Plenary, 08 Feb 2006
Meeting date: Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Father Eddie McGhee, parish priest of St Joseph's in Stranraer.
Father Eddie McGhee (Parish Priest of St Joseph's, Stranraer):
I thank you for the invitation to share these few moments of reflection.
Almost 10 years ago I was diagnosed as having bowel cancer. I was diagnosed one day, had surgery the next and woke up with tubes—so it seemed—in every available orifice. The future looked far from rosy, and that I am here today is due in no small part to the skill of my surgeon, Mr Bob Daiment, and the staff of the oncology department at Crosshouse hospital in Kilmarnock.
At first I thought that I might die. By the time I had finished chemotherapy, there were moments when I thought that death might be the better alternative. The experience became something of an emotional rollercoaster. I was elated to be alive, but terrified that I might die, and full of questions. I asked, "Where is God in all of this?" Suddenly, instead of being the hospital visitor—the comforter—I was the helpless person in the sick bed. That was the moment when I discovered what it is to be totally dependent. It was a moment when my faith was profoundly tested, but even as I struggled, I sensed what I can describe only as the care of prayer. The hospital and its care team were supported by a prayer team of my family, my friends and my parish community.
Why should I have been surprised? After all, I am supposed to be a man of God—a professional religious person. The truth is that we can all become blind to the blindingly obvious.
Do I think that because I am well that a miracle has taken place? No. But I do believe that I am well because of care and prayer. When—or if—we read the Bible, we discover that God constantly reveals himself in seemingly impossible situations. It is when we think that God is most absent that God is most likely to be present.
Our Parliament is at the service of this nation. From where I stand, meeting the expectations of 5 million people seems to be reasonably impossible. There are probably moments when each member feels almost overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.
My prayer today for our Parliament is that, in all its actions and deliberations on behalf of our nation, God's presence will be as life giving for each member as it has been for me.