Nieuwe katholieken treden toe in de kathedraal

Zater­dag­avond 22 no­vem­ber trad opnieuw een groep jonge mensen toe tot de katho­lieke kerk. Zij hebben zich de afgelopen maan­den voor­be­reid door de fun­da­men­ten­cur­sus, meestal na een Alpha­cur­sus. In de plech­tig­heid wer­den vier jonge mensen gedoopt, zes anderen ont­vingen het vormsel.

Engels-Neder­lands

Ge­woon­lijk is de heilige Mis op zater­dag­avond in de ka­the­draal in het Engels, maar op deze avond was de doop­vie­ring zelf in het Neder­lands omdat dat de eigen taal was van bijna alle kan­di­da­ten en de vor­me­lin­gen van niet-Neder­landse afkomst die taal voldoende mach­tig waren. Met hen waren veel vrien­den en fami­lie­le­den meege­ko­men, zodat besloten werd dat ik de preek - die U hier­on­der in het Engels vindt - in het Neder­lands zou hou­den. Gelukkig is die taal me niet vreemd!

Vlen waren er...

De ka­the­draal was goed vol, mooi dat zoveel mensen deze vie­ring mee wil­den maken. Het koor Cantemus Domino onder lei­ding van zuster Elvira Maria met N. Shimizu aan het orgel, heeft mooi gezon­gen. Plebaan-deken Floris Bun­scho­ten con­ce­le­breerde, samen met kape­laan Teun Warnaar, die verant­woor­de­lijk was voor de voor­be­rei­ding van de kan­di­da­ten (waarin hij wordt bijgestaan door gewel­dige vrij­wil­li­gers) en pater Esko Kissboat uit Heem­ste­de. De lector was ook bij­zon­der betrokken. Zijn vriendin ont­ving het heilig doopsel. In de kerk zaten ook jon­ge­ren van de voor­be­rei­dings­cur­sus (catechumenaat) die nu bezig is en andere jon­ge­ren die verbon­den zijn met de dopelingen/vor­me­lin­gen of het eens mee willen maken. De jon­ge­ren van de voor­be­rei­dings­cur­sus (catechumenaat) hopen volgend jaar in april het heilig doopsel te ont­van­gen.

Feest

Na afloop van de vie­ring was er gelegen­heid te fe­li­ci­te­ren in het bis­schops­huis en velen maakten daar gebruik van, vrien­den en vrien­din­nen van de dopelingen en vor­me­lin­gen, bege­lei­ders en anderen. Het werd een gezel­lig feest met heer­lijke hapjes en drankjes.

Proficiat

Van harte felici­teer ik al degenen die het heilig doopsel en/of vormsel hebben ont­van­gen. Mogen de heilige Geest hen sterken om getuigen van Christus te zijn in onze wereld.

We vier­den het feest van Christus koning, laatste zon­dag door het jaar. De evan­ge­lie­le­zing was uit Lucas 23, 35-43.

You too must bear witness 

CHRIST THE KING 2025 CATHEDRAL

“You too must bear witness, for you are with me...”

That dear candidates for holy Baptism and Confirmation is the theme for World Youth Day
that is celebrated this weekend in catholic churches worldwide. And I would like to encourage all of us, but especially you, who are about to receive these sacra­ments to be a witness of Jesus Christ. But, who is Jesus Christ?

San Claudio

When I was studying in Rome a long time ago, I regularly visited the church of San Claudio in the city centre. There was adoration all day long, the Blessed Sacra­ment was exposed. The host, the body of Christ, was placed in a hol­der, the monstrance, high up above the altar. That altar was surrounded by an enormous royal mantle of red velvet, white on the inside with black speckles, as a royal mantle is, and on top of it was an enormous crown.

The greatest king

This may appeal to you or not at all, but the idea behind it is quite clear: Jesus Christ, under the species of Bread, hid­den and humble among us, He is the greatest king, His royal mantle and His crown are greater than anyone else's. 

100 years Christ the Kingfeast

This year marks the centenary of Pope Pius XI's establish­ment of the Feast of Christ the King. 1925 was precisely the year that Italy’s Benito Mussolini began to rule as a dictator, surroun­ding himself with pomp and splendour, as if he were a new Roman emperor.
In that year, Pope Pius XI, who would later turn against fascism in Encyclcicals in German and Italian language, proclaimed Christ as king. This is a message! That message was rele­vant a hundred years ago, and it is just as rele­vant today.

Goal of life

Because people are still inclined to go for strong men who will fix things, and we run the risk that those with the biggest mouths will call the shots. And, no, don't immedia­tely look at “the others”, let's first and foremost look at ourselves and our own motivation: what are you doing it for, what are you living for? Do you want to rule or do you want to serve? Do you want to act tough and appear great, or is your goal simply to bring a little piece of heaven to earth through love for God and your neighbour?

Don't die!

The latter is not a glorious task in which you go through life as a demigod; the Christian task, our mission, is one of perseverance, humble service, not giving up, continuing and constantly nou­rishing your faith and trust, because you know that ultima­tely it can never come from yourself. Without spiritual nou­rish­ment, you will die spiritually.

Heroes? What greatness?

Huge crowds have cheered Hitler or Mussolini, because they saw them as heroes and strong lea­ders. But that was just the outer appearance.
 What is true greatness? You can see it in San Claudio! There, surrounded by the greatest and highest honour, clothed in splendour and deemed worthy of all royal titles, is a piece of bread - to the eye - something that we humans consi­der almost nothing, something we could so easily throw away, so insignificant and simple is it, the humble presence of our Lord.

Bread

From a human point of view, that is already wrong, because it is bread, that is to say: food that keeps us alive, which is in any case something to be honoured, not thrown away; and with the eyes of faith you see: under the outward appearance, under the species of bread there is the Lord, Christ our King, who gives us life, who will save us from death.

The Gospel

This line of thought is also what we see in today's Gospel: outwardly, it is nothing: a convicted criminal han­ging there, blee­ding to death, despicable, the least of all. The sight of him raises the question in us: How do you respond? What position do you take? The two criminals han­ging next to him represent the possible choices: One sees only the outside, like the soldiers and the lea­ders, moc­king Him.

The true power

Here on the cross, that exterior is pitiful, ridiculous, despicable and that is exactly what one criminal, the lea­ders and soldiers do: they mock their God and despise the Lord, that weakling on the cross. But the other criminal sees the interior, the true power, the real greatness, because real greatness, real richness is something of the inside; and he begs for mercy: ‘Remember me...’. 
True greatness, real royal power, you only see loo­king mere closely, with discern­ment, unimpressed by appearances and displays of power.

Adore Him

This little, hid­den Lord, this powerless king is clothed with the highest honour, the greatest royal mantle: Christ is King! Worship in your lives that Lord, who came to serve...bear witness to Him!

Capri

This summer, I saw an amateur video on the in­ter­net. Andrea Boccelli attended Mass while on holiday on Capri. At the end of the Mass, the priest sud­denly asked him if he could sing. And he did, simply: Ave Maria, just for the Lord and His Mother and for the few people who were there... At such a moment, you see something of the spirit that inspires someone. 

Famous converts

Many people have become Catholics, inclu­ding all kinds of celebrities: Andrea Boccelli, Tony Blair, J.D. Vance, Charlie Kirk, Marco Rubio and many, many others. Each of them has had their own spiritual journey. Are they good Catholics? 
That is not for me to judge, but the question is not how important they are in the eyes of the world, but whether they serve and contribute to the glory of God and the well-being of people with their talents, their gifts, their perseverance, their tenacity and love. And so it is for us. If you serve, then you are king with Christ.