This is an occasion of celebration as we give thanks to God for the work and witness of the Diocesan Employment Bureau which has been an important part of the Church's life since 1983. Those of us who talked and talked over many working lunches in Frank Luce's home in Terenure, hosted generously by his wife Evie, never dreamt that so much good would follow. But then we, the talkers, underestimated Frank and the people who became the workers.

Today is not only a day of celebration and Thanksgiving it is also a day of learning and relearning what we mean by a church that is relevant.

Firstly, it was a LISTENING CHURCH. In 1983, a time of serious unemployment and economic recession, a young parochial treasurer wrote to Archbishop Henry McAdoo to query the church's sense of priority in seeking funds to buy a new crozier. Rather than take offence as some might have done, the Archbishop not only listened, but he heard. Incidentally those who knew him well would not have been surprised. The letter writer was heard and his concern referred to a small working group in the dioceses which had been in existence for some time looking at social issues concerning the church.

Their work would have been informed by the moving encounter between Jesus and Bartimeus and, in particular, the question Jesus asked: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU? Significantly, if the followers of Jesus that day had had their way he would not have heard the question.

It is a model of listening and responding the church must never forget. There is a temptation to look inward and only take an interest in the paid up active members, a spiritual elite, to keep others at a distance and to be too exclusive about who deserves our attention. It was the crowds wandering like sheep without a shepherd that moved Jesus to compassion.

This leads to a second lesson. That of the AVAILABLE CHURCH.

Quickly unemployment and related issues became the main business of the working group and care, pastoral care of those affected and damaged a major concern. It became clear that talking was not enough and questions came: WHO WILL GO FOR US, WHOM SHALL WE SEND? Very quickly new names began to appear. People willing to make themselves available - too many to mention. But one stands out alongside Frank Luce and that is Ronnie Osborne, retired banker who moved into the space provided here in Monkstown Parish which enabled the Bureau to open in 1984. Within a year 130 names were on the register and by 1986 the number was 275. Since that time hundreds have been met, listened to, supported and in many cases helped to get new jobs and even new careers. The figure becomes thousands when you think of family members who so often shared the pain and rejection of unemployment, an experience that only those who went through it, could understand.

The available church is not just about people; it's about material things. Frank Luce often talks about the apples on the ground. In the group's thinking it became clear that more needed to be done in response to the employment crisis and so SPADE was born in St Paul's Church North King Street. Although, remembered by its parishioners as a church, they had the courage and vision to recognise that, what was fast becoming a redundant place of worship, could become a new source of blessing as an enterprise centre, promoting new businesses and new jobs. And so it came into being under the management of Ken Price. Jesus did not talk about apples on the ground but he did order his disciples to gather up the crumbs and let nothing be lost. Too often we complain about a lack of resources when in reality we fail to use those we have, and we have plenty, both human and material.

The third lesson is that of the SERVING CHURCH. This is an occasion of celebration and thanksgiving certainly but it is also an occasion to remember what it cost in terms of time, commitment, disappointment, frustration and anxiety. But cost is inevitable when the church accepts its the role of servant. On Maundy Thursday the new Archbishop of Canterbury took part in a ceremony of washing people's feet after the example of Jesus. It is a beautiful liturgy but there is an inherent danger that we settle for the symbol of service rather than the costly reality. Churches too easily succumb to the beauty of ritual and liturgical event but hesitate when it comes to costly service. Within hours of washing the disciples feet Jesus was crucified.

The Church needs the kind of courage we celebrate here, a courage that at times must have seemed close to madness, if it is to do what Jesus did and that is to serve people unconditionally.

Recently the old controversy about inter-communion and related issues surfaced again. One aspect of that debate centres on the Real Presence of Christ. There may be differing views on what it means in Eucharistic theology but there can be none when it comes to his presence in the least of these his brethren. We have his word for it and I have long held that the churches have a huge potential to proclaim their unity rather than their disunity by combining their resources in the service of the growing numbers of marginalized and wounded people in our society.

Unconditional service. No questions asked about denomination or even belief in God. That characterised the work of this employment bureau and the whole employment project. If you were unemployed, hurting and in need of a new start you were received and, if at all possible, helped. And there are many who have reason to be thankful for that.

So we celebrate and we give thanks to God for those who listened, those who were available, those who served and we learn one final lesson. That the Gospel, love in action, in its own special way and in its own time never fails because God is always in the business of giving new life and real hope. When we take that on board then we can face the future with real courage and determination not to give up. ' Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gifts.'