Bishop Leo O’Reilly’s New Year’s Message 2012
As we begin 2012 I wish you all a very happy New Year and I ask every blessing on you and your families during the course of the year ahead. Pope Benedict, in his New Year message for the World Day of Peace on 1st January, extends the wish “that this time before us may be marked by justice and peace.”
The year just finished has seen a very significant step towards lasting peace and justice in our own country and in our relationship with Britain, our nearest neighbour. The state visit of Queen Elizabeth and the warm reception given to her did much to heal the wounds left by centuries of oppression and conflict, and to seal the peace process begun with the Good Friday Agreement of 10 April 1998.
The year ahead will see the celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin from 10th to 17th June. The Congress marks the 80th anniversary of the first International Congress hosted in the newly independent Ireland of 1932. This Congress will take place in a very different context, not that of a triumphant Church emerging from long centuries of oppression, but of a humbled Church, emerging from a period of spectacular failures and struggling to renew itself.
The Congress will be an opportunity for renewal, an occasion to go back to the foundation of our faith, which is Christ himself. It is an opportunity to drink again from the fountain of life in the Church, the Eucharist. The Congress theme, “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another”, is a call to unity in the Church. The source of our unity with each other is our unity with Christ. Only Christ can reconcile and heal the wounds and divisions caused by the abuses and failures that have taken place over the decades and have been revealed in recent times.
I invite all our people to be part of the celebration of faith that will be the Eucharistic Congress. We will have the opportunity to celebrate the only Eucharistic Congress we are every likely to take part in. It will be an opportunity to celebrate our faith with Catholics from all around the world. It’s a chance to renew and deepen our faith in the mystery of Christ’s presence among us in the Eucharist and to share that faith with others. Don’t miss this opportunity for you and your children to be part of this once in a lifetime experience.
Once again, I wish you all a happy New Year.
Link to International Eucharistic Congress Website
