On the last Sunday of 2024, Pope Francis commenced the Jubilee Year of Hope for 2025 by opening the Holy Door in his Cathedral in Rome. Doors are not something that springs to mind when we or indeed outsiders consider what are the popular symbols of our Catholic faith. People associate the Catholic Church primarily with the Sacraments but also Sacramentals, such as candles, holy water, Rosaries. Doors are rarely seen as signposts to the divine except in Holy Years. And as the Irish saying goes, “an té atá annamh is iontach” – what’s rare is wonderful. But doors and doorways are fundamentally holy. God is often referred to as a Door and Jesus, to make the image more meaningful for his rural audience, described himself as a gate, but for the very same reason. To allow people into light, into safety, into community, into hope.
We have gathered from all across the Diocese this evening to celebrate the Mass of Chrism. This celebration in every Diocese represents the unity of the Diocese, its common story and above all its common mission. During the ceremony, we will consecrate the Holy Oils of Baptism, Chrism and of the Sick. The priests present will renew their commitment to ministry and service and communion.
We also welcome many of our group of New Ministers in training. Shortly they will complete their first academic year in Maynooth and they have also been on placement within the diocese as they discern their gifts. As a Diocese we are grateful for their generosity of time and spirit, grateful for the staff in Maynooth who are teaching them and grateful for the priests and lay people in the Diocese who are supporting their placements in schools, parishes and nursing homes.
Every element of this celebration tonight will point us towards unity with each other in our Christian journey and unity with those to whom we bring the welcoming, healing message of the Gospel. The doorways of Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation and the eternal doorway of bereavement will be where our new Ministers will work alongside priests and people to be a sign of a welcoming church.
Following the completion of the International Synod of the Church in October last year, the Irish Church has begun its own synodal conversation so that as a church we can examine what we are called to do, in our own particular culture in Ireland at this time. This synod will take place in October 2026 but already, the discussions have begun to identify the key themes that will be discussed. Here in Ferns over the past few months various groups have held spiritual conversations,and the outcome of these conversations have now been sent to be part of the national conversation. Between now and October 2026, there will be a continuous series of invitations to be part of the synodal process. It is worth noting tonight however, that the outstanding call from those who have been consulted focuses on the idea of Belonging. Young and old, those close to church and those distant from it, lay and clerical identified that there is a yearning and a hunger amongst peoplefor a sense of community and a sense of belonging. They expressed the hope that the church in the future will be a place where, when people gather to pray or celebrate the sacraments,they will find a sense of being part of a community and a sense of belonging to God. To return to our theme of doors, we are challenged by these contributions to recognise that Christ is standing both outside and inside our Church and from the outside is calling on us to let him in.
Opening doors, is always a risk. If there is safety inside and danger outside, then, when we open the door, it involves risk. But the safe option is never missionary, it is always about maintenance of what we have. Repeatedly over the past years, Pope Francis has called us to place mission ahead of maintenance and this can only be done with courageous actions.
And while we are talking about risk, it is worth reflecting onlast years, Year of Vocation which carried the subtitle – “to take a risk for Christ”. All Christian living is “risk taking” and none more so than the risk of offering part or all of our lives to Christ. If we truly attempt to create Christian communities, we will be tilling the ground where all vocations will grow. If our new Pastoral areas, created since we gathered here last year, are places where all vocations can grow, then they will be doorways to the real presence of Christ in our communities.
The theme of the Jubilee Year is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ and our Chrism Mass can help us to explore what this Hope might look like. Spiritual Hope is not simply looking optimistically for the best result for ourselves. The Hope that we are called to in this Jubilee Year is to have the belief that God is with us in times of great challenge and change and that he will lead us safely through all difficulties – according to His plan but not necessarily ours. He is in charge and as the mystic Julian of Norwich prayed – “All will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well.” Trusting in this kind of Hope brings us back to that word Courage again – the future is not clear to us but it is clear to God and he will bring about his Kingdom through all our frail and sometimes mistaken efforts.
Throughout the Diocese there are many people who have engaged with different ways of building up the Kingdom of God over the past year. Praying with Scripture groups have opened the wonders of the Word of God to many people. Finance committees and pastoral councils have supported community outreach and built on the gifts and talents of the laity. Indeed, all over the Diocese, spirit groups, pilgrimage groups and the work of youth ministry has called people to explore their faith and find in it a resource for the challenges of life. The priests of the Diocese, like priests everywhere,have generously responded to a changing world and are committing themselves again to a “vocation within a vocation”.
We give thanks for the continued ministry of our Priests and we give special thanks to those who celebrate their Jubilees – (Diamond Jubilarians this year are Fr Jim Hammel, Fr Diarmaid Desmond and Fr Bill Cosgrave; Golden Jubilarian’s are Fr. Oliver Sweeney and Silver Jubilarian is Fr. Tom Orr). We also remember those priests who can’t be here with us tonight due to illness.
As we gather as a Diocesan family, may we remember Diocesan priests who have died, especially Frs Jim Furlong, Jimmy Moynihan and John Jordan who died during the past year. May the Lord reward them for the generosity of their lives and ministry.