St. Mungo's, Townhead, Glasgow

On Sunday, 9 June, we welcomed Michael Ogweno, Velaphi Mazibuko and Brendan Gallagher for a Mass to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of our Passionist presence in Botswana and South Africa. We were joined for the Mass by Larry Byrne's sister and brother-in-law and by Brendan's family, as well as by parishioners and friends who have supported the work of the Passionists in southern Africa.

Paul Francis was away for several weeks during the summer, giving courses in Passionist Spirituality in Korea, Japan and the Philippines. Our thanks to Kenneth and Charlie, who generously covered the Royal Infirmary chaplaincy while Paul was gone. In August, we said "au revoir" to Hubert who left for Crossgar to begin his retirement. He had been stationed here on a number of occasions; this was his longest spell, lasting almost twenty years. He didn't want any publicity or recognition, but preferred to go quietly. So without any presentation or celebration, like Harry Lime in "The Third Man", Hubert slipped into the darkness and was gone. He is sorely missed, but we hope he will come back often.

This year's Solemn Novena in honour of Our Lady of Sorrows was given by Mark White C.P. of Saint Joseph's Province. Mark, who is superior and retreat director at Minsteracres, delighted the people on the first night of the Novena by telling them that he can see Scotland from his front door! His talks were engaging both in content and in delivery, as could be seen by the excellent attendance throughout the nine days. On one evening, Mark had to be absent because of business at home, but we had an able substitute in our own Augustine. Gus himself has since gone off to Buncrana to give a mission with Charlie and Frank.

We celebrated Eustace's Jubilee of Profession at the end of September. After Mass in the church and a jubilee cake in the hall for Eustace's friends, we were joined for a celebration lunch by Ralph and Ailbe from Prestonpans, Eustace's cousin, Canon Michael Cassidy, Father Joe McShane from St Bernard's, and Hubert, who came out of retirement for the occasion. On October 18, John will be moving to Saint Paul's Parish, Ayr, in the Diocese of Galloway. John has been a member of this community since 1996 and has been a devoted and generous chaplain to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. We wish him every happiness in his new ministry. Meanwhile, the rare event of the year is that Jim is on holiday. He has gone with his uncle to visit his family in Canada. When he returns towards the end of October, Jim is due to go back into hospital for another operation, so please keep him in your prayers.

A chapter of Passionist life in Scotland will soon come to an end with our giving up of the chaplaincy to Glasgow Royal Infirmary. At the provincial visitation, Martin explained to us that there is no one in the Province who can take over this work and that we will now have to relinquish our commitment to the Royal. Many Passionists have been involved in this work over the past 135 years; among them are a number of the present members of the Province. The Royal provided the Passionists with a rich opportunity to minister to the crucified of today; it has probably also provided many a story for a sermon, with its wide variety of pastoral experiences. For many years it functioned as a training ground for the newly or recently ordained, but in recent years, chaplains' terms of office have stretched beyond the two year stint of earlier times, as the numbers in the Province have fallen.

Ambrose spent eighteen years on the Royal; Justinian and Ailbe were there for seven years and John for five. About a year and a half ago, John became unable to continue as chaplain and, since then, most of the chaplaincy cover has been provided by Paul Francis and Gus, with help from Jim when he was able. Since 1st September, Gus has also retired from the Royal, after eighteen months of combining this demanding ministry with his parish duties, and Paul Francis has, by default, become the acting hospital chaplain while we wait for the Archbishop to make other arrangements for the Royal. While none of us will miss the night calls, it is sad to see the end of a long history of commitment to the crucified in the Glasgow Royal: "Auspice Caelo".