Plenary, 27 Feb 2002

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002

Official Report 359KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

To lead our time for reflection this week, we welcome Father Brian Gowans, who is the chaplaincy adviser to the Scottish Prison Service.

Last week saw the installation of the new Archbishop of Glasgow, the Most Rev Mario Conti—I caught sight of one of the headlines about his elevation to the post. One newspaper report stated that he hopes to see the day when priests will line the route of an Orange walk and warm to the music, ministers will swell the crowd at Parkhead and priests will cheer on a Rangers goal at Ibrox. There would have been a few wry smiles around Scotland at those thoughts.

Today, I would like to introduce you to one of the young offenders, whom I shall call David—with permission—to protect his identity. When David arrived in Polmont, he would not look in my direction, let alone speak to me. No matter how hard I tried to make contact with him, he would look the other way and make some derogatory remark. Eventually he got a job in the hairdressers work party and I quickly seized the opportunity—I went for a haircut and I asked the officer to allow David to cut my hair.

In typical barber fashion, David soon began to speak to me. "If my granny could see me now," he said, "she would disown me." My reply was: "Maybe it's your granny I should be talking to. Don't be shaving RFC on the back of my head, now." "Don't tempt me," said David, and we laughed and joked for a while. Within days David was requesting to see me and we struck up a good friendship.

David was liberated and I met him a few weeks later after an old firm match. I had been to the game and met him as I walked back to Queen Street station. He looked gloomy as his side had been on the wrong end of a 6-2 thrashing. I, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Let's go for a pint," he said and we did. He had his blue and white scarf on and I was in shades of green. We drew a lot of attention to ourselves and more wry smiles. "This is how it should be all the time," he said and I had to agree.

Within seconds of Celtic winning the treble last year, my phone rang and there was David the first to congratulate me, as if I had scored the winning goal. We had come a long way together; the tide had turned. David now works as a hairdresser, his life of crime behind him—a changed man.

Father, may they all be one as you are in me and I am in you, may they be so completely one that the world may believe that it was you who sent me.