THE DISAPPEARED
STATEMENT BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

The tragedy of the disappeared continues to haunt families of our diocese. The pastoral care extended so generously by so many priests to the families concerned has helped them a lot and has been greatly appreciated. They have told me that the fact of having the names of their dear ones mentioned and prayed for by name was a great consolation.

I ask that priests continue to pray for the relatives of the disappeared who have suffered so much and whose hearts are filled with such pain, pain caused by seeing their hopes raised only to be later dashed. I request that you continue to ask your parishioners, if considered appropriate, to pray that these victims be released from their particular imprisonment in time for the Great Jubilee. Jubilee is a time when all go back to their homeland, return to their roots and renew their faith and commitment to God. To enable all to do this, prisoners are released and debts are cancelled. It is a time of peace and goodwill.

So, I see it as appropriate to call at this time on anyone who has any information with regard to the location of the bodies of the disappeared to make that information available so as to help in securing their speedy return to their relatives for proper and respectful burial. I ask that prayers be offered that those with any such information may be enabled to overcome their fears and pass on whatever information they have.

We must all do everything in our power to ensure that the suffering of these families may be brought to an end as quickly as possible so that they can give their loved ones a Christian burial and so pick up the pieces of their lives again.

August 14, 1999

“THE WINTER IS PAST”
RELECTIONS ON FIFTY YEARS OF
ROMAN CATHOLIC – JEWISH DIALOGUE
Northern Ireland Branch of the Council of Christians and Jews, Belfast
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
WEDNESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 1999

It is indeed a great honour for me to be invited here and to be asked to speak some words to you this evening. For this, I am deeply grateful to Mrs. Dawn Quigley, Honorary Secretary, and to the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Branch of the Council of Christians and Jews. I also wish to thank for their presence, the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Rabbi Broder and Mrs. Broder, the Reverend Denis Campbell, Chairman of the Irish Council of Christians and Jews, the Honorary Secretary, Sister Carmel Niland, as well as Sister Margaret Shepherd, newly appointed Director of the Council of Christians and Jews in the United Kingdom. May the Almighty bless your work and especially your efforts to bring together Christian and Jewish communities in a common initiative to fight discrimination between different religions. And now let me quote you some words from the Song of Songs, which I hope aptly describe the present state of Catholic-Jewish dialogue.

Now the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone!
The flowers appear on the earth.
The time of singing is come.
The voice of the Turtle-dove is heard in our land
The fig tree puts forth its figs
And the vines are in blossom;
They give forth a fragrance.

These images from the Song of Songs – The Song of Solomon (Chapter 2) are a reminder that we are in many ways moving from winter into spring. I rejoice very much at this development. I have always had the greatest admiration for the Jewish people and for their struggles, which, in many ways, are not dissimilar to our own struggles. We both have an immense Diaspora. Millions of our people have been forced to live outside their homelands. These are bonds that unite us very deeply.

The Last Half-Century

Half a century has passed since the end of the Second World War and the creation of the State of Israel. As we approach the third millennium of the Christian era a new age has begun in the history of humankind. The relationships between Jews and non-Jews have been deeply changed over the past fifty years. First of all, immense changes have taken place geographically. Most of the Jews who have been living in regions which became Islamic countries have returned to Israel or emigrated to lands with a western, mostly Christian culture. Now no nation has a greater number of Jewish residences today than the United States. France is one European country where many Jewish communities survive and flourish, thanks to immigration from North Africa.

This change in the concrete conditions of Jewish existence took place alongside a very different change in our Church, namely the Aggiornamento, initiated by the Second Vatican Council, You are well aware, I am sure, of the Declaration Nostra Aetate, which was solemnly adopted by the Second Vatican Council on October 28, 1965. I was a young priest studying in Rome at that time and I rejoiced at the new wind of change that swept through the Church, and particularly with the publication of that ground-breaking document. It set relations with the Jewish people on a new footing. There was a lot of excitement and a lot of heated debate prior to its publication. In it the Catholic Church gives glory to God for His enduring faithfulness towards His chosen people, the Jews.
ORIGINS OF AETATE NOSTRA

The origins of that Declaration go back quite a distance to the time of Pope John XXIII. It was he who, on 18 September 1960, asked that a draft declaration be prepared on the inner relations between the Catholic Church and the people of Israel. On the following October, that is October 1960, Pope John XXIII greeted a group of American Jews on a study trip to Europe with these words: “I am Joseph, your brother”. This greeting taken from the story of Joseph and Egypt, (Genesis 45:4), gave the Pope the opportunity to use his baptismal name, Joseph, instead of his official name, John. It shows that he wanted to break the divisions that had, for centuries, divided Christians and Jews. This study group had come to Rome in order to thank Pope John for his many efforts to save Jews, for as Apostolic Delegate in Turkey, he had succeeded in saving thousands.

Further significant improvements in Catholic/Jewish relations have taken place since then, notably the guidelines on Jewish/Christian dialogue of 1974, the Pope’s visit to the Synagogue in Rome and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican. Then last year, the Vatican document on the Shoah was published for which the Church has requested of its faithful to perform an act of Teshuvah (repentance) for the failures of our sons and daughters in every age, (p. 13). During these past years there have been significant improvements also in the area of Catholic education, particularly in seminaries, in cultivating a deeper understanding of our Jewish roots.

WE REMEMBER: A REFLECTION ON THE SHOAH

I want to say something more about the Vatican’s document from the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews entitled, We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah. This document was published last year and is the result of a process of reflection that began with the preparations for the visit of Pope John Paul II to the United Stated in September 1987.

In the intervening years, the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews has engaged in a process of consciousness-raising and of reflection on the Shoah at several levels in the Catholic Church and in different local Churches. In the meantime, the Bishops’ Conferences in Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary and France went ahead and each issued a statement that referred, in a special way, to the particular experience of the Jewish people in their countries. Italy followed by presenting, on March 16 last, a formal letter to the Italian-Jewish community strongly condemning anti-Semitism and deeply regretting the past treatment of Jews in Italy. So, the way was opened for the Holy See to speak to and on behalf of the Universal Church.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

In his letter of 12 March 1998, to Cardinal Cassidy, approving of the Roman document entitled, We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, Pope John Paul wishes to turn our minds towards the future as well as to the past. After expressing the hope that the document in question will help to heal the wounds of past misunderstandings and injustices, he goes on to say: “May it enable memory to play its necessary part in the process of shaping a future in which the unspeakable iniquity of the Shoah may never again be possible. May the Lord of history guide the efforts of Catholics and Jews and all men and women of goodwill as they work together for a world of true respect for the life and dignity of every human being, for all have been created in the image and likeness of God.”

While the Vatican statement is addressed to our brothers and sisters of the Catholic Church throughout the world it invites all Christians to join us in meditating on the catastrophe which befell the Jewish people. It concludes with an even wider invitation, to all men and women of goodwill, to reflect deeply on the significance of the Shoah, “since the victims from their graves, and the survivors through the vivid testimony of what they have suffered, have become a loud voice calling the attention of all of humanity.

For to remember this terrible experience is to become fully conscious of the salutary warning it entails: The spoiled seeds of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism must never again be allowed to take root in any human heart”.

The Commission saw in this initiative the possibility of promoting among the Catholics in those countries that were far removed by geography and history from the scene of the Shoah an awareness of past injustices by Christians to the Jewish people. It encouraged their participation in the present efforts of the Holy See to promote throughout the Church a new spirit in Jewish-Catholic relations, a spirit which emphasises cooperation, mutual understanding, reconciliation, goodwill and common goals to replace the past spirit of suspicion, resentment and distrust.

NAZI ANTI-SEMITISM

The document raises the question of the relationship between the Nazi persecution and the attitudes, down through the centuries, of Christians towards Jews. It acknowledges the “erroneous and unjust interpretation of the New Testament regarding the Jewish people and their alleged culpability”. It recognises that there was a “generalised discrimination” in their regard which “ended at times in expulsions or attempts at forced conversions, attitudes of suspicion and mistrust”.

The document makes clear that the Nazi persecution of the Jews was made easier by the anti-Jewish prejudices imbedded in some Christian minds and hearts. However, there were members of the Church who did everything in their power to save Jewish lives, even to the point of placing their own lives in danger, though many did not. Let me quote the document on this. “As Pope John Paul II has recognised, alongside such courageous men and women (those who did their best to help) the spiritual resistance and concrete action of other Christians was not that which might have been expected from Christ’s followers. We cannot know how many Christians in countries occupied by or ruled by the Nazi powers or their allies were horrified at the disappearance of their Jewish neighbours and yet not strong enough to raise their voices in protest. For Christians this heavy burden of conscience for their brothers and sisters during the Second World War must be a call to penitence. We deeply regret the errors and failures of those sons and daughters of the Church”.

AN ACT OF REPENTANCE

At the end of this millennium the Catholic Church desires to express our deep sorrow for the failures of our sons and daughters in every age. This is an act of repentance a “teshuvah”, since as members of the Church we are linked to the sins as well as to the merits of all her children”. The Vatican document looks to a new future in relations between Jews and Christians. Taking up a point made by Pope John Paul II in his speech at the synagogue of Rome on the 13th April, 1986, it reminds members of the Church of the Hebrew roots of their faith and that the Jews are their dearly beloved brothers indeed, in a certain sense, their elder brothers. It ends with this magnificent prayer, “that our sorrow for the tragedy which the Jewish people have suffered in our century will lead to a new relationship with the Jewish people. We wish to turn awareness of past sin into a firm resolve to build a new future in which there will be no more anti-Judaism among Christians or anti-Christian sentiment among Jews but rather a shared mutual respect as befits those who adore the one Creator and Lord and have a common Father in faith, Abraham.

REACTION TO THE DOCUMENT

On the part of the Catholic Church, to which the document was primarily addressed, the reactions have been very positive. The document was meant to teach and to arouse interest in the questions discussed and cause reflection within the worldwide Catholic community.

Many of the early comments from the Jewish community were rather negative. “It is too late, after 53 years, and it is not enough” was the reaction of Chief Rabbi Yisreal Lau. Other Jewish reactions were more positive however. They stated that Jews didn’t get everything they wanted but what they got was so significant and it doesn’t prejudice other important steps. The Philadelphian Enquirer called it, “at once an acknowledgement, an apology and a repentance. We remember, A Reflection on the Shoah stands as a clear rebuttal to the holocaust denial and revision.”

DECLARATIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH

We are looking to a common future: so what about the future? Declarations are not enough. The coming Christian Jubilee calls for a real conversion, internal and external, before God and before our neighbour. The history of the past questions us. The persecution of past centuries weighs upon us. In an address to the American Jewish community in Washington last May, Cardinal Edward Cassidy asked this question: “Is it possible for us as human beings and as Christians to kneel before God, in the presence of the victims of all times, to ask pardon and to hope for reconciliation?” He answers his own question as follows: “I believe that it is. And if it is possible, then we should do it without waiting or losing any time. If we could heal the wounds that bedevil Christian-Jewish relations we would contribute to the healing of the wounds of the world which the Talmud considers to be a necessary action in building a just world and preparing for the Kingdom of the Most High”. Writing in the Jewish Advocate David Gordis expressed the hope that the Jews would see the document as a true act of Christian repentance and welcome it as another step in making the world a better place, safer and more secure for all people. This is the challenge which faces Jews and Christians in the face of growing secularism, religious apathy and moral confusion, a place where there is little room for God. Whenever we can give united witness to our common values, we should do so, for example, on the theme of the family. In fact the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Commission during its 1994 meeting in Jerusalem issued a joint statement on the importance of the family in society. The recent meeting of the Commission which was held in Vatican City last March issued a similar document on the environment. In the final statement of the Prague 1990 meeting of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee the Committee called for cooperation and mutual respect and understanding, goodwill and common goals. Jews and Christians must learn to listen to each other, to seek to understand the other as the other understands himself rather than approach the other with an attitude of criticism or wish to argue or enter into debate.

LIFE IN ISRAEL TODAY

Remarkable progress has been made, more needs to be made. Friends of mine who visit Israel tell me that in Israel itself, apart from a few groups committed to the cause of inter-religious dialogue, there is hardly any dialogue between the local Christians and the majority of the Jewish population. It is true that Christians are a small minority in Israel but yet there are nevertheless some 166,000 Christians there. There is an impression that most Jews in Israel are not aware of the Christian presence in their midst.

Perhaps you can correct me but friends of mine who visit and work in Israel also tell me that there is little if anything taught about Christianity in Israeli schools. At best they say it is taught as part of the history syllabus with an emphasis on the Crusades. I admit there is much that we can do, as Catholics, to improve the education of our young people in Jewish history. The world rejoiced with the State of Israel during the celebrations held last year marking the 50th anniversary of its foundation. We all need to remove preconceptions and prejudices that have been built up on both sides down the centuries. There should be a better understanding as to how Christians express their Christianity in the Holy Land, many of whom trace their descent back to the time of Christ. Almost all streams of Christianity are represented there. There should be a greater understanding as to how the Israeli-Christians live and as to what motivates the millions of Christian visitors who make up nearly 70% of all tourism to Israel. That number is likely to increase towards the year 2000, for the Jubilee year of the birth of Christ.

I was surprised to read that a Hebrew language newspaper in Israel published an article just a few days ago in which it said that the ultra-orthodox parties on the Jerusalem Municipal Council are demanding that the Christian festivities be downplayed in the millennium year. It seems the Ultra-Orthodox were furious when they leaned that the Director General of the Jerusalem Municipality went to Rome with the objective of bringing thousands of Christian pilgrims to Rome.

A GRACIOUS INVITATION

We hope that one of the Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land in the year 2000 will be Pope John Paul II. We know how ardently he wants to do so. His decision will largely depend on two factors, his own health and the health of the peace process. The Pope wants to come to the land of Christ’s birth as a pilgrim of peace and reconciliation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu graciously extended an invitation when he visited the Holy Father in the Vatican in early February of last year. I certainly hope and pray that, God willing, his pilgrimage will mark a new stage in Catholic-Jewish understanding so that we can work together as true brothers and sisters in the new millennium, that is almost upon us.

There are many reasons why we should be working together. The Passover festival, that ancient venerable biblical festival of spring and new year, offers a benchmark to both Jews and Christians from which to estimate where we are coming from, where we are headed, and what is the quality of the peace and freedom we speak about. A perennial privilege is laid on us to visit again and again the ancient testimonies and institutions. We are called to return out of the dark and despairing places of our contemporary world carrying our shields with laughter. Two people come to mind who made that journey into the dark of winter and back. The first is Jacob. He struggled all the night until the new dawn so that he could leave the narrow place and cross the ford at last. He walked forward with his community, touched by death but more so touched by blessing. The other is our own Patrick. He lived fully out of the biblical paradigm of exodus. At first he was a stranger here in a strange land but in all his darkness and solitude he was always sustained by the one who brings out of enslavement. May the Bible we share be ever more valued and make us ever more fruitful in our evolving society.

LESSONS FOR IRELAND

One is tempted to speculate as to what lessons we can learn from this experience for our own situation here in Northern Ireland. I suppose the first is that we remember the past but we must not be enslaved by it. We can make our own the prayer that our memories may be healed so that they can play their part in the process of shaping a better future. May we all help in building a society of true respect for the life and dignity of every human being. I will leave the other lessons for your further discussion and invite you to consider how the influence of just one man, namely Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who lived from 1935-1944 in Istanbul as Papal Nuncio, contributed to the building of good relations between Jews and Christians.

There he came to know many Jews and respect them and did all in his power to save their lives. By 1959 he was Pope John XXIII and in many respects I think he laid the foundations for the progress which has been achieved over the past 40 years. He knew of course that there was an inevitable tension between the beliefs of Christians and Jews but he was convinced that this division must and ought not degenerate into hostility. In Turkey he was kept informed, to an extent not generally realised, of the horrors of the Nationalist Socialist Extermination Camps and of the anguish of Jews threatened with deportation to the East. He tried to ward off these dangers wherever and however he could. When reports of atrocities were brought to him he received them with hands folded in prayer and tears in his eyes. He always wanted to know all the details concerning deportation orders and noted them down carefully. He always saw to it personally that they were dealt with and in this way he succeeded in preventing deportations from Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. He saved the lives of thousands and rescued them in their hour of direst need. When he became Pope he purged liturgical texts of wounding or even misleading expressions. The power of the kind actions in time of need, the removal of the hurtful word, the careless phrase, the rash judgement; the refusal to be diverted from the search for peace and harmony; the determination to press on for greater mutual understanding: these are the foundations of dialogue. Tonight we salute the memory of Angelo Josephi Roncali, later John XXIII who did so much to help Catholic-Jewish dialogue.

Last October the Archbishop of Paris received an award in New York in Sutton Palace Synagogue. I make my own his words on that occasion: There is no steering away from the direction we are now following. This is part of the movement in which humankind is being united. The Catholic Church is determined to carry out her mission in the service of this world to do the will of the Creator of Israel and Redeemer of humankind.

ARCHBISHOP SEÁN BRADY
WORLD PEACE DAY 1999

This time last year there was great pessimism among many people about the prospects for peace. A series of sectarian murders had begun which was to continue all through January and February. It was difficult to be optimistic. Yet people continued to hope for peace and to work for peace and to pray for peace. On Good Friday, April 10, in Belfast their hope was fulfilled. The patient work of the peacemakers bore fruit; the prayers for peace were answered.

Implementing the Agreement was never going to be easy. It is a complex document with an in-built timetable. All parties to the Agreement are committed to taking certain steps. No single step can be taken in isolation, out of context.

The people of Ireland, North and South, have accepted this Agreement. They have stated quite clearly what they want. They want this Agreement implemented in its totality.

It must be recognised that we have come a long way. A lot of progress has been made. The prospect of turning back at this stage is simply unthinkable. Howeve,r making the changes in attitude and behaviour which we need if we are going to live in peace is slow work. Nevertheless those changes must be made. Chances of peace have been squandered in the past and must not be squandered now.

The story of Alfred Bernard Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize, has a lesson for all of us. He died in 1896. Earlier a false report of his death was published. It was accompanied by an account of his life story.

Nobel was upset, not at the false report of his death but rather by what he saw as a totally negative account of his life. It highlighted his invention of explosives and detonators and the immense fortunes which he made out of his discoveries. It put him in a very bad light. Given a second chance Nobel decided to change his attitude and to leave his fortune for the promotion of peace.

Here in Northern Ireland we have been given another chance to build peace. We must grasp the chance and make sure that it is not lost again. Yet, there are serious problems. People in both sections of the community have great fears about the future. Unionists fear being forced into a united Ireland against their will; Nationalists fear being once again marginalised. A lot of people need to be convinced that there will be no return to violence. They also need to be convinced that the commitment to peace and democratic means is genuine and that the commitment to accepting and implementing the Agreement in a meaningful way is genuine, It is very important that we all try to understand each others’ fears and respond to them in a spirit of patience and generosity.

Their right to religious freedom is a matter of great concern to many people. In his message for this World Peace Day, Pope John Paul II describes religious freedom as the very heart of human rights. This means that people have the right to manifest personal beliefs, whether individually or with others, in public or in private. I think it is important to state clearly that the Roman Catholic Church supports fully that right, the right to religious freedom which is also contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The decommissioning issue is also a reflection of fears. I would appeal to all sides not to allow the decommissioning issue to become an obstacle to the implementation of the Agreement. It seems to me that the sooner the Assembly and its Executive are up and running, the sooner trust will be given a chance to grow. It is important to realise that there are many issues, apart from decommissioning, which will cause difficulties and which will not be satisfactorily dealt with unless some degree of mutual trust and confidence is established. Decommissioning issues really are a reflection of the fears of both sides.

Republicans fear that there is a wish to exclude them in the future Northern Ireland, whereas Unionists fear a return to violence. I believe that these two perceptions are incorrect. Unionists are open to working with Sinn Fein and are, in many cases, already doing so, when they believe that violence has permanently ended, which, I believe, is now the case. The decommissioning of arms is seen as a token of the decommissioning of minds and hearts which must take place. All agree that it is the decommissioning of the mindset which is important. It is the outcome of the process which is really essential. It is the change of attitude of those who have been prepared to use arms to achieve political ends which is absolutely necessary.

Granted that how and when decommissioning takes place is a matter for discussion between paramilitaries and the decommissioning body, nevertheless the impact of some decommissioning now would be powerful. It would in itself be a wonderful confidence building measure because it would be a powerful statement of faith that the promise contained in the Good Friday Agreement can be achieved and will be achieved. It would be a clear vote of confidence in the ability of those carrying out the decommissioning to find their protection for the future, not in guns and bombs, but in the new political relationships which can be formed.

Decommissioning is not and never can be the foundation of a lasting peace. Peace can only be founded on the recognition of human dignity and on the respect for human rights which flows from that dignity. Peace flourishes where human rights are respected. However, decommissioning could be an important element in the resolution of the present impasse. When they endorsed the Good Friday Agreement by a substantial majority, the people of Ireland, North and South, were stating quite clearly that they oppose the use of physical force to achieve political ends. They were saying that there can be no place for private armies in the Northern Ireland of the future. It is wrong to speak of guns as being necessary for defence since in the past many people were murdered, despite the fact that paramilitaries were heavily armed on both sides. Decommissioning needs to start sometime, why not now? Sometimes in the negotiations of a political settlement the order in which the different pieces of the jig-saw are put in place may not be entirely to our liking. But the important thing is that eventually all the pieces do fall into place.

In his message for this World Peace Day Pope John Paul II states that respect for human rights is the secret of true peace. He identifies certain human rights which are particularly exposed to violation at the present time. The first of these is the basic right to life. To choose life, he says, “involves rejecting every form of violence, the violence of poverty and hunger as well as the violence of armed conflict and the violence of criminal trafficking in drugs”. “A genuine culture of life”, the Pope continues, “just as it guarantees to the unborn the right to come into the world, in the same way protects the newly born, especially girls, from the crime of infanticide. Equally it assures the handicapped that they can fully develop their capacities and ensures adequate care for the sick and the elderly”.

The establishment of a genuine culture of life is the great challenge of the present time. The approach of the new Millennium fills many hearts with hope throughout the world, just as the signing of the Good Friday Agreement filled many hearts with hope here in Ireland. That hope is for a fuller life in a more just and secure world. For that to happen the dignity of the poor and the marginalised must be protected. The rights of those who have no rights, must be recognised in a practical way. But that is a struggle which is best carried on, not with guns and bombs, but through political debate and dialogue.

The prophet Isaiah once had a wonderful vision of everlasting peace. In that vision he saw God wielding authority over the nations and adjudicating between many people.

“These will hammer their swords into ploughshares,
their spears into sickles.
Nation will not lift sword against nation,
there will be no more training for war”.

The Good Friday Agreement inspired a vision of peace for our land. That vision has received its share of setbacks, most notably in Omagh on 15th August last. Nevertheless it has survived the storm and continues on its journey of hope. It has done so because enough people have decided that the time has come to hammer the swords into ploughshares and the spears into sickles. They are determined that never again, in this part of the world at least, will nation lift up sword against nation. There will be no more training for war.

Of course there are still obstacles but obstacles are meant to be overcome. For me a suggestion already made by others is particularly attractive: It is that we follow the example of Chile and Argentina. In 1902, after decades of conflict, Chile and Argentina finally reached agreement. To mark the occasion they jointly constructed a 29 foot tall statue of Christ which was moulded from the metal of old guns and canons. On it they put this inscription:

“Sooner these mountains crumble to dust than the Argentinians
and Chileans break the peace sworn at the feet of Christ, the
Redeemer”

Can we not turn all our weapons into one great statue of Christ as a symbol to the world that in future we will try to resolve our differences, not with guns and bombs, but only through the cut and thrust of political debate? As we enter the New Year let us redouble our efforts for peace. Let us continue to work and pray and hope for peace. Let us give our politicians the space and encouragement to win the peace which we all so desperately need and desire.

Jesus came into the world to restore the full dignity of every human person. He taught us to call God ‘Father’. He showed us how God’s love is boundless and everlasting. Jesus is close to us as we struggle to rid the world of war and want, of fear and hatred. If in 1999 we accept his invitation to share God’s love, then we will be richly blessed. For we will find there the secret of respect for the rights of every woman and man and the dawn of the new Millennium will find us, each one of us, more ready to build peace together.

A Happy New Year to you all. AMEN

DEATH OF MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA
STATEMENT BY CARDINAL SEAN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
6 September, 1997

I am saddened to learn the news of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. The Missionaries of Charity have lost a beloved mother, the world has lost an inspirational figure, and the little ones, the weak and the shunned, have lost a faithful servant and fearless champion.

Mother Teresa personified the words of Jesus – Blessed are the Merciful. Her mercy was one that went to meet the needs of others. She was consistent in her respect for and protection of human life at every moment of its existence.

When I last met her in July, her concern was, as usual, for something other than herself and her illness. She was planning and praying that the Missionaries of Charity might be admitted to China, a project that was especially dear to her heart. With Mother Teresa God’s plans always came first.
In Armagh last year she told listeners that real loving and understanding give peace and joy. May the example of her life – so rich in faith and love – continue to inspire people to work for lasting peace and joy.

MASS FOR ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY
COLERAINE
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1998
HOMILY BY MOST REVEREND SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARAMGH

Just over one year ago in August 1997, I was in Paris for the World Youth Day with the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. It was an unforgettable experience. One million and fifty thousand young people gathered with the Pope to reflect on the words of Christ to his first disciples, ‘Come and see’. They had asked him the question: “Lord where do you live? Where do you hang out?” and in reply he had said: “Come and see”. We are told that they went and spent the whole day with him. Next day they were able to say to their friends, “We have found the Messiah”. It was the dream of every faithful Jew to find the Messiah.

One of the most memorable moments during that magnificent week, a week of great memories, was the beatification of Blessed Frederick Ozanam by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Notre Dame de Paris. I know that many of you were there. You had the privilege of sharing that great joy. It was a very happy occasion. I am sure it was a proud and happy day for Vincentians all over the world. We give God thanks today and praise for raising up people like Antoine Frederick Ozanam in his Church. It is a cause of great joy to know that someone whom you admire and esteem very much is now in the presence of God. Frederick Ozanam sees God face to face. The Church now allows him to be honoured with public cult under the title of ‘Blessed’. That is what beatification means. He is called ‘Blessed’ and Mass can be offered in his honour.

At that ceremony there in Paris on that day in that magnificently full Cathedral was a positive declaration that Frederick Ozanam did in fact practice heroic virtues. He was a holy and good man to a heroic degree. He worked an authentic miracle in answer to prayer. The fact that he practiced virtue to such a heroic degree caused the people to ask: “Well how did he practice that virtue?”

Because we all want to see God face to face, because we all want to win Heaven. People went back once again to study the facts of his life. They remembered that at the age of sixteen he suffered a crisis of doubt as regards his faith. He overcame that crisis with the help of his teacher, Abbe Noiro. There are many sixteen year olds today suffering a similar crisis of doubt and crisis of faith. They need teachers like Abbe Noiro to show them the light, to lead them out of their darkness, to come to their rescue. They need help in building up the foundations of their faith. We all need to imitate the patience and the charity of Blessed Frederick Ozanam in our discussions and in our debates with those who have problems or difficulties in believing.

In 1831, at the age of eighteen, Frederick Ozanam went to Paris to study Law. In that same year he published his first work which was written to refute the theories of some enemies of the Church. He was always concerned to refute the attacks on Catholicism which were widespread in the University. Two years later he, and a few fellow student, formed a Conference of Charity to undertake practical work amongst the poor. As you know this is accepted as the foundation date of your Society. Frederick Ozanam was twenty years of age.

We all know that there is a breakdown in communication between a lot of modern people and the teaching of the Church today. We have to try and overcome that breakdown in communication. Some of the terms we use like ‘Redemption’ and ‘Salvation’ do not mean much to people today.

Cardinal Ratzinger was once asked: “How can we overcome this problem?” His answer was: “Yes, we should be devoting our efforts to dealing with these difficulties” and then he said an interesting thing: “However, that can succeed only if we ourselves live these things interiorly. When they become comprehensible again in new ways by being lived, they can also be stated in new ways”. He said: “The communication of Christian realities involves the whole person and one can only grasp that when one enters into the pilgrim community”. He says there are two requirements: “Really to live the reality and so come to understand it oneself and then to create new possibilities of expression to a community that ratifies it”.

The reason I bring this up at all is that I believe that you, members of Vincentians, you members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, do indeed live these things interiorly.

LAUNCH OF
STEPS ON MY PILGRIM JOURNEY
MEMORIES AND REFLECTIONS BY CARDINAL CAHAL B. DALY
BANK OF IRELAND ARTS CENTRE, DUBLIN
TUESDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER, 1998, 12.30PM
ADDRESS BY MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY, DCL
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

I warmly congratulate Cardinal Daly on completing the writing of this fine work which he has chosen to entitle Steps on my Pilgrim Journey. I congratulate Veritas on its elegant publication. Cardinal Daly is emphatic that this is not an autobiography but rather “an assortment of somewhat random memories”. It is indeed that but much more. It is the fruit of the Cardinal’s extraordinary memory of so many of the outstanding events in the life of the Catholic Church in Ireland and in the world during the greater part of this century. It also contains very perceptive profiles of many of the leaders of the Church over the same period.

There is a Persian proverb which says that the best memory is that which forgets nothing but injuries, a memory which writes kindness in marble and injuries in the dust. Cardinal Daly has written the kindness with remarkable clarity of recall. He has written movingly of the kindness of all those who have helped him on the steps of his pilgrim journey. That journey began in his beloved Loughguile – a place that he says always has been and always will be “home”. The journey took him next to St Malachy’s College, Belfast and Queen’s University. Next stop was St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. From there he returned to teach briefly in St Malachy’s College, before his appointment to the Department of Scholastic Philosophy, Queen’s University, Belfast.

It was said of Pope John XXIII that he was always at God’s disposal – not for a life of contemplation although he had the qualities this life demands – but for a life of priestly service to souls and in circumstances which were radically changed eight times during his life. I think that the same could be said of Cardinal Daly. Despite the demands of his busy pastoral life, he has managed to find time for much contemplation and reflection. The fruits of that contemplation are to be found in this volume which make it much more than a mere chronicle of the recollections of a long and fruitful life.

Steps on my Pilgrim Journey reveal much to those who wish to know its author better. Firstly there is the influence of his parents and of his family, and of his teachers in passing on to him their strong faith in God and their dedication to living out that faith in their daily lives.

Then there is the memory of all those priests and professors whom providence had placed on his path and who had a profound influence on his training and formation – the Dr Hendleys, the Professor Henrys. Cardinal Daly writes their kindness in finest Carrara.

I enjoyed reading all of this book and I have learned a lot from it. I particularly enjoyed reading Chapter Seven which deals with the Second Vatican Council. It is certainly the best-informed, most impartial and most enlightened account of the Vatican Council from an Irish perspective which I have read. This is not surprising since it comes from the pen of someone who was already engaged in the Christus Rex Society for almost twenty years – a Society which had played an important role in the renewal of the Church in Ireland in the lead up to the Council by involving laity directly with priests in discussion of pastoral and social issues. Also Cardinal Daly’s experience of reading philosophy and of study in Paris in 1952-55 prepared him well for his attendance at the Council. The great renewal of the Church soon to be brought about by the Vatican Council was already being prepared in France during those years.

All of this ensured that Cardinal Daly was excellently prepared and ideally placed to understand what was taking place at the Council and its profound significance for the life of the Church.

Cardinal Daly was fortunate enough to be able to attend all the sessions of the Vatican Council – first as theological advisor to Bishop William Philbin and later to Cardinal William Conway. He found the experience to be spiritually enriching – an extraordinary event of tremendous benefit. He came away from the Council, he says, feeling the need to acquit himself of a debt of gratitude.

Over the last thirty years he has indeed discharged himself of that debt of gratitude by taking the Council documents as the guide and inspiration of his life as a diocesan bishop. Now once again he discharges that debt by writing this masterly account of his participation in the Vatican Council. He has placed us all deeply in his debt by doing so.

Indeed, I found the account of his thirty years as a bishop a challenging not to say daunting one. He highlights the welcome and the cooperation which he received from the priests, religious and laity in the three dioceses in which he has served, Ardagh & Clonmacnois, Down & Connor and Armagh. I am very happy to say that the same spirit of loyalty and generosity continues to flourish in the diocese of Armagh. The welcome and help which he himself gave to me on my arrival in Armagh were the essence of thoughtfulness and consideration.

Chapter Ten entitled, Thirty Years a Bishop, is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland in the second half of the Twentieth Century. The social imperative of his first years in the priesthood is now joined by the ecumenical imperative, the catechetical imperative, the peace imperative. The list goes on and in doing so it reflects his many cares and concerns over those thirty years. In the Prologue to Steps on my Pilgrim Journey he refers to the possibility of some omissions among the assortment of memories collected therein. The only glaring omission which I can find is an acknowledgment of the immense load of work which the Cardinal carried out for the Irish Conference of Bishops over those thirty years.

I have already said Steps on My Pilgrim Journey is not just the Chronicle of a long and fruitful life. It is also a Spiritual Testament, a Journal of a Soul. In it the author shares with his readers the scriptural passages which have given him courage and strength over the years. He has shared his vision of priesthood and of service to the Church. He reveals again his great confidence that by the power of the Risen Lord the Church is always given the strength to overcome the afflictions and hardships which assail it both from within and without. He quotes a remark of Mgr John Quinlan during the first session of the Council describing Cardinal Montini as “the barometer of the Council”. I think Cardinal Daly could aptly be described as the barometer of the Irish Church.

Probably the most pleasing aspect of this book for me was the determination of the author “not to forget in the darkness what we have seen in the light” of the Church. I have seen this word “defensive” used in describing certain parts of its contents. What else does one do but defend when someone or some institution which we value and love, is being attacked or misrepresented?

Cardinal Daly has dealt with several other aspects of his life and spirituality such as his devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, and to the Saints, especially St Therese of Lisieux. The texts of sermons preached on special occasions, such as arrival in or departure from three dioceses, to priests, religious and lay faithful, provide a precious insight into the struggles and the testing of faith which are always part of the pilgrim way of the Church itself. His soul is certainly to be found in those pages.

The final chapter is entitled, Full of Hope. There the Cardinal identifies some priorities for pastoral planning and action for the immediate future. The emphatic message is that this is not a time for discouragement, pessimism or fear about the future. Rather it is a time for hope and confidence about all that the future may bring.

Cardinal Daly says he feels a great impatience to do so much more for the Lord and for the Church. Certainly writing Steps on my Pilgrim Journey can give renewed conviction and energy to a lot of other pilgrims on their journey. Long may he continue to provide that sort of welcome, inspiration and encouragement. Thank you, Cardinal, for once more placing your genius, time and energy at the service of the Church by sharing with your readers this eloquent testament of faith, hope and love.

PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
ARTICLE FOR THE MONTH BY
MOST REV. SEAN BRADY, DCL
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
24 AUGUST, 1998

The stirring events of the past two months in Northern Ireland, namely the Drumcree Parade issue and the Omagh bombing, have pushed the topic of reconciliation or reconstruction centre stage as never before. People in Northern Ireland are no strangers to political and civil unrest, to communal trauma and upheaval, of the most extreme kinds. Yet as I write people are talking of a watershed in society. There is a perception that the absolute depths of depravity, as never before, have been reached in the Omagh bombing and in the arson attack in July which killed three young boys. Both communities feel utterly aggrieved and disgusted by these two dastardly acts and feel an unprecedented disdain and revulsion for the people who perpetrated them and for the mentality which made these deeds possible. What must now follow is the reconstruction or rather the rebuilding of relationships in society. Such rebuilding does not happen immediately or easily. The process is slow and difficult. The weight of the past burdens the present immensely. That burden is compounded by memories of violence, betrayal and oppression. Only the gift of reconciliation can really lift that burden.

THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

The Good Friday Agreement of 10 April brought joy and hope to many people, not just in Northern Ireland, but everywhere in the world where the cause of genuine peace is cherished. Some were surprised that there was not more euphoria here in Northern Ireland. The explanation lies in the fact that people have had their hopes dashed so often in the past that they were almost afraid to believe and to hope; afraid to believe that such an agreement was possible, almost afraid to hope that it could work. However, the approval given to the terms of the Agreement in the subsequent Referenda, North and South in Ireland, and the confirmation of that approval reflected in the results of the election to the new Assembly in Northern Ireland, have helped to dispel the doubts.

The Good Friday Agreement points a way to peace. It points a way forward out of the conflict which has left so many people scarred and heartbroken in both nationalist and unionist parts of the community. It has left so many lives wrecked and so many families devastated, Catholics and Protestants.

A huge majority voted to approve the Good Friday Agreement because they appreciated that it was unique in the range of parties and governments which had taken part in the negotiations. Agreement was reached after an enormous commitment of time and energy, patience and resilience by all the participants.
The Agreement provides for a wide-ranging programme of human rights protection. All sections of the Community benefit from this. A just society is one that is regulated in such a way that human rights are respected, human dignity is protected and human development is promoted. The rights and interests of all sides of the community are protected in a way that simple majority rule did not achieve.

MARCHING ISSUE

The spirit of hope of earlier this year was severely dented by the violent and sometimes tragic events of the month of July. The pain and fear experienced by so many began, once again, to cast doubt on the earlier optimism. The crisis reached its most awful moment with the murder of the three little Quinn brothers in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim on 12 July. The most chilling thought is that those murders could have happened at any one of a huge number of similar arson attacks on homes. Each of those attacks could have led to similar deaths.

A march forced down the Garvaghy Road on the third consecutive year without consultation with the residents would have been disastrous. It would have run the risk of unravelling the whole agreement and of handing a moral victory to those extremists who oppose the Agreement on the Nationalist side. Thankfully this did not happen.

The marching issue is in great need of a permanent solution. Northern Ireland can simply not continue enduring one disastrous summer after another. Building new relationships of trust and mutual respect and neighbourly harmony are absolutely necessary. Dialogue, accommodation and compromise must be our new weapons. Bigotry, sectarianism and intransigence must be decommissioned.

OMAGH BOMBING

The last thirty years in the history of the Northern Ireland have been more remarkable for the divisions they have caused between the two communities rather than for the occasions and issues there have been to bring the two communities together. The joys of one community were not always shared by the other; the sadness and sorrows, angers and frustrations of one tradition were not always recognised by the other; indeed acknowledgement of same might not always have been appreciated or considered sincere or genuine.

The Omagh bombing seems to be a watershed, however; a republican bomb in a mainly nationalist town killing and maiming both Catholics and Protestants, men, women and children, from both Northern Ireland and the Republic, and from as far abroad as Spain, changed everything. This was a tragedy in which all could identify and all could share. Both the Irish and British Governments, both traditions in Northern Ireland, the public throughout Britain and Ireland, were all united in shock and horror. The appalling face of terrorism and the absolute futility and insanity of violence had been unmasked in their absolute nakedness and impoverishment as never before. The widespread desire to publicly show grief and manifest revulsion throughout the island by public demonstrations and acts of reflection and remembrance was quite unique and unprecedented in the history of Ireland.

We must now make certain that the hopes of peace are consolidated and not ruined by this bomb. We must redouble our prayers and efforts to ensure that the worst atrocity of the past thirty years may in fact prove to be the last. We do so in the belief that lasting peace is ultimately a divine gift as well as a human task. To do anything else other than to work and to hope and to pray for peace is to yield to despair and to give in to the temptation to believe that such peace is impossible. That would be the final surrender to those who instil terror and inflict violence. We owe it to the memory of those who have died to make sure that this does not happen and to do all we can to guarantee that they have not died in vain.

POLITICAL FUTURE

At the end of a particularly awful summer, and summer is always very difficult in these parts, the hope that the Good Friday Agreement is going to work, is still thankfully very much alive and well. The awful events of recent months have, in a perverse way, been a catalyst for good. We cannot be prisoners of our history, of strife and dissension forever. Of course there are very real fears on the Unionist side that they are in danger of being pushed by what they see as a vindictive and unforgiving nationalist population.

Some see their whole way of life under threat and receiving less protection than it deserves from a British Government that is basically, in their opinion, uncomprehending and unsympathetic. It is up to nationalists to recognise that these fears exist and to take decisive and generous action to deal with them.
On the Nationalist side there are the sceptics who have yet to be convinced that any real change is to be expected. Fine words must be matched with deeds. People must prove that they are prepared to change and work in partnership for a better future.

A NEW BEGINNING

This is a very hopeful, challenging moment in our history. Hopefully the majority which approved the Agreement will act consistently and continue to make of it which the prophet Isaiah calls ‘an enterprise of justice’. When the lawyer asked Jesus what must he do to possess eternal life, Jesus told him essentially to love God with all his heart and his neighbour as himself. Basically it means building and establishing good relationships. Today those relationships are taken to include right relationship with self, God, people, institutions and the environment.

In the Scriptures they have a word for that sort of reality – good relationships – they called it peace, Shalom – and the work of building those good relationships was called peace-making. Jesus Christ is the True Peacemaker. He has been compared to a cornerstone which unites two great walls coming from two different directions – the Jews and the Gentiles. He made one Church out of those two peoples – the believing people of the Jews and the believing people of the Gentiles. Two believing peoples can have their differences. They can have different traditions, different practices, different beliefs but they can also have much in common – common beliefs, common hopes, common hurts and common fears. The process of healing the hurts and calming the fears must begin now. It requires people of courage to always uphold what is fair and reasonable. We need people of faith to pray that this glorious opportunity for a new beginning is not squandered.

BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS

Jesus Christ brought peace because he broke down barriers. He brought forgiveness and he called people to repentance. He brought forgiveness and he called us all to repentance. For Christians, Jesus Christ comes first before loyalty to nation or ideology, party or politics. Which of us can say that this has ever and always been the case and that we do not share in any way in the blame associated with our present troubles. Which of us can say that we or our community have never failed to live together with our neighbour in peace and mutual respect.

I think the concept of respect is crucial. The word itself comes from the Latin word respicere. It means to look at something again and to see the good that is there.

Differences and divisions needed to be owned, discussed and directly confronted.

The fact is that we are all interdependent on this island of Ireland. The Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA) are interdependent. There are lots of hidden relationships founded on history and on geography. They need to be identified and acknowledged. We need to listen to each other’s story and to hear each other’s fears of being divided from one’s own place. History and geography are important but not all important. The vast majority of the peoples of this islands of the North Atlantic have positive feelings for each other and want to live in peace. Of course peace is much more than the absence of war. Getting rid of the fears and the threats is only the first step.

The plight of victims is crucial. Appeasement is not reconciliation. A lasting peace that trivialises suffering is not reconciliation. To call on those who have suffered to forget or overlook their suffering is in effect to continue the oppressive situation.

It is, in fact, wrong and unjust to say that the experiences of those who suffer are not important and that they themselves are not important to the process. By forgetting the pain and the hurt the victim is forgotten. So the causes of the suffering are not uncovered or dealt with.

Our only future lies in working together. I call on all people in Northern Ireland to commit themselves now to that work. I ask them not to “cross to the other side of the road” to avoid it, but to engage positively and proactively in this immense task of reconciliation.

The events of 1998, despite the recent atrocities, continue to provide solid grounds for believing that a lasting peace is attainable in our community. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Christians are called to play their part in building that peace and in ensuring that the community which emerges is the kind that Christ wants us to be.

XII WORLD YOUTH DAY
PARIS
WEDNESDAY, 20 AUGUST, 1997
ADDRESS BY MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY

It is a great privilege to be asked to help as a Catechist to all of you who are gathered here in Paris to celebrate the 12th World Youth Day. The theme for our catechesis today is: “Jesus lives in his Word”. Recently I visited the tiny, but beautiful, island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland. The island of Iona is famous because St. Columcille or St. Columba, made it his headquarters. From there he, and his missionaries, set out to bring the Good News of Jesus to the Picts of Scotland and the English of Northumbria. There is a tradition that Columcille always went to the northern edge of the island to meditate on the Word of God. There he looked out over the Atlantic ocean and its mighty waves. It is said he would never go to the south side of the island because there he would be looking towards his native country, Ireland, and might be tempted to yield to loneliness and abandon his decision to be a pilgrim for Christ. There is also the legend that upon arrival he, and his twelve companions, buried their boat behind the bay for the same reason lest they be tempted to return home.

Nowadays, each year the tiny island of Iona welcomes 100,000 visitors. This year the visitors will be far more than 100,000. This year 1997, marks the 1400th anniversary of the death of St. Columcille and people go there in such numbers to pay tribute to Columcille and to his companions who brought the Good News of Jesus to large parts of England, Scotland and Wales.

Jesus lives in his Word. That same word of Jesus that we are reading today inspired Columcille and his companions to do great things for Christ.

This theme corresponds magnificently with that of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 which is Jesus Christ, the One Saviour of the World, yesterday, today and forever. In our preparation for the Great Jubilee, the year 1997 is being devoted to reflection on Christ, the Word of God. In order to know who Christ truly is, Pope John Paul urges us, especially in the course of this year, to renew our interest in the Bible. In the Sacred Scripture God Himself comes to us in love. God remains with us and shows us what His son, Jesus, is really like. He reveals to us how He plans to save the world. So we take up the Word of God with great love and reverence knowing that it is alive and praying that it will become more active in our lives.

Our teacher is, as always, the Holy Spirit. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our prayers this morning, First of all we ask the Holy Spirit to quieten us down because we live in such a busy world. We try and leave our pre-occupations and distractions and worries behind us. We want to really listen to the voice of God that speaks deep within us. We know that He stands at the door and knocks. Many people don’t hear that knock because they are too preoccupied with other things. We all know from our experience of listening to one another how difficult it often is to give each other our full attention. Listening to God is no different. Spending time with God in quiet is not in any way an escape from the struggles of this world. The God we encounter within us is at the heart of the world’s struggles as well. In this listening to God we may encounter painful truths about ourselves. It is better to face them because in that way we become more free to fully serve God in the world.

Our aim in all of this is to discover the secrets of the heart of God and to find out what God wants to say to us. Our aim is to receive help and guidance. We are looking for light in our decision-making and hope in the various difficult situations in which we find ourselves, and strength in the hard choices we have to make. With the light of God’s Spirit we will hopefully be able to see the presence of the Lord, not only in the Word of the passage we have just read but also in our own lives. For God has sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father. When we ourselves are no longer able to pray the Holy Spirit comes to us and prays within us. That is very important and now we call upon that Holy Spirit again: “Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts, guide us. Help us to listen and to hear your voice speaking within us. Pray within us when we are no longer able to pray”.

We begin by recalling the characters in the passage we have just heard. Jesus was there of course. He is the main character. He is at the beginning of his public life. He has spent almost thirty years in the hidden life at Nazareth. There he grew in wisdom, grace and holiness. Then he had moved from Nazareth, which was in Galilee, and had arrived at the banks of the Jordan. For the Jews the Jordan was a holy place. Long ago people had crossed over this river into the Promised Land. Here, God would appear to give His people life. Today’s story finds us at this holy place where John the Baptist is proclaiming the Lamb of God.

Jesus had come to his cousin, John the Baptist, and had asked to be baptised. John tries to make Jesus change his mind saying: “I ought to be baptised by you and yet you have come to me”. “Let it be so for now” said Jesus, “in this way we shall do all that God requires”. Jesus is always anxious to do what God requires. On another occasion he said: “My meat is to do with the will of the One who sent me”.

Sometime previously John the Baptist had come down to the desert of Judea and started preaching. He told the people to turn away from their sins because the kingdom of Heaven was near. People came to him from Jerusalem, from the whole province and from all the countries near the River Jordan. They confessed their sins and he baptised them in the Jordan. When he saw the Pharisees coming to him he said: “You snakes, who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send”.
The other people involved are Andrew and his companion. Both of these were disciples of John the Baptist. The second is not named but is probably John, the author of the Gospel. There are some precise details recorded such as the fact that it was the tenth hour which only someone who was present would have remembered. These details were treasured and caressed by John who had witnessed it all personally and retold it lovingly, as one is wont to retell many times events and incidents which change the course of one’s life. So John, the beloved disciple, was probably there.

Andrew and his brother, Simon Peter, were there, as well as their fellow townsman, Philip, whose name means ‘lover of horses’. These three came from the town of Bethsaida on the banks of the Jordan, north of the Sea of Galilee. Peter and Andrew were fishermen and the name Bethsaida means ‘a house of fish’.
The final character involved was Nathaniel who came from Cana in Galilee, the site of the first miracle worked by Jesus. Cana is not far from Nazareth. Perhaps there was some bad blood between the two towns because Nathaniel’s questions suggests something like that. He asks: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” The question suggests that he may have had some negative experience of Nazareth or of some of the people of Nazareth. He seems a bit soured and cynical. A little praise from Jesus works wonders. We call it affirmation nowadays. Jesus said to him: “Here is a real Israelite in whom there is no guile” and Nathaniel is a changed person. The words of Jesus seem to have set him free from his negativity. “Teacher” he answered “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”.

What events of significance take place in this Gospel scene? Well, Jesus walks past and John points out Jesus to his companions, to his disciples, as the Lamb of God. The previous day John had indicated Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ and his listeners would have understood this as referring to someone who overcomes and conquers evil in the world.

John is here suggesting to his two friends, his two companions, that now his own task has come to an end. Now they are to follow Jesus and not follow him any longer. It illustrates what John himself was to say later on, “He must increase and I must decrease”. It also shows the great humility of John the Baptist. His two friends take the hint and proceed to follow Jesus. Perhaps it was at some distance. Perhaps they did so rather shyly or sheepishly. In any case, Jesus turned and saw them following him and puts a question to them: “What are you looking for?” It is the first question which Jesus asked in the Gospels. A similar sort of question is found in the beginning of the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis where God asks Adam and Eve: “Where are you?” Of course to ask questions is one of the basic human activities. Questioning begins in childhood and continues in different and deeper ways throughout life. Once upon a time a faith without questions may have been possible but today it is not very likely. The disciples answered the question of Jesus with another question: “Where do you live Rabbi?” Literally they ask, “Where do you stay Rabbi, where do you remain?” St. John used the same word later when he says: “Remain in my love”.

In answer to this questions Jesus invites them to come and see for themselves. They accept his invitation and so began the adventure which was to change their lives. They went with Jesus and saw where he lived and spent the rest of the day with him. They went. They saw. They stayed. During that day they saw and heard enough to convince them that Jesus was in fact the long awaited Messiah. That was the message which Andrew gave to Simon, his brother. “We have found the Messiah”. It was the most exciting discovery that any faithful Jew could ever make. Then Andrew took his brother, Simon to Jesus.

Andrew and John were not content to stay there on their own and keep their call to themselves. Andrew tells Simon his brother immediately. Good News cannot be kept secret. Disciples make disciples. They share the news of the discovery they have made with others. They tell their brothers and their friends and so bring about the vocation of Peter, Philip and Nathaniel. Jesus looked at Simon and said: “Your name is Simon, son of John, but you will be called Cephas”

Even though Jesus says relatively little in this passage he does in fact dominate it in an extraordinary way with his question: What are you looking for? and his invitation / command to them to come and follow him. The authority with which Jesus changes the name of Peter is quite remarkable. And the remarks of all the others are about Jesus. “There is the Lamb of God” says John the Baptist. “We have found the Messiah” says Andrew. “We have found the One whom Moses and the prophets wrote about” says Philip. Even Nathaniel’s question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? is of course a reference to his hometown.

“Seek and You Shall Find”

This passage is about the search for God and the search for Jesus Christ. The key phrases indicate this very clearly: What are you looking for?, Come and see, we have found the Messiah, We have found the One Moses wrote about. It is interesting to note that the first question in the Old Testament is that addressed by God to Adam and Eve, Where are you? The first question in the New Testament in St. John’s Gospel is: What do you desire? In each case it is God who is asking the question. It is God who is coming in search of us.

Sometimes this search fails and must be set right. Then we discover that our search for God is rooted in the fact that God first seeks us out. Out of sheer goodness God created us. God created us to have us share his own blessed life. For this reason, at every opportunity, God draws close to us. He calls us to seek Him and to know Him and to love Him with all our being. He calls all people together into the unity of His family which is the Church. To accomplish all of this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son. In His Son, Jesus, and through Jesus, God invites us to become His adopted children. He invites us and calls us to be heirs of His blessed life.

That is the drama that is being enacted in this Gospel. Jesus invites Andrew and John to say exactly what they want. It is the first question to any would-be follower. What are you looking for? Yes, they were searching. They were on their way to hear John but John pointed them towards Jesus. Then they discovered Jesus in fact searching for them. The searchers discover that they in turn are themselves being sought.

Every religion is a search for God. Christianity is slightly different in the sense that it is not just a question of our seeking God. Instead God comes in person to us, not only to speak to us but to show us the road by which God may be reached. It begins with Jesus taking flesh and becoming one of us.

When they found Jesus, Andrew and John had to make a decision. Would they accept this invitation to come and see or not? For that they needed faith. Faith is our response to God who comes in search of us. That response must be freely given. God has far too much respect for us to try to manipulate us. Andrew and John, Simon Peter and Philip all put their faith in Jesus. From that simple dialogue began the adventure that changed their lives. That adventure took them far from the banks of the Jordan. It took Simon Peter for example to Rome, to the banks of the Tiber, to suffer and die like his master, on a cross on the Vatican hill.

“Come and see”, This is an invitation to all of us to experience Jesus directly and immediately. It is a call to begin a journey in faith. Going to see God’s dwelling place involves leaving one’s own. There comes a moment in every life when the child must leave home and begin to make his/her way as an adult in the world. One must, in a certain sense, cut oneself off from the sheltered security of the small familiar world to adventure in the other greater world. So also the Christian journey involves, not just once but frequently, a pulling away and separation from the familiar, from the known.

Beneath this story we have the whole theology of vocation. We get an understanding of how one can be called to be a disciple of Jesus. It can be brought about by human factors. For the four disciples the important factors were friendship, they were friends. Three of them were from the same town, they were pursuing the same ideals as the disciples of John the Baptist. Simon and Andrew were blood brothers. There were human factors involved but God had taken the initiative. The key words “seek” and “follow” describe the essential attitudes of every disciple. To follow Christ indicates that we take the means which we have decided are necessary to bring us to Christ. The words “they find”, “they see”, and “they stay”, describes the reward for someone who follows Christ.

Jesus makes his first disciples his friends. He begins a new phase in his life. And this touches us all very closely as we too have been called, we believe ourselves to be called, to make the joyful discovery of Jesus as our Friend and Master. Jesus calls all who would listen to him, to follow him. He expects them to live out his teaching in their everyday lives. Living out his life and teaching means accepting Gospel values.

Jesus said: “Seek and you shall find”. The fact is that many sought Jesus in the Gospel, even some of his relatives, without finding him. Jesus said: “You will look for me but you will not find me because you cannot go where I will be”. He is saying that those people will discover too late that he is Saviour of the world and then they will seek him in vain. The short time that he stays with them is the only time of salvation on offer to them.

Some people fail in their search for Jesus because they seek only their own gain. He warned about this in his Gospel. “I am telling you the truth. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles”.

The search for God and friendship with God is not an easy one. We need to use all the helps that are available to us. We need to make sure that we are searching in the right place. Just as the Israelites saw Moses come down from the mountains with tablets of stone, so we need to see the signs of God’s call to friendship.

One such tablet is nature. The human eye sees God’s grandeur in creation. The universe invites a sense of wonder in the human heart.

A second such tablet is Sacred Scripture. Sacred Scripture indicates what we are to believe and what we are to do in order to achieve friendship with God. Through it we learn to meditate, to contemplate and to pray.

The third such tablet is the love which Christians have for one another. Friendship with God is connected with the friendship we experiences in the body of Christ, the Church. That friendship comes from Baptism and from Eucharist. It comes from ministering with one another and working to build up God’s reign on earth.

The last tablet is prayer. Friendship with God means surrendering to God’s love, in loving conversation with God. This can only happen if we allow God’s Spirit to move our hearts and enter into peaceful communion.

The second important point is that we search for God where God is to be found. There is an eastern parable which describes God as playing ‘hide and seek’ with humanity. According to one version God asks the angel for advice about the best place to hide. “Go to the farthest star” one said or “Try the depth of the sea” and somebody else suggested some inaccessible cave or some faraway desert. One other angel suggested that God might find the best disguise among the poor. Eventually one very wise angel came up with another idea: “Hide at the centre of human experience where the heart meets reality. Hide yourself at the cutting edge where people share their lives.” According to the parable that is the solution that God chose.

God is found through following the light and the guidance and the call that leads us into mystery. To find the strength and the courage for that journey we sometimes need to be set free. We sometimes need to be awakened to the wonder of our own existence. Maybe that is what Jesus did for Andrew and John on that first afternoon. That conversation lasted a long time. Perhaps Jesus revealed to them the wonder of their existence and the wonderful love God had for them.

God is also to be found in the darkness that is sometimes unavoidable along the journey through life. That need not overwhelm us, discourage us, or dishearten us provided we remember that darkness is never the whole story. We are never abandoned or alone in those shadows. God is to be found in the questioning which comes up in life. We saw how the disciples were questioned by Jesus. They didn’t know how to answer. They were trying to make sense of their experience, so they answered with another question: “Lord where do you live?” They were saying that this was far too complicated a business to discuss here on the side of the road. So they wanted to go aside to a quiet place and talk.

God is most certainly to be found by walking side by side with companions along the road to life. We have already seen the part which Andrew and John the Baptist played in bringing others to Christ. We are not meant to travel alone. Faith flourishes when people become members of a community. There are many such exciting communities all around us here today in the Church. Above all, especially God is found in the house of the Church. It is the place where the Spirit continues to guide the friends of Jesus. There, vast numbers of people find food for their journey every day and guidance by listening to the Scripture, they get strength and energy by being nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ.

God is found through adoration and prayer. God is found through giving. We are here for others, especially for the many wounded of our world. Anyone who tries to care in any way is not far from the Kingdom. And at the evening of life, says John of the Cross these will be judged by love.

I want to give God thanks for this great assembly of young people. I give praise to God who not only speaks to us in Jesus Christ but also seeks us out and comes to us in person to look for us and to show us the road by which God may be reached. I give thanks for the coming of Christ into the world which proves that our God is a searching God and I want to praise God who loves each one of us so much as to send his only beloved Son into the world so that we may have light and may not perish. I thank God for the John the Baptists and the Andrews in my life who have, in various ways, pointed out the Lamb of God to me and who have pointed out that Jesus is in fact living next to me in the brothers and sisters with whom I share my daily existence. I ask for light to see how God loves me forever. God is found by following the guidance and the advice that leads us into mystery when I ask from God the strength and the courage for that journey. I ask that God would awaken each one of us to the wonder at our own existence. I ask God to give each one of us the light that will take us through the darkness that is unavoidable along the journey. I ask for light to see God’s plan more clearly, a plan which aims to make each one of us His beloved daughter and son, and to have us share His eternal happiness forever. I ask God to let us see how we are considered His special possession, so special that our names are written on the palms of His hands.
I pray that in all our struggles, with studies or with relationships, with our mood and our decisions, with our hurts and disappointments we may be sustained by enough faith to continue the search.

Lord, we thank you for your invitation to come and see where you dwell. We ask you for the grace to remain in your love so that we may be able to come and see at the end of our earthly life the place you have gone to prepare for us in the bosom of the Father.

I think that through this passage God wants to tell me that the answer to my deepest yearnings and strongest desires is not something but someone, a person, Jesus Christ. So today, I realise that like everyone else I too am searching for Jesus Christ. No-one else or nothing else will satisfy my deepest desires. He alone has promised us life to the full.

Today God wants to tell me that Jesus is the reference point for an answer to the big questions in life. God is telling each one of us not to be afraid. “Do not be afraid” he says to Mary and to Joseph and the disciples. He is telling us not to be afraid to draw near to Jesus, to come and see where he dwells and to speak with him face to face as we would talk with a friend. He is telling us not to be afraid of the new life he is offering, not even of the demands it will make.

God also tells me that He loves me, and that I am precious and valuable to Him. If I remember that and imprint it on my memory, and on my heart, then my pilgrimage will have been well worthwhile.

Then how does this Word relate to my life? The discovery of Jesus by those four disciples brought a lot of changes into their lives, symbolised by Peter having his name changed. Andrew and John had a change of master, they were no longer disciples of John the Baptist. Nathaniel was changed from a cynical sort of person to a great believer who made a fantastic act of faith.

This Word challenges me to continue to grow in my relationship with Christ and that often means to change; the effect of grace in our lives is to change us. It means facing reality and confronting the struggles, great and small. It means seeing that the kingdom of God is here as well as hereafter.

Today God is constantly inviting me to come and see where Jesus lives. He invites me to stop looking for happiness in illusory desires, and to stop searching for fulfillment where it cannot be found.

This passage is imploring me not to be afraid to meet Jesus and to cross the threshold of his house and to speak to him face to face as one would talk to a friend. This passage tells me that it is along the paths of daily life that I can meet the Lord. I can and must meet the Lord in my own house because I can be sure that Jesus will come looking for me there in the first place. So I must certainly can and must meet the Lord in the person of those with whom I live.

I think he is inviting me to look at my life, and specifically to examine:

MY HOME: How do I get on with my parents, brothers, sisters, family? Do I do my fair share of work, and invite my family to pray with me?

MY WORK OR STUDY: How do I get on with others, and what or who influences me, and whom do I influence?

MY RECREATION: Does my recreation create me, or does it leave me exhausted, tired, frustrated, worried, unhappy? How do I treat others, and how do they treat me?

THE PLACE I GIVE GOD: Do I accept His invitation to “come and see”, or do I block or hinder or forget God’s invitation. Do I respect God’s name, God’s day, God’s house. How do I react and behave in each case.

God invites and challenges me to look at my life and see one area in it where I am trying hardest to hear His voice, and one area where I am doing my best to block out His voice.
Today Pope John Paul urges each one here to be an ambassador for the Messiah you have found in this dwelling, the Church, so that many more young people, people of your age, may be able to follow in the footsteps of Christ. May the Virgin Mary who is a model for every disciple, help you to find her son at every moment of your life and to follow him.

AMEN

STATEMENT FROM CARDINAL SEAN BRADY,
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

AT THE FUNERAL OF MRS. MARY GRIMES, BERAGH, CO. TYRONE

WEDNESDAY, 19 AUGUST, 1998, 11.30AM

Today, once again, our hearts go out to the Grimes family as we gather for the funeral of Mary, loving wife, devoted mother, and outstanding grandmother. We are all here to offer our sympathy and the support of our prayers as they struggle to cope with this tremendous loss. The death of a beloved wife and mother always brings great pain and sorrow but when that death coincides with the tragic killing of her daughter, Avril, and grand-daughter, Maura, the pain becomes unbearable, the grief incredible. If this triple tragedy were due to natural causes or an accident it would be already immensely sad. But this is the work of fellow human beings and our hearts are filled, not only with sadness but with anger and outrage. That it was carried out under the pretext of patriotism, adds shame to that outrage and sorrow.

We are here to pray with you and for you. We are joined by hundreds of thousands of people who are thinking of you at this time and asking God to give you the strength which you need during these terrible days. We pray especially that your pain may be eased and your sorrow lessened and your memories healed.
Father James, Mary’s brother-in-law, has prayed for forgiveness for the people who carried out this terrible atrocity. This prayer is yet another example of the wonderful courage and dignity which the Grimes family and so many other families have shown over these days. As we re-echo that prayer, we know that there are people who cannot find it in their hearts to share those sentiments at this time. We also know that God pardons those who turn to him with a sincere heart, no matter how terrible the sin. But we mortals find it more difficult to forgive. It would make it easier if those responsible were to show remorse and indicate a change of heart.

The efforts made in recent days to offer an explanation show that the bombers realise that something went terribly wrong. They need to go further, much further. They need to realise that their whole campaign is utterly wrong and totally evil and completely devoid of justification.

How could the murder of baby Maura, of baby Brenda Devine, of eight year old Oran Doherty, of nine teenagers, of twelve adult women and of four adult men, all of them innocent victims, be other than something very evil? If those responsible will not listen to the voice of the ballot box, let them at least listen to the voice of revulsion, expressed so clearly and so powerfully and so consistently. Let them listen to the voice of their own conscience and ask: Is this the kind of person I really wish to be? Are these the kind of values I wish to live by? Let them answer those questions honestly and end this senseless campaign of violence permanently now.

Last Saturday’s tragedy has once more brought home the lesson of the dreadful horror of violence. That is the sort of thing which bombs, once primed and planted, do. They kill and they maim; they wreck and they destroy. The experience must galvanise all of us to reject the path of violence totally once and for all.

The Omagh bomb has united a community in grief. Let it bring us all together to work to ensure that the hopes of peace are not ruined. Let it unite us all in praying and hoping that the worst atrocity may in fact prove to be last. We must continue to pray and to hope and to work. We do so in the belief that lasting peace is ultimately a divine gift as well as a human task. To do anything else other than to work and to hope and to pray for peace is to yield to despair and to give in to the temptation to believe that such peace is impossible. That would be the final surrender to those who instil terror and inflict violence. We owe it to the memory of those who have died to make sure that this does not happen and to do all we can to guarantee that they have not died in vain.

In the early Church the day of the death of a saint was regarded as her real birthday – the day of her birth into real and everlasting life. Mary Grimes was called from this earthly life on her birthday. We commend her, and Avril and Maura to the Lord, that the Lord may receive them into his place and raise them up, restored and renewed on the last day. As we do so I offer to her husband, Mick, to her family, to Father James, to all her relatives and friends, my sympathy, the sympathy of Bishop Clifford and of the priests and people of the Archdiocese of Armagh.

May she rest in peace.