Presentation of Diocesan Certificate in Catechesis
Our Lady of Victories Church, Ballymun Road

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Homily notes of Bishop Donal Roche

Wasn’t it great to see the air of celebration in St Peter’s Square on Thursday when the white smoke rose up from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel? And then the huge outpouring of joy and exuberance when the name was announced and Pope Leo XIV appeared on the balcony? Even the journalists were caught up in the emotion of the moment as they heard all the cheering and felt the energy and the joy of the people. It was great also to see so many young people in the crowded square. I really got a feeling of hope and joy when I saw it, a sense of something new happening in the Church and a renewed interest in the treasure of the faith and the Gospel.

Bishop Donal Roche

Pope Leo made some very beautiful and powerful points in his homily the next day, but the one that struck me most was that the Church must be known, not by the grandeur of its buildings but through the holiness of her members. He was aware that he was speaking in one of the grandest and most beautiful buildings of all – the Sistine Chapel – but he was making the point that the buildings are not the Church. We are, And we are called to show the face of Christ to the world by the goodness and holiness of our lives. That, I hope, is one of the reasons why we are here this evening.

Today, as we gather for this special celebration, I am filled with hope for the future as I see in front of me a very visible and tangible sign of new life and growth in our Church. This evening, the 52 candidates who took part in this year’s Mission & Ministry Catechists Programme will receive their certificates, acknowledging the commitment they have shown and the hard work they have put in through study and practical assignments over the course of the academic year.

One of the big priorities of our Archdiocese over the last few years has been the Building Hope project: looking to the future, trying to find new ways of being parish and new ways of bringing the message of the Gospel to a new generation. Some people find it hard to see hope: they see declining numbers of ageing clergy, and parishes being grouped together under a single parish priest and think we are ready to close down. I wish they could see the other side of it:

• There has been a marked increase in the number of young people beginning to attend our churches – maybe not in huge numbers but in significant numbers.
• The numbers presenting themselves for adult baptism or to be admitted as full members of the Catholic Church are growing, not only in Ireland but also in England and France, where hundreds of baptisms of mainly young adults took place over Easter.
• In parishes all over the country, lay people are taking on leadership roles in the areas of baptism and funeral ministry and sacramental preparation.
• And even in the area of priestly ministry, there are small but hopeful signs of a revival: a recent ‘Come and See’ weekend in Maynooth for young men considering the idea of a vocation to the priesthood drew over 25 participants. They may not all continue the journey but isn’t it great that they were interested enough to give up a whole weekend to take part?
• And then we have the programme for Catechists which we are celebrating this evening.

These are all signs of hope that the message of the Gospel is still managing to get through to people and to touch hearts and minds, despite the all-pervasive social media that absorbs so much of people’s attention span and prevents them from truly engaging with the real world.

Canon John Delany from Sandyford parish, Justin Egan from Blackrock parish and Rosa Connolly from Sandyford parish. Photo by John McElroy

We may not have the huge numbers and the full churches of bygone years but what we do have is small but significant numbers of people who have made the option of ‘deliberate discipleship’ – a decision to follow Christ, the Good Shepherd.

So, what have the parish catechists been learning about?

The What, Why and How to of parish catechesis.

The What – catechesis is about a person and not a book – encounter with Jesus is what it’s all about. Before any teachings, commandments or rules – getting to know the person of Jesus.

The Why – everyone needs to continuously grow in faith, this is most true of adults who can then become confident in sharing their faith with others. Many have no adult faith formation.

The How – Small groups sharing is essential, work as a team, don’t rely on yourself; make best use of technology, share the Joy of the Gospel.

Looking through a few of the assignments that Patricia sent me to give me a flavour of the work you have doing, I was very struck by the level of detail and understanding that came through. One thing I learned from them myself is that the Sacrament of First Holy Communion is now officially being called ‘Holy Communion for the First Time’. It’s a small but important change of emphasis, stressing the ‘Holy Communion’ with an implied hope that there will be a second, third and fourth time. As the late Pope Francis said, the word ‘First’ is not what makes the event blessed but the ‘Communion’. Seen that way, the second, third, fourth and even the last communion should be just as special.

I was also very struck by the section on Baptism, because this is an area I have been engaged with myself for all the years I’ve been in parish ministry. It’s the ‘point of entry’ sacrament, the key to all the others, and yet it is often the least understood and the one that receives the least amount of preparation – a meeting or two at most in the majority of parishes. The big challenge is to bring parents to an understanding of baptism as an ongoing process of formation rather than an event that happens in the space of half an hour.

We have a long journey to go from the lived reality to the ideal. We talk of partnership between home, school and parish and parents being the principal educators of their children in the ways of faith, but the sad reality is that parents themselves, through no fault of their own, often don’t have the language or a grasp of the concepts that underpin the theology of the sacraments.

Moira Staines, Moya Nulty, Veronica Kennedy, Moira Hanbidge and Francis Prendergast from St Enda’s Partnership in South Dublin. Photo by John McElroy

We as Church have invested huge resources into primary school catechesis over the years and have failed to adequately fill in the gap in adult catechesis. What our Catechists have been involved in this year (just like the group from last year) will help to redress that balance. There is still a huge task ahead; it will take time to change the deeply ingrained attitudes people have had to the Sacraments as once-off celebrations with little or no connection to the life of faith.

But, thanks to the generosity and willingness of our 52 participants to give their time to deepen their own understanding of the faith so that they can share their faith with others, and thanks to the commitment and dedication of people like Patricia Carroll and Peter Siney, who run the course, we are making great progress in the task of opening the hearts and minds of those who have come to the door of the church to look in, not sure who or what they will encounter inside.

Your task is to be bridge builders, to help people make the connection between their ‘ordinary lives’ and the life of faith, hopefully enabling them to have an encounter with Christ. People come with good intentions and, for the most part, in good faith. They come to request something for their children. Wouldn’t it be great if our catechists could be the ones who would enable those parents to nourish their own child’s faith rather than relying on teachers or others?

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday: One of the most loved images of Christ is that of the Good Shepherd. He is often portrayed carrying a lamb on his shoulder, leaving the 99 to search for the one, looking out for the lost and the wounded, the weak and the stray. It is an image that speaks to us of the tender care of God for his people.

May Christ the Good Shepherd bless our new Pope, Leo XIV, with all the wisdom and faith, strength and courage he will need to lead the Church in the coming years. And may we, in our own small area of this great worldwide Church play our part in opening the hearts of people to receive the great gift of God’s love, given freely and generously in Christ the Good Shepherd.

The certificate recipients. Photo by John McElroy