More than 5,000 people filled the BMO Harris Pavilion for the Milwaukee Irish Fest Mass on Aug. 17. (Photo by Colleen Jurkiewicz)
There’s an old saying: what’s the use of being Irish, if the world doesn’t break your heart?
On Sunday, Aug. 17, the third and final day of the 45th Annual Milwaukee Irish Fest, Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob challenged Catholics with a similar sentiment: What’s the use of being Christian, if the world doesn’t reject you?
The archbishop’s homily reflected on the 12th chapter of Luke, wherein Christ paints a “stark” picture of a world divided not in spite of him but because of him: “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized … Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Luke 12:50-51)
“We gather in the name of peace and justice,” said the archbishop, referring to the name by which the annual Irish Fest Mass is known — “the Liturgy for Peace and Justice.”
And yet, so often it is conflict and controversy that surround the teachings of Christ, whose truth disrupts the flimsy facade of peace offered by a fallen world.
“The compassion, the selflessness, the ability to speak God’s truth, the justice and peace of God that Jesus demands of those who would be his disciples — they are that fire about which Jesus speaks,” said the archbishop. “They are the baptism to which the Lord refers. They are meant to be the means, the catalysts by which we change the world.”
Speaking the truth is not an easy thing, the archbishop acknowledged, because the truth of Christ itself is revolutionary. “Many of us prefer to avoid conflict, and to choose to go at all ends to keep peace, even if it means silence. Even if it means to be complicit,” he acknowledged. “But at what price?”
We must “learn to be that fire, to be on fire, with God’s word, as a result of the baptism that you and I have received,” he continued, encouraging the faithful not to grow “lukewarm” or “tepid” in their resolve.
“It’s our time now. We can’t leave it to our ancestors, we can’t leave it to the future, because our world desperately needs that change, that triumph, that fire,” he said. “Now, at this moment, may we be willing to bear witness to the truth … that is Jesus Christ.”
The Liturgy for Peace and Justice was so named in reference to the period of sectarian violence known as The Troubles, which consumed British-occupied Northern Ireland during much of the 20th century. The crisis had reached a fever pitch in 1981 when Milwaukee Irish Fest was founded; almost half a century later, Ireland has come closer to knowing some kind of political peace, as the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 ended most of the paramilitary conflicts.
The liturgy’s name was kept to reflect “the Christian desire that peace and justice permeate all parts of the world,” said Fr. Michael Maher, S.J., who has been involved in the organization of Milwaukee Irish Fest since its inception. “This Mass provides an opportunity for Christians to pray for Christ’s gift of peace,” he said.
Today, the Mass has become a joyful expression of Catholic worship and Irish identity, made even more special this year by the presence of Milwaukee’s new archbishop.
“Ethnicity has always been an important vehicle for people’s personal experience (of the faith),” said Fr. Maher, who added that Catholicism and the immigration experience “are integrally intertwined in Milwaukee.”
This was Archbishop Grob’s first public appearance at a Milwaukee summer festival. He joins the ranks of other Milwaukee prelates who have presided at the Liturgy for Peace and Justice, including Archbishop Jerome Listecki (in 2011 and 2018), Bishop Jeffrey Haines (2021), Bishop Donald Hying (2017) and Bishop Richard Sklba (1983).
Memorably, the Liturgy for Peace and Justice in 2002 served as an unexpected introduction for Milwaukee Catholics to then-Archbishop-delegate Timothy Dolan, who celebrated the Mass a week before his installation as archbishop, having been engaged as the presider before his appointment to the episcopal office in Milwaukee was made public.
Archbishop Grob’s presence at the 45th annual Mass was met with enthusiasm on the part of the congregation, which numbered more than 5,000 strong. Sixty choir members, 60 extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and 30 ushers from the Ancient Order of Hibernians joined the 25 volunteers who set up and disassembled the sanctuary. Eight dedicated members of the organizational team spend a year planning each Mass, which Irish Fest founder Ed Ward referred to as “the heart of the festival.”
And with good reason, Archbishop Grob agreed as he concluded the 2025 Liturgy for Peace and Justice.
“Whenever we gather around his table, that’s who we are,” he said. “May we become what we receive.”
Mexican Fiesta Mass next Sunday
Milwaukee’s festival season isn’t finished yet, and neither is Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob’s. The archbishop will next celebrate Mass at Mexican Fiesta on Sunday, Aug. 24. The Mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Summerfest grounds, 200 N. Harbor Drive, Milwaukee, followed by a lakefront procession with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 12:15 p.m. For more information, visit mexicanfiesta.org/procession-mass.
