Bishop Brian’s Message for Good Shepherd Sunday 2023

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

I wish you a happy Good Shepherd Sunday!

I am spending ten days in the Western Isles and Skye, principally to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation but also engaging in other pastoral activities.

I pen these words in the presbytery at Ardkenneth. Some of you will know that the Church is situated on a croft. Each day I see and hear the newly born lambs but also the shepherd who regularly comes to check on them and provide any care needed for the lambs and their mothers. It is a beautiful scene repeated across every parish of our diocese.

It was also a common sight for the Hebrews which God then used to reveal something of his love. In the Old Testament God identified himself as a loving shepherd who cared for his people, especially the most vulnerable and those hurt by their sin. God expected his religious leaders to likewise shepherd his people. Jesus clearly distinguished himself from false shepherds. He alone wants what is truly good for us and, if we allow him, leads us to it.

In the context of our Led by the Spirit discernment, one Barra parishioner – where I was confirming 19 young people – stated that this number was a sign of hope. And indeed, every young person who comes forward to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, to be consecrated to a life of loving service and that their sponsor, family and parish community encourages them to do so are indeed responding to God’s invitation. As I journey from parish to parish I have been reminding the young people – and all present – that they are Temples of the Spirit. As a diocese we need to better appreciate that all the baptised have a share in Christ’s ministry and that we are all called to be shepherds in the manner chosen for us by God.

While this is my passionate belief I am equally convinced in the unique and indispensable role of the ministerial priesthood. The priesthood is a gift from Jesus to the Church and the world. Today we heard in both the First and Second Readings that Peter, appointed as chief shepherd, proclaimed Jesus as Saviour. Our priests, called by Christ, continue to shepherd us in ways that only priests can. I want to thank our priests for accepting this invitation of Jesus and for embracing the sacrifices which form part of the priestly life. I acknowledge the good which is done, often unseen and certainly incalculable, that people benefit from when our priests allow themselves to be God’s instruments of grace.

I encourage our priests – including myself – to keep our gaze on the Good Shepherd so that we will not give in to worldly values, weariness or indifference but increasingly become the shepherds we desired to be on the day of our ordination, a desire which the Lord himself planted within our hearts.

Please support and pray for your priests, both those in active ministry and those who have retired.

Our diocese needs new priests. Please also pray for and encourage vocations. This summer I will celebrate thirty-four years of priesthood. No path in life is always easy but I assure our young people that responding to God’s call is the key to happiness. Therefore, I encourage our boys and men to be open to the possibility of this call and to seek advice if you feel stirrings for it in your heart. Please speak to our Vocations Director, Canon John Paul MacKinnon (Barra), or your parish priest. If God is calling you then priesthood is a wonderful life.

May the Lord bless you and your families this Good Shepherd Sunday.

Right Reverend Brian McGee

Bishop of Argyll and the Isles

30^th April 2023

Charity Registration No: SC002876