Plenary, 15 Sep 2004
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. Our first item of business today is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is Father John Bollan from the religious education department of the University of Glasgow.
Father John Bollan (University of Glasgow):
I thank the Presiding Officer for giving me the opportunity to spend this time in reflection with you.
As I live near Glasgow airport, I regularly provide a taxi service for family and friends. At the arrivals gate, especially over this summer, I have noticed an increase in the number of Scots who are rediscovering the joy of the sombrero. I wonder whether that might indicate an opening in the Scottish spirit to the celebration of the fiesta. As you might know, in Catholic culture, such occasions are usually saint's days or feast days. The church at local and international levels still has its feasts. For example, yesterday was the feast that lends its name to this Parliament: the feast of the Holy Cross or the Holy Rood. Closer to home, my people in Paisley are today celebrating the fiesta of St Mirin, who is associated with so many things in Scotland's largest town.
However, in the wider church, today is a more solemn—some might say more sombre—occasion: the feast of our Lady of Sorrows. At first sight, this feast might look a little morbid: after all, it is a day devoted to sorrow and to grief. Yet at the heart of the feast is a solid theological and psychological fact that was movingly summed up by Her Majesty the Queen when she responded to the events of 11 September with the words:
"grief is the price we pay for love".
It is the same truth we see in Michelangelo's Pietà, as the sorrowful mother cradles the languid form of her dead son. The message is that grief goes to the very heart of our existence and that the life of God is touched by the mystery of the cross, of loss.
However, sorrow and grief are not just private emotions. There are tragedies that provoke a response across nations and societies. For example, the recent atrocity in Beslan has given rise to countless more pietàs—we are all touched by it. We experience grief not just through bereavement but through broken relationships, lost jobs and shattered dreams.
Grief is an issue for all of us, especially for you who are our leaders and servants. Sorrow is a social reality. Alongside and underneath many of our obvious problems, such as poverty and poor health, lie less obvious wounds. As a member of and an observer of society, I suggest that two of the great ills of our communities are misdirected anger and unresolved grief. The two are often connected and both result in behaviour that is self-wounding and ultimately damaging to society as a whole.
People of all faiths and none need to be given channels for expressing their grief at the great and small tragedies in life. Although we are culturally reticent about such things, an acknowledgement of grief and the ability to articulate sorrow collectively are crucial to the health of our society. It is only by recognising sorrow that we move on to experience joy once again. May God bless the Parliament and the people of Scotland in times of sorrow as well as of joy.