Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Susan Henderson, Inverclyde United Reformed Churches.
Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to address you.
Ten days ago, the clock struck midnight and we all wished those around us a happy new year. Some might have decided that, to have a happy new year, they would need to make changes to the way they live, and so resolutions were made. However, 10 days on, how many of those resolutions have been kept and how many are already broken? How many of us chose not to make any resolutions this year because we know that they become unrealistic once we are out of the holiday season and the stresses of our everyday lives are back with us again?
During the Christmas season, churches around the world lit candles, which symbolise hope, peace, joy and love as we wait for the Christ light to return to us once more and as we wait for the Christ child to be born in us. On Christmas day, we lit the centre candle—the Christ light—as we rejoiced in our saviour’s birth. That candle will remain with our churches throughout the year as a reminder of the hope, peace, joy and love that we long for.
This year, most churches are reading through the gospel of Matthew. Matthew shows us a Jesus who looked to those in the margins, and who challenges us to give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty and clothes to the naked; to welcome the stranger; to take care of the sick; and to visit those in prison, because we can see Christ in the faces of those people. In other words, we are challenged to spread hope, peace, joy and love to one another in our communities and in our world.
This year, have we already packed the hope, peace, joy and love away with the Christmas decorations, only to be remembered when we unpack them all again next year, or are they like forgotten bought presents still at the back of a cupboard waiting to be wrapped and gifted? Can we find our own Christ light, whatever that might mean to you, to keep burning throughout the year to remind us to bring hope, peace, joy and love into the lives of those who are marginalised, those who are sick and those who hunger and thirst for a better life and to help us with our own resolutions to bring a happy new year for ourselves and to everyone around us?
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