Page 19 - LOTN Advent issue 57

LITURGY

in St Peter’s square until February 2 . At the Presentation of often experienced, please remember Advent and Christmas are
nd
the Lord, or Candlemas, Scripture tells us that the Holy Family seasons. Let us prepare our hearts and minds during Advent
were met by St Simeon who called Jesus “a light for revelation and fully celebrate Christmas for 40 days. And if the needles
to the Gentiles” (Lk 2:32). It is also a day to have your candles dropping are starting to bother you, I suggest at least leaving
blessed. I like doing just this, before taking them home and the Christmas crib for a bit longer, to remind you fully of the
putting them away with the Christmas decorations. meaning of Christmas.
So, rather than the anticlimactic end to festivities that is
Appeal for help from church leaders

Kirsten Schouwenaars-Harms is a parishioner at St Thomas' Church in Keith. She is currently working towards a doctorate
in ministry, for which she is researching the lived experience of domestic church leaders in the Diocese of Aberdeen.

“The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it domestic church and have a dependent child or children
parents should, by their word and example, be the first living at home. These one-on-one interviews will be fully
preachers of the faith to their children; they should confidential, lasting approximately 30-45 minutes and
encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each can be conducted in person or online.
of them, fostering with special care vocation to a sacred If you know of someone who fits these criteria and
state.” (Lumen Gentium 11) might be willing to speak from anywhere in the Diocese, I
would appreciate it if you could either let me know or give
I firmly believe that these small communities of faithful them my details.
have an important role to play in the evangelising mission Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any
of the Church. In order to gain a deeper understanding of questions with regards to the research.
their unique ministry I am looking to interview “domestic
church leaders” from all over the diocese. Participants Kirsten Schouwenaars-Harms
have to be a practising Roman Catholics living in the 700321@live.stmarys.ac.uk
Diocese of Aberdeen, actively leading or joint leading a

Taking a reflective journey with Bishop

Hugh Gilbert through the liturgical year

The Church's year is always the dish on which the
All Time Belongs to Him - sacraments are brought to us. This is most visible in the
Seasons and Feasts of the Lord Eucharistic celebration. It is that, above all, which empowers
Author: Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB the liturgical year and its feasts and makes it and them a
Publisher: Gracewing Publishing carrier of the grace and power of the mysteries (sacramenta)
of Christ's life, and of his saving presence itself.
ISBN/ISSN: 9978 085244 992 9 Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB has been a Benedictine monk
Pages: 312 of Pluscarden Abbey in Moray, Scotland, for 50 years and
Price:£20 was Abbot for 19 years before being nominated as Bishop
of Aberdeen by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. He chose as
To order: https://www. his episcopal motto a phrase from St Paul's Letter to the
gracewing.co.uk/page162.html Colossians, 1:17-Omnia in Ipso, All things hold together in
Him (Christ), a motto which fits well with the title of this
'All time belongs to him and all the ages'- Bishop Hugh book. He has sat on the International Commission on English
makes this clear as he leads us through the liturgical in the Liturgy (ICEL) since 2015 and is currently Chairman.
year, with homilies and catecheses as stepping stones He is also currently a Bishop Member of the Dicastery for
where we may pause for refreshment and reflection. Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and
Some were delivered online as the faithful prayed Chair of the National Liturgical Commission of Scotland. He
in solitude during Covid. They offer inspiration for has previously published several books with Gracewing-
preachers and lay folk alike, demonstrating how Unfolding the Mystery, Living the Mystery and The Tale of
one priest feeds the spiritual hunger of his flock with Quisquis. He has also published several booklets with CTS,
the riches of the liturgy. There are no 'gimmicks', no including Hearing Christ's Voice, on the new Lectionary for
attempts to be merely 'clever'. the Church in Britain.

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