 Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader today is Helen Border, Chairperson, Friends of Divine Mercy Scotland. Presiding officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to share this time of reflection with you this afternoon. When we took the Mercy bus out into the streets of Scotland this year, it was so It is so clear that there was such loneliness and heartache in our world today. I could speak about all the things that are going wrong in our society, but you know that already. What I am going to speak about is love, hope and joy. Saint Paul tells us in Romans 15.7, Accept one another for the glory of God as Christ has accepted you. How hard it is sometimes for us to accept each other and to respect each other's views. I ask you to look into your own heart, and if there's anything you're holding against another person, please let it go and you will feel so much better. How can we expect the Lord to forgive us if we don't forgive each other? Forgiveness and mercy go hand in hand. The more we can forgive, the more we can offer mercy and love to others. What better way to show kindness and love than to smile to all we meet? A genuine smile from the heart can be so comforting to another person. When visiting a shopping centre with the mercy bus, I offered a lady a miraculous medal and a divine mercy chocolate and told her that God loved her. She burst into tears and said to me, That's the kindest words that I've heard in years. How sad it is that some people in our world are so upset, so sad and lonely, not just the elderly, not just the isolated groups. I don't have time to sing this to you, but as the song says, Smile though your heart is aching. If you smile through your fear and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through for you. Light up your face with gladness, hide every trace of sadness, although a tear may be ever near. That's the time you must keep on trying. Smile, what's the use in crying? You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.