Pioneers gathered from around the Diocese of Meath in Trim last Sunday, 14th October for an afternoon of Prayer and Reflection in the Parish Centre and in St. Patrick’s Church, Trim.
Among those in attendance was Matt Boylan, the National Pioneers’ President and Fr. Bernard McGuckian, SJ, the Spiritual Director of the Pioneer Association and Editor of ‘Pioneer’, the magazine of the Association.
During the afternoon, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was led by the Spiritual Director for the Pioneers of the Meath Diocese, Fr. Séamus Houlihan, formerly PP of Nobber and now PP Kilcormac.
Concelebrated Mass for the Pioneers was offered in St. Patrick’s Church, Trim.
At a function in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim afterwards, a presentation was made on the occasion of his Silver Jubilee of Ordination to Fr. Séamus Houlihan.
To mark the occasion, the Meath Diocesan Pioneers commissioned a painting of Venerable Matt Talbot from Mullingar artist Mary Weir.
To sustained applause, they presented the painting to Fr. Houlihan, who was both speechless and emotional at the unexpected gesture. The presentation was made by Fr. Bernard McGuckian, SJ, who himself is celebrating 60 years as a Jesuit this year.
Those present were told that the Meath Pioneers had intended to present Fr. Houlihan with a large picture of the well-known image of Matt Talbot kneeling in prayer, but they discovered that the image is copyright. As a result, they asked Mary Weir to base her painting on the one original photo of Matt. The Pioneers are hoping that it may well become an iconic and well known image in its own right.
