On Wednesday 21 January last, Bishop Martin Hayes was the principal celebrant of a special Mass in St Ninnidh’s Church, Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh, to mark Catholic Schools Week. Fr Gerard Alwill (PP Knockninny and Member of the Board of Governors of St Aidan’s High School in Derrylin), Fr Andrew Tully (PP Killeshandra and Chaplain to St Patrick’s College, Cavan), Fr John Sexton (Adm. Ballaghameehan and Chaplain to St Clare’s Comprehensive School, Manorhamilton) and Fr Jason Murphy (Vice-Principal, Breffni College) concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Hayes.
St Aidan’s High School in Derrylin were the hosts of this year’s Mass and planned a beautiful and meaningful liturgy with students from the school taking an active part in it with the guidance of their teacher, Ms. Donna McHugh, and the support of the School Principal, Ms. Maura Melanaphy, and Mrs Patricia Sheridan, Diocesan Post-Primary Schools Catechetical Advisor. Great credit is due to everyone concerned with the planning of and participation in the Mass.
Students, chaplains and teachers from post-primary schools across the diocese travelled to Derrylin for the Mass. Also in attendance were other members of diocesan staff. After Mass, the Knockninny Parish Pastoral Council hosted refreshments in St Ninnidh’s Parish Hall nearby for everyone who attended the Mass.
Bishop Martin’s Homily is published below:
Our Gospel speaks of the kingdom of God which I consider to be a gift from God that is within each of us and between us – that which is invisible yet real. Jesus speaks of the kingdom using the lovely images of the kingdom of God being like ‘treasure hidden in a field’ or ‘a pearl of great value’, something that is precious. I firmly believe that each one of us is made in the image and likeness of God and that we are called to holiness or ‘called to be saints’ as was proclaimed by St Paul in our second reading last Sunday.
We are precious in the eyes of God, we can be persons of the kingdom of God, due to our baptism which is that celebration of God’s love for us. We have within us the potential for wisdom and strength in faith spoken of in our 1st Rd today from St Paul to the Corinthians. Regarding our faith, we may feel foolish and weak in the eyes of the world. However, God’s love and the example of Jesus provide us with that strength and that wisdom to give witness to our Christian faith to sustain us through our life’s journey.
As I mentioned the kingdom of God is within and between us – we can bring the best out of each other in sharing the treasure within through our relationships of friendship and respect for each other. Through our baptism, our celebration of God’s love for us, we are the treasures of the kingdom of God, and we can respond to God’s love by making the kingdom of God a reality in our world. We can be a movement for good. We can by doing things well in our ordinary normal lives be called to holiness or to be saints, which will help to build the kingdom of God. Our CSW theme is about normal lives; called to holiness at home, in our school and in our local parish community.
Today, 21st January, we celebrate St Agnes who died a martyr for our Christian faith at 12 years of age. She was prepared to draw upon God’s love for her, her being a treasure, a pearl, so as not to give up on her principles as ‘compromise just would not do’. We also, have the inspiring example of St Carlo Acutis, again, an ordinary life lived in an extraordinary way. Carlo loved music, played soccer, who as a catechist promoted the prayer of the Mass and quiet prayer with the Eucharist using his internet / computer skills, was devoted to Our Lady, Mother of Jesus, was a good friend, stood up for those who were bullied at school, and helped the homeless – all in 15 years before his death on October 12th , 2006 due to acute leukaemia. He did ordinary things very well – a normal life, called to holiness.
Each one of us is called to live a normal life, each of us is called to holiness which begins with our baptism. Our National Synodal Process, our conversations of faith on ‘what does God want from the Irish Church at this time?’ have been going on in our Church over the past several years. What is God’s will for us at this time? Not our will, but God’s will, the mission of Jesus Christ. At this stage, our conversations have revealed that there are seven (7) priorities to attend to, namely, belonging, co-responsibility and lay ministry, family, formation and nurturing our faith, healing of abuse, women and young people.
In the coming year, we are invited to explore each of these priorities within the framework of our baptism and its call by Jesus Christ to mission, so as to be active in our faith. We are going to look at these priorities through the lens of our baptismal calling, i.e. to find practical ways of putting those seven priorities into action. The details of our progress to date, of all our prayerful listening and discerning, are outlined in a document entitled Baptised and Sent. We are sent by God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Our hope and prayer is that we will continue to find ways of acting on our baptismal calling, that you will take up the opportunities to be involved. During the coming Lent, beginning on 18th February, I invite you week by week during Lent, to reflect on your baptism, in your RE classes with some short key excerpts from this short document, Baptised and Sent and the Gospels of the Sundays of Lent. We need to come to a deeper appreciation of our baptismal calling of being sent by God in the name of Jesus Christ.
I invite you to visit the website, namely, www.synod.ie for more information on where we are at on our journey of moving forward on those seven priorities and to find those resources entitled Baptised and Sent on the significance of our baptism for each week of Lent. In being baptised and sent we are each called to live normal lives; called to holiness, to allow the hidden treasure, the pearl of great value within each one of us to be shared with others so that the kingdom of God can grow among us.
