Twenty Fourth Sunday -Year A: 13.09.26
Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, Myshall @ 10am
Introduction:
Tomorrow, Monday, September 14th, 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 250th 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 250th 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