My father told me he had met a man who sat on the cross, which is at the very top of the steeple. He inquired how the man had managed this miraculous feat. The man paused for dramatic effect and then revealed that he had been present when the steeple was being built and the cross was lying on the ground, waiting to be erected. So he sat down on it, so that he would have this tall story to tell for the rest of his life!
Any time I looked at the steeple, I thought of my father’s story, but I have to admit I did not give a lot of thought to what was going on in the shadow of this magnificent steeple within the walls of the college.
Professor Michael Sullana and Father Tom will give you an outline of their plans for the college. I hope the discussion today among people of many diverse backgrounds and generations can enrich the plans Michael and Tom have.
I would like to say why the work here is so important.
We need priests and religious.
We also need an educated Catholic laity capable of spreading the message of Faith confidently.
The Education of Priests Remains Vital
First, let me say something about the core task of this seminary: the formation of priests. What did Vatican II say in 1965 about the role of priests? It said their “primary duty is the proclamation of the gospel of God to all,” and, in the words of St Mark’s Gospel, to “go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
But Vatican II also referred to Catholics as those who “understand or believe little of what they practice” and added that the preaching of the word is needed for the “very administration of the sacraments.” If that was an uphill task in 1965, it is even more so today. Families are going through the motions rather than trying to understand what Baptism and First Holy Communion for their children are really about.
Vatican II put the Eucharist at the center of everything the Church does. It said, “The Eucharistic Action is the very heartbeat of the congregation of the faithful, over which the priest presides.” The mystery of the Eucharist is central to everything, and that is what makes the education of priests so important, because without priests there can be no Mass. In the words of Vatican II, “priests fulfill their chief duty in the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice”
Building Communities at the Parish Level is Key, as in the Early Church
Vatican II also observed: “The office of the pastor is not confined to the care of the faithful as individuals, but is also properly extended to the formation of a genuine Christian Community.”
I think Irish priests do the first of those tasks very well. But, unlike churches in the US, I fear they do the second task, the formation of genuine Christian communities in their parishes, less well. Our churches are not even physically designed to encourage people to meet easily after Mass, and to make contacts that help form a “genuine Christian Community”, based and centered on the Eucharist as per the wishes of Vatican II. This is an essential first step towards the involvement of lay people in the work of the Church. Practicing Catholics are a minority in Ireland, and they need to support one another.
The Increasing Responsibilities of Lay Catholics and the Synod
In 1965, Vatican II said that priests should “confidently entrust to the laity duties in the service of the church, allowing them freedom and room for action.” This will be put to the test, 57 years later, by Irish participation in Synod.
How many sermons have been preached in Irish parishes, explaining what the Synod is about, explaining its opportunities and of course its limitations? I do not feel that job has really been done adequately in every parish, although I am sure it has been done very well in some.
Moving on from the formation of priests, let me say something about the formation of lay people, who will play an increasing role in the Church. As I see it, this college can play a vital part in the moral, spiritual and intellectual life of the Irish people.
Filling a Void in Thinking in Ireland,
The college could ask questions that go beyond the temporal and material concerns that occupy most of our waking hours in modern Ireland. It could help people to be comfortable considering deeper questions about life.
For instance, what happens when we die? Is this life all there is? Can we communicate with God? Does he hear us? What constitutes a good life? Does it have meaning beyond doing no harm, and causing as little pain as possible to others and to ourselves? What are the obligations we have to other human beings, to human lives born and soon to be born? How do we best cope with suffering and setbacks in our lives? How do we keep them in proportion in our minds?
Not everyone will answer some of these questions in the same way. Many will never even ask themselves these questions at all, claiming to be agnostic. I take the view that this type of agnosticism is a form of laziness. It is not to be confused with the residue of doubt that all of us have after we consider these questions, questions to which there is no simple empirical answer.
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