Swedish Bishop: Find Time to Dialogue with God

CHICAGO, IL (November 3, 2001) - Speaking during the Festival of All Saints at North Park University's Anderson Chapel this week, Bishop Anders Aborelius, of Stockholm, Sweden, told students to find a holy space in their lives where they can find silence and listen to God.

"This is the secret of the Christian life," he said. "You have to have time for this direct contact and dialogue with God. It will make you into the hands of God - as Saint Francis said, 'God has no hands on earth but ours.'"

Bishop Aborelius was in Chicago to address the Lumen Christi Institute and accepted an invitation to speak extended by the Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park. He is the seventh Catholic Bishop of Stockholm in the 450 years since the Reformation and the first Swedish-born Catholic Bishop. There are 166,000 members of the Roman Catholic Church of Sweden, most of them immigrants. It is the second largest denomination in Sweden - the Swedish Lutheran Church is the largest.

The Lumen Christi Institute shares a common Christian mission and a common motto - "In thy light, we will see light," according to Charles Peterson, interim dean of North Park's College of Arts and Sciences. "I believe that the Lumen Christi uses their motto in the original Swedish," said Peterson in his introduction of Bishop Aborelius, drawing laughs from the audience.

The Catholic Church and the Covenant Church of Sweden have had an ongoing relationship over the past 25 years, Bishop Aborelius said. The two churches sponsored a joint delegation to Rome and Geneva, the first in Swedish history. "We have traveled together on the road to God's presence and God's holiness," he said.

The festival service opened with a procession of images of saints from around the world, which were created by North Park art students. In his homily, entitled "Saint, Silence, and Society," Bishop Aborelius reminded students to think about the people in their own lives who reflect God's presence.

"There are, in all traditions, people who are looked to as the holy ones, the saints," he said. "All of us have people in our own lives or family that remind us of God's grace. It's not unusual for an ordinary person, working or studying, to reflect the glory of God."

In a world that will judge them by their bank accounts or what they accomplish in their careers, Bishop Aborelius said, Christians need to remember their identity as saints of God, because of the grace of baptism. "We need to remember who we are," he said.

"In the difficult moments of life, it's important to remember God's grace in baptism," Bishop Aborelius said. "God gives us a little seed of grace that will grow in our lives. It's always there, even if we run away from God, even if you take a vacation from God or from your calling. As the poet Francis Thompson said, 'God is the hound of heaven and will never let you lose.'"

Knowing that identity in Christ, and finding places of silence to hear God's voice, will give Christians something to share with the world - a world that Bishop Aborelius says desperately needs God's presence.

"We have all been given the task of bringing the light of Jesus Christ into the world of darkness and despair," he said. "Because without God, the world cannot continue. Without our God, the world will lose its sense of meaning and hope."

Editor's note: North Park University's Center for Scandinavian Studies was established in 1982 to provide education and cultural exchange with contemporary Scandinavia and to preserve North Park's Scandinavian heritage. The center supports research and academic studies in the language, culture, history and literature of Scandinavia and administers and promotes cultural events and exhibits, including student exchange programs to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden; a Nordic Lecture Series; and the enrollment of full-time Scandinavian students at North Park.

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