Solemnity of All Saint Mt 5,1-12

Posted on 30. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

Most of us keep wishing our close friends health and happiness for the New Year or on personal holidays (name-day, birthday). However, we probably haven’t considered wishing something similar to our friends today, on All Saints’ Day. After all, in our churches today, we read the words of Jesus, which are a blessing or a blessing of something good. When Jesus told some people they were blessed, he wished them well-being, goodness, blessings… We read these wishes and blessings of Jesus in our church today to show ourselves and wish for what should be the greatest in life – holiness, friendship with God, and a righteous life according to God’s will. These goals are achieved by the people we call saints – whether they are Christians like in ancient Rome who preferred to die rather than deny their hope in Christ, or they are Christians of later times who heroically served their fellowmen, prayed sincerely, or performed exceptionally your profession. Today’s All Saints’ Day is a joint celebration of all these people who made it and who deserve not to be forgotten. Today, we also remember them by wishing to achieve something similar. 

In addition, he knows the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew, he notices that they are strange twice. First, they wish well-being and good even to people from whom we would not expect any great good since they are poor, thirsty, or even persecuted. We do not have to ask whether we would like to belong to people with low incomes or the persecuted. None of us desires such a thing. But it is also true that sometimes we find ourselves in such situations, or many other people find themselves in them, and then it is essential to ask how to manage these situations. Jesus’ answer is: It can be done if you do not desire power and wealth but the kingdom of heaven. Then, if you are poor, you will become rich through the kingdom of heaven. If you are a weeper, you will rejoice through the kingdom of heaven. If you are trampled, you will gain influence through the kingdom of heaven. If you hunger for righteousness, you will be filled through the kingdom of heaven. If you are merciful, you will receive mercy. If you have a sincere mind, God himself can be known to you. If you spread peace, God himself will accept you as his own. If you are persecuted for the right cause, you will win through the kingdom of heaven. So, all this can be managed if we desire the kingdom of heaven. However, this is the second thing about Jesus’ words, which seems strange to us – that he wishes us something as big as the kingdom of heaven. Why not expect the poor to get rich and the one down to get up? 

The answer is simple, although only apparent to some. Poverty is not balanced by wealth or persecution balanced by power, but only by the kingdom of heaven. Especially when, like Jesus, we do not mean by the kingdom of heaven some fairy-tale chamber of God, but a situation of understanding with God, people, and ourselves, a state of faith, hope, and love, to which we have reached as a gift from God. It was enough to open this gift. It is similar to when, after 20 years since the democratic revolution, people compare what they have gained or lost. We know that some people, unlike the situation under the so-called socialism, became incredibly rich. So that not only a few become rich but the whole country is lifted. For this, it was necessary not to exchange poverty for wealth but for the poor to obtain the kingdom of heaven, just as Jesus said, so that we strive for wisdom and humanity and a sense of justice and respect for honest people. That we strive to live with trust in God, not in people. One can only hope that if we have succeeded in something so far and are doing well, it is thanks to the efforts of at least some of us.  On All Saints’ Day,

Our church remembers God’s saints from the Roman martyrs until today. The church still has martyrs today. I knew some personally. We also know other good people who live perhaps modestly but honestly and with great love. Some are known by the entire town, others only by the closest few. But they are here among us. It is enough to walk through our cemeteries and notice. At the grave of someone we know, we might think that he died early, at another, that he was a freak, and at another, that the person had an ordinary life. Indeed, while walking through the cemetery, we will also find many such acquaintances and friends with whom we will feel peace, strength, and gratitude. Then we say to ourselves: He was a good person. We are not afraid to say that even a saint. Thanks to the prayers of Jesus and our responses to them, thank God, holiness is not as rare as some think. So, I wish us all well-being, goodness, and blessings. I want to for the kingdom of heaven, lived and realized every day here, among us.

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Bishop Robert Barron is neither a progressive nor a traditionalist.

Posted on 30. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

This week, the American bishop Robert Barron, who is described as the “Bishop of the Internet,” is in Prague. Where should we place him in opinion?

Bishop Robert Barron in a video discussion where actor Shia LaBeouf talks about his conversion in August 2022.

The controversy before the World Youth Days in Lisbon, surrounding the opening ceremony at the Olympics in Paris, and the revelation of an ordinary day at the synod in Rome. 

These are just some of the last few months’ events where we could meet his name. Of course, in addition to regular videos, reflections, articles, essays, and the like.

American Bishop Robert Barron leads a minor diocese in the American Midwest. Still, his media project Word on Fire and millions of social network followers have earned him the label “Internet Bishop” or “the new Fulton Sheen.”.” 

In any case, the bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota is one of the most influential representatives of the Catholic Church. 

Bishop Robert Barron currently has 3.1 million fans on his Facebook, 1.67 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, 501 thousand followers on Instagram, and 305 thousand people following him on the X platform (formerly Twitter).

This media star of the Catholic Church is in Prague these days (October 28-30), where the Czech Bishops’ Conference invited him. On Tuesday, October 29, at 5:30 p.m., Barron will lecture on Ipsum Esse and the Social Teaching of the Church at Charles University.

The capacity of the Blue Lecture Hall of the Charles University Rectorate has long been fully occupied. However, the organizers have ensured a live broadcast, which will be available on the Facebook page cirqueb. cz

Robert Barron stopped in the capital of the Czech Republic on his way back from Rome, where the meeting of the Synod on Synodality ended over the weekend. 

According to the cirque.cz website, the 64-year-old American bishop wanted to address students and the academic community, among other things, during his visit to the Czech Republic. 

In this spirit, Tomáš Sixta, a doctoral student at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the UK and a member of the editorial board of the review for Theology and Spiritual Life Salva, points out the dimension of the visit. He wrote on the Christnet portal that Robert Barron will not come to Prague as a bishop – because the Prague Archdiocese has a bishop – but as a lecturer, as a theologian. “Even his popular social media posts have a concrete theological basis,“ Sixta wrote.

The new Fulton Sheen?

The Czech Bishops’ Conference website is promoting Bishop Barron’s visit with enthusiasm, hailing him as the “greatest media bishop of the United States” since Fulton Sheen. The founder of Word on Fire, an organization producing Catholic-themed audiovisual programs, Bishop Barron is also a prolific author of books, essays, and articles on theology and spirituality. His media appearances include CNN, EWTN, and NBC, and he has lectured at prestigious institutions such as Harvard and tech giants Google, Facebook, and Amazon. According to Bishop Stanislav Pribyl, secretary general of the Czech Bishops’ Conference, securing this visit was a significant accomplishment, given Bishop Barron’s reputation as a world-renowned figure with valuable insights for secularized societies.

Bishop Barron was ordained in the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1986. He also held visiting professorships at the University of Notre Dame and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He earned a master’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America (1982) and a doctorate in theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris (1992), where his dissertation compared the theologies of Paul Tillich and Thomas Aquinas. Barron served as rector of Mundelein Seminary in Illinois from 2012 to 2015. Pope Francis then appointed him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a role he held from 2015 until he was appointed the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, in June 2022.

According to Word on Fire, Bishop Barron is also the creator and host of the groundbreaking and award-winning documentary series Catholicism. Following its success, Barron and Word on Fire released a follow-up documentary, Catholicism: The Pivotal Players, about mystics, scholars, artists, and saints. Bishop Barron is also a bestselling author, and his latest book, This Is My Body, sells over a million copies.

The team around Robert Barron is also behind the book New Apologetic, which is published these days by our publishing house, Postoj Media. Featuring over forty essays from many of the leading Catholic apologists, theologians, and philosophers, it charts a new direction for the future of apologetics: an intelligent, joyful, and beautiful defense of the faith that appeals to both the head and the heart.

He has critics from both camps.

Evaluating Bishop Barron from a theological perspective yields varying opinions, depending on one’s viewpoint. While some Catholics see him as too conservative, others view him as too modernist. This divergence of opinions may suggest that Barron occupies a middle ground between progressive and traditionalist camps, indicating his integrity and commitment to a balanced stance. This assessment is supported by two in-depth analyses of Barron’s work, one praising and the other criticizing him. As author Peter Laffin notes, “In the Catholic media bubble, Bishop Robert Barron is defined more often by what he is not than by what he is. He is not progressive,” highlighting how Barron’s associations, such as with Jordan Peterson, and his critiques of ‘woke’ culture have elicited criticism from the left.

Bishop Barron’s views have drawn criticism from some corners of progressive Catholicism, particularly his stance that abortion is the central moral issue of the time and his lamentation of the Protestantization of liturgy and church architecture. Laffin notes that despite these criticisms, Barron is not a traditionalist, as evidenced by his agreement with Hans Urs von Balthasar’s assertion that we can hope for a hell devoid of occupants. From the right, some have criticized Barron for emphasizing God’s mercy, which they see as coddling “petty-bourgeois Catholics.” His media organization, Word on Fire, has also been perceived as overly polished and accommodating.

Bishop Robert Barron has faced conservative backlash for endorsing a book on prayer by Jesuit James Martin, a vocal advocate for LGBT rights who was featured in The New York Times alongside a photo of a same-sex couple. Czech author Tomáš Sixta has written about Barron, describing him as a proponent of post-liberal theology, which posits that the secular world has nothing to enrich Christianity.

“The American bishop coming to Prague can charm us with the confidence with which he speaks about Christ and the Catholic identity, who this time no longer bows to the secular world, and the sovereignty with which he knows theology and postmodern philosophy. The greater this enchantment, the greater the caution of the listeners must be, whether along with this self-assurance comes an inconspicuous spirit of triumphalism, identitarianism, reluctance to listen to others, a belief in the fullness of one’s truth, which closes our eyes to the truth in others,“ writes Sixta. 

According to him, Barron can be a true role model in his academic work and theological erudition, as well as in the persuasiveness of his preaching. Sixta acknowledges many inspiring thoughts of the American bishop but ends his article with provocative words – that personally, given the theology that Barron draws from, he would recommend another, “one of the most prominent and most watched personalities of the Catholic world,“ namely the current bishop of Rome.

From Lisbon to Paris

Bishop Barron’s stance is best demonstrated through his actions and public engagement. He regularly participates in pastoral and evangelistic content, addressing current events and confronting controversy head-on. A notable example is a bishop from Minnesota who drew attention to a problematic scene from the Olympic Games opening ceremony, posting a video on social media where he expressed his distaste for a “disgusting mockery” of the Last Supper, despite initially being excited to watch the ceremony which was held in Paris, a city he loves and where he completed his doctorate.

The American bishop also engages in intra-church debates. Before the World Youth Days in Lisbon last summer, he responded to comments made by Lisbon’s auxiliary bishop, América Aguiar, who was the event’s main organizer. Aguiar stated that the aim was not to convert young people to faith in Christ or the Catholic Church, but rather for young Catholics to bear witness to their faith while respecting the diversity of others. He emphasized that understanding and embracing differences as a valuable asset is key to creating a better world for all young people.

At the time, Robert Barron may even have written the following words: “The great Polish Pope was pleased that so many young people from all over the world, in all their diversity, were coming to these meetings, but if you had told him that the real purpose of the event was to celebrate diversity, to give everyone feeling that he feels good the way he is and that you are not interested in converting anyone to Christ, he would pierce you with a look that would stop a train.“

Robert Barron will give five presentations on World Youth Day, each focusing on evangelization. His views are also evident in the Synod on Synodality, where he participated as a US delegate. In discussing the church’s approach to the LGBT community, he argues that there is no inherent tension between love and truth. Love, Barron notes, is not a feeling but a selfless act that seeks the good of another; therefore, authentic love requires a genuine understanding of what is truly beneficial for the other person. Barron concedes that tension can exist between helpfulness and truth, but not between true love and truth.

A recent text by the “Bishop of the Internet” on the link between liturgy and charity offers valuable insight, particularly amidst the intensifying divide between traditionalists and liberals. Barron articulates a key principle: the more elevated the liturgy, the deeper one’s commitment to serving the poor should be. “The danger is a one-sided emphasis on liturgy or a one-sided emphasis on service, while the former leads to anxiety and the latter reduces the church to an organization of social services,“ he stated.  Perhaps this is Bishop Robert Barron’s most vital point. Despite the polarization, which does not bypass the church, it can shed light on the essence of the problems. And what’s more, it doesn’t make it boring.

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Slavery and Christianity. What was their relationship like?

Posted on 28. October 2024 by Peter Prochac
slavery

Related Post The following lines are from the book Life After Death by author Dinesh D’Shouza:

What does the Novus ordo seclorum rely on when it proclaims the doctrine of human dignity and rights? This doctrine was not new; its implementation was new. In American and British history, the idea of ​​rights can be traced back to the philosopher John Locke, but even Locke was only a great summarizer and synthesizer of ideas that others had come up with before him. The idea of ​​rights and dignity first appears in the West at the beginning of the sixteenth century. A few decades after the Spanish discovered the New World, several very important debates erupted in Spain, which not only gave rights intellectual justification but also brought the first political recognition that these rights should apply to all people.

It has been debated whether Indians have souls. That’s really up for debate. Today, atheists would probably say, “Of course they don’t, and neither do we.” If you value your rights and dignity today, be glad that like-minded atheists had no influence in the sixteenth century. The reason for the Spanish discussions were differences of opinion between the conquistadors and the Christian missionaries. Almost immediately after the establishment of the colonies on the American continent, the conquistadors and their successors began to enslave the local Indians. The missionaries complained to the Spanish crown and the Roman Church that this enslavement was immoral and unjust.

Slaveholders resorted to the usual arguments: Indians are not like us, they are not Christians, they are not even civilized. The slavers had on their side Juan Ginés de Sepúlvedo, a famous scholar of Aristotle’s work. The latter borrowed Aristotle’s term and referred to the Indians as “slaves by nature”. However, Francisco de Vitoria, a Dominican theologian from the University of Salamanca, disagreed. He declared that it did not matter at all that the slaves were not civilized. It doesn’t even matter that they are not Christians! This is because God created all people, Christians and non-Christians, in his own image. Since God is immortal, humans have immortal souls that express man’s likeness to God. And because God created us, only God, not man, can make claims on us.

According to Vitoria, enslaving the Indians meant degrading the immortal soul to a tool for material gain. Vitoria said that to make this practice more self-serving and self-beneficial for Spain and the Spanish crown, it should be outlawed because it is an insult to God. The Pope agreed with Vitoria and published the encyclical Sublimis Deus in 1536, in which he declared that “Indians, as well as other nations that Christians may discover, must in no way be deprived of their freedom and property, although they do not belong to the faith of Jesus Christ”. A few years later, the Spanish emperor Charles V canceled all further expeditions to America. Never before, writes historian Lewis Hanke, had a powerful empire “suspended conquest until it had been decided,whether they are fair’. It was on this topic – the moral legitimacy of the Spanish conquest – that the emperor convened a great debate in the monastery in Valladolid in 1550. Sepúlveda defended colonial interests. He argued that the Indians were soulless barbarians who should be ruled by the Spanish for their own good. He was opposed by the Spanish monk Bartolomé de Las Casas, a passionate supporter of the Indians. Las Casas argued that Indians, like all other people, have immortal souls that give them special dignity. He also dramatically depicted the abuses that Indians had to endure “for their good.”

Although the Spanish crown sided with Las Casas and passed several laws to protect the rights of the Indians, these laws were largely ignored in the Americas because Spain was so far away that they were almost unenforceable. Nevertheless, the Valladolid debates represent a historical landmark. Free-thinking intellectuals and politicians, such as John Locke in England and the Founding Fathers in Philadelphia, drew on their ideas to formulate the enduring foundations of human dignity and human rights. What emerges from the Valladolid debates is that whether or not we ascribe to others an immortal soul is important—our belief affects how we treat them in the here and now.

slavery_Christianity

The Abolition Movement

Another clear example of otherworldly views having consequences in this world is the abolitionist movement. In my previous book, Christianity and Atheism, I wrote quite differently that slavery was a common practice and the only group that opposed it was the Church. Fundamental opposition to slavery was an exclusively Christian idea, and therefore all anti-slavery movements were organized by Christians. Moreover, all the states that abolished slavery by their own decision were Christian. These states granted freedom to slaves who could not win it themselves. “Other revolutions have been the insurrection of the oppressed,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, “but this was the repentance of the tyrant.”

Atheists, of course, question the centrality of Christianity, blame the belief in an afterlife for encouraging slavery, and argue that the abolition of slavery was largely a secular agenda. For example, Michael Shermer points out that the Bible contains no objections to slavery and that some passages call for slaves to obey their masters. Other atheists say that this biblical approval of slavery deepened the agony of slaves, especially in America, where the majority of slaves were Christians. Moreover, Christians kept slaves for centuries and discouraged them from rebellion by assuring them of happiness in the next life. Even in the period just prior to the war between the North and the South, Christians stood on both sides of the barricade, with Southern Christians vigorously defending slavery and Northern Christians condemning it.

Atheists point out that real opposition to slavery did not arise in Europe and America until the eighteenth century, which coincides precisely with the historical epoch known as the Enlightenment. Opposition to slavery is therefore a secular and Enlightenment idea rather than a Christian one. What to answer to this criticism of atheists? That the New Testament calls slaves to listen to masters and masters to be kind to slaves must be understood in the context of the life of Christians in the Roman Empire. The apostle Paul accepted the institution of slavery for the same reason as the Roman tax code and the rules of service in the Roman army: because he had no choice. However, it is clear from the book of Acts that Christians are not to enslave their fellow believers. The best way to test any social philosophy is to find out how its followers interpret and implement it.
Christian authorities, such as the church father Gregory of Nyssa, preached to Christians not to own slaves, and as their message spread through Europe, Christians did obey him.

It is widely believed that Christians took over slavery from the Greeks and Romans and practiced it until modern times, but this is not true. Christianity rose to power in the fourth century, and between the fourth and tenth centuries slavery was more or less abolished in Europe. According to historian Rodney Starte, there were virtually no slaves in Christian Europe in the second half of the Middle Ages.

Slavery was replaced by serfdom, which was not exactly a benign institution, but at least it was based on mutual rights and obligations between masters and serfs. Serfs paid rent and kept part of the harvest for themselves. They could marry and marry as they pleased, and they decided for themselves when they would work, how they would raise their families, and how they would spend their free time. In short, they were not property or “human tools”. If you ever have to decide whether you want to be a serf or a slave, be a serf.

Slavery spread in the American South for one reason: there was a lot of hard, grueling work in the New World, and there were plenty of men and women to do it in the African slave market. Marxist historian Eugene Genovese wrote in Roll, Jordan, Roll, widely regarded as the best study of American slavery, that the planter class had a strong existential interest in slavery. It was solely this selfish interest that led Southerners to defend slavery. Although they referred to biblical theology, they only justified why the plantation class forced blacks against their will into unpaid labor. Today, most of these justifications, such as the curse of Ham, are considered complete nonsense. Nowhere in the Bible does it even indicate that Ham was black! It may surprise some that Southerners advocated slavery even though they called themselves Christians, but it can only really surprise someone who does not know the depths of human selfishness.

When Genovese began work on his study, he thought he would find that Christianity reconciled slaves to their lot, urging them to wait for eternal salvation and not desire freedom in this world. That’s exactly what atheists say. Genovese found that in the darkness of slavery, many slaves did cling to the belief of an eternal reward. However, he was surprised that the slaves, under the influence of these heavenly expectations, did not reconcile and were not satisfied with their lot. On the contrary, they developed a strong liberal ethos in which the desire for salvation in the next world was inextricably linked with the demand for freedom in this world.

Genovese, who later converted to Catholicism, shows in his book that this ethos among slaves was born from reading the Bible. Remember the text of the famous spiritual: “Go down, Moses, into the land of Egypt and say to Pharaoh: let my people go.” The slaves found in the book of Exodus a parallel between their fate and the situation of the Israelites in Egyptian captivity. Thus Moses became not only the leader of the captive Jews, but also of the black slaves in America. Later, many freed slaves named their sons “Moses”. Slaves drew a strong free-spirited message from the Bible, although atheistic criticism claims the opposite.

In the early eighteenth century, groups of American Quakers and evangelicals began the first organized campaigns against slavery. They were motivated by a simple idea that the Bible proclaims: We are all equal in the eyes of God. This idea was understood until that time as a spiritual truth that only concerns the future life. Quakers and evangelicals, however, were convinced that it had fundamental consequences for this life as well. From the theological statement about the equality of people before God, they derived the political lesson that no man has the right to rule over others without their consent. From this revolutionary idea arose not only the abolition of slavery, but also American democracy. The principle of modern representative democracy is actually the same – no one has the right to rule others without their consent.

It should also be mentioned that, for example, in 1537, Pope Paul III spoke out against slavery with the Bull Sublimis Deus.

The benefit of Christianity and missionaries.

Many atheists object to Christianity’s contribution to society. An extensive discussion could be conducted about this, but for all the statements, let’s mention at least one eloquent comment. When I debated Christopher Hitchens in New York – it was an exciting encounter with a resourceful atheist opponent on a topic called “Is Christianity the Problem?”. Probably the most interesting question was asked by a man from the island nation of Tonga. He said Tonga had been mired in horrific blood feuds, tribal wars and even cannibalism for centuries. Then came the missionaries with their doctrine of God, the brotherhood of all men, and the afterlife. Today life in Tonga is much calmer and happier. The man turned to Hitchens and asked him: You have presented some interesting theories, but what can you offer us? Hitchens was momentarily speechless. The incredibly simple question caught him and the audience by surprise.

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Greek Catholic priest on Instagram.

Posted on 28. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

People moved elsewhere, only we priests remained in the same place

 

In September, he became active on Instagram and after a few weeks, he already had ten thousand followers. Many young people can also receive the sacrament from the Greeks.

  Catholic’s small village of Staškovce near Stropkovo. With short, funny videos, he destroys prejudices about priests and brings people closer to the Greek Catholic faith.

Miroslav Hamarčák (31) talks about what it’s like to work on his Instagram Eastpriest with his wife, about his daughter Majka, who was born with Down syndrome, but also about whether priests should talk about their failures.

We also talked about why priests should evangelize differently nowadays, whether they should go to people outside the temples as well, and what he would ask Jesus if he could ask him just one question.

He and his wife Mária are raising three children.

You published your first post on your Instagram in mid-September, in October you already have more than 10,000 followers, i.e. those who follow you. Did it surprise you?

We did not expect that. When we decided to give the introduction video, we wanted to test whether it all worked.

And paradoxically, about three thousand followers came through the first video. At that moment, we thought there was probably no going back.

As it is written in God’s word: when you put your hand to the plow, don’t look back. So we experienced this with an influx of followers really in an extremely short time.

It happens in our life that God invites us to different things, and as soon as we step into them, that’s when the blessing comes. Many things then fit together like a puzzle. This is what we experienced – one day we didn’t know how the next day we decided and it worked.

If you had told me a month ago that we would be sitting here solving Instagram, I would have laughed. It’s still a huge shock to me.

You create Instagram with your wife. How do you work together?

I think that in this creation we experience it as in married life. Two people who form a couple in a marriage bond may look at the world with different views but with the goal of walking in the same direction.

This also happens on my profile – I have a completely different view of the world, I often perceive things through the lens of the priesthood or theological school. It takes away from the simplicity of my speech.

My wife loves simple speech. In this, he encourages me to make the content more understandable and contemporary.
I’ve experienced a crisis more than once that I didn’t want to make a video or answer questions. I asked if it all made sense.

At that time, the wife often came up with a huge idea, with enthusiasm. She urged me again to go, to evangelize further.

It was not for nothing that God sent the apostles two at a time. A person can be blown in different directions by himself, he can suddenly believe a fiction, a delusion. But if he has a person who adjusts the mirror for him, the probability that he would fly away is lower.


The impetus for creating an Instagram account came from my theological days as part of the gospel group Anastasis. I was introduced to the concept of “new evangelization” through events like the Ways of the Cross, concerts, and paths of light, which offered alternative ways to share the message of God. This desire to spread the word in innovative ways remained with me and eventually evolved into my service as a priest and chaplain.

The birth of our daughter Majka, who has Down syndrome, reignited our desire to share the Gospel. Around that time, my wife also discovered the potential of social media and video production, which many non-profits use to spread their message.

We started making videos from a family perspective, and over time, I’ve seen how God has used these videos to shape and equip my wife and me for evangelism. Do you know who follows you? Who would you like to reach on Instagram? I joke that my target audience is anyone who comes across our profile and shows interest. It’s not limited to Christians or young people but includes all who seek God.

Our audience is diverse, encompassing people of various faiths, nationalities, and age groups, including those unfamiliar with the Greek Catholic Church. Our goal is to approach faith with a critical eye, seeking truth rather than mere criticism. Many Roman Catholics are also unaware that Greek Catholics are part of the Catholic Church and that they can receive sacraments from Greek Catholics and attend their temples. Many are surprised that I have a ring on my finger, that I have a wife and children.

For believers in eastern Slovakia, the coexistence of Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic churches in their villages often leads to attending both masses and liturgies. However, what may surprise me is that Bratislava, a region unfamiliar with the term Greek Catholic, has the highest following, according to Instagram statistics.

Should modern priests also act as influencers, sharing their message beyond the temple? Historically, authority figures such as mayors, doctors, teachers, and priests influenced public opinion. In this sense, priests have always been influencers, shaping the lives of their parishioners through positive guidance

.Authority figures like mayors, doctors, and teachers are no longer held in the same esteem as they were in the past. Their authority is now more frequently questioned. The relative anonymity of social media allows people to express opinions that might not have been voiced previously.

Resistance and disagreement with my actions should be constructive, not destructive, evoking thoughtful responses, whether positive or negative. Critical thinking is essential in today’s world, as we often accept information uncritically. While it’s necessary to approach faith with a critical eye, this doesn’t mean criticizing everything, but rather seeking truth.

What do you think people expect from a priest today?

The people I meet expect only one thing from a priest – that he be human.

So that he is not just someone distant on a pedestal, at the altar, far from them, or in the pulpit, but is a person who experiences the struggles and pains that life brings. To be someone who walks with the people.

This is what the synod wants to direct us to, Pope Francis directs us priests in his letters to not be someone who walks away from the people, in front or to the side, but someone who is part of the flock.

Should a priest speak openly about his own failures? You have one video, that concerns your daughter Majka with Down syndrome and you called it The Biggest Fall.

Certainly yes. By often pretending to be perfect people in the church, we do not present our weaknesses, so then we move away from the word of God, in which the apostle Paul also says: In what else should I boast, if not in my weaknesses.

As priests, we often forget that seeking fame and recognition contradicts our true purpose. We strive to shine brightly, convincing ourselves we’ll never fail. However, the Bible tells us that true greatness comes from acknowledging our failures and vulnerabilities, allowing God’s grace to shine through our weaknesses.

With daughter Majka. 

Do you think tackling sensitive topics on Instagram is a good idea? I’m considering a post about priests’ salaries, a topic often shrouded in misconception. Many assume priests earn a fortune, but the reality is far from it. 

Do you follow priests or Christians who share their faith on social media? I follow some priests from our Greek Catholic Church, but I also draw inspiration from more mainstream profiles to stay relatable to a younger audience. Your video about not spitting for good luck caught my attention. This superstition is still prevalent, particularly among older generations. Do you encounter this often?

I have to say that as a priest they also spit on children. I actually experience it. (smile)

How do you react to that?

When possible and if the person is receptive, I try to guide them. Otherwise, I pray that God sees my good intentions. I often tell people that they likely haven’t seen my video. Interestingly, many young people share my videos with their grandmothers. Recently, I was preaching at an event when a lady exclaimed, “It’s that TikToker!” I couldn’t help but laugh. Even the elderly, who you might not expect to be on social media, can be reached through Instagram.

Roma do not feel comfortable in churches. We would like to integrate them into the Gadžov church, but that is not very possible
Priest Martin Mekel from the Greek Catholic Roma Mission Romas does not feel comfortable in churches. We would like to integrate them into the Gadžov church, but that is not very possible
 

Which question from your followers has most interested or surprised you so far?

What would I ask Jesus if I had the chance to ask him just one question? I thought about it for a very long time, since God revealed many things to us through God’s word and the tradition of the church.

I’m still thinking about it.

It’s a question I’ve pondered – why my daughter was born with Down syndrome? I’d love a straightforward answer. But if someone told me to ask Jesus now, I’d feel even more pressure. As a person of faith, I know why she’s the way she is. Her diagnosis opened doors that would’ve otherwise remained closed for us, like our Instagram profile. But when I first learned of her diagnosis, did I process it as a priest or just as a regular person?A person always knows how to think like a priest, he knows how to separate it in himself.

On the one hand, a person experiences a personality crisis, some kind of pain that permeates and interferes with the priestly vocation.

On the other hand, in principle we can say what we should do. What is God’s plan in this? What we often tell people as priests, I had the opportunity to experience myself.

Many times we try to support other people who are going through some kind of pain, for example from the loss of a loved one or from not being able to have children, or from having a disabled child, or from being abandoned by a spouse.

As a priest, I’ve found that offering unsolicited advice can be misguided. What people often need most is not guidance, but someone to walk alongside them and listen. Even I didn’t know how to navigate my own struggles. What I needed was someone to share the burden, not offer solutions. Sometimes, our eagerness to help can lead us to give unwanted advice. In those moments, it’s essential to remember that being present can be the greatest help of all.

You said in the video that you prayed for your daughter’s miraculous recovery. Should a Christian have in his equipment to pray and believe that his prayers will always be answered? So what if it doesn’t happen, as in your case?

The problem is our attitude towards prayer as people of faith. We often look at prayer as something to change God’s will.

If we want to change God’s will with our prayer, then we are indirectly insulting God, since we are saying that as a loving father, he does not want the best for us.

At the same time, we have the idea that what we think and what we ask for is better than what God gives us. This means that we actually doubt his will.

As a result, our prayer is not what it should be, i.e. in full dedication. Therein lies the whole key.

Sometimes we actually experience praying for something for years and not seeing any result. Not because God doesn’t want to give it to us, but because it’s not the best for us.

When I project this into my relationship with my children, as a father I see that the child craves candy. And I try to give it to him, but maybe at a different time than he wants.

God knows best what we need and when.

So how to look at the events that will meet us? If a person is affected by a serious illness, the death of a loved one, infertility, loneliness… Is it a cross, as Christians often understand it, or, on the contrary, a blessing?

I wouldn’t look at it that way.

If we have a loving father and we imagine that the loving father will give us cancer, then that is actually a terrifying view of that loving father.
God does not want to raise us this way.

Jesus did not wait, he went to meet. 
And this is what we as priests should do.

Diseases, hunger, or wars are just a natural consequence of the fact that we live in a world where God, through the gift of free will he entrusted to us, does not have full control over how we will choose things.

Many times it is sin that is here in the world, and in this sinful state, diseases, weaknesses, imperfections, falls, wars, and failures are completely natural.

What did Mother give you personally? As a father and a priest?

To be honest, this topic deserves a separate conversation. The impact she had on our lives is immense.Before meeting her, both my wife and I had limited interactions with people with disabilities. We had unknowingly built walls around ourselves, unsure of how to approach or react to them. As a priest, I’m ashamed to admit I was guilty of this as well.

It’s a realistic concern that someone who gains success on Instagram might eventually let pride take over, making their self-presentation all about their ego. How can one avoid this trap? It’s essential to distinguish between self-presentation and ego.

Self-presentation is essential if one goes to any social network, Instagram. My goal is to show myself, and my family in the context of being normal people. That we are an ordinary married couple, an ordinary family, and at the same time we carry a priestly vocation.

What is the difference between evangelizing in a church and on a social network?

The other day, four grandmothers were at our church in Staškovce on Saturday morning. I’m like, well, it’s not a big village, maybe 200 people live here, but where is everyone?

As priests, we’re often stuck in the past, reminiscing about a time when people were genuinely interested in the church and its ceremonies. Although some still attend today, the numbers are dwindling drastically.

People moved elsewhere, but we priests stayed in the same place. I am not saying that we should stop serving the liturgy, but in my opinion, we should go to the people.

Jesus did not wait, he went to meet. And this is what we as priests should do.

At the same time, if I already have them in the church for the sermon on Sunday, I won’t miss them there, but on Instagram, they are just a flick of the thumb away. The whole idea may be brilliant, but if it is not presented in the language of today, then the word of God is completely lost.

I preach briefly, but four minutes, for example, on Instagram is a terrible massacre. We priests can’t seem to realize that the language is completely different. Instagram teaches me that and I am very grateful for it.

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The word of the priest’s connections.

Posted on 27. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

We are always looking for a golden thread to grasp the world in which we live. We want and need to trust someone, but we especially need to see.

Philosopher and theologian Ladislav Hanus once said aptly that we should confess not only the sins we committed with thoughts, words, and deeds but also by misunderstanding the context. I understand him well. We can have the best ideas, but we harm ourselves with ideas if we use them at the wrong moment and in the wrong context.

Context is a very important context. This question is especially important in our time filled with hoaxes and misinformation. We already remember from Slovak lessons that the literary meaning of a text cannot be deciphered without knowing the circumstances when the text was written and cannot ignore the events that preceded it in the work. 

Context is essential to knowing who we are. Moral theology teaches that circumstances can turn even a small matter into a big problem, whether you steal five euros from a millionaire or a person receiving a living wage.

Today, we are witnessing how people distinguish themselves in various social topics. Exclusion largely depends on the context in which some information is provided. We perceive polarization, for example, in the evaluation of mandatory vaccination during the covid pandemic; in search of the culprit in the war beyond our eastern borders. We could go on.

Seeing the connections that Hanus talks about correctly is not only a question of intelligence but also of attributing (dis)credibility to specific sources. If we choose a dubious information source, we will likely be aware. No one wants to be lied to or live in error, yet we face a considerable risk of making the wrong choice or betting on the wrong horse.

The Gospels describe several cases where a blind man saw again under the influence of Jesus’ divine power. This is also the case with Bartimaeus, as Mark’s Gospel describes. This desperate man begs Jesus to restore his sight. Because he is persistent and has faith, Jesus will grant him.

“Many times we are so disoriented and disappointed that we end up either trusting no one or trusting everything.”

The problem of today’s man, who wanders for hours in the virtual world, lies in the illusion of self-assurance of knowledge. We know exactly how it is, how it should be, or what the problem is. 

We will not even admit that it could be otherwise or that we could be deceived. At the same time, we are often so disoriented and disappointed that we either don’t trust anyone or we trust everything.

However, neither is correct. When Jesus restored Bartimaeus’ sight, he discovered reality. He no longer had to dream and imagine the real world; he did not have to misunderstand him, as if he saw a slice of him. He saw him whole because his sight returned, and he saw the reality of life as it was. That saved him. 

Even if a blind person can live, it is much more difficult for him in practical matters. It is possible to function even with imperfect eyesight, but without glasses, we see things dimly and vaguely, and we can hurt ourselves and others.

Seeing reality means understanding connections, seeing things in context, or, as teachers say, reading with understanding. It can be learned, but only with one condition. If we find humility in ourselves, we will not be too self-confident and admit that we can be wrong even in serious matters and that someone could mislead or deceive us.

I understand that it is sometimes difficult to navigate this complicated world. So many have disappointed or deceived us. We are always looking for a golden thread to grasp the world in which we live. We want and need to trust someone, but especially, we need to see. Perhaps we should, like blind Bartimaeus, say to Jesus, “Let me see!” 

My physical sight is fine, Lord. But I am asking you for the gift of wisdom so I can honestly see myself and the world around me. And where I am still unclear, give me the courage to seek the truth, even if it takes time and may be difficult and painful. 

If I live in a lie and an illusion, if I let myself be deceived, I will not move anywhere and gain nothing, I can only harm myself. Let me see; grant me the ability to understand the connections even in complex social topics, express myself carefully, act wisely, and make the right decisions in every election. 

It’s not just about me; it’s just about my eternal salvation. I want to survive in this world so that I can contribute my life to building God’s kingdom. If I understand the connections and make wise decisions, it will be easier, and it will benefit the whole community.

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Josef Allamano.The new saint in the oratory at Don Bosco’s

Posted on 25. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

 

He could not go on missions, so he founded a religious order. The new saint was in the oratory at Don Bosco's
Saint Joseph Allamano. Photo: consolata.pl

Italian priest Joseph (Giuseppe) Allamano has been among the new saints in the Catholic Church since Sunday. He was shaped in life by his uncle, also a saint, and Don Bosco.

The period in which the new saint grew up was a period of great people in Piedmont, Italy. Allama’s uncle, priest Jozef Cafasso, also comes from the same town. Interestingly, the process of beatification of Cafassa was initiated by the new saint Jozef Allamano.

Saint Dominic Savio also grew up in one of the settlements that belongs to Castelnuovo. He died when Allamano was four years old.

Four saints come from one small town.

In Turin, Joseph Allamano met, or was able to meet, other saints, such as Joseph Cottolengo, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925) and Saint Leonardo Murialdo (1828-1900), who founded the Josephine order from Murialdo. Saint Pope Pius X encouraged him in Rome with the establishment of the order.

At that time, it was a period full of unrest, wars and hostility towards the church. But let’s get things in order.

Formation at Don Bosco

Jozef was the fourth of five children. When he was three years old, his father died. However, his mother’s brother, priest Jozef Cafasso, took charge of his education. This priest was an important friend and spiritual guide of Don Bosco and accompanied and formed other priests in and around Turin. 

Theologians and nobles also went to Cafasso for advice, they invited him to preach, including for missions and spiritual exercises. Don Cafasso also visited prisoners or accompanied convicts to the gallows. He was a holy priest who was also an example for Allaman.

The second saint who had a great influence on Allaman was Saint John Bosco. Allamano recalled talking to Don Bosco as a boy in Castelnuovo, but he had a real influence on him only later.

When he finished elementary school in 1862, as an 11-year-old, his grandfather brought him and his brother to Turin on Valdocco to see Don Bosco. Allamano spent four years there, during which he completed his high school education. During this period, Don Bosco was also his confessor.

As young Jozef felt a priestly vocation, he applied to the diocesan seminary.

Here came the first obstacles, because his brothers did not agree with it. They wanted him to do public high school first. However, he had only one answer for the brothers: “The Lord is calling me today.” I don’t know if he’ll call me again in two or three years.’

Don Bosco saw in the young man Allaman a future priest for his emerging congregation. Jozef therefore left Don Bosco without saying goodbye, for which he later gently rebuked him.

“You did it to me. You left without saying goodbye to me.” The timid answer was: “I didn’t dare.” Allamano liked Don Bosco and was close to him until the end of his life.

A young spiritual leader

Allaman’s desire was to go on missions, but his physical frailty, which was evident after entering the seminary, did not allow him to do so. Despite this, he stood out among his classmates.

His seminary companion and later Bishop GB Ressia said of him: “He was the first among us not only in the alphabet, but in merit of study and virtue, gentleness of heart and goodness of heart. Everyone knew that he was the closest to the Heart of Jesus.”

Allmano became a priest on September 20, 1873, when he was 22 years old, and his desire was to go to the parish ministry in some small village. However, the bishop entrusted him with pastoring in the seminary, where he was an assistant and, after three years, a spiritual leader. He performed this service for four years.

When the archbishop was sending him to the seminary, Allamano respectfully objected. The bishop replied: “Did you want to become a parish priest?” If for that reason alone, I give you the most famous parish in the diocese: the seminary!”

As an educator in the seminary, Allamano stood out for his firmness in principles, but he was gentle in asking for their implementation. Along the way, he did further studies in theology and qualified to teach at a college. He worked at the faculty of civil and canon law and was later dean of both faculties.

Fragment of the baptistery where St. was baptized. Jozef Allamano, St. Jozef Cafasso and St. John Bosco. The second picture shows a copy from the registry office that confirms the baptism. 

At the age of 29, the archbishop of Turin entrusted him with the administration of the Basilica of La Consolata. It is the most popular Marian shrine in Turin. Don Bosco also visited her very often, either with the boys or privately. 

He prayed for a long time in this basilica when his mother died. The basilica was built in the 4th century and is associated with respect for the ancient image of the Virgin Mary. Today, the church has a baroque form from 1679, a dome from 1703 and frescoes from 1740. The temple is dedicated to the Virgin Mary Comforter.

When Allamano objected to the bishop that he was too young for such a role, the latter told him fatherly: “You’ll see, they’ll love you anyway. If you make mistakes, it’s better to be young, you’ll have time to correct them.”

Jozef Allaman was joined by the priest Giacomo Camisassa, whom he met in the seminary, where he acted as his spiritual guide.

Their priestly cooperation and friendship lasted more than 40 years. When Camisassa died, Allamano concluded that he had lost both hands. These priests spent long hours together in the study and promised each other that they would always tell each other the truth.

Under the leadership of these priests, the dilapidated temple came to life and they transformed it again into a work of art, where gold and marble shone. The sanctuary became the center of Marian spirituality and Christian renewal for the entire region.

However, Allamano was not only a builder, but first and foremost a charismatic priest. Many saw him as his uncle Don Cafasso. They said that Don Cafasso had come back to life.

Jozef Allamano had a gift from God to advise and comfort people of all social classes, and he was a man with a big heart. He was also able to admonish and many years later returned to God through a good confession and rediscovered peace in their hearts and friendship with God.

He also led spiritual exercises in the sanctuary of St. Ignáca near Lanza Torinese. This center of spirituality was known because Fr. Caffaso preached there for many years.

And it was his nephew who contributed to the beatification of Cafasso, as he emphasized, not because they are family, but because he wanted to give him as an example to other priests. In addition, he collected memoirs, which he published.

In front of the church in Castelnuovo. 

Allaman himself was not happy about being related to Don Cafasso, and when dealing with the beatification process, he often said that as a relative he should not even bother with it. “I do this as the rector of the boarding school and because I replaced him in teaching and leading the clergy. It is my duty to point out the virtues and holiness of Cafasso.’

Allaman cared a lot about the formation of young priests. When the archbishop closed the priestly convention because of serious disputes over the teaching of morality in 1876, led by Fr Cafasso, he persuaded him to reopen it. The convent then operated under his leadership in the premises of the former monastery near the Consolata Basilica.

He instilled in the priests that the ultimate goal of the priestly vocation is the salvation of their brothers. He also underlined the missionary dimension associated with priestly ordination, saying that the vocation to missions is the vocation of every holy priest.

Allamano participated directly or indirectly in many apostolic works, was a canon of the cathedral and a member of various commissions and committees.

During the First World War, he helped refugees priests and seminarians who had to join the army. He also supported the Catholic press, including with a significant amount of money. He encouraged publishers not to be afraid to apply innovation.

He couldn’t go on missions, that’s why he founded a religious order

Gradually, Allamano felt an increasing urgency to bring the gospel to everyone. Thus, the idea of ​​founding a missionary institute was gradually born. He himself could not go on missions due to poor health.

He found support and understanding from Cardinal Agostino Richelmy, who was his friend from the seminary. In January 1900, Allamano became very ill and it seemed that his life was at an end. He became ill while tending to a sick poor woman who was lying in a cold attic. Allamano eventually recovered, which he considered a miracle. This event cemented in him the idea to found a missionary institute.

Consolata in Turin. 

And so on January 29, 1901, the Consolata Missionary Institute (L’Istituto Missioni Consolata) was born. “Since I could not be a missionary, I want those souls who want to follow this path not to be hindered,” said the saint. 

The institute was intended for both priests and laymen, and the first two priests and two laymen left for missions in Kenya on May 8, 1902. They were soon followed by others.

Allamano saw that he also needed women in the missions. Saint Joseph Cottolengo, who founded hospitals for the poorest in Turin, helped him in this matter. This priest freed the Vincentian sisters for the missions.

However, due to difficulties with the newly elected vicar apostolic, the sisters had to return, so Allamano remained in the missions without sisters. This also led him to found the Consolata Missionary Institute on January 29, 1910. However, Pope Pius X encouraged him to take that step.

When Allamano told him about his difficulties, the Holy Father replied: “It is necessary that you yourself found an institute of missionary sisters, just as you founded an institute of missionaries.”

“Your holiness,” Allamano ventured to object, “there are already many female religious families.” “Yes, but not exclusively missionary.” “But I, the most holy father, do not feel called to found nuns!” Allamano countered.

“If you don’t have it, I’ll give it to you,” replied Pius X. Allamano’s next comment to the missionaries was: “See? It was not I who wanted you, but the Pope; therefore you must be papal.’

Altar of St. Allamana in the church in his hometown of Castelnuovo 

Gradually, this religious order spread to other countries and today it operates in 24 countries in Africa, America, Europe and Asia.

Allamano tried to give the men and women of the institute as much attention as possible, either in person or by corresponding with many. He was convinced that missions should be given the best, so he focused more on quality than numbers. He wanted to have zealous evangelizers who would be holy and would be willing to sacrifice even their lives. His motto was, “Saints first, missionaries second.”

Jozef Allamano died on February 16, 1926. His body rests today in the church of the mother house on Corso Ferrucci in Turin, which is the destination of constant pilgrimages by missionaries.

Today, Consolata missionaries work closest to us in Poland, they have around a thousand members in the world. There are currently about twenty bishops from this order, among them the still youngest cardinal in the world, Giorgio Marengo, who works in Mongolia.

A miracle in Brazil

Allamano was beatified in 1990. The miracle necessary for his canonization occurred in Brazil on February 7, 1996. An indigenous man, Sorin Yanomami, of the Amazon rainforest in the northern state of Roraima, was attacked by a jaguar, causing an open fracture of the skull. The man waited eight hours for help before the plane reached him.

According to the doctors, the sight of him was terrifying and they had to operate on him urgently. After the operation, the man was taken to the hospital. At that time, six Consolata sisters and one priest began to pray for him. They placed Allaman’s relic under his pillow and began to pray the novena.

Ten days later, Soriano awoke without any neurological sequelae. On the eighth of May, the man returned home to his village completely healthy. To this day, Soriano has no consequences from the injury.

 

From Sunday, October 20, Manuel Ruiz Lopez, seven of his companions from the Order of Friars Minor and Francis, Mooti, and Rafael Massabki, laymen who were killed for hatred of the faith in Damascus (Syria) on the night of the 9th to the 10th, are also on the altar of the saints. .July 1860.

A group of armed men from Lebanon, on their way to Syria, attacked the monastery and the Franciscan Church of St. Paul and together with three brothers, Maronite Christians, who were present in the monastery, murdered eight lesser brothers, seven Spaniards and one Austrian. In 1926, they were blessed by Pius XI.

Along with them, Pope Francis also canonized Marie-Léonie Paradisová (born Virginia Alodie), a Canadian nun who lived in the years 1840-1912 and founded the Congregation of Little Sisters of the Holy Family. And Elena Guerrová was added to the list of saints. She was born and lived in Lucca in the 19th century. She was the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Wafers, known as the “Sisters of St. Zity”, which was devoted to the education of girls.

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30.Sunday in Ordinary Time , Year B

Posted on 24. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

To see better… When I meet young people, I often say to myself how well these young people can see. Few people wear glasses. And when we talk longer, it becomes clear that their eyesight is not so famous. Many people wear contact lenses. Today we will look together at the word of God on the 30th Sunday in the year B. Again, it is from the Gospel of St. Mark. And in it, two important words are typically repeated. The first is the word go – actually, the whole Gospel is the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. And the second word is: to see, to look – the gospel reveals to us the dynamics of looking and seeing and understanding who Jesus is and what it means that he is the Messiah, the Son of God. The entire Gospel of Mark reveals the good news – Jesus is God’s Son, God. At the same time, it reveals the slowness of people in accepting this news and the difficulty of believing in this fact. The Gospel, from the beginning, describes the difficulties of understanding, seeing the essence of things and relationships, and the greatness of God, who became so small. There are two episodes in it about the healing of the blind, that is, about gaining sight, and today we will focus on the second of them. But first, let’s take a moment to look at the first reading. There, too, they talk about the blind and walking along the road. 

This is what the Lord says: “Sing, full of joy for Jacob, rejoice over the first of the nations; proclaim, sing and say: ‘Save, Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.’ Behold, I will bring them back from the north country and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, together with the pregnant and the mother: a great community will return here. They will come crying, I will lead them in humble supplication and I will lead them through streams of water, on a straight path, they will not stumble on it, for I am the father of Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn » Jer 31,7-9. 

The prophet Jeremiah invites us to look to the future with optimism. It calls for joy. Also, it reminds us that God did not come to gather his people only from the chosen, the best, the wise, and the healthy. No, he said that he will also bring to himself those who cannot yet see, who have not yet learned to walk well. Many of them will come crying, that is, with regret over their past and maybe even their present, and yet God will guide them so that they do not meet on the road. Although they will not go on a wide and comfortable road, but on a narrow and crooked road. We know that Jesus taught in parables. And yet he stated that he says that people should look, look, and not see. Mk4. More than once this year we discussed the secret of not being able to see those who were close to Jesus: family, relatives, or even his disciples. He also said to them several times: do you have eyes and do not see? Mk 8,14-21 It was especially striking in the story after the multiplication of the bread. Then we have the nameless blind man at Bethesda. As if his slow acquisition of sight resembled his disciples’ gradual acquisition of vision and understanding. (Who do you think I am?) 
But let’s go and listen to the second story about the healing of the blind man. The blind beggar is the only one who calls Jesus by name and who himself has a name. The story of Bartimaeus of Jericho is worth listening to carefully.

Heard that there was no one to bring the blind beggar to Jesus – unlike at Bethesda. He was dependent on himself, so when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he decided only based on his intuition that someone was passing by who would save him. Someone to have mercy on him. And he decided to scream. People around him threatened him to keep quiet. But he didn’t give up. He shouted even louder. Have mercy on me. God is not only merciful, he is merciful. God, like a father who listens to the cry of his children, stopped in Jesus. And he sent people to call him. Jesus’ call also often comes to us through others. So they went to call him and tell him to be of good mind, not to be afraid. And that important word sounds: Get up! (Awake, you who are sleeping, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you) What appeals to me

Next, the blind man threw away his cloak. The only thing he had. A beggar’s coat is like a closet in a house. Many things are hidden in it. It is perhaps the bed on which he sleeps, the duvet with which he covers himself. And the beggar gave up the only certainty he still had. He did it without being asked. What a disproportion to the rich young man who ran to Jesus. He was asked by Jesus to give up the wealth that he considered his security, and he did not know how to do it and did not want to. And he went away from Jesus in sorrow. When Jesus and Bartimaeus found themselves face to face with the blind beggar, Jesus, although he heard him screaming, asked him again the question he had previously asked his two disciples: John and James. It is perhaps the decisive question of this Gospel. Jakub and Johannes – they didn’t know what they wanted. The blind beggar knew that. To see. More precisely, so that I can see again so that I can see up. Looking up means seeing the cross of Jesus and on it the one who gives salvation. All of us are often called to look at and contemplate the face of Jesus.

Finally, we notice that Jesus made no gesture. He just concluded that the miracle had already happened. He said: go, don’t see…your faith has saved you. Yes, it was a faith that did not allow itself to be disgusted discouraged, or intimidated by various external influences. He knew how to leave what little he had. This man represents the character traits that a disciple of Jesus should have: someone who is independent of his certainties, someone who has steadfast faith, and someone who longs to see and regain his sight. To see and understand how it is with the Messiah and with his – God’s kingdom. But even that is not enough. It is still important to see and understand so that I can follow. And so it was with Bartimaeus. Jesus did not say to him: and now follow me. But go. Nevertheless, it was clear to the former blind man that if he did not want to lose his sight again, he needed to follow Jesus. To follow him, to walk behind him. And so he does not depart from Jesus. This experience of rescue helps him to decide that the path of his life will wind near the Savior. And so it is with us. We are blind too. We need to see. Getting rid of dependence on our certainties. To build in faith and desire to see better than before. And follow Jesus.

Let us be encouraged by the story of one blind masseur, who was told by Father Elias Vella. He worked for the people, talked with them, encouraged and prayed for them. Many were healed by his intercession. One asked him: why don’t you pray for yourself too, so that God will heal you of your blindness? He said: I haven’t even thought of that yet. I meet many people who don’t see the meaning of their lives, they have their troubles that they tell me about, they lost their jobs, family, and health, and so I try to help them. I have a job, I have a family, and good friends, so I didn’t even have time to start praying for my recovery. After all, I have so much and others don’t. What will we answer to Jesus when he asks us on Sunday: What do you want me to do for you?

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You know the sign of the times.

Posted on 24. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

Today, Jesus tells us about how we look and follow the sky. For example, we can say: “This morning, after three days of continuous rain, the sky appears clear and bright, as if it were one of the most beautiful days of this autumn.” From day to day, we can become increasingly aware of the weather changes that meteorologists report to us. Jesus tells us today: “You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you do not understand the present age” (cf. Lk 12:56). Those who listened to Jesus did not discover in him a unique chance in the history of humanity. They did not recognize him as the Son of God. In other words, they did not recognize the time, the hour of salvation.

II. The Vatican Council in the constitution Gaudium et Spes (No. 4) updates today’s Gospel: “The Church in every era bears the responsibility of examining the signs of the times and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel (… ) The Church must therefore know and understand the world in which it lives: its expectations, efforts and its sometimes dramatic character.”

When we look at history, it is relatively easy to pinpoint the opportunities we lost because we did not discover the times we lived. But, Lord: what opportunities are we wasting today, now, nowadays, if we don’t read the signs of the times, or if we don’t read today’s problems in the light of the Gospel? Today, Jesus reminds us again: “How is it that you do not know how to judge the present time?” (Luke 12:57).

In conclusion, let’s recall the words of St. John Paul II, which he said at the beginning of the new millennium: “our Christian communities must become authentic “schools” of prayer, where the encounter with Christ is manifested not only by asking for help, but also by giving thanks, praise and obeisance , meditation, listening, warm feelings, up to the “in love” of the heart. It should therefore be an intense prayer, but it does not free us from the binding task of engaging in the history of salvation: by opening the heart to love God, opening it also to love our brothers and enabling us to build history according to God’s plan.”

Today, I will be more receptive to the signs of the times and my surroundings. ▪ I can ask myself these questions during the day in individual situations, but also at the end of the day during the evening prayer: How is God speaking to me through all this? What is he inviting me to do? What is fair to do? How can I be involved in the history of salvation? ▪ Each of us can discern what is good. That’s why the conviction falls from the mouth of Jesus today: “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is righteous?” Let’s not expect that others will make decisions for us or that someone else will represent us in this matter.

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Biography of Saint Anthony Mary Claret

Posted on 23. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

Childhood and Youth between Looms

Antonio Claret laid the foundations of his life surrounded by looms. He lived in a family dedicated to textile manufacturing and, at the age of 17, went to Barcelona to specialize in this field, which placed him at the center of the industrial boom of the nineteenth century.

salient

Antonio Juan Adjutor Claret Clará was born on December 23, 1807, in Sallent (Barcelona), about 15 km from Manresa, into a staunch Christian family. Two days later, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord, his parents, Juan and Josefa, have him baptized in the parish church of Santa Maria. Antonio is the fifth of eleven children, five of whom die before their fifth birthday. He grew up in a house dedicated to textile manufacturing. Just a few months after his birth, the rhythmic beating of the looms is disrupted by the outbreak of the French invasion and the War of Independence. The atmosphere of violence and uncertainty does not overwhelm him, on the contrary, it strengthens his childish temperament. Although during the first years of the war, he is carried on someone’s shoulders to escape the fighting, at the age of four or five he is brave enough to accompany and guide his elderly grandfather, left almost blind in the darkness.

Little Anton finds peace of mind and strength in his friendship with Jesus, whom he encounters in the Eucharist, and in his devotion to the Virgin Mary, whose chapel in Fussimanya he often visits with her sister Rosa and prays the Rosary. His childish heart is tender and touches the pain of others. At the age of five, he often thinks of the eternal misery of those who are damned. This feeling led him to help everyone live according to God’s will and thus avoid eternal suffering.

When he was twelve years old, he heard God’s call to become a priest, so his father sent him to study Latin. Unfortunately, the school was closed by government order, so his father put him to work in the family weaving mill. Recognizing his talent for making textiles, he went to Barcelona to continue his education. He worked and studied with such devotion that it soon became an obsession. His prayers became much shorter and less enthusiastic than in his childhood, although he still attended Sunday mass and prayed the rosary regularly. He gradually forgot his desire to become a priest, but God guided him according to his plans.

The power of the Word of God leads him.

Young Antonio questions his identity. Among many proposals to base it on progress and success, the Word of God moves him, moves him, and sets him on the path to following Jesus in a missionary way.

While living in Barcelona, ​​he experiences some serious disappointments: the betrayal of a friend who robs him and others, the seduction of a woman who wants to make him satisfy her passions, and, above all, the shock of being able to drown at sea. Young Antonio experiences the closeness of the Virgin Mary, who protects him from temptations and saves him from death, and the power of the Word of God, which upsets the comfortable world of his projects and dreams of success. The Gospel text “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world if he destroys himself?” (Mth16, 26) shakes his conscience. Despite some offers to start his factory, he refuses to comply with his father’s wishes and decides to give up everything to become a Carthusian.

At 22, he entered the seminary of Vic, without abandoning his intention of becoming a monk. On his way to the Cartuja de Montealegre the following year, a cold caught in a heavy storm forced him to retreat and his dreams of a retired life began to fade. He continued his studies in Vic. During this period he suffered a strong temptation against chastity, in which he recognized the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary in his favor and, above all, the will of God who wanted him to become a missionary, an evangelist.

Vic Cathedral

Although he had not yet completed his theological studies, he was ordained a priest on June 13, 1835, because his bishop, Paul of Jesus Corcuera, saw something exceptional in his personality. He stayed in Sallent for four years, where he completed his studies and took charge of the parish of his hometown. The power of the Word of God again moved him; this time he left the comfort of the parish and answered the call to evangelize as a missionary. The political situation in Catalonia, divided by the civil war between Liberals and Carlists, and the unstable situation of the Church under constant pressure from the government, left Antonio no other solution than to leave his homeland and offer his services directly to Propaganda Fide, which was then entrusted with the task of evangelizing throughout the world.

After a journey full of dangers, he finally arrives in Rome. He takes a few days off to do a retreat with the Jesuits. The director encourages him to apply for admission to the Society of Jesus. At the beginning of 1840, four months after starting his novitiate, he suffers severe pain in his right leg, which prevents him from walking. The hand of God becomes noticeable. The Father General of the Jesuits, Jan Roothaan, says with determination: “It is God’s will that you return to Spain soon; do not be afraid, keep your chin up.”

>Missionary with a bundle in Catalonia and the Canary Islands

A Bible, a change of clothes, and a map were all in the bundle he carried with him on his countless missionary journeys. Poor and on foot, he wandered through Catalonia and the Canary Islands; everyone recognized him by his poverty, his friendly nature, and his missionary passion.

Back in Catalonia, the Vicar of the Diocese of Vic, Luciano Casadevall sent him to the parish of Viladrau. There, in the absence of doctors and thanks to his knowledge of the healing power of the plants of the Montseny mountains, he rightly ministered to the sick and acquired a reputation as a healer. With his missionary concern still alive, on 15 August 1840, he decided to carry out his first popular mission. Since the parish was well-supplied, he was able to go to the surrounding villages and do missionary work there. His superior, who knew of his apostolic vocation and the fruits of his preaching, released him from parish duties and let him work in the mission. From January 1841 he moved to Vic and devoted himself entirely to the various villages of the diocese. For the sake of communion with the hierarchy and the pastors involved, he asked Propaganda Fide for the title of “Apostolic Missionary”, which he filled with spiritual and apostolic content.

View from Matagalls to part of Catalonia

Between 1843 and 1848 he traveled throughout much of Catalonia preaching the word of God, always on foot, without collecting money or gifts for his ministry. He was moved to imitate Jesus Christ and the apostles. Despite his political neutrality, he was soon persecuted and slandered by those who accused him of favoring the more conservative parties. In each place, he preached missionary sermons to the population and led retreats for priests and religious. He soon discovered that other means of the apostolate could also help him to ensure the effectiveness and continuity of the fruits of the missions: public prayer books, catechisms, and prints aimed at priests, nuns, children, young people, married people, parents, etc.; In 1848 he founded the Order Library, a publishing house which, in its first eighteen years, published 2,811,100 copies of books, 2,509,500 small books, and 4,249,200 leaflets.

As an effective means of perseverance and progress in the Christian life, he founded or promoted religious brotherhoods, including the Confraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and wrote the book “Daughters of the Blessed and Immaculate Heart of Mary”, which finally inspired the founding of the Secular Institute with Cordimarian affiliation.

Since he could no longer preach in Catalonia due to the outbreak of the Second Carlist War, his superiors sent him to the Canary Islands. From February 1848 to May of the following year, he traveled through most of the island of Gran Canaria and two places on the island of Lanzarote. He was soon known colloquially as “ el Padrito ”. He became so popular that he was co-patron of the diocese of Las Palmas, along with the Virgen del Pino.

>Missionsbischof in Cuba

After his episcopal ordination, he remained a missionary. He visited his diocese three times with the staff of the Good Shepherd. He brought the bread of the world, culture, and human dignity. He was persecuted and shed his blood to serve God and the poor.

Back in Catalonia, on July 16, 1849, he founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a cell in the Vic seminary. Claret’s great work began humbly with five priests endowed with the same spirit as the founder. A few days later, on August 11, Mossen Anton was appointed Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba. Despite his resistance and his concern for the order’s library and the newly founded Congregation of Missionaries, he was persuaded to accept the office out of obedience. On October 6, 1850, he was consecrated bishop in Vic Cathedral.

Claret in Cuba (Claret Movie)

The situation on the island of Cuba is deplorable: exploitation and slavery, public immorality, insecurity in families, antipathy to the Church, and, above all, a progressive dechristianization. Upon his arrival, the new archbishop realized that a renewal of Christian life was urgently needed and promoted a series of missionary campaigns in which he took part in bringing the word of God to all the villages. He gave his episcopal ministry a missionary meaning. In six years he had visited most of his huge diocese three times. The spiritual and pastoral renewal of the clergy and the founding of religious communities were important to him. To educate young people and to look after welfare institutions, he arranged for the Escolapios, the Jesuits and the Daughters of Charity to be established on the island; together with M. Antonia Paris, he founded the convent of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate or Claretians on August 27, 1855. He fought against slavery, founded an agricultural school for poor children, set up a savings bank with a strong social character, founded public libraries, wrote two books on agriculture, etc. Such intense and varied activity brought with it confrontations, slander, persecution, and attacks on his person. On February 1, 1856, he was the victim of an attack in Holguin that almost cost him his life. This filled him with the joy of the martyrs who shed their blood for Christ.

Although he felt like a caged bird, the years he spent in Madrid were of the highest human, spiritual, and apostolic maturity. His evangelizing influence extended throughout the peninsula and the Gospel permeated the popular culture of his time through his writings and initiatives.

In 1857, Queen Isabel II personally chose him as her confessor, and he was forced to move to Madrid. He had to go to the palace at least once a week to carry out his duties as confessor and to see to the Christian education of Princess Isabel and Prince Alfonso, as well as the princesses who would be born in the following years. Thanks to his spiritual influence and determination, the religious and moral situation of the court gradually changed. He lived a simple and poor life.

The standards of the palace do not correspond to the times or the apostolic spirit of Archbishop Claret: he carries out intense activity in the city, preaches and confesses, writes books, and visits prisons and hospitals. He takes advantage of the royal tour with the kings through Spain to preach everywhere. He promotes the Academy of San Miguel, a project that aims to bring together intellectuals and artists to “join together to promote the sciences and the arts from the religious aspect, combining their efforts to combat errors, to spread good books and good teachings.”

Claret in the Palace

In 1859, the Queen appointed him Protector of the Church and Hospital of Montserrat, Madrid, and President of the Monastery of El Escorial. His management of this institution could not have been more effective and comprehensive: restoration of the building, recovery of productive fields for financing, furnishing of the church, creation of a body of chaplains, an inter-diocesan seminary, a high school, and the first courses at a university.

One of his greatest concerns was to equip Spain with suitable bishops fully dedicated to their mission and to protect and promote consecrated life; in this regard, he spiritually influenced several founders and helped many new religious communities to regulate their civil and ecclesiastical situation.

He constantly tries to maintain his independence and political neutrality, which leads to numerous feuds. He becomes the target of hatred and revenge from many: “Although I have always been very cautious in this area – he speaks of nepotism – I have not escaped gossip,” he says. His union with Jesus Christ culminates in the grace of sacramental preservation of the species, which he received on August 26, 1861, in La Granja (Segovia).

The Last Way to Easter

After preaching in Paris and Rome, he believes he has fulfilled his mission. Sick, slandered, and persecuted, he gives up his spirit on the cross of exile. He, who had always tried to imitate his Lord, has finally followed his Easter path.

After the revolution of September 1868, he went into exile with the Queen. In Paris, he continued his service with the Queen and the Prince of Asturias, founded the Conferences of the Holy Family, and engaged in many apostolic activities, especially for immigrants.

In April 1869, on the occasion of the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Pope Pius IX and the preparations for the First Vatican Council, he said goodbye to the royal family and moved to Rome, where he lived in the monastery of San Adrián, the Mercedari. At the Council, he passionately defended papal infallibility.

Claret Vatican I Scaled

After the sessions, in poor health and with a premonition of his death, he moved to the community that had been set up in Prades (France) by its missionaries expelled from Spain. There, his persecutors came to arrest him and bring him to Spain for trial. He was forced to flee as a criminal and seek refuge in the Cistercian monastery of Fontfroide, near Narbonne. In this hidden monastery, surrounded by the love of the monks and some of his missionaries, he died on October 24, 1870, at the age of 62 years and 10 months.

0544 Scaled

His remains were transferred to Vic in 1897. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on February 25, 1934, and canonized by Pope Pius XII on May 7, 1950.

Current grave of Claret in Vic, Spain

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Most important profession: Christian

Posted on 19. October 2024 by Peter Prochac

The life of a Christian can appear as an effort to merge two incompatible worlds. The one behind the walls of the temples and the one in the city’s busy streets. How do you fulfill the vocation of a Christian in everyday life?

Whatever our vocation, we will reach our spiritual goal if we go into everything with joy stemming from faith in God. Illustration image: www.istockphoto.com

“The Vincentian Sisters and the Lazarist Fathers take care of Christian education here,” explains Lucia Holtanová, animator of the Marian Youth Association. “Together with them, we show young people faith in God and, above all, the joy and strength that comes from faith. We want them to take faith not as a set of commands and prohibitions, but as a living relationship with God.”

It is complemented by animator Ema Kardošová: “Various meetings and events for children and youth are intended for this purpose. To help them as a community find their spiritual vocation, to bring them closer to God constantly.”

ACTIVE CHRISTIAN

However, according to Lucie Holtanová, the essence of the Christian life often escapes us. “An active Christian should not have his faith just as a point on a list to be fulfilled in thirty minutes but should live his faith throughout his life. Belief in God should be our lifestyle.” Because of a very limited definition of faith, we will also give in to a distorted judgment of what it means to be an active Christian.

“Let’s imagine a person who sweeps away all Christian events,” thinks Lucia. “However, for me, he is a person actively using the talents and potential that he received from God, for his praise. And this can be done even without holding the record for the number of attended events.”

SPREADING THE JOY

But where does the Christian in us go when we change the festive Sunday clothing to work clothes? After all, no matter what our calling is, we will reach our spiritual goal if we go into everything with joy stemming from faith in God. “Spreading Christian joy is the most important thing. To bring it to everyday situations at school, at work, in the family, in the community,” states Lucia.

To achieve a big goal, we like to look for big solutions. So we may overlook something plain and simple with a wave of the hand. The animator Ema Kardošová also draws attention to this. “Helping others, forgiving them, and loving them – for me, these virtues mean the most important thing in the vocation of a Christian.”

THANKS TO WHO WE ARE IN THE WORLD

However, in the hustle and bustle of our fast-paced lives, we forget spirituality very quickly. Problems of all kinds begin to demand our attention as soon as we turn on our phone notifications after Mass. “Sometimes we are so busy with worldly duties that we don’t even have time for a short prayer,” thinks Ema.

“That’s when you have to realize, thanks to whom we are in this world, thanks to whom we woke up this morning. This is a reason for thanksgiving, to, for example, go to holy confession, to holy mass, so that we constantly return to life with God.”

TO GIVE AND RECEIVE

Lucia also offers her advice, explaining how they fit in with this role in their association. “To be able to live our faith fully even during everyday worries, we need not only to give but also to receive. In the Marian Youth Association, there is an opportunity for both – weekly meetings, spiritual renewals, camps, and animation courses are an opportunity to self-recharge.” He therefore recommends learning to strengthen and realize your faith through a suitable Christian community.

Spiritual anchors

When the waves of ambition and worry begin to carry us too far, spiritual anchors help us. There are many ways to remember the forgotten, to revive the dying flame in our hearts. “It is good if we reserve at least some time of the day that we dedicate only to God. When we are in daily contact with him, it will be harder for us to forget him,” advises Lucie Holtanova, animator of the Marian Youth Association.

In addition to the personal relationship with God, he also draws attention to the fact that man is a social creature. “Therefore, we encourage young people not to live their faith alone, but in a community that can be a big spiritual family for them.”

Other people’s works can also be a spiritual anchor for us. “A beautiful, more modern way of evangelization is praise. Thanks to them, many people were converted or came into a closer relationship with the Lord,” perceives animator Ema Kardošová.

However, praise does not have to belong only to temples. They can also accompany us on the way to school, to work, or after a tiring day on the way home, when we thank God for him with a prayer of praise.

And finally, the great power of being a Christian at every moment is also hidden within ourselves. Often it is enough to just reach for it – for example by offering a helping hand. “We have to take courage, come out of our shell, and act,” encourages Lucia.

You don’t even need to do anything noisy or big. “It is enough if we try to live our lives in such a way that God’s light is visible in us,” says Ema in conclusion. “When we are not ashamed to, for example, bless ourselves in public. Maybe those around you won’t understand, maybe they’ll laugh, but maybe they’ll ask. And that, too, is the possibility of living true faith and evangelization.”?

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