New Kid on the Block
 

I have to admit that I am still a relatively ‘new boy’ in St Bride’s, as I have been attending Mass here for only a few years, but in that time I have been made to feel very welcome by my fellow parishioners and feel very much one of the family of our wonderful parish, with Canon Ryan as our parish priest.


I was not brought up as a Catholic, but always had an interest in the faith from quite an early age. As I teenager, I remember being greatly moved by the scenes on television of Pope John Paul II celebrating Mass in Bellahouston Park back in 1982, when I was sixteen years old. Shortly afterwards I remember looking at a Catholic edition of the Good News Bible in a book shop and looking guiltily over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching me!


At this time I was vaguely aware that St Bride’s was the largest Catholic church in East Kilbride, and sometimes wondered what went on within its walls; I was intrigued, but never had the courage to go inside to find out.


In my late teens, I began to explore the Christian faith. I firstly attended services in the Church of Scotland, which was the church to which my family had belonged, but I felt deep within my heart that something was missing; was God leading me in another direction? At this time I first looked at a Catholic prayer book containing the Order of Mass, and I think I knew then that this was what I was really searching for. 


I later became an Episcopalian, as a kind of compromise, and attended churches in


East Kilbride and Glasgow, but I think I knew that I was really a Catholic at heart. I occasionally attended Mass at this time and felt very much at home when I did so. I was finally received into the Catholic Church in 2000.


I can say from the bottom of my heart that St Bride’s is the friendliest and warmest church I have ever attended, and is full of wonderful people, such as Joe, Jeanne, Neil, Margaret, Gertrude, Sally, Rita and Helen, to name only a random few. Canon Ryan, Father Devlin and Sister Sheila have also provided much spiritual support and friendship, and have very kindly put up with me bending their ears on the subjects of trams, Irish music and Latin Masses, in all of which I have a deep interest.


To me, St Bride’s resembles the kingdom of heaven in that it is comprised of an incredible range of unique individuals, each of them with a special gift to offer. We all owe Canon Ryan a debt of gratitude for ministering faithfully to our spiritual needs, as he has done not only in St Bride’s but also in many other parishes in his remarkable ministry of fifty years.


In conclusion, I would like to quote a short poem by Hillaire Belloc which I think sums up the joys of the Catholic faith:


Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,

There’s always laughter and good red wine. _

At least I've always found it so.

Benedicamus Domino!



Alan Sinclair