What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Clutha Bar – Helicopter Crash

    I’m just about to go to church to take our St Andrew’s Day eucharist. Inevitably, as we pray, all thoughts are going to be with the ongoing incident in the city centre, where a police helicopter crashed onto the roof of the Clutha Bar when it was full last night.

    I’ve yet to hear direct stories from individuals but know that this weekend I will be talking to those for whom this was a first hand incident. Members of the congregation live close by, others will have been in the area (I was in a nearby pub just the day before) and others have been involved in trying to help the injured – at least one medic from the congregation was called into hospital for what must have been a long night.

    I invite anyone who can pause, to pray with us at 9.30 this morning either in person at the cathedral or wherever you happen to be.

    Our prayers this St Andrew’s Day will be with them all. Praying for the injured and missing. Giving thanks for acts of selfless courage which keep getting reported on the radio. Remembering the people from the emergency services who appeared very quickly and thinking of the many local Glaswegians who walked into danger to help the casualties.

    Eternal God
    For those who wait for news.
    For those who wake with fear.
    Lord in your mercy.
    Hear our prayer.

    Prayers will be offered for those caught up in the incident at all services in St Mary’s this weekend.

    , ,

4 responses to “Politics of Pilgrimage”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Living in Ireland – at one time not too far from Knock – it always astonished me when driving through the village how those who had just visited the shrine seemed to think that it had made them invincible! They’d wander into the middle of the road and totally ignore the traffic streaming around them!

    A bottle of Knock holy water in the shape of Our Lady sits behind me as I type – next to a similar one from Lourdes and a knitted Orangeman bedecked with a collarette proclaiming him a member of LOL 1, Portadown! The juxtaposition is deliberate! (I wonder if + David has one on his shelves from the "support Drumcree" shop?!)

    Which leads to the question "How do holy water taps work?" – theologically, that is! What is blessed to make it holy? Is it the reservoir (but that is constantly replenished and so eventually, after being diluted for a long time, the water becomes "unholy". Is it the tap itself and the water is sanctified by passing through it?

    Discuss!

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Holy Water Taps
    Perhaps the water becomes holy when it is applied by the believer to the cat.

    Reply
  3. Joan Avatar
    Joan

    Holy water and questions about pilgrimage

    Hmmm, yes I can see the dilemma…I guess the female ordaindees (not a word really, apologies for my attack on the English language) are excluded – though would it be possible to construct a small al fresco altar and hold a ceremony of your own?  Pilgrimage places become so because people believe something, not just the ecclesiastical hierarchy, I think?  If we don’t go then it is like saying ‘ok, you have that site of devotion then’.  (Yikes I sound so serious, which I am, but I really do mean my statements to come out as questions…not commands.)

    As to the cat, holy water, and the believer – maybe  all the water is holy and we just think we play a role in making it so?  Alternatively, maybe the cat is the believer and the water is transformed through a great mysterious purr.

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    The Cat in Question
    As for the cat in question, she is not a believer as such. Rather, she thinks that she is the only proper object of veneration.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Sermon – 17 June 2007 – The woman with the perfume

    When I was first in full time ministry, as a lay person, some fifteen years ago, I worked as a member of the chaplaincy team, in the University of London. The team that I worked in was a team of five people, four ordained, and me, a lay person. Four were men, and one a…

  • Ahh, arrhh, arrrrhhhhh chooo!

    I’m off work for a couple of days. I’ve picked up a sneezing lurgy. If I had company, I’m sure it would be a man-cold. However, as it is, I’m on my own, so it is merely an indisposition. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

  • Music in the Cathedral

    In addition to matters liturgical, I’ve been at two concerts over the last couple of days. One of contemporary music and another by a brilliant new jazz ensemble. Both of these were taking place in St Mary’s as elements of the West End Festival. It is wonderful to see the building open and in use…

  • Feast of the Son of Encouragement

    Wait a minute, I need a maniple. What? I need a maniple, if I am going to celebrate this morning. No you don’t. You might want a maniple, but you don’t really think you need one do you? What!? No maniple, no mass! Anyway, I’m not sure it should be called a maniple. What about…