This year, the preparation for WYD 2011 is an essential part of our meetings.

Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the 26th World Youth Day (2011)

P.Al started with  a short prayer to the Holy Spirit. Remembering the passage from Matt 18,20:  (…) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The fact that He is in our midst is the presupposition and basis for the Bible meditation. We read a part of John 20 and shared with each other witch words or phrases that caught our eyes, heart and thoughts.

On coming Wednesday (5th of May) we’ll continue our Bible journey. This time we’ll read from the Acts of the Apostles, more precisely Paul’s speech on Areopagus (Acts 17,22-31) We’ll focus on Acts 17,22-28.

Picture of Areopagus with the Acropolis of Athens in the background from Wikimedia

Afterwards we will continue our Bible study. For this Bible Study you should read one of the chapters about the resurrection; You can choose to focus on one or you can read about it in all the Gospels (Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21).

Here you can find some of the text from previous Bible Studies.  This is recommended reading.

Here is the summary from P.Al about the Bible Study the 7th of April:

The Jews refer to their [Hebrew/Old testament] scriptures as the “TaNaK” which stands for the Torah [Law], the Nevi’im [Prophets] and Kethubim [Writings]. The whole Scriptures is often called simply as “the >LAW AND THE PROPHETS” (Mat. 7:12) Luke is more explicit when he adds the Psalms, which stands for the other books in the Kethubim as well.

On the Road to Emmaus and later in the Cenacle in Jerusalem, Jesus explains that what happend in the last three days – His Passion, death and Resurrection – had been written in Scriptures.

For Luke, the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms are enlighthened by what God has done to Jesus. JESUS IS THE FULFILMENT OF THE SCRIPTURES. This is the conviction of the Evangelists. Luke presents the Scriptures as POINTING TO JESUS – but the believer must open his mind and heart to this understanding.

The HOLY SPIRIT makes this possible and creates this reality as the believers are enlighthened.

Whatever might have been the Historical EMMAUS, Luke’s message is clear. Three Themes easily emerge:

• First: JESUS INTERPRETS THE SCRIPTURES- THE SCRIPTURES SPEAK ABOUT HIM AND FIND FULFILMENT IN HIM.
• Second: THE MEAL HAS THE OVERTONES OF THE EUCHARIST- WE RECOGNIZE THE RISEN JESUS IN THE “BREAKING OF THE BREAD”
• Third: AFTER ENCOUNTERING AND RECOGNIZING JESUS IN SCRIPTURES AND IN THE EUCHARIST, THE DISCIPLES WENT BACK AND SHARE THEIR FAITH EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMMUNITY OF DISCIPLES.

This in a Nutshell is Bible study, reflection and mission

Some of you may have noticed the new function in the right column with links to today’s Mass readings, psalm and reflection. This is a good way both to find the daily readings and at the same time you can get some words of reflection over the readings. Daily reading the Bible can surly deepen our faith and our relationship with God – the Bible is the word of God that speaks to us in our lives. That is why it is so important to get to know the Bible better and better.

In the Student Group we will have a Bible Study this semester. We want to know more about the Bible and how to read it. The goal with this Bible study is precisely to encourage the use of the Bible in our daily life, by educating us and helping us to start. Like Mary Elizabeth Sperry writes:

The Bible is not addressed only to long-dead people in a faraway land. It is addressed to each of us in our own unique situations. When we read, we need to understand what the text says and how the faithful have understood its meaning in the past. In light of this understanding, we then ask: What is God saying to me?

This Wednesday, the 24th of March, we will start with an introduction to the Bible study. Bring your Bible with you if you have one and join us in some hours of studying, listening and talking. I’m positive that this is the beginning of something interesting,  educational and fun. But most importantly this is a way to grow deeper in our faith and relationship with God.

P.Al focused on the message of his holiness Benedict XVI for lent 2009. You can read the whole letter here. If you want to read this year’s letter, you can find it here.

We had this lecture in order to “prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power (…)

We were reminded that God’s power “dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride” (Paschal Præconium).” (Benedict XVI)

The three, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, cannot be separated but have to work together. We cannot escape the fact that we are all  “weighed down by sin and its consequences”. In this way “fasting is proposed to us as an instrument to restore friendship with God.”

We desire to know God; we have a deep feeling of thirst and hunger for God. Pope Benedict explains:  “Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.” (Benedict XVI) In other words it is essential to make time and room for prayer, both alone and in the Church. The community of the Church reaches beyond and God is available for us at any moment, but at the same time we meet Christ in Church in a very direct way in the tabernacle and the Communion. We are never left alone, God is present. Here we can remember the passage from John 14,18 that we focused on during last adoration: “I will not leave you orphans;(…)”

P.Al recalled what the Canon law tells us about fasting, and reminded us that this is not rules implied on us as a way of control. No, the rules are educative and help us in our friendship with God. The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord. You can find the Canon law 1250-1253 about the days of penance here. If you want, you can read this article about “The Holy Season of Lent” by Conlin B. Donovan.

‘True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). As the gospel of Matthew (4,4) tells us: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.(…) The true fast is thus directed to eating the “true food,” which is to do the Father’s will (cf. Jn 4,34).

Pope Benedict XVI recalls that the ultimate goal of fasting is to help each of us (…)  to make the complete gift of self to God (cf. Encyclical Veritatis splendor, 21). And he encourage us  (…) to cast aside all that distracts the spirit and grow in whatever nourishes the soul, moving it to love of God and neighbor. He continues to emphasize the importance of (…) prayer, lectio divina, recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and active participation in the Eucharist, especially the Holy Sunday Mass. This is important for everyday life, but is especially important in the Holy season of lent.

It was very rewarding, as Father described Christian life in different situations, from a forced state religion to today’s secularism, and also how to react to the numbers who leave the Church.

Sadly, his visit came in a bad time, and only five people were able to hear the lecture. I’m sure the number of exams had something to do with it. Some of our students had three exams that week! That’s why I’d like to share my notes from the lecture with you, as well as Father’s notes.

With regards to the Catholic response to secularism, there are three models of thought. Some people would like to bring back state churches. The state churches had some good qualities, but we have to face that that era is over. Albeit nostalgic, it cannot be brought back by anything but power. Since the days of the state church, personal freedom has been established and people have discovered themselves to the point that we are acting only in our own interest. Bringing the church back by power would merely create anger, hostility and maybe indifference.

Remember also that if we strip our catholic culture of faith, the culture becomes meaningless. It’s not right to instrumentalize the Church for a culture that has no meaning. As a defence against other religions, such as Islam, it is unfruitful.

Christianity is over any nation. It is empty to say “I’mPolish, therefore Catholic” or “I’m Norwegian, therefore Lutheran”. If everybody thinks like this, the Church and faith will die. Christianity is international, over all nations and unifies all nations.

By all means, a Christian and Catholic life can only be led and sought by free will. After all, being Christian is about loving God, and love cannot be forced. All those who want to leave the Church, should be allowed to. Just like Jesus allowed people to stop following him when they found His teachings too hard to hear.

Another model in an attempt to win followers, is by adaption to modernism. To say we are modern and kind, we include everyone and tolerate everything. This is practically resigning, and we become the underdog. Imposed on the faithful will be the need for excuses. Secular, modern people can be aggressive or nervous when faced by faith.

It is true the Church should be open and meet reality, like it did with the council of Vatican II, but we must keep our Catholic identity. If our Church is a slave to modernity, it will lose substance and people will leave.

The third model, the best solution: to just be Catholic. It’s better that we are a happy, profiled and faithful minority than to be a bleak majority.

If we look to the first Christians, we see that they were called by Christ to follow him, and to influence the world – not govern it.

They were martyrs, confessors, true believers. They proclaimed the gospel with humility and fellowship – the people who met them said they shared everything with the exception of  their spouse. They were a new people of God among all the peoples.

They should be our role models today. Anywhere we go, we will meet people who do not know Christ or the Church. We should all be prepared to say something intelligent, something we have experienced in our own life. Be completely honest, hide nothing to make ourselves look better, as people will see through it and not take you seriously.

Be prepared to give account for Christ in your own life! This is his ission to all of us. Every Catholic is called to study theology in some form.

Father left us with this quote from the gospel of John, chapter 6, verses 44-71:

44 ‘No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God; everyone who has listened to the Father, and learnt from him, comes to me.

Not that anybody has seen the Father, except him who has his being from God: he has seen the Father. In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.

For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person. As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me. This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

This is what he taught at Capernaum in the synagogue. After hearing it, many of his followers said, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’

Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, ‘Does this disturb you? What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before? ‘It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.’But there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset who did not believe and who was to betray him.

He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one could come to me except by the gift of the Father.’

After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more.

Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.’

Jesus replied to them, ‘Did I not choose the Twelve of you? Yet one of you is a devil.’ He meant Judas son of Simon Iscariot, since this was the man, one of the Twelve, who was to betray him.

Click here for the full text

Having just finished Mass, we gathered some tea and my guess work tells me there was snacks of some kind – fruits? cake?

My memory serves me poorly on the details. Luckily I my notes tell me that we were joined by three new faces – Vanessa, who’s French, Simoneé and another Andrea. We are blessed with so many Andreas this semester I have lost track of their last names – but I do remember that this Andrea is a scout!

St. Mark. Picture from Wikipedia Commons

Father Al had prepared a lecture for us regarding the gospel reading from the last Sunday: when Jesus met the young rich man. Read this, property of Mark:

17As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Father put us into four groups and asked us to discuss the text. He asked us to think about where our heart was: what is our greatest treasure? We answered the questions in the groups, and then shared them with everyone. It took some good thinking to figure it out. Also, what we thought was the right answer wasn’t necessarily the truth for our lives, our actions and our thoughts.

He also asked us to consider what would happen to us if we lost our treasure. We had a hard time picturing this, as we so often fail to see that our greatest treasure is God, and get confused by our constant want for iphones and bigger, better and more things.

I want to take the time to remind us all of the next passage in Mark’s gospel. The previous passage can be a bit demotivating. The young man says he follows the commandments, and Jesus says it’s still not enough. How many of us can say they’ve never broken a commandment? Who is free of sin? Luckily Jesus reminds us:

23Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

We are not accepted in the kingdom of God by our own strength or cabability, but by the grace of God.

Some of the students said they considered themselves pilgrims, that we’re always on a path. It’s important to never stop trying, to never consider yourself perfect, that there’s no room for improvement – but to also remember that God is with you in every one of those steps. In your trials, your victories, your sin – God is there.

I think the lecture definetely raised some questions in our minds, about the way we lead our lives and what we consider our treasures. Thank you very much, Father Al!

First he was a viking. Later he became the king of Norway for a short time,

before his death, which may have been a martyr death, if he was not murdered by one of his own. After his death, he was named saint by the local bishop. This was before the Vatican took charge and organized the canonization.

Now he is recognized as the patron saint of Norway, and has numerous churches dedicated to him both in Norway (Oslo and Trondheim), and abroad. You will find Olav has greatly influenced Norway when you look for it. Our regional hospital is called St. Olav’s hospital, and Olav, Ola and Ole are still popular names for boys.

Father Etienne also questioned, at the end of the lecture, if it is right to impose faith on others. Saint Olav christened Norway by the sword, and is celebrated by the Church despite this. Today faith is still imposed on people, mostly in other parts of the world. We also discussed whether Church and state should be separate or, as in Norway and England, one.

Father Etienne has been so kind as to give us his whole lecture, for future reference and for those who could not join us. Read it here!