As our foreheads are marked  with ashes the call of the Prophet Joel is “Turn to the Lord your God again”, and of the Apostle Paul, “Be reconciled to God”. The season of Lent is a time, an opportunity, to come back, to open our hearts and souls to the presence of God, to be touched by the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and, freed from sin, to allow the Spirit to direct our lives in the ways of love, justice and peace.

Pope Benedict’s message for Lent this year offers some reflections on justice, in which he points out that “Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart. Thanks to Christ’s action (in dying on the cross), we may enter into the “greatest” justice which is that of love.” Converted to Christ we recognise our constant need of His forgiveness and His friendship, His justifying grace offered to us especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Saved and strengthened by his grace we are moved as Christians to strive to build just societies, in which the human dignity of each person is respected and justice is enlivened by love.”

During the Scottish Bishops’ Ad Limina Visit to Rome I was privileged to have some time to speak to Pope Benedict privately, and then to hear the important message which he gave to the Scottish Bishops, and indeed to whole Catholic community in Scotland. I spoke to the Pope about our Diocese and its small rural and island communities  with its long history of faith going back to St. Columba and the monks on Iona, and I ended up talking to him about our public identity today – our churches, our outdoor statues (particularly of Our Lady), and of the witness given by Catholics in family and public life. In his speech to us all this idea of identity and witness was very prominent, summed up towards the end in these words:

“Like the monks from Iona who spread the Christian message throughout the length and breadth of Scotland, let them (the whole Catholic community) be beacons of faith and holiness for the Scottish people today.”

In calling for a strong and committed Catholic presence in all areas of life in Scotland today Pope Benedict reminded us that as people of faith we bear witness to the truth, especially when that truth is called into question. We do live in an increasingly secularised country in which many of our values, especially with regard to human life, are questioned and rejected, but the Pope encourages us to be positive  about our faith, and to offer to our society the Church’s “inspiring vision of human life, the beauty of marriage and the joy of parenthood.”  Our vision is rooted in God and his infinite, transforming and ennobling love, which is creative and life-giving in our souls and opens our eyes to recognize and love God’s image in our neighbour, giving us the hope that we can realise “the great potential for good and for happiness that God has implanted within everyone of us.”

In talking of the Year of Priest Pope Benedict highlighted the example of St John Ogilvie for his dedication to a difficult and dangerous pastoral ministry in Scotland, which led ultimately to his martyrdom. By coincidence I chose the Feast Day of St John Ogilvie, March 10th, as one of our special days of prayer for priests within the Diocese during this year. We will celebrate the St Margaret’s Deanery Mass that evening in Roy Bridge at 7.30pm, and it will preceded by Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 6.15 to 7.15pm, during which there will be opportunity to go to confession.

The Holy Father pointed out “the indispensable role of the priest in the Church’s life, above in all in providing the Eucharist by which the Church herself receives life.” As a Diocese we are blessed by the fact that Mass is celebrated every Sunday, and on most weekdays, in all our parishes, but we need to pray continuously for our priests and for future vocations.

 Another indispensable part of the Church’s life is the presence of the Faithful at Mass – we must be seen to be practising our faith, to be visible Catholics, and our presence at Sunday Mass is an essential part of our witnessing to Christ as members of his Body, even if at times this causes some inconvenience and we have to sacrifice other activities to be there.

Before my visit to Rome I had the wonderful opportunity to visit both New Zealand and Australia, and an important part of this trip for me was to visit some places associated with Blessed Mary MacKillop – Melbourne where she was born, Rotorua in New Zealand where she went for healing but suffered a stroke, and Sydney where she spent the last years of her life as a stroke patient and where her tomb today is a place of prayer and pilgrimage for many.

What struck me most was that this very energetic and busy woman spent the last seven years of her life disabled and totally dependent on others, especially her devoted sister, who constantly attended her. She had taken the name of Sister Mary of the Cross, and although the Cross was very near to her in many ways during the whole of her life, the physical suffering she endured in her later years brought Christ’s sufferings very close to her, and allows us to see in her a companion, an intercessor, for all who suffer from long debilitating illnesses, and for those who so generously care for them. During Lent we are all encouraged to ponder on the mysteries of Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross, through reading, meditation, praying the Stations of the Cross, and, in this year in which we look forward to Mary MacKillop’s canonization, we can ask her to be a companion on our own Lenten journey leading us closer to Christ, our crucified Lord and Saviour.

While away I was moved to hear of the prompt and generous response of many, if not all, of our parishes, to the plight of the poor people of Haiti. We continue to think of them and of poor people across the world, and to support them through our Lenten sacrifices and alms-giving. Allow me also to ask for further support for our Diocese during Lent – I have already had many generous donations to the Bishop’s Capital Fund, Faith in the Future, and I thank those who have contributed. In recent days I have met with a young man who wishes to be a seminarian for our Diocese and have also received a plan for the employment of a Diocesan Youth Worker.

We need funds though to support all the people the Diocese has responsibility for – 85% of the Diocesan Budget is spending on people (the bishop, the retired priests, the seminarians, the religious, priests in small parishes, the diocesan employees), so the Diocese has very little money available for buildings, however deserving or needy. As Bishop my responsibility, and priority, is to care for the people who are dependent on the Diocese, and I need all the help I can get to do this. I trust that you will remember this in the special collections for Diocesan funds and the Faith in the Future Appeal.

Looking ahead, a very special celebration each year is the Mass of Chrism, at which the Holy Oils are blessed and the priests renew their promises. I hope many of you will be able to attend the Chrism Mass during this Year of the Priest. It will be in the Cathedral on Wednesday March 24th at 7pm.

Although the Pope’s Visit to Scotland has not been officially announced it will definitely take place – on Thursday September 16th. Details of the programme are still to be finalised but it is expected that he will celebrate an outdoor Mass in Glasgow in the late afternoon of that day and all who wish will be welcome to attend. We will hear more in due course.

With my best wishes and blessing for a holy and a happy Lent,

+ Joseph Toal (Bishop of Argyll and the Isles)