Homily of Bishop Kevin Doran – Installation as Bishop of Achonry

Sunday 30^th March 2025, Cathedral of the Annunciation and St Nathy, Ballaghaderreen

“Belonging to the Church means being part of the one People of God, composed of people and communities living in concrete times and places”. Over the past twelve months, I have begun to learn a bit more about the Diocese of Achonry, its history and its culture. I was particularly interested in the story of St Attracta. Growing up in the early part of the sixth century, as you know, she is associated with Killaracht, where she established a monastery and a pilgrim hostel. When she was still in her teens, she met with resistance when she discerned that she was called to religious life. In that challenging time, she went to stay close to the monastery at Drum, near Boyle in Co. Roscommon, where her brother Conal was the Bishop. This, for me, has become a symbol of the close connections between our two Dioceses of Achonry and Elphin, and of our shared tradition of faith. The preparatory document for the second session of the recent Universal Synod expresses this balance nicely, reminding us that: “the gift of the Gospel is offered to people and communities living in particular times and places, not closed in on themselves but bearers of stories that must be recognised, respected, and opened to broader horizons”. Without that openness, there is no possibility of mission.

During this Holy Season of Lent we are invited to become more fully the people that God has called us to be. This Sunday is traditionally called Laetare Sunday (the Sunday of rejoicing). We can rejoice because, while our journey of renewal is still a work in progress, we can begin to see the destination ahead; the celebration of Easter and, with it, the celebration of what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus, Baptised into the new life of the Resurrection.

There is, of course, a parallel between our celebration of Lent and the time that the people of Israel spent in the wilderness, after they left Egypt and before they arrived in the promised land. This journey took about forty years, but Scripture scholars tell us that it could have been completed in two weeks. Was this because the people were dragging their heels, or because God was simply taking his time with them? The time in the wilderness was a time of intimacy with God, when the twelve tribes of Israel were formed into a Holy people.

Our first reading from the Book of Joshua describes the moment when the people crossed the river Jordan and took possession of the land. It was a very significant moment. It represents the fulfilment of a promise that God made to Abraham and his descendants, many generations before. As the Scriptures tell us, this was not an ending; it was a new beginning. God continued to form his people and to call them to holiness and justice, through the teaching of the prophets.

I think this reading speaks to our experience as two Dioceses which are called into a new kind of relationship. We have spent the past twelve months working more closely together and getting to know one another. Today, Pope Francis has, once again, given the Diocese of Achonry a Bishop. Today also, with the joining of our two Dioceses “in the person of the Bishop”, we are a bit like the people of Israel crossing the River Jordan. We have entered into a “new space”, which presents us with all sorts of possibilities to grow together as the people of God.

Looking back over the past year, we can see that many good things have happened:

• We have been listening to one another and learning from one another
• We are joining together for our Diocesan pilgrimages to Lourdes, Rome and Knock
• Our leadership teams are working more closely together
• We have one Synodal team instead of two

The people of Israel needed to put structures in place to enable them to live in the land that God had given them. They now had a place, but in another sense they were still called to be pilgrims from one generation to the next. In much the same way, we will need to review our structures to make sure that they are appropriate to the needs of the 21^st century, and of our new relationship. But we also need to remember that the whole reason for undertaking this journey is so that we can more effectively carry out the mission that is entrusted to us by Jesus himself. That mission is to turn our parishes into communities which, as well as baptising babies, form people to be life-long disciples. All our structures must serve that purpose.

• We need to have hearts for mission
• Our parishes need to be communities of welcome, and not just service providers
• We need on-going formation in faith, and we cannot expect a life-time of discipleship to be sustained simply by what we have learnt at school
• We need to find ways to facilitate the active involvement of young adults in the liturgical and pastoral life of the Church
• We need to recognise the gifts of lay women and men, to invest in forming them for mission and ministry and to facilitate their full participation
• We need to rediscover the social mission of the Church; the outreach to those who are on the margins, and the work of justice
• We will continue to need priests for the Eucharist and for the celebration of the Sacraments

Any bishop or priest who thought he had all the gifts necessary for this mission would be making a big mistake.

Our Gospel passage today is the Parable of the Prodigal Son, and I believe that this also has much to say to us. Looking at the Parable in the way we usually do, we are being reminded how easy it is for relationships to be undermined by selfishness, lack of gratitude, petty jealousy, thoughtlessness, and a sense of entitlement. These things surface wherever people gather and there is no point in pretending that they are not sometimes part of the experience of life in our Church. For that reason, we are constantly being called both to conversion and to reconciliation. As St. Paul tells the people of Corinth (second reading) “It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation”.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son begins with the words: “A man had two sons….”  The parable is really more about the Father than about the sons. In telling this story, Jesus wants us to notice the kind of love that the Father has for each of his sons. He loves them both, he loves them equally, but he loves each of them in a unique way. I think the image of the Father, who stands on the doorstep waiting for one son, and goes out into the field to be close to the other, challenges each one of us, as sons and daughters, to grow into the image of the Father. As St. Paul says: “For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here”.

As you will appreciate, the image of the Father who “has two sons”, has a particular resonance for a Bishop who has two Dioceses. The mission of a Bishop, in the traditional language of the Church is to “teach”, to “sanctify” and to “govern”. I understand that, in order to do those three things, I must “learn”; I must become more “holy” and “prayerful” and I must be “obedient”, particularly to the Holy Spirit, to the Word of God and to the essential faith of the Church. So, as I renew my commitment today to serve you, the people of our two Dioceses, I ask your prayers and your practical support in being the Bishop I am called to be.

I thought it might be no harm, finally, to recognise that Moses himself never made it into the promised land. He only got a glimpse of it from Mount Nebo, on the far side of the Jordan. As Bishop of Achonry and Bishop of Elphin, I am delighted to be able to see “the promised land”, even if it is still a bit in the distance. While I look forward to finishing the job, that is really in God’s hands and in yours. The more important thing for all of us to remember is that, while Bishops come and go, it is the Spirit of God who leads us and if we walk with Jesus, we will eventually get to where God wants us to be.

Ends

Bishop Kevin with the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor (Photo: John McElroy)