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HOMILY AT KNOCK SHRINE
Cloyne
Diocesan Pilgrimage to Knock
2001
“Paul and Barnabas put fresh heart into the disciples,
My
dear fellow Pilgrims,
Gathered
as we are today in such great numbers at the Shrine of Mary in Knock, we can
draw comfort from the fact that there are so many people still devoted to the
Mother of God. We may feel very comfortable and secure in a gathering such as
this and for a few hours be truly uplifted. But then we make our way back home,
to our parishes and the memory of this encounter today will inevitably be
absorbed into the humdrum activities of daily life. We may say to ourselves how
good it was to be here and may determine to come back again next year. Is that
what pilgrimage to Knock is all about? Being faithful to an annual commitment
because it is a good thing to do? Do we really go away from here or from any
pilgrimage shrine with “fresh heart” and encouraged “to persevere in the
faith”? Saints Paul and Barnabas would certainly want us to. And indeed so
would Mary.
During
the Jubilee Year many people went on pilgrimage to various shrines and felt
spiritually renewed as a result. Did they really come back home with a
‘fresh heart’ determined to start afresh? Have our parishes been
renewed as a result of so much energy expended in carrying out a Jubilee Year
programme? Has there been follow-on? Have I, I ask myself, been renewed in
spirit as a result of all I did during that memorable year? Indeed each one of
us could ask:
Have
I a fresh heart of discipleship that will encourage me to persevere in the
faith?
The
Holy Father, speaking of the Jubilee Year, said: “ What we have done this year
cannot justify a sense of complacency, and still less should it lead us to relax
our commitment. On the contrary, the experiences we have had should inspire in
us new energy, and impel us to invest in concrete initiatives the enthusiasm
which we have felt”. ( Novo Millennio Ineunte, 15). Enthusiasm
is the appropriate word for today. That is what is meant by Paul and Barnabas
putting ‘fresh hearts into the disciples’ – instilling in them a spirit of
enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the fruit of a felt experience.
The
Holy Father furthermore has indicated to us the way forward: “ to remember the
past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to
the future with confidence”. (N.M.I. 1). There
are many things we have to apologise for in the past, many incidents for which
we must have genuine sorrow and seek forgiveness. It will take some time yet
before this ‘purification of
memory’ is complete. However, let us not be so overburdened with past sins as
to forget past graces. We have much to be thankful for. As individuals and as
Church in Ireland we must not allow the memory of the past become an obstacle to
living the present with enthusiasm. Faith without enthusiasm for Gospel values
and, in particular, for the Person of Jesus is a faith that must surely die. Let
us not be tempted to retreat, faced as we are with the great challenges of our
time, into the bunkers of security that may be found in gatherings such as this
but rather let us be up and doing on the front line with fresh hearts,
determined wills and strong faith. The spiritual malaise which may be very
evident in our times is due to a great lack of enthusiasm for the Good News of
the Gospel and it will not be solved by some magic formula. “ No, we shall not
be saved by a formula but by a Person and the assurance He gives us:
‘I
am with you!’”(N.M.I. 29). We do not need new programmes. We need to
experience the Person of Jesus, the Jesus of the Gospel, and from that felt
experience draw our enthusiasm. That enthusiasm for the Gospel of Jesus Christ
is truly contagious and underlines the affirmation of the Holy Father to the
Youth of the World when he said: “If you are what you should be, you will set
the world ablaze”(World Youth Day Address 2000).
My
dear People, let us be open to be enthused by the Person of Jesus Christ. Let us
not be afraid to challenge our world with the beauty of His Person, with the
truth of His Gospel, with the purity of His life. The Holy Father, speaking of
young people whom he met during the Great Jubilee, said: “If Christ is
presented to young people as He really is, hey experience Him as an answer that
is convincing and they can accept His message, even when it is demanding and
bears the mark of the Cross. For this reason, ” he said, “ in response to
their enthusiasm, I did not hesitate to ask them to make a radical choice of
faith and life and present them with the stupendous task: to become ‘morning
watchmen’
(cf.
Is. 21: 11-12) at the dawn of the new millennium” ( N.M.I. 9).
Jesus
Christ came to be incarnate for and among His people – His people of all times
and seasons. No climate change, no thunderstorm of intimidation, no
earthquake-shattering event should prevent Him and His Message from being
present to His people. Just as no one can experience the presence of Jesus in
their lives without being challenged by His Message, so also, if His Message is
not presented in all clarity and integrity, His presence will not be fully
experienced. It is necessary that Society today be challenged by the eternal
truth of the Gospel, just as Jesus did for the Society into which He was born.
He had a Message to deliver from His Father and it cost Him His life. Through
that sacrifice of His life and His glorious rising from the dead He enables us
to carry on His mission to the world. We cannot water down His Message, His Good
News, to make it more acceptable to a changed mentality, to a so-called changed
Ireland. If His Message is not delivered in all its integrity, then a great
disservice will be done to His people for whom He gave His life. Jesus wishes to
be incarnate among His people today with His Message intact. That Message
entails respect for truth, honesty and justice at all levels of Society; that
Message entails respect for the sacredness of human life at all stages, from the
womb to the tomb; that Message entails respect for the sanctity and
indissolubility of marriage and conjugal love; that Message entails respect for
and proper use of the beautiful gift of human sexuality in accordance with the
mind of God; that Message entails a proper understanding of the power of the
evil one and a recognition of sin for what it is, ‘ an offence against God, a
rupture of communion with Him’ ( C.C.C. 1440). That Message entails, above
all, the loving Heart of a Merciful God Who ‘makes all things new in Jesus
Christ’. If you, my dear People, if you, the young people of Ireland, wish to
encounter Jesus Christ, you must take on board His Message, His Gospel in its
entirety and then you will have a unique experience of Him, which will set you
on fire with enthusiasm and zeal. You can truly change this land for the better
by enabling Jesus Christ become incarnate among its people and be to them a
Saviour. In the Gospel proclaimed today He has given us the means by which we
can really do this, by which we can be enthusiastic disciples of His in a world
which has great need of Him: “ I give you a new commandment: love one another;
just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have
for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples” (Jn. 13:
34-35).
So,
my dear fellow pilgrims, here at the Shrine of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, let us
ask of Her the grace to be enthused with the Person of Her Son and with His
Message so that we may go home with a ‘fresh heart’ and encouraged ‘ to
persevere in the faith’ (Acts. 14:22).