“To be successful in one’s career, in one’s favourite sport, in one’s profession, gives joy of heart. Yet such joy, or pleasure, is inevitably short-lived,” Bishop Philip Boyce of Donegal warned pilgrims Sunday.“Joy of the spirit is more permanent,” he told those in attendance of the annual Raphoe Diocesan Pilgrimage to Knock Shrine.
“Indeed if we wait for joy to come from outside, we shall be disappointed. Its source must be from within us,” the bishop insisted. “Then it can be experienced in times of good fortune as in times of trouble and failure.”
Amid the frantic tumult of modern life and the rush to “make ends meet” or to accumulate wealth, joy of heart can be in short supply, Bishop Boyce said.
He encouraged the pilgrims present to forget themselves in serving Christ and others, and warned against a focus on the pleasures of this world.
“The concentration on this world’s pleasures makes the promise of future happiness lose all its appeal. The weaker our faith becomes, the more powerfully does the grip of despair enter into the human heart,” he said. “The Christian vision is the opposite of gloom and helplessness.”
The bishop reminded the pilgrims that although the lives of the saints may not have been easy, they were filled with “peace of heart and joy of spirit.”
“In this life there are many tempting paths that open up before us. Some are broad and comfortable, but they meander endlessly and either arrive very late at the destination or lead further away from it and never arrive,” he said.
Instead, we must learn to imitate the life of Jesus and “enter by the narrow gate”, aiming for what is noble, true and holy, Bishop Boyce said.
He also warned against the danger of “finding one’s own truth in accordance with the feel-good factor”, and urged Catholics to “have the moral courage to accept the light of truth, no matter what personal sacrifice it may involve.”
Concluding his address, the bishop said: “In the life we lead, we have to choose whether to live or merely to exist. Some drift along letting the current lead them. Others make decisions, take charge of their destiny and choose the road on which to travel.”
Archbishop Seán Brady made a similar plea to those in attendance at an open air Mass for Justice and Peace at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee as part of this year’s annual Irish Fest celebrations.
Archbishop Brady cautioned against a purely secular and political approach to conflict resolution: “I have the impression that something important is lacking right now in the international efforts at conflict resolution. It is the shared understanding of peace. I mean an understanding that would be rooted in the values and beliefs of the three great monotheistic religions of the world, Judaism, Islam and Christianity.”
“I believe that such a shared vision is not only possible but essential. Each tradition has much that is valuable to offer to it. Producing this vision and committing ourselves to living it, is a compelling priority. It is compelling because the future of our world depends upon it,” the Primate of All Ireland said.
“The critical question is: Will it be a future of global solidarity or of global competition, a future of global compassion or of global aggression?...In a world of finite resources, the answer to this question will determine the kind of peace that will follow – the peace of God or the illusory peace which the world brings.”
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