Mass for the commencement of the Michaelmas Law Term was celebrated
this morning in Saint Michan’s Church, Halston Street in Dublin.
In his
homily Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin focused on
the theme of communication and mercy.
He said, “We come to invoke the gift, the protection and the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit on all who are called to foster equity
and defend the rule of law in our society. The Holy Spirit comes to
free our humanity and our relationships from those obstacles which
impede the ability to live what is true and what is good. Leadership in
society is called in that sense to live in the Spirit.
“The first reading reminds us how the Spirit came on the Apostles and
helped them overcome the fear and timidity that had entrapped them
after Jesus’ death. The Spirit gave them the courage to move out to
spread the name and the message of Jesus in a process which continues
until our day.
“The particular occasion which the Spirit chose to come down on the
Apostles was a moment in which people from all over the known world were
present in Jerusalem.”
Archbishop Martin said, “The Apostles began, we are told, to speak
different languages and people from every corner of the world began to
understand their preaching each in his or her own language. A sign of
the presence of the Spirit among us is the gift of communication among
people.
“Today the Spirit still brings the gift of communication.
Communication is not just about words; it is about hearts and minds; it
is the gift of reaching out beyond our own interests and concerns to be
able to understand and enter into fruitful and caring interaction with
others in truth and love.”
Archbishop Martin continued, “Communication is the language of God.
The Christian God is not a distant God who dwells in isolation. Our God
is rather the one who unconditionally reaches out to us. He is the one
who communicates his own identity; who reveals himself in love and in
mercy. The Christian God reveals himself not like pagan God’s who
dwells in the fearful dimensions of creation. Our God is one who cares
and sustains the beauty and harmony of his creation which he created in
love. The Spirit brings the gift of communion and interaction, respect
and harmony between every aspect of creation. Where communication
fails, division begins.
“The name of God is Mercy is the title that Pope Francis
gave to a recent book. It is not just a catchy title; it says something
about the very essence of being a Christian. If we have difficulty in
understanding that God’s name is mercy, then we will have great
difficulty in understanding the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. If
we have some name of our own for God, then we may well have ended up
with a false God.
“If the name of God is mercy, how did we end up with the idea of a
harsh condemnatory God who only wishes to judge us in our sinfulness and
humiliate us? If we have created such a God then we misunderstand both
God and sin. Sinfulness is not about breaking arbitrary rules:
sinfulness is failure to love and failure to be merciful. If
sinfulness is failure to be merciful then many who are quick to condemn
sinners, may well be in a category of sinners all of their own.
“If the name of God is mercy, then we have to understand that we can
only begin to understand God when we allow ourselves to encounter his
mercy. We cannot understand God if we exclude ourselves from an
encounter with mercy through our own feelings of self-security and
self-superiority and self-assigned status.”
Archbishop Martin said, “Communication in the Spirit is not just
about techniques. It is about authenticity in relationships. The Spirit
fosters that communication which our second reading reminds is at the
basis of unity. When human cells grow in an isolated way from the body
they mutate in a cancerous self-serving and self-preserving way. When a
splintering of interests began to infect political and social culture –
or indeed within the Church – then pernicious divisions appear and the
patterned growth which is of the nature of any living organism begins to
break down and further detrimental inequalities emerge.
“Where communication breaks down within the human community then
selfish interests begin to dominate. Growth with equity will never be
fostered when the few are favoured and included and others are left on
the margins and excluded. We need a new language of communication
within society where every individual can attain voice and ownership in
dignity in which all have a sense of being treated and respected in the
depth of their personal identity. Mercy recognises and embraces the
dignity of the other and can transform the most troubled and disturbed
hearts.
“On the other hand when the common good and common purpose do not
prevail then a damaging cancer can appear which inevitably reaches into
every element of society and communication and participation become
replaced by polarization and marginalization. Spirit filled
communication on its part will embrace beyond all human borders:
migrants will become brothers and sisters, homeless will encounter human
warmth, voiceless will find a hearing, the poor will enjoy sustenance,
the wounded will receive healing, sinners will encounter forgiveness and
be welcomed back and become loving men and women though experiencing
love.”
Archbishop Martin concluded by saying, “In any society the legal
system is an essential part of this fundamental process of
communication, of equitable human interaction. The task of public
authorities is to ensure equity, to protect the weak and curb the
arrogance of those who exercise power. A legal system has its role in
independently and vigorously ensuring that men and women and indeed
children, citizens and not, have equitable access to what they need to
realise their God-given potential.
“The Spirit is given to foster communication so that the love of the
God revealed in Jesus Christ can be deepened and renewed in every
successive generation. Our Gospel reading tells us that the Spirit will
“remind us of everything that Jesus said to us”. He will help us to
translate the teaching of Jesus into a culture of respect and equality
in dignity. A political or judicial system which betrays or undervalues
the equality and the dignity of all betrays its calling and betrays
humanity.
“The communication which is the gift of the Spirit is not the empty
spin of much of modern communication. It is the establishment of a
regime of love and of respectful encounter which incarnates in every
generation the God’s great commandment of love.”