Bishop John Mone 22nd June 1929 -
14th October 2016.
Rest in Peace.

Dear brothers and sisters,
Saint John encourages us to ‘think of the love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children’ and adopting us as part of His family.  Today we remember yet another dimension of that love lavished upon us by the Father when He raised up for us such a good shepherd in Bishop John Mone.   Bishop John was gentle, kind and holy.  The hundreds of tributes that have poured in, together with the fond stories and memories, can be distilled down to these qualities so uniquely knit together:  John Mone was a gentle, kind and holy shepherd, oh, and always full of fun!

Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled and we shall take Him at His word.  Surely our hearts are saddened at the passing of a pastor loved so deeply by so many of us.  And yet our sadness is overtaken by feelings of gratitude for a life poured out for us by this good priest and bishop.  And that gratitude gives way to confident hope that Bishop John has gone no further than from his room in the Little Sisters’ Residence to a room forever in His Father’s mansion, prepared by the Lord Jesus, Our Saviour.   Coming from such a large family himself, many of whom are with us today, and never more at home in the great, big family of the Church where there was always room for everyone, John would be the first to recognise the benefit to the Father house that it has many rooms.

The homily of any Mass, no less a Requiem Mass, should preach about Jesus and Bishop John would want it no other way. It is out of the Body of Christ, broken for us on the holy mountain of Calvary, that the Father Almighty has prepared the banquet of our Salvation in the rich food and fine wine of His Son’s redeeming flesh and blood.  It is because of the humbling of Our Lord Jesus on the Cross that humanity’s veil -of shame and disgrace- has been removed.  It is His death that swallows up our death forever.  And so it is in the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ that we trust as we rejoice in His salvation.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life of our world, He and no other.  

Yet, there is something in all of us that knows what Saint Thomas means when He asks, ‘How can we know the way, Lord?  So in His mercy Jesus sends us holy brothers and sisters whose witness of good discipleship points our lives in the right direction.  As Saint Paul said to the faithful in his care, ‘Copy me as I copy Christ’.  Surely Bishop John was just such quiet witness to follow.  From his earliest years he chose the Lord Jesus to be his Way, his Truth and his Life and so his life is a clear signpost of the path we should chose if we hope to find salvation in our turn.

John Mone followed the way of Christ from his baptism.  It was a difficult one at times, studying for the priesthood in post-war Paris, on rations and short supply of light and heat.  Ordained priest and returning home to Scotland, the way of Christ took him through Saint Ninian’s, Knightswood, for twenty three years to Our Lady and Saint George’s, Penilee, for four and Saint Joseph’s, Tollcross, as parish priest for five.  Always unassuming and attentive he left an indelible mark in all of those parishes.  His incredible memory for people, names and places is almost legendary and you wonder if there was not something as much divine as natural about it.  A parishioner from Knightswood, whom he met over twenty years after leaving the parish, was amazed how he could name all her family members, their home address and even the colour of their tenement door.  It was no surprise to anyone when he was asked to take on the responsibility of auxiliary bishop of Glasgow, to which he gave himself without stint for four years.

John Mone witnessed with courage to the “truth” of Christ as a bishop.  As president of SCIAF and of Justice and Peace he proclaimed the truth of the Gospel as the justice of God, full of joy in his visits to the developing world while, at home, insistently challenging the government to show some mercy to unfortunate asylum seekers, like those held in the Dungavel Detention Centre.   As a Pioneer who never missed an annual pilgrimage to Knock he lived out the truth of Christ in penance for the redemption of his afflicted brothers and sisters whom, following the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for which he had special devotion, he took to his own shepherd heart with private affection.  As chair of the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council he lived the truth of Christ as an Emmaus companion to married couples, accompanying them along the path of their vocations, and the inevitable ups and downs of daily family life.   Bishop John proclaimed, every day, the truth of Christ and yet he found his own unique way of doing so, by leading always in love.  

His sixteen years as Bishop of Paisley found him entering into the fullness of Christ’s life for him.  He succeeded Bishop Stephen McGill, having been baptised by the same priest as Bishop McGill, attending the same Primary School, having the same head teacher, and studying at the same Saint Sulpice Major Seminary.

As bishop, John distinguished himself as a pastor ready to listen, encourage and shrewdly cajole.  In no time he won the confidence and loyalty of his priests.  He often told them you should never go to bed the same day you got up as a way of letting them know they could call him, without qualm or hesitation, even up to midnight should the need arise.  Except do not call him when the football was on the tele and, if he video-taped it, do not tell him the score!  John’s priests knew he loved them, never tired of them and was among them as one who served.    

His humble, joyful method, with an affection spontaneously returned by the faithful, opened up Paisley diocese to the life of Christ.  He loved to gather with his people in celebrating important stages in their lives like baptisms, confirmations, weddings and ordinations and particularly loved our Chrism Masses and seeing our Cathedral full.  

Saint John the Evangelist delighted in calling the faithful God’s children and Bishop John had his own unique rapport with young people, whether it was visiting them in their schools or leading them in pilgrimage to Lourdes where he could often be found playing piano in the Albertz bar well into the night, leading singsongs - unable to read a single note of music- and ever at home with the young.  A lifelong member and supporter of the Legion of Mary, Bishop John loved Lourdes because he loved Our Blessed Mother, he loved little ones - like Saint Bernadette- and he loved, above all, the sick and suffering.  One thing he insisted upon in pastoral tours of parishes here at home, we know, was that he be taken to visit the sick.  

It is perhaps no coincidence that two of the three Readings for this Mass are written by Saint John, the beloved disciple.  He, the one who leaned on the breast of the Master as the hour was coming for Jesus to pass from this world to the next, and knowing how His Master had loved Him to the very end, proclaimed the one abiding truth of our faith: that God is love.  Saint John went on to say that, when Christ appears, those of his disciples who have seen Him as He really is will appear to us as just like Him.  We give thanks to God for Bishop John Mone -a brother, priest, bishop and, above all a disciple- loved by God and beloved of his people, who have had a shepherd among us, loving us like Christ Our Lord, Our Only Saviour and Our Redeemer.