11.30am – The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mayo

Fr. Padraig Shelley

Introduction:

We’re back in the vineyard again, the third Sunday in a row. The vineyard in Isaiah represents God’s people; and how the covenant with God was totally obliterated. Our gospel takes up once more that vineyard theme; this time around absentee landlordism and the issues of tenancy. With rights come responsibilities. 

As we gather to pray on this Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, we do so to honour the bicentenary anniversary of this church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary here in Mayo. The history of St. Mary’s Church isn’t to be found in reputable history books, but in the lives and hearts of those, like all of you, who take time to worship God here, over the generations.

We begin by returning to the vineyard that is parish, that is our faith life this Sunday morning, and offer an account of the current lease we all hold on it, and pray for forgiveness for any breaches to that lease agreement we entered the day of our baptism …

Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy:

A Thiarna, déan trócaire 

Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth: 

A Chríost, déan trócaire

Bí linn i gconaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way.                                                                                 A Thiarna, déan Trócaire

Homily:

It’s another Vineyard Sunday! The third consecutive weekend, that Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard. Two weeks ago, we had the parable of the workers in the vineyard, remember the squabble over earnings, how the one who clocked in at the eleventh hour, was paid the same as those there all day. Last week it was the parable of the two sons asked by their dad to go to the vineyard; one went, having said he wouldn’t, and one who said he’d go, never did. For Jesus it is not our initial response that matters, but where we have the courage to end up. It’s not our words but more importantly where do our feet take us!

For generations Colliery Christians have worn a path to St. Mary’s Church. For the men, their feet perhaps had spent all day in the coalmines; for the women, perhaps rearing young families, both of them came together to give God thanks for their life, their family, they all made there ways to this sacred place.

The Diocesan historian Comerford reminds us “anthracite coal abounds in this district. The coal formation commences near Timahoe, and extends east and south-east to the Barrow, and southwards almost to the Nore … In the summer of 1836, 64 pits were at full work”[1]. As we hurdled anthracite into the Aga cooker at home all those years back, little did I realise that anthracite at one time could have come from these parts.

The Patrician archivist Br. Linus Walker saw Doonane/Mayo as the smallest parish in the diocese – “seven miles long and four wide”[2]. In the year 1800 there were 3,000 people living in this parish. The oldest parish register reminds us that on 10^th October 1824, eighty children made their First Holy Communion. By 1828 the population here had risen to 4,500. As the coalmines closed, so did the population shrink with the closures. A 44% decline is recorded in thirty years in the mid 1800’s.  

While there is little written by way of history of this church, it’s accepted that St. Mary’s Church was built in 1826, so our celebration taking place at this time. Peadar Mac Suibhne in his wonderful Carlovia Collections definitely tells us “The church at Mayo, Doonane parish, was built during the episcopate of Dr. Doyle, 1819-1834. It’s design is plain and simple. Probably Cobden was the architect”[3]. Thomas Cobden, the English architect, whose work was much admired by JKL, Bishop Doyle, of course designed the Cathedral, the north wing of Carlow College, St. Patricks, the tower and spire of St. Mary’s Church of Ireland, Carlow and Duckett’s Grove. So St. Mary’s Church, Mayo can now be listed in his magnum opuses!    

Br. Linus goes into great detail on a letter, dating back to 1894 from a Fr. Gilligan, an exile from Donnane/Mayo, speaking of his fondness for this church, wishing to donate money to provide seating. He specified that the seating was “for the benefit of the poor, as I know that the wealthy are sure to look after themselves”[4]. Linus also cites that in 1899 the first set of Stations of the Cross were erected here. Over the intervening period much work has been done by many to enhance and contribute to the upkeep of this sacred place. Today we gather to say thanks.

The wonderful additions to the Church and grounds marking this bicentenary include an altar and ambo made from local indigenous crettyard stone erected outside for Graveyard Masses. Close to the altar and ambo rests the second last woman hung in Ireland, Mary Daly, associated with what has come to be known as ‘The Clonbrook Murder’. The stunning cross on the front of the stone altar is fashioned from an old farming scythe. Later in our Mass a communion bowl hewn out of mahony and yew, sourced from the Church of Ireland church grounds here, is a poignant reminder of the good relations that exist between our two faith communities. I love the fact that the school children in Mayo NS and Ardough NS have been busy colouring images of St. Mary’s which are on display this morning.

The parable of the vineyard is not merely about people who lived long ago. Every human heart is a little vineyard; every parish community is a larger vineyard; every diocese is a much bigger vineyard. Each of us belong to God. He has planted faith within us. He has watered us in Baptism; nourished us with His Body and Blood; offered us countless moments of blessings on days of joy and accompaniment in times of sorrow. He looks for fruit. This morning the best way we can celebrate this bicentenary is by living fully our baptismal calling, involving ourselves in parish, in the unfolding faith story here.

There is a beautiful Latin hymn which is often sung on the anniversary of a church:

“Locus iste a Deo factus est

inaestimabile sacramentum,

irreprehensibilis est”.

It translates roughly:

“This place was made by God,

a priceless sacrament:

it is without reproach”.

What a beautiful recognition of St. Mary’s Church where little is extant of the history of this place, but it is written in the vineyards of those hearts who worship here faithfully every Sunday, and those whose feet took them here, in times past.     

[1] Comerford, Michael: ‘Collections: Dioceses of Kildare & Leighlin III’, James Duffy & Sons, 1886, pg. 197

[2] Walker, Linus: ‘Beneath Slievemargy’s Brow’, Leinster Express, 2001, pg. 17

[3] Mac Suibhne, Peader: ‘Carlovia 2’, pg. 120

[4] Walker, Linus: ‘Beneath Slievemargy’s Brow’, Leinster Express, 2001, pgs. 23-24

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7.30pm – St. Laserian’s Church, Leighlinbridge

Fr. Pat Hennessy

Farewell to Mercy Sisters: Ethel & Nancy

Introduction:

Absentee landlordism! Yes, we’re back in the vineyard again, the third Sunday in a row, and this evening’s visit centres on an absentee landlord and the issue of justice around tenancy.

As we gather to pray on this Twenty Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, we do so to honour the contribution of the Mercy Sisters to Leighlin Parish over 116 years. In more recent times we speak of Sr’s Ethel & Nancy but many have served here over the 116 years.

On Fr. Pat Hennessy’s behalf I welcome the Mercy Sisters, guests, parishioners and friends this Vigil evening. I pass on the apologies of Sr. Elizabeth Fletcher, Mercy Branch Leader, who is unable to be here, but is ably represented by her colleagues on the Leadership Team, Sr. Ailish O’Brien and Sr. Concepta Foley. 

We begin by returning to the vineyard that is parish, that is ministry today and offer an account of the current lease we all hold on our own faith life and pray for forgiveness for any breaches to that lease agreement we entered the day of our baptism …

Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy:

A Thiarna, déan trócaire 

Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth: 

A Chríost, déan trócaire

Bí linn i gconaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way.                                                                                 A Thiarna, déan Trócaire

Homily:

It’s another Vineyard Sunday! The third consecutive weekend, that Jesus tells a parable about a vineyard. Two weeks ago, we had the parable of the workers in the vineyard; last week it was the parable of the two sons asked by their dad to go to the vineyard, one went, having said he wouldn’t, and one who said he’d go, never did. For Jesus it is not our initial response that matters, but where we have the courage to end up. It’s not our words but more importantly where do our feet take us!

The first Mercy feet arrived here in Leighlin in 1910, that’s where the figure of 116, I spoke of earlier, comes from! On June 30^th, 1910 at the invitation of the Parish Priest, Fr. James Coyle, four sisters from St. Leo’s Convent of Mercy, across the road from me in Carlow, established a convent at the Old Deanery on Milford Street. Cardinal Patrick Moran, the first Cardinal of Australia, a son of Bridge Street, Leighlinbridge, was instrumental in bringing the Mercy Sisters here. He died the year after their arrival.

You cannot talk about the Leighlinbridge foundation, without some understanding of St. Leo’s Convent of Mercy, Carlow, where I celebrated Mass earlier this morning. Contemporary Ireland fails to appreciate the powerhouse that were the religious instititions of their day, St Leo’s very much to the fore. The first Mercy Sisters arrived to Carlow in April 1837; Catherine McAuley was a close friend of the then President of St. Patrick’s College, Dr. Andrew Fitzgerald. She had entrusted her three young orphaned nephews to his paternal care some years earlier, to be educated in the lay college.

So Catherine knew Carlow. From St. Leo’s foundations spread to Naas in 1839; Wexford in 1840; Westport in 1842; Pittsburgh in 1843; Tuam in 1846; Cheadle Staffs in 1849; New Zealand in 1850; Gort in 1857; Sacred Heart  Home in 1881; Monasterevan in 1898; Graignamanagh in 1908 and finally here to Leighlinbridge in 1910.

The four Sisters on the first foundation here were Sr. Berchmans McGrath, Superioress, ably assisted by Sr. Clare Geary, Sr. Bernadine O’Malley and Sr. Angela Smith. Sr. Angela took charge of the then Girl’s Primary on Tullow Street. Both Sr. Bernadine and Sr. Angela lived well into their 100’s, which was rare in those times; Sr. Bernadine ending her days in Graignamanagh while Sr. Angela returned to the cradle of St. Leo’s.

There is a story well told of the school boarders turning out to honour her different birthdays, she reached the age of 105! Dot Cunny, the Domestic Science or Home Economics teacher led a group of boarders to wish her well and presented her with a small gift. Sr. Angela asked if she could open it. It was a little Baby Power and she let a gasp out of her “I’m delighted, I thought for a minute it was another holy statue”! I’m not sure where she acquired her exquisite taste, perhaps here in the parish of the half-glen – Leighlin!

The Mercy Sisters were central to the life in Leighlin and the surrounding area. They educated generations, supported church activities, helped establish the ‘Children of Mary’, promoted the ‘Pioneer Total Abstince Association’ and enriched church choirs. I always associate both Ethel and Nancy with the wonderful church choir here in Leighlinbridge. Deeply associated with the story of education here, but also their social work, their house calls. In 1991 the last teaching nun retired and the sisters moved from from the convent to the bungalow across the road, the bungalow from where Ethel and Nancy lived until recently.

A few weeks ago I was in St. Andrews Church, Bagenalstown for a farewell celebration of the Presentation Sisters there – a presence of 181 years; tonight here in St. Laserians Church, Leighlinbrdge for a farewell ceremony for the Mercy Sisters here – a presence of 116 years. The religious landscape of Kildare & Leighlin is changing before our very eyes. The challenges religious orders are facing, are ones we too face in the diocese.

But we must not be dispondent, we must be bold and brave and still ask who will keep the candle burning for Catherine McAuley, who will keep the lantern trimmed for Nano Nangle, who will keep our parishes alive with faith and vitality? You will, you, the congregation. Begin conversations around vocation, not just priestly or religious vocation, hugely challenging calls in 2026, but the vocation to live out your baptismal calling, fully immersing yourself in the life of Leighlin parish faith community.  

The vineyard gives us ‘the why’ we must live up to our calling, and ‘the why’ we must reflect on our own calling. Vineyard gospels need to be read again and again and again. Their messages aren’t for the faint-hearted! Common decency was all the landlord looked for, but often that’s not always so common. We need to let them sink into our pores, so that we become intoxicated in their thinking!! Tenants that can’t be trusted to tenants that kneecap, rough up and kill … this is the stuff of a Sunday night television drama on RTE 1 or a Halloween Horror movie!

And Jesus tells us this Vigil evening; it’s also the stuff of life! Imagine the vineyard owner sending his son, after the treatment meted out to his servants and employees earlier. An illogical action, a desperate decision, an inexplainable last resort. The gospel line comes back to haunt us: “They will respect my son”[1].

Two thousand years ago another Father sent His Son. He ended up on a Wooden Cross, but his Kingdom, like the vineyard survives several persecutions and still today commands respect throughout the world. Just for a moment think of the welcome Pope Leo received in Lourdes a week ago, in the most secular country on Continental Europe. In the gospel, killing the vineyard owner’s son, led to the tenants meeting a wretched end, they had crossed the line and there was no turning back.

The Cross on Calvary becomes that line for us, unlike the tenants from hell; we have time, maybe just enough time to turn back! Tonight we celebrate the Mercy Sisters who served here among you; the best accolade you could give them is to involve yourself in parish, in the faith story that continues to unfold here.     

[1] Mt.21:37

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The document can be read in full at this link: https://www.kandle.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Working-Document-of-the-National-Synodal-Assembly-on-17-October-2026.pdf

The seven Kildare and Leighlin Delegates are:

Fr Ger Ahern, Deacon Jody Callan, Cathríona Kelly, Matt Lawlor, Deacon Patrick Roche, Victor Souza, Sr Ann Walsh

Alongside these delegates other members of our diocese will be present as delegates through their participation on working groups. These include:

Hilda Campbell, Gerard Gallagher, Dr Oonagh O’Brien and Michelle Ward.

Julie Kavanagh will be present as a member of the National Synod Team while Jean Roche will be present as a staff member of the Irish Episcopal Conference.

The post Working document released in advance of the National Synodal Assembly appeared first on Kandle.

Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Myshall @ 10am

Introduction:

Tomorrow, Monday, September 14^th, is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Titular Feast of this parish of Myshall, the only church in our diocese to enjoy this patronage. Killeshin is dedicated to the Holy Cross. Myshall is dedicated to the Exaltation of the Cross.

This year marks the 250^th Anniversary of the actual building of this church, it’s semiquincentennial. The tradition of ‘Quarantore’ (the Forty-Hour Adoration) goes back, over one hundred years and it’s so lovely to be with you here again to bring it to a conclusion.

The gospel lens is on forgiveness. It’s easy to talk about forgiveness, it’s the forgiving bit that’s hardest to do! This morning’s gospel asks us to forgive from our heart – no if’s, buts or maybes; just a total, absolute, unconditional forgiveness.

The unforgiving servant in the gospel disturbs us because he sails close to the wind, he could be any of us. This morning’s parable drives the point home – if God is big enough to forgive us, we should be only too ready to forgive one another and maybe most difficult of all, to forgive ourselves.

Let’s pray for that spirit of forgiveness as we honour the 250th Anniversary and draw to a close these precious 40 hours in the presence of the Lord …

• Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy:

A Thiarna, déan trócaire 

• Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth: 

A Chríost, déan trócaire

• Bí linn i gconaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way.                                                         A Thiarna, déan Trócaire

Homily:

We all know Myshall is associated with many saints, some of them sitting in the very seats in front of me this morning; more of them at the heart of culture, sport, folklore that is life here at the foot of Mount Leinster. A few of them recognized by the Universal Church – Finian, Fortchern and Columbanus. His wonderful relic, now a permanent feature of this sacred place. Several priests are interred both inside and outside this church, priests who were in their day shepherds of holiness, helping all of us to do our bit on that road to sainthood.

The Diocesan historian Comerford reminds us that this chapel owes its existence, as many do across the country, to the generosity of local landlords[1]. The site was a swamp but still seen as a generous gift. There are others, more qualified than me, to speak to what this church means to so many.

I can attest that over the 250 years it has been the place where loved ones found consolation, where sacred vows were exchanged, where sacraments were received, where candles were lit and where Anniversaries Masses were celebrated. The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has been and remains part of the lives of so many over the years. It is here that the sacred story that is Myshall is written.

And in the days before, after or on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross you always gather for the Quarantore tradition. The forty hours of adoration. Spending time in God’s presence, saying nothing, so that He might speak to us. Spending time with the Lord so that one day He might offer eternity to us and those who sat and knelt in these church seats before us.

A brief glance at our gospel, little did Peter know the question he asked Jesus would one day come back to haunt him, ‘how often must we forgive one another?’[2] It seemed a genuine question. And it receives a more than generous response reminding us forgiveness has no limitations: “not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times”[3]. 

Let us look at this seventy-seven bit. Some translators even offer the figure of seventy times seven, suggesting it is allot closer to the original Greek. If we go with the seventy times seven, we are looking at a figure of 490. So, the magnitude of Jesus in his instruction to forgive rests at 490, but we do not start holding on to grudges at number 491! We are being told let’s put no limit on the number of times we should forgive, it’s measureless mercy, freeing forgiveness with no strings attached!

Maybe Peter expected Jesus to give him a compliment! We know ourselves our patience can wear thin and our forgiveness resolve run low if it’s too early in the morning, or if we are already hurt and tender. Our first reading from the book of Ecclesiasticus offers context to Matthew’s gospel. Resentment and anger can take possession of us, can grip us so tightly that we feel powerless to forgive and the one who hurts most is usually ourselves.

But Christ on the Cross has paid a debt for all our sins. A debt paid by shedding His precious blood. We are alive because we are forgiven. From his wounded side flows grace and mercy. St. Paul reminds us that none of us lives for himself and none of us dies for himself. We belong to the Lord for “Christ both died and came to life, it was so that he might be the Lord both of the dead and of the living”[4].

Last Wednesday as part of a gathering of Bishops from around the world, who are part of the Focolare Movement, we had the privilege to meet with Pope Leo. Pope Leo holds the themes of charity, unity, reconciliation as constants in his teachings. The Church must be a model of unity within itself. A divided Church cannot evangelise a broken world. Jesus lived for 33 years in a world of divisions. We cannot allow the Cross or hatred to have the last word. We must create the space where dialogue can begin, where mercy can take root in a parish community, the church building is that space.

He reminded us in the Western world where individualism has taken firm roots, “the once-stable networks of family, friendship and community are giving way to greater fragmentation, and where freedom is increasingly presented as absolute autonomy … people today frequently feel less free to be their genuine selves or follow their highest ideals, out of a hidden fear of being judged or not fitting in”[5].

We have been forgiven a debt beyond counting, let’s not leave Myshall Church, in its 250^th Anniversary Year this morning, clutching onto some old grudge or counting the times our neighbour, a family member, has aggravated us. The titular Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross reminds us we are all above this, and if we can allow ourselves to rise above it, no better way to mark this semiquincentennial anniversary and to draw a conclusion on these forty hours of adoration.

[1] Comerford, Michael, ‘Collections relating to the Dioceses of Kildare and Leighlin’, Vol. III, 1886, pg. 319

[2] Mt.18:21

[3] Mt.18:22

[4] Rm.14:9

[5] Pope Leo XIV, ‘Address to the Bishops who are friends of the Focolare Movement’, Clementine Hall, Wednesday, 09 September 2026

The post Homily at Conclusion of 40 Hours Devotion Weekend marking the 250th Anniversary of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Myshall appeared first on Kandle.

Introduction:

We gather to acknowledge the contribution and ministry of the Presentation Sisters here to Bagenalstown. We do so in the context of the story of education in these parts. We also do so in the context of the Parish Vigil Mass, conscious that while the Sisters established the schools and worked there, the ripple effect of their presence here can be found in every facet of parish life. The plaque I will unveil later reads “Presentation Sisters, Bagenalstown 1838-2019 ‘Not Words but Deed’ (Nano Nagle)”.

A presence of 181 years, and this evening we honour that contribution on this the Vigil of the Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, as the lens turns to forgiveness, it’s that forgiving bit that is hardest to do! We are invited to forgive from our heart, no if’s, buts or maybes, just a total, absolute, unconditional forgiveness.

The unforgiving servant in the gospel disturbs us because he sails close to the wind, he could be any of us. This evening’s parable drives the point home, if God is big enough to forgive us, we should be only too ready to forgive one another and maybe most difficult of all to forgive ourselves. As we celebrate the Presentation Sisters, their place here in Bagenalstown, in Muinebheag, where they kept the lantern of Nano kindled for many years, we give thanks as we call to mind our sins …

• Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy:
A Thiarna, déan trócaire

• Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth:
A Chríost, déan trócaire

• Bí linn i gconaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way. A Thiarna, déan Trócaire

Homily:

On this Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we find ourselves well into the year of celebration for Venerable Nano Nagle, for the Presentation Sisters. Last Christmas Eve set the celebrations in motion, and they have continued ever since.

I look forward to a celebration in the former convent, now Carlow County Museum on Tullow Street, Carlow, at the convent cemetery and in the Cathedral, next month, where we will acknowledge the Carlow story and how it helped to shape later convent foundations.

The Nano Nagle story, the Presentation story, has deep roots in our Diocese. Tullow Street, Carlow was founded in 1811 and from Carlow, Portlaoise was founded in 1824; Kildare in 1830; Stradbally in 1852; Portarlington in 1854; Mountmellick in 1854; Clondalkin in 1857 and Baltinglass in 1873.

And from Portlaoise, Bagenalstown was founded in 1838 and Clane in 1839. From Kildare, Wagga Wagga in New South Wales was founded in 1874. And from Clondalkin, Lucan was founded in 1867, Warrenmount in 1892, Lismore, New South Wales in 1896 and Rockford Manor in 1958. I thank those behind designing the concept of ‘The Presentation Tree’ for the accuracy of these dates.

For a moment let’s go back to the Cork of Nano Nagle’s day. It’s labyrinths of lanes and alleys, so familiar to the lady of the lantern. Catholics had a very dismal future. Fourteen percent of the profitable land was in Catholic ownership; in other words, eighty-six percent wasn’t! A lease to a Catholic was limited to thirty-one years.

Penal days were tough, and the world Nano was born into in Ballygriffin was still very much one dominated by the context of those Penal days. While her legacy is education and particularly the education of those for whom, without the Ursulines, without the Presentation Sisters, there would have been no prospects at all; her awareness of poverty in the lives of people made her very socially astute. Her great friend Bishop Coppinger would speak of her “lacerated limbs and festering wounds” when she died, she gave herself fully and completely.
Brenan’s ‘Schools of Kildare and Leighlin 1775-1835’ mentions two schools in Kilcarig, Bagenalstown, a boys and a girls. The average daily attendance of boys was 50, all Roman Catholics. The average daily attendance at the girl’s school was put a little higher at 60, although Brenan noted it could decrease to 30 in the winter. The priests were the inspectorate of the day. In one note regarding the strict reading of scripture with no commentary or context was described in the priests’ report as an “obnoxious arrangement” and was highly critical of the Kildare Place Society, an early philanthropic group, set up to educate the poor.

The author of that inspection was the gifted and talented Parish Priest Fr. Michael Prendergast. He facilitated the establishment of the convent and school here in Bagenalstown in 1838 by bequeathing in his will his house and property for education purposes. The sisters arrived here on August 4th that year, with a school opening the following month. Interestingly 175 years later I would arrive to the diocese on the very same day, August 4th.

1901 would set the establishment of a Secondary Education here. Queen of the Universe and Presentation De le Salle both grew respectively out of the one opened in September 1838, and the one opened in 1901. Prendergast was Vicar General to the great JKL. TJ Walsh tells us that in 1823, fifteen years before the foundation in Bagenalstown JKL asserted that “seven counties of Leinster were better served educationally than any other part of the empire” , his words not mine!

The standard of education established by the Presentation Sisters in Bagenalstown was exceptional. The opening of the school in 1838 coincided with the onslaught of the 1840’s famine. you cannot educate an empty stomach, so once again the appropriateness of the quote from Nano Nagle on the plaque: “not words but deeds”.

The building at the convent soon outgrew itself and the foundation for a new school was laid in 1851. In 1899 the numbers attending were early 500. The building with its many extensions was in use until 1956, when a new primary school was opened. An inspectorate report in 1864 assessed Bagenalstown as being well staffed, unlike other Presentation foundations, with the average daily pupil attendance put at 50.5% which was high for its time .
1901 saw the opening of a Secondary School in the purchased Dr. Stawell’s house on Regent Street. The first Principal was Mother Alphonsus, a gifted science teacher. The school was to be recognised by the Department twenty years later.

Enough of history, what is the lesson left after the Sisters, after Nano Nagle, after the luminaries such as Fr. Michael Prendergast PP VG and those who came after them? Fr. Prendergast’s twin grandnieces entered the convent here in the 1860’s; their brother his grandnephew Denis Byrne became a priest in Liverpool. It’s his chalice we use this evening.

Matthew’s gospel reminds us forgiveness has no limitations: “not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times” . If, in our schools, we can inculcate an atmosphere of mercy, of forgiveness; if in our schools, we can model mercy, we are teaching much more than a curriculum.

Gen Z have shown again and again they are open to religion. Pope Leo, speaking in May this year reminded us “the new generation is not closed off to the Gospel, on the contrary, many when they discover it, want to know it better, because they perceive that within it lies the secret to being truly happy” . Nothing can give us greater happiness than forgiving the hurt someone has caused us.

Our new Senior Cycle RE Programme is titled ‘Made for More’, all of us are made for more, and this is something that Nano Nagle and those pioneering sisters in Bagenalstown and their early lay compatriots would be rightly proud. Forgiveness, Mercy, Reconciliation makes us bigger people, makes for more!

The farewell to the Sisters has been made this evening, but the thanksgiving endures. The story of the Presentation Sisters will always be inextricably interwoven with the story of Bagenalstown and its people.

The post Homily from Mass Honouring the Contribution & Ministry of the Presentation Sisters to Bagenalstown appeared first on Kandle.

Introduction:

It’s a great joy for all of us to gather in Cill Mhuire, Mary’s Church, here in Newbridge to mark the Twentieth Anniversary of Polish Chaplaincy in our Diocese. We fondly remember people like Bishop Jim Moriarty who twenty years ago discerned the need and drew up the agreement that led to the establishment of this important and significant chaplaincy in our diocese.

Time has moved on, twenty years later, our diocese and people are in a different space. It is opportune and timely to once again return to that definition and redefine it through the lens this time of 2026, and not 2006. 

It’s also great that so many clergy (Fr’s Ruairí, Joe, Antony, Locky & Thaddeus; Dn’s Fergal, Jim, Sebastian & Michal) join with our Polish Chaplain Piotr and myself to mark this significant milestone. And more importantly it’s great that the great that so many from the Polish Community all across the Diocese with their Irish neighbours and friends are here to celebrate today.

The scripture readings on this Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time reminds us of the importance of sensitive correction. A sensitivity that leads to forgiveness, mercy and healing. The story of the Polish people from the horrors of the Second World War has been one of resilience and mercy; and it continues to be as Poland stands at the frontier of the four and half year war waging between Russia and Ukraine. You and your people know what it’s like to forgive, to take correction and so we pray …

• Is tusa Tobar na Trócaire – you are the wellspring of mercy:

A Thiarna, déan trócaire 

• Is tusa Slí na Fírinne – you are the way of Truth: 

A Chríost, déan trócaire

• Bí linn i gconaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way.                                                                                 A Thiarna, déan Trócaire

Homily:

It’s in the gathering of our two’s and three’s we meet God. “For where two or three meet in my name. I shall be there with them”^[1]. The brother in the gospel could be any of us!! The responsibility weighing on Ezekiel’s shoulders falls heavy on all of us, a responsibility to correct, to point out another direction. St. Paul is perhaps bluntest and the most cunning of all, reminding us: “love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour”^[2].

Too many neighbours have been hurt; too many today remain un-reprimanded; too many brothers fall out and never reconcile. Pope Francis reminded us in Dublin at the World Meeting of Families eight years ago that “no family comes down from heaven perfectly formed”.

Family is very important, and a critical concept in the Polish tradition. We have come to celebrate the Twentieth Anniversary, what is known as the China Anniversary of Polish Chaplaincy here in Kildare & Leighlin diocese.

So to all of you I say: Szczesliwy Dwudziestej Rocznice! Happy Twentieth Anniversary!

Some of you came to the diocese, perhaps as young couples, searching for a new life. You settled here, married and raised a family. Your children have been brought up in Ireland. While summer holidays are with the grandparents in Poland, they are 100% Irish.

They play GAA with local clubs; they wear Man City, Arsenal or Chelsea tops, like their peers; they enjoy the Saw Doctors as much as the rest of us and they cheered on Katie Taylor last night. In other words, they are as much Irish as any and all of us are. That is the success of Polish integration, but you must never lose who you are, the traditions you bring and the customs that are yours.

Immediately coming to mind is the ‘Blessing of Food Baskets’ on Holy Saturday morning. I think I can safely say if the numbers who attend those Blessing Rituals was replicated on other Sundays we would be building or extending churches in Kildare and Leighlin to accommodate new ethnic congregations! Also, the blessing of bread at Christmas and the sending of blessed bread in greeting cards to family and friends. The beautiful Polish tradition of going to Confession a number of times before celebrating Marriage is laudable and one indeed that could be adopted by Irish couples. As parents you want to pass on to your children the values, traditions, and lived faith that you received from your parents and grandparents back in Poland. Our parishes are enriched by your presence and participation.

One of the themes in our upcoming National Synodal Assembly next month is that of ‘belonging’. While sports clubs, community activities and cultural involvement all help create that sense of ‘belonging’; for you the Polish people, the church, not in its building per se, but in the opportunity it creates for us to gather, to pray, to be as one, before our God and maker remains profound. It’s here we hear the gospel call on occasions to ‘go to your brother’ – when a brother sins, we should go and speak with him privately[3]. He doesn’t ask us to shout it from the roof top to tell everyone else about it, he says, go directly to your brother. Genuine love sometimes requires difficult conversations.

I commend the many spiritual exercises and activities that your chaplaincy through the seeds established by Thaddeus and rotavated and cultivated since by Piotr, supported by Lucja O’Neill, and many more at parish level include activities such as altar serving. Polish Christian names now populate Sacristy Register books. I commend the Catechesis for Children, it’s not enough to have young people serving, it’s important to form them.

I also think of the Domestic Church, the Living Rosary Groups, the Men of St. Joseph (who prayed the Rosary before our Mass), the Crusade for Human Liberation, the Friends of the Bridegroom, the Meetings with Miriam, the Youth Bible Drama Group (who offered the artistic-patriotic performance earlier); the Polish Scouts and the Schola Leaders. For particular mention the newly established Polish Chaplaincy Secretariat lead by Lucja and the Irish Polish Parish Co-ordinators. My hope is that every one of our eleven Pastoral Areas would in time have an Irish-Polish coordinator. You the Polish families can help the indigenous Irish to get to know our faith again, by welcoming Irish into your many formation groups. And there may be further groups yet to be established to meet other needs.

I wish all of you every blessing this day.

Presenting an Icon to Our Lady of Czestochowa on behalf of the diocese to you the Polish people. It will hang here in Cill Mhuire, in Mary’s Church, which will always remain the spiritual home of the Polish Chaplaincy.

[1] Mt. 18:20

[2] Rom. 13:10

[3] Mt.18:15

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Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow

Introduction:

It makes such great sense to me to launch my Pastoral Letter here in the Cathedral of our diocese. Published during the week, it says no more than what has been flagged in several pastoral letters issued in recent times (2022, 2024 and in February this year).

Indeed declining numbers of priests and the scarcity of vocations is nothing new. We can go back to Bishop Larry Ryan’s time when he sounded the alarm bells in 1998 launching the ‘Challenging Times’ campaign. The truth is that the diocese for the last 70 years has been carried along by the boom of vocations in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. Many have very generously stayed working for which I, those before me, and their parishioners remain deeply grateful.

In our second reading St. Paul reminds us that just like the early Christian community, we too must discern, we must discover, God’s will for us, what is the right thing to do and then we must do it. Matthew’s gospel reminds us pain and suffering are always part of this response.

Peter loves Jesus, but he wanted a Christ without a Cross, a victory without a sacrifice, an Easter without Good Friday. As we gather and ask “what is God saying, what is God asking, of the Church in Kildare & Leighlin at this time?”, each of us are called to play our part – for failures, for those moments of reticence, for the times where we’ve been laggards, we pray for forgiveness …

• Lord Jesus, you are forgiving and kind to all who call on you,

Lord, have mercy …

• Lord Jesus, for you my soul is thirsting,

Christ, have mercy …

• Lord Jesus, you guard us in the shadow of your wings,

Lord, have mercy …

Homily:

Pastoral Letters take their cue from the New Testament texts, such as First and Second Timothy and Titus; all written to guide the early church leaders on matters of governance, pastoral practice, doctrine and general conduct. Bishops might issue one or two a year. They normally are written to address a situation or a particular context. They might be written by a bishop for the concerns of his local diocese or they could be written by the entire hierarchy to address a particular situation, perhaps an upcoming Referendum or a moment in history. 

In recent times much was made by historians of the Pastoral Letter issued by the Irish Hierarchy in October 1922 which forbade the sacraments to some who were active in the Civil War.

The first pastoral letter I wrote was for Good Shepherd Sunday 2014, and the most recent one was written following the clergy changes announced earlier this month. As it was a list of reductions, retirements and absences, it made for stark reading for everyone, myself included. So I thought it might be opportune to speak to these set of changes in the context of a pastoral letter.

I won’t read it word for word, line by line, but just reflect on a few points. In the first paragraph I speak of the age profile of our priests, and the fact that “many of them are serving parishes, long beyond the acceptable retirement age in the secular world”. By the end of next month there will be 45 priests over 75 in the diocese; 27 of them holding posts in parishes, 10 of them are Parish Priests/Administrators. This is the generosity I spoke about earlier.

While I speak of a “new reality”, in honesty we have seen it coming and there has been groundwork undertaken that is helping us and will help us – the ordination of deacons, the training of lay pastoral ministers, increasing number of lay people, religious and clergy working togther in councils, commissions and parish groups. But this groundwork needs the cooperation not just of a few but of all in our parishes. The time has come for people across the diocese to recognise that the parish, as the place where the Church lives, will be as strong and as vibrant as people’s cooperation and generosity with their gifts and the resources, that we can be assured God has provided in every one of our 56 parishes. 

Back to Bishop Larry Ryan and the launch in the late 1990’s of ‘Challenging Times’, the real act of prophesy is not about predicting how numbers will change, because we know they will, but to understand what this is saying to us and how best we can respond. St. Paul reminds us we need to discern God’s will for us, for our time, so what is he asking of us in Kildare & Leighlin at this time? How can our parishes respond to the call to become the parishes of the baptised? Communities of faith, hope and love.

First of all communities, places of welcome where all feel welcomed. Faith where there are formation programmes offered perhaps at Pastoral Area level, to deepen our faith, to understand our faith. Hope where liturgy is celebrated well and Love where the parish reaches out to the sick, the dying, the lonely and the alone.

Change is never easy. We can all be prone to waiting until we have no choice and only take it fully on board when change comes to our door. Our diocese has 56 parishes and 117 churches. It is natural that people are tied to their parish and their local church. However, we have now reached the point when it is not possible for every parish to have a resident priest. 

In the past year, we have grouped the parishes in 11 Pastoral areas so that they can pull together and come up with the best schedule of Masses given the priests available.  Adjustments will have to be made and some of these will be difficult to accept. I encourage engagement by all in this process; also in the letter “I ask parishioners not to make uunreasonable demands or to have unrealistic expectations of their priest”.

In this evening gospel, Peter remonstrates with Jesus about taking the road to Calvary. He cries out “Heaven preserve you Lord, this must not happen to you”[1]. What the Lord teaches Peter and all of us is that sacrifice is part of our journey if we want to be his true follower. This is a spiritual challenge that we are facing. It will test us and we will need to think beyond our own concerns. That prophetic question remains with us: “what is God saying, what is God asking, of the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin at this time?”

We need more and more Lay involvement and Lay leadership.  We need to warmly welcome and support those who offer themselves for a ministry in their parish or pastoral area.

As I mentioned in my announcement of the clergy changes for 2026, I will continue to seek out international priests to serve in our diocese. But I‘m also very conscious while we warmly welcome those who choose to serve in our diocese, I ask everyone to pray for vocations from our own parishes, our own diocese, to the priesthood.  We need priests.  I also ask everyone to pray for our priests and to continue to support them, encourage them, affirm them.

But remember the Final Document of the Univeral Synodal journey in late 2024 reminded us: “Baptism is the foundation of Christian life. This is because it introduces everyone to the greatest gift, which is to be children of God, that is, to share in Jesus’ relationship to the Father in the Spirit. There is nothing higher than this baptismal dignity, equally bestowed upon each person”[2]. In other words baptism is a much more important sacrament than ordination, so let’s live up to our own baptismal calling. As I say in the letter “it is out of a deeper and richer understanding of what our baptism means that we all begin to find our place in the Church today”. God always provides, but that provision needs our cooperation. We can be hope-filled in the belief that God has given us what we need, but we can’t be complacent and ignore our part in bringing that to fruition. 

We must never forget the Church belongs to Christ whom we serve. We can be consoled and inspired by the witness of those who went before us, who knew great hardship and sacrifice but were able to keep the flame of faith burning. While these are certainly challenging times, we remain a people of hope. There will always be changes in life, but there are realities which do not change and that is our faith in God who as I sign off in the pastoral letter “can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine”[3]. I commend this Pastoral Letter to your kind attention.

[1] Mt.16:22

[2] Final Document of the Universal Synod, ‘Communion, Participation, Mission’, ¶21, 2024

[3] Ep.3:20

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They include:  

1. Sunday Liturgy Notes for Season of Creation 2026
2. Prayers and Readings for Mass for the Care for Creation: For weekdays, ad experimentum

3. The Season of Creation Prayer for 2026 (seasonofcreation.org ) 
4. A River Ritual:  to be celebrated by a river or stream.
5. Brother River Meditation
6. Rubbish Graveyard – a resource which helps to show people just how long it takes for items to biodegrade.  
7. A Blessing for Animals: Produced by K&L diocese for year of preparation for World Meeting of Families  
8. An Ecological Rosary: with Slides.  
9. Creation Walk Moments:  adapted from the booklet by Fr. Brian Grogan SJ, Creation Walk: The Amazing Story of a Small Blue Planet 
10. Tree Planting Resource 
11. Other Useful Resources: Nurturing your Family Faith in Nature: from Trócaire (as Gaeilge).  Earth Day Prayer Service – Celebrated on April 22^nd each year. With thanks to the Care for Creation team in Balally Parish, Dublin. Listening to Nature: A Trócaire resource.

Also, an online season of Creation worldwide opening prayer will take place next Tuesday, 1^st September at 2pm Dublin Time.  Join/register here: https://seasonofcreation.org/events-soc/september-1st-prayer-service-for-creation-day/

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