GOLDEN JUBILEE OF FOUNDATION OF PARISH
ST MARY MAGDALENE’S, EDINBURGH
HOMILY PREACHED BY CARDINAL KEITH PATRICK O’BRIEN
SUNDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 2011
INTRODUCTION:
It is indeed a privilege for me being with you today the Feast of Christ the King as we celebrate the golden jubilee of the foundation of this Parish of St Mary Magdalene’s in 1961. Much has happened since then and I personally remember being with you to celebrate the silver jubilee of your Parish in 1986 just one year after my own appointment as Archbishop.
As we now celebrate the golden jubilee of your Parish I am delighted to be able to share with you something of the joy experienced by your first Parish Priest, Father Lawrence Glancey and his parishioners at that time; the celebrations at the time of the silver jubilee in 1986; and now some 50 years since the foundation of the Parish a time of discernment as we look to the way ahead.
TIME OF FOUNDATION : 1961:
It was near the end of 1961 that it was announced from St John’s Portobello that a new Parish was to be formed embracing the area known as Bingham and Magdalene from within the Parish. Initially the new parish had no name, no church, no presbytery – but a more than active Parish Priest, Father Lawrence Glancey who immediately set about laying the foundation of his new parish.
I say “laying the foundations” - and he laid those foundations in the very best way possible by contacting all of the parishioners in the new area in a letter of 15th October 1961 letting them know that the first Mass of the new Parish would be held in the Miner’s Institute, The Jewel. Father Glancey was what we might describe now as a tsunami – he was like a whirlwind stirring up enthusiastic parishioners to provide a parish room, men who would help with various trades, ladies who were unstinting in their own work, and groups of scouts and cubs – all ready for the announcement by my predecessor Cardinal Gray on Sunday 12th November 1961 that the name of the new parish was to be St Mary Magdalene. A house for Father Glancey was bought at 16 Milton Crescent on 17th June 1962; an Oratory was established therein; and, with some few delays owing to water in the foundations of the new building, the magnificent church in which we now worship was fully in use by the 10th March 1968 being solemnly opened on Sunday 21st April 1968 again by Cardinal Gray.
For the Priest and people of that infant parish everything had to be of the best – and it is an indication of the high standard of work and of decoration of the building that we have so much of the original work still decorating this building. Obviously over the years various alterations have had to be made in the material structure of the building including new lighting and new heating – but the parishioners who themselves were the real benefactors of the church ensured that they continued their cooperation with Father Glancey and then his successors as parish priest.
TIME OF CELEBRATION : 1986:
As I have indicated my predecessor Cardinal Gray had retired in 1985 and I myself was then appointed the successor as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The year 1986 indeed marked a time of celebration of the Parish of St Mary Magdalene.
They had their presbytery; they had a magnificent church building decorated internally to the highest standards; and they had an enthusiastic and growing number of parishioners under the leadership of their parish priests.
The parishioners of St Mary Magdalene always had a view of themselves which paralleled the teaching of the Church since the Second Vatican Council. They realised that they must play their full part in the development of their Parish in the area – and they further realised that they must be wholeheartedly involved in every area of the Church’s life. As I myself wrote some 25 years ago: “To be a Catholic is not simply to attend Mass on a Sunday; rather to be a Catholic means to be wholeheartedly involved in every area of the Church’s life, the Church’s loving, the Church’s caring in your parish”.
And I indicated then that “I do pray not just for an increase in the number of our Catholics (the quantity) but rather I do pray for a deepening of the spirituality and pastoral zeal of those who are already baptised Catholics and members of this Parish (the quality).
All in the Parish at that time of the silver jubilee, and looking ahead, continued to build on the foundations already laid and built up their church in this Parish in every way possible during the years which followed.
TIME OF DISCERNMENT : 2011:
And what can we say over the past 25 years since the time of the silver jubilee.
I would not be honest if I did not say that there were indeed worrying signs with regard to the future of the Parish.
In the silver jubilee booklet that excellent author of the history Tom Urquhart indicated that: “It is as always, impossible to predict the future, especially as so much of the Bingham section of the Parish is being demolished and so losing parishioners. We can only hope that when the estate is re-built at least in numbers the Parish will increase again”.
There have been of course worrying signs over those past 25 years with the population continuing to decline in numbers and of course mainly elderly parishioners attending Mass and other celebrations of our Catholic Christian devotion. These similar signs have of course also been noticed in the neighbouring parishes with an increasingly elderly yet extremely dedicated clergy assisted by lay people intent on keeping their parishes alive and active.
But here in St Mary Magdalene’s I know that you are aware of very much material work requiring to be accomplished both in the church building now 50 years old as well as in the presbytery itself. And I have mentioned the shortage of priestly vocations. The fact that there is a Parish Priest here with you now in the person of Father Loreto Tabone is quite simply because of the generous sacrifice of Father Tabone himself in returning to our Archdiocese following on the compassionate leave of absence which occurred recently in his life leading up to and following the death of his beloved mother.
I remind you of those words of the first followers of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles: “What are we going to do about it, brethren!”
And I know that here in the parish with the assistance of your previous parish priest, Father Tom Hennessy and now Father Tabone, you have indeed been thinking about it; you have been considering that drop in population; we realise that we do not have a sufficient number of Scottish priests to fulfil all our own pastoral needs; there is a fall in the number of Mass goers and consequently a considerable fall in the income to the Parish; and there are those necessary repairs to which I have already referred.
Consequently there must be on-going discernment not only by myself but by you the people of the Parish under the leadership of your present Parish Priest. And I repeat those words from the first Apostles: “What are we going to do about it!”
CONCLUSION:
Obviously on this day of celebration on the Feast of Christ the King I am not in any way asking for an immediate answer. But I do ask you to discern ahead over the next few months so that I as Archbishop along with my own advisors will be able to make the best decision as to the way ahead.
Tremendous good has been accomplished here in St Mary Magdalene’s Parish through the efforts of your priest and people working together in the very best way possible. I ask you now to continue working ahead with Father Loreto over the next months so that together we can discern what the future holds for all in this Parish of St Mary Magdalene.
We do indeed thank God for the joys of the past; we rejoice in a very special way today on the golden jubilee of the Parish; but we must look forward now in a realistic way to what does lie ahead for us all here in this Parish and indeed throughout our Archdiocese.
May God indeed bless you all at this time.