Scottish Catholic Observer

Those who rise above themselves rise above the whole world, Bishop Hugh Gilbert said in his Lenten message.

The Bishop of Aberdeen, above, welcomed the arrival of ‘Lady Lent’ with ‘the mercy of God on her lips,’ in his message to the Faithful the as the Holy season began.

“Lent is a feast,” he said. “Lent is a very rich time: there is great wealth of reading in prayers, in the Liturgy of every day. As we know, there are sacramental opportunities—many people decide to go to Mass a little more often than they usually do.”

We take part in ‘time honoured practices,’ the bishop said, of prayer, fasting and alms giving. “Prayer has to do with our relationship with God, fasting our relationship with ourselves, alms giving our relationship with others—so it is the whole of us in all of the dimension in our life that can be refreshed and recreated at this time of the year.”

Lent is a time when we see things in God’s way and not simply our own, the bishop added, saying ‘a new light is cast’ on difficult situations and relationships.

“We see them as God sees them,” he said. “We can discover a deeper peace. We can be reconciled with others. Perhaps each of us could think that as Lady Lent comes to use she has in our hand something for each of us. There is a special grace waiting for us, a grace that comes from the death and resurrection of Christ. And it is never just about ourselves because the more we allow the mercy of God into our lives then the more that mercy of God has free rein in the world.”

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