Plenary, 16 Sep 2009
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Official Report
374KB pdf
Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. As always, our first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Father Jim McGarry, of St Clare's church, Easterhouse, Glasgow.
Father Jim McGarry (St Clare's, Easterhouse):
In 13 years of living and working in Easterhouse, I cannot remember a wetter summer, but we did not let the weather dampen our celebrations. St Clare's church and St Benedict's church are celebrating the golden jubilees of their foundation. The parishes have been in Easterhouse since the beginning of the scheme and they still make a big contribution to the life of the area. Not only that, I remind people that our parishes stand on the fields of the former Bishops of Glasgow of the 13th century. We stand on holy ground; we build on what has gone before us.
Another golden jubilee: a former parish priest came back to celebrate his golden jubilee of ordination—50 years of priestly commitment. There was then a celebration to end 21 years of ministry in Easterhouse by the Daughters of Charity. The sisters will be sorely missed on the streets of Easterhouse. Finally, to round off a summer of celebrations, we had a diamond wedding anniverary: John and Sadie, 60 years married, more than 50 of which were lived out in Easterhouse.
Celebrating such events is very important. They proclaim another version of the Easterhouse story—the one that you do not read about in the papers—and speak to us about dedication and love, fidelity and stability, service and courageous commitment in the community. Such qualities reveal the true dignity and immense possibilities within every human being. Such qualities cannot be bought in, or legislated for, but I firmly believe that they can be taught, affirmed, and treasured.
This summer, Pope Benedict issued a social encyclical to the church and world: "Caritas in Veritate"—"Love in Truth". The Pope calls us to recognise God's gift of love as a rich source of energy and ideas. When love is enlightened by truth, says Pope Benedict, it rises above sentimentality and produces authentic development. What the world needs now, he says, is "integral human development", where we pull together all branches of knowledge for the common good. That is the challenge for you, our members of the Scottish Parliament, who have a grip on the bigger picture that is Scotland.
Pope Benedict asks three things: defend the truth, articulating it with conviction and bearing witness to it in life; affirm and value those who are living loving lives in the truth—do not marginalise them; and gather in all the elements, both positive and negative, that form our Scottish experience, using the reflections of different disciplines to produce an integral plan for the future of Scotland and its people. Such a plan would foster so much personal and community fulfilment and authentic fraternity and release so much energy and potential—a prize that is surely worth pursuing.
May God bless you in your endeavours.