Scottish Catholic Observer

Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury urged the Faithful of Paisley to use the solar eclipse as a reminder of the need to always embrace Christ.

At the fourth in the diocese’s stunningly successful Lenten Catechist series, another full cathedral was told by the English bishop that when the sun disappears and the streets grow dark on Friday ‘this is what happens to us when we lose sight of Christ, we are lost in the shadows.’

“The moon has no light of it’s own save what is reflected from the light of the Sun,” the bishop said. “Similarly without the light of the Son of God the Church is nothing but dust and darkness.”

In a powerful and engaging address. Bishop Davies focused on the need to accept Christ into our lives.

“There are three main themes to this talk,” he explained, “our need to find the essential person of Jesus, the Church’s mission to bring the world to Christ and that we will find Christ in the Eucharist.”

Too often, the bishop said, we are looking in the wrong direction and we don’t see Christ.

Bishop Davies also said he had been in Scotland, last September on the day of the referendum on independence.

“Driving through the country, I saw all the posters for yes and for no,” he said. “And then Scotland was faced with a stark choice. All the arguments came down to one question, yes or no. But everyday we are faced with an even starker one articulated in the Creed, ‘Do I believe in one God the Father, the Almighty.”

Bishop John Keenan of Paisley had begun proceeding by welcoming Bishop Davies and thanking him for coming.

“Bishop Davies is known for his robust and intelligent defence of the Catholic Faith,” he said. “His courage defines him.”

He also thanked the people of Paisley for coming out in such numbers once again.”

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—Read the full version of this story in the March 20 edition of the SCO in parishes from Friday.