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.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY
17 MARCH 2000
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Today we rejoice that our names are written in heaven. We give thanks to God for sending St. Patrick to Ireland to tell us that. St. Patrick came to preach the glory of God to the people of Ireland. He came to tell us that we are meant to share in, and enjoy, the glory of God. He came to tell us to rejoice, to be happy, because our names are written on the invitation list for heaven.

The hunger for glory is to be found in the heart of each one of us. This morning I saw a team of young men arrive at the Grammar School here at 8.30 am. They were getting ready for a final which begins in a little over a hour’s time in Casement Park, Belfast. Today Crossmaglen Rangers return to Croke Park in search of further glory. During the week thousands travelled to Cheltenham and Old Trafford. Part of this enjoyment for them is to bask in the reflected glory of winners.

That is the sort of glory that fades and is short lived. Yesterday’s stars must give way to today’s heroes. But the glory of God is everlasting, there is a share in it not just for everyone in the audience but for everyone whose name is written in heaven. The glory of God lasts forever. The glory of God is the only glory that can satisfy the deepest hunger of our hearts, the hunger for happiness, the hunger for love that never ends.

I am grateful to all who put up flags, the flags for St. Patrick’s Day here in Armagh and to all those who have marched here in uniform to this Mass – Scouts, Guides, the Order of Malta. We will miss the parade here in Armagh in the afternoon but I hope we will all celebrate, celebrate very happily the fact that we are proud to call ourselves Christians.

Today we remember the fact that Patrick came back to Ireland to bring Good News. He brought that Good News to our ancestors who were, until then heathens, that is, pagans, people who did not believe in the One True God. They did not even know about the One True God but maybe believed in several gods, we don’t know.

During his captivity in Ireland, Patrick had seen that our pagan ancestors were really to be pitied. No-one had ever told them about the One True God. Patrick saw that they were poorer for this. Probably before coming to Ireland Patrick himself did not appreciate the value of his faith in the One True God. In fact he tells us that in his writings, “I was almost sixteen and I did not know the True God”. Patrick looked on his captivity in Ireland as a punishment for the fact that he had turned away from God. “We deserved this fate” he says. “We have turned away from God. We neither kept His Commandments” he said, “nor obeyed our priests”.

Then things changed for Patrick and they changed drastically. He was abducted from his home, not just for a few days but for years. As far as his parents were concerned he simply disappeared. Patrick saw that the Lord scattered him and his companions among many heathen peoples. Later things changed again and this time they changed for the better. First of all the Lord made him see his unbelief, the fact that he really didn’t believe in God or that if he believed in God he was beginning to get careless.

Like the prodigal son in the Gospel, Patrick came to his senses. He recognised his sins. He turned wholeheartedly back to God. He began to know, possibly for the first time, a different kind of God. A God who was concerned for his weakness, who had pity for his youth – remember he was only sixteen – a God who watched over him all the time, even before Patrick turned back to Him and got to know Him. A God who protected Patrick before he knew the difference between good and evil. A God who comforted Patrick as a father comforts his son.

I suppose we could all stop and ask ourselves a question at this stage. Is that the kind of God I know? Is that the kind of God I know and love and try to serve as best I can? That is certainly the God of Jesus Christ. That is the kind of God we find in the New Testament. But how did Patrick come to know God like this? He probably didn’t have any New Testament with him. He certainly didn’t have time to pack his books before being snatched away from his homeland.
Let us listen to his own words:

“When I had come to Ireland I was tending herds every day. I used to pray many times during the day. More and more the love of God and reverence for God came to me. My faith increased, so that in the course of a day I would say as many as a hundred prayers and almost as many in the night. This I did, even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountain. Before dawn I used to waken up to pray in snow or frost or rain. I never felt the worst for it; nor was I in anyway lazy because, as I now realise, the Spirit was burning within me”

But of course Patrick got his freedom, got home to his family and they were telling him that he must never leave them again. But we know that in time Patrick came to believe that God was calling him to come back to Ireland. He believed that in a dream, God was calling him to return to Ireland. And, even though Patrick believed God was calling him to do so, and even though he knew he had something great to bring to the Irish, I am sure the Evil One, the Devil, was suggesting to him many reasons why he should not return.
I am sure Satan was trying to undermine his confidence and tell him that he wasn’t well enough educated to face the Druids. After all, his education had been seriously interrupted. Satan would have been pointing out the obstacles. He would have been reminding Patrick of the way the Irish had treated him. That you couldn’t trust them. Satan would have been trying to revive memories of the hurts. Anyhow we know, despite all the odds, Patrick did come.

In that sense he is a model of pardon and forgiveness and reconciliation. He is a model that we badly need at the moment. Patrick came because he trusted not in his own abilities, far from it. He described himself as a sinner, the most rustic and least of all the faithful, the most contemptible in the eyes of a great many people. That was what Patrick believed about himself. But he had confidence nevertheless. He had confidence in the power of God. He knew what God had done for him and he says he can’t be held back from singing the praises of God. He said: “Before I was humbled I was like a stone lion in the deep mud, then He, who was mighty, came and in His mercy He not only pulled me out but lifted me up and placed me at the very top of the wall”. He said “I must speak publicly to repay the Lord for such wonderful gift”.
We need Patrick at the moment. We need him to build confidence in ourselves and in others. Confidence building is a crucial question here, right now in Northern Ireland. We look to institutions to build confidence and they can play an important part. But confidence implies an attitude of trusting in, or relying on, someone or something. Confidence building boils down ultimately to building up trust between people.

Further progress can only come about through the restoration and deepening of trust within the political system of course but also within all sections of our community. The task of building confidence in a divided society is always difficult. No-one should expect it to be otherwise. We believe that our confidence is built on the power of God ultimately.

Earlier this week the Irish Bishops’ Conference called on all our people to pray to God that the progress already made may be further developed over the coming weeks because certainly no-one can be complacent about the danger of a continuing political vacuum.

St. Patrick was a man with a message. His message was one of forgiveness. As I said, he had good reason to feel bitter and resentful about being kidnapped from his home at 16 years of age and being lost and separated from his parents and friends and family for six years. His education was ruined. His life and his plans totally upset. Yes Patrick had very good reason to feel bitter and full of hatred for the Irish. In fact he didn’t feel any such bitterness because he knew that he himself had been forgiven by God. He was determined that he in turn was going to forgive those who had injured him. And, to those who had persecuted the Irish on account of their faith, he addressed an urgent call to repentance. He offered them the assurance of God’s mercy if they would come to their senses, abandon their evil ways, and ask for God’s forgiveness.

One of the great themes of Jubilee Year is that of reconciliation. I think if Patrick were here today he would be saying to people to examine their lives and, if they see that they have been careless and sinned, to remember that God is a God of forgiveness, a God of mercy, a God of compassion. He would be wanting us to listen to the call to come back and have our sins forgiven. He would be wanting us to know that the only way of having sins forgiven is to approach Christ, in the sacrament of Confession.
I wish you all a happy St. Patrick’s Day. I think a happy St. Patrick’s day would be one where we experience something of the deep peace and joy which Patrick experienced in the presence and knowledge of God. That is the happiness I wish you on this day.
AMEN