Feast of Corpus Christi
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Opening of Saint Andrews Church
 
Dear brothers and sisters, it is a joy for me to be with you in Saint Andrew’s Parish, Greenock, on one of the most precious of Solemnities in our Liturgical Calendar, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord.  As we gather here today to praise, worship and honour the Most High God for the most sublime gift to us of the Eucharist in the Sacrifice of Holy Mass, and the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we thank God too for the gift of this parish church, the Temple among us housing His Divine Presence, on the fiftieth anniversary of its opening.
This building was officially opened by the then Vicar Capitular, since Bishop Black had died and Bishop McGill had not yet taken possession of the Diocese.  In that sense it is a fine testimony to the faith of the People of God that goes on undaunted from bishop to bishop founded, as it is, on our faith in the Lord Our God and our service of Him alone.
 
The parish of St. Andrew’s, of course, was founded earlier, now nearly seventy years ago, in 1951 and so would have been one of the first parishes of the new Diocese of Paisley, created just three years before out of the archdiocese of Glasgow.
 
The new parish was entrusted to the pastoral care of Father James O’Neill, who first resided in Gourock and celebrated the parish Mass between St. Ninian’s Church and Lady Alice School.  It was not long before the first St. Andrew’s Church opened in what is now the Parish Hall.  
 
In that sense the journey of the People of God in this parish mirrors that of the People of God in Moses’ times.  In today’s Frist Reading Moses, their parish priest if you like, had the People set up their altar in the open air, at the foot of a mountain, and they offered their worship under the open skies.  It would be many years before they entered the Promised Land and could build their local synagogues and national Temple but that did not matter. All that counted was that they offered God true worship, doing everything that the LORD had told them.  Even without a roof over their heads they knew in faith they were safe under the protection of the blood of the covenant that the LORD had made with them in accordance with his words. 
 
Our parents and grandparents over fifty years ago got together and made the best of preparations to erect a magnificent temple like this one but we know they found such heroic dedication to the task only because they had already come to know the Lord Jesus and the Sacrifice of their Salvation that they treasured with their lives, and which He, the Lord, had already prepared for them in the sublimely precious gift of Himself in the Upper Room.  They knew and believed in the Mass of His Last Supper when He took Bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body , and then took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.
 
So, while today marks fifty years of the parish church, we know that it is the people of God, united with Christ the Head, who are the Church and who make the parish.  Even the finest of buildings fade but the Eucharistic faith of our fathers is renewed on eagles wings from generation to generation so that we may run and never tire, our faith remaining evergreen and fresh, ever renewed. 
 
Today we remember all those priests who served us well over these seventy years and built up the parish community. Please continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood so that our diocese has priests to serve our parishes and care for our people.  I know you have never lost that sense of belonging to the diocese of Paisley and, even though you have been proudly dedicated to Saint Andrews and devoted to your parish priests, you have equally loved your bishops as fathers and your diocese as your extended family. 
 
So let us thank God for this fine church in which the Lord’s Sacrifice and His abiding Presence in the Blessed Sacrament accompanies us throughout our lives in all our hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, just as the Lord accompanied His People through the desert to their Promised Land. 
 
But let us, all the while, keep our hearts and minds fixed on Our Lord Jesus Christ, and high priest of the good things that have come to be, who has passed through the more perfect tabernacle not belonging to this creation, and into the sanctuary with his own blood, thus obtaining our eternal redemption by cleansing our consciences from dead works in order that we can worship the living God.
 
Praise be to Him, the Unblemished Lamb, the Mediator of a New Covenant: whose death has paid the price of our sins and transgressions so that we may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
Ave verum corpus , natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine