150TH ANNIVERSARY OF PARISH
HOMILY PREACHED BY KEITH PATRICK O’BRIEN
INTRODUCTION:
On an occasion like this there is the opportunity for the
preacher to give some account of the history of the parish and the church where
he is leading the celebrations.
The first date in the history of this parish and church to
which I refer is 1988 just some twenty years ago and it refers to a celebration
in which I myself took part as an assistant priest here in Bathgate, the solemn
dedication of this church.
But going back further it was in 1858 that Bathgate became
a parish; in 1878 the hierarchy was re-established in Scotland; in 1888 there
was a major restoration of the old church on this present site; in 1908 the
church itself was built and consequently we are now celebrating the centenary
of that event; in 1958 the centenary of
the parish was celebrated; and the solemn dedication of the church itself took
place in the Marian Year of 1988 – 100 years after the major restoration of the
old church.
I give a magnificent roll call of some of the history of
this parish and church – but rather than concentrating on the history of events
which took place in the past I would much rather concentrate on the history of
the people of this area.
EARLY BEGINNINGS:
We are given something of the early beginnings of the
Catholic community here in Bathgate in the “statistical account” of 1843 when
the Reverend Samuel Martin returned only three families within the parish as
professing the Catholic faith for whom Falkirk was the nearest church. However
we are told that with the construction of the Edinburgh and Bathgate railway a
large number of the Irish Catholic workmen employed made Bathgate their
permanent residence and it became the duty of the
Father Joseph Hannan was appointed to Bathgate in 1893 and
the credit is given to him for establishing a custom built Catholic church in
Bathgate.
Father Peter McDaniel was appointed to Bathgate in 1900
and the foundation stone of the new church in Bathgate was laid on
I indicated in my opening remarks that this anniversary is
not just about dates and buildings – however important they are. Our
celebration is about people – the priests and the people of Bathgate who before
and after the restoration of the hierarchy in our country ensured that they
themselves and their children were indeed a people of faith; that they were a
people who were strong in the defence of their faith having outstanding
leaders; and that they were prepared to build up their church in Bathgate not
just as a building but as that same people of faith.
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH
IN BATHGATE:
From 1908 down to this present time some one hundred years
later the church in Bathgate initially grew very considerably numerically.
The building of the church itself was improved in various
ways: The altar erected to the Sacred Heart, now the Baptistery, was built. The
former Winter Chapel was reconstructed as a Chapel dedicated to our Blessed
Lady to commemorate the Marian Year of 1954; it was later slightly adapted to
become the magnificent “Day Chapel” which it is at the present time by your
present parish priest Monsignor Lawson. And in 1958 the High Altar was adapted
to comply with the requirements of the Church’s liturgy as expected by the
teachings of the Second Vatican Council. And all this was followed by the
solemn dedication of the church in the Marian Year of 1988 with the
celebrations led by a son of the parish, the much loved Bishop James Monaghan,
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese, assisted by Bishop Logan, the Bishop of
Dunkeld and also a native of Bathgate, along with myself and the late Cardinal
Gordon Gray, who presided over the celebrations.
I enjoyed a very wonderful three years here in Bathgate
between 1975 and 1978 with the parish priest being the late Father James
Bernard Walsh. Considerable reordering of the church had to continue at this
time to comply with the adaptations required in liturgy by the Second Vatican
Council. Father Walsh bravely undertook the work in hand ensuring also that the
old parish house was replaced by a new and spacious presbytery which I myself
enjoyed.
Crumbling stonework in the church towers was also repaired
and unbreakable glass fitted to the windows on the presbytery side of the
church. Coming to even more recent times the old parish hall badly required replacement
and this work was completed in 1998 with a new hall being formally opened by
myself on
Again in brief summary in this history of the growth of
the parish here in Bathgate we have seen much work accomplished with regard to
the buildings of the parish – but at the same time the greater emphasis in the
parish on those three characteristics which I pointed out as being evident in
the early beginnings of the parish. The three characteristics were that the
people were indeed a people of faith; they continued to be strong in the
defence of their faith with outstanding
leaders; and they built up the church – but this time not so much as
buildings but rather as the “people of God” in this area of our Archdiocese, in
this part of Scotland.
One might say that during these growth years over the past
one hundred years, the people have needed to have had an ever stronger faith.
Attacks were made on their faith – not so much from the members of other
Christian denominations but rather more insidious attacks by the secular
society in which the people were then living. Even more than ever before the
Church needed outstanding leaders – and they were produced as bishops and
priests appealed to the people of the parish to take up their rightful place both
within the Church and within society.
The new people of faith, strong in their defence of that
faith handed on to them were required to build up the Church following on the
Second Vatican Council not just as buildings but as a people who were to live
with their faith and determined not only to survive in the face of ongoing
conflicts but to hand on their faith through their living Christianity.
FUTURE OF THE PARISH
We might rightly say that the parish of Bathgate and the
Church of the Immaculate Conception have indeed changed considerably in the
past 150 years and 100 years.
There has indeed been a growth and then a decline. A
growth was experienced with the increased numbers in the community to take part
in the coalmining industry and the establishment of car factories in the area –
but there is now no longer any coalmining or car industry in this area.
Bathgate became a statistic near the top of the list of high unemployment areas
in the country.
Consequently the parish of St Columba’s Boghall which came
into being in 1977 under the leadership of Father Liam Healy was closed and
recombined with the Mother Parish. Further the
However as the priests and people of this parish adapted
in the earlier years of the parish’s historic growth so they have adapted again
as they realised there was an awareness of the call to them to greater action
in the face of diminished numbers.
A very active parish pastoral council cooperates with your
present parish priest, himself a son of the parish, Monsignor Alistair Lawson.
Central to the ongoing apostolate of the parish there is also a flourishing
parish finance committee. And a great
variety of works is undertaken to build up the faith of the people within St
Mary’s Primary School nearby at whose golden jubilee in its present location I
recently assisted.
Ministries have been developed over the years with readers
at Mass, cantors leading choir and people in liturgical celebrations and
Eucharistic ministers bringing Holy Communion to the sick and the housebound as
well as assisting with the distribution of Holy Communion at
The work of the parishes within each deanery has been
coordinated by deanery pastoral councils and the membership of these in turn
have formed the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council presided over by myself as
Archbishop.
One might say that the fruits of the Second Vatican
Council are seen in a very practical way in the Parish of St Mary’s Bathgate –
with all of the apostolate being centred on the liturgical life of the parish
in this beautiful church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed
Lady.
As Archbishop when I speak now of going forward together
into the future I am not just speaking of myself as Leader and Chief Teacher in
the Archdiocese. I am rather speaking of myself along with my brother priests
and your yourselves as collaborators in the faith going forward into a future
in which we are called upon to live and practice our faith in a different way,
a way unknown and unthought-of of by those wonderful people who established
this parish and built this church 150 and 100 years ago.
Those people set the tone for the parish at this present
time. We are required to have something of the same characteristics as them. We
are still called upon to be that people of faith; we are called upon to be
strong in the defence of our faith with outstanding leaders; and we are called
upon now to build up our Church not only having suitable care of its buildings
but to built it up with and for one another in the smaller communities within
this large parish and reaching our to neighbouring communities for which we
must have pastoral consideration and care.
Valiant people were required of old to make Bathgate the
parish and church which it is now. Similar valiant people are required of us at
this present time to continue this process so that this parish and church here
in Bathgate will not only continue to survive but will rather thrive and grow
in the years which lie ahead.
May God indeed bless you all on this 150th
anniversary of your Parish; and may he strengthen your faith through the ways
in which you continue to use your magnificent parish church dedicated to the
Immaculate Conception and the other buildings built to ensure the living of
your faith and the handing on of the faith at this present time and into the
future.