"Do not be afraid of them for I am with you to protect you" (Jer. 1:8)
These words, proclaimed today in the first reading in this Mass on the Feast
of Saint Colman, were spoken to the young prophet Jeremiah by God to assure
him that, in accepting the call given him, he would not be alone. "I am
with you to protect you"(Jer. 1:8), said God. In the Gospel text proclaimed
today, Jesus takes leave of His Apostles, chosen by Him to carry on His mission
in the world, and He assures them, "know that I am with you always; yes,
to the end of time"(Mt. 28:20).
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God never asks us to do anything without
giving us the means to do it and He is always there by our side. And indeed
each one of us in his or her own chosen state in life, whether we are priest,
religious, parent, single, student or whatever profession we are called into,
each one is entrusted with a mission from God. We are to use the natural talents
and the supernatural graces He gives us in carrying out that mission and we
are not to be afraid for He is with us to protect us. Saint Paul tells us in
the second reading in today's liturgy: "People must think of us as Christ's
servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of
stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust" (1 Cor.
4:1-3).
It is because of the fidelity of those God called, of those apostles whom Jesus sent out to reveal the mysteries of God to His people, of those whom God Himself has protected, that we today gather in this Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Colman, to say thanks, to recommit ourselves and to assure one another that God is with us. We are all, because of our Baptism, caught up in the mysteries of God. They have been entrusted to us and we, each one, have been sent on mission to share the Good News of God with one another.
Fifteen hundred years ago God called a man, by name Colman MacLenine, a man endowed with many natural talents, especially with poetic powers so extraordinary that his contemporaries styled him the "Royal Bard of Munster". God's hand was laid on this man, he was entrusted with the mysteries of God and he was given a mission. He belonged to the line of Jeremiah, of the Apostles, of St. Paul and he was "found worthy of his trust"(1.Cor. 4:3). Today he is known to us as Saint Colman of Cloyne because he founded the Church of Cloyne and became its first Bishop. For more than forty years he toiled tirelessly and ceaselessly in the mission the Lord had entrusted to him in this Diocese and, at the age of ninety one years, he rendered to God an account of his stewardship, as he closed his eyes on this world. It is because of his fidelity to his mission, it is because he was not afraid to proclaim the mysteries of God to his contemporaries that we today can claim him as our "Father in the Faith". We salute him today, we thank God for having called him into mission and we seek his intercession so that we, in turn, may remain faithful to the calling God has given to us.
On this day, when heaven and earth are linked in jubilation and praise, we, the spiritual children of Saint Colman MacLenine, must recommit ourselves to what God has called us, to be veritable dispensers of the mysteries. We must invoke the God who says each day to us "I am with you to protect you"(Jer. 1:8), we must ask Him to pour out His Spirit upon the Church of Cloyne, that is on all of us, laity, religious and priests, so that together, in a truly collaborative manner, we may respond to the needs of our times and not be afraid. Where there has been a break in trust, we must ask pardon. Where there has been short-sightedness in pastoral methods, we must seek clarity of vision, where we have been slow to recognise and harness the gifts and talents of all the Baptised, we must be determined to work together for the establishment of the Kingdom, in a spirit of love and respect. Only in this way will the call of God, given to each, become evident, for it is a call to universal holiness and salvation. In the Church founded and loved by Saint Colman we must strive to eliminate the attitude of the "us" and the "them" and become one family under God striving together to establish his Kingdom of love, peace and justice.
My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus is "with us always, yes, to the end of time"(cf. Mt. 28:20). It was this certainty which sustained the Apostles and their successors in their mission. It was this certainty which sustained Saint Colman MacLenine in his journeys across this Diocese, as he called the faithful of his time to repentance, to grace and to holiness of life. It is the certainty in faith that Jesus is with us now and always that will sustain us now and into the future. Do not be afraid to take Jesus at His Word. We are living in trying but challenging times. Saint Colman rose to the challenge of the call in his day. May we, his spiritual children, not fail to rise to the challenge of being and acting as disciples of Jesus in this third millennium of faith. Where we hesitate because of fear or pressure, may we hear the clear voice of God, as did the young prophet Jeremiah, "Go now to those to whom I send you and say whatever I command you"(Jer. 1:7). May we feel the gentle touch of the hand of God and make our own the words of Jeremiah: "Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me: 'There! I am putting my words into your mouth"(Jer. 7:9).
May you my, brothers and sisters, truly experience the closeness of the Lord in your life and may you, through the intercession of Saint Colman, be always strengthened and refreshed by His Holy Spirit.