Scottish Catholic Observer

More than 230 people joined the West End of Glasgow Corpus Christi procession which followed a holy hour by Fr Joe Lappin. Under the beautiful sunshine, families, elderly and many young people sang and prayed as they walked along Dumbarton Road. The procession (right main) was met with applause several times as it made its way to St Paul’s Church in Whiteinch where Holy Mass was celebrated by Frs Gerard Byrne, Ross Campbell, Des Broderick and Ewan Marley.

Scenes of public witness and faith were also evident in Croy, where Bishop John Keenan of Paisley led those gathered in procession from Holy Cross Church. As is tradition in the town, the young First Communicants cast flower petals, and the Croy Silver Band provided musical accompaniment.

Bishop Keenan, who was assisted by parish priest Fr Joe Sullivan and Fr Daniel Doherty from St Patrick’s in Kilsyth during the procession, also took the opportunity to bless a newly installed safety fence at Holy Cross.

Meanwhile in Carfin, Bishop Joseph Toal led a sunlit procession through the beautiful surroundings of the Lourdes Grotto. The permanent deacons of Motherwell Diocese renewed their commitment to their service before Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Feast of Corpus Christi was also marked in parishes across the country. In Aberdeen, in his message for the feast, Bishop Hugh Gilbert spoke about the Eucharist and how the world, the Church and its people would be empty without it. “We should fall upon this bread like starving men in the desert,” he said, quoting theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. “The Eucharist is the great antidote to a bored and empty life.”

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Pic: Paul McSherry

—This story ran in full in the June 3 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.