Feast of Saint STEPHEN, first martyr, Mat. 10, 17-22

Posted on 24. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

Imagine the pre-Christmas rush. You have a head full of worries, about what else to do, buy, arrange, and when shopping, you find that you don’t have a wallet. Tears, shame when returning the purchase, the journey home. What all goes through a person’s mind? And at the door a young man, maybe 18, 20 years old.
“You are” – and says your name. “I brought you a wallet. Surely losing it now before the holidays would spoil your joy.” You take your wallet, and open it, nothing is missing, not even a crown. It contains your business card. Tears in my eyes again. A young man laughs. It can be seen that he is very happy that someone is happy, even though he has tears in his eyes. You want to say thank you and – he is already hurrying away. You call for him to come back, you want to reward yourself, and he just waves at you with a smile and calls: “Happy and blessed holidays!”
When hearing about this event, someone remarked: “That is a true witness of love.”
Today’s saint – St. Štefan rightfully has first place among the witnesses. We can say that he is a challenge, a reminder to each of us. The word “witness” does not yet express a positive value. We know about witnesses with destructive charges. A witness can also be spoken of in connection with a quantity. Martyrs, confessors, and witnesses certainly have their place in heaven… To be a witness according to the example of St. Stefan cannot be reached quickly. It requires time, effort, renunciation, self-control, perhaps even standing up, and not once, but seven times, also knowing and being able to forgive, to say sorry, to rise above the insult, to be able not to remind the forgiven, also to want to learn, and so on. To be a witness according to the example of St. Štefana is demanding, but dear to God.

Lord Jesus reminds the apostles: “But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).

What to endure? Jesus points to the national status of the witnesses of his love. For the name of Jesus, it is necessary to “protect yourself from people”. Do not mindlessly avoid them. Protecting yourself from people means not putting your soul in danger. The sin and malice of men cannot bear the truth. It is precisely for her that they reach not only for the honor of those who live according to Christ’s words but also for their bodies. Jesus predicts to his faithful that they will be judged for the truth, they will be scourged, interrogated… But even then they will not be alone. The Holy Spirit will be with them. He instills in them what to say, how to act, how to act, and how to behave. God will bear witness to true love and truth through his enemies even in front of his enemies. In the Old Testament, the prophet resists accepting the mission. When he unites with God, he will not only fulfill his mission and be a reward for him, but he will help many to persevere in faithfulness to God, as he asks.
In the Acts of the Apostles, St. is an example of faithfulness. John the Baptist, apostles, and St. Stefan. God speaks and acts through witnesses. They are a tool used by God to instruct, admonish and rebuke. God does not abandon his witnesses and is with them even when they die for Christ. They do not take suffering as a punishment, they do not approach it as outcasts, but as chosen ones. Death becomes a reward for the witness.
We see it today at St. to Stefan. Not Stefan, but God acts through Stefan, whom he filled with his graces, and powandthat he performed miracles and signs that did not escape the attention of people. God also leaves freedom to the wise, which means that wisdom is not yet a guarantee of the authenticity of testimony. A wise man does not yet have to be a true witness. Stephen must resist the wisdom of some of the synagogues of the Libertines, the thereness, the Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, who quarreled with Stephen. Stephen was shown the love of the Spirit who spoke through him so that all who came to oppose him were able to gnash their teeth and rage against him. God’s word is like a double-edged sword: it is salt in the wound, it is light that the lover of darkness does not accept, it is the leaven that does not accept you and GH, it is a fish that avoids the net… The truth remains the truth even when someone closes their ears t it when they want to silence her by stoning her. It happens that they often learn the truth too late and first someone has to die for it. In the Old Testament, they stoned and killed the prophets. Were the prophets true? God is still the same. The apostles, their disciples, and all until today who died for the Truth, that is, for Christ, his teachings, did not die, they live, and  the promise is fulfilled on them that: “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10,22 ). The Church is alive today. The blood of martyrs, the work of believers, the testimony of virgins are the seed of new youth and vitality of the Church. he will be saved” (Mt 10:22). The Church is alive today. The blood of martyrs, the work of believers, the testimony of virgins are the seed of new youth and vitality of the Church. he will be saved” (Mt 10:22). The Church is alive today. The blood of martyrs, the work of believers, and the testimony of virgins are the seed of new youth and vitality of the Church.

Even today, the Church needs martyrs, believers, and witnesses. Why? Aren’t there many around us who want to silence the Truth – God, not only with their mouths but also with their false learning, usurped power, unhealthy selfishness,and pride? Various “Isms” of recent times is proof of this, and today other “Isms” hate God and everything related to God is their enemy. They are afraid of themselves. Stupidity breeds stupidity. They do not want to learn that the truth is only one and unchangeable – “Veritas una est et mirabilis.”
None of us can say that we do not need the testimony of the faith of others. But we too must bear witness to others. We need each other not only for a healthy natural life on earth, but we need each other for a life of faith. After all, we live under the pressure of the world, the flesh and the devil, and even today the words of the apostle St. Peter, that we should be vigilant, because the devil, like a prowling lion, goes around and cuts down whom he would devour. We know that sin and the devil are a reality even today. Often at the most sacred moment, the devil destroys peace, joy, and love… He cannot be satisfied when he sees someone else win. The witness must adopt the true values. It is not enough just to have the name Christian, or to declare that one is a Christian, for example in politics, when one is full of hatred, anger, unable to forgive, and unable to love. It is not enough to give a percentage of the income of one’s business to the church, when the property was acquired dishonestly, even if, supposedly, by legal privatization, when he forces people not to keep Sundays holy when he is a usurer when he is silent in the face of extortion when he does not respect his own body, does not protect his health… Why do we need such witnesses who cause the disintegration of families, when they sow tares when they take advantage of poverty and misfortune of people to gain a new follower. ?et’s see Jehovah’s Witnesses. Even the name is not a guarantee of authenticity.
A witness loves the truth, lives in the truth, guards against sin, has confidence and hope, and strives for the growth of love. A true witness of God will not give preference to anyone or anything before God, Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. A witness protects the honor of God, his neighbor and himself. He will give to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s. He feels the commandment of love as a benefit, and not as a burden. Honors and values ​​old age, protects children from scandal. He respects his own life and the life of every person, both before birth and in sickness and old age. Therefore, he does not agree with abortion and voluntary death in old age and illness. The witness keeps his body not only in natural purity, but also in moral purity. Starting with his mind, eyes, mouth, gestures and touches, he does not offend his own purity or that of others. He respects the marital bed and the status of persons consecrated to God, celibacy, celibacy. The witness protects not only his own property, but also the company’s property, as well as his brother’s property. He does not reach out and appropriate what does not belong to him. Returns the borrowed item. He does not accept what does not belong to him, he gives the deserved reward and pays the wages that are due to him. A witness of God does not seek the good name and honor of his neighbor, does not slander or slander. He will not say evil, untruth about his neighbor, he will not offend. He knows how to apologize, ask for forgiveness when he has committed an insult or dishonest act. The witness has the right attitude towards public life. He does not remain silent when the honor of a woman or a man is lowered by advertising, in an inappropriate, incorrect, immoral and unethical way. He asks for correction from those who spread the baseness of human impulses. He does not buy, does not look at and does not own what God has determined to fulfill the commandment: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Returns the borrowed item. He does not accept what does not belong to him, he gives the deserved reward and pays the wages that are due to him. A witness of God does not seek the good name and honor of his neighbor, does not slander or slander. He will not say evil, untruth about his neighbor, he will not offend. He knows how to apologize, ask for forgiveness when he has committed an insult or dishonest act. The witness has the right attitude towards public life. He does not remain silent when the honor of a woman or a man is lowered by advertising, in an inappropriate, incorrect, immoral and unethical way. He asks for correction from those who spread the baseness of human impulses. He does not buy, does not look at and does not own what God has determined to fulfill the commandment: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Returns the borrowed item. He does not accept what does not belong to him, he gives the deserved reward and pays the wages that are due to him. A witness of God does not seek the good name and honor of his neighbor, does not slander or slander. He will not say evil, untruth about his neighbor, he will not offend. He knows how to apologize, ask for forgiveness when he has committed an insult or dishonest act. The witness has the right attitude towards public life. He does not remain silent when the honor of a woman or a man is lowered by advertising, in an inappropriate, incorrect, immoral and unethical way. He asks for correction from those who spread the baseness of human impulses. He does not buy, does not look at and does not own what God has determined to fulfill the commandment: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. to ask for forgiveness when he has committed an insult, a dishonest act. The witness has the right attitude towards public life. He does not remain silent when the honor of a woman or a man is lowered by advertising, in an inappropriate, incorrect, immoral and unethical way. He asks for correction from those who spread the baseness of human impulses. He does not buy, does not look at and does not own what God has determined to fulfill the commandment: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. to ask for forgiveness when he has committed an insult, a dishonest act. The witness has the right attitude towards public life. He does not remain silent when the honor of a woman or a man is lowered by advertising, in an inappropriate, incorrect, immoral and unethical way. He asks for correction from those who spread the baseness of human impulses. He does not buy, does not look at and does not own what God has determined to fulfill the commandment: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

If ever we needed witnesses, it’s today. Today, the world needs educated witnesses, but also holy witnesses. The world needed witnesses yesterday and it needs us as witnesses today. It is right that we want to raise our children as witnesses for future generations. Our example and model, our character, and our responsible approach to the entrusted values ​​are a memento for us. If this mission of witness is not a burden for us, but a joyful duty, then we believe in the words that: “God is a just Judge who rewards the good and punishes the bad” and we believe that: “the human soul is immortal and the grace of God is for salvation necessary.” God gives us many new graces during these holidays.

Janka was eighteen years old at the beginning of December. She is looking forward to the gift, long promised by her father, because her mother died when she was born. He knows that the gift will not be anything from cosmetics, gold or silver or electronics or textiles. Janka knows that it is a tape.
“What, ordinary tape?!” someone would ask. Yes. Janka will hear her mother’s voice for the first time, albeit only from a recording. Janka only heard good things about her mother from her father, grandparents, and acquaintances. The old woman told her as a little girl about how her mother looked, while she was looking at the album, the old woman’s experiences when her mother was still a little girl, and other things. After Christmas dinner, Janke’s father handed her a plain tape to put in the tape recorder. Her hands shook. She asked her father to do it. Janka looked at the Christmas tree and after a while, a quiet voice was heard, from which one could feel great joy, the zest for life, although the first words revealed that the woman was suffering a lot.
She spoke slowly: “Janka, my daughter! Today you are eighteen years old. You are an adult. Congratulations. You are a woman. My father and I agreed that if you can’t remember my voice, I will at least be able to address you this day. When the doctors discovered my illness, they told me to make a decision: do I want my death and my life? I didn’t hesitate for a moment. After prayer and conversation with God, I said: I want my child to live. I still didn’t know if it was going to be a boy or a girl. When you came into the world, you were small. You didn’t cry. The doctor showed you to me. You had beautiful black hair.’
The woman’s voice trailed off. After a while, he continued even more quietly and slowly. The eighteen-year-old girl’s face was pale as she listened. Janka knew from her father that her mother gave priority to her life over hers, although several doctors and people from the neighborhood could not understand this. Janka continued to listen. The last words were: “Janka, I believe in God that you will be happy because I will bless you from heaven.” I look forward to seeing you all in heaven one day. Your mother blesses you.”
Woman, wife, mother. A witness? Yes, witness! So relevant today… We realize that the holiday of St. Štefana, it’s time for a memento for each of us.

The young man did not wait for thanks when he handed over the lost money. His words: Happy and blessed holidays were not a phrase like many Christmas greetings.
Let’s pray: St. Stephen, the witness of the faith of the Risen One, pray for us to faithfully fulfill our mission as witnesses – Catholic Christians at the turn of the millennium.

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The Nativity of the Lord /Christmas/

Posted on 23. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

God was born as a man (Jn 1,1-18)

Let us return God’s love. The priest tells: On Christmas Day, a little girl came to the sacristy. I asked: “What would you like?” She said: “That’s for you, Mr. Pastor.” And she handed me a folded paper. I opened it. A Christmas tree was drawn on it, and underneath it was written in children’s handwriting: “I like you, Mr. Pastor!” It was my best Christmas present in recent years. The little girl’s words “This is for you” expressed something quite personal.

On today’s most beautiful day of the year, God similarly – very personally – says to each one of us: This is for you. And he directs our gaze to his Son. The birth of Jesus Christ is proof of God’s love for us.

Evangelist St. John says about it: “The true light that enlightens every person has come into the world” (John 1:9). What does it mean that the true light that enlightens every person has come into the world?

Let’s imagine a father of a family who is experiencing a crisis of faith at the time of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus. He is troubled by how God, who is infinite, perfect, and almighty, could become a man and be born in such an environment. Therefore, he understands the birth of Christ as a beautiful, heart-catching legend – and nothing more. After dinner, he refused to go to midnight mass with his wife and children. But he couldn’t sleep. He heard geese hooting in the yard. He got up quickly. There were wild geese in the yard. They were tired and it was very cold. He felt sorry for them. He decided to let them into the empty barn. He opened it, and pure grain, but the geese did not want to go into the barn. They were afraid. Then he thought: If only I could be a goose for a moment and tell them in their language so that they would understand me, that I do not want to harm them. And then it was as if a light went on in his head. He realized that God had sent him geese, to help him remove doubts and unbelief regarding the birth of God. He understood why the Son of God came to earth and was born as a Child.

Today we remember one of the mysteries of our faith. The second divine person, Jesus Christ, came into the world. The evangelist John very wisely called Jesus the Word, in the Greek original “Logos”. At that time, this word was used with several meanings in philosophy and theology; also to denote the birth of some divine being from another, by an act of the mind, by thinking. Just as human thought is the “word” of reason, as if it were its fruit, so also the second divine person is the “Word”, that is, the fruit of the first divine person. Although already in the Old Testament this concept appears at least in its basic features, as teaching about “God’s wisdom” (Wisdom 7,22-8,1; Proverbs 8,21-31; Sir 24,1-25), but they have not yet come to the concept of God’s Word as a divine person. The Evangelist John uses this bold idea to express the mystery of the inner life of the Holy Trinity.
Christmas reminds us that God is our Father, that he loves us, and that he wants to give us the most precious gift. During the holidays, we especially remember and wish for health, peace, and love…
Jesus Christ came to complete the prophets and reveal to us how we should live and what to believe to gain eternal life in God’s kingdom.
God the Father could have arranged for his Son to be born in a different, comfortable, more humane environment, and he could be welcomed even by the powerful and famous of the world. God arranged things so that no one could say that Christ came into the world under better circumstances than those in refugee camps, prisons, outside the homeland, and the like.
Christ was born in such a way that no one would reproach him that his life and circumstances were easier. The birth of Christ in poverty and humility is eloquent and appealing, as well as the fact that he knew the exile in Egypt, the silence of Nazareth and that he could say: “Foxes have their hiding places and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8, 20). Jesus knew hunger, persecution, rejection, torture, and death because of us. He knew what it was to cry, to feel alone and abandoned… Nothing human was unknown to him. He became like us in everything except sin. All because he loved us. “God is love” (1 John 4:16).

When we look at the manger and say that the Child Jesus is laughing, that he wants to embrace us with his childish arms, we are reminded of the importance and need to return to God, to live in purity of heart, without sin, and to build a life of grace in ourselves. May the song of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest…” (Luke 2:14) be the beginning of our new acceptance of Jesus Christ and life with him. It is said that Pope Pius XII. had a telephone in his office that had one peculiarity: it was only one-way. The Pope could communicate with the whole world, but no one could call the Pope directly. He once sighed: “Nobody calls the Pope.”

Maybe sometimes it seems to us that God is too far away to find him, to “phone” him, to communicate with him. We realize what happened on the first Christmas. God came down to us, a two-way line was “established” between God and man. And so through Christ we can “telephone” directly to God, we can find him, communicate with him, and reach him.
Advertising for mobile phones has the slogan: “For people to talk to each other”. An advertisement for Christmas can read: “For people to talk to God”. God with us! Let us be penetrated by this joyous message of Christmas. We are not alone! May this message fill our hearts with joy and certainty that even in the greatest suffering and problems, in moments of small-mindedness and doubt, we are not alone. God is with us.
We need peace today more than ever. We hear the words terrorism, war, violence, murder, and death every day. Why? Is it not because we have not yet understood Christ’s coming to the world?

We have filled Christmas with many customs: firstly, finding presents, cleaning, decorating trees, cooking… How nervous we are many times when we simply can’t do something… But that’s not what Christmas is about. Christmas is a time when God tells us something very personal: I love you. Let’s free this Christmas from unnecessary haste so that we can also say to God: Lord, I love you. What has changed over the years about the birth of the Lord Jesus?

On Christmas Eve 1914, there was peace in the trenches of the Western Front of World War I. No shooting. But despite this, the weapons remained aimed at the enemy’s trenches. A group of English soldiers began to talk about how they spent this holy evening at home. Suddenly they heard distant singing. They leaned over the edge of the trench and listened. It was a German Christmas carol that echoed from the enemy trenches. When the enemies finished the song, the English soldiers were speechless. After a moment, one of them broke the silence. He began to sing a well-known English carol. Gradually, others joined him. They sang loudly, so loudly that it could be heard by the German trenches. As soon as they finished, the Germans immediately started singing the song Silent Night. The English joined in their language. And so the same song was heard in two languages ​​on the battlefield.
The English suddenly noticed. A German soldier came out of the enemy trenches. He walked slowly and waved a white cloth. When he got closer, they saw that he was holding packets of chocolates in his other hand. All the soldiers slowly came out of the trenches. The battlefield became a neutral ground, where they shook hands, and gave each other candy, cigarettes, and alcohol. They showed each other photos of their loved ones, from whom the war separated them. There was only one battle that night – and that was to win the Christmas Eve football they ended up playing.
Finally, they returned to the trenches. They pointed their guns at each other again. But it was not the same for these soldiers. The enemy was no longer faceless. Now they were friends who could gift each other, who played football. The silent holy night, the night of the birth of Jesus Christ, befriended these hostile military forces. The next day, both the English and German units were transferred from this section of the front.
The soldiers no longer saw the others as enemies, but as their brothers.

The Christmas holidays have also entered our hearts. On these festive days, the guns have probably fallen silent on the various fronts where we “fight” against our neighbors. How many broken relationships between us call us to arms to carry out revenge, and retribution for various injustices that have befallen us? May we be able to recognize these neighbors as our brothers on these holy days. Christ comes for us as well as for them. This truth should disarm us so much that in the following days we will not be able to raise an imaginary weapon against our neighbor: after all, this is a brother…

The priest was most delighted by the little girl’s ordinary card, where a Christmas tree was drawn with the words: This is for you! Strong words because they expressed something personal. And we are also aware of that today. God rightfully expects something personal from us, with which we want to make him happy and with which we want to enrich our neighbors and ourselves.

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Christmas.

Posted on 22. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

In the Roman Catholic Church , the second most important holiday is the Feast of the Nativity or the First Christmas , hich according to the Gregorian calendar is celebrated on December 25 . Christmas is one of the few holidays that have always been preceded by a vigil, 11] popularly called Christmas Day ( December 24 ). The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ thus extends over a slightly longer period of time. While Protestants focus their celebration on the early evening services on Christmas Day and on the morning services on December 25th, Roman Catholics focus their celebration mainly around midnight between December 24th and 25th. MasMass isis celebrated in this way directly at midnight and is therefore called midnight mass . n the Roman Missal , this Mass is called “In the holy night” ( In nocte ) an,d according to no prescription it does not have to be celebrated directly at midnight, but until 1960 the rubrics prescribed that “the first [Mass for the celebration of the Nativity] should be celebrated after midnight, after the end of the hymn Te Deum laudamus at Matins “. [12]

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Don Bosco of the poor.

Posted on 22. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

Artemis Zatti expanded the ranks of saints in the Salesian family. He dedicated his life to God in the service of the sick and the poor. In Argentina, where he worked, he was called Don Bosco of the poor.

He was born on October 12, 1880, in Italy in a poor peasant family. Already at the age of nine, he had to work. The ongoing peasant crisis, high unemployment, and poverty in Italy forced the Zattis to go to relatives in Argentina. When Artemide was 17 years old, the Zatti family left, joining the many Italian emigrants in Argentina.

Many anticlerical were living in the town where they settled, but the Zattis went to church every Sunday. Don Bosco’s Salesians were in charge of the administration of the church. Artemis helped the administrator of the parish to maintain order in the church, and when he had free time, he also accompanied him on visits to the sick.

After some time he decided to join the Salesians. Young boys were preparing for religious life near Buenos Aires. There was a young Salesian who fell ill with tuberculosis. Artemis took care of him. However, the young man died. Not long after, Artemis also fell ill. The superior sent him to the town of Viedma, where the Salesians had a hospital and a pharmacy.

Finally, he was cured and at the age of 2,8, he took lifelong vows and became a Salesian coadjutor, that is, he did not become a priest but served as a brother. He worked in a hospital and in a pharmacy, where they kept their accounting – the rich paid twice as much for the medicine, and the poor paid nothing.

In the hospital, he cared for the sick with great love, in whom he saw Jesus himself. He often turned to the nurse working in the laundry and said, “Do you have clothes for the twelve-year-old Jesus?”

Until the end of his life, he tirelessly continued his mission among the sick. They loved him, and even the doctors respected him. “When I’m with Zatti, I can’t help but believe in God,” said one self-proclaimed atheist doctor. Artemis treated everyone with the same love he would have treated Jesus himself.

Source: Vatican news.VA

Pope Francis himself gave testimony to the sanctity of Artemis Zatti. During his time as Provincial of the Jesuits in Argentina, he came across his biography. “I was attracted to this complete character of the coadjutor. At that moment I felt that I had to ask the Lord to send us vocations of coadjutors through his intercession. I prepared novenas and asked the novices to do them,” writes the Pope in a letter to Salesian Don Cayetano Bruno in Buenos Aires.

In the following years, 16 coadjutors joined the order. “I am convinced of the intercession of Blessed Artemidos Zatti in this matter, because, given the number, it is a rare case in the Society of Jesus. I know how much we prayed when we invoked him as an intercessor,” the Pope continued in the letter.

Artemis died at the age of 71. He had a pancreatic tumor. When they asked him how he was, how he was doing, he used to answer: “Up.” And he looked towards the sky.

That’s how he lived his whole life, focused on Jesus, whom he saw in everyone he met.

Apostle of migrants

The second canonized is Giovanni Battista Scalabrini. He served as a bishop in Piacenza, Italy, and is the founder of the male and female Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, whose special charism is service to migrants.

He was born in the northern Italian province of Como on July 8, 1839, as the third of eight children in a modest and religious family. He was an excellent student. He wrote a poem in praise of the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, he also admired Saint Joseph, Francis de Sales, and Charles Borromeo. He entered the seminary at the age of 18, and six years later he was ordained as a priest.

His great desire was to go on missions, but he was not granted this. He began his apostolate as a teacher and then rector of a minor seminary in Como. He taught the Greek language and history.

He was later appointed parish priest in Como, where he was very sensitive to the social issues of the people. He treated patients with cholera. Scalabrini also perceived the importance of the religious education of the youngest, he wrote the Small Catechism for kindergartens.

Source: Vatican news.VA

At the age of only 36, Pope Pius IX. appointed as bishop in Piacenza. In his pastoral program, closeness to people, attention to the clergy, teaching the Gospel, and love for those who need it most were always a priority.

He devoted himself to the formation of priests and young seminarians, founded schools of Christian doctrine, and published a magazine. He also established an Institute for the deaf and dumb and provided religious and social assistance to seasonal migrants employed in rice cultivation in Piedmont and Lombardy.

Deeply affected by the difficult situation of his believers, who were forced to leave for work in America, he founded the Missionary Congregation of St. Charles Borromeo for spiritual and material assistance to migrants. Later, he founded the lay association St. Raphael and joined the missionaries of the missionary sisters of St. Charles Borromeo.

At the beginning of the 20th century, he reached the United States and Brazil to visit the missions of his “Scalabrini” brothers. After returning, he fell ill and died on June 1, 1905.

The prefect of the Disaster for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, said of the new saints: “Their testimony brings the attention of the faithful in Christ back to the topic of migrants who, as the Pope has said several times, if they are included, can help to breathe the air of diversity that restores unity.” They can nourish the face of Catholicity, they can bear witness to the apostolate of the church, they can create stories about holiness.”

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God the Creator.

Posted on 21. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

Biblical revelation presents the central idea of ​​creation in the very first line: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gn 1, 1). Holy Scripture begins with these solemn words (cf. CCC, 279). In those first words of Scripture, it is claimed that God gave origin to everything that exists outside of him. He alone is the creator. Everything that exists (expressed by the formula “heaven and earth” depend on the One who gives it being. The mentioned theme of creation often appears and again in the prophetic and sapiensal literature (Proverbs, Sir, Ecclesiastes), in Paul’s letters, and in the Gospels Finally, in the last biblical book, we find a hymn to the glory of the Creator: “You are worthy, our Lord, and God, to receive glory, honor, and power because you created things: by your will they were and are created” (Revelation 4, 11).

From the beginning, the Church confessed that everything was created by God. The faith in God who created all things, celebrated in this hymn, is already expressed in the first article of the Nicene Creed (DS, 125). With the development of the tradition of the Church, the revelation also became clear at the same time. The first lines of this confession: “I believe in one God, the almighty Father, Creator of heaven and earth, of the visible and invisible world…” are at the same time a prayer, praise, and confession of one of the central beliefs of the Church. The Nicene-Constantinople Creed is a heritage preserved by Christians of both the East and the West. Although not all Christian churches explicitly affirm this creed, belief in God as Creator is the starting point of faith for many Christians.

This truth about creation was formulated in the councils: the Fourth Lateran (1215) and the First Vatican (1869 – 1870). The revealed truth is that the whole world was created by God and that it was created “out of nothing.” According to the expression of the Magisterium of the Church, based on the statements of the Holy Scriptures and tradition, the words “heaven and earth” mean the sum and set of all things that exist outside of God, that is, all created things. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this expression means: “All that exists, the whole of creation.” It also points to the connection that simultaneously connects and separates heaven and earth within creation…” (KKC, 326).

It is therefore an article of faith that God created all things from nothing without exception: small and large, spiritual and material, earthly and heavenly. The mentioned article is one of the most important truths, because the true relationship between the world and God depends on it, and thus also the correct concept of both the world and God. Holy Scripture and tradition constantly teach and extol this basic truth: The world was created for God’s glory (cf. CCC, 293). God did not create the world out of anything because he needed our praise to multiply his glory, but out of pure goodness to bestow upon us the splendor of his eternal happiness. This is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines it: “The glory of God is that God manifests and bestows his goodness. For this the world was created…” (CCC, 294).

The world is not the product of simple chance, but an expression of freely given wisdom and love. “How many are your works, Lord! You did everything wisely. The earth is full of your creation” (Psalm 104, 24). We still assume the content of the psalmist’s confession. We assume that the world is governed by laws that we can examine. Our overall naturalistic picture of the world is built on this assumption. We can examine order, but no chance. This is a manifestation of organizing intelligence. Creation speaks of the wisdom of the Creator (cf. KCC, 295).

If someone came from Sirius or any other star and saw our earth, so green, blooming, inhabited by billions of living beings, he would say: Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to see all this!” Even without coming from far away stars – let’s get used to one thing: constantly saying to God: “Thank you” (A. Luciani: I believe). On the dome of the Vatican observatory, which stands on the terrace of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, one can read with emotion the inscription: Deum Crematorium, venit Adoremusus – Let us worship God the Creator. Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the greatest German poet, said: “That something huge, personified, comes to meet us as God, Creator, and Sustainer, whom we are to worship and glorify.” “In all things seek God”, he advised as early as 16th century St. Ignatius of Loyola. And who obeys his advice,

It is no coincidence that the saints had a completely special relationship with creation. The most famous is St. Francis of Assisi. Only he who frees himself from himself begins to truly perceive creation (cf. KCC, 299). The Creator begins to speak to him in the language of his creation, and the praise of the Creator rises in his heart. Tormented by pain, almost blind, he prayed the Song of the Brother of the Sun in San Damiano (cf. KCC, 344). Suffering and the cross refined him so much that he saw the language of God’s love in all creation. We, too, can rejoice with him and praise him throughout our lives – as long as we live (cf. Z 104, 33

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Respect for your name.

Posted on 21. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

The proverb tells us: “To whom honor, to his honor, to the shepherd the trumpet”. It would be worth thinking about today, what kind of respect we spread to ourselves. Alternatively, why are we tarnishing our name? We want, we wish, to be respected and honored by those around us, and yet our special attitude towards ourselves is often contemptible.

We can think about this topic even before the holidays of peace and joy when we remember the birth of John the Baptist. Evangelist Luke says: “On the eighth day they came to circumcise the boy and wanted to name him Zacharias after his father. But his mother said: “No, his name will be John” (Luke 1:59-60). And after another amazing development, when Zacharias also spoke, people say to themselves: “What will this boy be?” (Lk 1:66). The birth of a child, especially a firstborn and one that is so eagerly awaited, will cause great joy in the family and the surrounding area.

The birth of John the Baptist is especially joyful because everyone feels that he is a child blessed by God, who certainly has a great mission before God. Zechariah also says this in a beautiful hymn under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He thanks God for the begun work of redemption and predicts in his son the role that awaits him as the forerunner of the Messiah. These events spread throughout the Judea mountains, and when the people heard them, they felt both joy and fear. People watched this prodigy closely. They saw nothing sinful about him. John went to the desert as a young man, and the spirit of the greatest prophet matured in him. These events took place in a small town of the priestly class, whose task was to lead the nation to the promised Messiah. Zacharias and Elizabeth had respect for the name of God. This is how God himself wished it, and this is how the Law of Moses ordered it. God also had respect for Zacharias and Elizabeth.

John, guided by his parents, through whom the still hidden Holy Spirit spoke, accepts the beginnings of his mission and later proves his devotion to God in words and deeds in the desert. He is humble: “I am not worthy to untie the strap of his shoe” (Luke 3:16). He does not rely on pride and fame. Throughout his life, John tells us about ut great respect for God. At the same time, we feel that he is an example for us with respect for his name: “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness…” (Jn 1:23).

These facts should also find a response in our lives. We have to realize that God wants us to respect him and at the same time to feel responsible for our name. This means that we do not lower ourselves and lend our name to sin. The Lord has his plan with our names, as we read for example in the Letter to the Philippians that our names are written in the book of life (cf. Phil 4:3). It is touching when we watch sports events and our athletes make a good name for the nation and the homeland. What joy do parents feel when their children make a good name for them – the parents. How proud we are of the good name of our parents. But that’s not enough.

We must strive for a good name with God as well. Behind a good name is a reward, and behind a bad name is a punishment. A good name is a good, honestly lived life, and vice versa, a bad name hides a life lived sinfully. This requires time, and God has determined it for us. Therefore, let’s use our abilities, talents, and talents to glorify God, who will reward us when we live our lives according to his commands.

We are not afraid when the world takes away our good name. We look forward to our names being written in the Book of Life. Even the name of Christ stuns the world, and yet we know that the name of Christ has won and is winning. Let’s rejoice that if we persevere to the end, we too will win.

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Mary is full of gratitude to God.

Posted on 21. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

You certainly know the words: “Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:34). After all, we often witness the truth of another statement: “While you were silent, I thought you were a philosopher, but when you spoke, I saw that you were a fool.” Another proverb says this: “You know a bird by its feathers and a man by his speech”. We all know the truth of these words from our privacy and the society we live in. And we are convinced of their truth in the Gospel as well.

Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit when she visits Mary, who rushes to greet and help her. Mary glorifies God and, filled with the Holy Spirit, sings a beautiful hymn that we call M Magnificat. Mary’s words of the Magnificat sound like an echo and reverberation of deep contemplation. He does not ask for anything, he only thanks and praises God’s mercy, power, justice, generosity, and faithfulness. The first hymn and the most glorious chord of praise to God spring from the depths of her excited heart, which overflows with gratitude and love. Penetrated by a prophetic spirit, she penetrates even into the darkness of future ages, predicts that what happened in the Nazareth room will be placed in the center of world interest, and she will be the object of attention and respect until the end of the world. “Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home” (Luke 1:56).

In her beautiful Magnificat, Mary above all thank God and praises him for the great deeds that he has done in her life.

Even if none of us wants and cannot compare ourselves to the Virgin Mary, we can still learn from her and follow her in giving thanks to God, because God also bestows many graces and blessings on us. We take many things for granted, which is why they have become commonplace. Not only do we not know how to thank ourselves, but when God takes them away from us for a time, we behave like little children: we sulk, we grumble, and we show our displeasure towards him. And doesn’t God deserve us to honor him properly? Let’s look at our life. Let’s start with your awakening. How many times are we closer to staying in bed two minutes longer than finding the time and thanking, even briefly, for the night spent, rest, for the new? day? Ask for reinforcement for yourself and your loved ones. We know from personal experience that how we start a new day matters a lot. Not to get out of bed with your left or right foot, but to realize: I am a child of God and I have this day as a gift from God, I should also use this day to glorify God and save my immortal soul. We forget that not everyone had a good night, and not everyone rested. How many people spent the night staying awake with the sick, on the road, at the workplace, and how many sick people suffered? How many brothers and sisters did not live to see this morning and died? For us, believers, isn’t a new day worth knowing how to regularly control ourselves and kneel for a short conversation with God during prayer? Let’s not rely on doing it on the way… Such a meeting requires its place, and it’s time.

Let us not underestimate the morning prayer, which should be carried in the spirit of thanksgiving and supplication. The day is full of duties, excitement, and tension. If we can find a place and time to insult God, a place to sin, to speak God’s name in vain, why can’t we find a place and time to meet God in a short gun prayer? Why don’t we find time to bless ourselves when we leave the house when we start work or time for a bullet prayer when we pass by a cemetery or a cross: Give them eternal rest, Lord, and let eternal light shine on them. Crucified Christ, have mercy on us! Instead of anger, let’s ask with the words: God, come to my help! Lord, hurry to help me! Surely there will be such an occasion that we hear insulting God with inappropriate remarks and expressions. Let’s then try to apologize to God for the insult, even in this way: God, forgive him because he doesn’t know what he’s doing! God, be merciful to me, a sinner! And end the day again with a meeting with God. Best in common prayer. If that is not possible, then in the private room. Surely you have experienced the impact of the thoughts that make you fall asleep on the quality of your rest. For us believers, it is beautiful to end the day by examining our conscience and apologizing not only for our sins but also for neglecting good. Save the resolution, and the next day pay more attention to the shortcomings and eliminate them.

These are short minutes, yet they enrich our lives so much, both mentally and physically. They are small gatherings, but with great blessing and abundant fruit.

What our insides are filled with, that’s how we express ourselves on the outside. 

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Preparation – expectation – visit.

Posted on 20. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

So how are we prepared for the visit of baby Jesus? How have you progressed with your preparations for Christmas? …. What am I talking about? We are experiencing the last Sunday of Advent. Her relative Elizabeth, guided by the Holy Spirit, says about her: “And blessed is she who believed that what the Lord had told her would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45).

The Latin word advent (arrival) undoubtedly also includes the word visitation, which simply means “visit”. This event was beautifully described in a letter by Saint Bishop Ambrose. He says: When the angel announced the mysterious event to the Virgin Mary, he demonstrated his credibility with the example that an old and barren woman conceived a child, and thus he wanted to assure Mary that God can do whatever He wants. As soon as Mary heard this, she hurried to the mountainous region. “As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child in her womb trembled, and the Holy Spirit filled her.” (Luke 1:41). Elizabeth first heard the voice, but John first felt the grace and trembled for joy at the great mystery; she perceives Mary’s coming, he perceives the Lord’s. Through mothers, the great secrets of love begin. The child trembled, and the mother was filled with the Holy Spirit. Although in the womb of his old mother, John is the first to recognize the Lord and trembles with joy. When John trembled, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth, filled with this spirit, cried out prophetically, “… blessed is she who believed that what the Lord told her would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45). And the child she is expecting is “the Lord” (Kyrios) and Mary are therefore “Mother of my Lord”.

The term “visiting” has lost its joyful meaning in our understanding. Although it may be difficult for us, we should still try to understand such days in this way: The Lord interrupted my activity for a while to bring me to silence. As Jesus belonged and belongs to all people, so we should also belong to them. So we don’t live for ourselves, but also for our neighbor and for the world in which God has placed us. What is my attitude to the life situation, the expected visit, my neighbor, and God himself?

And so we can pray together: “Lord, let every person have Mary’s soul to glorify you; let everyone have Mary’s spirit to rejoice in God! We beg you, protect us from sin, and let every immaculate soul receive God’s Word. Let every such soul be able to glorify you, as Mary’s soul glorified you and her spirit rejoiced in God the Savior.

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The figure of Zacharias.

Posted on 17. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

Maybe you too, looking at a memorial plaque or a statue of a great personality from any area, have thought: Who were their parents, how did they live, what did they do to make their child famous? We know very little about the parents of famous personalities, we often learn about them only marginally, and yet it often depended on them what would become of their son or daughter.

This idea also became relevant when reading today’s Gospel, which tells us about Zacharias making a sacrifice and meeting the angel Gabriel, who announces the good news to him. The forerunner of the Lord Jesus – John the Baptist, after his father and mother, came from the descendants of Aaron, from the priestly family, which enjoyed the greatest respect among the Jews. When a woman did not have a child, it was understood as a punishment from God for her and the entire family. Elizabeth and Zacharias also met this fate. However, both were righteous before God and kept all the Lord’s commandments and statutes blamelessly. Elizabeth and Zacharias were already at an advanced age. Zacharias was shown by the lot that he should enter the sanctuary and offer an incense offering on the golden altar. It was a great honor for Zacharias because he represented the whole nation at this ceremony. Zacharias was aware of this honor. He was certainly overcome with excitement. It’s also time when the nation asks for the coming of the Messiah. The hated Romans are expanding in their nation. The nation is more aware than ever before that only the Messiah can deliver it from this sad state. Zacharias is aware of his old age, the years of his wife, and the fact that the Messiah will not come from their womb. In his younger years, he hoped that God would hear his prayers. But even now he is asking for the coming of the future Messiah. He also has this in mind with the incense offering he wants to make.

Let’s remember that David divided the priests into 24 classes when establishing the Old Testament service. Each served a week in the temple. The lottery was used to decide who and what kind of service would be performed in their class. One of the priests entered the sanctuary every morning and evening and burned sacrificial incense there for the so-called golden altars. Zacharias also performed this service.

During this sacrifice, an angel announced to him the birth of a son. Instead of believing immediately, Zacharias thinks only of the obstacles that nature has put in the way of these words: infertility, and old age. And yet a thought of hope flashed through his mind! After all, how many similar births does the nation know? After all, the mothers of Isaac, Samson, and Samuel were in advanced age and gave birth to sons. But despite this, Zacharias asks the angel: “By what do I know it? After all, I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in age!” The angel answered him: I am Gabriel. I stand before God and I am sent to speak to you and to tell you this glad tidying. But you will be dumb and will not be able to speak until the day when this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time” (Lk 1,18-20).

The people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised that he was staying so long in the temple. Zechariah did not do anything wrong by asking for a sign. However, he made a mistake in not immediately believing the heavenly messenger. It was a lack of respect for the archangel and the one who sent him. He received a sign, which became his punishment for expressing disbelief, and therefore became speechless. The act was supposed to last only a short time, so the crowd wondered why he was staying so long in the temple. but when he came out and could not speak, the multitude understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. He made signs and remained mute. As soon as the days of his priestly service were over, he returned home.

After these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, but she hid for five months, saying: “This is what the Lord did to me at the time when he looked down on me to save me from the shame of men” (Lk 1:25).

When we already know the parents and circumstances of the birth of the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, let’s let these words affect our hearts. Our lives are not unknown to God either. He also created us in this time and these events, and he also has a plan for us. Let us not doubt him, lest something similar to Zacharias befall us, who for his weak faith befell both punishment and joy. Let the thought always burn in us: always and everywhere to live in the presence of God and fulfill his commands. It is often very difficult. But let’s know that with God everything is possible. He desires our faithfulness in fulfilling his will. And we, instructed by Zechariah, want to answer God in the affirmative. We don’t expect him to send us a messenger from heaven and teach us about our life, and what we should and shouldn’t do. For that, we have the teaching of the Church, which we want to listen to.

Parents of famous people remain in the shadow of their children’s fame and enjoy it. Let’s do something similar. Let us rejoice in the glory of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, for whose birth we are preparing. 

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Genealogy of Jesus Christ Mt 1,1-17

Posted on 16. December 2022 by Peter Prochac

In addition to requests for church matters, the parish authorities sometimes receive requests for the issuance of baptismal or death certificates for inheritance proceedings, especially for family trees. Many are proud of how far into the past they managed to trace their ancestors. However, family trees are not the hit of this time. For the Old Testament people, it was not only a matter of family honor, but also a matter of relationship with God. They realized that their roots go back to the patriarchs, who had God’s blessing and promise, and at the same time had the hope that a messiah would be born from their offspring, to whom the nations would obey (1st reading). The whole nation came from Jacob and his sons. And as we know, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. This is also the name of their state.

It does not surprise us at all that even the evangelists, when describing the birth of the Lord Jesus, go to his ancestors and introduce us to his family tree. Matúš mentions four women in his family tree, and Maria as the fifth. However, he does not mention the ones we would expect from the Old Testament. Not Sarah, Rebeca, Lia, or Rachel, but also mentions women who were, as it were, on the opposite shore. Not on the side of great women, but on the side of sinful women: Tamara seduced her father-in-law out of a desire for offspring, Rehab was a prostitute, but she helps conquer Jericho and opens the way to the promised land. Although Ruth was a Gentile who joined the Old Testament people by marriage, she was noble. Even after her husband’s death, she remained with her mother-in-law, to whom she says: Your God will also be my God. Matthew does not even mention unfaithful Bathsheba by name, but only as Uriah’s wife.

And at the end of the name is Joseph, but it is not written that he had a son Jesus (as with all names up to now), but that he was the husband of Mary, from whom Jesus was born, called Christ. We see a genealogy that is not only based on the great deeds of great men, but also speaks of great mistakes, and mentions women who were not Jewish in key situations in Israel’s history. God’s path to our earth is not based on our great deeds and personalities, but on God’s grace and forgiveness. God gives us an absolute gift in his Son, and it is not given to us because of our merits, nor because we belong to a chosen nation. It is given to us out of love and grace. The virgin conception of Jesus Christ is therefore a sign that even if a person does nothing, gives nothing, or is even weak and sinful, God is coming. Christ is given to us in an absolute sense as a Gift.

 
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