a long and noble tradition of education. The existence of so many schools and colleges established by Friends is testimony to the Quaker concern for education. We share that concern. Edmund Burke, statesman and political theorist, immediately springs to mind. So also does the Dublin Friend who attended this school, James Green Douglas. He was a member of the committee appointed by the Provisional Government to draft the constitution after the 1921 Treaty negotiated between Britain and the Irish Republican plenipotentiaries. He later became Vice-Chairman of the first Free State Senate and remained a Senator until his death in 1954. We also think of William Glynn who wrote a welcome in Irish from Friends to Pope John Paul II on his visit to Ireland in 1979. An alumnus not immediately associated with Friends, however, is Cardinal Paul Cullen. He was Archbishop of Armagh in the post-famine era of 1849 to 1852 and later Archbishop of Dublin. Cardinal Cullen attended a Quaker School, Co Kildare. In a letter written in 1867 he speaks of “Ballytore School where I received my first lessons in English and Latin, under the care of Mr James White, of whom I retain a grateful remembrance.” As his 11th successor in the See of Armagh in this, the 151st anniversary of his appointment as Archbishop, it seems especially fitting that I should accept your gracious invitation to be Guest of Honour today.

I have been very touched by the opening hymn and period of silence we had at the beginning of our ceremony today. We live in a world full of noise and endless distraction. Creating space for God to speak to us, or rather space and time for us to listen to Him, is not easy but it is important. In silent prayer we can create that space and make that time for this precious meeting. We present our lives to God, our burdens and fears, our joys and happiness, and ask

For hearts to nobler purpose strung
and purified desire.

As I prepared this talk I was delighted but not surprised to be reminded that there is significantly more that unites us than divides us. Our common faith in the Lord of life, and love and power unites us in a powerful bond, greater than any power, which the world can muster. We must increasingly yield to that power at work in us, seeking to transform this world and all human life.

I have read with interest the concept of the Inner Light, which is at the very centre of the Quaker faith. This concept is based heavily on the Prologue of the Gospel of John: “The Word was the true light that enlightens all men; and he was coming into the world.” (John 1:9). The Inner Light discerns between good and evil. As George Fox, your founding father acknowledged, the “ocean of light and love” will triumph over the “ocean of darkness and death” throughout the world because it is the Light and Love of God Himself.

I note the traditional Quaker philosophy of education which states that the duty of the teacher is to discover and foster in each pupil his or her innate qualities and talents, unconfined to a purely academic and scientific programme. The development of the whole person, and not just academic and intellectual formation, is the goal of education. In this Quakerism was well ahead of its time. The Society of Friends values greatly the individual. It is the dignity of the human person, made in the image of God, which is fundamental. If only we could truly realise how precious each individual is how different our world would be. There would no longer be need for battle or war.

I am reminded of the famous painting, Peaceable Kingdom, by the American Quaker artist, Edward Hicks, painted in 1844. In the painting bison and bear, lion and tiger, wolf and goat kid, buffalo and children, lie down in peace. In the background Friends and American Indians peacefully meet. The painting of course is inspired by the Prophet Isaiah: “The wolf lives with the lamb, the panther lies down with the kid, calf and lion cub feed together with a little boy to lead them. The cow and bear make friends, their young lie down together.” (11:6-7).

We can only exist in peace if we work together. But lasting peace is not just a matter of working together. It is not just about structures and strategies. It depends, above all, on the adoption of a style of human co-existence marked by mutual acceptance, respect and forgiveness.

A situation where people simply exist in a state of separation, doing no harm to one another, and interacting only when absolutely necessary in the public sphere, is far from satisfactory. Such an arrangement can never be stable. There is always the danger that it will result in renewed hostilities. Lasting peace must surely include not only the will to co-existence but also a willingness to create a new inclusive community together. It is not clear that this will actually exists as yet. Certainly people want an end to violence but more is needed.

There is need to encourage co-operation in the creation of this new inclusive society. We must pray unceasingly that hearts will be softened, that hearts of stone will be replaced with hearts of flesh, and that the Kingdom of God, groaning to be born in our time on this island, may not be hindered and obstructed. We could do well to keep the intention of political progress in our minds and hearts in our silence at the end of our ceremony today, as we sing,

Take my life and let it be
consecrated Lord to Thee.

Dear young people, I urge you to live up to the high calling put before you in this school. In the words of George Fox: “Be patterns, be examples, in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come.” May you keep as a personal motto throughout your lives the motto of this school: “Seek those things which are above”.

I congratulate Friends’ School, Lisburn on its many achievements and successes to date and wish it continued flourishing and blessing. I am sure that the pupils of this great school are taught to look upon all people as their brothers and sisters, and to reach out to others in a spirit of trust, friendship and acceptance. I congratulate you, teachers, on all that you do to teach your pupils the true values of life. I know that as you introduce them to the complexity of history, you help them to live in every situation, the virtues of tolerance, understanding and respect.

Young men and women – take as your models those who build peace and promote harmony. I know that you cherish great hopes in your hearts. May your years here prepare you to share the treasures of other cultures and traditions. May you all play your part in bringing about a world which is reconciled and fully human.

DR JACK WEIR
1919 – 2000
STATEMENT ON HIS DEATH BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
19 SEPTEMBER, 2000

I am sorry to hear of the death of Dr Jack Weir. He was a man of many fine qualities. As Clerk of the General Assembly and General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and later as Moderator of the General Assembly, he played a key role in the meetings of the Four Church Leaders and generously used his talents to promote greater understanding and to build good relationships.

I sympathise with the Moderator and the members of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland on the passing of this outstanding Churchman

DEDICATION OF HIGH CROSS
TERMONMAGUIRC, CARRICKMORE
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2000
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

We stand on holy ground as we come together to bless and dedicate Termonmaguirc High Cross. We stand in the shadow of Mullaghnalap. Here, tradition says Colmcille founded one of his monasteries. The very place names: An Termon, Páirc na hAltóra, Fód na Marbh, Reilig na mBan, speak to us of a reality that goes beyond the grave. They remind us that we have not here on earth a lasting kingdom. We seek one that is to come.

Today we raise a cross, high over Carrickmore, the Big Rock. This cross will remind us of the Jubilee, the Great Jubilee of the Holy Year 2000. It reminds us also of another cross, raised on another rock, on the hill of Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem.

Today this parish makes a statement. It says: “we believe in the power of Jesus Christ whose holy Cross redeemed the world”. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the supreme expression of his love for each one of us. We cannot look into the heart of Jesus, but the suffering which he willingly and eagerly endured, for our sake, reveals his sacred heart to us.

He knew there is no heart so hard, so cold, and so selfish, that he couldn’t set on fire if only that heart would give itself to him. To kindle this fire of love in our hearts, God allows suffering to come to us. He allows the Cross to come into our lives. He can take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts like his own. The sufferings, which God allows to come to us, will do that if we take them and accept them in the right spirit.

If we welcome even the smallest cross that comes to us in life a number of things will happen. We will find our own crosses very much lightened. We will experience a joy that may open up a new realm of happiness. We will discover a sense of fellowship with Jesus in his suffering.

Jesus once said to the Jews: “and I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all things to myself”. What he said to the Jews he now says to all of us – “I have been lifted up on the Cross on Calvary. I now have the power to lift up to myself all those who have faith in me. For all those who look to me with faith and love, deserve to be drawn to me”.

So, when you look at this splendid Jubilee High Cross, never forget the wonderful promise of Jesus, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all things to myself”. Let this great Cross be a reminder for all of us that in Jesus we have everything. His merits are now our merits. I see the erection of this High Cross as a great act of hope in those merits.

This High Cross commemorates the Holy Year of the Great Jubilee of the Birth of Our Saviour. One of the great themes of this holy year is that of pilgrimage. Here we are today on pilgrimage to a place associated with one of the greatest of the Irish saints – St Colmcille. Last Sunday another Colmcille, and another Irish person, Columba Marmion, was beatified in Rome. The whole purpose of the Holy Year is that we ourselves become holy, that we ourselves grow in holiness. The saints are important to us in this effort. The saints reveal to us in their lives the holiness of God. The saints are models for us to follow. They give us inspiration.

Blessed Columba Marmion has many links with the Archdiocese of Armagh. His brother was a medical doctor in Dungannon. His cousins live in Omagh and Dungannon. There are many Marmion cousins in County Louth. In fact there is a family tree in existence which traces their history back to their arrival in Ireland in 1495 in Carlingford, County Louth. I said the saints inspire us with their lives and with their words. Blessed Columbia Marmion once wrote: “If Christ died for us while we were his enemies, what grace of forgiveness or of sanctification can he refuse us now that we detest sin and strive to detach ourselves from sin.”

Another theme of this Holy Year is that of reconciliation, conversion and forgiveness. The big obstacle on the road to holiness is sin. Personal sin separates us from God and from our neighbour. But, as Blessed Columba Marmion tells us, ‘Sin need not be a problem because Christ will not refuse us the grace of forgiveness provided we detest our sins and try to detach ourselves from them.

This new Termonmaguirc High Cross is really a catechism and a history of the faith in pictures. I hope you will all take time to study and reflect upon it. There is one panel which is especially pleasing to me; that is the panel which represents Pope John Paul II on his jubilee trip to the Holy Land. On that occasion Pope John Paul placed a prayer in a slot in the Wailing Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. He did this as a sign of reconciliation. In a true spirit of Jubilee he asked for forgiveness for offences caused by Christians, especially against Jews. The Pope’s gesture inspired images for this panel.

While I was in Rome for the beatification of Blessed Columba Marmion I was handed a lovely picture. It represents the Holy Father embracing a beautiful crucifix on 12 March last. That was the day on which the Pope asked forgiveness from those who have been offended or hurt by people in the Church. He in turn then offered forgiveness to those who have offended the Church in the past. This picture shows us the Pope touching the legs of Jesus and looking towards the face of Jesus as if to say, ‘Lord, I remember your words on Calvary, your words on the Cross, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do’. It is as if the Holy Father is saying to the Lord, ‘Lord, help us to forgive those who have offended us and to ask forgiveness from those whom we have offended’. Only by being united to Christ and to his forgiving love can we ourselves can be forgiven and can we offer forgiveness.

In one of his recent messages for World Peace Day – Pope John Paul II said, ‘We all need to be forgiven by others, so we must all be ready to forgive’. Certainly forgiveness doesn’t come spontaneously or naturally to people. Forgiving from the heart can sometimes be actually heroic. The pain of losing a child, a brother or sister, one’s parents or whole family, as a result of war, terrorism, or criminal acts, can lead to a total closing of oneself to others.

People, who have been left with nothing because they have been deprived of their land and home, refugees and those who have endured the humiliation of violence, cannot fail to feel the temptation to hatred and revenge. Only the warmth of human relationships, marked by respect, understanding and acceptance can help them to overcome such feelings.

The power to forgive and to offer forgiveness can be experienced even by a wounded heart. That power is available thanks to the healing power of love – a love which has its origin in God who is love. That love was revealed on the Cross on Calvary. This Jubilee High Cross declares that we believe in the power of that love to change lives and to heal hurts. The gift of reconciliation comes, first of all, from God. God calls those who are acting unjustly to repent and those who suffer injustice to forgive.

There are many areas of life where there is need for reconciliation, for example in family life, in work or business, in public and political life. Where people have been hurt, for example in a marriage relationship, it is important not to gloss over the wrong that has been done. If an effort is made to move too quickly to forgiveness, then the victim may feel helpless, unable to accept that forgiveness. The process of healing then cannot take place. Forgiveness does not depend on repentance by the oppressor. Quite the contrary, forgiveness on the part of the victim often comes before repentance by the oppressor. The ability to forgive and to be open to reconciliation is a gift from God.

Looking at this Jubilee Cross we pray for the ability to forgive and for the grace of being open to reconciliation. Where reconciliation has taken place the victims may still bear the scars of oppression. They can become powerful instruments of God’s saving power as wounded healers. There have been many such outstanding examples in recent times in this part of the world. They are examples of a mysterious power which God uses to draw good out of evil. The torture and death of Jesus on the Cross on Calvary led to the hope and new life of Easter. The power of the Cross draws new and deeper life out of suffering and out of evil.

May the presence of this Cross lead us all to identify the areas of our lives that are crying out for forgiveness and reconciliation. Those areas can lie in our own personal domestic life, in our business or professional relationships, in our public or political activities. Reconciliation with God and with people lies at the heart our religion. There can be no question of being reconciled with God unless we are willing to be reconciled with those around us. In fact, reconciliation with others is the only convincing evidence that we are in fact reconciled with God.

On the Cross Jesus Christ left us Mary, his mother, to be our mother. May the memory of her standing bravely at the foot of the Cross, inspire us all. May it remind us that God sometimes calls us to do heroic things but if He does, He gives us the strength to do them. God is the one who enables us to be reconciled to others. In Jesus the Son of God, we have everything we need. His merits are our merits. We are not alone.

Hail, O Cross, our only hope. Today we thank God for the imagination, faith and genius of those who designed and commissioned Termonmaguirc High Cross. We praise God for the creativity, energy and patience of those who chiselled it into existence. We thank God for the generosity and commitment of those who are supporting and financing this undertaking. May this symbol of the great victory of good over evil always remain for the Third Millennium Christians of Termonmaguirc and surrounding area a beacon of hope in their struggles against evil. May it inspire them to remain faithful to the Mass where the sacrifice of the Cross is remembered and renewed each day. May it bind them more closely to Christ, who reigns from the Cross of Calvary.
AMEN

ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO SHRINE OF ST. OLIVER PLUNKETT
APOSTLE OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION
ST. PETER’S DROGHEDA
SUNDAY 4 JULY 1999
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

At this shrine, dedicated to St. Oliver Plunkett, Apostle of Peace and Reconciliation, we come to pray at this critical time that a just and fair basis can be found, and accepted, for a new and lasting partnership between the two traditions on this island. We pray, in a special way, for those political leaders who are striving to arrive at and bring about a shared vision of peace and concord. Our hope is that by continuing to work together they will reach agreement, resolve the remaining outstanding difficulties, and lead all of us into a new era, an era of peace and hope for everybody.

For this to happen certain fears have to be overcome. Greater trust has to be built. Some fear that what is on offer is not the accommodation between the two sides, which it claims to be, but rather a victory by stealth for one side to the detriment of the other side’s interest. Many are afraid that, despite being so close, all could still be lost. All of those fears must be addressed and dispelled.

What is needed is a safe and secure environment where the aspirations and visions of both cultures can be respected, valued, and find appropriate expression. There can be no exclusion of the cultural expression of either side.

Each one of us is called to be leader for peace at this time. There will be many ways by which we can all help. Those who have prayed and continue to pray, lend their energy to the search for a lasting and just solution. We must all look for opportunities to encourage those whose trust and courage falter.

We are entering a time of year when tensions run particularly high. It is not a time which is conducive to calm reflection and objective assessment. I appeal to all with power to do so, to use that power to ensure that the coming week is peaceful. May God be with those who counsel calm and restraint.

During the past week a Novena of Prayer took place in the parish of Portadown in preparation for today’s feast, to ask the help of St. Oliver Plunkett. People there are acutely aware of the damage, which this conflict is causing, particularly in their community. They know the negative impact it is having on everybody, especially on the dreams and hopes of the young people.

The issue of the impasse at Drumcree is a mighty challenge. But overcoming challenges is the essence of the human spirit. Resolving the issues and tensions generated by Drumcree would, I believe, be a source of enormous hope for all. The issue can be resolved because the will is there, but so also are the fears. A resolution could be reached provided both sides commit themselves to working constructively together to improve community relations in Portadown, to understand each other’s position, and to reach accommodation on the future of parades. The impasse could be resolved if both sides were to approach those talks in a spirit of good faith, mutual respect and generous acceptance of cultural diversity.
Mighty challenges need mighty solutions. Gathered here at the shrine of someone who faced the same mighty challenges in his day, let us invoke the help of St. Oliver Plunkett to ensure that this historic opportunity for peace may not be missed.

May God grant that the last year of this millennium may also be the last year of this painful and damaging conflict.

EXTRACT
OPENING AND BLESSING OF NEW ORATORY
ST BRIGID’S SHRINE, FAUGHART, CO. LOUTH
SUNDAY, 26 NOVEMBER, 2000, 3.30PM
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Last Sunday the Catholic Church celebrated the Jubilee for the Police and Armed Services. It was a recognition of the truth that these services are called to play an important role in society. As guardians of the peace and upholders of justice they are called to defend the poor and weak, protect the innocent and promote peaceful coexistence and harmony. They are to uphold the rights of all citizens and in so doing they are often called upon to confront violence and to oppose on behalf of the rest of society the destructive power of evil, so often present and active in the world. This is not an easy task. It requires great courage, self-discipline and integrity.

And yet it is a vital task because the fair and impartial administration of justice defends people against injustice, vandalism and crime. It lays the basis for lasting peace. The Police and Armed Services need the help of the community to enable them to do their job of protecting the community against the threat of criminals. In this context the decision of the Army Board regarding two Scots Guardsmen is a cause of great concern and disappointment.

Peace is a fundamental right of every human being. It is a right that must be continually protected and promoted. Because an effective and acceptable police service can play such an important role in the building and preservation of peace, a police service, representative of and accepted by the whole community in Northern Ireland, is a major element in the peace process.

The Patten Report made an important contribution to the peace process. The Police Bill is another step hopefully on the way to an acceptable situation. While there are a number of problems still unresolved, the progress already made must be recognised and acknowledged. That progress was made through negotiation and discussion. Those discussions must continue because important elements of the Patten Report have yet to be implemented. They are of such fundamental importance to the provision of the sort of police service that is going to work and so essential to the future well-being of the whole community that they must be addressed. The legislators need the support of all as they struggle to achieve the provision of a new police service that will be acceptable to all.

There are other important elements in the peace process that need to be implemented. More needs to be done about the decommissioning of illegally-held arms. That issue is also of fundamental importance in the process of generating confidence and building trust. It is also part of the new beginning.

All who seek peace must be resolute in their conviction that violence is unacceptable as a means of resolving conflict. Bombings, shootings, punishment beatings, expulsions, acts of violence and intimidation, must be seen and condemned for what they are – criminal injustices towards the victims and a serious threat to the security and stability of society. The fact that they continue underlines the fragile nature of the agreement that has been reached and the constant need for that agreement to be upheld and consolidated.