BY Daniel Harkins | December 25 | 
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Bishop celebrates feast day at St Ambrose
Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell hailed the parable of the Good Samaritan at St Ambrose High in Coatbridge recently as he paid his first visit to the school.
The bishop travelled to Coatbridge to mark the Feast of St Ambrose, and spent time before celebrating Mass discussing faith with both junior and senior pupils. The senior pupils gave the bishop a tour of the school before he met with S1-S3 pupils, followed by a Q&A with those in S4-S6, who asked him what his favourite parable was.
Later celebrating Mass, the bishop returned to the theme of the Good Samaritan in his homily. Emily Kerr, an S6 Caritas pupil at St Ambrose, said the visit was a ‘very spiritual morning and very informative,’ while fellow Caritas enrolee Natalie Johnstone said it was a ‘great experience and it was good to learn more about her faith.’
Alison Smith, principal teacher of religious education at the school, said the bishop was lovely and celebrated a simple but moving Mass.
She praised the bishop for talking to the school’s Caritas pupils and encouraging them on their faith journey.
“I think it’s good to have opportunities like the bishop getting them to engage intellectually with their faith,” she said. “Things like the bishop coming along helps them understand what their faith means intellectually as well as practically.”
St Ambrose’s Caritas pupils have been taking part in a number of events since they began their faith journey.
Four days after Bishop Toal’s visit, they travelled to the Glasgow Faith Forum, which presents catechetical talks for people aged 16-25 and provides support for young Catholics. The pupils attended Mass in Turnbull Hall, the chaplaincy at Glasgow University, and spent the afternoon exploring the themes of Caritas.
In the evening, Miss Smith gave a talk on Mary the Mother of God, as part a series of lectures on reasons for believing. “Basically we wanted to come together and grow as a group,” Miss Smith added.
Around 1600 young people have enrolled in this year’s Caritas Award, which encourages young people of all faiths in their final year of school to contribute to their communities and parishes and share their gifts and talents with the Church.
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