Twenty-five years ago , in his first encyclical, Pope John Paul struck what has been a keynote of his pontificate – the extraordinary dignity of human life in Jesus Christ. When we understand ourselves in the light of the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, he said, not only will we adore God, we will also have a deep wonder at ourselves. That is the heart of the Good News
The story in the First Book of Samuel speaks to all of us. The young boy, Samuel, is lying down in
the temple, close to the presence of God in the Ark of the Covenant. He is probably restless. He
hears a voice but he is confused. He does not know who is calling or what he is being asked to do.
The Church in Ireland is living through challenging times. A half a century ago, the great majority of people were convinced and practising Catholics. The older ones among us remember the sense of wonder and anticipation when, in January 1959, Blessed John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, and expressed his hope for a new Pentecost in the Church. W
In one generation Ireland has changed from a society in which it was the norm to be a practicing Catholic to one in which the believer, at least in the area of religious commitments and activities, feels out of step with the mainstream.
A great deal has happened since fireworks and celebrations greeted the arrival of the year 2000 and expectations of a better, more peaceful world. Just over six years later it seems that the tone of the new century may have been set by the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11th 2001.
We find it hard to hear the message of Jesus Christ in all its wonder and in all its challenge. One important reason for that is that we do not recognise our own thirst, our own longing for God, our need of Christ the Way and of the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life
When he came to Ireland in 1979, Pope John Paul had not completed the first year of his ministry as Pope. This autumn we recall the twenty-fifth anniversary of that memorable visit and we pray that we may have the joy of greeting him once more in our country.
"WE WISH TO SEE JESUS"
The first Holy Week had already begun when some Greeks came to Philip saying that they
wished to see Jesus
Trusting in God is not an excuse to be complacent. Pope John Paul tells us that, "all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness" and he spells that out in a way that leaves no doubt about how demanding that is
‘How Can We Know the Way?’ could be described as a work in progress. By identifying
and expanding on three essential strands Bishop Murray outlines a working framework
for us in the Limerick Diocese.
In 1181 or 1182, a baby was born in a town about 150 kilometers north of Rome. He was
christened John, after St John the Baptist. But his father, who was away on business in France
at the time of the birth, decided that the child should be called Francesco, „the Frenchman?.
When a young Carmelite sister, not yet 25 years of age, died in Lisieux on September 30th
1897, nobody could have imagined that millions of people in Ireland would be honouring her
more than a century later.
We have every reason to thank God as we look back on our celebration of the Jubilee Year. Many of the events have left me with happy and grateful memories. I had the privilege of accompanying our diocesan pilgrimage to Rome in April and our Jubilee pilgrimage to Lourdes in June.
Christ be our Light has been chosen as our Jubilee Hymn. I am glad to hear it being sung so
enthusiastically in different parishes around the diocese. It is a song of prayer and praise to Jesus
Christ, ‘the true light that enlightens everyone’. In this Jubilee Year, we celebrate the 2000th
anniversary of the coming of the true light.
It is almost twenty years since Pope John Paul visited Limerick. He came, he told us, to speak in the
name of Christ, who gives dignity to every member of the Church and who gives a mission to each
one.
At the beginning of Creation, God says, ‘Let there be light’. St James calls God ‘the Father of all light’ – everything that is good and perfect comes from him.
The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Incarnation and descended on Jesus at his Baptism his presence in Jesus was a sign that the prophecies were being fulfilled
This year is a year of celebration and pride as Limerick City celebrates the eight hundredth
anniversary of the granting of its Charter.
In recent years we have tried in many ways to bring new life to parishes and clusters and to involve people more fully in the life of the diocese, through prayer groups, “Seven Steps” and other forms of lectio divina, through the establishment of Parish Pastoral Councils, Cluster Teams and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
You would imagine it should be impossible to be bored in the twenty-first century. Satellite and cable bring an ever-increasing number of television channels; new mobile and wireless technology promise sound, text, pictures, video and email wherever we are; the endless possibilities of the Internet, now with a broadband connection, are becoming more and more available; music, news, information are constantly on tap. I-Pods and MP3s allow us to carry with us music to fill every silence. The strange thing is that, in the middle of so many options, people are as bored as they ever were.
