Scottish Catholic Observer

Pupils and staff from Notre Dame High School in Greenock welcomed Bishop John Keenan of Paisley Diocese into their Oratory for their first ‘Caritas and Cuppa’ event of the new school session.

Bishop Keenan discussed the meaning of Caritas, and reminded the pupils that God is Love, and that they should recognise Him in all that they do.

Having piloted the event last year, the school have found it to be popular among pupils.

“All the pupils commented on how good it was even to get the time to reflect and pray, which is something they may not get to do as often as they’d like to,” said John Paul McGovern, the school’s principal teacher of Religious Education.

“Bishop Keenan spoke about how to live out the ideas of love for one another and talked about Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow’s story with Mary’s Meals, commenting on how he started off small, and has now grown Mary’s Meals into one of the biggest in the UK.”

Pupils, inspired by the bishop’s talk on Mary’s Meals, were told that their Caritas journey could eventually lead them to something similar.

Following Bishop Keenan’s chat, the school moved onto a time of prayer and reflection, before enjoying a bite to eat and a cup of tea with him in the staffroom.

“They had a chance to speak to the bishop afterwards,” Mr McGovern said, stating that they all enjoyed his company.

“Their Caritas programme is 20 hours’ long, so this was a good way for the bishop to give the pupils some information on what they can do to fulfil that,” he added, saying that the school are hoping to have a few other guests over at the school over the course of the year for similar events.