NORTHERN IRELAND AGREEMENT
STATEMENT BY MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1998

I welcome the good news that agreement has been reached at the peace talks. I congratulate all those involved in the negotiations who have worked so tirelessly, so courageously and so patiently to bring us to where we are today.

I thank God that the prayers of so many people for the peacemakers and for a successful outcome to these talks are being answered.

It is my fervent hope that the agreement which has been reached will be a significant milestone on the road to a just and lasting peace. The proposals it contains should be given a fair hearing.

I hope that the agreement will lead the way to an Ireland where people grow in respect for each other and learn to trust each other despite their differences.

Only a limited number was involved in the peace talks. All of us must now be participants in the work of reconciliation, of building trust and of healing the hurts.

The Easter Feast is about victory over death and the birth of new life. For Christians it is a time of profound hope. The hope of new life grows stronger this Eastertide. We must pray earnestly this weekend that this hope will sustain us all through the inevitable challenges which lie ahead.

TOWARDS 2000
LIFE (NI) CONFERENCE
Holiday Inn Express, Belfast
Saturday 25th April, 1998, 3.00 p.m.
ADDRESS BY MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY
THE VALUE OF LIFE

The sacredness of human life has always been part of the moral teaching of the great religious traditions of the world. It is coming under systematic questioning in our time. It is very important that we find the appropriate response through study, reflection, prayer and action.

There is a story told about the Buddha. One day a crazy man attacked the Buddha with a axe and was about the kill him. The Buddha put up his hand to stop him and said, “Listen, just a moment. Before you kill me I want you to take that axe and go over and cut a branch off that tree there”. So the attacker went off, and with a big strong swing, chopped the branch off the tree. Then he came back to the Buddha. “Now”, said the Buddha, “I want you to take that branch and put it back onto the tree”. The attacker looked at him. “What?”, he said, “you’re crazy. You know very well that I cannot do that”. “No”, said the Buddha, “it is not I who am crazy, it is you, for you are about to destroy something you cannot restore and something that you have not brought into being”. His attacker paused for a moment, then after a few moments walked away without saying anything.

Fullness of Life

We are all called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of our earthly existence. That fullness of life consists in sharing in the life of God. But the fact that we are called to eternal life reveals the greatness and the value of human life on earth, because life, here on earth, life in time, is the fundamental condition of the entire process of human existence. Life in time, life on earth is the initial stage of the whole process of our existence. Life in time here on earth is an integral part of that process.

All Life is Precious – Vegetative and Animal Life

As we drive around the roads at this time of year, despite all the bad weather, one cannot but be struck by the beauty of vegetative life. The furze is in wonderful bloom; the hedges are just beginning to show their marvelous signs of new life; shrubs and plants do likewise. Lawns and gardens are full of life. I think of the beauty of the lilies of fields and roses in rose gardens and how much joy they give to those who cultivate them and to those who admire them. I think of the goodness and nourishment provided by the crops and fruits and vegetables which our gracious and bountiful Mother Earth provides to nourish all other life – animal and human life.

Springtime

Spring is a good time to talk of the value of life with so many signs of new life beginning to appear. It is a time when birds build nests. It is a time when farmyards resound to the sounds of lambs and calves and foals. Children marvel at the sight of kittens and puppies and chickens and ducklings and goslings. Recently on a visit to the American Folk Park in Omagh I was amazed at the fascination which the remarkable collection of live pedigree rabbits had for all of the visitors but especially for the children.

All life comes from God who is the source of life. The living God calls us to eternal life. Right from its beginning to the end, the Word of God presents a profound appreciation of life, in all its forms. It is a gift in which the mystery and generosity of God shine forth. The phrase ‘The Living God’ is used frequently in the Bible. It is an indication of how highly Scripture regards life.

Life is Precious

Life is something precious. Life appears at the last stage of creation. It is the crowning point of creation. “On the fifth day are born the sea monsters, living things that glide and move in the waters” the book of Genesis tells us. The Earth then brings forth further living creatures (Gen. 1:24). Finally, God created the most perfect living thing of all, in his own image, the human person.

Therefore even though life is a time of hard work, the book of Job tells us that, “People are ready to sacrifice everything to preserve life”. (Job. 2:4). To be in the land of the living and to die as Abraham did at a happy old age, advanced in years and filled with days is the ideal. (Job. 42:17). Parents intensely desire to have children as they are a source of joy and a sort of extension of their own lives. (Ps. 127).

Life is Fragile

People and other living creatures have a rather tenuous grip on life. Death is part of their nature. So life is short, like ‘wisps of smoke’ according to the Book of Wisdom (Wis. 2:2) – ‘shadow’ according to the Book of Psalms. (Ps. 144:4).

Life is Sacred

It is true that all life comes from God, yet the power of the human being to breathe comes from God in a very special way. To make man a living individual God breathed in his nostrils the breath of life, the book of Genesis tells us. (Gen. 2:7). It is the same breath which he withdraws at death, according to the book of Job. (Job. 34:14).

Nothing in our experience has quite the same value as human life. After an accident or a big fire the first question is: Has anyone been hurt? Anyone killed? The car, even the building can be replaced, but the human person cannot. Every human person is unique and irreplaceable.

Respect for life.

Human life is sacred even before it is born. Sexuality and sexual life are sacred because they are the mysterious source of human life. These truths have been honoured by the great majority of people all through history, whatever their religion, whatever their culture.

From the moment that human life begins to exist at conception it is entitled to the same respect and protection as any other human life. Any action which sets out to destroy this life is morally wrong. The lives of both the child and the mother are sacred. The right to life of each of them is inviolable. Abortion is the direct taking of innocent life and no motive can justify it. No court judgement, no legislation can make it morally right. Abortion goes to the very well-spring of human life and touches the very foundations of morality.

The birth of a child brings delight and joy to parents, grandparents and everyone else connected with the family. The death of someone we love brings suffering and sadness. Life is precious in its coming to us and its going from us.

Indeed our own deepest feelings tell us that human life ranks above all other values. We are desperately attached to life, our own life, the life of those we love. Notice how we protect ourselves from accidents and disease. The thought of facing hospital or surgery, for ourselves or for our dear ones, frightens us. In the face of death, life becomes very precious.

Christians in particular have been unanimous and undivided in their absolute respect for unborn life and in their view of what reverence for the source of life implies. These values have begun to be questioned only in recent years; so it is important that we examine these matters again in the light of the Gospel and in the light of Christian and human conscience.

The Christian principle of respect for human life at every stage of its existence is firm and clear – God and God alone is the Lord of Life. We are made in the image and likeness of God. We come from God, we go to God, we belong to God. In the Psalms we read:

Know that the Lord is God!
It is He that made Us,
and we are His;
We are His people. (Ps. 99: 3)
Thou shalt not kill

God’s commandment, ‘thou shalt not kill’, unconditionally forbids all taking of innocent human life from its beginning in the womb until the end that God, not we, has set for it. We must have absolute respect for human life. It comes from God’s hands, from the very first moment of conception, and remains under God’s care on earth, until he takes it back to himself in death.

Is Every Life of Equal Value?

Some will say that not every life is of equal value. But in the eyes of God every life is of equal and priceless value. We must see every life as having the value which it has for God. Christ told us something about that when he said: “Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny yet, not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows (Mt. 10:29-31).

Each human being is called to live with God forever. This is where we see the value of each human being. Sometimes people answer the question about what the person was, by stating the value of his/her assets or the amount of his annual earnings. The true answer is that every person is worth the life blood of Christ. There, and only there, is the true standard for judging the value of life

The Hippocratic Oath

The unwritten laws of the Creator can be seen by human reason and witnessed in God’s creation. They are engraved in the human heart. They are found in the human conscience and in the sense of personal responsibility. The ethics of the medical profession for example have found expression in the Hippocratic Oath.

Hippocrates was a little Greek who lived about 500 years before Christ. He traveled a lot and became the most famous Greek physician of ancient times. He became the embodiment of the ideal physician. By the terms of the Hippocratic Oath doctors solemnly swore:

“I shall never, no matter who may demand it, supply homicidal drugs. I shall never supply any woman with an abortive peccary. By chastity and sanctity I shall protect my life and my profession”.
The Geneva Medical Book, drawn up in 1948 by the World Health Organisation has a more modern form of the Hippocratic Oath and it says simply:

‘I shall keep absolute respect for human life from the moment of conception”.
Here we have the oldest and noblest tradition in the medical profession. That profession takes its stand for the sacred character, the absolute rights, of the unborn child. Here we are also at one with the deepest conviction of the human conscience.

Threats to Human Life

We live in an age marked by an extraordinary increase in the number of threats against the human life. Today those threats are very many and very serious. This is especially so where life is weak and defenseless. Poverty, hunger, diseases, violence in war, have always proved a threat to human life.

Thirty years ago the Second Vatican Council condemned very powerfully a number of crimes and attacks against human life. The passage, that is still relevant today, says: “Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person such as mutilation, torment inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as sub-human living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free and responsible persons all these things and others like them poison human society. They do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from the injuries. They are a supreme dishonour to the Creator”.

Unfortunately this disturbing state of affairs is expanding instead of decreasing. Scientific and technological progress have made possible new forms of attacks on the dignity of the human person. A new cultural climate is developing which gives crimes against life a new and even more sinister character. The reason is that broad sectors of public opinion try to justify certain crimes against life in the name of the rights of individual freedom. On this basis they claim not only exemption from punishment by the law but even authorisation by the State. The result is that these things can be done with total freedom and indeed with the free assistance of health care systems. The result is that choices, once unanimously thought criminal and rejected by common moral sense, are gradually becoming socially acceptable. Some doctors, who by their calling are directed to the defence and care of human life, are increasingly willing to carry out these acts against the person.

The very nature of the medical profession is, in this way, being distorted and contradicted. The dignity of those who practice it is degraded. The end result is tragic. The destruction of so many human lives, which are still to be born or in their final stage, is extremely serious and disturbing. But the fact that conscience itself is finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish between good and evil in what concerns the basic value of human life is immensely disturbing.

Law and Society

Why does society exist? Why do we have laws? Society and the law exist to serve the human person. They exist to protect the rights of the person, and to promote respect for the basic rights of all members of society. The right to life is the most fundamental of all rights. It is the foundation of all other rights. But who in society has the obligation to see that the basic rights of all members are protected? The obligation to see that basic rights of all members of society are respected falls on legislators, members of the judiciary and in the last analysis, on every citizen. But the primary duty falls on the Legislators and the Judges. Now a law which purports to authorise the direct and intentional killing of an innocent human being withdraws the protection to which every innocent life is entitled. Such a law denies the equality of everyone before the law. Such a law therefore contradicts the very purpose for which law exists. It is not a true morally binding law, but rather an act of violence and a corruption of law. So, keeping in mind that the obligation to protect the basic rights of all members of society, including the right to life, is one that falls on legislators, let us examine what actually is happening. First of all the promoters of liberal abortion for Ireland are trying to sow confusion and doubt. They know well that promoting abortion is not likely to draw support from the communities of Ireland. So what do they do? They claim that the present legal situation is unsatisfactory.

It is said that the present law is unclear or uncertain. Those arguing for clarification are in reality obscuring the situation in order to try to hide what they are doing. People opposing change in the law are pro-life campaigners in general. What is the law on abortion in Northern Ireland? Northern Irish law protects unborn children. The statutes prohibit abortion establishing no exceptions other than acts to preserve the life of the mother. With reference to English Case Law, Northern Irish courts have allowed abortions in a few cases. This Case Law makes it clear that abortion on demand is not lawful in Northern Ireland.

Does the Law need Clarifying

What of the claim that the law needs clarifying. It is clear that the law gives substantial protection to unborn children while the British Abortion Act fails utterly to do so. The interpretation of preserving life to include a serious adverse effect on health may be controversial but that doesn’t mean that the law cannot readily be interpreted and enforced by the courts. The British Abortion Act is considerably harder to enforce. Is there cross-community support for legal protection of unborn children? Yes. People of Northern Ireland have, through every democratic means, expressed their overwhelming opposition to any liberalisation of their abortion legislation. In 1990, the then Health Minister, Virginia Bottomley said, “To the best of my knowledge no Northern Ireland member of parliament has ever called for changes in the Northern Ireland Abortion Act Laws”. Similarly all the soundings of opinion have made it very clear that there is no will in Northern Ireland for such a change. What of the women from Northern Ireland who go to England for abortions? Quite clearly people have the means to travel abroad to do things that are not legal in their own jurisdiction. This will always be the case as different jurisdictions have different laws.

A law intended to permit the killing of the most vulnerable members of the human family is not justified by the fact that others already have such legislation. The experience of other countries is that unless abortion is entirely unrestricted it will result in some degree of what pro-abortionists call “exporting the problem”. France has a very permissive policy on early abortion but restrictions on later abortion. The result is that many French women travel each year for abortions in England where later abortion is more readily available.

What can be done?

It can happen that a person acts under the pressure of panic or great fear or under the influence of psychological forces or under severe coercion and we may not blame them fully for their actions. Such considerations do not alter the fact that a person’s right to life has been fundamentally violated by the process of abortion.

A discussion of the value of life is incomplete if it doesn’t discuss the dilemma of a single or married women faced with an unplanned pregnancy and frequently under enormous pressure from every side to solve her dilemma by abortion. So as often as we speak of preventing abortion we must speak of our concern for the mother of the unborn child who is searching for understanding, acceptance and assistance.

In the United States some three thousand pro-life centres, staffed mostly by volunteers, have been established to provide every form of support needed to help women have their babies. The formation of such groups as Lutherans for Life, Methodists for Life, Presbyterians for Life and the Choose Life Society, a national Jewish pro-life organisation, demonstrates that abortion is not simply a Catholic or Evangelical religious issue. According to pollster, Louis Harris, 68% of all Americans think that it is against God’s will to destroy the life of an unborn baby, and 60% believe that a foetus should have rights just like all other human beings. So the simple answer to the question, why choose life in the face of an unwanted pregnancy is, because the child in the womb is a human being.

Doctor Bernard Nathanson, of New York, performed thousands of abortions and lobbied for abortion rights before advances in medicine convinced him that human lives were being taken. An atheist, he has produced two dramatic films on abortion to educate people about life in the womb.

One of the most profound experiences of my life was to visit a home for homeless babies in Calcutta last October. Mother Teresa had founded that home out of her profound respect and love and joy for the gift to life. The morning we visited there were four hundred and forty babies there. Mother Teresa invites us all to see that respect for human life is an attitude, a way of living. It is planted and nurtured in the many places and circumstances of our lives where we work and live and play. Each one of us, no matter the circumstances of our lives, can follow her example of respect, compassion and joy at the gift of life. Our witness will be treasured in the heart of God and in the hearts of those whose lives we touch.

Injustice and Tyranny

Every form of injustice and tyranny is based on treating some people as less valuable than others. When historians come to write the history of the present age, I wonder will they ask, in amazement: How the Western world, considering itself so politically correct, so enlightened, so liberal and so liberated, could tolerate the situation of so much abortion in the world, of so many starving and living beneath the poverty line and finally of the crippling debt to the industrialised world of some of the poorest countries in the world?

The abortions women procure abroad can be the product of fear, anguish and isolation. Too often they are the fruit of the abandonment of responsibility or lack of responsibility of the father. We are living in a world where abortion is widely accepted and promoted. A society, founded on respect for every human life would not respond by seeking to facilitate abortion. It would be generous in ensuring that understanding and support are always available.

In Northern Ireland the Pro-Life Movement spans all political parties and all religious denominations. In a land where so much has divided us in the past, it is always uplifting to identify an area where all shades of political and religious opinions seem to be in agreement. Long may that situation last and may it flourish.
A new human life, once conceived, is not the property of its parents, even if it is still dependent on them. Every human life is sacred, right from the first moment of its existence, because it involves the creative power of God. God did not create death and takes no pleasure in the destruction of the living. God has trust in life and so should we.

THE KILLING OF ADRIAN LAMPH
IN PORTADOWN
STATEMENT BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
21 APRIL, 1998

I have visited the Lamph family in Portadown to express to them my sympathy on the murder of Adrian yesterday. The condemnation of this callous deed already expressed by clergy and politicians speaks for all who are appalled at this most recent atrocity.

People continue to confidently hope that the nightmare of violence can be ended once and for all in our country and I believe that this most recent killing was carried out by some misguided and hate-filled opponent of peace and progress.

We must pray that the efforts of such people are overcome by the determination of the many who know that a better way can be achieved for Northern Ireland.
April 22, 1998.

EASTER SUNDAY – 12 APRIL 1998
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH

Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? It was the women who had prepared the spices to anoint the body of Jesus, it was they who were up at the first sign of dawn and went to the tomb where Jesus had been buried. They had been so saddened and shocked by his death, the death of Jesus whom they loved, that they could not wait one minute longer. They had to be on their way to perform this last labour of love, the anointing of his dead body.

They were stunned to find the stone rolled back and the tomb empty. They were terrified when two men in brilliant clothes appeared at their side and asked the question:
“Why look among the dead for someone who is alive?”

Jesus is no longer dead, he has risen, on the third day, as he said he would. So, Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, those three valiant women become the first people to hear the fantastic news – ‘He is not here – he has risen’.

They had known Jesus in Galilee, their home country. They had got to know him and love him very dearly. They wanted to show their love for him in death as well as in life. Their love and loyalty are rewarded with this wonderful revelation – He is not here – he has risen.

The women were asked to remember what Jesus had said – that he would be handed over into the power of sinful men and be crucified – but that he would rise from the dead. Then they remembered his words.

Of course when the women came back and told the eleven Apostles, Peter, James and John and the rest what happened? Nobody believed them. This story was pure nonsense. In time the eleven Apostles changed their opinions, especially after Peter ran to the tomb and saw for himself and came away amazed at what had happened. It all just goes to show that even saints, future saints, can have moments of doubt and disbelief.

It seems to me that we can draw a number of important conclusions from this. The Risen Christ is alive today. He is not to be found among the dead. The disciples spent the rest of their lives discovering the fact that Jesus was indeed alive and in their midst, in new ways. Jesus didn’t leave them but he remained present. The body of Christ was found in new and different ways. Peter for example discovered that God has no favourites but in every country anyone who is God-fearing and does what is right, is acceptable to God. The body of Christ is therefore to be found in all of humanity, not merely in some part of the human family. Remember it was their love for Christ which brought those three women to the tomb and caused them to be chosen as the first witnesses of the Resurrection.

Yes, Jesus Christ is alive. It is important that we meet him, that we find him, that we get in contact with him, that we are united with him. Otherwise the greeting – Happy Easter – is going to sound very hollow indeed.

What do we mean by Happy Easter? Is it something just like a material feast for self-enjoyment or is it some discovery of the joy of what Jesus has done for us, of what Jesus has achieved for us?

Yesterday I met someone who is a Chaplain in a hospital. She told me that she often gives God thanks for all the wonderful people she had assisted in their dying moments over the last years. She was praying that they were now seeing God face to face since they had helped her to see Jesus here on Earth.

You see we often seem to preach a Christ who may be alive, yes, but who seems to have vanished and left no traces behind. We seem to be describing nothing more than a historical event which happened once upon a time.

If our faith is about something that happened long ago and nothing more, about someone who lived in bygone days but does not impinge on our lives, then that faith is no more than a belief in something that happened 2000 years ago. It is a belief in a historical fact, it is not a belief in a living person. Our faith should be that and it should be much more. Easter calls us to believe that Christ is alive and active and present and loving and helping in our lives.

That is the way the early Christians experienced Jesus in their lives and in their midst. Peter describes how Jesus appeared and ate and drank with them after he arose from the dead. But do you ever get the impression that for us today there is no direct encounter with the Risen Lord? Yes, we sing ‘Jesus Christ is risen today’, but really mean ‘Jesus Christ was risen once upon a time’.

We call upon people to put their faith in Jesus. We are asking them to believe that the Bible story is true. Where has Jesus gone? How can you and I have our own meeting with Jesus and come to know him directly, the Risen Christ and experience his power and his love in our lives?

Yes, we do meet Jesus in Holy Communion – we receive his Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament. We meet the Risen Christ most powerfully when we turn to him in prayer and pour out all our troubles to him. We meet him most mercifully when we come to Confession to get rid of our burden of guilt and shame. We can hear him speak to us most pertinently as we read and listen to his Holy Scriptures. We meet him in his body, the body of Christ, the Church.

The fact is that what happened to all of us at Baptism tells us where Jesus is to be found. At Baptism we shared in his death and in his victory over sins. We became his brothers and sisters, we became part of his body – the Church – he is to be found there.

Yes, the Lord’s body is no longer in the tomb. Where have they laid it? They have laid it right here in the world, in this city, in the middle of this congregation. We see the Risen Christ all around us, in the eyes and faces of those sitting beside us, in the bread and wine on the altar, and in the people we meet every day of the year. Yes, Christ is risen for sure. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they put him”, Mary Magdalene said to Jesus, not knowing that she was actually speaking to him.
The fact is that nobody actually found Jesus where they expected to find him on that first Easter morning, at the tomb. They found him alive, in the middle of them, in their midst, walking along by their sides, explaining the Scriptures, still bearing the scars of his passionate love for us.

What was said to the women at the tomb is still true: “Remember what he said to you” One of the things he said was:

“Whatever you do to one of these, the smallest of my brothers and sisters, you do to me”.
Christ is Risen indeed. His body walks the earth today healing, teaching, feeding, suffering, dying, and rising. You and I and all of the human race, are the living answers to the question which Mary of Magdalene asked implicitly when she said: “They have taken the body of my Lord and we do not know where they have put him”. Yes the Lord is taken from his tomb and placed in the centre of his world. Let us rejoice and be glad.

Those amazing women who stood beneath the Cross to the bitter end represent that part of the Church which loves. They are in every parish and in every age. People who have come to see in the experience of their own lives the hand of God at work in their lives. The plan of God at work in their lives. And they decide to respond to that love in their own lives. They had prepared their spices to anoint the body of Jesus and so do all they possibly could to protect it from corruption. It is amazing that they weren’t deterred or disheartened by the terrible events of Thursday and Friday. They obviously hadn’t given too much thought to the practicalities of what they proposed to do. Who was going to roll back the huge stone for them from the mouth of the tomb? Nevertheless their faithful devotion takes them on their way. And God rewards their faith. The obstacles were eliminated, the stone was already rolled back and at the end of the journey, they entered the tomb, remember the tomb was in the form of a vault. The angel knows what they are looking for, Jesus of Nazareth, who had died on the cross two days before.

“See for yourselves” the angel tells them “There is the place. Go tell the disciples, you will find him in Galilee as he told you”. Galilee was home, that was where it all began. It is his country, its your country, its my country. We will all find the Risen Christ where we live our ordinary lives. Those women must go back to Galilee, “They must go to Galilee”, Christ had said: ‘They will see me there”.

In Galilee it all began in the reality of their daily lives. There Jesus first found them as they went about their daily work whether it was as fishermen or civil servants or farmers. There the new life must all begin, the life of finding the Risen Christ begins for you or for me in our daily life.

At Easter we celebrate Christ’s victory over sin and death. We celebrate the birth of new life. For all Christians it is a time of profound hope. The hope of new life grows strong here in this part of the world this Eastertide. We have an extra motive for celebration with the good news that those involved in the peace talks have reached agreement.

I congratulate all those involved in the negotiations. I thank God that the prayers of so many people for the peacemakers and for a successful outcome to these talks has been answered. Now people begin to hope again that the agreement which has been reached will be a significant milestone on the road to a just and lasting peace. The proposals it contains should be given a fair hearing so that they may lead the way to an Ireland where people grow in respect for each other and learn to trust each other and live with each other despite their differences.

Only a limited number of people was involved in the peace talks. All of us now must be participants in the work of reconciliation, of building trust and of healing the hurts.

The Easter Feast is about victory over death and the birth of new life. The hope of new life grows stronger this Eastertide. We must pray earnestly this weekend that this hope will sustain us all through the inevitable challenges which lie ahead.

MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
ST. PATRICK CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
Thursday, 9 April, 1998
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Every Holy Thursday we commemorate the Lord’s Supper. We remember that Jesus on this holy night gave the sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist and Holy Orders to us as a supreme sign of his love. He did this so that always and everywhere people may be able to receive his body and blood, so that always and everywhere people may have this wonderful source of grace. He also gave us the splendid example of his love for us when he washed the feet of his disciples. He also gave us a new commandment, the commandment of love. “Love one another as I have loved you”.

We are commemorating all of this evening in Armagh as in every Mass. This evening we commemorate it in a special way, with the washing of feet, the procession afterwards to the altar of repose, we accompany Jesus as he leaves the Upper Room and proceeds to the Garden of Gethsemane where he begins his life-giving passion for love of us.

This evening then we celebrate the institution of the sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist. Jesus having loved his own who in the world loved him to the end. Maybe on an evening something like this, the friends of Jesus had gathered around the table. A sense of stillness, sadness perhaps, certainly a sense of the sacred hung in the air. It was the most sacred night in the Jewish year, they had gathered to commemorate the liberation of their ancestors long ago, out of the slavery of Egypt.

The twelve apostles did not know, maybe Judas knew, but Jesus certainly knew, his hour had come. One treasures every word and every gesture of the last hours of a loved one’s presence. Jesus feels he has said enough now he is going to give them a parable in action. He began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with a towel. “I have given you an example”, he said, “that you should do as I have done to you”.

Jesus came, not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. This was not the kind of Master the kind of Messiah which they were expecting. No wonder poor Peter was all upset. Yet Jesus is quite clear, “You call me teacher and Lord, you are right so I am”. Jesus knew that he had come from God, the source of our love and that he was going to God in the fullness of love.

He knew that his task here on earth was to reveal and put us in communion with that God of love and compassion. Nothing and no-one, not even Peter, was going to sway him from that. Jesus knew the compassionate God of the Exodus who had seen the miserable state of his people in slavery in Egypt. God had heard their cries to be free and it had inspired Moses to lead the people into freedom. Jesus knew that the same compassionate God had sent him to lead you and me and all of us out of the bondage of sin and out of all that prevents or hinders full life. Yes, Jesus claimed his identity as Lord and Master but not as the world would envisage. Not as those around him would have him Lord and Master but as God his Father would have him Lord and Master, that is, as servant, full of compassion, mercy and love.

“Greater love than this no-one has than the one who lays down his life for his friends”. One of the twelve, Judas, couldn’t live with his Master as servant. He couldn’t believe in such love and mercy so he went out into the night, others, washed and fed and moved by such powerful memories of love, went through the night of Friday to the light of Sunday.

Jesus has left us the Eucharist as the memorial of his love, the memorial of his death. The meaning of the Eucharist can only be fully understood if we reach back to the faith of the people of the Old Testament. We need to go back to the Covenant which was so central to both the Jewish and Christian traditions. The Covenant was a treaty or an alliance between two parties. In the Scriptures we used the word ‘Covenant’ to describe the special relationship which God established with His people – Israel. God’s new and special relationship with His chosen people, the Covenant, is sealed with the pouring of blood and the eating together of some of the sacrificial food this was ‘Communion’. Moses says of the blood: “Behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made for you”. The blood was sprinkled upon both the altar, symbolising God and the people, a powerful expression of the unity of life which God establishes. By eating the sacrificial food together, the people are made ONE as they share together the blessings of the God.

There is one fundamental Covenant which unites the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is expressed in the words of God: “I will be their God and they shall be My people”. Unity with God and unity with each other belongs together.

Through the prophets God had promised His people a Covenant of Peace, a new and everlasting Covenant. As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ established that new Covenant. At the Last Supper Jesus echoed the words of Moses: “This is my blood of the covenant”. By sharing this gift of his body and blood we become truly united in deep communion with God himself and with one another.

The Mass is a celebration of the Eucharist and lies at the heart of the life of our Church, so the Mass is the vital centre of all that the Church is and does. The Eucharist is the heart of the Church’s life because at the heart of the Eucharist is the real presence of our crucified, risen and glorified Lord. Jesus Christ remains present with us in our Holy Communion to continue and to make available his saving work among us.

The most Holy Eucharist holds within it the whole spiritual treasure of the Church, namely Christ himself. That is why we bow down and genuflect before it. That is why people organise twenty-four hour adoration, that is why we light candles and put flowers on our altars, that is why use incense to show honour and respect to Jesus who is really present, hidden here under the appearance of bread and wine. He is just as present as he was that night when he washed the disciples feet.

So tonight we do once again what the Lord did – giving thanks and pronouncing a blessing Jesus took bread in his hands, broke it and gave it to his disciples and said: “Take and eat all of you for this is my body, do this in memory of me”.

People often write to me saying: Why don’t you call for special prayers for peace at this time? But every day and every Mass celebrated throughout the world there are prayers for peace: “Deliver us Lord from every evil and grant us peace in our day”. “Lord Jesus Christ you said to your apostles, I leave you peace, my peace I give you look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live forever and ever”.

Tonight we pray those prayers more earnestly and more fervently than ever. I urge you to spend some time before the altar of repose, and tonight when you go home ask other people to come out and pray that the long awaited peace, the long awaited deal, the long awaited agreement, may be issued tonight.

Lord grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live forever and ever.

AMEN

ST. MALACHY’S CHURCH, ARMAGH
MASS FOR WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 1998 – 11.00 A.M.
HOMILY BY MOST REVEREND SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

Fifty years ago the United Nations produced its Declaration of Human Rights. The Second World War had just ended. During that war certain peoples had seen even their right to exist denied. The United Nations were anxious to ensure that this would never happen again. They wanted to find the basis for a just and lasting peace. They found it in the recognition of the dignity and rights of human beings.

From Bethlehem to Armagh
Ever since the year 1957 a lighted lamp has been brought from the place of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem to all the churches in Austria. That burning flame was, and is, a symbol of their desire for world peace. This year the lamp has been brought via the European Parliament to Armagh. In a few moments it will be presented here in the Offertory Procession. We welcome it with great joy. It reminds us that what the United Nations declared fifty years ago, Jesus had already revealed almost two thousand years ago.

When he became one of us Jesus united himself in some way with every human being. He came on earth to reveal the boundless love of God. But Jesus also showed us the unique value of every human person. The Church acknowledges this value and celebrates it once again at this feast of Christmas. It proclaims the sacred value of human life from its beginning until its end. The lamp brought to us from Bethlehem reminds us of the words of Jesus to his friends: “My peace I give you”. Ever since those words were spoken they have provided tremendous inspiration for people to go out and work for justice, the kind of justice which overcomes division and provides the only solid foundation for peace.

Recently I watched a film about the work of the Irish for the street children of Calcutta. There was this marvelous voluntary worker named Edith Wilkins who looked after fifteen children single-handed. When she was asked why, “it is the kids’ right” she said, “to be fed and sheltered and clothed and educated”. Another Irish girl, Therese Hennessey, spoke of her work for the sick and the dying in Calcutta. She and her colleagues try to ensure that these poor people die with dignity. Human dignity and human rights are at the centre of their work.

Justice Goes Hand in Hand with Peace
“Justice goes hand in hand with peace”, Pope John Paul tells us in his message for this World Day of Peace. When one is threatened justice and peace both falter. When justice is offended peace is also placed in jeopardy. For example, the majority of the world’s fifteen million refugees are victims of war. In war, lands and crops are destroyed, people are deprived of their livelihood and security. Money and skills are directed away from social uses and necessary schemes. The cost of one Trident submarine would pay for one year’s schooling for sixteen million children in developing countries. And for the cost of ten fighter aircraft all the infants of the developing world could be immunized against disease. These facts confirm the words of Pope John Paul when he says that “when either peace or justice is threatened both falter”.

Peace for all comes from the justice of each one of us
The human rights of everybody are to be recognised and respected. They are to be protected and promoted. These rights are universal; they belong to one and all. They are also indivisible because social and economics rights are involved and are to be promoted as well as political and cultural rights which must also be recognised, protected and observed.

Peace for all comes from the justice of each one of us. “No-one is excused from the task of such importance”, Pope John Paul tells us in his message for today. “Human beings are equal in dignity. All deserve the same respect and have the same rights and duties”. It is important that we take these fundamentals as the basis for any lasting peace.

The Northern Ireland Situation
All of this is very relevant to our situation here in Northern Ireland. Despite the tragic and terrifying events of recent days, the celebration of the World Day of Peace this year takes place in a climate of somewhat greater hope than in other years. The restoration of the IRA cease-fire last July and the participation of parties representing more than eighty percent of the population in peace talks give hope of progress. There is a growing realisation of the futility of a conflict which has lasted almost thirty years, a conflict which nobody has won and which apparently nobody can lose. The terrible events of recent days are sombre reminders that there really is no alternative to discussion and dialogue. Hopefully these killings are only temporary setbacks on the road to a permanent settlement and a just and fair agreement. Hopes rise that conditions can be agreed to allow a peaceful and just co-existence. These hopes rest on the seeds of dialogue and discussions which are beginning to emerge.

Other Grounds for Hope
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has identified four areas which are to be given priority: marching, fair employment, policing and mechanisms for the protection of human rights. A Commission for Racial Equality has been set up. The Government has committed itself to incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law through legislation in the form of a Bill of Rights. It has stated that it intends to implement the recommendations of the Hayes Report for an entirely independent system for the investigation of complaints against the Police. The British Government is also sponsoring a review of the effectiveness of fair employment legislation and of government policies. Unfortunately these developments are not seen by all as positive and helpful. There is much fear and apprehension in certain quarters. Every effort must be made to calm people’s fears. Those who try to increase people’s fears at this time bear a heavy responsibility. The fact that human rights issues are being addressed is seen by some as a threat. There are some people who feel that the recognition of the rights of others in some way infringes their rights. The recognition of human dignity threatens no-one. Human rights belong to everyone. The human rights agenda is not a sectarian agenda. In fact their recognition is the bulwark and defence of true peace everywhere.

The shootings of recent days are to be condemned. They have claimed three lives, injured many and raised doubts about the peace process. I urge those involved in the talks not to lose their nerve and to deny the perpetrators of these atrocities their expected prize of the disruption of the peace talks and to press on towards the far more precious prize, the achievement of a fair and lasting settlement.

Refugees
Indeed the failure to protect human rights lies at the root of another urgent problem; that of refugees. Every twenty-one seconds a refugee is created somewhere in the world. In the last ten years the number of refugees has jumped from eight to fifteen million. As a group of democracies the European Union finds its political and ethical basis in human rights. This includes internationally accepted rights to asylum and the right not to be discriminated against. Pope John Paul has called the tragedy of refugees a wound which reveals the conflicts of the modern world. We are now part of a union of fifteen European states in which there is free movement of people by right. This process is irreversible, even though at times it may give rise to hostile reactions and alarm among some. Today we stand at a cross-roads. We can choose to turn in on ourselves and turn our back on the stranger and in doing so turn our back on our own history and indeed turn our back on the Christian faith. We are now among the richest nations in the world. We could decide to share some of that wealth, resources and opportunities with foreigners, as so many societies in the past did for our people. By doing so we could set an outstanding example of respect for the dignity of people less fortunate than ourselves.

Lack of Respect
Lack of respect for the value of other people is seen in a culture and language of contempt and disparagement. Anything which rubbishes and denigrates those who are different has no part to play in any genuine peace process. A just peace threatens no-one. Talks are the only way to reach such a peace. Talks are the only way to dispel fears. People need to be reassured that their neighbour has exactly the same hopes and fears as they. They hope to live in security, to be on good terms with their neighbours and to enjoy their esteem.

Recent Developments
During these days the thoughts of many turn to those people who lost their lives through violence in 1997. The first was Stephen Restorick, shot dead in Bessbrook last February. The last was Seamus Dillon, shot dead in Dungannon last Saturday. The parents of those two men have been united in grief and heartbreak at the loss of a son. They have also been united in a firm determination to do all in their power to ensure that no-one else will ever die in political violence in Northern Ireland. Each one of us must resolve to do the same. The shootings of recent days are of course, a threat to peace and to the peace talks. Some people have taken the law into their own hands and proceeded to shoot fellow human beings, thereby depriving them of something sacred – their human life. Everyone has the right to have their gift of life respected. Every human community is founded on that right. The political community is no exception.

The hope which the birth of Christ brings us
We urgently need the hope which the birth of Christ brings to us. Jesus comes to give us hope. He comes to give us hope in the midst of sadness and disappointment. He comes to tell us never to despair of the glory to which God calls us. He comes to ensure that we never lose the courage and trust which we need.
Christian hope focuses our attention on our final destiny. We are made to share God’s life in Heaven but we are also made to live in peace and harmony with our neighbour here on earth. Peace is about right relationships. Where violent conflicts have taken place right relationships have been disrupted. The process of healing the bad memories of the past and the giving and receiving of forgiveness are gifts from God. But the task of building the society founded on truth and justice and respect for others, especially the other who is different, that task falls to each one of us. No-one is excused from a task of such importance. The challenge of changing the structures in society that provoked, promoted and sustained violence in the first place, that task belongs to us also.

The heart of the Gospel message is Jesus Christ. He is everyone’s peace and reconciliation. The Spirit of the Risen Christ, the Spirit of hope is at work in the world. Pope John Paul tells us in today’s message that “the Spirit is especially present in the generous activity of all who patiently and perseveringly continue to promote peace and reconciliation between people who were once opponents and enemies”. This time last year there wasn’t much reason to be hopeful. Nevertheless many people did continue to hope and to pray and to work for progress towards peace. Those prayers were answered, their efforts were rewarded.

They were people who remained undaunted in the face of obstacles. They continued to believe that God’s greatest promises can indeed by ours. They continued to hope for what is best with a confidence rooted not in themselves but in God. The hopes and the prayers and the work for peace must continue. Let them continue then in the firm belief that peace for all of us comes from the justice of each one of us. Let each one of us try to be more just in the sight of God, more faithful in the small things and the big things of life and more loving in our service of God and of each other. Let them continue in the firm belief that it is possible to achieve what God’s love plans for each one of us. Plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring you the future you hope for. May 1998, the year in which we celebrate the 850th anniversary of the death of St. Malachy, bring peace and joy, happiness and prosperity, to each one of you and to our land.

AMEN

ST. MALACHY’S CHURCH, ARMAGH
MASS FOR WORLD DAY OF PEACE
1 JANUARY 1998 – 11.00 A.M.
MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

INTRODUCTION
The tragic events of recent days add urgency to our gathering to offer this Mass for peace on this World Day of Peace – the Feast of Mary the Mother of God. We ask her to pray for us that we may in fact be made worthy of the promises of Christ. We ask God to be gracious to us and to bring us His peace. “From the justice of each one comes the peace of all” Pope John Paul tells us in his message today. We are far from being just. We know we are sinners. We need God’s pardon to make us less unjust. We ask pardon for our sins.

MASS OF CHRISM
Holy Thursday, April 9, 1998
INTRODUCTION BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

Today we thank God for the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Holy Orders which Christ gave to his Church on this day. We priests come to renew our own dedication to Christ as priests of his new covenant. In this Mass we consecrate the Holy Chrism and bless the oils which will be used throughout the length and breadth of the diocese during the coming year in the administration of the sacraments.
It is good to see so many priests and laity gather here in the Cathedral for this ceremony and the young people who will receive the sacrament of Confirmation later this year are particularly welcome to be present as the Chrism is consecrated with which they will be signed on their foreheads in the Confirmation ceremony.

On the day before he died, Christ promised the help of the Holy Spirit and he said:
“Peace is what I leave with you.
It is my own peace that I give you”.

Today we ask the help of the Holy Spirit for the peacemakers that they may have the wisdom to see the way forward and the courage to make the decisions which will lead to lasting peace.
To prepare ourselves then to do all of this we call to mind our sins and ask God’s pardon.

CHRISM MASS
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
Holy Thursday, April 9, 1998
HOMILY BY MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

The Chrism Mass shows forth in a very wonderful way the fact that the priests and bishops of the diocese are united in the same task of building up, sanctifying, and guiding the people of God entrusted to their care.

So I welcome and thank all of you for coming to this Mass.

From this cathedral to every one of the parishes of the Archdiocese the Holy Chrism will be brought. There it will be used to anoint the newly baptised. It will be used to trace the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the boys and girls who will receive the sacrament of Confirmation. It will be used to anoint the hands of the our Deacon, Garrett Campbell, in his priestly ordination in his native parish of Lordship next June. The oil of the Sick will be used to anoint those who are ill and the dying, to give them strength and comfort in their time of need.

The consecrated Chrism and Holy Oils will be carried by you, back to the parishes of the diocese. They will be brought to various scenes, scenes of great joy and hope, such as Baptism and Confirmation and Ordination. But they will also go to places of sadness and despair, such as hospital wards or to the scenes of accidents. They will go to places of peace and places of tension. Wherever they go they will be accompanied by a priest. People will be anointed by your hands and that anointing will be a sign of God’s love and care for all his people in all their moments, in their moments of happiness and desolation, in their moments of joy and despair, in their moments of peace and tension.

Those being baptised will be anointed on the breast, near the heart, the traditional seat of the emotions so that those emotions may develop in a wholesome and mature fashion.

At Confirmation the anointing takes place on the forehead, the seat of the memory and the judgement and the intellect so that people may judge things well, understand correctly. But it is the hands of the priests which are anointed at his ordination. Those hands are used to welcome, to bless, to absolve, to anoint, to bid farewell, to take and to break and to give. So through sacred Chrism, these Holy Oils, are symbols of the pastoral care which God, in His wisdom and goodness, provides for His people at all times through the work of His priests.

We ordained priests, gratefully recognise that Jesus has chosen us to share his sacred work in a special way. We are humbled when we realise that he has appointed us to celebrate Mass. We are challenged to lead his people in holiness. We are to nourish them with his word. We have been appointed to strengthen them in holiness by administering them the sacraments. Today we renew our dedication to Christ. We recall that we accepted responsibilities out of love for him. Today then we gladly renew our dedication to serve the people ever more faithfully. We place our diocesan gathering of next October before the Lord and ask a special blessing on it.

I have many happy memories of ceremonies in St. Peter Basilica in Rome but probably the most impressive one of the whole year was the Mass of Chrism. Then, literally thousands of priests, from every continent of the world, religious and secular, gathered to renew their priestly vows along with the Vicar of Christ. Pope John Paul has spoken many wonderful words of encouragement to us priests. “Your priesthood is absolutely vital”, he said on one occasion. “There is no substitute for it. You carry the main burden of priestly ministry through your day to day service of the faithful. You are ministers of the Eucharist and ministers of God’s mercy in the sacrament of Penance. It is you who bring comfort to people and guide them in difficult moments in their lives. We acknowledge your work and thank you once again, urging you to continue on your chosen path, willingly and joyfully. No one should be discouraged as we are doing God’s work. The same God who calls us, sends us, and remains with us, every day of our lives. We are ambassadors of Christ”.

In his message to priests on this Holy Thursday, Pope John Paul says he wants to “join us in invoking the Spirit of the Lord to whom we dedicate the second stage of the spiritual journey of preparation for the Holy Year of 2000”. The Pope goes on to say that “an intimate bond unites our priesthood to the Holy Spirit. For on the day of our priestly ordination, by virtue of an unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Risen Christ accomplished again, in each one of us, what he accomplished in his disciples on the evening of Easter. The Holy Spirit sent us out into the world as those who continue the mission of Christ. His gift of the Spirit is the source of the special task of evangelisation and of sanctification which is entrusted to us”. He asks us to contemplate the work of the Holy Spirit in us. On the evening of Easter the Risen Jesus said to the Apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He sent them out on the roads of the world, entrusted with the salvation of their brothers and sisters.

Our work is to bring the Good News and to help people grow in holiness and as these oils are brought to various places and are poured forth on people in various circumstances of anointing, whether it is the young person being confirmed or the person dying on the hospital ward, it will be our challenge to find the words of Good News to evoke faith in those people who receive the sacraments. It is our challenge, by our words and our prayers, to help them grow in holiness.

Pope John Paul tells us: the Holy Spirit gently guides everyone of the baptised. However, it is consoling to know that the Spirit reserves a special attention for those who have received Holy Orders. With the gift of wisdom, the Spirit leads the priest to weigh up all things in the light of the Gospel. The Spirit helps us to read correctly the signs of the times which are sometimes so confusing and difficult to discern. The Spirit helps us to see the hand of God in all that happens to each one of us and to recognise the loving plan of God the Father in what is going on in the Church. “For those who love God all things work together unto good”.

The gift of understanding helps us to get a deeper insight into what God is saying to us in His Revelations, in the Scriptures and in the tradition of the Church. With a truer and deeper understanding of God’s Word we will be able to preach the Good News with power and conviction. The gift of counsel is important in our decision-making, in our decision-making about what kind of activities we should engage in, the kind of pastoral activities for example that are appropriate and relevant to the needs of the times. This gift of counsel ensures that we act always according to the mind of Christ and do not allow ourselves to be swayed by the judgement of the world.

The Holy Spirit offers us the gift of strength to sustain us in the hardship of our work. It provides the boldness that is necessary to preach the Gospel fully and faithfully.

Of course it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the sacrifice of Christ and Calvary is entrusted to the Apostles as the most blessed sacrament of the Church. That is why we pray at Mass, “Father we bring you these gifts, we ask you to make them holy by the power of your Holy Spirit, that they may become the body and blood of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.” So without the power of God’s Spirit, Pope John Paul asks: “How could human lips ever make of bread and wine the body and blood of the Lord”. Eucharist and Orders are the fruits of the same Spirit. We thank God for them today and everyday but especially today.

AMEN

MURDER IN ARMAGH OF
MR CYRIL STEWART
STATEMENT BY MOST REV. SEÁN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
28 MARCH, 1998

I am appalled by the callous and cowardly murder of Cyril Stewart.
Coming as it does at this critical stage in the peace process such a killing serves no purpose whatever and must be condemned in the strongest terms.

I extend to Mr. Stewart’s wife and family my deepest and heartfelt sympathy.

ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
ST PATRICK’S DAY MASS
HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEAN BRADY
ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH
TUESDAY, 17 MARCH, 1998, 12.00noon

I am very happy to see so many young people here today. I thank the Order of Malta, the Girl Guides and the Boy Scouts for coming here in uniform to honour St Patrick so faithfully each year.

What has St Patrick to say to young people? Quite a lot I think and if the adults will forgive me for doing so, I will try to pick out a few things from the life of St Patrick which hopefully will be of interest to you young people, but also say something to your parents as well.

Practically all that is known for certain about Patrick comes from his writings. These are two open letters – one is called his Confession – not a confession of sins but a confession of thanks to God for all his graces and favours. The second is a Letter to Coroticus condemning him and his soldiers for the murder and the destruction they carried out on people he had just baptised. Patrick calls them fellow citizens of the devil – strangers to him and his God because of their terrible crimes. I suggest that you try and get the writings of Patrick and read them for yourselves – you will find it well worthwhile.

I am going to divide up Patrick’s life into four chapters. The first chapter covers the first sixteen years of Patrick’s life. It is the chapter that many of you are in now. Patrick was born in Britain – probably near Carlisle. I told that to two young men yesterday. They were unaware that Patrick came from Britain. His grandfather was a priest and his father was a deacon – which is next to being a priest. So I would say there was fair amount of religion in that house. By the age of 16 it would appear that Patrick was getting a bit fed up with religion. Let us listen to what he says himself:

“I had neglected the true God. For we cut ourselves off from God and did not keep his commandments.”
That is the first chapter. We don’t know a lot except that Patrick felt he had cut himself off from God.
Then disaster struck. Patrick was barely 16. He was taken captive and carried off into slavery in Ireland along with a great number of people. Patrick saw it as punishment for his carelessness as regard his religion. “It was well deserved”, he says. God revealed his being to him through His wrath. He scattered us among foreign peoples. Try and imagine the scene, Patrick snatched away suddenly and without warning. No chance to tell his parents or pack a bag or say good bye. How did it happen? As they were on their way home from school? Or playing on the beach? Or working in the fields? We simply do not know. No way of writing a letter or telephoning or sending word to say he was alive and safe!

It was a terrible experience. But for those who love God all things, even the greatest disasters can be turned to good. That is exactly how Patrick came to see this disaster.

They had made me aware of my unbelief, he says, so that I might recollect my offences and turn with all my heart to the Lord. That is exactly what Patrick did. He turned to the Lord with all his heart. Night and day Patrick turned to the Lord in prayer on the hills of Antrim. Patrick discovered that he was not alone. He found and came to know and love a God who took pity on him as a father pities a son.

During those six years Patrick built up a great friendship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “More and more the love and fear of God came to me until I was praying up to a hundred times every day and in the night nearly as often.”

This second chapter of Patrick’s life ended with his escape. After a lot of exciting adventures Patrick returned home. His family wanted to know if they could trust him now as a son never to leave them again.
The third chapter deals with the question which every young person must face. What am I going to do with my life? What does God want me to do with my life? Because the one mighty motivation force in all his work was the love of God. Patrick decided to be guided by that love. As we might expect Patrick’s love of people was just as great. After his escape from captivity his heart was never at rest for he had seen the misery of a pagan people. The voice of the Irish rang in his ears calling him to come again and to tell them the good news that their names are written in Heaven.

And come he did, this time to voluntary captivity. Patrick could not believe what was happening to him. It was all God’s doing. He owed everything to God, so he could praise God’s name not only when things went well but also in times of stress.

Whether he receives good or evil, Patrick returns thanks equally to God. Patrick compares himself to a stone buried deep in a drain. God came and found him and raised him up and put him sitting on the top of ditch.

The fourth and final chapter is being celebrated around the world today. It is the fact that thanks to Patrick, Ireland became a Christian country. Here in Armagh we celebrate with special joy. For Armagh is Patrick’s special Church. The saint himself was its first bishop. The conversion of the Irish to Christianity was a work of extraordinary distinction.

It was carried out by a man who through prayer and suffering was united very closely to God. Patrick never allowed suffering to drive a wedge between him and God. Instead suffering was the bond which united Patrick even more closely to Jesus Christ in his passion and death.
Patrick met with great success. Obviously people listened to him and believed what he told them. They knew he spoke the Words of Life.

But Patrick met also with great suffering. He was deeply hurt at the treachery of a friend. He felt intensely the loneliness of exile and of separation from family and friends. With very few words he shows how hurt he was that his work should be criticised. He resents untrue and malicious rumours about his work, that he had no real authority to teach and that he was only in it for the money, so to speak.

HIS MESSAGE TODAY
People have tried to imagine the kind of letter Patrick would write to us today in Ireland. He would probably begin by asking us all not to be taken in by the rumour that he had banished all the snakes. He would point out the dangers that still beset us all. He would probably tell us all to pay more attention to what he actually did and said and to try and imitate that in our own lives. He would tell us not to be flaunting his name about without really embracing his message and without living it in our own lives.

Since we all know that the search for peace in Northern Ireland is now at a very critical and important stage Patrick would have something to say to all of us on that topic as well. He would probably remind us of what he wrote to Coroticus that those who murder “are strangers to me and to my God”. He would join in condemning those who plan and prepare the instruments of murder – the arsenals of arms, the bombs and the mortars.

Because Patrick was above all else a humble man, he would never dream of proposing himself as a model of reconciliation. He was a strong determined and independent man but his strength and his determination were rooted in a deep conviction of his own nothingness, but he knew he had been chosen by God in whom he placed all his trust.

So God gave him the gift of forgiveness. Patrick forgave the Irish the wrong they had done him and so he had the freedom to come back and begin a glorious new chapter of his life. There was a Pan European Ecumenical Assembly in Austria last year. Its theme was: ‘Reconciliation – Gift of God and Source of New Life’. Patrick exemplifies that theme exactly.

Today we ask the help of Patrick that an agreement may be reached in the peace process, that an end may be found to the ancient hostilities and that the process of reconciliation may begin in earnest. I am convinced that the conditions now exist to bring about a whole new chapter in the life of these Isles. What a prize that would be. What a real Millennium project! What a celebration of the Great Jubilee of the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us ask St Patrick to intercede for us that it may come to pass and grant the peacemakers the light to see and the strength to do what will lead to lasting and just peace.

Patrick has been remembered ever by a grateful people. One great honour they have never ceased to pay to him. Throughout the world the sons and daughters of Patrick have carried his name and his memory: for the land which he hallowed has never ceased to send forth men and women whose hearts are aglow with the same fire which burned in Patrick’s breast, men and women who remember the slave of Christ who heard the voice of children who were without a shepherd and who dwelt by the western sea.

Dochas linn Naomh Pádraig
Aspal mór na hÉireann
……………………………….
Iarr’mid ort a Phádraig
Guigh orainn-ne Gaela,
Dia linn lá agus oíche
‘S Pádraig Aspal Éireann.
AMEN

FUNERAL MASS OF DAMIEN TRAINOR
POYNTZPASS, FRIDAY 6 MARCH 1998
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

I want to offer to you, Sean and Anne Trainor and to James, my heartfelt sympathy on the death of your son and brother, Damien. I want to extend to Cecil and Ethel Allen and to their family my sincere sympathy on the death of their son, Philip. I want to assure you of the support of my prayers and of the prayers of thousands of others that God may give to you, and to all who mourn these young men, the strength you need to take you through this terrible tragedy.

Damien and Philip were united in life by friendship and common interests. They were united in death by the bullets of their frenzied killers. Those killers came in the dark of night, their faces masked lest anyone should recognise them and their evil intentions. Their mouths were filled with obscenities, their hearts were filled with hatred and their hands filled with weapons of death and destruction. And now, two families are united in shock, sorrow and devastation. The whole community is united in disbelief, horror and revulsion. Now, hopefully we will all be equally united in our determination to find and accept a settlement that will put an end, once and for all, to atrocities like that of last Tuesday night. Now hopefully we will all be united in the resolve to support the work of the peacemakers, united in our resolution to build peace, a peace that will last.

Damien and Philip were friends in a village that has been described as a model of community relations. Their friendship was built on solid foundations. It was based on their knowledge and respect for each other.

Here people know each other and see the good that is in other people. They recognise the truth that people are equal despite the fact that they profess different religious beliefs and belong to different political traditions. They are a people who are generous enough to afford to each other the freedom to hold these different beliefs and to support those political points of view. The friendship of Philip and Damien was built on the equality of their dignity as human beings, on the truth of their separate identities, on the freedom to be different and on their loyalty to each other at all times.

We gather in the name of the Lord Jesus. “Jesus suffered for you”, is the text of a notice attached to a telegraph pole at a place near Toomebridge where, a few days ago, Dominic Laverty is reported to have almost met the same fate as Damien and Philip suffered earlier this week. Jesus has suffered for you and for me and for all of us. Jesus has died for you and for me and for all of us. But Jesus has risen. Dying he destroyed our death. Rising he restored our life and our hope. The Risen Lord has sent his Spirit among us to remind us of all that Jesus said and did for love of us. The Spirit reminds us that Jesus has said: “You must not kill and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court”. Jesus also said: “Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right. Happy the peacemakers. Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”.

Now we stand at a crossroads. Are we going to travel along the road where the bomb and the bullet are the boss? Where hatred and contempt, death and destruction, get their way? Or are we going to set our sights on and turn towards the road that leads to a genuine peace; a peace built, like the friendship of Damien and Philip, on sure foundations; on the foundations of respect and equality, truth and the freedom to be different. May the Spirit of the Risen Christ give us all the wisdom to choose what is right and the courage to make the changes in our expectations and aspirations which that choice will entail. May the deaths of Philip Allen and Damien Trainor be the last to dishonour this land. They will not have died in vain if we all resolve to work and pray more earnestly for peace. Let us pledge ourselves to make sure that they have not died in vain.