Mass with Diocesan Adoration Group: 30.08.25
Mount St. Anne’s @ 3pm
Introduction:
That year passed very quickly! It doesn’t seem a year since last we gathered on August 24th last year. It’s my privilege to join with you, who are a powerhouse of prayer across our 56 parishes. I know the work I am about is at the centre of your prayer.
Each of you come with your own talents around adoration, for some adoration comes easily, it’s a regular part of your week; for others it’s a constant struggle, maybe even to remember your hour or to stay awake. I know a man who told me he slept best during adoration and for a normal night’s sleep he might have to occasionally take half a sleeping tablet!
In the knowledge of the nourishment that adoration offers, nourishment we don’t always appreciate, 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 gcónaí, ós ár gcomhair amach – be with us always, showing us the way. A Thiarna, déan Trócaire
Homily:
We celebrate St. Fiacre today. He was a priest, abbot, hermit and gardener of the seventh century. He was famous for his sanctity and skill in curing infirmities. He emigrated from here to France, settling in a place called Meaux. Indeed at our recent Columbanus Weekend celebrations, the Bishop from Meaux was in attendance, a direct link to our friend Fiacre. In Meaux Fiacre constructed a hermitage with a vegetable and herb garden, an oratory and hospice for travellers. He died around 670. He is the patron saint of gardeners.
An Adoration hour is like the garden, the hermitage in your church, full of beautiful flowers and powerful aromas.
Matthew’s gospel introduces us to the parable of the talents. It’s the final word we will hear from Matthew in this liturgical year. While the parables might only be 5,2 or 1, the amounts of money they represent is most likely zillions in today’s language, so this is serious stuff. The plight of the servants once again raises the question about the meaning of watchfulness. Is it a timid hoarding of resources or a speculative risking of all one has for the sake of the kingdom? The Redemptorist authority on parables Denis McBride reminds us the parable was set in an agrarian society where wealth was based on land and on ownership. I always have a sneaking regard for the one who buried the talent he was given, he summed up the master perfectly, he knew what and who he was dealing with.
Let’s get back to that word ‘watchfulness’, isn’t that adoration? Looking on Him as He looks on you. The ninety-one year old Capuchin Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa quotes St. John Paul II who in his Apostolic Letter on Eucharist ‘Mane Nobiscum Domine’ spoke of the need to rediscover “Eucharistic Amazement”. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle speaking at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis (United States) reminds us when Mass is ended “please go! Go! Go! Do not spend the whole day drinking coffee with Monsignor or Father. Go! Go! Go! And what you have heard, touched, and tasted, you must share with others” . We receive Jesus as communion and in adoration we commune with Jesus not for our own benefit but for the benefit of those around us. If adoration doesn’t change us within, we are not looking on Jesus, we are looking at ourselves. The Jesuit Fr. Prince Clarence who spoke at last year’s Diocesan Adoration Day told us when we adore we become like the one being adored. It takes a while like the harvest of the five talents or the two talents.
We have heard a lot about Blessed Carlo Acutis this day with the special exhibition of his life and of the different Eucharistic miracles. I’m not going to give you his life story, that has been well rehearsed in different ways today, except to repeat, the young 15 year old, who will be canonised tomorrow week, saw the Eucharist as “the highway to heaven”. Through his gentle but direct words, Carlo helped his parents rediscover the Catholic faith. I’m currently reading a fascinating book on his life written by his mother Antonia Salzana Acutis. No one knows a son better than his mother. I recall an observation Antonia made as she reflected on the death of Carlo: “there is a word for sons or daughters who lose their parents (orphans) and husbands or wives who lose their spouses (widower), but there is no word to describe a parent who loses a son or daughter, because it is the most unnatural and terrible thing than can happen in a person’s life” .
There is another Mother who lost a Son two thousand years ago. And that’s why in our moment of Eucharistic Adoration, if we feel we are not connecting with her Son Jesus, well then speak to His Mother. Let’s build a living relationship with Jesus and His Mother. Allow one to introduce the other.