With great joy, on this, the Feast day of St Patrick, our National Apostle, I wish Irish people everywhere a very happy St Patrick’s Day.  As we gather to celebrate our identity, our culture and our heritage, I salute you and greet you.

This St Patrick’s Day, I am keenly aware of the huge numbers who have emigrated from Ireland in recent times, especially those who felt they had no choice.  May the memory of St Patrick, who was himself carried off from his homeland at the age of sixteen, sustain all those who have left our shores for other lands.  May the example of Patrick’s faith in God, who comforted and protected him, protect and comfort them also.

Christianity has shaped our identity and heritage as Irish people in so many ways. Our celebration would be seriously impoverished if we ignored this Christian dimension of St Patrick’s legacy.

Copies have survived of two writings of St Patrick.  They tell us the kind of man Patrick was, of his faith and of his understanding of God.  They tell us that Patrick was a man who knew how to turn adversity into opportunity.  He successfully turned the adversity of six years of slavery on Slemish into an opportunity to grow in his knowledge and love of the God who, in Patrick’s words, “protected and comforted me as a father would his son.”  That knowledge and love of the Triune God are the basis of Patrick’s greatness.  

Adversity also taught him the folly of relying exclusively on himself and the necessity of relying on others and especially on the God who created him.

My hope on this St Patrick’s day is that more and more Irish people will come to know the kind of person St Patrick really was, that they will come to know the faith that inspired him and carried him through the adversities of his life.

Towards the end of his Confession Patrick makes perfectly clear that he “never had any reason, beyond the Gospel and its promises, ever to return to the people from whom I had formerly, barely escaped.”  We have the same Gospel and the same promises.  My earnest hope is that we will all rise to the challenge of announcing that Gospel in the Ireland of today. My prayer is that we will not shut out or lose the Christian message that has brought such hope, consolation and strength to generations of Irish people, especially in times of adversity and challenge.

In his Confession, St. Patrick compares himself to “a stone that had fallen into a deep bog.  And He who is mighty, came and in His mercy, picked me up and indeed lifted me high to place me on top of the wall.”  As we prepare for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin this June, we ask St. Patrick and all the Irish saints for a deep renewal of faith in God’s power to lift us up to new horizons of hope and possibility. A humble trust in Christ’s power to heal and renew in spite of our human weakness, would, I believe be proof of the authenticity of our celebrations today.

Theme: ‘Christ’s Living Body Active in Our World’

Mr Con McKinley, Principal of Saint Mary’s College, Dundalk, today welcomed guests to the all-Ireland launch of Catholic Schools Week 2012.  Saint Mary’s was founded by the Marist Fathers and is celebrating 150 years during the academic year 2011 – 2012.  Speakers at the launch were Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and Reverend Dr Ronald Nuzzi, a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, and director of the leadership programme for the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, who delivered the keynote address.

At the launch Cardinal Brady said, “During Catholic Schools Week we celebrate the part played by Catholic schools in handing on the faith from one generation to the next.  The Catholic school, as we know it here in Ireland, is a good example of co-operation between the parents, teachers and community.  Yet we must beware of loading too much on to the schools.  They are, after all, a help to parents.

“One of the key roles of the Board of a Catholic School is to preserve the religion and moral ethos of the school.  I want to pay tribute to the work of those who serve on Boards of Management and, in Northern Ireland, on Boards of Governors.  On the Boards of Management alone, in the primary sector in the South, there are 26,600 board members.

“Boards are exemplary models of subsidiarity at work in our parishes – they are expressions of local participative democracy in our educational system of which we should all be proud.”

Cardinal Brady continued, “Recent research among a broad sample of school boards revealed that 88% of respondents felt that their board was functioning effectively.  This is good because it is accepted that there is a strong correlation between governance effectiveness and school effectiveness.”  [see Cardinal Brady’s full address below]

Facilitating the open forum of the launch was the Director General of the Conference of Religious of Ireland, Sister Marianne O’Connor, who said: “On a day like today I am particularly conscious of the enormous contribution generations of religious sisters, brothers and priests – in partnership with lay teachers – have made to the education of children in the Catholic tradition.”

“While it is important to acknowledge the educational service offered by religious congregations in the past, I am glad today to be able to reaffirm our commitment to supporting Catholic education into the future, notwithstanding the radically changed landscape in the Ireland of the 21st century.  On behalf of CORI I welcome the establishment of new forms of trusteeship for schools which will foster the Catholic education needs of children for generations to come,” said Sister O’Connor.

Delivering the keynote address Father Ron Nuzzi highlighted the topic of Catholic schools as Eucharistic communities, highlighting the central role of the Mass in the life of the Church and in the conduct of the school.   Father Nuzzi stated that although there are many differences between Catholic schools in the United States and Catholic schools in Ireland, the shared faith of the Church provides much common ground for Catholic educational leaders, teachers, principals, parents, and bishops to work together to sustain, strengthen, and transform Catholic schools.

Building upon the insights of the Catholic theological tradition, Father Nuzzi proffered a theology of educational leadership and encouraged those present to open wide the doors of their hearts and homes, their schools and churches, to the presence of Christ.  “Catholic schools are the best means of evangelization the Church has ever invented,” he stated.  “It is no wonder that official church documents state that Catholic schools are at the heart of the Church.”

I gladly wish each and every one of you a happy New Year.  I am sure that you have already wished many people a happy 2012.  I am quite certain that when you think of those who are nearest and dearest to you, on this first day of the New Year, your deepest desire for each one of them is for their happiness.  How often we hear it said, especially by mothers about their sons and daughters:  “I don’t mind as long as they are happy”.

But what makes for genuine happiness someone may ask.  If we were to set about drawing up a shopping list of the components of happiness, I am quite certain that peace would always come at the top of the list.  So, I extend to all of you my heartfelt good wishes that 2012 may be marked in your life by peace and goodwill.

Today is World Day of Peace.  It coincides, each year, in the Catholic Church, with our celebration of the Solemn Feast of Mary, Mother of God.  It is not really a coincidence but a matter of deliberate choice.  Mary, the Mother of God, is our mother too.  

In his last Will and Testament, Jesus gave her to us to be our mother.  It happened on Calvary as he hung, dying on the Cross for love of us.  Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved, standing there so he said to his mother:  “He is your son”.  Then he said to the disciple:  “She is your mother”.  
In that instance John represents every disciple of Christ in every age and in every nation.  And in his Gospel, that same disciple wrote:  “From that time the disciple took her to live in his home”.  This means a special personal relationship between not only the disciple, John, but every disciple and Mary.  It means the admission of Mary into the innermost regions of one’s mental and spiritual life.  It means that we too enlist the help of Mary in our search for peace for ourselves and for our families.  We are very wise to do so because this account of the crucifixion points to Mary who, with a mother’s care, takes part in the struggle against the powers of darkness and negativity and so becomes our sign of hope.  

Mary is called:  Queen of Peace.  At the wedding feast of Cana, she showed herself to be not only a peacemaker but a custodian of the peace.  Mary had spotted that a disaster was looming which would threaten the peace and stability of the relationship of that newly-wed couple – they had no wine.  Just imagine the blame and the bickering that would have followed if nothing was done.  But something was done by Mary.  She interceded with her son, Jesus, and the disaster was avoided.

Mary is called, Queen of Peace for another reason.  She is the mother of Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace.  With his own body he broke down the wall that separated the Jews and the Gentiles and kept them enemies.

Today we give thanks for the peacemakers in our own time and in our own place, who have not only broken down the walls of hatred and separation but built bridges of understanding and friendship and, in this way, made peace.  Today we give thanks not only for all those peacemakers who made peace at international levels – healing old hurts and hostilities – but also for those who make peace in families and in homes  
Today we give thanks for those peacemakers on our own island, many of them women like Mary, who did so much by word and deed to make peace and to consolidate peace.  They did so very often by recognising the dignity of everyone they met and by respecting that dignity.  They were able to do so, not alone because they were able to see further than others, but because they first experienced, in their own lives, the peace and justice which they proposed to others.  They had the ability to educate others in the ways of Justice and Peace.

Pope Benedict in his message for this World Day of Peace deals with the task of educating young people in justice and peace.  He does so because he believes that young people, with their enthusiasm, can offer new hope to the world.  The Pope begins by saying that we need to pay more attention to the concerns of young people and their difficulties.

I am certain that all those involved in raising awareness of suicide will be immensely heartened by the Pope’s observations that “attentiveness to young people and their concerns, the ability to listen to them and appreciate them….represents a primary duty for society as a whole, for the sake of building a future of justice and peace”.  

I recently met some people who are involved in providing support for families affected by suicide.  Their aim is to discover how to offer hope to people who feel that they have lost hope.  One such organisation, SOSAD – Save our Sons and Daughters, based in Drogheda, has, as its slogan:  There is Hope”.  Its founder, Peter Moroney, set up SOSAD to raise awareness of suicide and to help combat suicidal feelings through support, counselling and emergency phone lines.

The ability to listen is necessary in many areas of life but this is one which it is extremely urgent.  Suicide is now the biggest killer of young men in Ireland, but not only young men.  It is vitally important therefore that society, as whole, take on board its responsibility in this matter and give careful consideration to the challenge of listening appropriately to the concerns of young people.  

At the present time young people see how difficult it is to find a job and to form a family.  The greatest challenge, however, is that of communicating to young people an appreciation for the positive value of life.  

We Christians believe that God created the visible world in all its richness and beauty.  The human person is the summit of the work of the Creator – and human life is sacred.  When God’s original plan of sharing the happiness of Heaven with the human race was sabotaged by sin, God prepared another plan.  He would send his son to reveal his merciful love for all of us.  

Today we honour the part played by Mary in the fulfilment of that plan.  With her ‘yes’ to the proposal that she become the Mother of God, she went along with God’s plan and made herself available to play her part.  She teaches us the importance of putting our trust in our Creator, who is our first beginning and our last end.  She teaches us the importance of the Gift of Faith – a gift to be requested and treasured.

Today, Pope Benedict challenges all of us to help young people appreciate the gift of life and to awaken in them the desire to spend their lives in the Service of the Good.  

He issues that challenge to educators in the first place and especially to parents, since parents are the first educators of their children.  He asks parents to spend time with their children.  I know I am speaking to people who have spent a lot of time in the service of the good, who spend an adequate amount of money on your families and who spend quite a lot of time with your families.  Pope Benedict encourages all of that.  He would wish you to tell your children of the happiness you get from helping others, and of the importance of one generation looking after another.  

Pope Benedict asks young people not to yield to discouragement when faced with difficulties.  Be confident in your youth and its profound desire for happiness, truth, beauty and genuine love.  He says:

“I ask you parents and grandparents to remind the young people that they are never alone.  The Church – like every good mother – wishes to offer her children the most precious gift she has – “The opportunity to raise your eyes to Jesus Christ – who is himself Justice and Peace”.

The Holy Father ends his letter with a powerful plea – to us all – but especially to young people.  He asks us:  ‘Remember one thing:  Only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantee of what is really good and true – a God who is the measure of what is right and who at the same time is Everlasting Love – only an unconditional return to God can save the world.

What a city Armagh would be if everyone really appreciated the positive values of life.  There would be no bullying; no exploitation.  What a difference it would make if we all really wanted to spend our lives in the Service of the Good.  

Jesus gave us Mary, his mother to be our Mother too – especially in our moments of darkness and discouragement.  

To her do we come;
Before her we stand;
Sinful and sorrowful

She points us to the Church, the Body of her son which says to all of us:

May the Lord let his face shine upon you and be gracious to you

This is no superficial blessing but an offering of help and support for every day of the New Year.  We, in turn, respond with works of kindness towards our neighbour.  As we wish each other a happy and peaceful New Year, we recall them, peace is not a blessing already attained.  It is a goal to which each and all of us must aspire by giving our world a more humane face.

Some people put their hopes on Euro 2012, the Olympic Games and American football for a happy 2012.  I hope they help but I prefer to set my sights on the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June.  Its motto – Communion with Christ and with One Another can provide the way forward.

AMEN

WORLD DAY OF PEACE 2012

INTRODUCTION

It its New Year’s Day.

We celebrate it by placing the New Year, and all it will bring,ac under the protection of Mary, the Mother of God

This is World Day of Peace.

Every mother wants her child to be happy and to be at peace – real peace
•    Peace with oneself –
•    Peace with our family – and our neighbours
•    Peace with God

“I am deeply concerned at the news that up to 425 jobs are threatened at two calls centres in Belfast and Armagh, where 170 people are employed.  This will be a serious blow to the employees in Armagh and Belfast, their families and to the local economy.  This announcement will not only affect HCL BPO employees but, in addition, it jeopardises ancillary jobs which rely on the pay spend of the workers.

“I welcome the news that HCL BPO has given a commitment to ‘engage with each employee affected to look at ways we can assist them gain alternative employment within and outside HCL BPO’.  It is essential that alternative employment be secured for the affected workforce as soon as possible. “