Golden Jubilee of St Kessog’s Church, Balloch

September 21 2008

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ

When I opened the lectionary to find out what readings would be used for today’s Mass, I have to say I allowed myself a little smile. For the Gospel we have just heard is one which many people find rather difficult to accept … After all it does seem rather unjust that all those hard-working labourers who have been involved in back-breaking toil since the break of day, should be awarded the same wage as those “Johnny-come-latelys” who had worked but one hour in the field! 

But this Gospel is not so much about justice as it is about God’s benevolent mercy and love. Jesus is very clear about that … we are not to be angry at God because he is rich in mercy, or as Jesus puts it: “Why be envious because I am generous?” And that generous, bountiful God reveals himself to us in so many ways. 

Today is one of those moments when we catch a glimpse of God’s goodness to us. I am very grateful to be here today to celebrate with you 50 years in the life of this Church building, which was opened by my predecessor Archbishop Campbell in June 1958. 

Fifty years, in terms of the life of the Church is actually a very short timespan.  And so I thought as I read that Gospel passage that perhaps we might put ourselves (in historical terms at least) in the shoes of the labourer called to work only for the last hour, filled with gratitude at the Lord’s goodness, rather than see ourselves as “hard-done by” after hundreds of years of long-service! 

Already the parish had been in existence for six years when this church building opened, founded as a daughter parish of Our Lady and St Mark’s, Alexandria, which itself had been founded way back in 1859. But on an occasion like this it is good to remember again the rock from which we have been hewn. In your case that means a familiarity with Celtic Christianity, on of whose pre-eminent figures, was your patron St Kessog. 

If we see ourselves as the labourers for the last hour in this vineyard, then St Kessog was the one who was asked by the Lord to till this particular loch-side soil first. Before the reformation, Luss on Loch Lomond was one of the major centres of pilgrimage in Scotland. People came from far and wide to worship at the shrines and holy places associated with Saint Kessog. Since then however, the cult of St. Kessog has declined and been eclipsed by others, notably St. Ninian, St. Columba, St. Mungo and of course St. Andrew. It is for you to keep his memory alive! 

St Kessog was born into the royal family of Munster in Southern Ireland in around the year 460 AD. He was sent to a monastery to be educated and in due course came to Scotland as a missionary. The missionaries and monks of the period followed a very simple life, renouncing personal wealth and comfort and spending much of their time in meditation and worship.  St. Kessog arrived at Loch Lomond at the beginning of the sixth century. He built a monastery on the island of Inchtavannoch (monk's island), opposite Luss, which served as his base. Who gave him the land we do now know. But the choice was brilliant.  The Island lies in a very strategic spot governing all traffic on the Loch. It also has a strange beauty which the poet William Wordsworth found to be most moving.  

Nothing remains of St Kessog's monastery, though very old ruins suggest a later building on the same site. There was also an ancient monastic graveyard, and historians tell us that until the late 19th century it was not uncommon for the farmer to plough up human bones. There was also a cave on the island known as St Kessog's cave, which was sadly destroyed around 1860 when the area was blasted to provide building materials. St Kessog's travels far and wide are documented through ancient Gaelic names which probably indicate his presence. For example the Kessock Hill outside Inverness got its name from him. He also travelled extensively in Kintyre and Cowal.  St. Kessog was killed at Bandry, just to the south of Luss, about 520-30 AD. Legend speaks of him being murdered by brigands or mercenaries and he was soon revered as a martyr. While the historical details of your patron’s life are sketchy, what is certain is his commitment to preaching and teaching the Christian faith in this land.

This is the rock from which you are hewn, and I am delighted to know that the same missionary spirit which enlivened the heart of your patron is still very much evident in your parish life. Fr Fitzgerald has told me of the great workof this parish in supporting the orphanages which you have taken under your wing in Uganda and Sri Lanka. It is a great sign of living Christian faith that some of you have actually traveled to these countries and assisted – as labourers in the field – in the construction of these facilities. I know too that you are considering expanding that missionary spirit to China – which would be a wonderful endeavour, and a tremendous achievement for a parish founded little more than half a century ago. 

But if we are to really consider the original rock from which this parish is hewn, we must look further than the mother church in Alexandria, further even than St Kessog on the banks of this lovely Loch. The original rock from which your community is hewn is that rock of faith, the faith of Peter, who said of Jesus: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” 

The faith proclaimed here in this Church of St Kessog today on the banks of Loch Lomond is the same faith that was proclaimed on the banks of the Sea of Galilee 2000 years ago. We who bear the name Catholic do well to recognize that that word means “universal” – universal in geographic terms but also in historical terms. Ours is the Faith of the Apostles, guaranteed by the fidelity of Peter and his successors down to our own day when Pope Benedict XVI is the 265th successor of Peter. It is a faith that can at times seem very complicated, very restrictive, hard to live out in a world like ours. 

But our Holy Father has been very keen to stress that such a view is mistaken. Instead he reminds us that in essence ours is a simple faith, based not on a set of prohibitions, but on a relationship – a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As he reminded his listeners in New York earlier this year: “Dear friends, our faith is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person – Jesus Christ.” 

My dear brothers and sisters, as we look back over 50 years of fruitful apostolic life on these “bonnie bonnie banks” we must also look forward to the next 50 years and beyond. Our generation is part of chain of faith linked always to Peter and through Peter to Christ.  Our job is to be faithful, to pass on that faith intact, as we have received it.  For the rest … as to our eternal reward … we leave that to God.

All who labour in the vineyard of the Lord receive what the owner of the vineyard agreed should be their remuneration – and when expressed in terms of a denarius – a penny – it sounds so extraordinarily little. But our reward is nothing less than eternal life, for which the gaining of the whole world would not account as a sufficient price.