On Monday it was announced that Fr Brian McGee, currently parish priest of Holy Family, Port Glasgow and Vicar General of the Diocese, has been chosen by Pope Francis to be the next Bishop of Argyll and the Isles (after a vacancy of nearly two years). This is a cause of great rejoicing and pride here in St Joseph’s, as Fr Brian is a son of the Parish and, as well as serving for many years at this altar as a boy, also offered his first Mass as a priest at the same altar. Fr John also spent five years with Brian at St Joseph’s in Clarkston, so there is even more rejoicing in the Chapel House! At present, we have not been advised of the date of his consecration as Bishop in the Cathedral in Oban, but it is likely that a bus will run from the Parish. In the meantime we keep Bishop-Elect McGee and his mother and sister in our prayers.

While this is very happy news, we pray also for Bishop John and the people of Holy Family, who have lost a Vicar General and a well-liked Parish Priest. We are no longer in a position to simply ‘promote’ the next priest in line for a parish, as we currently have no assistant priests who ‘belong’ to the Diocese. However the Bishop resolves this vacancy, it will not be a straightforward move as in the days when we had plenty of priests. It is all the more important that we pray for and encourage those God is calling to serve his people as priests.