Plenary, 29 Apr 2009
Meeting date: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Official Report
385KB pdf
Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. As always, our first item of business is time for reflection. I am pleased to welcome our time for reflection leader, who is Father Eoin Patten of St Mirin's Cathedral, Paisley.
Father Eoin Patten (St Mirin's Cathedral, Paisley):
Presiding Officer,
"This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad."
Two weeks ago, we celebrated the great feast of Easter Sunday, marking the central mysteries of the Christian faith: the passion, death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although many people will consider that day to have passed, the church continues to rejoice in the resurrection for another 50 days until the feast of Pentecost. Many prepared solemnly for Easter during the period of Lent by acts of fasting and charity, but the church takes the longer season of Eastertide to rejoice and be glad for the day of resurrection—a day made for and by the Lord.
Another way in which the church marks special days in the year is by praising God through his saints. Indeed, today is the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena. Catherine was the youngest of 25 children, and was born on the feast of the annunciation in 1347, just as the renaissance was beginning to blossom. It was also a period of tumult in the church. The Pope was resident in Avignon in France. Although she had no formal education, Catherine was one of the greatest theological and intellectual minds of her day. She wrote letters to kings, queens and politicians and worked tirelessly for peace. She even managed to persuade Pope Gregory XI to return the papacy to Rome from Avignon. Through her witness to the love and peace of Christ and in the simple way that she lived her life, she transformed the history of the church and Europe.
Along with Saint Teresa of Avila, she was declared the first female doctor of the church by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and, more recently, Pope John Paul II declared her patron of Europe. She died on this day in 1380, but we still celebrate her life and contribution to society more than 600 years later. She was one of the most important women of Europe, and Catherine's gifts of heart and mind were used in the furtherance of the Christian ideal.
The glory and transforming power of the resurrection is reflected in the life of Catherine. It continues to nourish and sustain Christians everywhere. Every day is made by the Lord because he is the Lord, the giver of life, who came in order that we all may have life and have it to the full.