It is good to be back for this special occasion. St. Mary's was more than a parish I worked in. It was my home for ten years. People we've had to say goodbye to don't leave us. They are part of who we are and what we bring to new situations. Even though, due to the aging process, we may temporarily forget names, we are formed in mind, heart and soul by the friendships out of which we've come.

  As priests, we handle things which are too big for us. Like everyone else, we are continually sifting through the confusion of what it is to be human. People realise this, they support us and they pray for us.

  I would like to think that I'm speaking on behalf of all the priests whoever ministered here. I want to say too, that, if at times, we have introduced people to a harsh God, it was more the priest's background than a prayerful reading of the Gospel. 

   It is a great privilege to have been asked by Fr. Liam Murray to preach the homily at this Mass celebrating the 150^th Anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone for this church and to join with him, Bishop Colm, Fr. Merlyn, Fr. Patsy, Fr. Mark, Fr. PJ, Fr. Declan, Fr. Con, Rev Graham Doyle, Church of Ireland, priests who served here in the years gone past, priests from the Franciscan Friary, native born priests and religious, visiting priests, the L.S.U. Sisters, the Marist Brothers, the Mercy Sisters, the Presentation Sisters and the parish community in giving joyful praise to God.

   Smiling approvingly from Heaven are Fr. Kieran Kilroe, Fr. Patrick Dardis, all who were with them at the building of the Church, Bishop John Kilduff and all deceased Bishops, Priests and people associated with this parish and this Church down through the years.

   As well, today, we prayerfully remember all those people and Priests who, over the years, maintained, restored and renewed this Church. They have left a monument to God that inspires us to prayer and praise.

   My first insight, many years ago, into the beauty of this building was from a footnote in Canon Monahan's history of the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois. It records that Cardinal Wiseman, in a lecture delivered in London, after a tour of Ireland said: "The most graceful parochial Church I have seen, during my tour in Ireland, is St. Mary's, Athlone."

   Then I had the privilege of being here when Gearóid O'Brien was carefully and caringly researching the origins of St. Mary's Parish and the building of St. Mary's Church. He has also put together a little booklet on the history of the Church and parish for this special occasion, which is also worth having.

   This Church is a testimony to the faith of the people and the sacred carrier of their memories; memories of Sunday Mass, celebration of the Sacraments; memories of times of love, times of hope, times of joy, times of pain. All of us are caught up in a great mystery. Life has within it joy and sorrow, love and hope, frailty and fear. God takes us into his providence and He is with us, giving us strength for the journey, both when the sun shines and the clouds gather. So why would anyone who knows Him want to turn away? However in recent years, our faith has had to depend more on inner strengths and without the props of an externally Christian society. Society is becoming more secular and multicultural; religious values are being slowly eliminated from our laws. We are pushed back to our own interior life and to the back-up of the parish faith community.

   However, there is a real hunger for spirituality. People are looking for meaning in life and hope which is rooted in the heart and speaks to the heart. They want to feel warm with people, to love and be loved, to experience community and to celebrate. The Church has a rich heritage to draw on and in particular the celebration of the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. St. Peter tells us: "unload all your worries on to Him since He is looking after you". We can look past everyone else and know that He is reaching out to us. Someone I know says: "I go into His Presence and ask Him for a hug. He has a heart for me. He is the only one who can fill the loneliness deep down in me".
Heart speaks to heart.
At the World Youth Congress in Cologne, Pope Benedict XVI said: "Dear young people, the happiness you seek, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face! It is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist." Only through prayer can we find the courage to respond and stake our lives on Gospel ideals.

    It is significant that there is a statue of the Sacred Heart on the way into the Church, no matter which way you come in: on the front in a niche in the tower facing the front gate and also in the lawn between the Presbytery and the Church inviting us to come to know "the loving tenderness of the heart of our God who visits us like the dawn from on high".

   A report on the sale of religious books here in Ireland found that the books fastest to 'move' were those concerned with spirituality-particularly if they had to do with mysticism from other parts of the world. Just when prosperity brings to our door everything we need to 'eat, drink and be merry', at the very same moment the human heart's hungers for something more makes itself felt: the hunger for the things of the Spirit, the thirst for God. That hunger and thirst for God was always there.

   Our week's celebration began with a pilgrim walk from Clonmacnois. Here the monks of old in solitude and the practice of asceticism, sought God and discovered the beauty, poetry and courage of their own souls. Out of this peaceful, beautiful place on the banks of the Shannon came the inspiration for the great monastic community that flourished after St. Ciarán's early death. The monks were profoundly impressed by the beauty of nature. They believed God is encountered in the practicalities of everyday life and in creation; getting up, kindling the fire, work, the animals and the birds. I always smile when I think of the 'Pangur Bán' and the monk who interrupts his studies to watch the antics of his pet cat.

   Our monastic past has a place in our future and can reconnect us with treasures relevant for us today. The ideal of a sound mind in a sound body is as relevant today as it was 1500 years ago. What commends monastic spirituality is its wisdom and moderation, balancing prayer, work and study. Relevant too for our present age was its respect for the human person, nature and the environment as well as concern and hospitality for the stranger.