Page 2 - LOTN Autumn Issue 54 2023
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DIOCESE
Contents No news is good news
DIOCESE ost of us want to be informed about what is
News from around the Diocese including: happening in the world around us, if only to
Letter from Bishop Hugh Gilbert ...................................... 3 Mpray for those suffering and in need. However,
St Joseph's 80th birthday.........................................................4 constant exposure to a stream of bad news has been
Fr Patrick Rice SJ retirement ....................................................7 proven to take a toll on our mental health, increasing our
World Youth Day ......................................................................9 anxiety and stress levels which can then impact on our
Fellowship awarded to Deacon Tony Schmitz ..............10 sleep and overall wellbeing.
Fr Giles' 50th anniversary of first monastic vows ........11 It seems that it's all to do with how negative news
Solemn Profession of Brother Benedict-Joseph ..........12 activates our brain's "fight or flight" response which
Artist Joyce Davis' s Peacock exhibition ...........................13 prompts the body to release stress hormones, its natural
WITNESS response to a crisis.
Psychologists believe that humans have a “negativity
Rosemary's story .................................................................. 16 bias”, whereby we pay more attention to negative
EDUCATION AND FORMATION information than positive so, to make matters worse, social
Following Mary to the foot of the cross ..........................17 media outlets, knowing this, will tend to focus on disaster
Preparing for the Lord ......................................................... 20 reporting, outlandish human-interest stories, rumour
FAITH AND CULTURE and controversy rather than positive news: sensational
Lessons and carols ............................................................... 22 headlines tend to get more attention and so more "clicks".
Walking the "Way of St Francis" ..................................... 23 Aside from our own wellbeing, there is also the danger
St Gregory the Great on ministry burnout ..................... 24 that we become desensitised to tragedy; that we can no
Book Review - "Equal but Different" ............................... 25 longer respond empathetically to the horrors we are
The Picts and the Peterkirks .............................................. 26 being presented with. We may even develop a strange
Polish announcements....................................................... 29 compulsion to be forever searching for more and more
Polscy Katolicy w Szkocji za 10 lat ..................................... 30 negative content, or what is now called "doom scrolling"!
We need to remember that there is good news out there,
Konstanz Cathedral ............................................................. 33 though it may not grab the headlines. For a start, it’s Advent,
Dishes from the Diocese - Banchory .............................. 35 a time for reflection, spiritual growth, and embracing the
MISCELLANY hope and promise of Christ's arrival, both in the historical
ALLSORTS of Everything .................................................... 37 event of his birth and in the future expectation of his
CROSSWORD AND SUDOKU ............................................ 39 return. And the angel said to them: ''Fear not, for behold,
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
his nativity scene was painted people.'' - Luke 2:10
up T(English: "Lawrence the Light of the North. You can read about how St Joseph's
in 1414 by Lorenzo Monaco
And there's more good news in this Advent issue of the
front Monk"), an Italian painter of the Catholic Primary School, Inverness, celebrated its 80th
early Renaissance.
birthday (Page 4) while Eileen Grant in, Preparing for the
The ox, ass, manger, and heavenly host
are all pictured as in Luke chapter two. Lord, reflects on scripture to reaffirm what Advent is really
all about (Page 20). On page 22 Shelagh Noden discovers
Also faithful to Luke two is Lorenzo's way of depicting the origins of the traditional ‘Lessons and Carols Service’
the annunciation to the shepherds. In verse nine "the and Lidia Konar takes a positive look at the future of Polish
brightness of God shone round about them; and they Catholicism in Scotland (Page 30). Good news indeed!
feared with a great fear." The shepherds' mountain on
the left corresponds with the empty hill on the right Wishing you a blessed Advent and a Happy Christmas
with a dark tree in the background. This is probably a
reference to the hill of Calvary and the tree on which the Cowan
baby in the foreground is destined to die.
Managing Editor Advertising
Deacon Tony Schmitz 07816344241
advertising.lightofthenorth@rcd-abdn.org
Editor
Cowan Watson The Light of the North
07816344241 St Mary’s Cathedral
editor.lightofthenorth@rcd-abdn.org 20 Huntly Street
ABERDEEN
Editorial Advisor AB10 1SH
Dr Glen Reynolds www.lightofthenorth.org
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