PEREGRINATIO PRO CHRISTO – LEGION OF MARY

BLESSED JOHN DUNS SCOTUS CHURCH, GLASGOW

ADDRESS GIVEN BY CARDINAL KEITH PATRICK O’BRIEN

SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER 2011

 

INTRODUCTION:

It is indeed a privilege being with you this afternoon for your Annual Conference of those involved in ‘Peregrinatio Pro Christo’ of the Legion of Mary.

Having been a member of the Legion of Mary myself in my younger days when leaving secondary school and then beginning at University, it is indeed now a joy for me being able to be with you to address this particular Annual Conference on ‘Evangelisation’. Basically I want to ‘begin at the beginning’ – and bring us all up to date with the Church’s teaching on ‘Evangelisation’ and what we are doing about it!

LIFE’S PURPOSE:

In what we now describe as the “old Catechism” the initial questions and answers are very simple. People of my age knew them off by heart and they read: “Who made you? With the answer God made me”; and the second question being “Why did God make you? And the answer being, God made me to know him, love him and serve him in this life so as to be happy with him for ever in the next!”

This was a simple and uncomplicated statement of our belief why they were put on earth namely to know love and serve God here on earth – so as to be happy with him forever in the next!

I hope you are all familiar with “YOUCAT” – this is the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church which one might say is the “Bible” for all young Catholic people.

The beginning of section one of YOUCAT basically teaches in another way what I have stated from the old Catechism.

There we are taught in the first few questions the answers to “for what purpose are we here on earth?”; “Why did God create us?”; and “why do we seek God?”

Further explaining the answers to these questions we are told that to be a human being means to come from God and to go to God; we are reminded that God wanted to share his endless joy with us who are creatures of his love; and, we are reminded of that restlessness which is in our hearts to seek and find God as St Augustine says: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”.

It is indeed relatively easy to state the answers to these questions – but I remind you also of some of that wonderful teaching of Pope Benedict XVI when he was here with us in Scotland.

Pope Benedict pointedly said to the young people of Scotland, England and Wales: “I hope that among those of you listening to me today there are some of the future saints of the 21st century!”

And the Pope went on to explain what he meant. He indicated that when he invited the young people to become saints he is asking them not to be content with second best – not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all others. He said very bluntly that “true happiness is to be found in God” and “once you enter in to friendship with God everything in your life begins to change. You begin to see greed and selfishness and all the other sins for what they really are, destructive and dangerous tendencies that cause deep suffering and do great damage!” And the Pope also stressed that young people are never to allow themselves to become narrow: “The world needs good scientists, but a scientific outlook becomes dangerously narrow if it ignores the religious or ethical dimension of life, just as religion becomes narrow if it rejects the legitimate contribution of science to our understanding of the world. We need good historians and philosophers and economists, but if the account they give of human life within their particular field is too narrowly focussed, they can lead us seriously astray”.

Basically then in answer to the question of what is life’s purpose I would simply sum up all that I have said by indicating to you that we are to become “saints”; we are to become more Christ like in our daily lives; we are to be aware that our ultimate destiny is not in this life here on earth but to be happy with God forever in the next!

DIFFICULTIES ON LIFE’S JOURNEY:

Obviously there are difficulties on our journeys through life and this was brought home to me when I was recently addressing young people from all over the world when taking part in three of the catechises at the recent World Youth Day in Madrid. The first of the catechises was facilitated by a group of enthusiastic young people from Dublin in Ireland; the second by a group from the United States of America; and the third by a group from the United Arab Emirates.

Invariably after my own input the 1,000 or so young people gathered at each catechesis slit up in to groups and questions were prepared which were given to me to answer. I am sure the questions which were posed to me are similar to the ones which you might have with regard to your own life and life’s purpose. Let me tell you of a few of them:

“Tell us about your relationship with Jesus; what is the greatest challenge to your faith and how do you deal with it; how do we know that we are still firm in the faith when God feels far away; how do we evangelise about Jesus to those of other faiths whilst promoting religious harmony and interfaith dialogue; is everyone welcome in the Church; what advice would you give to a gay person who wants to have an active ministry; what is the biggest challenge facing the Church – and what is the remedy for it; the complexity of modern life makes saintliness impossible to a great extent – what do you answer to us; do you think that Christianity in the West has lost its intellectual credibility, that it isn’t considered as a real option for the thinking person – good solid and firm apologetics help.”

Yes these and many other questions were posed to me and to the other hundreds of Cardinals and Bishops who were leading similar catechetics throughout Madrid on this and on other great World Youth Days. I am sure that their questions mirror some of those in your minds.

BEING A CATHOLIC IN THE 21ST CENTURY:

I ask you now to consider just what the 21st century means for you and for others of your age. I am sure that things for you are very different from me in my own youth some sixty or seventy years ago!

You have only to think of the differences in material things around us: The difference with regard to television sets, landline phones or mobile phones, modes of transport when now air flight is common place, the way in which so many of our actions and the actions of those in positions of authority are almost immediately revealed through the media if anything is done wrong, and so on.

Living in the 21st century is vastly different even from living in the last century let alone from living at the time of Jesus himself.

Consequently I would say three things to you with regard to being a Catholic in the 21st century.

First of all, you must know your faith. Invariably most of us learn something of our basic Christian faith in our own homes from our parents. It is there that we are taught our first prayers, it is there in a special way that we are brought initially to the Church for baptism and then the other sacraments as also for Sunday Mass; it is from our parents that something of our knowledge of our faith of the practice of our faith is handed on.

The of course following on our birth in to and upbringing in a Catholic home there is invariably Catholic schooling at either primary and secondary level or both. It is not just the content of what you are taught in specific religious education classes which are important but the whole atmosphere within a Catholic school which should be different from that in a non denominational school.

As Pope Benedict XVI also said to the young people of Britain: “In your Catholic schools there is always a bigger picture over and above the individual subjects you study, the different skills you learn. All the work you do is placed in the context of growing in friendship with God, and all that flows from that friendship”.

And of course the Pope does not exclude those non Catholics who are so often in our Catholic schools at this present time saying to the: “I pray that you too will feel encouraged to practice virtue and to grow in knowledge and friendship with God alongside your Catholic classmates. You are a reminder to them of the bigger picture that exists outside the school and indeed, it is only right that respect and friendship for members of other religious traditions should be among the virtues learned in a Catholic school”.

And then of course the knowledge of your faith must increase in your own parish life. I think many of you are here quite simply because of the activities in your own parish leading you in to youth formation or youth apostolate in some form or another.

Our Catholic parishes form the basis for our Catholic Diocese which forms the basis of our whole Catholic Church throughout the world!

The second thing I would say to you about being a Catholic in the 21st century is quite simply that you must as well as knowing your faith also live your faith!

By this I mean that prayer must form an important part not only in your Sunday life but in your daily life. Prayer is important as a daily contact with Almighty God and again not just for set times but prayer must form the basis for all that we are and all that we do.

A prayer reaches its summit each Sunday when we share in the Sacrifice of the Mass either in our own parish church, at a youth gathering, or at some neighbouring parish in our neighbourhood where we find that we can become closer to God in a particular parish community. Mass and our ability to strengthen our spiritual life in the sacraments are of course vitally important in living our faith.

And further then at our colleges, universities, or places of work we must always keep in mind the Catholic Christian example which we should be giving to others. I think of those words of a very popular hymn: “They know we are Christians by our love, by our love; yes they know we are Christians by our love!” Sometimes in known ways. But very often in unseen ways we do affect those around us quite simply by the way in which we live our lives.

The third way I would ask you to be a Catholic in the 21st century is quite simply by the way in which you hand on your faith to others. Hopefully already knowing your faith and living your faith now that special responsibility rests on your shoulders.

There is indeed a thirst for the knowledge of our faith from many of those in other Christian denominations, members of other faiths, and indeed from people of no faith at all. I know that in these days when there are, as we are told, increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, there is indeed a need for a Christian voice to be heard!

It is incumbent on each and every one of us as a Christian to be proud of our faith and to hand it on to others, speaking out for it when any particular dogma or moral value is under attack.

At approximately this time last year I was speaking in the Westminster Central Hall in London at a carol service for “Christians in Government”. And just a few months before Pope Benedict XVI had preached in Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster addressing politicians, diplomats, academics and business leaders. As you may remember from watching this on television when the Pope entered Westminster Hall to address leaders of civil society he paused at the spot at which St Thomas More was tried and condemned to death in 1535 for refusing to acknowledge the King as also the head of the Church.

It was an unforgettable moment for so many of us when the elderly slightly stooped figure of the Pope clad in white was outlined against the vivid red carpet in the packed Westminster Hall. He reminded so many of us of that figure of Jesus standing before Pilate as he was condemned to death. One might say that Pope Benedict XVI had similarly been condemned over the years and especially since his election as Pope for his views and for his outspoken ways of proclaiming the “truth” of Jesus Christ and his teaching. It almost seemed that, as his words were proclaimed, that he was in turn defending his message of truth. And when speaking at the great Mass at Bellahouston Park the Pope mentioned St Ninian whose Feast Day we were celebrating and indicated: “St Ninian was himself unafraid to be a lone voice. In the footsteps of the Disciples whom Our Lord sent forth before him, Ninian was one of the very first Catholic missionaries to bring his fellow Britain’s the good news of Jesus Christ”.

And the Pope did not hesitate to stress the responsibility of each and every Christian by stating that we must have that same strong faith as those early Disciples of the Lord had and be aware of our obligation to hand it on.

The Pope proclaimed to that great audience in Westminster Hall: “Religion is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation. In this light, I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalisation of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance…..there are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced or at least relegated to the purely private sphere. There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that they might somehow offend those of other religions or none. And there are those who argue that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience”.

And the Pope handed on a challenge to us when he concluded his speech by stating: “I would invite all of you, within your respective spheres of influence, to seek ways of promoting and encouraging dialogue between faith and reason at every level of national life.”

To bring ourselves completely up to date, let us remember the preparations for and the celebration of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops in Rome on ‘New Evangelisation’. This will bring together bishops from all over the world to discuss the situations in their own country and how they are still trying to ‘reach out’ in evangelisation, bearing in mind the different situations in our countries throughout the world of today.

It is during that Synod of Bishops that Pope Benedict XVI will launch a ‘Year of Faith’, which will continue until the Feast of Christ and King in 2013! This must be seen by us as another opportunity, not only of appreciating our own faith, but realising how in our various circumstances we are to hand on that same faith which Jesus Christ called on his apostles to hand on in their own day.

APPLICATION TO OURSELVES:

It has indeed been a privilege for me listening to some of the applications of what I have said to the members of the Legion of Mary and their particular apostolate as ‘pilgrims for Christ’. Your handbook sums up so much of what you are concerned with at this present time in that beautiful vocation on the programme leaflet: “... out into the absolute unknown to find if there is someone living there, right on to the ends of the earth where the rainbow rests! No one must evade our search, lest the gentle Jesus frown upon us...” (Handbook – Chapter 40)

This morning we have listened to some very pointed testimonies with regard to PPC in our own countries – in Middlesbrough, Swansea and here in Polmont in Falkirk, Scotland.

After my own address, there will be the opportunity to learn more of PPC with regard to Berlin, Lapland and then Helsinki.

No one can think or say that the Legion of Mary is resting on its past laurels – rather, the vast apostolate of the Church and the fulfilling of the command of Jesus to his first apostles continues to be fulfilled by you. We are told that Jesus appointed his followers, namely “72 others and sent them out ahead of him in prayers to all the towns and places he himself was to visit”. And that is indeed what you are trying to do.

I myself have also tried to fulfil the Lord’s command in my own small way. It might interest you to know that even as a young priest I volunteered to go as a missionary to our adopted territory in Bauchi in Northern Nigeria. At that time, Cardinal Gray thought my apostolate should be fulfilled rather in the secondary school where I was teaching in Fife! It was not until I was ordained Bishop in 1985 that the first missionary journey I undertook was to that wonderful mission territory, returning a few times after that, until it was with great joy that I was there earlier this year, having been invited to ordain the first African Bishop for that same territory of Bauchi, which had no diocesan structure, very many people eager to accept Christianity, but no priests or religious sisters!

Similarly, in my earlier years as Bishop, I journeyed to El Salvador, where my priests got involved in various justice and peace issues, as well as evangelisation. Again, it was a privilege returning to join them from time to time, even during the civil war, and following on the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and before the assassination of the six Jesuit priests, along with their two female lay helpers. What a joy it was again, just a relatively short time ago, to be invited out to San Salvador and to be able to take part in the celebrations involving the presidential pardon of those six brave men and to join in the celebrations of their families and friends, where it was realised that they had simply been working to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not trying in any way to overturn the Government.

Since then, in my role as a Director of SCIAF, our Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, and also at the invitation of various religious orders and congregations, I have managed to visit many other countries in Africa, including Rwanda, some 10 years after the civil war, and Darfur, then and now described as the ‘world’s worst humanitarian disaster”. Similarly, I have been able to be in various parts of South and Central America and also in Asia – visiting Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and China.

Everywhere it has been a joy for me being, like yourselves, a pilgrim for Christ and witnessing how the Gospel has been spread and realising just how much more must be done.

CONCLUSION:

From what I have said, I am sure you realise that both at home and abroad the vocation of the members of the Legion of Mary is a vitally important one, living and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ here at home and then doing one’s best, both to live and spread that same Gospel of Jesus Christ overseas to wherever we are sent, realising: “No one must evade our search, lest the gentle Jesus frown upon us.....!”.

Of course, as members of the Legion of Mary, we have many wonderful people to call upon in our prayers, especially, of course, the Founder, Frank Duff and those other great missionaries who have gone in their name, especially Edel Quinn – and so many others, known to God and known to ourselves.

During the course of this afternoon, and when we have more time to think of the wonderful content of today’s annual conference, perhaps we can continue to be inspired – by the words of Jesus Christ himself and by the example of our sisters and brothers in the Legion of Mary.

Thank you for all you have shared and are doing. May God continue to bless you in your chosen apostolate now and in the years ahead!