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Rev. Paul Milarvie, Parish Priest St. Mary’s Duntocher & St. Joseph’s Faifley reflects on the year gone by and future for the post pandemic church.  Weekly blog.

When we celebrated Mass on the Solemnity of St. Joseph last year, there was an eerie silence as people left the Church. We were lost. We did not know what to do. Many felt abandoned and cut off from their faith. It was a difficult day. Few of us would ever have thought that almost a year later, we would still be struggling with Covid-19. Many of us were not prepared for the pandemic and for the impact that it would have on our lives: personally, socially, spiritually and emotionally. It will take us a long time to recover and a lot of healing will be much needed in society and also in the Church. Apart from an online weekly bulletin on our parish Facebook page, we were ill-prepared. However, as the weeks went on, many of us realized that doing nothing was not an option. We embraced digital technology to keep in touch with as many people as possible. Initially, a weekly reflection was offered on the parish Facebook page, followed some weeks later with the streaming of mass and on the first Sunday of Advent, a new website was launched for the parishes of St. Mary’s Duntocher and St. Joseph’s Faifley. Suddenly, our connectedness went far beyond the physical boundaries of both parishes. 

Parishioners responded, and many people feel they belong, once again, to their community of faith. That is important for us and through our social media we are able to alert our parishioners to the many creative online offerings from other parishes. Therefore, when places of worship were asked to close in January, we did not panic. Our parish communities did not experience that same sense of loss that they had in March. The work and encouragement of people in both parishes over the last nine months had paid off and reluctantly we defaulted, once again, to digital liturgy. We know it is not ideal; we know it is not the same as being in Church and we know it is not perfect.  But we are in a better place to face the current crisis. 

There is one question that many people ask: “What is the post-pandemic parish going to look like?”  We do not know, but it will be different.  Perhaps, Pope Francis in “Evangelii Gaudium” gives us the answer: “I dream, of a “missionary option,” that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, languages and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.” (EG 27). Will we respond to his invitation?  

NB:  this blog first appeared in the March 2021 edition of Flourish, the Archdiocese of Glagsow publication.  
 

To mark the 41st anniversary of the murder of St Oscar Romero our blog is written by Honor Hania and reflects on the saint's life, words and mission and their relevance in the church today.

Those who surrender to the service of the poor through love of Christ, will live like the grains of wheat that dies. It only apparently dies. If it were not to die, it would remain a solitary grain. The harvest comes because of the grain that dies. We know that every effort to improve society, above all when society is so full of injustice and sin, is an effort that God blesses; that God wants; that God demands of us.

Prophetic words indeed, for they were spoken by Oscar Romero shortly before he was murdered on 24th March 1980. 

The reasons for his assassination are well known. Romero had been publicly critical of the powerful people who dominated the El Salvadoran government, and of their military accomplices who tortured and murdered the civilians - human rights activists, teachers, nuns, and priests - who dared to challenge them. He took the side of the poor, defending them, working with them, advocating for them, and his weekly broadcasts in which he read out the names of people who had been killed, earned him the title ‘Voice of the Voiceless’

As he mirrors Christ’s word in the parable of the wheat, Romero recognizes that his efforts are indeed blessed by God, but that they come at a price. This price may be death, but it is in death that new life is born. That has certainly been the case for Romero whose call to solidarity with the poor and the marginalized is even more powerful today than it was in his lifetime. He stands as an inspiration to members of the Church all over the world who work for peace and for justice and who struggle to bring about a church for the poor.

That this should be the case is even more surprising when one considers that for most of his life Romero was a conservative. When he was appointed Archbishop he was considered a safe choice, one who would not upset the status quo. All this changed when his friend Rutilio Grande, a Jesuit who worked with the poor and a personal friend of Romero, was murdered by the government.  One might consider this another grain of wheat, for from then onwards Romero could no longer remain silent about the injustices happening around him.  

In a three year ministry, not unlike Christ’s, Romero reminded us that our faith is not, or should not be, a complacent and comfortable one. We are called to read the signs of the times and be attentive to the world around us so that we can truly work for the kingdom. (1)

A church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not rankle, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed — what kind of gospel is that?” (Oscar Romero)

(1) Gaudium et Spes, 1965. Parag 4.

In our latest blog by Danny Sweeney, Social Justice Coordinator with Justice & Peace Scotland, Danny reflects on the enriching experiences he enjoyed volunteering overseas and why similar opportunities look increasingly unlikely for young people from the UK today. 

“A life unlike your own can be your best teacher” 

This quote is ascribed to St. Columban; the 6th century Irish missionary and reflects my own life’s journey.

The experiences I had as a volunteer in India with the Salesians of Don Bosco and teaching in China for The British Council remain some of the most formative of my adult life. 

These experiences led me to Malawi where I led a team for Progressio on the International Citizen Service scheme. ICS was built on previous schemes and was launched by David Cameron.  It was inspired by the US’ Peace Corp programme intended to give opportunities to young people who otherwise wouldn’t have them to experience the wider world, learn about the work done in international development, and develop their own skills while doing so. Like all of these kinds of schemes the participants gain far more in experience than we realistically contribute to the programmes visited. From a financial viewpoint this is wasteful, for what that experience can give you; priceless. 

ICS was quietly shut down last month, and now Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) (who had been the lead partner in ICS) are facing the end of much of their other work. VSO’s experience in connecting skilled professionals with international development over 60 years appears to be the latest victim as this government continues its’ shameful attacks on international solidarity; the abolition of the Department for International Development and the slashing of that budget. Seen as part of the petty nationalist outlook of the current administration this is not a surprise; albeit it is a disgrace to see our country abandon an outstanding soft power asset (if one thinks like a diplomat) and our duty to our brothers and sisters in the global south (if one thinks of our social teaching). 

I fear something far more sinister is happening. Robbing young people of the chance to experience what Columban described be it through the shutting down of ICS, or the choice (and it was a choice) to deny future students involvement in the Erasmus Scheme the government seems set to ensure that those best teachers be put out of reach of our young people. 

I am not someone who believes that everything about other cultures is better; in my travels I have seen things which appalled me, as well as those which inspired. This, surely, is the point of the learning that comes from living amongst another culture. With all this coming in the same week that the government rushed through a policing bill which effectively removes the right to protest it begs the question as to what future this government is planning for our young people? 

Denied the chances to learn from other cultures and denied the right to protest against the injustices this government is heaping upon them.

St Columban – pray for us!