Canon urges politicians to ‘encourage’ young people

Canon Gerard Tartaglia of Our Holy Redeemer & St Margaret’s Church, Whitecrook, gave the Scottish Parliament’s Time for Reflection before First Minister Nichola Sturgeon announced new restrictions.

Canon Tartaglia stated that he wanted to reflect on the ‘tremendous gifts and qualities young people have and exhibit’.

“There is a huge compassionate heart in so many of our young people and a deep desire to know why they are here, what their lives might mean,” he said.

“This is no surprise. They reflect how they have been made with the generous heart of a compassionate God.

“Our job is to guide and encourage those younger to be a good example, to be coherent, and in this place in particular, to offer consistent able government, so that they can explore themselves, their communities, their society, their faith, and the world.

Canon Tartaglia noted that Christ was in his 30’s when He began His ministry. ‘His students’ however, ‘they were not the same age of the old men and women of statues and stories,’ he said.

“They would probably have been younger, seventeen, twenty-one, twenty-five.

“They grew to be brave and determined, searching, and desiring to discover their calling, their purpose might be.

“Our young people are in the same boat. They need to be encouraged and supported by those older with a real heart and love for them.”

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