Contents
- Time for Reflection
- Topical Question Time
- Scotland as a Science Nation
- Decision Time
- Catholic Schools
Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. Our first item of business is time for reflection, and our leader is Father Leonard Chiti, head of the province of Zambia and Malawi Jesuits and member of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, I thank you for the opportunity to address you this afternoon.
The theme of my reflection is “decision time”. Every day, we make decisions: some small, some big; some conscious, some not. From force of habit, when we get out of bed, we know what we will do immediately and other details of our lives. Very often, our day is filled with details of what we need to do, and we move throughout the day like we are on autopilot.
However, sometimes we are invited to make big decisions in the face of urgent matters—decisions that can change our lives and the lives of others. What goes into making those big decisions? What informs our decision making?
In the Christian faith, we are invited to make decisions that contribute towards the inauguration of God’s kingdom here on earth. What does God’s kingdom look like? It probably looks like this: our decisions are informed by love, of those close to us and those far away; our decisions are informed by a desire to promote human dignity and not just our own interests; our decisions are informed by a commitment to promote the common good, so that those who live far away from us can have a meal on the table, the promise of a regular income and a thriving environment, to live in harmony with God’s creation; our decisions are informed by the desire not to do harm to others and our planet; and our decisions are informed by love of God and our neighbour as much as by love for ourselves.
Leaders in the Christian faith community are servants. Leadership is about service; it is about putting the interests of others first, before one’s own interests. It is about washing the feet of those whom we serve. Great leaders put people before numbers. People who die in flash floods are human beings with a God-given dignity. People who die because poor rains mean that they cannot put food on their table are children of God and not mere statistics.
Leaders seek to motivate and empower others to work for the common good. Leaders work across all sections of society and, ultimately, leaders transform the world around them and beyond. Leaders take real action to deliver justice for the planet and its people on behalf of present and future generations. May all our leaders of today and tomorrow be our servants and not our masters.
Thank you for your attention. [Applause.]