Christian faith needed to be renewed in every generation, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, said yesterday at a Mass to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the papal visit to Ireland.
Dr Martin said the word of God must be spoken in such a way as to engage young people in a dialogue about their faith, so that faith became a reality in their actions, lifestyles, behaviour and relationships.
The Mass in Dublin's Pro-Cathedral was one of many celebrations throughout the State to commemorate the visit of Pope John Paul 11.
In Dublin, the Mass was attended by many who took part in the visit of 1979, including Dr Patrick Hillery who, as president of Ireland, welcomed the Pope, and Dr Bernadette Greevy, who sang at the Papal Mass in the Phoenix Park and who yesterday sang the Magnificat.
In his homily Dr Martin said that in remembering the visit, they recalled the Pope's teaching, his call to conversion and renewal. In Dublin they recalled especially his homily in the Phoenix Park on the Eucharist.
For many today religious faith was difficult, he said. Few would say that they had lost the faith. But in a world where everything seemed quantifiable and had its logic, the leap of religious faith did not seem to fit into our categories.
Some would say they were talking not about a crisis of faith but a crisis of church practice. There were many good people who sought God but did not feel they had to go to church often.
Pope John Paul, in the Phoenix Park, recalled that participation in the Eucharist was always a call to greater conversion. The Pope said we must be "truthful in our speech, generous in our deeds, concerned, respectful of the dignity and rights of all persons, whatever their rank or income, self-sacrificing, fair and just, kind, considerate, compassionate and self-controlled, looking to the well-being of our families, husbands and wives, children and parents brothers and sisters".
Dr Martin said: "That is still not a bad recipe for living a good life. It is still the life to which we must convert. Faith must be renewed in every generation. Parish must be shaped by that faith."
One must come back to the earlier question: crisis of faith or crisis of church. It was the Eucharist which built up faith and the church. Being a Christian meant being a member of a eucharistic community, not a mere group of like-minded people, he said.
"May the church in Dublin, as we remember the words of Pope John Paul to us 25 years ago, become more and more a community which draws from the Eucharist a Christian culture of the 21st century, where the faith of future generations grows and becomes more explicit, more personalised and where faith shows its fruits in works of love," Dr Martin said.