Plenary, 16 Jan 2002

Meeting date: Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Official Report 405KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

To lead our time for reflection this afternoon, I welcome Mr Chris Docherty, who is the convener of the Action of Churches Together in Scotland youth forum in Glasgow.

Good afternoon. In my day-to-day job, I work for the Catholic archdiocese of Glasgow as its youth development officer. On Sunday, we celebrated the feast-day of St Kentigern—Mungo to his friends—who is the patron saint of that city and of the archdiocese of Glasgow. The feast tells me something about where I come from and about the story of my faith community.

Next week, the world celebrates a week of prayer for Christian unity, when we recall that our unity as children of God is our primary identity and a gift of the Holy Spirit that we must try to rediscover. The week is a celebration that speaks to me about where I am being called to go and about how I am constantly renewed and transformed according to the mysterious purpose of God.

So today, halfway between those two dates, I am poised between a sense of where I have come from and of where I could be going. The work that we do with young people under the auspices of Action of Churches Together in Scotland and the work that members do as MSPs also involves journeys out of places of familiarity towards new places of discovery, risk, dialogue and hope. What are we taking with us from our past? What do we need to leave behind?

In August 2000, a joint pilgrimage of young Scots Catholics and Protestants went to the world youth day in Rome. Over 2 million young people attended that huge celebration of faith and life. As can be imagined, many strange encounters took place. One young Presbyterian described with some delight how he had been asked in Rome—I cannot quote directly—about what it was like to be a young Presbyterian. He said, "I had to find another way to explain who I was, because the usual words made no sense." I was keen to find out whether that breakthrough dialogue had occurred in the Vatican, or in another basilica, or during an intercontinental group that had been facilitated by our project team. Members will understand my horror when he blithely explained that it all happened over a burger under some golden arches.

Let us similarly try to discover new ways of talking to one another and of listening to one another, so that we strengthen the bonds of solidarity and unity amongst all our people.

Let us pray, using some of the words from the first Scottish ecumenical assembly, which was held in this city in September 2001:

"Loving Father,
Awaken among us the dreams and hopes
Of patriarchs and prophets, martyrs and saints,
The known and the unknown people
Who have loved you and each other.
Keep us true to your Word,
Responsive to the Holy Spirit
And ready to serve you in our neighbour."

And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen.