March 11, 2024

Hibernians hold annual Communion breakfast, present Christian Charity Award

REGIONAL
Story and photos by David Martin

HOLYOKE – The Ancient Order of Hibernians, James A. Curran, Division One of Hampden/ Hampshire Counties sponsored its 65^th annual family Communion breakfast on March 10.

The event began with an 8 a.m. Memorial Mass celebrated at St. Jerome Parish in Holyoke. Bagpiper Matt O’Connor greeted everyone with festive sounds.

Father Thomas Shea, a retired priest of the diocese, was the chief celebrant. Father Shea said in his homily that they would soon be reciting the prayer to St. Patrick that had been passed out at the beginning of Mass. He said as they read the prayer, they will get the sense that God is surrounding them always in their daily lives. He encouraged those present to take the prayer home with them to say each morning.

“What a wonderful way to begin each day because it will allow us to go forward with a sense of hope and confidence that we are not doing it alone, that we have God with us, we praise God to guide us and protect us,” he said. “We ask that you and I be especially mindful of God’s care because if we have this confidence, we will go forward with our hearts filled with faith, hope and love, and people will be able to now witness that blessing of love for God in our lives.”

After Mass, the Communion breakfast took place at the Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke, where people mingled and socialized while enjoying catered food.

The event included the presentation of the Christian Charity Award, given to a person of Irish descent who wishes to improve the lives of his neighbors and fellow community members who are living in Hampden and Hampshire counties. The 2024 recipient was Jim Kelly, the president and CEO of The Polish National Credit Union. Kelly recently donated to the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center of Chicopee, elder abuse workshops, and a financial literacy program in the schools, among other worthy causes. He cited the Sisters of Providence and the Sisters of St. Joseph as examples he followed when performing community service.

“The Sisters of St. Joseph have played a crucial role in my success. They taught us the importance of education, they are the ones who taught us to become involved in the church and the community and they taught us that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. And I still believe that today,” said Kelly.

The master of ceremonies, Attorney John J. Driscoll, chairman of the Communion breakfast, presented Kelly with a plaque, banner, and walking stick to use when marching in the St. Patrick’s Parade.

The keynote talk was given by Erin Duffy Lacy on the topic: “The lessons I learned from 26 years of competitive Irish dancing and how those have translated to every other aspect of my life.” Duffy Lacy grew up in Hebron Conn., and began dancing at the age of 7 with the Duffy Academy of Irish dance (no relation). She also became interested in scientific research and received a doctorate in biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University.

Duffy Lacy is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School. She also continued Irish dancing during her time in medical school and was able to relate her early failures and later success to her education in the sciences.

“The dancing really kept me grounded in who I was in my culture, in my family, and helped me get through times when the research just did not work and my experiments failed,” she said. “I have switched fields a little bit to neuroscience, which is also a big scary thing. I have just learned that it is okay to dive in deep and try something new to potentially fail because the rewards for succeeding are amazing.”

Driscoll said the Communion breakfast is the perfect way for folks to get together, celebrate their Irish heritage and be part of a kick-off event for St. Patrick’s Parade weekend in Holyoke.

A video version of this story will be featured on the March 16 edition of “Real to Reel,” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS.