Scottish Catholic Observer

Like the wine at the wedding in Cana, Paisley Diocese may have saved the best until last as Archbishop Philip Tartaglia lifted St Mirin’s Cathedral up to new heights on Palm Sunday with his insight into Our Lady.

The title of the final 2014 Bishops’ Lenten Catechesis was Mary ‘yes’ to Holiness, and the Archbishop of Glasgow, a former Bishop of Paisley, did not let his recent ill health effect his promise to Bishop John Keenan (right) to round off this impressive series of Lenten reflections.

“If God is calling you… He will prepare you, He will give you the grace and strength,” Archbishop Tartaglia said, referencing Karl Renner, and reflections that gave him strength for his own ordinations.

In his talk, the archbishop focused on the image of Mary at the Foot of the Cross and Jesus’ message to John the Beloved to welcome Mary into his home.

“We are John the Beloved,” he said. “Have we done that? Have we made a place for Mary in our home?”

Archbishop Tartaglia, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, drew on his experience of teaching seminarians theology to make Sunday’s talk accessible to a wider audience. With great humility, the archbishop admitted difficulty is reaching a Church of Scotland group about Our Lady in the past. This time when preparing he asked a priest, a wife and a mother and a young single Catholic woman what they would look for in a Catechesis on Mary and each wanted it to be personal.

The archbishop began by talking about ‘Mary in my life.’ In September 1969, at the age of 18, he was travelling to Rome alone to begin further studies for the priesthood at a time that travel and changing plans was not easy nor encouraged. While in the air, he realised that his connection from Glasgow to Heathrow did not leave him enough time to make his ‘student’ flight from Gatwick to Rome.

“I was at my wits end, so I started to pray,” he said. “I reached for my Rosary in my pocket and asked Our Lady to help and protect me.”

Shortly afterwards his flight was diverted to Gatwick due to fog and he made his connection with ease.

“Was it Mary’s intercession, would She help me?” he asked. “I don’t know but I prayed. I knew implicitly She was my mother. To this day I believe providence was guiding me on that occasion, that Mary interceded for me with Her Son.”

The archbishop referred to specific passages in the Bible such as the Annunciation; the wedding at Cana and Mary at the Foot of the Cross to reflect on Our Lady’s permanent state of Grace, her relationship with her son Jesus and her relationship with us.

He spoke of the Immaculate Conception, of how Our Lady was uniquely redeemed and of how Her Son was also Her Redeemer, His death ‘spanning space and time.’

Bishop Keenan told those gathered that the Lenten Catechesis series this year was laying the groundwork for the Paisley Lenten Synod next year, an event that requires the Church to ‘give the people catechesis’ plus ‘consultation and prayer.’

“And if this year’s catechesis is anything to go by, I just cannot wait for the synod in the year ahead,” the bishop said. “This series has helped restore confidence to us as Catholics. You here are helping to open up a new chapter of history in the Catholic Church in Scotland.”

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Pic: Robert Wilson

—This story ran in full in the April 3 print edition of the SCO, available in parishes.