Tuesday is the 1st of November, the day when we remember all the Saints who have faithfully lived a life of holiness in their everyday lives and been recognised as receiving their eternal reward in heaven. This is the same calling to each one of us as we struggle with the challenges of modern life. Let us call out with our own prayers, for the intercession of these same Saints to help us on our own personal journey to heaven. "Every Saint has a past, every sinner has a future."

Prayers needed for all of those in central Italy as a 6.6 earthquake has hit the region, destroying the 15th century Basilica of St Benedict in Norcia. The official Norcia website reports, "The monks are all safe, but our hearts go immediately to those affected, and the priests of the monastery are searching for any who may need the last rights". Tremors have also been felt also felt in Rome.

As Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem we gather dutifully for this this annual celebration of Holy Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Palestine and in prayer for the peace of the Holy Land of Our Lord’s birth and work of Redemption.

Patrick Doogan, your relative and friend, is now to be raised to the Order of Deacons. It is a journey that began, as it did with all of us, in our Baptism. It is good for us to grow in our understanding of this great Sacrament that begins our Christian journey and to be aware of the responsibility we take on for the Church and the Gospel when we receive it.

Institution to the Acolytate of Matthew Hepburn Blessing of Icons St. Joseph’s Greenock 27 October 2016     Dear brothers and sisters, I am delighted to be with you this evening as we celebrate two significant events in the life and history of Saint Joseph’s parish community.    Firstly we celebrate the institution as Acolyte of our parishioner Matthew Hepburn. This ministry was opened up to the lay faithful as long as fifty years ago in the reforms of the second Vatican Council.  News of it, it seems, is just reaching Scotland!  In truth I believe this institution will constitute Matthew as the first lay acolyte of our diocese. Truly an historic event in our diocesan life! 

After a year of prayer, catechesis and consultation around the diocese feedback was gathered and one hundred and sixty delegates, chosen from every parish, school and diocesan group - including clergy, religious and a substantial majority of lay faithful- met in five Synod Sessions to reflect upon what the people had said and use this as the basis of their own discussion and deliberation. In the final session they voted on and approved the core of our Synod Document which we believe to be the combined work of the Holy Spirit and the People of God of the Paisley Diocese. This document, pending approval by the Holy See and shared with our Scottish bishops, will serve as a guiding light for our diocesan life, renewal and development in the generation ahead.

Dear brothers and sisters,   Fr. Oliver has not had much time to settle into his post as Rector of our Cathedral and already the big events of what is really ordinary Cathedral life have overtaken us.  I want to commend you, Fr. Oliver, and the people of St. Mirin’s Cathedral parish, for the wonderful way you attended to the recent funeral of our dear bishop John this week as we sent him to the Lord.  You welcomed the diocesan family, the family of Bishop John and indeed the whole religious and civic society of the surrounding area with masterful organisation and loving dedication that were a credit to St. Mirin’s parish and our diocese.

YOUTH CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Dear young friends! Today I recommend for your reading an unusual book. It is unusual both because of its content and because of the way it came to be. I would like to tell you a little about how it was written, because then it will be clear why it is so unusual. You could say that it came to be from another work, whose origins go back to the 1980s. It was a difficult time for the Church and for society worldwide. New guidance was needed to find the path to the future. After the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and in a changed cultural situation, many people were confused about what Christians actually believe, what the Church teaches, whether in fact she can teach anything at all, and how everything can find its place in a culture that had changed from its very foundations. Is it still reasonable today to be a believer? These were the questions that even good Christians were asking.

The weekend of the 4th & 5th November brings around our Annual Mass Attendance Census.  What does this mean? We count all of the 'Faithful' that attend Masses over the weekend, including the Vigil Mass - all are recorded, young & old alike! We collate the parish figures and send them to the Bishops' Conference of Scotland where they are calculated together at a national level and published.  The figures are also included in the Vatican's 'Ad limina'. 

The word “Halloween” is a Scottish shortening of the phrase “Allhallow-even,” literally meaning “All Holy Evening” and dates to the 18th century. The English have a similar phrase, “All Hallows’ Eve,” with the same meaning. Both words denote the night before All Saints Day, November 1st, and refer to the celebration of the holy men and women who are recognized in the Catholic Church as residing in Heaven.

The Jesuits in Britain are recruiting a new team of four Ignatian spirituality coordinators in order to reach a much larger number of people with programmes to help them to grow in their relationship with God and their service of the Church and the world. For three of the posts we are looking for experienced spiritual directors to develop our programmes whilst also leading a number of retreats at St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre and elsewhere. The fourth post is purely a coordinator role for spirituality resources.

The Scottish Safeguarding Service, an agency of Bishops’ Conference Scotland, has released new Safeguarding Training as part of a suite of several levels of training to assist and inform all who are involved with vulnerable groups in our parishes. Level 1 is a 90 minute safeguarding training session for new volunteers and forms a mandatory part of safe recruitment which also includes membership of the PVG Scheme (or a PVG Update). Safeguarding Training Level 1 for the Diocese of Paisley is being offered in: St Mirin’s Cathedral, parish hall on Tuesday 8 November 2016 at 7pm - register by 28 October 2016 to register, please e-mail safeguardingadmin@rcdop.org.uk or telephone 0141 847 6130 stating your name, parish and preferred date

The diocese would like to ask our faithful to keep in their prayers Patrick Doogan, who will be ordained a Permanent Deacon this Friday 28th October @ 7pm in St. Joseph's Church, Clarkston. The diocese would like to congratulate Pat who has completed his Ecclesiastical Bachelor of Divinity through the Maryvale Institute. If you would like to find out more about the Permanent Deacionate please contact our Diocesan Vocations Director Fr John Morrison

Relive Saint John Paul's visit to Bellahouston 1982 - "Dear sons's & daughters of the Catholic church in Scotland..."

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.  

Today we are gathered to celebrate the one hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of the parish of Saint John, Evangelist, founded in 1841.  This Sunday is the closest to its actual founding on 17 October 1841 with the building of the first parish church in Prior Park.

We announce the sad news that Bishop John Mone died peacefully this morning just before 6.00am in the Holy Rosary Residence, Greenock. He was taken unwell an hour or so before and passed away tranquilly. Bishop John was a holy man of God who was a gentle and faithful pastor of his people and who was dearly loved by the faithful, clergy and religious of Paisley diocese. May he rest in peace. Our condolences go to his family who will thank God for his good life along with the people of the diocese. Our heartfelt gratitude to Mother Stephen, the sisters and staff of the Holy Rosary Residence who cared for him lovingly to the end. Bishop John was given special spiritual care by Mons. Gerry Gallagher and we remember him too in our prayers. Bishop John Keenan. Funeral arrangements as noted:-

On October 13, 1917, more than 30,000 people witnessed the sun “dance” in the sky during an apparition of Our Lady to three visionaries near Fatima, Portugal. The visionaries, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, were promised a miracle by the Blessed Virgin so that all would believe in the message that she gave to them.

St. Jerome said..."Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ"! Grab a quick coffee & click the links! New update to full site for Understanding the Scriptures.

(WATCH) Pope Francis: Allow civilians and children trapped in Aleppo to evacuate