Fr Bobby Taylor was ordained a priest of our diocese by Archbishop Cushley on Tuesday (29 June) at the parish of Our Lady and St Andrew, Galashiels.

In his homily, Archbishop Cushley encouraged him to "be a true shepherd of God’s people, to celebrate the Sacraments worthily, above all the Eucharist, and to model your life on the mystery of the Lord’s cross."

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Homily of Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh
Priestly Ordination of Bobby Taylor, Our Lady & St Andrews, Galashiels, 29 June 2021

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

A very warm welcome to all of you who have come from near and far for the Ordination to the priesthood of your relative and friend, Bobby Taylor.

For my own part, I am very pleased to be able to celebrate an ordination to the priesthood; to do so tonight for one of our own clergy; and to do so in this beautiful and historic church of Our Lady & St Andrew’s, Galashiels.

I am grateful to Fr Kingham, himself a silver jubilarian this year, for his warm welcome to us all.  A warm word of thanks, also, to all who have prepared this church to make it a safe and welcoming place for our celebration this evening.

It is also very fitting that we celebrate Bobby’s ordination to the priesthood on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

These are the great saints of the Roman Church, Peter, apostle of the Jews, and Paul, apostle of the gentiles, joyful bearers of God’s Word to the whole world.

This day is often used by the Pope, and Bishops throughout the world, to set aside men for priestly ordination, and so it is one more reason for us to gather today, in union with many others throughout the world, doing precisely what we are doing here tonight.

This sense of the universality of the Church is something that Bobby and his colleagues and friends from the Scots College in Rome will happily acknowledge, due to their time in the city, where men and women from all over the world, especially those who wish to give their lives to the service of Christ and his people, go for their studies.

And it is well that we take a moment to thank God for the inspiring example of so many young people who continue to be inspired to dedicate themselves completely to God, according to their gifts and talents and circumstances.

Bobby, tonight you will dedicate yourself again to some tasks that you first took up as a deacon, and to others that you now embrace in view of the sacred priesthood.  You have learned to serve like Christ, as a deacon must, and to place yourself at the service of all.  You have learned to be an ambassador of Christ in your preaching and in your daily life.  You have promised to be celibate, to be obedient to me and to pray faithfully the Divine Office.

All those promises remain.  But tonight, you must add to them a new commitment: to be a true shepherd of God’s people, to celebrate the Sacraments worthily, above all the Eucharist, and to model your life on the mystery of the Lord’s cross.

Being a true shepherd to the people entrusted to your care is a challenge that, if you let it, will purify your intentions and will mould you, perhaps gradually but very surely, into a more mature man and a wiser pastor, with a keen insight into human nature, and blessed with a merciful heart. Let the example of Christ, the Good Shepherd, be your inspiration.

You will promise to celebrate the Sacraments worthily: since the liturgical reforms of the Council, we priests must still learn to direct hearts and minds to Christ, but we must also do so while avoiding the temptation to make the liturgy the instrument of our own importance.

Our beautiful liturgy, found in the books of the Roman rite, belongs to the Church as a whole, and it is not ours to do with as we please.  We are its guardians and its celebrants. If you celebrate it well, you will indeed direct people’s hearts to God, especially to the living Lord present in the Eucharist.

Let me therefore urge you to celebrate it to the best of your ability, and you will surely attract many souls to a love of the Lord and to their ultimate salvation.

Finally, as a priest of the new covenant, you are to model your life on the mystery of the Lord’s cross.

By the graces you receive tonight, endeavour to join yourself to the Lord, in preaching the Good News, in being close to the sick, and in imitating the Lord at the Last Supper, in Gethsemane, on Calvary, in the tomb.

Give yourself to the mystery of Christ’s presence within you, and His spirit that resides in you, and keep alive that sense of your dedication that marks you from now on and that is unique to a priest of the New Testament.

Be faithful to that dedication and you will be happy in this life, and blessed in the life to come.

If you're interested in the priesthood or religious life, have a chat with one of our vocation directors: Fr Andrew Garden 0131 663 4286 vocations@staned.org.uk | Sr Mirjam Hugens 0131 623 8902 religiousvocations@staned.org.uk