Reflection for the 16th Sunday after Trinity Matthew 20,1-16 “It’s not fair!” How often one has heard that complaint from children of all ages? Matthew tells us that the discontented labourers in the vineyard complained because the Owner paid all of them the same amount, regardless of whether they had worked one or ten hours. …
Reflection for the 15th Sunday after Trinity Matthew 18,21-35 Today’s Gospel reading speaks to us about the need to offer forgiveness, to our brother or neighbour who has caused offence. In our experience, it is not easy to forgive the person who offends because rancour, bitterness, and grief burn within our hearts. Indeed, people say “I …
Reflection for the 14th Sunday after Trinity Matthew 18,15-20 Jesus said, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone” (Matthew 18,15). It is a grievous matter when human families fall apart, and it should be treated equally seriously if Christians fall …
Reflection for the 13th Sunday after Trinity Matthew 16,21-28 Just as Simon Peter had made his great confession of faith and promise of loyalty to Jesus the Son of the living God, the narrow way opens up like a sink hole in front of him. On the way from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem, the Lord …
Reflection for the 9th Sunday after Trinity Matthew 14,22-33 Peter’s boat on the rough sea is an icon of the Church, symbolising the Christian community’s mission is to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom and a new way of living as God’s people. Despite the many obstacles and struggles, the Lord’s help and protection …
Reflection for the 8th Sunday after Trinity Matthew 14;13-21 In a way, this Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 14,13-21), together with the preceding verses, could be thus described. The first party is the one that King Herod throws to celebrate his birthday; the second is the impromptu picnic party Jesus throws in the wilderness for a hungry …
Today at Olsok or «Olaf’s Vigil», the Norwegian King Olaf II Haraldsson who died in the battle at Stiklestad Norway in 1030, is widely celebrated across the Nordic countries with church ceremonies and cultural festivals. It is remarkable that after almost one thousand years major official Olsok celebrations with roots in the middle ages continue …
During the weekend of May 12th-14th our Hungarian clergy together with Abbot Michael OPR of the St. Severin Monastery joined Bishop Roald Nikolai and Fr. Zoltán Drenkó in Rosenau for the episcopal blessing of the altar table of the Good Shepherd’s chapel of the Nordic Catholic community in Slovakia. The chapel which was acquired by …
It is not always so easy to come to terms with the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as Christians. Sometimes our understanding seems to be «lofty», to the point of being vague. In the following little meditation I will try to elucidate the role of the Spirit through three questions: Who is …
Reflection for Easter St. John 20;8-9 More and more Christians today are finding themselves in a strange and unfamiliar world. Things that were once held to be right and self-evident are no longer so. Coercion now replaces freedom, bigotry replaces tolerance, and morality and history are turned upside down. It is the “brave new world” …
Reflection for Passiontide Revelation 3;14ff A former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously remarked back in the sixties that “a week is a long time in politics”. That saying could be applied to the events of the first Holy Week. The triumphal, entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus overturning the tables of the money …
Reflection for 4th Sunday of Lent John 9;1-42 This Sunday is the midpoint of Lent and the Gospel reading is the sixth of St John’s signs. A man who is born blind is healed by Jesus. This is not merely a miracle of messianic healing but a sign that all humanity from birth, is in …
Bishop Roald Nikolai Flemestad remains Bishop Delegate of the Union of Scranton for Europe also after the transfer of the Nordic Catholic Diocese of Scandinavia to his successor Bishop Ottar Mikael Myrseth. He will then continue to give episcopal oversight to the work and mission of the Nordic Catholic Church in Continental Europe and the United Kingdom.
The Bishop's Seal and Motto
Per timorem Domini et
sancti Spiritus consolationem.
The Bishop's Calendar
15 January
Annual Member Meeting, Martinuswerk (Germany), video conference.
9-12 February
Theological conference of the Union of Scranton: "God be in my thinking - The intellectual background of the secularization", Mainz, Germany.
18 February
Clergy meeting of the Nordic Catholic Church in Scandinavia, Oslo.
24 April
The International Catholic Bishops Conference (ICBC), video conference.
12-14 May
Altar blessing and celebrations, St. Vincent of Lérins mission, Rožňava, Slovakia.
3-5 August
Theological Conference at Gran, Norway.
5-6 August
20th Anniversary Celebration of St. Michael's Church, Fredrikstad.
17-20 August
Celebration to mark the retirement of Bishop Emeritus Roald Nikolai by the German Adinistration, hosted by the Abbey of St. Severin, Kaufbeuren, .
Upcoming
An episcopal visit is planned to take place in the UK in October.
Ongoing
Scheduled video conferences with the local administrations.