Bishops and priests need to find new ways to make young people
enthusiastic about the Catholic faith as the Church is at “a critical
juncture” in its history in Ireland, according to the Archbishop of
Dublin.“We are at a critical juncture and the only valid answer is an answer of enthusiasm and optimism, of commitment and renewal in our own lives. We have to witness to others the sense of meaning and purpose that Jesus brings to our lives. If all we have to offer is a tired and discouraged faith, then we have to ask questions about the quality of our own faith,” he said.
“Of course there is always a large element of tiredness and habit and routine in the faith of each of us. It is a temptation for all of us, myself included.
“But we also know that there is within each of us the possibility of breaking through that tiredness and of rediscovering something of the idealism and the fire that faith has meant to us at the most important moments of our lives... A church which is not riddled through and through with real and enthusiastic commitment to Jesus Christ will be an empty self-serving organisation to which no one will be attracted,” he said.
In his homily, he also referred to the sentencing of a former priest last week saying “it would not be honest of me not to recall that only one week ago a former priest of this diocese was sentenced for the abuse of children in this parish, in the vaults, and in the precincts of this Mother Church of the Diocese”.
“I feel that on this day, which is a day of celebration, I would not be honest with myself to allow the horror of abuse that took place in this very Church to pass unnoticed and remain simply news-paper articles, without remembering the anguish of the victim,” he said.
Archbishop Martin spoke warmly about the new Pope and how his “simplicity and humility” have been admired by many outside the Church.
“Pope Francis has given us some very significant signs and gestures about how he understands his role as Bishop of Rome and successor of St Peter. But they are not just signs about himself; they are signs about what the Church means... there are many who have no belief who will like the new Pope,” he said.
“We thank God for a Pope who has the interior freedom to surprise us. We thank God for a Pope who shows us that simplicity and humility are not signs of weakness and concession, but signs of strength and signs of a strength that comes from faith.”
The Chrism Mass is attended by Bishops, priests, representatives from each parish in the Archdiocese, religious, parish pastoral workers, seminarians, and deacons. At the Mass, priests of the archdiocese renew their commitment to service and the archbishop blesses the oils or chrism to be used over the following year.