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The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Day for Life 2025 - Sunday 15th June

Hope Does Not Disappoint - Finding Meaning in Suffering

For as long as history has been written, the world has never been without struggle and suffering. Through the lens of television and social media, however, the suffering of the whole world appears on our personal devices. Many of us find it hard to make sense of a world in which suffering seems to press down from every direction: pandemic; war; homelessness; violence in our streets, addiction. Then, often without warning, we find ourselves caught up in the struggle when serious illness comes into our own lives.

Suffering touches every person at some point in their lives. It is often associated with illness, grief, and loss. It is not only caused by physical pain but includes emotional suffering as well as ‘soul pain’, such as depression and despair. Christians are not immune to this mystery and we often struggle to know how best to respond to it, and where we can find hope.

“Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5-6). St. Paul invites us to see that Christian hope is not just naïve optimism but, rather, an unshakeable trust in the power and presence of God who is with us always. This hope can endure the darkness of human suffering and even see beyond it. That is because Christian hope is anchored in God who is Love and whose love reaches out to us and lifts us up day after day.

Care for the sick and suffering was central to the ministry of Jesus. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan as a way of explaining what it means to be a “neighbour” to another person. The Good Samaritan is someone who sees and is moved to compassion (while others turn away), who draws close, who “ binds up wounds”, who accompanies the person in need, and who continues to care for as long as it is needed. Often the healing Jesus offered was much more than just a physical cure; it included emotional and spiritual healing as well, because for Jesus, the human person is more than just a body needing to be fixed. Jesus invites us to “ Go and do likewise” (Lk. 10:29-37).

The alleviation of suffering is good and must always be part of our focus. But there remains, for many people, a suffering that cannot be taken away and has to be endured. How do we make sense of that? The claim that it is better to die than to suffer leads some people to suggest that euthanasia or assisted suicide might be more compassionate. As Christians, however, we follow Jesus who lived his entire life, including his suffering, in the confident hope that His Father loved him and would raise him up, and He did! The cross, which Jesus did not ask for and did nothing to deserve, has become a sign of hope for countless millions of people in every generation.

The death and resurrection of Jesus leads us to believe that, far from being futile or absurd, a life marked by suffering, when it is lived with generosity and patience, is full of meaning. People like Simon of Cyrene (who helped carry the cross), or St. Veronica (who wiped the face of Jesus) literally accompanied Jesus on the Way of the Cross. Modern saints like Therese of Lisieux and the young Saint Carlo Acutis understood that when we unite our suffering with the suffering of Christ for the good of the world, it is transformed through his grace. Most of us have known people like them. Far from being the end of hope, their suffering, when accepted and embraced, has shown itself to be a path to growth and ultimately to Resurrection.

This year’s Day for Life is an invitation to pray for those who suffer and to remain with them like the Good Samaritan, bearing witness to their unique and unrepeatable value. We see this closeness in the generous and fruitful service of healthcare professionals, whose mission continues even when there is no longer any prospect of physical healing. We see it in another way in families, carers and chaplains who support their brothers and sisters who are sick or frail or struggling with the many burdens of life. As Christians, we affirm them and hold out to them the hope of Jesus Christ who does not disappoint us.

Most Reverend John Sherrington
Archbishop of Liverpool
England and Wales

Right Reverend Kevin Doran
Bishop of Elphin
Ireland

Right Reverend John Keenan
Bishop of Paisley
Scotland

The Roman Catholic Bishops in Scotland work together to undertake nationwide initiatives through their Commissions and Agencies.

The members of the Bishops' Conference are the Bishops of the eight Scottish Dioceses. Where appropriate the Bishops Emeriti (retired) provide a much welcomed contribution to the work of the conference. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland is a permanently constituted assembly which meets regularly throughout the year to address relevant business matters.

Members of The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

https://www.holyyear2025.org.uk

Click here to visit the Jubilee 2025 website

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. 

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by category: BCoS FacebookReturn
April 2025



Amazing news from @standrewsedinburgh as 30 young people from ONE parish will convert to the Catholic faith this week. Learn the story here:
https://archedinburgh.org/seeking-truth-beauty-in-the-catholic-church/
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A reflection from Bishop Frank Dougan (RC Diocese of Galloway) at last night's Stations of the Cross.

Thanks to everyone who has joined us throughout Lent to pray for unborn children, their mothers and all pro-life intentions.


Bishop Frank Dougan highlights how we must help others by sharing their burden so that no-one need carry their Cross aloneFrank Dougan is Bishop of the Dioce...
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The Pope recognizes miracle attributed to a religious sister from India, the martyrdom of an Italian missionary; and the heroic virtues of God's ...
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Bishop Frank Dougan, of RC Diocese of Galloway will give the reflection at the final Lenten Stations of the Cross tonight at 7:45pm. Register at bit.ly/stations25

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-appeal-peace-sudan-lebanon-israel-palestine-ukraine.html


On the eve of Holy Week, Pope Francis renews his call for dialogue in war-torn Sudan and asks the international community to provide humanitarian ...
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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-greets-pilgrims-on-palm-sunday-in-square.html


Pope Francis wishes pilgrims a "Happy Palm Sunday and Happy Holy Week" in person during a surprise visit to Saint Peter's Square at the conclusion of ...
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Here is a useful guide to Holy Week: a day-by-day journey through the most sacred days of the Christian year.
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Let us run to accompany him as he hastens towards his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.
In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens – the proof, surely, of his power and godhead – his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.
So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

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From the Office of Readings today
If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up your cross and follow Christ. If you are crucified beside him like one of the thieves, now, like the good thief, acknowledge your God. For your sake, and because of your sin, Christ himself was regarded as a sinner; for his sake, therefore, you must cease to sin. Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself. Derive some benefit from the very shame; purchase salvation with your death. Enter paradise with Jesus, and discover how far you have fallen. Contemplate the glories there, and leave the other scoffing thief to die outside in his blasphemy.
If you are a Joseph of Arimathea, go to the one who ordered his crucifixion, and ask for Christ’s body. Make your own the expiation for the sins of the whole world. If you are a Nicodemus, like the man who worshipped God by night, bring spices and prepare Christ’s body for burial. If you are one of the Marys, or Salome, or Joanna, weep in the early morning. Be the first to see the stone rolled back, and even the angels perhaps, and Jesus himself.

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