The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Saint John Ogilvie was born into a noble Scottish family that was divided between Catholic and Presbyterian beliefs. Raised as a Calvinist by his father, he was sent to Europe for his education. While studying abroad he became interested in the debates between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. The strength of the Catholic arguments unsettled him, so he turned to Scripture for guidance. Two verses in particular stayed with him: “God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” and “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Slowly he became convinced that the Catholic Church truly embraced all people, including those who had given their lives as martyrs. At just 17 years old, he was received into the Church in Louvain in 1596.

He continued his studies with the Benedictines and later at the Jesuit College in Olomouc. He joined the Jesuits and spent ten years in formation. After his ordination in France in 1610, he met Jesuits who had returned from Scotland after imprisonment under the harsh penal laws. Although they saw little hope for mission work there, John felt strongly called to return to his homeland. For more than two years he asked to be sent.

When permission was granted, he entered Scotland secretly, sometimes posing as a soldier or horse trader. The mission was dangerous. He ministered quietly to Catholics and brought some into the Church. Eventually he was betrayed and arrested.

His imprisonment was severe. He was deprived of food and sleep and endured days of physical torture. Still he refused to name other Catholics or to recognise the king’s authority in spiritual matters. At his final trial he declared that he would obey the king in all temporal affairs, even to the point of shedding his blood, but he could not obey in matters of spiritual authority.

Condemned as a traitor, he remained faithful to the end. Even when offered freedom and wealth if he would deny his faith, he refused. His courage inspired Catholics throughout Scotland.

Saint John Ogilvie was canonised in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250. His feast day is celebrated on 10 March.

Dr Gillian Wright raises serious concerns about the impact of assisted suicide legislation on the most vulnerable in our society. While no one wants to see people suffer at the end of life, she warns that laws like this risk sending a dangerous message that the lives of those who are frail, terminally ill, elderly, lonely, or struggling with mental illness are somehow less valuable.

Experience from other countries shows how quickly such laws can expand. In Canada, legislation that was first presented as tightly restricted to those who were terminally ill has since been widened to include people with chronic illness and is moving toward including those with psychiatric conditions.

These developments raise important questions about whether any system can truly safeguard those who may feel pressure, isolation, or a sense of being a burden.

The more we know, the more we say no.

Learn more and contact your MSP today:
🌐 http://carenotkilling.scot

Lord Jesus, who lived and died for us, when your presence seems far away, may we reach out for your healing touch—for the comfort of your embrace

#MissiosMondayPrayer

Gospel
Luke 4:24-30
Jesus, like Elijah and Elisha, is not sent only to the Jews.

When Jesus came to Nazareth, he said to the people in the synagogue: ‘Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his home town. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up, and drove him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.

Bishop Toal Sunday Reflection 8 March 2026