Peter Costello
Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen, preaching a homily. All Time Belongs to Him: Seasons and Feasts of the Lord,
by Hugh Gilbert OSB
(Gracewing, £20.00 / £23.99)
This book is quite a contrast to the spiritual adventures of Ben Harrison. The author Hugh Gilbert OSB has been a Benedictine monk of Pluscarden Abbey near Elgin, in Moray in northern Scotland. This is, surprisingly, given the religious history of Great Britain, a community “living in the only medieval British monastery still being used for its original purpose”.
Bishop
However, in 2011 Hugh Gilbert was selected by Pope Francis to be the Bishop of Aberdeen. He chose as his motto the phrase of St Paul Omnia in Ipsos, “all things are held together in Christ” – an idea which echoes also much that is said in Ben Harrison’s book.
Bishop Gilbert is aware of the ruling hours of the monastic day, week and year. There is a time and a place for everything, with everything in its place – what a contrast to the rather chaotic life so many of us seem to follow these days.
These sermons preached by Hugh Gilbert Bishop of Aberdeen are just as conscious of the canonical divisions of the year in its regular round, regular in the sense of being structured.
In earlier times such collections were very popular, but since the nineteenth century they have faded away in importance”
This book is basically a collection of sermons, covering the course of the whole of the Church year. In earlier times such collections were very popular, but since the nineteenth century they have faded away in importance.
So though at one time they represented some of the finest teaching there was to be had and were widely read as such, today it is rare indeed to find people going out of their way to read sermons. Indeed the huge collection of homiletic literature from the 17th century onward housed in the Central Catholic Library in Merrion Square is little called upon.
But Bishop Gilbert, while bringing these former forms to mind, is also a bishop of the present day. He expresses himself clearly and encouragingly in a modern manner. There will be many people who will in fact find his style and treatment is greatly superior to what they get every Sunday in their local church.
These days when bishops seem to be seen more as administrators than teachers or advocates, this book will seem to many refreshingly traditional. As an accomplished work of pastoral teaching All Time Belongs to Him can be warmly recommended.