Scottish Catholic Observer

One of the most inspiring parts of the Mass, I have always found, is the Entrance Antiphon, or Introit; it has always struck me as a beautiful prelude to the readings of the day. So, when searching for inspiration for the theme of this article, I naturally turned to the Introit. I decided to use the Entrance Antiphon for the Third Sunday of Advent, which is: “Gaudete in Domino semper; iterum dico, gaudete. Dominus enim prope est.”—“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” (Roman Missal). When reading that passage, it became apparent to me that it could be applied to the spiritual life of the University of Dundee Catholic Society during this current academic year. We fulfilled the task of ‘Rejoicing’ primarily through three means—the Liturgy, questions, and social activities.

In ‘Cat-Soc,’ we have strived to live out our current role in life, that of students, in a joyful manner. The first way in which we rejoiced was in the celebration of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which is celebrated in the Lady Chapel of St Andrew’s Cathedral, Dundee. Mass is usually celebrated by our chaplain for this semester, Fr Michael Carrie, assisted by Deacon Charles Hendry. It is through the Mass, ‘the fount and apex of the whole Christian life’ (Lumen gentium, paragraph 11), that we found the strength to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’ Our weekly attendance at the Mass provides us with grounding in the Church, and gives us a framework through which we can approach the topics of our discussions; we have put into practice the idea of lex orandi, lex credendi—the ‘rule of prayer’ and the ‘rule of faith’ (Summorum Pontificum, Article 1). We have also had confession, adoration, and benediction services, which seem particularly fitting as we approach the Year of Mercy.

Our second method of rejoicing was in our series of ‘Why…?’ questions and talks. We decided to progress in a logical manner, so we began by asking, ‘Why God?’ The talk, given by Fr Ross Campbell, showed us the necessity of God in our lives. The second question was ‘Why Christ?’ which was presented by Fr Michael John Galbraith. Next was ‘Why the Church?’ by Mgr Patrick Burke, our fourth was ‘Why the Mass?’ by Fr Gerard Byrne, and our final talk was given by our Bishop, the Rt Rev Stephen Robson, who helped us ask, ‘Why Mary?’

Going back to the Introit, we followed the imperative of Gaudete—Rejoice—in a deeper way. We learned more about our Faith, and the talks enabled us to present the Truth of the Church in a joyful manner. It has been through the series of questions that we learned how—as Pope Francis wrote ‘[t]he joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus.’ (Evangelii gaudium, paragraph 1)

Our third and final way of practising joy is in our social activities. We started the semester with pizza, and we provide coffee and biscuits after Mass. We are also known to visit the odd pub or two for some lively theological discussions. We have also participated in Nightfever, bringing the joy of the Catholic Faith to the streets of Dundee outside St Andrew’s Cathedral. While it can be hard to live out the Faith in university, we must always be joyful in doing so.

Finally, on behalf of the entire Catholic Society, I would like to wish all readers a very happy and Christ-filled Christmas!

— You can visit the University of Dundee Catholic Society’s webpage at: http://dundeeunicatholic.co.uk, or like them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dundeecatsoc

— Like the Scottish Network of Catholic Students at https://www.facebook.com/

scotncs and follow the Network’s twitter @TheSNCS.