Caption. Bishop Alan McGuckian of Down and Connoe
- The following homily was delivered by Bishop Alan McGuckian of Down and Connor at the Hearts on Fire Conference opening Mass on the feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, at Saint Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast, on 24 June.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
When you first heard about a 2 day conference in Belfast what was your first response? Did you think: “I’m not sure I’m the right person for this” or “Maybe someone else would be better” or “I’ve enough to be doing”? You’re in good company. Throughout salvation history, God has a habit of calling the reluctant, the uncertain, the weary, the humble.
But listen to what Isaiah tells us today: “The Lord called me before I was born, from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.” Before you even knew there would be a “Hearts on Fire” conference, before you knew your parish would need your particular gifts, before you were even aware of your own calling – God was already calling you by name.
When we respond to God’s call something astonishing happens. Zechariah was slow to respond to God’s call – he doubted, he questioned – but when he took up his writing tablet and declared, “His name is John,” Scripture tells us that everyone was astonished. Everyone. There’s something about an authentic response to God’s call that still has the power to astonish people. Not because we’re remarkable in ourselves, but because when we finally say yes to who God has called us to be, something beautiful and surprising happens.
You may feel hesitant, you may feel uncertain, but you are here. Your commitment – your simple yes to being here today – is of immense importance.
But I know some of you are tired. Parish leadership can be absolutely exhausting. The meetings that seem to go nowhere. The programs that don’t work the way we hoped. The people who complain no matter what we do. The feeling that we’re pushing against an immovable wall. Isaiah knew that feeling. If we’re honest, there are moments when we feel like Isaiah when he cried out: “I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing.”
But listen to what he says next: “and all the while my cause was with the Lord, my reward with my God.” All the while. Even in the exhaustion, even in the apparent failure, even in the moments when we want to give up – our cause is with the Lord.
If you are tired today, I want you to hear this: Return to the heart of Jesus. It is in the Sacred Heart of Jesus that we will find strength and renewal. New strategies, better techniques, powerful programs – are only effective when we are close to the heart of Jesus. Because parish leadership doesn’t flow from our competence or our energy or our good ideas. Parish leadership flows from being utterly known and loved by God and that love is the Heart of Jesus.
You are God’s beloved. Before you are a catechist or a youth leader or a parish council member, a deacon or a Priest- you are God’s beloved. That’s where our strength comes from. That’s where our renewal comes from.
But being God’s beloved isn’t just about comfort – it’s about mission! John the Baptist shows us what it means to have hearts truly on fire!
Look at what God says to Isaiah: “I will make you the light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Do you hear that? You – parish leaders in Ireland in 2025 – you are light-bearers! Not light-generators, but light-bearers. You don’t have to create the light – you just have to let Christ’s light shine through you into your communities.
And this is the beautiful thing about John the Baptist – he never forgot his role. When people started thinking he might be the Messiah, what did he say? “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”
This is the secret of joyful parish leadership – we’re always pointing beyond ourselves to Jesus! Every program we run, every meeting we chair, every person we welcome – it’s all about pointing to Jesus, our Saviour.
In this conference we will have time to reflect: Are we preparing hearts or just organizing activities? Are we clearing paths for Jesus or just keeping ourselves busy? John prepared people through “baptism of repentance” – he prepared their hearts. That’s our calling too.
John was called “a prophet of the Most High” who would “go ahead of the Lord to prepare his ways before him.” That’s you! That’s us! Teams of clergy and people working for Jesus in our parishes! We love our people with hearts of mercy and truth; we journey alongside people and on that path we help orientate people to the love of God and the graces he desires to pour out upon them.
“Through the tender mercy of our God, the Dawn from on high will visit us.” The Dawn – Jesus himself – wants to visit every heart in our parishes. He’s not distant, he’s not reluctant, he’s not waiting for us to get our act together first. Through God’s tender mercy, he wants to visit.
But he needs us to prepare the way. He needs our hearts on fire to kindle fire in other hearts. He needs us to go ahead of him and say, “Get ready! Something beautiful is about to happen! The Lord is coming!”
And so we pray that we go back to our parishes not just with new ideas or better strategies, but with hearts truly on fire – hearts that know they are beloved, hearts that are astonished by God’s calling, hearts that can’t wait to prepare the way for Jesus to visit every person in each of our communities.
The Lord is coming to our parishes. And he’s counting on us to help people get ready.
Let our hearts be on fire!
Amen.
ENDS