MASS FOR MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, ARMAGH
SEPTEMBER 10, 1997 7.30 P.M.
ADDRESS BY MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY

On this day fifty-one years ago, 10 September 1946, Mother Teresa was travelling by train north from Calcutta to Darjeeling, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Suddenly she had the inspiration to found a New Order and devote herself to the poor. Last year, fifty years later, Mother Teresa came to Armagh to open the 563rd house of that New Order – The Missionaries of Charity. She came here to this Cathedral to pray in thanksgiving. At the end of the prayers, helped by two of her Sisters, the tiny frail 85 year old lady struggled to her feet. I said struggled because as a result of an accident she had sprained her ankle and was in a wheelchair. She spoke to us then about prayer and love, two topics which were dear to her heart.

I suspect that if she were here tonight she might return to those same subjects. She certainly would not wish this sermon to be a eulogy of herself. In 1971, when Malcolm Muggeridge wrote, “Something Beautiful for God”, Mother Teresa asked that it should not be a biography of herself. “The work is God’s work”, she would say, “so all of us are but His instruments who do our little bit and pass by. We are only pencils in the hand of God”.

Mother Teresa has died after an extraordinary life. Very many people feel a great sorrow and a great sense of loss at this time. For the abandoned and the outcasts, the little ones and the forgotten ones, she was a great sign of hope. They have lost a faithful and wholehearted friend.

The greatness of Mother Teresa came from her close union with Jesus Christ. That union was nourished and strengthened by hours of prayer every single day of her life. Every morning you would find her in her convent at prayer before 5 a.m. There she knelt for hours on the ground without seat or kneeler, deeply absorbed in conversation with Jesus. I last saw her on July 1st. She was not well enough to come to Chapel, so Holy Communion had to be brought to her in the infirmary. There she was with her bible and her prayer book, in deep recollection, preparing for the coming of her Lord and Master.

Some of you may remember that in Armagh that evening her Sisters gave out little prayer cards. “Mother’s business cards”, they called them. The card read like this:
“The fruit of silence is prayer,
the fruit of prayer is faith,
the fruit of faith is love,
the fruit of love is service,
the fruit of service is peace.

Mother Teresa wrote that prayer out of her own experience. Silence, prayer, faith, love, service, peace, sum up her whole life. It is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. We need to listen to God. It is not what we say but what God says to us in prayer and through us that matters.

Mother Teresa is associated with feeding the hungry. “I was hungry and you gave me to eat”, was one of her favourite scripture passages. She knew well that there are different kinds of hunger in different parts of the world. There is the emotional hunger of those who are starved of love and affection. There is the spiritual hunger of those who are famished for want of purpose and meaning in life. She wanted to tackle those hungers as well. So she opened a house for Contemplative Sisters in New York. Their vocation is to pray most of the day. “Prayer feeds the soul”, she said, “As blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul. Prayer brings you closer to God”.

In the life of the Missionaries of Charity, more importance is given to prayer than to the actual work, but their work flows from their prayer life. Prayer puts people in touch with God and makes them capable of being His instrument. Prayer teaches us to look contemplatively at the world and to see there the living presence of Jesus. The Missionaries of Charity begin their day with prayer, both personal and communal, followed by the Eucharist, which is the real centre of their existence. Each evening they have an hour of adoration. The Sisters have a rule of reciting the rosary when travelling or while walking through the streets. Everything is done in an atmosphere of prayer.

LOVE
The source and strength of Mother Teresa’s whole life was the twofold commandment of love of God and love of neighbour. These two commandments cannot be separated. The fruit of faith is love. The Missionaries of Charity base their whole life on these two pillars, love of God and love of neighbour. They take a vow of wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor. Every morning they recite this prayer:
“Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow-men throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them, through our hands this day, their daily bread and by our understanding love give peace and joy”.

What is the legacy of Mother Teresa? The question has been asked often in recent days. She has left us the wonderful example of her life. It was a life so filled with the love of God that she was totally devoted to helping those in pain, those in greatest need, those who live in the slums, those who die in the streets. This love is not patronising, for charity is not about pity, it is about love. So many people admired Mother Teresa because she lived a Christianity they could accept and identify with. She inspired so many people to imitate her and has challenged them to rise to tremendous heights of generosity and self-giving. “Give till it hurts”, she said. She died possessing two saris and a pail in which she washed.

Mother Teresa is a prophet for our times and of course like all prophets she is sometimes misunderstood. She speaks a language that a lot of people don’t understand today, the language of humility and mercy for example, which is not so popular in a world which sometimes prides itself on being abrasive and assertive. She stands for reverence and respect. Respect for the weak as well as for the strong. Respect for all of God’s children, regardless of who they are. She teaches us to be patient with the patience of God himself who walks our roads with human footsteps.

Mother Teresa was a great symbol of hope because she brought love and help to those who were shunned and abandoned. She was a real missionary of charity, someone sent to tell us of God’s unconditional love for each one of us. She knew well that this love was revealed by Jesus Christ. It continues to be revealed by those who listen to his words. “As long as you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me”. Mother Teresa reminds us of God and of God’s claims on our love and on our time.

DEATH
Last week death took two remarkable women, Diana, Princess of Wales and Mother Teresa. They had met in life and become friends. Now they are joined in death. This evening we pray that they be united in the happiness of heaven. There is a sign on the door of the morgue of the house for the dying in Calcutta. It reads, “I am on my way to heaven”. An older lady once said to Mother Teresa, “I am full of fear. I am afraid of death. You can help me for you have seen many people dying”. Mother spent time with that fearful lady and talked happily about death. She explained her vision of death as going home to an always loving Father. The woman thanked her for comforting her by removing some of her fear. One of the great crosses in Mother Teresa’s life was the fact that due to the situation in Albania she was unable to see her own mother for many years before her death. “We will meet in heaven”, she would say. We believe that those who enter into a relationship of friendship with Jesus and love one another, here on earth, already possess eternal life and that Heaven is the fullness of that life.

May our prayer this evening deepen our own faith in the reality of life after death. May our reflection on the lives of those who have gone before us prepare us for our own death. May it inspire us to see and to serve Jesus and the least fortunate. The fruit of service is peace. May our loving service help those for whom we have prayed to enter into the fullness of everlasting life, Amen.

FITZROY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, BELFAST
SERVICE OF RECONCILIATION
23 NOVEMBER, 1997
ADDRESS BY MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY

I thank Reverend Ken Newell, and all here at Fitzroy, for the kind invitation to take part in this Reconciliation Service. Toward 2000, how does Jesus Christ want our Churches to relate to each other? Straight away I can say that I am sure that Jesus Christ wants our Churches to relate to each other in a respectful, friendly and truthful way. In a respectful way, by that I mean, respecting all sincerely held views and seeing the good that is in them. In a truthful way, by stating our position honestly as the only basis for any worthwhile dialogue. He certainly wants us to avoid all words and actions which do not represent truthfully and fairly the conditions of other Christians. In fact we must try and gain an authentic knowledge of the teaching of the other Churches in order to dislodge stereotyped ideas which we may have inherited about one another’s faith. We must all seek to renew our own faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of the world. For the more committed we ourselves are to Jesus Christ, the greater will be our respect for others who believe in him as their Lord and Master also.

We also reaffirm the faith common to all Christians that the disciples of Jesus are called to be agents of reconciliation and promoters of love, justice and peace. Nothing simpler to say, nothing more problematic to apply in our particular situations. For in the Christian understanding of the term, reconciliation seems to call for at least three things which are difficult to hold in a balanced relationship to each other; speaking the truth, demanding justice and showing compassion. A commitment to reconciliation which tries to be truthful, seek justice and yet show compassion inevitably exposes oneself and one’s faith community to different reactions.

But as we draw near to the Great Jubilee I am sure that Jesus would want us all to give sincere thanks for the many ecumenical activities which have been undertaken with generosity and commitment in recent years. I think of the recent visit of the Presbyterian/Roman Catholic delegation to Northern Ireland from the United States led by Reverend Hank Postel and Bishop Raymond Boland. It has been welcomed here each year, going back almost ten years now, by a joint committee of the Presbyterian and Roman Catholic Churches. Over these years much good work has been done, especially in the provision of business scholarships to students from Northern Ireland to study in America.

The last time I met the Reverend John Dunlop we were in Graz in Austria at the end of June. Dr Hutchinson, the Moderator, was also there. For a whole week the beautiful Austrian city of Graz was host to about 12,000 Christians. They represented the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches of Europe. This great throng of people drawn from the Urals to the Atlantic celebrated the second – and it was only the second in history – Pan-European Ecumenical Assembly. In their diversity they reflected the riches of the one Gospel of Jesus Christ and the variety of cultures generated by that one Gospel. The theme of the occasion was that of reconciliation, specifically, “reconciliation, gift of God and source of new life”.
If you think we have huge difficulties about reconciliation in Ireland, and we have our share, then you should have been at Graz. There one heard at first hand the many instances of conflict between Christians from different Churches. But there one also saw the beauty of reconciliation and the risks people are taking for reconciliation, as well as the great hopes that the Holy Spirit, who breathes where he will, is opening up for all Christians. The Churches of Europe are moving closer together at this time, in spite of the many unreconciled situations, that are almost daily the subject of media attention.

This is both an encouragement and a challenge to all of us here in Ireland. We are encouraged not to opt out of this history-making movement of the Holy Spirit. We are challenged not to leave it at the leadership level of church life, nor merely at international or continental level, but to take the message to the congregations and to the parishes as is happening here this evening.

RECONCILIATION
We are called to deepen our own understanding of Reconciliation. Reconciliation is recognition that there has been and there still exists a rupture in relationships at a deep level. It involves the sometimes unfashionable concepts of forgiveness and conversion. Reconciliation begins with the healing of victims which comes about by God’s grace. It is indeed a healing which is really a gift of God and a source of new life. Victims, healed by God’s help, can in turn bring about the healing of their oppressors, through forgiveness. Forgiveness is essential to reconciliation. Reconciliation is not essential to forgiveness. Forgiveness can be offered by one side in a conflict whereas reconciliation requires both sides to be involved. Forgiveness means being willing to let go of bitterness even before our enemies repent. But how can we possibly forgive those who have hurt us irreparably? It is truly super human, a miracle of grace, a miracle of God’s love. It has to be said that one reason why the violence in Northern Ireland was not much greater has been the way Christians and the churches have called for, and practised, forgiveness and non-retaliation. It has been practised by many victims and their families and has had considerable social and political effect. One thinks of the late Gordan Wilson of Enniskillen, of Mr McGoldrick of Lurgan. There are countless other examples.

However victims may not be able to forgive those who committed crimes against them. If that is so they cannot be burdened with the demands that they forgive. They cannot be burdened with the responsibility for progress in the peace process. Then the community at large must be prepared to engage in a process of trying to set aside the past with all its bitterness and calls for revenge. People sometimes talk as if forgiveness is all that is required for reconciliation. It is not. We all need to repent of what we have done wrong or of the good we could have done and failed to do. At the very beginning of the Gospel the message of John the Baptist is: ‘Repent for the Kingdom of God is near at hand’. We need repentance at many levels, in fact at all levels where violence has been wrongly used whether that be paramilitary or institutional violence. We need repentance for our own sins of omission and commission in creating and sustaining divisions and for our failure to do what might have helped to reduce those divisions.

Communal forgiveness takes what happened seriously. So seeking the truth and telling the truth is important. In the post-conflict years in other countries the full disclosure of the truth has been regarded as very important. Victims need to have their stories heard and the seriousness of the harm done acknowledged. So reconciliation is not the suppression of the memory of a history of violence. To ignore human memory like that is to ignore human dignity. So the victim is forgotten and the causes of suffering are never uncovered and never confronted.

Reconciliation is something especially difficult to achieve. It is about healing memories, offering forgiveness. It is about repentance. Reconciliation is also about changing structures in society that provoked violence in the first place and that promoted violence and sustained violence. But the problem is how do you seek reconciliation from someone who does not think he has done anything wrong?

The Churches have historically played important roles in processes of reconciliation. In order to be reconciling agents they need to be first reconciled themselves and so the Churches need to look at the ways they may have hurt each other as Churches and to ask forgiveness. We have to ask forgiveness from God and from one another for our failure to witness to Christ’s love in our attitudes towards one another, and in our language about one another. We have to seek pardon for our failure to respect one another’s convictions and for our failure to accept one another in our differences. To acknowledge the weaknesses of the past is an act of honesty and of courage. It helps strengthen faith and prepares us to face today’s temptations and challenges.

Today the Churches are being challenged to cherish what unites and to dialogue about what divides and to pray for a healing of those divisions and the repair of the damage. We are united in our faith in One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Faith of the Church – The Nicene Creed which we will all recite in a few minutes is the same Creed which is said in Roman Catholic Churches throughout the world. There we find what unites us against the practical atheism so prevalent in the world today. We are agreed about our love and respect for the Bible; it is the Word of God and a source of wisdom and guidance. We acknowledge one baptism and regard it as the doorway to our sharing in the inner life of God. We believe that in prayer we have another powerful means of communion with God. These are some of the pylons on which the foundations of the bridge of unity can be constructed. They are strong, firm pylons, robust enough to carry a powerful bridge.

THE PEACE PROCESS
As I thought about the title of this talk, “Praying for Peace in Northern Ireland” an incident in the life of Jesus came into my mind. It is described in the 19th chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel like this:
“As Jesus drew near to Jersualem and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said: ‘If you in your turn had only understood on that day the message of peace’ but alas it is hidden from your eyes…….and all because you did not recognise the opportunity when God offered it” Luke 19. 41-44.
I think the Lord is depending on all of us now to have his message of peace heard loud and clear. He wants us to calm people’s fears about the peace process and to recognise the real opportunity that exists for agreement, an agreement that can lead to harmonious coexistence.

TASK FOR THE CHURCHES
In their interesting publication called: “New Pathways – Developing a Peace Process in Northern Ireland” the Faith and Politics group sets forth a task for the Churches, namely to disentangle religious commitments from political commitments. An on-going task of Christianity at all times and in all societies is that of de-sacralising political positions. For politics sometimes assumes the dimension of a religious crusade. Political positions are sometimes made absolute. Political loyalties have been put before God, the God who will have no other God before Him. So the challenge is to simultaneously relativise secular values including political affiliation, without devaluing them. Part of the process of reconciliation may be for the Churches to analyse the over-identification of religious commitments with political commitments as an aspect of social sin. When we say that Jesus Christ is Lord we mean that no earthly ruler or political structure can be absolute. Therefore we give politics and political commitments their proper place. Political compromise does not sell out a God who is beyond all our political ambitions. What God requires is new and just relationships between persons and communities.

It might be useful to establish an inter-church programme to reflect, comment, and make recommendations on a range of human rights issues: e.g. prisoners, victims, Bill of Rights, which arise from the conflict and which must be addressed as part of any lasting peace. The development of a shared language, a shared perception, and a shared practice of human rights between the Churches could make a significant contribution to reconciliation.

SOCIAL CONCERN
I am sure the Spirit of Christ is saying many other things to the Churches at this time. The Spirit would want to remind them not to neglect their work for justice and their care for the poor, the suffering and the weak. Where projects of social concern are promoted on an inter-church basis they can be a powerful witness of the caring Church before the world. There is an urgent need to adopt a programme aimed at maximising ecumenical witness, consultation and co-operation at local level in such areas as social work, Third World projects, common liturgies, pastoral care and outreach, prison visitation. Where this has been tried for example in projects like Aid to Romania and liturgies like the cross-community Harvest Thanksgiving they have yielded excellent results.

Particular emphasis needs to be given to encourage the Churches to make maximum use of their own peace education programme. These programmes are already in existence and have been ecumenically developed, piloted and endorsed. What seems important is to do everything possible to encourage a climate of agreement and to incarnate this in the local and daily life and consciousness of the Churches. As this happens new possibilities and challenges will arise.

THE GREAT JUBILEE
The celebration of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 will be a time of great joy and it belongs to all Christians. The Roman Catholic Church is quite keen that ecumenical agreements be reached with regard to the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee. The World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church have set up a group to plan ecumenical celebrations for the Year 2000. Dr. Raiser, the General Secretary of World Council has said: “The values of the Jubilee are reconciliation and pardon, repentance and metanoia, restitution and reconstruction. These values should encourage us to go beyond yesterday’s struggles in order to devote all our energies to dealing, in the light of the Gospel of Christ, with the questions of life and of survival that are arising today and will continue to arise tomorrow”. I certainly hope that we can all go beyond yesterday’s struggles. For certainly the energies of all of us will be needed to combat the culture of death and to promote the culture of life.

My prayer is that the Great Jubilee will strengthen the faith and witness of all Christians. May it renew the hope of each one of us in the definitive coming of the Kingdom of God. May it enkindle the fire of love in our hearts, a love of God and neighbour which sums up the moral life of every Christian. May the words of Peter guide us to the Third Millennium:

“Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord as a lamp for lighting a way through the dark until the dawn comes and the morning star rises in your minds”. 2 Peter 1.19.
My hope is that as we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord we will all pray more frequently and more fervently his prayer:

“Father may they be one in us
as you are in me and I am in you”. (John 17:21)
and that we may continue to plant seeds of reconciliation and regeneration, that hopefully one day will grow, while not neglecting to water the seeds already planted, knowing that they too hold great promise for the future.

OPENING OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL CENTRE, ARMAGH
THURSDAY OCTOBER 16, 1997
ADDRESS BY CARDINAL SEAN BRADY

I congratulate St. Patrick’s Conference, of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Armagh on the opening of these fine premises. What an excellent way to celebrate the beatification of Blessed Frederic Ozanam, the principal founder of the Society. What an appropriate day, for today is World Food Day, for a ceremony of this kind. What a happy coincidence that the new Centre is located in the house which is traditionally regarded as the birthplace of St. Malachy.

St. Patrick’s Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Armagh was founded in 1865. It was the fourth Conference to be established in Ireland outside Dublin. The Conference has currently twenty-four members and I want to commend them most heartily on the outstanding work done locally and in the region, on behalf of the poor and the marginalised.

Earlier this year I attended Poverty Hearings in Belfast where people described their experience of poverty. It was most encouraging to hear so many people praise, very loudly, the help which they had received from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. I know that the members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will be inspired by the knowledge that their work is appreciated so keenly.

I had the privilege of being present, in Paris, on 22 August last, when, in a magnificent ceremony in the presence of some 7,000 people, Pope John Paul declared Frederic Ozanam ‘Blessed’ in the great Gothic Cathedral of Paris, dedicated to Our Lady. The attendance was composed of many young people who were in Paris from all over the world, for the 12th World Youth Day. Also present were delegations representing St. Vincent de Paul Conferences from the five continents. They had special places in the nave of the Cathedral. The presence of so many young people was quite appropriate because it was on his twentieth birthday, in 1833, that Frederic Ozanam gathered together a group of his companions who were disturbed by the harsh living conditions of the poor. They shared the same desire of service to the most deprived, so they decided to do something about it. They got the addresses of several families in difficulty to whom they would bring some bread, and above all, much friendship. The finance came exclusively from their personal savings. Such was the humble origins of the first Conference of St. Vincent de Paul.

In his homily the Pope recalled how he himself was a member of a Conference of St. Vincent de Paul before the Second World War in Poland. In an earlier address Pope John Paul had said:

“We should thank God for the gift He has made to the Church in the person of Ozanam. We are amazed at all that was undertaken for the Church, for society, and for the poor by this student, this Professor, this father of a family, of intense faith and inventive charity during the course of a life too quickly consumed”.
Last August the wonderful destiny of this exceptional man, a lay saint for our time, was honoured in that ceremony in Paris. The members of St. Vincent de Paul Society have good reason to rejoice at this time.
Ozanam learned his love for the poor from his parents. His father was a medical doctor and was particularly kind to his poor patients. His mother, Madame Ozanam, helped her husband, visiting the old and infirm patients regularly. The story is told that in their old age and in failing health, the doctor and his wife pledged each other that in their visitations neither would venture higher than the fourth floor. Yet more than once they came unexpectedly face to face with each other, far higher up on the dark and steep staircases of those old houses in the city of Lyon. Frederick Ozanam was taught to see Christ in the person of all those who bear the heavy burden of human suffering and social injustice.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul continues the best traditions of its founder. The members of the Society know that it is more blessed to give than to receive. They give of their time and of their talents and of their treasure. Each week at local Conference meetings a secret bag is passed around. Members contribute to it. Year after year the secret bag meets all the Society’s administration costs. The result is that all public contributions go in full, directly to the people in need.

All Christ’s commandments are summed up in love. Frederick Ozanam believed in that love, that is in the love which God has for every human person. He felt himself called to love especially those who have more need than others. Frederick made a special effort to seek those to whom the God of love could not be revealed except through the care and love of another person. By declaring Frederic ‘Blessed’ the Church is saying: “Frederic your road is really and truly the road of holiness”.

In his address at that ceremony Pope John Paul made a special appeal to the youth. He said that they must understand that if they want to be authentic Christians they must take the same route.
“Let them open their eyes, the eyes of their soul, to the numerous needs of so many people today. Let them understand these needs as challenges. Let Christ call each one of them by name so that each one can say ‘that is my road, that it the road I must follow”.

I know that the Society is giving thought to ways of attracting young people to join its ranks. Frederic Ozanam gave some thought to the same topic. At the age of sixteen he was disturbed by religious doubts. He was lucky that he had as his professor a man who was wise and gentle and who steered him through the storm into calmer waters. At the height of those temptations Frederic made a promise to God that should he be enabled to see the truth he would devote his whole life to its defence. He compared youth to a boat launched for the first time on the sea. “Now it speeds lightly over the wave crests now it sinks into the troughs of the sea until an experienced sailor takes the tiller and guides it safely into harbour”.

I know that educators will know the wisdom of his words when he says that young people need to see suffering in others if they are to learn to bear suffering in themselves. They need to know the meaning of hunger and thirst and of destitution. They need to see that they may learn to love.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a lay Christian voluntary organisation, working with the poor and the disadvantaged. Let me remind you of something from the Mission Statement of the Society here in Ireland:

“We seek to respond to the call every Christian receives to bring the love of Christ to those we serve in the spirit of the Gospel message: I was hungry and you gave me to eat. No work of charity is foreign to the Society. Through person to person contacts we are committed to respecting the dignity of those we assist and so to foster their self-respect. We try to establish relationships based on trust and friendship”.
Members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul help those they serve to achieve self-sufficiency in the longer term, and the sense of self-worth which this provides. They are committed to identifying the root causes of poverty and social injustice in Ireland. They work for the changes required to create a more just and caring society.

In a society where the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ continues to widen the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul becomes ever more important. In 1996 its 11,000 voluntary workers continued to serve the needs of over 200,000 Irish people. They spent over sixteen and a half million pounds (£16,500,000) in the process. In the Annual Report for the Armagh Diocese, a total income of two hundred and fifty-five thousand pounds (£255,000) was recorded. That it a fantastic achievement.
Here we have an example of lay men and women taking very seriously their own special obligation of building up a more just society. By their words and their deeds they make known Christ’s message. The example of their Christian life and good work has the power to draw people rightly to believe in God. It is an example of what Christ was talking about when he said: “Let your light shine before men in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven”. My prayer tonight is that St. Malachy’s Centre may remind all of us to see the poor as messengers from God to us, sent to prove our justice and our charity and to call us to make time and place for them in our lives. May God bless abundantly all who have made this Centre possible and all who will gather here in the future to do the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.