Cathal Barry“The world of today still yearns for the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
Archbishop Eamon Martin has said the Church needs to find “a language of faith and truth” which can speak to those who are finding life “increasingly shallow or despairingly empty of meaning and purpose”.
The Archbishop of Armagh also warned that Catholics “should not be altogether surprised” if the message of the Gospel “is completely rejected by some, even in our own country”.
Speaking on the occasion of his investiture with the pallium, in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh, Archbishop Eamon admitted to sometimes feeling “daunted” by the challenges that face him as primate.
“The pallium reminds me that God expects a lot from me, but he gives me all the grace I need to do his will, and to be prepared to sacrifice my own will and desires in order to follow his way.
“I know that if I am to meet these challenges, if I am to be true to God’s calling in my life, then I must try to conquer my sinfulness and selfishness and instead to offer my life for my sheep,” the primate said.
Archbishop Eamon said he couldn’t help thinking that all Catholics and Christians “are entering a time when we will need the gift of courage to stay faithful to the teachings of the Gospel”.
“We are living in the midst of a more insistently secular culture which expects conformity and compromise with the thinking of the day, and which sometimes tends to ridicule and even reject those who witness to timeless or absolute truths.
“The world of today still yearns for the Good News of Jesus Christ. But we will need to find a language of faith and truth which can speak in fresh and powerful ways about the depth of the love of Christ to those who are finding life increasingly shallow or despairingly empty of meaning and purpose,” he said.