The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has called for a renewed sense of national purpose and national pride.
He said that the economic situation in which the nation finds itself should forewarn all of us against an haughtiness about who we are.
The Archbishop was speaking in Dublin at the annual State commemoration of 1916 at Arbour Hill, where 300 members of the Defence Forces took part in the 90-minute ceremony.
President Mary McAleese inspected a guard of honour before mass in the Church of the Sacred Heart and Taoiseach Enda Kenny read the lesson in Irish.
More than half of the cabinet was present.
Ministers attending included Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, Michael Noonan, Alan Shatter, James O'Reilly, Jimmy Deenihan, Pat Rabbitte, Joan Burton and Brendan Howlin.
Also there were the Fianna Fáil leader Michael Martin, former taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, Chief Justice John Murray, Attorney General Maire Whelan, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Gerry Breen, and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lt Gen Sean McCann and senior Gardai.
The mass was concelebrated by military chaplains - Fr Dan McCarthy (Kilkenny), Monsignor Eoin Thynne (Head Chaplain) and Fr Jerry Carroll (Air Corps).
The Church of Ireland was represented by the Dean of Kildare, the Very Rev Dr John Marsden.
President McAleese laid a wreath in the adjoining cemetery where leaders of the 1916 Rising are buried.
A minutes' silence was observed and the Last Post sounded.
In his sermon, Archbishop Martin, said the economic situation in which the nation finds itself - and the dramatic social costs that this will entail - should forewarn all of us against any haughtiness about who we are and where we stand.
Stressing the need for hope, the Archbishop called for a renewed sense of national purpose, of national pride and of a willingness to commit ourselves to realising, in our time, a vision for our future in which everyone cares, all participate and all contribute.
Dr Martin said a real republic is one in which people care, and where the basic needs of each man, woman and child are the concern of all.
But he said there are still those in society today who have little interest in taking upon themselves the hardship of realising the dreams that we all need to realise for the good of our society.
Archbishop Martin said the Christian vocation of caring is a responsibility for each individual. It cannot simply be left to just social policies and think tanks.
He said a just society is not just about policy, but about people who live justly and with integrity; that a caring society will only be achieved by people who actually get up on their feet to care.
He said a republic is not indifferent to the faith of its citizens. It recognises the role of believers in contributing to the common good.
