When community comes to life

This month saw the culmination of festivities at St Conleth’s church, where the people of Newbridge’s parish came together on his Feast Day to mark the 1,500th anniversary of his death and to celebrate the vibrant parish life that still exists in his name today.

The weekend of celebrations began with Mass where Kildare and Leighlin’s Bishop Denis Nulty was the principal celebrant.

The Mass, which was concelebrated by priests and religious from the parish and from the diocese, was attended by more than 700 people with many of the ministries and services of the parish represented in the opening procession and throughout the Mass. Local school students and staff were also involved as well as the young people preparing for First Holy Communion in the parish.

Highlights

One of the highlights of the Mass was the reading of a special papal message from Pope Francis.

The message, which was signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, said: “His Holiness Pope Francis was pleased to learn of the celebration marking the fifteen-hundredth anniversary of the death of St Conleth, patron and first Bishop of Kildare, and he sends prayerful greetings to you and to the priests, consecrated men and women and lay faithful of the diocese.

“Joining you in giving thanks to Almighty God for the example of this saintly bishop and abbot, His Holiness encourages all of you to remain rooted in fidelity to the Lord.

“In this way, as you seek to proclaim the Gospel by following Christ in missionary discipleship, each parish will be strengthened as a place where all can encounter ‘a community of communities, a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey, and a centre of constant missionary outreach’” (Evangelii Gaudium, 28).

Jesus is risen and walks amongst us. He is still inviting us to breakfast. He is still calling us, like St Conleth and St Brigid to follow him

In his homily for the Mass, Bishop Nulty said that St Conleth’s life has given root to each person’s faith in the parish, but that these roots do not trap, but should spur parishioners to continue to grow and spread the message of the Gospel today.

“St Conleth has given a root to your faith, your Christian identity in these parts. Pope Francis in Christus Vivit reminds us “roots are not anchors chaining to past times and preventing us from facing the present and creating something new. Instead, they are a fixed point from which we can grow and meet new challenges…we are sent today to proclaim the Good News of Jesus in a new age. We need to love this time with all its opportunities and risks, its joys and sorrows, its riches and its limits, its successes and failures,” Bishop Nulty continued.

Despair

“There is always the temptation to despair, to sit on our hands, to feel our time has passed. As a church, as a faith community we can sometimes wallow in a feeling of being bruised and battered. Nothing could be further from the truth. We owe it to St Conleth, and before him to Peter and before him, ultimately to Jesus to proclaim this good news message, that Jesus is risen and walks amongst us. He is still inviting us to breakfast. He is still calling us, like St Conleth and St Brigid to follow him.”

At the end of the Mass Bishop Nulty was presented with an image of a piece of the stained glass from St Conleth’s parish church which depicts the saint.

The day after, a pilgrim walk took place from the parish church out to Old Connell where it is said St Conleth lived in seclusion. More than 80 people took part in the pilgrim walk to what is now an historic graveyard where a short prayer service and blessing of the graves took place.

Local historian Paul Cooke gave an overview of the stories of some of those who are buried in the graveyard which is now sited in a modern stud farm.

The weekend of celebrations concluded last Monday night when the parish Novena saw the Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, as principal celebrant and homilist.