Mass of Thanksgiving for St. Brendan’s High School, Linwood, in the presence of Teachers, Staff, Pupil Representatives, Invited Guests and Representatives of the Local Community in St. Conval's Church, Linwood 14th June 2006

St. Brendan’s High School, Linwood, is about to amalgamate with St. Cuthbert’s High School, Johnstone, to form the new St. Benedict’s High School. St. Brendan’s has served the education of the young people of this community for the last 42 years. In his preface to our commemorative booklet for this evening’s Mass, the Head Teacher, Mr Michael Canning, highlights the richly deserved reputation the school has gained in those years for teaching and learning, for levels of achievement, for the special relationship that exists between pupils and teachers, and for an ethos inspired by the Gospel of Jesus Christ which has made St. Brendan’s High School what he calls a “unique community” and a “wonderful place” in which to teach and learn. And the Head of RE, Mr. Danny McGarvey, is pleased to draw to our attention the fact that when Her Majesty’s Inspectors made their report on St. Brendan’s Linwood, that report commended the exceptional atmosphere of the school, attributing it in large measure to its Catholic ethos. 

For all these reasons, this evening is very much about thanksgiving for St. Brendan’s: for its contribution to the local community over these last 40 years; for the pupils who have been at the school during these years and whose lives have been enhanced by their education at St. Brendan’s; for the teachers and staff who have taught and served there with such dedication and loyalty to the school and to its pupils; for the priests who have served as chaplains and given spiritual and moral support to staff and pupils alike. For all of this, we give thanks to God, and I gladly repeat the words of St Paul in the second reading: “I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways….” And I imagine that every pupil and every member of staff could mention at least one way in which their life has been enriched by their experience at St. Brendan’s. 

It is particularly appropriate for me as the local bishop to express the gratitude of the Diocese of Paisley and of the Catholic Church in Scotland for the contribution to Catholic education and to the religious formation of its pupils, which St. Brendan’s has made over the last four decades.  As we can infer from the HMI Report (already referred to), St. Brendan’s can be proud of the place it has made for itself in the impressive tradition of Catholic education within Scotland’s public school provision. I said as much a few days ago at a similar event for St. Cuthbert’s High School, and I am happy to be able to repeat these words in reference to St. Brendan’s. And I do so just a day after we read in the press glowing reports about another Catholic school in the west of Scotland to which HMI awarded unprecedented accolades of excellence. It is so good to see that the case for Catholic schools is being made so eloquently and so convincingly by the schools themselves, schools like St. Cuthbert’s and St. Brendan’s, and, I have no doubt whatever, in its turn by the new St. Benedict’s. 

St. Brendan’s High School is about to conclude its mission in this community, and there is an understandable sadness about this because people get attached to their schools, especially when they are good ones. In preparing these Masses of Thanksgiving for St. Brendan’s tonight and for St Cuthbert’s a few days ago, I turned to the lives of the patron saints of these schools. Brendan and Cuthbert belong to a noble line of early missionary saints in Ireland and Scotland including Patrick, Ninian, Brendan himself, Columba and Cuthbert who were the leading figures in the conversion of Ireland and Scotland from paganism to Christianity. A common feature of their activities is that they were all prepared to face the unknown with courage, with hope and with a huge sense of purpose. Amalgamating schools and forming a new one may not exactly be the great unknown, but it is a huge challenge for everyone involved, and we would be unrealistic if we did not accept that it is also a source of anxiety, concern and stress. From what I have seen, St. Brendan’s and St Cuthbert’s have shown the same qualities as their patron saints in preparing for this move, courage, purpose and above all immense goodwill, enthusiasm, hope and trust in God as he draws them into their future. For that reason, parents, pupils, teachers and local authorities can be confident that all will be well. 

Jesus tells us in the Gospel this evening that we are his friends and that he has chosen us to go out and bear fruit. He tells us to keep his commandments, to remain in his love and above all to love one another. This is the vision and the mission of every Catholic school no matter its name, no matter its location. The world would argue that love and commandment are contradictory ideas. But the genius of Catholic faith holds them together in what we might call the discipline of Christian love, which is the very heart of the ethos of the Catholic school. St. Brendan and St. Cuthbert knew and lived the discipline of love, and have taught it to their children. Now St. Brendan and St. Cuthbert send us forth in hope and joy. And how providential is this? St. Benedict, great master of the discipline of Christian love, awaits us with wise counsel and open arms.  St. Brendan, St. Cuthbert and St. Benedict, pray for us.

St. Conval’s, Linwood, 14^th June 2006