March 17, 2025

Annual Hibernian Mass and breakfast held at St. Jerome Parish

REGIONAL
Story and photo by David Martin

HOLYOKE- The Ancient Order of Hibernians James A. Curran Division One of Hampden-Hampshire Counties celebrated their annual Communion Breakfast on Sunday, March 16. The breakfast was preceded by a memorial Mass at St. Jerome Parish in Holyoke at 8:00 a.m.  where those attending were greeted by the seasonal sounds of a bagpiper just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Father Francis Reilly, the pastor of St. Jerome Parish, celebrated the Mass. In his homily, he explained how St. Patrick was sent on a mission trip to Ireland where he faced persecution from many who were worshipping false gods. He asked God to become his shield. Father Reilly said the prayer of St. Patrick has become like the “bullet-proof vest” that protects the faithful.

“I think when we take Christ to be our shield, our light and our salvation, we can overcome any negative experience in our life,” said Father Reilly. “If we have faith that Jesus is the center of our lives, I think that’s the message of St. Patrick today — to remember who we are as sons and daughters of God marked with the sign of the cross and who have faith Jesus in all that we do to reflect who we are and who God is for all of us through Christ our Lord amen.”

After Mass, everyone gathered at the Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke for the breakfast and award presentation. The Christian Charity Award is given to a member of Hampden-Hampshire Counties who truly makes a difference.  The 2025 recipient was Owen Donahue known for his involvement in the CYO basketball program for the past 30 years. He assists 26 basketball teams which consists of 280 boys and girls ages K-8. In his acceptance speech, Donahue acknowledged the Sisters of St. Joseph, who were instrumental in his education at the former Sacred Heart School and Holyoke Catholic High School. He also later attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

“They are all role models, whether they were priests, nuns or other people in the parish and just watching them volunteer and just watching them give positively back to the church and back to the community. You follow the people before you and I’m following people who have done great things before me. I only hope to try to do good things myself,” said Donahue.

The breakfast included a raffle and members of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians were selling loaves of Irish soda bread. They sold more than 600 loaves this year. The keynote speaker was Teri Schindler, a sports writer, director and producer who won an Emmy for her work in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Schindler is also a founding member of WNBA and first woman to produce live NCAA broadcasts.

“It has been a journey for women in sports. It is so lovely to see what is happening today. There are women on the bench and women in the front office of the Celtics. But when it all started, it was not like that say 25 years ago. When we started the WNBA, we really thought this was going to take a generation and it did. It is also really thrilling on a personal level because I have a god-daughter who scored 58 points in her junior season in high school and seeing that kind of excitement around athletic achievement around women is really gratifying,” said Schindler.

Schindler is a co-founder and CEO of Herzog and Schindler, a business consulting firm that is building community in a world that is very divided, which she said is very similar to what the Hibernians do in Ireland.

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