I was here three years ago to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Opening of this fine Church. This evening I am happy to come among you to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Parish which was opened in 1951 by my predecessor Bishop James Black, the first Bishop of the Diocese of Paisley. In fact, St. Andrew’s would have been one of the first parishes to be opened within the territory and jurisdiction of the new Diocese of Paisley, founded just three years before in 1948, so that is a providential little connection between the history of this parish and the history of our diocese.
This history points us to the nature of the diocese as the local Church. The diocese is not so much made up of parishes, but rather each parish is a part of the diocese. And the unity of the local Church is embodied in and entrusted to the bishop, through whose person and office, our local church of Paisley is united to the See of Rome and so to all the churches in communion with the Bishop of Rome. And thus is formed the Catholic unity of the People of God. So while we all live in our parishes and love our parishes, we can never be too parochial. Even as we rejoice in the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the this parish, our joy stems also from the union in Christ which this parish has within the local Church and with the whole Catholic Church governed by the Bishop of Rome as the Successor of Peter. Indeed it is second nature to us to think of ourselves as part of something greater, something one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which is the Church of Christ governed by the Successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him. So in marking this prestigious anniversary, we are also professing our faith in the mystery of the Church of God whose centre is Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.
The new parish of St. Andrew’s, Greenock, was entrusted to the pastoral care of Father James O’Neill. He first resided in Gourock and said Mass in St. Ninian’s Church and in Lady Alice School, but soon opened the first St. Andrew’s Church in what is now the Parish Hall. So in recalling the origins and early days of this parish, we remember also all the Parish Priests and Assistant Priests, living and dead, who served here over these sixty years and who have all contributed to the life, development and spiritual welfare of this parish community. I take this opportunity to remind us to continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood so that our diocese will have enough priests to care for our parishes and our people. As Saint Paul says in today’s reading…”they will not believe in the Lord unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will not get a preacher unless one is sent.” So we need to be constant and assiduous in asking the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest and to send us new priests.
When this parish was opened in 1951, Scotland was on the cusp of the post-war years of growth in population, and in housing, and employment. Clydeside was bursting and buzzing with work, and the 1960’s and 1970 saw a growing parish with a Parish Priest and one, two and even three assistant priests, large numbers of children at the two and even three Catholic primary schools, busy Sunday Masses, healthy parish societies and well-attended parish social events. (Father McGarry tells me that it would take three nights at the Cragburn Dance Hall to give all the parish workers a social evening!). So we happily and gratefully remember all the parishioners, families, children, parish workers, and teachers who built up St. Andrew’s Parish.
We live in different socio-economic times now. There is no longer the same number of people and the same kind or amount of work. Under the leadership of the Local Authority, Inverclyde has had to adapt to new circumstances, build new communities, generate new prosperity, and so develop new opportunities for the people who live here and. And in that context St. Andrew’s Parish remains a strong and supportive community of faith. This parish worships the same Lord as always, is part of the same Church as always, hands on the same faith as always to our children and young people, and contributes to the common good of this area as it has always done. The faith which is celebrated and expressed here is like a leaven which spreads through the community bringing goodness and truth and hope to everyone.
We are marking this 60th Anniversary of the Parish on the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, patron saint of the parish and patron saint of Scotland. And in today’s Gospel, the Lord extends to each one of us the same invitation he gave to Peter and to his brother Andrew. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” This is the invitation the Lord put before Andrew and the Apostles; the same invitation he put before the priests and parishioners who came before us in the sixty years of St. Andrew’s Parish; and it is the same invitation that the Lord puts before us this evening. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” And we really need to accept this invitation – all of us, parents, teachers, priests, every single parishioners who loves the Lord; we need to accept this invitation anew, with a new sense of purpose, a new sense of mission, with confidence, with joy and above all with trust in the Lord. The 60th Anniversary of the Parish should make us thank God for the past, but above all it should make us face the present and the future with new resolve and new hope.
St. Andrew’s, Greenock, 30th November 2011