On 5 October, in the historic College Chapel of Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare & Leighlin and President of Accord CLG delivered a homily at the graduation Mass of Marriage Facilitators and Counsellors. This Mass was attended by graduates and their families as well as by the Executive Directors of Accord CLG, Tony Shanahan; and of Accord NI CLG, Deirdre O’Rawe.
In his homily, Bishop Nulty said, “Today we celebrate eighteen graduates in Marriage Facilitation, and four in Counselling, who have freely chosen to go one step beyond. One step to ensure young couples have a more fulfilling experience of sacramental marriage preparation. One step to ensure a couple’s relationship gets the support needed when things become cold and calculating.
“Job repents in our first reading and, on this the feast of the Polish nun Saint Faustina, that message of mercy is richly rewarded. Job had been through his wars and lost everything, but is rewarded for remaining steadfast in his faithfulness to God. Sometimes his tongue let him down and he said more than he needed to; often his friends cajoled him into a state of resignation. But in today’s text he is honoured and blessed. His new fortune is even more than all he ever lost.
“I love the listing of that bounty: ‘ourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she-donkeys.’ We might find the concentration on material possessions that bit crude or vulgar but, in fact, it was simply a replenishing of God’s blessing on a man who suffered the loss of everything, including family and friends. It reminds us all of the need in life to remain open to God’s blessing.
Having launched our new Marriage Preparation Programme last January; having undergone our training and development in counselling and in marriage facilitation, let us always remember to put Christ at the heart of our work. He is the space where the two rings of our new shared logo intersect.”
Bishop Nulty concluded, “I encourage each of you – as you step into your centre – to fully immerse yourself there as it is only then you will fully appreciate the mission and ministry that is the work of Accord in bringing God’s healing, unconditional love, and mercy, to every couple and into every circumstance of your work, of your mission, of your ministry.”
To read full text of Bishop Nulty’s homily visit CatholicBishops.ie.
ENDS
