In recent months we have had among us on a couple of occasions Monsignor Aboot Erik Varden, Norwegian, Trappist, appointed by Pope Francis as Bishop of Trondheim, musician, brewer.

Not long ago he was at meeting-Madrid and now he has come to teach the lecture of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of Navarra.

It is precisely that lecture in Navarra, entitled "At the height of the storm of the human heart", which will be the subject of this reflection, gloss and invitation.

Although this no longer so young bishop, even though he is still a young bishop, does not speak Spanish, he made a B effort to speak in our language. Whoever wants to read the English version can find it on his website, i.e. here: https://coramfratribus.com/life-illumined/navarra-lecture/

I have to confess that every time I read something of his, or listen to his interventions, I meeting with that monastic wisdom that invites not only to a deep reflection but to a kind of spiritual fullness.

His words soothe the spirit or the soul. He speaks from that vantage point that gives us a look away from the hustle and bustle, the traffic, the speed of an accelerated time that traps us in a thousand little stories.

That monastic gaze which, at the same time, is the fruit of distance and closeness; the fruit of attentive listening and silence; the fruit, after all, of a maturation of the mind and heart. 

This does not imply an absence of reality, nor a lack of realism. Quite the contrary. It is like when you go to a cloistered monastery and you realize that, even with certain information, they are several steps ahead of you without leaving those blessed walls.

Well then. Monsignor Erik Varden has made, in Pamplona, one of the finest dissections on some of the symptoms of decadence of the present Church. And he has done it with a finesse, with an elegance, with an irony that, unless you are very attentive, you do not understand.

His analysis of what modernity means and used to mean, is not to be missed. To affirm that it is up to today's Christians to make Christianity appear before everyone as the youth and hope of the world seems obvious. But to give some clues on how to do that is not easy, nor simple.

In soccer terms, one would say that he has put the ball in the right place to finish off. "We will rise to this challenge if we remain rooted in Christ, letting him be the paradigm that defines all our aspirations," he said.

Our current crises have much in common with the crises of the past. However, we consider ourselves an exception, perhaps because we are the protagonists of our time. Once again, we should clear the undergrowth, avoid certain dynamics, themes, proposals, originalities, which only entertain the Christian conscience, and return to the sources - Vatican Council II - so that they may be the ones to encourage new and expressive forms of proposal.

It is true, the world around us is swept by a rhythm similar to a macabre dance, a terrifying cacophony. There is no score and no one to conduct the orchestra. We must search for the perfect and penetrating tone that tunes our instruments.

Finally, speaking of theology, speaking of the deposit of faith, the way in which Monsignor Varden explains how to guard it seems to me suggestive. To guard it, but not to compromise it. Nor should we dedicate ourselves to repeating formulations that have ceased to make sense, like a broken record.