Page 2 - LOTN Spring Issue 52 2023
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DIOCESE
Contents
DIOCESE
News from around the Diocese including:
Fortrose bids farewell to Bishop Peter ............................ 3
Students helping out in the community.............................4
Stella Maris news .....................................................................5 Trying to fill that God-shaped hole
Pluscarden Pentecost Lectures ..........................................6
50th anniversary of French Mass ........................................7 he story goes that a man attended Mass one week and
become increasingly agitated with the homily. On the
World Youth Day ......................................................................8 Tway out he stopped to speak to the priest.
OBITUARY "Father," he said, "You really have to do something about
Ged Farrell RIP............................................................................9 your homilies. You speak about the same thing every time I
Ena Ross RIP ............................................................................10 come here.”
FAITH IN ACTION The priest replied, “Well, it's not surprising, you only come
Ronald Leith's 50 years at the keyboards .......................11 to Mass on Easter Sunday.”
EDUCATION AND FORMATION It's true that at Christmas and Easter the numbers attending
The beloved disciple.............................................................12 church tend to increase. Perhaps some people feel that they are
fulfilling their religious obligation by going to church twice a
The source and summit of Christian life .......................14 year—at Christmas and Easter!
FAITH AND CULTURE But, I'm sure there is more to it than that. In Augustine's
The faithful and gentle teacher ....................................... 16 Confessions the great African saint says to God, "You have made
Mary, Queen of Poland ..................................................... 18 us for yourself, and our hearts our restless till they find their
Maryi Królowej Polski ................................................................ 19 rest in you." The French philosopher and Christian apologist
“Laugh, laugh, Kookaburra laugh” .................................. 21 Blaise Pascal made the same reflection, "There is a God-shaped
A kingdom for Christ .........................................................22 vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by
any created thing but only by God."
Chapel in the rocks .............................................................. 25 We all of us have a "God shaped hole", a vacuum which sadly
Sacred Heart Church, Torry ............................................... 26 many spend their lives trying to fill. Work, celebrity, wealth
Book review - Exploring a northern pilgrims way .......28 and even football may all help to bridge the gap; to stave off
The poet and the saint of Orkney ....................................30 the hunger pangs, so to speak, but somehow we still remain
Dishes from the Diocese - Orkney .................................. 31 unfulfilled and wonder why we are never quite content. God
MISCELLANY willing, sooner or later, we come to realise that, what Pascal
ALLSORTS of Everything .................................................... 32 also called that "infinite abyss" within our hearts can only
CROSSWORD AND SUDOKU ............................................ 33 be satisfied by the infinite and unchanging presence of God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, we welcome all who come into our churches this Easter,
be they just 'touching base' or 'whose hearts are restless'.
May I send to all readers
In the words of a fourth century Easter homily preached by
of the Light of the North St John Chrysostom:
heartfelt wishes for a joyful
Easter and Eastertide. May "First and last alike receive your reward;
this graced time fill us all rich and poor, rejoice together!
with a renewed sense of the Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!
presence of the Lord and a You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
fresh readiness for the tasks rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!"
with which he entrusts us.
+ A very happy Easter,
Cowan
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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