The Requiem Mass for Archbishop Philip Tartaglia takes place today (Thursday 21 January) at midday.
A live stream of the funeral can be found here.
Last night, Archbishop Cushley presided over the Reception of Remains at St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow. The full video can be watched here. Below is an edited version of the Archbishop's closing words.
All video content: Sancta Familia Media.
Archbishop Cushley's closing remarks at Reception of Remains 20/01/21
My dear friends, before we go our separate ways, I would just like to add a word of my own condolences to all of Philip’s brothers and sisters, to my dear friend Gerard, to all of you here, and to all of Philip’s family, only some of whom can be present due to restrictions, and to all the clergy and people of the Archdiocese.
This is a sudden and sad loss for all of us in our little corner of the Lord’s vineyard in Scotland. After absorbing this blow, the Archdiocese of Glasgow will surely move forward and, please God, will be blessed with a fine new leader, but it's only right that we take time for a moment to thank God for Philip, your brother, for his life, his priesthood, his unique goodness and humour, and for his taking up the many heavy tasks that were placed on his shoulders over nearly fifty years of service to the people, and the city, and the church that he loved so much.
So, we do well to take a moment to remember him as he was, and as we knew him.
But, we also do well to recall that Christian funerals are not, in fact, about the person who has died - but about someone else, the One who died for love of us, the one that Philip spent his life serving, Jesus Christ, our master and our guide.
A Christian funeral draws us away from our sadness, our pain and loss, and even from the memory of our love for the one who has died, and helps us raise our eyes to the Creator of all things who has now called Philip to himself.
As the name suggests, a Christian funeral focuses upon Jesus Christ, upon his love for us all, and upon the confidence and hope that we place in our merciful Redeemer. Our God is a God of love, and whether we live or we die, we belong to Him.
With confidence, therefore, we commend Philip to God’s mercy. We do so with affection for Philip, and for each other, and we do so with the hope that we will all meet together again, happily, in paradise.
Eternal rest grant unto him or Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him; may he rest in peace. Amen