All Time Belongs to Him

'All time belongs to him and all the ages'-Bishop Hugh makes this clear as he leads us through the liturgical year, with homilies and catecheses as stepping stones where we may pause for refreshment and reflection. Some were delivered online as the faithful prayed in solitude during Covid. They offer inspiration for preachers and lay folk alike, demonstrating how one priest feeds the spiritual hunger of his flock with the riches of the liturgy. There are no 'gimmicks', no attempts to be merely 'clever'.

The Church's year is always the dish on which the sacraments are brought to us. This is most visible in the Eucharistic celebration. It is that, above all, which empowers the liturgical year and its feasts and makes it and them a carrier of the grace and power of the mysteries (sacramenta) of Christ's life, and of his saving presence itself.

Bishop Hugh Gilbert OSB has been a Benedictine monk of Pluscarden Abbey in Moray, Scotland, for 50 years and was Abbot for 19 years before being nominated as Bishop of Aberdeen by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. He chose as his episcopal motto a phrase from St Paul's Letter to the Colossians, 1:17-Omnia in Ipso, All things hold together in Him (Christ), a motto which fits well with the title of this book. He has sat on the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) since 2015 and is currently Chairman. He is also currently a Bishop Member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and Chair of the National Liturgical Commission of Scotland. He has previously published several books with Gracewing-Unfolding the Mystery, Living the Mystery and The Tale of Quisquis. He has also published several booklets with CTS, including Hearing Christ's Voice, on the new Lectionary for the Church in Britain.