Cardinal Schönborn on the teaching of the Catholic Church
Austrian Cardinal urges those attending Cork event to 'focus more on what God has done for us rather than what we have to do for God'.
Srs. Kathleen McGarvey and Mary Crowley pictured with Cardinal Schönborn at the Sacred Heart Church, Cork.
A number of events took place last week in conjunction with the visit to Ireland of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna. Cardinal Schönborn, who was in Ireland with 15 seminarians of the Archdiocese of Vienna, attended engagements in Limerick and Cork.
On July 14th, the Cardinal spoke about the new catechism of the Catholic church as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. The catechism is the teaching of the Catholic Church. The event took place at the Sacred Heart Church, Cork and Srs. Mary Crowley and Kathleen McGarvey represented the OLA Sisters at the gathering. According to Sr. Mary, the event was ‘well attended’ with approximately two hundred people present.
Sr. Mary added that the Austrian Cardinal covered a number of key aspects in his homily:
“He spoke about the 4 pillars of the Catholic catechism: The Creed, seven sacraments, ten commandments and the Lord's prayer.
"God is Trinitarian - the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - is the heart of our faith. Creation is the work of the Holy Spirit. The resurrection and the Eucharist are Trinitarian. God is communion.
"He added that if one is involved in teaching catechism, one should start with what God does for us and focus on the Creed and the sacraments. Then move on to our response to what God has done for us in the ten commandments and the Lord's prayer. We need to focus more on what God has done for us rather than what we have to do for God.
Catechesis is the ‘echo’
"Cardinal Schönborn concluded by speaking about Jesus' life. Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Every action of Jesus reveals the Father. Jesus is fulfilling His mystery in our life. The sacraments represent Jesus' action in our lives. The sacraments help us to nourish our lives. We are linked to the Trinity through Jesus. God wanted to share His life with us. To be ‘blessed’ means God is with us. Catechesis is the ‘echo’. The challenge for us is: Will people see in us the 'echo' of Christ?”
Also in attendance at the Sacred Heart Church in Cork were Frs. Brian, Rory and Jim Doyle. The three brothers hail from Co. Wexford and their grandaunt, Sr. Henrietta Power, was an OLA who served for many years as a science teacher in Nigeria. She is now retired to Ardfoyle Convent. Both Cardinal Schönborn and Fr. Brian are Dominicans.
Sr. Kathleen Mc Garvey pictured with (from left) Frs. Rory, Brian and Jim Doyle.
Sr. Mary Crowley pictured with (from left) Frs. Rory, Brian and Jim Doyle.
On July 13th, Cardinal Schönborn gave two presentations in Limerick. The first focused on Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on love in the family, while the theme for the latter event was ‘The Parish: Family of Families’. His visit was part of preparations ahead of next year’s World Meeting of Families which takes place in Dublin during August 2018.
Links:
- Click here to visit the World Meeting of Families website.
- Click here to visit the Catechism website.
