Once again we congratulate Father Charles Coyle, Father Kieran Hamilton, Father Mark O'Donnell and Father Kevin Lawrie who have all recently be ordained to the Priesthood this summer for our Diocese. We continue to keep them in our prayers and and look forward to them taking up their appointments in the coming weeks. Bishop Toal wishes to thank Fr Brian Lamb, our Vocations Director, and others in the Diocese, along with the Seminary staff, who have accompanied our new priests through their years of seminary formation.
We welcome home our seminarians who are back in the Diocese for their summer break and hope they enjoy their pastoral placements which they will carry out during August. Christopher Furmage will be in Sacred Heart and St Gerard’s, Bellshill and Colum Martin
will work with SCIAF and in St Columbkille’s, Rutherglen. Christopher Morris will do his six month placement in St Leonard’s, East Kilbride, beginning in September.
Ronan McQuade and Kieran Burt, both from St Joseph’s Blantyre, have recently completed the Propaedeutic Period at the Royal Scots College, Salamanca, and will begin the course at the Pontifical Scots College, Rome, in September. Our prayers accompany Ronan and Kieran as they set off for Rome.
We now look forward to the ordinations to the permanent diaconate, of David Harper on August 22nd in St Augustine's Coatbridge and Alan Brown on September 14th in St John the Baptist's Uddingston. We continue to pray for both of these men as they prepare for their Diaconate Ordinations. Two men are also beginning the formation programme for the Permanent Diaconate, Stuart Dick and Kevin Kirby, both from St Vincent de Paul Parish in East Kilbride. Bishop Toal also wishes to thank Fr Jim Grant for his work with those in formation and Deacon Jim Aitken for all he does in the Diaconate Propaedeutic Period. Fr Gerry Bogan has also begun working as Spiritual Director for the National Programme for Formation of Permanent Deacons.
Finally, the Annual Diocesan Vocations Mass will take place in Our Lady of Good Aid
Cathedral on Monday 26 th August at 7pm. All in the Diocese of Motherwell are invited to come along to this Mass to give thanks to God for those who have answered the call to the Priesthood, Diaconate and Religious Life in our Diocese and to pray that more men and women may hear and respond to the Lord's call.
