Homily for 160th anniversary of St. Mary’s, Arisaig
- By Website Editor
- Published 26/10/2009
- Homilies
- Unrated
In preparation for tonight’s anniversary Mass I looked out the account of the opening of St. Mary’s Arisaig on 19th August 1849 in the Scottish Catholic Directory. The church was solemnly blessed and set apart for divine worship under the protection the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Rt. Rev Dr John Murdoch, Bishop of the Western District. Bishop Murdoch gave a stirring exhortation in English before Mass, after the celebration of which Fr Donald Forbes of Lochaber gave a Gaelic sermon, and the solemn rites ended with the Bishop confirming.
The Parish Priest of the time was Very Rev William Macintosh and he had overseen the construction of this fine building, among the striking features of which are “the 80 foot high tower terminating with beautifully cut battlements and the triple window over the altar with an oriel or wheel window at the top. This latter window is of stained glass executed by Hardman & Co of Birmingham from a design by Pugin” and it added a splendid effect to the newly completed and blessed Church. One senses that this was a building of good quality and no little expense, a tribute to Canon Macintosh and his mostly poor parishioners who wished to honour God and their Catholic faith by putting up such an impressive structure – perhaps the spirit and faith with which this building was put up are present in some of the words in tonight’s opening hymn, Be Thou My Vision:
“Thou my soul’s shelter; thou my high tower; raise thou me heavenwards, O Power of my power.”
One of the purposes of the Church building is precisely that - to raise our souls towards heaven, and to hold us there, at least for a time. The size and the features of this fine Church indicate the desire of its builders to do just that, discovering then the force of these other words from the hymn:
“Thou and thou only first in my heart, High King of heaven my treasure thou art!”
The desire to discover our true treasure touches all our souls, even the great and the famous, like Solomon standing before the altar, stretching out his hands towards heaven, worshipping and honouring God. Like the temple of old and churches everywhere, these sacred buildings represent for us a continuity of prayer, where successive generations have come in prayer and entreaty before the Lord, in joy and in sorrow, asking the Lord to hear their cries and to watch over them by day and by night.
Our generation also needs this support of prayer and intercession before God, and in honouring the past we pray for the grace of perseverance in this tradition of public and private prayer in the Lord’s own house, gathering as we do so with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts, our souls thirsting for God as we often express our happiness in being here with music and song.
Just as the countless angels and saints gather round the throne of God in the heavenly Jerusalem to worship the Father and Jesus the mediator so we gather on earth as members of Christ’s Body, the Church, saved by the blood of the Lord, to unite ourselves in the Church’s Liturgy with the heavenly hosts and with one another.
As a community we hear the Lord’s question to Peter, “Who do you say I am?” and with him we reply “You are the Christ, Son of the Living God.” The Church building is where we acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, as Our Saviour, and where we witness to our unity in Him and our desire to join with Peter in the task of building up the Body of Christ on earth. He had a particular role of leadership but each of us is called to fulfil our own Christian vocation conferred on us first of all in the baptismal waters, for many present in the font of this church, and strengthened and renewed in through the anointing of confirmation.
The fact that we are welcoming two people into the Church at this Mass and witnessing their confirmation highlights for us the gifts we have all received in the Lord and the call that goes with them to be his witnesses with the whole of our lives.
One great sign of continuity of faith and worship in our churches is the celebration of the Eucharist – the presence of Jesus the mediator and the giving to us of the new covenant through the shedding of his blood on the cross are made present for us in the Eucharistic sacrifice. This church has been blessed with the continuous presence of a priest throughout its 160 years so the Mass has been celebrated almost daily since the Church was opened – the language used has changed in recent years and there have been changes in how the rites of Mass are celebrated but the heart of the celebration is the same as the priest says the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, his self-offering to the Father on Calvary is relived and the Lord becomes wholly present for us in his Body and Blood.
As we offer ourselves with Christ to the Father we pray at each Mass that the life of the Risen Saviour will remain alive in us through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the blessing and sustenance we receive when we come to holy communion. Fed with the Lord himself we go from this building to carry his love and goodness into all that we do, especially in loving one another as he has loved us.
I visited this Church during some summers as a little boy when Canon Iain Gillies was the parish priest here. One thing that was different here from the church in Roy Bridge was the confessional, which is over here in this room – nothing exceptional about it really just that it is different. Thinking about it though does remind me that the Church is a place where we come to be reconciled with God and one another, to have our sins forgiven when we go to confession and that is still an important aspect of our faith, not the most popular part nowadays, but on an occasion like this when we are recalling what has taken place in this Church over its 160 years it is good to recall how successive generations have come here to have their sins forgiven, to seek a word of advice from the priest, and to know that the Lord loves and cares for them even in weakness and failure – even today we should not ignore this service of the Church and come to the sacrament to be unbound of sin and renewed in the Lord’s grace.
This Church is dedicated to Mary, Our Lady, the Mother of God and Mother of the Church. In showing her devotion we trust in her intercession and ask her to help us grow in the image of her son Jesus. Mary points us towards Jesus and when we pray to and with her we trust that she brings us and our petitions closer to God, and we sense her motherly care.
The various images of Our Lady in the Church encourage us to pray, and the beauty and love portrayed in them give us a sense of Mary’s protective presence in and for this community – the prayers we say to her here in Church are often continued then in our own homes and in our hearts and in a real sense we carry with us the presence and support of Mary, Joseph and the other saints whose feasts we celebrate throughout the year, into our homes, our work and all aspects of our lives.
We bring our dead here also to bid them a last farewell before their burial and once again we place them in the consoling and welcoming arms of Mary, our mother and patron. As she received the body of Jesus at the foot of the cross, and grieved for him so she consoles us in our grief, while opening for us the way of resurrection which she already shares with her Son and our Lord.
We give thanks tonight for our faith, and as we do we pray that we will continue to use this Church to worship God and grow to know Christ, so that we can share his love among us and build our community as he would wish us to. May Mary and the saints watch over us and keep us close to the Lord.
The Parish Priest of the time was Very Rev William Macintosh and he had overseen the construction of this fine building, among the striking features of which are “the 80 foot high tower terminating with beautifully cut battlements and the triple window over the altar with an oriel or wheel window at the top. This latter window is of stained glass executed by Hardman & Co of Birmingham from a design by Pugin” and it added a splendid effect to the newly completed and blessed Church. One senses that this was a building of good quality and no little expense, a tribute to Canon Macintosh and his mostly poor parishioners who wished to honour God and their Catholic faith by putting up such an impressive structure – perhaps the spirit and faith with which this building was put up are present in some of the words in tonight’s opening hymn, Be Thou My Vision:
“Thou my soul’s shelter; thou my high tower; raise thou me heavenwards, O Power of my power.”
One of the purposes of the Church building is precisely that - to raise our souls towards heaven, and to hold us there, at least for a time. The size and the features of this fine Church indicate the desire of its builders to do just that, discovering then the force of these other words from the hymn:
“Thou and thou only first in my heart, High King of heaven my treasure thou art!”
The desire to discover our true treasure touches all our souls, even the great and the famous, like Solomon standing before the altar, stretching out his hands towards heaven, worshipping and honouring God. Like the temple of old and churches everywhere, these sacred buildings represent for us a continuity of prayer, where successive generations have come in prayer and entreaty before the Lord, in joy and in sorrow, asking the Lord to hear their cries and to watch over them by day and by night.
Our generation also needs this support of prayer and intercession before God, and in honouring the past we pray for the grace of perseverance in this tradition of public and private prayer in the Lord’s own house, gathering as we do so with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts, our souls thirsting for God as we often express our happiness in being here with music and song.
Just as the countless angels and saints gather round the throne of God in the heavenly Jerusalem to worship the Father and Jesus the mediator so we gather on earth as members of Christ’s Body, the Church, saved by the blood of the Lord, to unite ourselves in the Church’s Liturgy with the heavenly hosts and with one another.
As a community we hear the Lord’s question to Peter, “Who do you say I am?” and with him we reply “You are the Christ, Son of the Living God.” The Church building is where we acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, as Our Saviour, and where we witness to our unity in Him and our desire to join with Peter in the task of building up the Body of Christ on earth. He had a particular role of leadership but each of us is called to fulfil our own Christian vocation conferred on us first of all in the baptismal waters, for many present in the font of this church, and strengthened and renewed in through the anointing of confirmation.
The fact that we are welcoming two people into the Church at this Mass and witnessing their confirmation highlights for us the gifts we have all received in the Lord and the call that goes with them to be his witnesses with the whole of our lives.
One great sign of continuity of faith and worship in our churches is the celebration of the Eucharist – the presence of Jesus the mediator and the giving to us of the new covenant through the shedding of his blood on the cross are made present for us in the Eucharistic sacrifice. This church has been blessed with the continuous presence of a priest throughout its 160 years so the Mass has been celebrated almost daily since the Church was opened – the language used has changed in recent years and there have been changes in how the rites of Mass are celebrated but the heart of the celebration is the same as the priest says the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, his self-offering to the Father on Calvary is relived and the Lord becomes wholly present for us in his Body and Blood.
As we offer ourselves with Christ to the Father we pray at each Mass that the life of the Risen Saviour will remain alive in us through the power of the Holy Spirit and through the blessing and sustenance we receive when we come to holy communion. Fed with the Lord himself we go from this building to carry his love and goodness into all that we do, especially in loving one another as he has loved us.
I visited this Church during some summers as a little boy when Canon Iain Gillies was the parish priest here. One thing that was different here from the church in Roy Bridge was the confessional, which is over here in this room – nothing exceptional about it really just that it is different. Thinking about it though does remind me that the Church is a place where we come to be reconciled with God and one another, to have our sins forgiven when we go to confession and that is still an important aspect of our faith, not the most popular part nowadays, but on an occasion like this when we are recalling what has taken place in this Church over its 160 years it is good to recall how successive generations have come here to have their sins forgiven, to seek a word of advice from the priest, and to know that the Lord loves and cares for them even in weakness and failure – even today we should not ignore this service of the Church and come to the sacrament to be unbound of sin and renewed in the Lord’s grace.
This Church is dedicated to Mary, Our Lady, the Mother of God and Mother of the Church. In showing her devotion we trust in her intercession and ask her to help us grow in the image of her son Jesus. Mary points us towards Jesus and when we pray to and with her we trust that she brings us and our petitions closer to God, and we sense her motherly care.
The various images of Our Lady in the Church encourage us to pray, and the beauty and love portrayed in them give us a sense of Mary’s protective presence in and for this community – the prayers we say to her here in Church are often continued then in our own homes and in our hearts and in a real sense we carry with us the presence and support of Mary, Joseph and the other saints whose feasts we celebrate throughout the year, into our homes, our work and all aspects of our lives.
We bring our dead here also to bid them a last farewell before their burial and once again we place them in the consoling and welcoming arms of Mary, our mother and patron. As she received the body of Jesus at the foot of the cross, and grieved for him so she consoles us in our grief, while opening for us the way of resurrection which she already shares with her Son and our Lord.
We give thanks tonight for our faith, and as we do we pray that we will continue to use this Church to worship God and grow to know Christ, so that we can share his love among us and build our community as he would wish us to. May Mary and the saints watch over us and keep us close to the Lord.