25TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SERMON – VIGIL MASS – SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER, 1997
CROSSMAGLEN
BY CARDINAL SEAN BRADY

The disciples were angry about which of them was the greatest. Jesus sat down and said: “To be the greatest you must make yourself least of all and servant of all”. To drive home the point he took a little child and set the child in front of him and put his arm around the child and said: “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me”.

Last Monday and Tuesday I had the great privilege of being in the company of people who took those words to heart and lived their lives according to them. I was in Calcutta for Mother Teresa’s funeral. On Tuesday we visited the Home she set up for abandoned babies. We went there on Tuesday morning and saw 440 babies in their cots. They were being looked after by Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, the Order set up by Mother Teresa to carry out her wish and the wish of Jesus to serve the poorest of the poor. In that Home we met a Sister who has been working there for over twenty years. She showed us round the place and we saw babies of all shapes and sizes. Babies who were well, babies who were sick, babies with AIDS, babies with disabilities. We saw half a dozen incubators, given through the generosity of friends from Germany. We saw volunteer workers from many continents of the world who went there to help the Sisters. We saw babies crying to be picked up and hugged and loved. Babies in need of love. That love was brought to them by the Sisters of Charity and by the many wonderful lay volunteers.

Later that same day I again had the privilege of visiting a Home run by the Christian Brothers. There is only one Irish Christian Brother there at the moment. His name is Brother Finn who worked here in the North of Ireland for many years but I think about twenty years ago he decided to go to India, to Calcutta. He is the only Irish man in the place, there are four or five Indian Christian Brothers and they have, I would say, about two hundred boys in their teens most of them, who are homeless or abandoned. We had the opportunity of meeting those boys and seeing Brother Finn and the wonderful relationship he has with them. They looked to him with affection and with love. Those boys were wonderfully refined and cultivated and courteous: “Good evening Father” they would say. “Thank you for coming to visit us. Welcome here Father” and they would ask for a blessing: “A blessing Father” “A blessing Father”.

They didn’t have much to start off with. They had no home but the Brothers obviously took them in and lavished care and love upon them and shared their life with them. I saw Brothers out playing basketball with them. Brothers supervising them in the swimming pool. Brothers helping them out playing football in the front and of course teaching them, educating them. No wonder Brother Finn wanted us to meet them because I am sure he is very proud of the contribution which he, and the Christian Brothers, make to the lives and the well-being of those unfortunate young people.

The Irish Christian Brothers went to India in 1848, that is almost 150 years ago. The Irish Loreto Sisters went there in 1841 and again we had the opportunity of seeing their work. They went to educate the people. They went, in the words of Jesus Christ, “to welcome those little children” because they knew that in welcoming them they were welcoming Jesus Christ and that in welcoming Jesus Christ they were welcoming God the Father.

We visited two of the Loreto Sisters’ schools. In one school there was a fantastic concert given to us by the girls. We had When Irish Eyes are Smiling, It’s a Long Road to Tipperary, Fields of Athenrye sung with a very enthusiastic Indian Loreto Sister at the piano and this community of children who have no homes, of being abandoned by their parents. They told us some of the stories of their lives which would horrify you. But those Loreto Sisters went there in obedience to those words of Christ: “Anyone who loves me, anyone who welcomes me, welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me”.

It was to them that Mother Teresa went, to those Loreto Sisters in 1928. We met there two Sisters who knew her very well. One Sister who is alive, Sister Marie Therese from Dublin, went to India seventy years ago this year I think. There is another one who went about the same time as Mother Teresa that is sixty-nine years ago, who was a great friend, she is Sister Rosarie O’Reilly. It was marvelous to see the quiet contentment of those Sisters as they shared in the proud story of Mother Teresa’s life because that funeral really was a celebration of the triumph of God’s grace in the life of Mother Teresa and the life of a religious sister. It was the triumph of somebody who took the words of the Gospel to heart and lived them truly and faithfully. These Loreto Sisters were in the background because in 1948 Mother Teresa decided to found her own Order: the Missionaries of Charity, which served immediately the poor and down and out and the outcasts and the one who were shunned.

Do we have any opportunities for doing anything like that? Yesterday evening a lady called upon me to talk to me about Faith and Light Communities. What are Faith and Light Communities? Well they bring together people with learning disabilities, people from the families of people with learning disabilities and people who would like to be their friends, particularly young people. The communities meet together in the belief that the person with a learning disability is really important. They know that the person with a learning disability has something to give to the Church and to society. The communities meet regularly. They form deep bonds of friendship and welcome as they share more of their lives with each other. They share the difficulties and sufferings as well as the good times.

This is just one example of putting Jesus’ words into action. Jesus came especially for the poor, the weak, the disadvantaged. He came to give life and to give us all the opportunity to grow and to develop. Many people in the world today have a learning disability. Very often they are pushed aside and seen as valueless and unable to make progress. Surely they are one of those little children that Jesus was talking about and he has promised that anyone who welcomes one of these little children in his name, welcomes him. Jesus doesn’t make false promises, empty promises. And if we meet him as he promised, in those little ones, in those weak people, we can meet God and we too then may realise just how blessed we are, how fortunate we are.

I was struck, as I said, by the number of people in India, poor people and weak people who asked me for a blessing. They know that life is fragile, life is precarious, they see death all around them, so they asked to be blessed by God. They believe firmly in a God who blesses, who wants to bless His people.

The First Reading talks about the godless. You know it is easy to become a little bit godless. We might be shocked to say that. Yes, we say we believe in God but how do we show it? Do we have respect for God’s name?, the kind of respect that God’s name deserves to get. How often do we find people using the holy name of Jesus carelessly, disrespectfully. Are we shocked by that? Are we appalled by that?

It is not enough to say “I believe in God”. It is not words but deeds that count. Do I see God where He is to be seen? In what sense do we remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, the Lord’s day? Is Sunday really a holy day apart from the while we spend at Mass? Is there any other thing in this day that will mark it off as the Lord’s day? Do we think of the Lord or is it a godless Sunday apart from Mass? Is it a day on which we ask for the Lord’s blessing? The Lord’s Name, the Lord’s day, the law of the Lord. Is the law of the Lord a powerful force in my life? Is it the guiding force, the guiding light of my life, the Commandments? They are signposts given to us to lead us to heaven. We all say we want to go to heaven but unless we follow the signposts we won’t get there. Coming here this evening I had to follow the signposts otherwise I would never have got here. I would have ended up in Ballybay or Castleblaney or Newry maybe. Is there a certain godlessness in our lives then if we disregard the Lord’s name, the Lord’s day and the Lord’s law? The word of the Lord for example, the word of God, ‘Thanks be to God’ we say. The word of God, is it really God’s word for us? When do I see God? If I got a solicitor’s letter accusing me of being Godless – how would I set about proving the charge to be false? One way is to see God and welcome God in the person of my neighbour, especially the neighbour who is weak.

THE MILLENNIUM AND ITS PREPARATION
OUR LADY’S SHRINE, KNOCK
THURSDAY, 14 AUGUST, 1997
SERMON BY THE MOST REVEREND SEAN BRADY

2000 years on from the birth of Christ what in fact are we celebrating? There will be celebrations, have no doubt about that, mighty celebrations. The plans are already being made, it is up to those who believe in Jesus Christ to make sure that Christ is not overlooked in those celebrations. It is up to us to make sure that the message of Jesus finds as much space as possible in these celebrations. In other words, that we keep reminding ourselves and others whose millennium it is and who should be at the centre of it. Yes the Great Jubilee celebrates the 2000th birthday of Christ. It is fitting that we should celebrate that Great Jubilee in a special way here at Knock, the national shrine of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In this year of preparation we concentrate our attention on the person of Jesus, our faith in him and on Baptism.

The faith of the Christian is founded on Jesus. That faith looks to Christ for an answer to the big issues in life. He and he alone has the answers to the questions that rise up from the human heart in face of the mystery of life and death. Because faced with the mystery of life and death, people act in many different ways. A secretary came home from the funeral of a colleague, and said: “We have lots of questions but no answers”. As a Boeing 737 jet airliner suddenly lurches from 35,000 feet to 10,000 feet, a young nurse begins to pray aloud. An old man grasps her hand and begs: “Say one for me because I cannot pray anymore ” . Several of the people on the recent flight from Manchester to Knock Airport, that developed trouble, said that their first reaction was to begin to pray. Christians look to Jesus for an answer to the big questions. Only from Christ can come answers that do not deceive or disappoint.

So we are celebrating a jubilee then. The jubilee of the birth of Christ. I suppose the most familiar jubilee is a marriage jubilee, a golden jubilee of marriage where a couple who have lived the commitment they made fifty years earlier celebrate how their love has grown and how their lives have been enriched and blessed by God. There is at once a looking to the future asking that God’s blessing may continue; there is also a looking back because they are used to trusting God’s caring and compassionate love for them. They also hope that the blessings that have been manifest in their lives wi11 be manifested in the lives of their children and grandchildren. So in this jubilee of the year 2000 we celebrate God’s love for us. Out of sheer love God wants everyone of us to share His own blessed happiness. For this reason at every possible opportunity God draws close to us. He comes searching for us, to know us and to love us. Yes, we had been scattered and led astray by the evil one and divided by sin. Despite all that, God never ceases to call us all into the unity of His family, the Church. To accomplish all of this God sent His Son to become one of us. Through that Son God invites us to become His children. He calls us to become His heirs, the heirs of His blessed life. That is the basis of Christian faith, that is what this Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 is all about. That is the Good News Jesus brought. It is a cause for real joy.

The desire for God is written deep in the human heart. Faith is our response to God. That response has to be freely given. God has far too much respect for each one of us to try to manipulate us or to buy us. And for a Christian, believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One He sent. God tells us to listen to His beloved Son. We are free and therefore responsible. One can accept it – believing in God the Father and in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit – or one can reject all of this – writing as John Paul II says in large capitals GOD DOES NOT HAVE A SON.

People often discuss what was the greatest discovery of the last 2000 years. Some say it was the discovery of penicillin, or of the Americas, or of electricity. But for me it is the discovery that only in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will we find the truth and the happiness that we all desire.

It is the knowledge that God loves us eternally and wants to raise us up to be His special possession. We are God’s special possession because God chose to have it that way. God seeks us, moved by His fatherly heart and His fatherly love.

Of course the desire for God can be forgotten or overlooked or even openly rejected. People can have doubts. Obstacles to faith can have different causes. Some people revolt against the suffering and evils of the world and proceed to blame God, other people are just plainly ignorant and indifferent to their faith. We all have a duty to nourish our faith by prayer and study. Faith is a gift of God, freely given, and freely received. Peter could not accept that Jesus would be scourged and crowned with thorns and finally crucified.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel that he came to bring Good News, Good News is a call to rejoice. He came to bring Good News for everybody. These days exam results bring good news for some, but not to all. He came to tell sinners that they are sinners no more, provided that they repent and ask pardon for their sins. He came to announce liberty to captives. We can be enslaved by the false gods of greed and pride, we can be enslaved by hatred and bitterness.

So today we are celebrating the Good News that death is not the end. Jesus said that he came to bring new sight to the blind. We are celebrating the new insight brought by Jesus to the fundamental questions, the big issues in life, Who are we? Where have we come from? Where are we going? We are celebrating the fact that Jesus came to bring us life so that we might have life to the full. And life to the full means that it must last forever. We know that our present life doesn’t last forever. So Jesus must have been talking about some other life. Yes, indeed he was, as he himself proved by rising from the dead. So death is not the end; but many are still blind to this truth.

Distraction is the root of sin, I read somewhere recently. People who do not want to face the difficult questions of life love distractions. So we engage in a frenzied search for more and more diversions. ‘Football is our religion’ a television advertisement boldly proclaims pointing to that escapism. Sunday used to be the day when people broke from routine of work and the drudgery of life to stop and stare and think and figure out the answers to these fundamental questions. Now it is more likely to be filled with more and more distractions, which act as substitutes for religion.

I love the wisdom of the author of the Psalms on this point. “What can bring us happiness many say”, the psalmist asks and then prays “let the light of your face shine on us O Lord. You have put into my heart a greater joy than they have from abundance of corn and new wine”. Earlier in that same prayer the question is asked: ‘O men how long will your hearts be closed? Will you love what is futile and seek what is false?’

Yes, the distractions invite us to love what is futile and to seek what is false. But we know in our hearts and souls that there is an emptiness even about the abundance of corn and new wine. The light of God’s face was seen in the face of Jesus Christ. He is absolutely original, absolutely unique. He is not just a wise man or a great prophet, he is the one mediator, the perfect mediator, the perfect go-between, because he is both God and Man. And before he returned to the Father he gave his friends one last command: Go, make disciples of all nations. They were to help people to believe that he, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God, so that believing they might have life in his name. But believing in his name doesn’t mean that we stand looking up to the skies, that our religion is ‘pie in the sky’ when we die. It means discovering the Jesus is living next to us, in the brothers and sisters with whom we share our daily existence. His face is to be seen in the poorest of the poor. Often they are victims of an unjust system. Wherever profit is given first place there the human being becomes a means rather than an end.

Believing in Jesus Christ means drying every tear in his name It means reminding whoever feels lonely that no-one whose hope in placed in him is ever alone.

How can we best prepare to celebrate the Millennium? First of all we begin by clearly identifying what the Millennium is all about. It is about the birth of Christ, the Son of God. It is about seeing that birth as the greatest proof of God’s love for the world. God so loved the world that He sent His Son. There is only one proper response to love: that is love. “If you love me keep my commandments”.

But that happened 2000 years ago some may say. What has that got to do with us? It has everything to do with us. By baptism we are united to Christ. When we were baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit we were united in a hidden, but real way with Christ, in his death and in his resurrection We share his life. We become his brothers and sisters. By virtue of baptism Jesus Christ is present in each Christian. In the early years of the Church they used to say the Christian is another Christ.

So, another way of preparing for the Millennium is to try and grow in an appreciation of the place of baptism in our lives. We try to see more clearly how it unites us, not only to Christ, but to Christians everywhere. Ecumenically this is very important because as we look to Christ, our one Lord, we are called to deepen our commitment to become One in him. Remember his prayer to the Father that they all may be one.

Above all we try to deepen and strengthen our own faith. Recently I heard a comment: “Our faith is never in the bag, sure today but worried tomorrow”. Yes certainly we are celebrating our response in faith to the love of God. In all of this there exists two possibilities: the possibility of the triumph of love which is accepted and the possibility of the tragedy of love which is rejected. God neither bribes us nor manipulates us.

Recently we saw the tragedy of the American relay athletic team who lost the golden opportunity in the World Championships. It is agreed that they have the best sprinters in the world. They were often tipped to win the gold and even get new world records. But the baton was dropped at the change-over and that was the end of that. What happened? Why? A golden opportunity was lost. There was great disappointment. What went wrong? It has been suggested that because they were so superior in sprinting that they took victory for granted and didn’t bother putting in the tedious hours of practice that is necessary to ensure transfer of the baton.

There may be a lesson here for all of us in this. The best way to hand on the baton of faith and to make sure that it is handed on is to practice that faith faithfully and committedly in our own life, day in and day out. The best ways to grow in our knowledge of our faith come through the hard work of reading, listening to sermons, listening to talks, going to courses. No renewal of the Christian life will take place without a renewal of our knowledge of our faith.

Of course Mary plays a central role in all of this. The Fathers of the Church refer to her as the second Eve. They compare Mary with Eve and call her the Mother of the Living. On Calvary she is the woman to whom Christ entrusted not only the beloved disciple John, but the whole human family. Mary is the mother of believers. She was blessed because she believed in the promises which were made to her.

Jesus promises great things to us in today’s Gospel. He promises to bring us Good News, the news that God’s kingdom is close at hand, that if we repent we have our sins forgiven. The joy of every jubilee is above all a joy based on the forgiveness of sins. Jesus came to set the down-trodden free. As long as our sins remain unforgiven we are down-trodden by guilt and shame, by fear and anxiety.

Tomorrow we celebrate one of the great feasts of Mary, her Assumption. We celebrate the fact that after her death she was taken, body and soul, into Heaven. Where Mary has gone, we hope to follow. Mary already enjoys the perfect happiness and perfect fulfilment, that we all hope for as the outcome of our lives. Even now Mary has achieved the state of glorification.

We believe also that just as Jesus rose from the dead, we also will rise. We believe too that the Risen Christ is present with us in his glorified body. In the same way we believe that Mary is even now present with us, also in her glorified body. The hope which that conviction, the conviction that death is not the end, could give our shattered world is immense. Death is not the end. The resurrection of Christ proves that. The Assumption of Mary does likewise. Holy Mary pray for us sinners. Holy Mary, help us to recognise Jesus the blessed fruit of your womb under his many guises in our world, in the Church, in the Scriptures, in the Eucharist, in our neighbour, especially in the poor. That recognition, by us, in our own lives, will be the best possible way of celebrating the Millennium

Pray for us O Holy Mother of God that we may be made worthy to celebrate this Millennium in the way which is most pleasing to your Son.
AMEN

SILVER JUBILEE OF THE EPISCOPAL ORDINATION
OF BISHOP FRANCIS MCKIERNAN
CATHEDRAL OF ST. PATRICK & ST FELIM, CAVAN

SUNDAY DECEMBER 14, 1997

HOMILY BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good
For his love endures forever.

We come together today to celebrate. To celebrate the silver jubilee of the ordination of Bishop McKiernan’s, as Bishop of Kilmore, on 10 December 1972. We gather to give thanks to the Lord for he is good and has been particularly good to his people here in Kilmore over the last twenty-five years. We come to give praise to the Lord for the favours he has done down through the years in this diocese.

We celebrate this jubilee in the shadow of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000. Then we shall be giving thanks and praise to God for the greatest event the world has ever known – the birth of its Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The custom of jubilees began in the Old Testament. They continue in the history of the Church. The Jubilee year was time dedicated, in a special way, to God. During the Jubilee year the land was not ploughed or cultivated; slaves were set free; and debts were cancelled.

I know that Bishop McKiernan would gladly have cancelled the debt of thanks and praise which we have come to pay here today. In fact when the idea was first suggested to him he remarked: “It will be like having to endure one’s funeral ahead of time”. Well this is certainly no funeral and nothing like a funeral but rather a celebration of life, the life of one particular diocese, and the celebration of God’s love for His people in that diocese.

Bishop McKiernan is well known for his love of history, especially for his love of the history of the diocese of Kilmore. He knows much better than I that this month he joins a small number of bishops who have served the people of this diocese for twenty-five years or more. Earlier this century there was Patrick Finnegan, a native of Corlurgan in this parish, and bishop from 1910 – 1937. The Wexford man, Bishop James Brown was here from 1829 – 1865. Bishop Denis Maguire, a native of Killesher, Co. Fermanagh was bishop from 1770 – 1798. Bishop Eugene MacSweeney came from Donegal and laboured here in tough and troubled times from 1628 – 1669. In his history of the diocese of Kilmore Philip O’Connell lists five others going back to Simon O’Rourke, who died in 1285, Conor McConsnamha who died in 1355 and who was a native of Drumkeeran. There were three others, Nicholas McBrady, probably from Castletara, bishop from 1394 – 1421, Tomas McBrady, also from Castletara, 1480 – 1511 and Richard Brady, a Franciscan, who was bishop from 1580 – 1607.

So today we congratulate you most heartily, Bishop Frank, on joining that small but distinguished club of ten who between you have given 250 years service to the leadership of the Church in Kilmore over the last 700 years.

Even though the times were different and their backgrounds were very varied, nevertheless the task that confronted each one of those remained fundamentally the same; that of carrying on, with the help of the priests, the work of Christ, the eternal pastor. It is the splendid task of being faithful to the teaching of the apostles and of building up the Church as the body of Christ. It is the noble work of sustaining the people of God strongly in their life of faith and love and of leading them confidently and hopefully in the ways of holiness. It means teaching people the Good News about Jesus Christ, and the News brought by Jesus Christ. But it means being, first of all, one who listens to that News oneself and lives it in one’s own life. It means praying for others and for oneself. It means being a witness to the light.

For his work of teaching the new Bishop of Kilmore had, by 1972, served a long and rigorous apprenticeship. I refer to his ten years teaching in St. Patrick’s College, Cavan and ten years in St. Felim’s, Ballinamore. I remember him as our well-prepared, enthusiastic and dedicated teacher of Irish in 1952/53 and again in 1954/55. He knew his pupils well and was interested in our progress, something which is of enormous value in fostering the potential of every pupil in the pursuit of excellence. His love of history was soon apparent. He gave us a sense of our identity – of who we were. I remember his trying to broaden our vision by recommending that we should read books like Daniel Corkery’s ‘Hidden Ireland’ – It was excellent advice of course but me thinks it sometimes fell on deaf ears.

When he was appointed Principal of the new St. Felim’s College, Ballinamore in 1962 he was responsible, along with the Principals of the Vocational School and of Meanscoil Fatima for a revolutionary idea of pooling the resources of three small schools in order to provide a full, comprehensive range of education for the children of the Ballinamore catchment area. It was not only a revolutionary idea but a visionary one. The vision was translated into reality to the advantage of all concerned and especially of the pupils who profited immensely from the development.

After his ordination as Bishop in 1972 he retained his interest in education and became a member of the Bishops Commission for Education and was, for many years, its spokesperson. This was at a time when the Government was taking more responsibility in the field of education, Bishop McKiernan played a very important role in negotiations which reconciled the parts of Church and State in education, especially in the post-primary sector. Painstaking negotiations, great diplomatic skills and sensitivity and deep convictions were required to ensure that the rapidly developing post-primary sector preserved a religious ethos. This was hard, demanding work, requiring understanding and common sense, patience and sensitivity and above all the clear conviction of the necessity and the value of integrating the old and the new. It was work that went without publicity but work that will endure.

In 1979 when Pope John Paul decided to visit Ireland Bishop McKiernan was appointed Chairman of the Organising Committee. It involved a huge amount of work, with a relatively small staff, in a short space of time. Bishop McKiernan carried it out with great tact and efficiency. He delegated others and trusted those whom he delegated, but carried the responsibility for the whole effort with modesty, without any desire for publicity or recognition and with considerable success.

I have mentioned these episodes as some of the highlights of a long and distinguished career but they are the easier ones to identify and describe. His more valuable and lasting contribution is something different and very precious. Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and they know me”. Bishop McKiernan certainly knows the people of his diocese, the lay faithful, the religious and the priests. He has acquired that knowledge through years of patient parish visitation, hospital visitation and school visitation. That intimate knowledge of the diocese, of its people and of its history and its traditions is a great driving force in his life of loving dedication and commitment to their well-being and progress. He is well aware of the high honour and heavy responsibility of being bishop of the ancient See of the Ui Briuin. Keenly conscious of how much we, of the present day, owe to the past, he has always devoted his time and energy and talents to increasing his own knowledge of our rich inheritance of faith that he might the more effectively live up to that heritage and hand it on to future generations and inspire others to devote their lives to this noble task.

We Christians believe that we have been put on this earth for a purpose, to share in God’s life. We believe that we achieve that purpose by giving rather than by receiving. By giving ourselves to God and to our neighbour in loving service. This is only possible if we meet God, a God who comes to us, who comes in search of us in His Son, Jesus Christ. We believe that the spirit of the Risen Christ is the eternal source of every gift that comes from God and that the Holy Spirit acts within the Church in the sacraments and in the variety works and gifts which are inspired for the good of the Church.

Today we thank God for the work of Bishop McKiernan over the last twenty-five years. We thank God for his strong faith, a faith nurtured on the word of God, nourished by prayer and the sacraments and enriched by a tender devotion to Mary the mother of God. We thank God for his wisdom and understanding, wisdom developed through study and reflection. We thank God for his courage and vision manifested in his leadership and decision-making. We thank God for his piety and his reverence which have inspired and edified many.

The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control. Many of us will have our own particular memories of those fruits so evident in the life of our Jubilarian. I am not going to embarrass him by reciting them in public. Many have experienced his kindness and goodness, especially in times of trouble or sickness, and have noted his humility and faithfulness.

In his apostolic letter for the millennium Pope John Paul says that: ‘in the Christian view of things every jubilee is a particular year of favour for the individual concerned’. A jubilee is a measurement of time and every one of these measurements of time is marked with the presence of God and his saving activity. So as we rejoice to celebrate this well deserved tribute we pray that this year will be one of particular grace not only for Bishop Frank but also for his Co-adjutor, Bishop Leo, and for their loyal and generous co-workers, the priests and religious of the diocese. But not only for those. Let it be a time when the presence and saving love of Christ may be really strong in every parish and in every home, and in every heart, from Kilmainhamwood to Kinlough, to the glory of God forever and ever

AMEN.

HOMILY GIVEN BY CARDINAL SEÁN BRADY
ON SUNDAY 3 NOVEMBER 1996
AT HIS INSTALLATION AS ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH

I welcome you all to Armagh today. I thank you for coming. I appreciate very much the words and expressions of welcome which I have just received. I imagine that many of us can recall a particular occasion when a word of welcome made all the difference.

I remember the first time I left Ireland. It was this time of year, thirty six years ago. I flew to Rome, it took all day. It was a very long day. I was standing in the airport terminal anxiously awaiting my luggage when a tal1 man, with a soft voice, said: “Would your name happen to be Brady?” Then I knew I was safe.

So when Bishop Clifford spoke on behalf of the priests and people of Armagh just now his words meant a lot to me. The greetings of Archbishop Eames, Reverend Best and Dr. Ross are greatly valued. I look forward to working with all of you.

The other people who greeted me represent very important organisations and bodies in the life of the diocese. I thank all of you for your pledge of friendship and support. When Jesus sent the twelve out to preach he told them: “Look for someone who is willing to welcome you”. I am delighted to have found so many to welcome me.

So I gladly ask the Lord to bless all you who have welcomed me here today and your communities and I say: “Peace be with you”.

Today I want to thank Cardinal Daly. Your Eminence I thank you for so much kindness and understanding. For your example and leadership. Your wise advice and counsel. I wish you continued health and blessings for the years ahead.

Today, on the Feast of St. Malachy, a native of this city, we think of the late Cardinal Ó Fiaich. This would have been his seventy-third birthday. May he rest in peace.

These twelve Jesus sent out. He gave them power to teach in his name. Today Jesus continues to send out people to teach in his name. I am deeply aware that today I join an illustrious line of teachers sent to Armagh. It began with Patrick and includes Malachy and Oliver Plunkett.

Jesus gave his disciples precise instructions they were to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Who were these lost sheep? They were people who were cut off from their community because they were unable to fulfil the demands of the law. People for example who could not pay their debts. Jesus offered the lost sheep a way back.

Today there are many lost sheep. There are people who are cut off from society for any number of reasons. There are people who are cut off because of poverty. There are people who have lost their way. There are people who have turned their back. It is our job to help them find their way back.

Before we start thinking of others however we could examine our own lives to see are we the lost sheep. How are our relationships? My relationship with God for example?. Am I too proud to listen? Too angry to believe? Too lazy to pray? My relationship with my family can suffer if I am too busy to notice and too stressed to help. My relationship with my neighbour can be damaged if I become trapped into my prejudices and fears. So, all of us, at some stage, are lost sheep.

How can the lost sheep be found? In the words of Jesus “the kingdom of heaven is near”. In other words, no matter what happens God is near to us. God loves us. Whoever knows that the great commandment is to love God and neighbour, that person is close to God.

So relationships come into it. It is not just a question of me and God alone. The reign of God demands that we look beyond ourselves and that we think of others, especially those less well off than ourselves. They are not to be considered a burden, they are our brothers and sisters.

The reign of God is an earthly reign. There is a here and now dimension to it. The reign of God is concerned with the establishment of justice and peace. That responsibility is a personal one. It belongs to each one of us. It cannot be off-loaded onto somebody else. And the great thing is that this Good News is meant for all of us. “Go make disciples of all nations”. All are invited to the feast, nobody is excluded. That gives hope to us all.

Jesus saw clearly that God’s reign would meet with obstacles. So he gave his disciples power to drive out the demons. That is to overcome the obstacles which are to be met and confronted.
One of the great obstacles is the absence of reconciliation. The refusal to repent of our sins. The refusal to get forgiveness or to ask for or to receive forgiveness. It is not a problem that is peculiar to Ireland of course.

Political walls that divided Europe have been torn down. However in hearts and heads the Iron Curtain has far from disappeared. For this reason the Christian Churches of Europe have decided to join forces to promote reconciliation. They have chosen as the theme of the second European Ecumenical Assembly: ‘Reconciliation – Gift of God, Source of New Life’.

This European Ecumenical Assembly is only the second in history. It unites all the Christian Churches of all the countries of Europe. It will take place next year in June in Austria. Europe is calling out for reconciliation. Reconciliation between people and God, after so much suffering. Reconciliation between the different Churches after so much conflict. Reconciliation of European people among themselves, after so much war. So our situation is not unique but it is urgent.

The most urgent religious task of our day is the search for peace and reconciliation. We remember the words of Jesus about leaving gifts before altars and going off to seek reconciliation with an enemy. The offering can wait, reconciliation cannot.

We have here a clear line of what comes first for Jesus. Reconciliation is not something to be put on a long finger. It is not something to be attempted only after a political solution has been found. It is not a task for religious leaders alone. It belongs to all men and women of goodwill.

Reconciliation is already a gift for all of us. That gift has been won for us by Jesus Christ. It follows therefore that it can already be a source of new life for us. It is up to us to try to envisage what that new life might be and how to work towards it.

This Ecumenical Assembly, sponsored by all the Churches seems to me to be a providential call. It calls all of us to make reconciliation a more manifest reality in our lives between now and June 1997. It is God’s way of saying: ‘the reign of God is very near, repent and believe the Good News’.

Once we accept the fact that God loves us, then we become more secure in our own identity and more sure of our worth in the sight of God. We get the confidence to reach out to other people. Jesus told the twelve: “Provide yourselves with no gold or silver not even with a few coppers for your purses. With no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff”. Those who bring the Good News should be given what they need, precisely because of who they are. They are to put their trust in the message, in the one who sent them.

Trust is also important in the quest for peace. A minimum degree of trust is the first step. The task is to rebuild trust on all sides. It will be a slow process. It will involve understanding the feelings of others. It will mean seeing the point of view of the other person and treating it with respect.

Our sense of identity is very important to all of us. We are all children of a loving and good God. By baptism we all become sisters and brothers of Jesus Christ. We love and respect the Word of God. These are the piers of the bridge which can unite us. They are also part of our identity.

The Lord says “I alone know the plans I have for you. Plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster. Plans to bring about the future you hope for”. Plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, what fantastic promises. Our hopes and God’s plans coincide. Only our sins can frustrate those plans. God’s plans are our hopes but God’s ways are not always our ways. To carry out those plans God may need more help from us than we were thinking of offering. Those words are God’s message. They are not some human thinking. God’s message is a living power among you who believe it. It is power that will lead to new forms of life. It will be at once a gift of God and source of new life.

May St. Malachy, great reformer that he was in his day, gain for us the wisdom to know the way God’s message beckons us and give us the strength to travel that way no matter what the cost.
May Mary, Mother of the Prince of Peace, intercede for the peacemakers and help them build up harmony. May we join with all true peace-makers in praying for peace and working to achieve it.

AMEN