Plenary, 29 Oct 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Official Report
422KB pdf
Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. Our time for reflection leader today is the Right Rev Monsignor Philip J Kerr, parish priest of St Francis Xavier's, Falkirk, and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.
The Right Rev Monsignor Philip J Kerr (Parish Priest of St Francis Xavier's, Falkirk, and Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh): It is a privilege to be leading this time for reflection in the week following the ceremonies in which Archbishop O'Brien was appointed a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. To be appointed a cardinal is an honour for the archbishop, for the people of his archdiocese, for the Catholic Church in Scotland and for all in our country. It is a mark of respect for Scotland as a whole, but also an invitation to look at our country in a wider context—that of the whole world, for the Roman Catholic Church is to be found in countries throughout our world.
At the end of this week is a day that invites us to see ourselves in another wider context. A special day that we might first think of is Hallowe'en—perhaps not the most suitable topic for a Christian cleric. But Hallowe'en is the eve of All Hallows day, which we now call All Saints day. We Roman Catholics emphasise in particular our union with fellow church members throughout the world, but, along with other Christians, we also hold that we are in union or in fellowship with Christians who have preceded us in this world. In other words, we are at one with the saints. We might regard a saint as someone who is not quite real or properly part of our world, but the truth is that, if we examine the lives of those who are regarded as examples of true holiness, we find that they really were caught up in the circumstances of ordinary daily life in their time. They did not run away from the difficult issues before them.
Honouring saints helps us to see in a wider perspective the problems that face us—there is more to life than what is immediately apparent. Honouring saints reminds us that what makes us truly memorable is not material wealth or any practical decisions that we make for this world, but whether we are able to live selflessly rather than selfishly. Can we today live in that way guided by the spirit of God? St Paul said:
"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control".
Let us pray that those qualities—the marks of true greatness—might indeed be evident in this Parliament, our country of Scotland and throughout our world.