Summary of the speech of Right Reverend Ward Cortvriendt, O. Praem., Abbot of Berne Abbey, Netherlands
on the special occasion of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of St. Norbert Abbey

50 years anniversary of the new abbey;
50 years of change and challenge.
1959: A new culture was already emerging and just like abbot Gary I was 8 years old at the time. Pope John XXIII would soon call for the second Vatican Council. The revolt among the students of the seminary Rijssenberg in Holland had already taken place, 10 years ahead of the revolts in Paris. Rock and Roll, lost generation, beatniks, existentialism, cold war, nuclear threat, drugs abuse coming up in music scene and clubs, Billy Halliday on one hand and crooners on the other, the petty values of decent family life on one side and the rebel without a cause on the other.

In the years to come Vatican II took place with all its rissorgimento and aggiornamento. The society came in motion, at drift as some would say. New values were discovered or reinvented, the individual rights, freedom, love and peace. But also Pigs Bay, Cuba, Vietnam becoming a disaster, Nixon becoming one too! In the mean time a part of the abbey of De Pere, Daylesford, became an independent canonry in 1963. !969 saw the renewal chapters throughout the order to adapt to the the results of the second Vatican. !976 celebrated the bicentennial and the general chapter was held here in De Pere.

In 1984, 25 years ago, De Pere held another renewal chapter. New values were stated related to communal life, apostolate, vocation, relevance, and these were summarized in a mission statement that established and met the need of hope and new perspectives after difficult times.

Our world kept on changing. The digital influence is unparalleled. Sometimes we feel ourselves at a loss with our ancient old fashioned message dating from the year zero, in a time that young people call everything from yesterday "so 20th century" as if it concerns an archeological artifact, a biological atavism or a Jurassic life form that creeps from under a rock.

Nonetheless we find ourselves still present in the year 2009, celebrating together and all, and we look at the things that happen in our days as our predecessors did in their time. Some of them we find reassuring, others very disquieting ( new spirituality, the plural society, the need of direction among many young people, questions that put our way of life under criticism even by ourselves) Often we stop at giving our, sometimes too easy, judgment on the contemporary phenomena, instead of asking further and looking deeper into their meaning and bearing.

We must not react as though we don't want to have them happen, because they actually do happen. We cannot say "no" to reality. We must affirm and discern. See what is happening, discern what it means and act correspondingly. The value we give to what is happening though is not arbitrary. We have to relate it to the criteria of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the future that is given to us in promise and in mission. It gives us something to be, something to hope for and something to do.

When we talk about our future, I think we ought to keep in mind that we already have a future. It's not like we have to make one, as if we could! On the other hand the choices we make now influence our reality and therewith our future.

Our job is to discern whether or not and in what way we serve the progress of the Kingdom of God. In serving the Kingdom we receive our future. And as long as God's future is going on, ours does as well. This is very consoling and invites us to live, and that must sound familiar to you, in good faith even in times of change. Times that will perhaps change ourselves, our way of life. Saint Augustine lived in a time the church was trying to understand it's message amidst various conceptions of faith. Saint Norbert lived in a time of transition, looking for the best response. And so do we to the best of our abilities and with the faith we have. And we pray the Holy Spirit to help us in our faith and confidence.

This year, the 87Sth anniversary of Saint Norbert to heaven, also the 87Sth anniversary of the Abbey of Berne in this world, a new book on the life of Saint Norbert, written by the history professor Peter Nissen, was published and edited by the abbey of Berne on behalf of the Dutch speaking circary. It's titled Norbert of Gennep, seeker of God in times of transition, change.

I offer a copy to abbot Gary, it has the statue of saint Norbert at the Saint Norbert College on the front. It is a very small gift, but the actual gift is not ready yet, but will be when he visits us for the celebration of our birthday. Small gifts though express and nurture relationship and friendship (dosis d' olige te phile te as the Greek say, small gifts maintain the friendship).

Two years ago I started to redecorate our abbey church which was rather crummy and dark. I wanted it to express light and hope and space as signs of the resurrection of which we are witnesses. Above the projected altar with an almost floating stone, representing the stone of the grave removed, is to come a resurrection cross. I planned to make some smaller copies of it for our daughters, but they are not ready yet.

So for the meantime you have to do it with Saint Norbert for a change ... or a challenge (see above).
De Pere, June 15, 2009

At the dinner feast celebrating the 50th anniversary of the new abbey

+Abbot Ward, LXX abbas bernensis