“We place our hands and our struggles in the hands of God”

_{Homily of Archbishop Eamon Martin during the celebration of Mass for the loved ones of Ireland’s missing persons}

Homily

During this universal Jubilee Year of Hope, I have been able to bring the Christian message of Hope to a wide variety of parishes and congregations, including to many people who struggle to find Hope in their lives.  This afternoon I am truly humbled to meet and to pray with you, the family members and friends of Ireland’s many missing persons.  I offer you today the support of the Church and the comfort of Faith, Hope and Love.

It is difficult for those who have not experienced, as you have, the immense loss of having a loved one go missing, or to fully appreciate the pain and grief you go through.  You have a daily heartache and sense of absence; you experience a whole range of emotions, not knowing what happened, where they are today as we gather here in Drogheda.  In so many ways normal life and living was suspended on the day they went missing, and you have had to find ways to keep going while grappling with the many unanswered questions of an unsolved mystery.

Still, you rightly hold out the Hope of someone or something emerging that might lift the veil of uncertainty, and shed some light into the mist and darkness of ‘unknowing’.  But although in many ways their being missing leaves an empty space, their presence never leaves your hearts and your prayers.  Hence we gather today to remember them, to comfort and encourage each other, to pray for answers, and to intercede for the various investigations and search efforts to find clues to their disappearance, and even, with the help of God to Hope for their return – to “hope against hope.”

I trust that our gathering here this afternoon might also help to raise greater awareness of the sheer scale of the reality of missing people here on the island of Ireland, as well as Irish people missing abroad.  In 2024 alone, more than eleven thousand people were reported missing in Ireland, of whom more than 60 are still missing.  There are currently over 900 unsolved missing people cases in Ireland, sadly including dear children, some from our own parishes here in Co Louth and other parts of the Archdiocese of Armagh.

But you – the families, friends and supporters of the cause of missing persons – you know your loved one not as some statistic, suspended file or unsolved case; you know them as the unique individual that they were and are – the sister, the brother, the parent, the child, the cousin, other relative, the friend, the colleague.

Friends in preparing for this afternoon’s gathering, my mind kept turning to the logo for this Jubilee year of Hope.  The logo shows four figures on a boat, representing the people of the whole world – north, south, east and west – holding on to each other for safety in the midst of choppy and stormy waters.  But the lead figure of the four is clinging to the cross, which is also in the shape of an anchor.  Surrounding the logo are the words: ‘Pilgrims of Hope’.  This message is clear: when we are troubled by uncertainty, worries and fears, and it seems at times that we are forgotten, abandoned and alone, we can find comfort in knowing that our Lord, who suffered such pain and abandonment on the Cross, is truly with us in the midst of the storm.  We hold on to His cross, heeding His words: ‘Do not be afraid’.

As Pope Francis put it:
‘We have an anchor: by his cross we have been saved.
We have a rudder: by his cross we have been redeemed.
We have a hope: by his cross we have been healed and embraced so that
nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love.’

There are so many passages in the Bible which speak about the pain of loss and separation and about holding on to Hope.

In his letter last year to launch the Jubilee of Hope, Pope Francis quoted from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans:
‘Since we are justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God… Hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Rom 5:1-2.5).’

We pray this afternoon for the gift of that ‘Hope which does not disappoint’.  We bring our thoughts and prayers firstly, to those missing who are still alive but who, for whatever reason, feel they cannot come home or get in touch.  We trust that God will look after them, so that they will know our enduring love for them, and that they will know how much we think about them always and that we are here today to remember and pray for them.  No matter what has happened in the past, we would love to hear from you, to know how you are and, if it is possible, to welcome you back home to be with us.

We also think of those missing loved ones who have died, either by natural causes; by tragic accident; by the crime and wrongdoing of others, or by their own hand.  How much it would mean to be able to know where their bodies are, to have a grave to visit, to have a funeral and remembrance.  And we are so conscious also of the many unidentified persons’ remains that have been found, and the need for more information, full coordination of resources and the development and use of all new techniques and advances in DNA technology.

We pray for those who are working on various investigations, gathering information and targeting searches for missing people: those involved in forensics, profiling, police and coroner services both at home and abroad, and those who support us in counselling, helplines and other caring services.  Your work is a compassionate lifeline for so many of us.

Our gathering today points us also to be conscious of the global scale of the reality of missing persons.  We do not forget those lost in human trafficking, the millions buried or displaced in the destruction and violence of war, or in the aftermath of natural disasters, air and sea accidents.  And then there are the enforced disappearances in some countries for political reasons, where people are abducted, imprisoned or deliberately killed and secretly buried.

Our thoughts are once more with the remaining families who continue their painful search for the so-called ‘Disappeared’ during the conflict in Ireland.

Down at Kilkenny Castle Park, the National Missing Persons Memorial reminds the people of Ireland of the reality of the suffering of so many families here on this island.  It shows many hands, (the actual hands of family members which were cast in bronze by the sculptor); hands reaching up in Hope and pleading for some answers, some closure; hands like our hands here today which are raised and joined in prayer this afternoon for each other and for the cause of missing persons.

Today we place our hands and our struggles in the hands of God, knowing that if we can have faith even the size of a mustard seed, then anything is possible.  If we can have the hope that does not disappoint, then one day we will be reunited with our loved ones.  And, meanwhile, if we can have love, like the love of Christ our Saviour, whose hands and feet were nailed to the Cross, then we too can one day experience the joy and consolation of His resurrection.

Amen.

Archbishop Eamon Martin is Archbishop of Armagh, Apostolic Administrator of Dromore and Primate of All Ireland. 

St Oliver Plunkett was completely aware of his call to martyrdom

“It is fitting to note that Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, the visionary of the Sacred Heart, was canonised by Pope Benedict XV on 13 May 1920, just ten days before he beatified our own Saint Oliver Plunkett”

Archbishop Eamon Martin

Homily of Archbishop Martin at Mass for the ‘Oliver400’ celebrations

In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we have been very fortunate here in Ireland to be able to celebrate special moments, like the 800th anniversary of the canonisation of Saint Laurence O’Toole; the centenary of Venerable Matt Talbot’s death; 80 years since the outstanding witness of our Columban missionaries who were martyred in the Philippines – ‘like lambs among wolves’ – and also the 75th anniversary of the Columban martyrs who gave their lives in Korea.

In the Archdiocese of Armagh – and especially so here in Drogheda – the pinnacle of our Jubilee Year celebrations is the double anniversary of Saint Oliver Plunkett: born 400 years ago in 1625, and canonised 50 years ago in 1975.

During his first four years as Archbishop, Oliver threw himself energetically into mission mode.  Bishop Desmond Forristal described him as “a man in a hurry”, who wasted no time in administering the sacraments; establishing a school here in Drogheda to educate the youth and instruct clerics.  Archbishop Oliver also conducted many pastoral visitations and convened synods and councils to reform the Church.  When necessary, he stepped in as a mediator and peacemaker to help heal various disputes and divisions.  He built relationships with the Protestant Archbishop and clergy, and he was particularly zealous to ordain, instruct and form the clergy, driven, no doubt, by those Gospel words: “the harvest is rich, but the labourers are few”.

But within four years, by the end of 1673, the political tide was turning against the Catholic Church.  Archbishop Oliver Plunkett, showed immense courage.  Taking little account of his own needs and health, he tirelessly and unapologetically proclaimed the Gospel, despite increasing opposition and even direct threats to his life.  By 1678 he was a fugitive.  He wrote, “I am certain I will be captured as there are so many hunting for me.  But whatever the danger, I will stay with my flock and will not abandon them until I am dragged to the ship“.

Eventually he was arrested and imprisoned on account of a malicious charge that he was involved in the so-called ‘Popish plot’.  After prolonged imprisonment in Dublin and in London, he was put through a sham trial and unjustly condemned to death.  In the end, Oliver suffered the ultimate humiliation – he was dragged through the crowded streets of London before being publicly hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn Cross.  But he never lost hope in a heavenly homeland, and even from the gallows, Archbishop Oliver proclaimed his faith in the Risen Lord, and forgave those who had plotted against him.

We might ask ourselves, why did he do it?  Why did Saint Oliver show such determination and courage in the face of blatant bigotry and public demeaning of his character?  Why was he so serene while being dragged to such a brutal end?  It was because he lived, and died, by the principle of “no greater love”, literally laying down his life for love of God and for his people, and for his undying conviction that Hope in Christ does not disappoint.

Let me ask it another way: Why did his persecutors seek to destroy Saint Oliver Plunkett?  Could they not accept that this faithful shepherd would never leave his beleaguered flock?  The answer is: because Evil abhors Faith; Evil hates Love, and Evil especially detests Hope because, as Pope Francis once put it, “Hope keeps alive the deep conviction that good is stronger than evil, and that God, in Christ, has conquered sin and death.”

That is why on Easter Sunday morning, just hours before he died, Pope Francis added, “Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand …Christ is Risen.  Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood.  Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge”.

Pope Benedict XVI once asked: “On what is martyrdom founded?”  “The answer”, he said, “is simple: it is founded on the death of Jesus, on his supreme sacrifice of love in the cross; and it gets its strength from a deep and intimate union with Christ, because martyrdom and the vocation to martyrdom are not the result of human effort but the response to the call of God; they are a gift of God’s grace that enables a person, out of love, to give his (or her) life for Christ and for the Church, and hence for the world.”

Saint Oliver Plunkett was completely aware of his call to martyrdom.  No doubt he would have prayed those words of Saint Paul to the Galatians, “The only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world”.  He had no hesitation, therefore, in taking up his cross every day and freely following Christ along the path of unconditional love.

And this brings to mind another of our Jubilee year anniversaries, namely, the 350th anniversary of the Sacred Heart revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque.  She described the Lord opening his heart to her, saying: “This is the heart that so loved human beings that it has spared nothing, even to emptying and consuming itself in order to show them its love”.  Saint Margaret Mary’s spiritual director – a Jesuit priest named Claude de La Colombière – defended her publicly. He helped to spread the word about her visions and to explain their meaning in the light of the Gospel.

It struck me recently that Sister Margaret Mary’s visions of the Sacred Heart at Paray-le-Monial, from 1673-1675, were happening at precisely the same time that Archbishop Oliver was spreading the Good News of Christ’s love amongst his people in Ireland.  Whether or not Archbishop Oliver ever heard of these visions of the Sacred Heart, it is clear that he too was inspired by the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ, both in his life and in accepting his death; one might even say Archbishop Oliver was an anticipatory apostle of the Sacred heart.

His solitary confinement for many months under stark conditions became his personal Gethsemane.  But, like Christ, he was serene and prayerful in his suffering, surrendering himself in complete submission to God‘s will.  He cheerfully chose even more penance, by often refusing the meagre daily rations of prison food.

Archbishop Oliver meditated on the Passion of Christ with all its wounds and thorns, and he clearly wanted to unite his own imminent death at Tyburn Cross with that of our suffering Saviour on the cross at Calvary – although Oliver remarked that his suffering would be merely a “fleabite” in comparison!  Nonetheless, he asked forgiveness for his own sins, and joyfully offered up his sacrifices for an end to the persecution of his flock in Ireland and so that, by his death, the number of Catholics would once more increase.

Meanwhile, the Jesuit priest Fr Claude de La Colombière, who had been transferred to England, wrote in his diary of how shocked he was to discover that a bounty had been set on the head of the Archbishop of Armagh.  Father Claude was himself arrested and imprisoned in England on account of the Popish plot.  He escaped execution because he was a French citizen and, returning to France as an exhausted and broken man, he died in 1682, just a year after Saint Oliver.  He was canonised in 1992.

In this context, I think it is fitting to note that Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, the visionary of the Sacred Heart, was canonised by Pope Benedict XV, on 13 May 1920, just ten days before he beatified our own Saint Oliver Plunkett.

Dear brothers and sisters, during this Jubilee Year the lives of so many saints and martyrs are encouraging us to be like them: pilgrims of hope in this troubled world.  Their message for us in clear: do not be afraid to answer God’s call to holiness, to take up your own daily crosses, to deepen your love for Christ and do all you can to build “a civilisation of love”.  In that way, peace and mercy can flow like a river, and the whole earth can cry out with joy, singing to the name of the Lord!

Through the intercession of Saint Oliver Plunkett, Saint Laurence O’Toole, Saint Columbanus and the Columban martyrs, Venerable Matt Talbot, and all the holy women and men of Ireland, may our hearts be on fire this Jubilee, so that we radiate, like them, the message of Love and Hope in Christ, Amen.

Archbishop Eamon Martin

Archbishop of Armagh, Apostolic Administrator of Dromore and Primate of All Ireland.