Taking a risk is not something we want to do that often. Some of us may not like taking a risk at all. But conversion requires risk. When we look at changing habits, attitudes, or focus, there is always a risk that we may fail, but conversion may require one or all of these in order to be long lasting and effective. Without risk there will be no conversion. When we think about making ourselves and our needs less important than the needs of other people, for example, it is risky.
But that is a step that conversion requires of us. We must be willing to convert our habits, our attitudes and our focus to the people around us. These are things that Jesus did naturally and he wants us to convert our lives to be like his — loving others so much that we too will be willing to sacrifice our own wants, our own desires, our own plans. He will give us the right habits, the right attitudes, and the right focus. He will convert us and make our lives better than ever, just like he did Simon, Andrew, James and John.
Their conversion was immediate, while ours may take some time, but in the long run it will all be worth it. Lent will begin soon, so let us pray and think about what we can do to experience conversion like we never have experienced before. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord. A fter a long period of great liturgical festivities, now since last Tuesday we enter in the Ordinary Time.
We say ordinary because it is a low key period with not too much glorious festivities though important for our spiritual growth. During this time we have been called to learn to listen to the Word of God and build up our relationship with Him. A call or vocation seems to be the theme for us today. In the story about the vocation of Samuel, he heard a voice calling his name. From trouble, confusion and uncertainty and with the help of the wise man of God, Eli, the young Samuel finally got it.
The voice he has heard was the voice of God. The response as indicated by Eli place Samuel in a position to listen, a position to be in the presence of God as He speak to him. When God calls us we always need someone, a discrete person to help us to process the call. When we heard and understood the call, nothing can really stop us to respond. Whenever we heard the call and met the Lord everything must become new.
It is like the beginning of a new life. We are all invited to listen to the Word of God and be guided by the Holy Spirit. As per the first disciples they were introduced to Jesus by their great master John the Baptist when he said to them: Their attitude has always inspired me. As soon as their master John the Baptist spoke about Him, they quickly took the road and follow Him. What can possibly make them take that quick decision to follow him without asking any questions?
Anthony O. Nwachukwu, Ph.D., Psy.D.
Would that be their quest for answer? Would that be a certain desire to seek for the divine grace, or a sense of longing? No one can follow or take the road after Him without being called and empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit. No one can follow with their own set of mind or their own idea and imagination. We need to have an experience, an intimate one that can transform, that can renew the self.
Today the Gospel invites us to understand the real meaning of an encounter with the Lord and what consist that encounter. S eeker of God: Looking into these points we will be greatly insert into a myriad of themes that could be submitted for a profound reflection. The historical message of the narrative of the Magi echoed that Jesus, compare to the King Herod, is the true Liberator of Israel.
Those who have seen him first were not the powerful lay or religious leaders of Israel rather some strangers coming from afar. They are those who have seen the light shining in the sky. In this context the words of the prophet Isaiah from the first reading are being fulfilled in our ears. Your light has come. The glory of your God shines upon you…upon you the Lord shines and over appears glory. Where is the new born king of the Jews? Matthew introduces the Magi with this question that was very controversial.
When we look at very closely who was the King Herod compare to the infant Jesus lying in the manger we must admit that there is more than a figure of speech in the message. Precisely the Magi were asking about Jesus; this little infant who is innocent, fragile, weak and incapable of defending himself. Would that be an introduction to the real meaning of the kingship of Jesus at the crucifixion when Pilate wrote on the top of the cross: This is the King of Jews?
Could that be possible that the narrative of the Magi be a certain prelude to what is going to happen to Jesus precisely at the crucifixion? We can certainly look at this idea since Matthew throughout his Gospel always presents Jesus as a king humble who came to serve but not to be served; a suffering servant who lay down his life for his people. One more point that the Magi help us to understand is about the seekers.
The true seekers are always in search for the truth. When you are seeking for God sometimes we need to further and beyond. We need to dig more and more. When we find Him there is always a choice to be made; a decision to take. The Gospel said when they find the baby they celebrate, they adore and praise God. This experience surely transformed, reenergized and rejuvenated. We are all can admit always encounter with God open new perspectives for us in life, new ways to walk our walk and new endeavor to initiate. May today we have the courage to follow the Star and be guided by the light of Christ?
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you Responsorial Psalm. O nce again, the Holy Season of Christmas is near. The world is ready to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the World who comes to shine in the darkness of our heart.
The message of the Eternal Word of God made flesh echoes in our ears and resounds in our heart inviting us to contemplate the downward mobility of the Holy Trinity looking down from heaven searching for humankind. This image of God looking down is intrinsically reflected on the face of the shepherds who with great joy received the message for the whole world: The Holy Trinity has responded to the need of humanity through the incarnation of the Word who plants his tent among us. Today, God has spoken to us in a very different way.
He has spoken in the person of his only begotten Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. People who have been in darkness have seen a great light that brings joy and consolation for a world in despair and desolation. From above, God is looking down to the tragedy of human kind and makes the radical choice to come and to save. It seems there is no dichotomy between the world situation during the time of the birth of Christ and today. And looking upon our world we have seen: Many are trying to be political correct just to keep their privileges.
In the midst of that confusion there is hope. There is a light that shown for you and me to transform and to save. There is a voice that speaks; and a question has been answered. The Divine Trinity has responded and infused the leap of divine joy in the heart of humanity. God creative intervention has taken a different step that facilitates our own intimacy with Him. Because of that now, we can speak the language of hope, we can sing the song of joy and we can play the music of love and seek together his peace.
With great joy I wish you all: These words of the responsorial psalm from Luke Gospel echoed a poetic and delightful sound to hear. It is absolutely interesting to know that those words are the expression of Joy, a Hymn of gratitude to God who has shown his great mercy and compassion to the lowly and the pure of heart. This third week of Advent as commonly known as Gaudete, Rejoice brought to us the true sense of this season which is a combine aspect of waiting and anticipation.
We are all invited to rejoice as the prophet Isaiah mentioned it in the first reading: The prophet Isaiah as one of the great figure of Advent once again wins everything for us by speaking these words of hope to his people who just came back to their homeland after living almost fifty years in exile. These words of comfort to all broken hearted have been taken as the Good News of his time. God heard their distress and their pleas and he came to be in their midst.
In one word Isaiah is saying: God would never abandon his people. The brokenhearted will be healed, the captives will set free and the poor will be comforted. So lift up our heart this is the key point of his message, so rejoice and be glad. Our lives must be rooted in God the source of joy. Saint Paul in the second reading is going to follow this sequence of the joy already spoken by Isaiah. Paul is saying to the people of his time and to all of us today, in spite of what is going on around us to find our joy in the Lord Jesus who is coming to be close to us.
However, to find that joy and peace, we must go to Him and pray without ceasing. This is the great invitation of this Advent Season. We have been called to go to Jesus, the source of our joy and the light of the world. As we getting closer to the expectation of our Advent journey, we anticipate to celebrate with great joy the fulfillment of our hope which is the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the light of the world. Mark tells us in the Gospel for this Sunday that the Good News which is revealed by Jesus, did not suddenly come down from Heaven, but came from long ago, through history.
The Good News also has a precursor, someone who prepared the coming of Jesus. That someone was St. For each of us too, the Good News of Jesus Christ comes through people in our lives and events in our lives that lead us to have faith in Jesus. Today as we read and contemplate St. In the first verse of the Gospel of Mark says: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God!
At the end of the Gospel, when Jesus is dying, a soldier exclaims: Truly this man was the Son of God Mk So, at the beginning and at the end of the Gospel we have this title for Jesus, Son of God. In between the beginning and the end, Mark explains how this central truth of our faith, that Jesus is the Son of God, has to be understood and shared with others.
During this advent season, and beyond we have this as our mission, to show someone or many people the way to Jesus. One way to do so would be to share our new App with them. It is a tool for evangelization and a way to show others the way to Jesus. I wish you and your family a happy and holy Advent season. A voice of one crying out in the desert: A t the end of our lives Jesus tells us quite clearly that we will be judged by our attitude toward our neighbors.
The term neighbors does not only apply to those in our neighborhood but to our neighbors all around us, in our cities and in our world. If we are aware of someone else who is hungry, who needs clothing, who needs our help because they are sick or dying, or who is a stranger or in prison, we need to be charitable to them. In other words, if someone else is suffering or in need, we should try to help them for that is how we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who commands us to love our neighbors like ourselves.
From another angle when we look at the twofold character of Advent, we will also seek for this time of preparation for the solemnities of Christmas which is the first coming of the Son of God into our world with our minds and hearts looking forward to his coming to establish his kingdom at the end of time. We will also anticipate some changes and new perspective. I think it is very true for this season of Advent. These ideas of course bring some delight in the hearts of people like you and me who have been probably experiencing some anxiety and hopelessness due to the dramatic reality of our human condition.
Wait, hope and be ready, he is coming; somehow these are the module of the spiritual movement of this season. These expressions are some kind of reminder to all us to avoid the rushing activities of flashy decoration and nostalgic songs that can purposely baffle our attention to the rhythm of Advent.
Priest Corner
In two expressions, the Gospel reading from Mark set up for us the tone for the Advent Season: How can we do that while the commercials and advertising prompt us to some type of sentiment of urgency and worry? The response is very simple, try to go back to the essence of the time which is silence and darkness, waiting and watching.
A time of complete trust and surrender of which the burning candles from the Advent Wreath silently are leading us to a glimpse of its understanding. These expressions echoed in our heart the need to seek for a better purpose for our spiritual life as we strive to grow in our relationship with God. Let us take advantage of this invitation as we wait patiently for the coming of our Lord. Happy and Blessing Advent!
Anthony O. Nwachukwu, Ph.D., Psy.D.
Many times we are just too selfish, too focused on our own needs to even be aware that someone else is suffering or in need. It is too easy to ignore someone who is suffering or in need. I know I am guilty of ignoring the panhandlers on the street corner. I did that this week as I was exiting I onto Southern. I was a goat to that person because his sign said he was hungry and I did nothing to help him. If we get hungry, most of us can provide for ourselves and our families.
When a homeless person or someone who is unemployed has no money, they are forced to beg for food.
In a country as wealthy as ours there is no reason for anyone to go hungry. We as individual Christians and as a Church Community and a wealthy country must act like the sheep in the Gospel and when we see someone in need we should find a way to help them, no matter what we might personally think of their situation. If we choose to judge them rather than help them, we are goats, not sheep; we are selfish not charitable. We all called to do more to show love for our neighbors. May the Lord help us to do his will and make this world a better place for all of his righteous sheep and his not so righteous goats.
W e are approaching the end of the liturgical year the cycle A and we continue to listen to the word of God challenging us in our mission. The first reading from the book of Wisdom praises the worthy woman who is very appreciated for her qualities of spouse and mother. This worthy woman reminds us that we have to respond to our daily vocation because it comes from God.
The reading spoke very eloquently about the good works of the woman in a sense to our love for God and the great spirit of service to others. In his letter to the Thessalonians Saint Paul invites the people to continually live in the presence of the Lord. Instead of looking toward some type of chronology about of the coming of the Lord, it is better to be always in his presence. We need to understand that Paul has spoken for a group of people who were very into a certain type of stipulation about the time of the coming of Jesus.
The Apostle recommends them to stay awake and be ready and really not worry about the time. We do not have the control of time. It is a gift from God. For Paul knowing that we are not in control, Christians must be always stay awake and be ready. Whatever we do, wherever we are, we should continually inspire others to embrace the future with optimism and diligently be in action using the gifts that God has given to us.
As we can see it this parable is by at large a sort of praise to human responsibility. The talents reflected all our personal qualities or gifts that we have and the responsibilities we have received from God. This is a very elaborated story that Matthew presented to his audience. This is about a man going on vacation, he called his fellow servants and entrusted them his possessions with the hope they will multiply them.
For Matthew who was basically instructing his Jewish community, this parable was a great reminder that the Talents are the word of God. All those who come to believe in Jesus are doubly graced. The man with five talents represents those believers who led the propagation of the Gospel.
The man with two then represents the gentiles who without the knowledge of the Scripture but still recognize the truth about Christ Jesus. And the one with one talent represents those who have the knowledge of the words but come short to understand and denying the call of Jesus. This parable in our context today is a great reminder for all of us that we cannot hide our faith and our sense of belonging to Christ.
One day all of us are going to face the same question what you have done with your talents? One thing we have to know today is God trusts us so much and has graced us with many talents. He invites us to use them for the benefit of all those around us.
May today we open our heart to hear his voice! We pray for the repose of the souls of the victims and for their families. We also pray for the end of such violence in our country and our world. We thank and we pray for all veterans this weekend ,and we pray every day for those serving our country for their safety where ever they are serving.
This is also what the Lord expects of us as Christians. We need to be ready for when he calls us into action in our parish or in our community. Perhaps a homily in the past has planted a seed in your mind or in your heart that tells you God is calling you to action in His church, here at St. Perhaps you have heard something in scripture that has led you to think about what you might be able to do to serve the Lord. Perhaps you have heard the Lord calling during your prayer time.
However it happens, when it happens we need to listen and be ready for action. We should not be like the foolish virgins in Matthew 25 and neglect our duty to be prepared, but instead we should pray to the Lord to help us say yes to him now. There is no time like the present to hear the Lord calling and do something. The Lord does not want us to wait or procrastinate. He will give us the wisdom and knowledge we need in order to become his soldiers, ready for action. We always have need for additional Ushers, Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers for Holy Communion, Catechists, Altar Servers, Singers, and additional members to get involved in all of our ministries see the list on page 6 of this bulletin.
Weekly message from our pastor
Also, you may email me at frbob stjulianacatholicchurch. The Lord is calling, now it is time for each of us to listen and act, without waiting. O n this 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, we change our clocks back one hour and we realize that losing that one hour of sleep just might impact us for a couple days until we get used to the change. These past few weeks we have heard from scripture how the Pharisees were also having difficulty adjusting to a big change in their lives—the teachings of our Lord Jesus.
We can be like those Pharisees sometimes too. We are baptized, we go to confession, we receive communion, but we have doubts about what Jesus and his church is saying about certain topics. We may even be stubborn like the Pharisees and not want to change our minds regardless of what the pope or bishops or the bible teach us. When we face such issues, we need to take them to prayer and ask the Lord to help us, to change us, to humble us. As Christians we are called to be examples to others and we cannot do a good job of that if we are not humble or if we do things like talk about what we think is wrong.
We never want to be the person who leads someone astray, or the person who convinces them to change their mind to an opinion of ours that really has no basis in faith. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
T he book of Exodus offers to us a very central part of its teaching on social justice and the love for others. It is very obvious that the text touches a very sensitive subject of our time, the subject on immigration. When we open up this text we cannot stop thinking about the many immigrants who fled their countries because of war, famine or any other infrahuman situations where they were living in. This text is a quick reminder for all of us that the covenant with God passes necessarily through the love of our brothers. In the second reading Saint Paul congratulates the people for the way they have welcome the Word of God.
A warmth welcome which Paul even feels as a great sign of encouragement to continue the mission of gathering people from all over the places under the guidance of God the Father. Due to this great reception and warmth welcome of the message of salvation we can also become great model of faith for others by showing our great love for God and to love our neighbors. We come to this point here with the great teaching of Jesus about love, the great commandment of God.
Often people ask Jesus questions not because they want to know more but rather to test Him. The question today is about what is the greatest commandment? He draws the first part of his answer from the book of Deuteronomy 6: And the second part is from the book of Leviticus chapter 19 and verse As we can see the language of both pieces of Scripture from Deuteronomy and Leviticus is geared human being to explore what we might call an authentic love; the same love that Christ wants for humankind.
These two commandments cannot be separated. They mint to be lived and experienced together since there not just some written laws rather a living testimony. We cannot love God without loving our neighbors and we cannot love our neighbors without loving God. Who is my neighbor? This is the point, this is our call. I would like you to ask you to keep me in your prayers this week. I am going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from October 30th until November 9th.
You will be in mine and I will offer the sacrifice of Masses for your intentions as well. I n our first reading from Isaiah 45, the Lord tells King Cyrus that he was anointed and called by God even though he did not know him. Cyrus, also known as Cyrus the Great was a king of a vast empire and he was known as a king who respected the customs and religions of the lands that he conquered.
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God, in his providence also allowed the king to reign for 30 years. God was in control all along, not king Cyrus. Sometimes we forget that God has control of our lives, even though we know him in a real way in our lives as baptized Christians. It takes a reading like our reading from Isaiah to drive that reality back into our lives — God is in control and he is the Lord and there is no other, there is no other God besides Him.
We are not in charge, our money is not in charge, other people in our lives are not in charge, God is in charge. Who do we think we are when we try to control everything in our lives? What does it take for us to realize that God is God and we are not? In recovery programs they talk about people with addictions needing to hit rock bottom before seeking help.
This is true of many Christians as well, our lives need to get so overwhelming that we finally say something like I cannot do this anymore, or I need help, or we pray please help me Lord, or thy will be done. The Pharisees tried that with Jesus several times and each time he called them out.
He knew their intentions and he told them what they needed to hear. He told them to repay Caesar what belonged to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. This message applies to us as well when it comes to our lives. We need to repay God what is rightly due to him. God knows best, not us. Like King Cyrus, he gives us all that we have, especially our lives, and we need to honor and trust him to guide us and care for us each day. This week, may each of us honor him by giving back the control of our lives to Him, since that control rightly belongs to God, not us.
The servants represent the Old Testament prophets — who were persecuted, rejected and some were also killed. And as we know the son in the parable represents Jesus, who would die on the cross, rejected by the majority of the chosen people of Israel. Since the majority of the people of Israel rejected the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God could have totally disinherited them and taken away any hope of salvation for any of them, but we know that our God is just and merciful.
Jesus died for the people of Israel and all people, because he came to be the Savior of all people and the Savior of the world. Good people are rejected in our local community today as well, either because of the color of their skin or their national origin, or their status in society or their religion among many other reasons for rejection. Rejection demands justice as well as mercy, and it is what God wants. He wants us to do justice in our part of the world. On October 10, our Justice Ministry will meet to discuss what we will be doing this year to support justice in Palm Beach County.
Come and join us in the school classroom at 7: God bless you and your family. It was about the time of their deportation far away from their native place. The Jews were scattered all over a pagan soil. It was like a deplorable catastrophe and many of them blamed it as the consequences of the sins of their predecessors. The prophet Ezekiel reacts against this absurd mentality and reminds everyone about their own responsibilities. The only way to approach this situation is by reviewing their lives and keeping their focus on the Lord.
In one word Paul is telling us clothe ourselves with humility and be united in heart with one another. Take Christ Jesus as our Model who accepted to empty Himself and took the human flesh just to journey close to us, we, humankind, to the point he died on the cross for our salvation. Such love has been shown to humanity in a very effective way in the person of Jesus whom God has exalted above all things here on earth and in the heavens.
The Gospel is of the other master piece where Jesus uses the analogy of the vineyard for the second time. Again, He was addressing a group of people who pretended to be the best among others. Of course they have been practicing the law and the precepts but they hide behind this glass and do not respond to the call for conversion.
This parable once again put in context the choice Jesus has made to welcome the sinners. Those who have always said no to God. Jesus saw what they have in their hearts; he knows their suffering and their desires to change their lives. Since they found joy in Jesus, they opt for an encounter that has changed their lives and became his followers. Through this parable, we get to truly understand that Jesus has extended an invitation to everyone, righteous and sinners alike, to be part of the vineyard and to do the will of the Father.
The answer is yours. The example given to us on this twenty fifth Sunday is about the laborers of the last hour and the generous heart of God. God always shows how great and opened his heart is for everyone. Matthew as usual, placed us at the center of a paradox which is also a tangible and existential reality. There is a need for work everywhere. It was a great challenge during the time of Jesus as also a world while challenge today again. As we can see from the parable, everything begins around a public place; in a village of Palestine where people on a daily basis are expected to be hired for a daily wages.
The question raised a great interest, desires and hope of these groups of unemployed people. They are those who live day by day on a single paid check and their answer expresses the sadness of the day and the vulnerability of their life: The problem of the unemployment is one of the most crucial challenges of most nations on earth to the point that every candidate and leaders to any elective office makes it the number one priority of their political plan. That constant need for decent job continues to magnify the situation of many families fighting to provide for their household.
This parable today just wants us to be aware of this permanent trouble in our nations and the world. As always being always in solidarity with us in our human condition, Jesus offers us a new opportunity to approach this challenge. His approach is like an awaken call for us. However, the parable also invites us to see further, and beyond of temporary reality, it anticipates to show us how much responsibility every baptized person has when it is about the vineyard of the Lord.
It is never too late to respond to the job offer. Number two; at the time of the payroll we have the guarantee of a decent, equitable and a generous salary because he said to them: Number three, even though we did not clock in at the first hour due to some situations of our lives like tragedies, laziness, ignorance or negligence, our Lord guided by his tenderness, love and mercy continues to invite and offer us opportunity to work for Him and experience his outstanding generosity. Hope you can answer to the call.
Our Gospel today is from Matthew 18, which has been called the Sermon on the Community. In this sermon Jesus taught his followers, and teaches us how to deal with problems within a family or a community. Jesus gives concrete steps or actions to take. These steps may or may not work well today, in this same form, but the bottom line is that we need to try to reconcile with our family members or members of our community when harm has been done between two or more people.
If necessary, one of our priests may be able to help resolve conflicts that arise in our community, but many times families can resolve these conflicts themselves. Forgiveness is not a one way street of reconciliation, it is a two way street. If we have been harmed by someone else we should tell them, and they should listen to us and ask for forgiveness from us, just as when we have harmed someone, we should listen to them and seek forgiveness from that person too.
In the unity that comes from forgiveness and reconciliation, we find that our families and the members of our community are able to co-exist in peace and harmony. May God bless you and your family. I n our Gospel today from Matthew Last week we heard about St. Peter being the Rock, the Foundation of the Church, and in our tradition the first Pope.
This week, we hear how Peter and the Apostles, and the rest of the people in Israel were expecting a Messiah, so we can understand their confusion when Jesus says that he must suffer and die in Jerusalem. In reality they should not have been confused, for the passion of the Lord was predicted in Isaiah Who would have thought any more of his destiny?
For he was cut off from the land of the living, struck for the sins of his people. Even with access to the Bible today, many still refuse to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Also, Peter loved Jesus so much that he did not want to lose Jesus so soon, let alone to see him suffer. But Jesus said to St. You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do. They saw what Jesus was capable of, but they did not fully understand, until after Pentecost when they received the knowledge given them by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
We pray that our faith in the reason for the cross will be renewed and made stronger as we contemplate the awesome sacrifice that Jesus made for the forgiveness of our sins and for our eternal salvation. W ho do you say that I am? To understand the question we have couples things to look into. It was around Tyre and Sidon very close to the Lebanon coast, almost at the bottom of the mount Helmond where the Jordan River begins. It is a very peaceful, beautiful, fresh and heavy woody spot where the King Herod Philipp built a beautiful city named Caesarea Philipp in honor of the Emperor Cesar.
It is a very political and strategic place where also the travelers rested after a long journey of walk. It is obvious to imagine such setting has offered some great theological inspiration for this question: Basically Jesus is trying to avoid the crowd and moving out of Galilee to dedicate his time to his Disciples instructed and revealed to them the upcoming of his passion and suffering. At that time the central point of his message was humility. In this particular narrative Matthew is making a very important point that faith comes before insight not after.
They did not really know what and how to answer. Their responses were fundamentally some type of speculations based on other people belief or vague ideas. They started telling Him what other people said like He is John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. I am assuming also some of them were very hesitated to tell him what the religious leaders think about him like a glutton, a Heretic, a possessed by the demon and etc.
However, the point for Jesus is what would the disciples themselves think and say about Him. It seems amid of all the answers also his trust in God the Father, Peter was able to catch a flash of insight about the real identity of Jesus and he responded as always in his impulsive tone: Something important to realize about Peter: In spite of all his lacks, one thing his important for our understanding he loves Jesus. However, Jesus has conferred him the singular responsibility to unfold the great mystery behind his answer to other people when Jesus, He himself recognized in Peter a stable foundation for the Christian community.
We are all being called to say to the world one way or another who Jesus is. Today more than ever our society continues to be in search for an answer. Would you be able to take a chance with the small flash of insight of faith you have to tell the world that Jesus is the Messiah? The people of Israel had returned from exile in Babylon, which lasted from to B. Imagine how they may have felt.
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A activation email has been sent to you. Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription. God Can Be So Funny: His funeral, celebrated at Our Lady of Lourdes, attracted a lot of attention when anti-war sentiment was growing. The celebrant, Fr Peter Battersby, was no stranger to military life, having served as an army and air force chaplain overseas during the World War Two in places like Guadalcanal. His first appointment was at Avondale where he stayed for a short period until his shift into the armed forces.
He returned from the war and worked as a curate in the Huntly parish from before being transferred to St Patricks Cathedral as navy chaplain in the Apostleship of the Sea in Fr Battersby was 43 years old when, on July 20, , he arrived in Glen Eden with instructions to set up a new parish. A site had already been identified at Pleasant Rd where land with an old house on it was bequeathed to the church a number of years earlier. But the property had its limitations and parishioners felt there was no room for expansion. The land was sold and the money set aside for construction of a church once a better prospect emerged.
Fundraising, already underway for a number of years, picked up pace and early parishioners made weekly contributions — hoping they might also collect enough money to build a catholic school. Money was definitely a problem but the biggest obstacle was a failure to persuade any of the teaching orders to settle in the suburb. Two orders of nuns were approached but both said no — citing strained resources and the lack of vocations within their religious communities.
Disappointed parishioners cheered when their long awaited church building started to take shape through the work of the Hillsborough Construction Company. The company was set up by West Aucklander Graham Martin to build churches and associated buildings throughout the region at reasonable cost. He had a background in carpentry and was well known in the area for his involvement with several community groups, including the RSA. The Church foundation stone was laid and blessed on May 1, by Archbishop Liston and the finished building was ready for use a couple of months before Christmas.
Another of his helpers, Dave Moir, made all of the wooden appetences inside the building — donating both the timber and his hours free of charge. The wooden cross above the altar was among his creations and the figure of Jesus that later complemented it was donated by the late Norah and Harold Richton. Others were equally generous. The statue of Our Lady — now kept in the grotto, and a similarly sized depiction of the Sacred Heart were gifted by parishioners who asked to remain anonymous and the vesting bench in the sacristy was the work of Bob Mayne.
Fr Battersby was always there at the forefront — giving advice and input where he saw fit. Some people wanted a separate space for noisy infants incorporated into the church design but the answer was a firm no. His melodies voice filled the church and encouraged others to join in. It invigorated people looking for a spiritual and physical uplift after days of hard slog in the workplace or at home. The original presbytery, catering for a housekeeper and one priest, was purchased in his day and the parish was extended to include Laingholm and Titirangi.
Future choirmaster Carl Oudenhoven — today a resident at the Ons Drop retirement village in Henderson, looked after administration. Holy Faith Sister Una Coughlin, who now lives in Ireland, later assisted after joining the parish as its first full time nun working in the field of religious education. Fr Battersby, who celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination with parishioners in December , also guided his congregation through the newly structured Mass introduced by the Second Vatican Council. The relatively new church sanctuary also needed upgrading to meet the requirements of the new liturgy and it was the late Dave Moir who again came to the rescue.
The altar was moved forward from its original location and the tabernacle shifted to the side. The altar rails Dave had lovingly fashioned just a short time earlier were also removed and the organ was shifted from the choir loft to the middle of the church — offering the people visible support for congregational singing. Meanwhile the empty loft was rendered out of bounds, encouraging everyone to be present in the community of the faithful.
Hi died on April 15, and is buried at Panmure. He was already well known as a hard worker who frequently visited parishioners and their families in their homes. These reflections are based on my memory of Father Palich and what he and others have told me. I will try to be accurate when I refer to times and events but cannot guarantee complete accuracy in all that I write. His father was Cesko Palic who died in approximately and his mother Antonia Palic formerly Berisic: Not many would know that his mother died at the time of or shortly after his birth.
Although he was born in Kosovo he was proud of the fact that both parents were Croatian. At the time of his death in he had one elder brother, a younger sister and a step-sister still alive. All were resident in Kosovo. I understand that Janjevo was a very Catholic city with a very high proportion practising the Catholic Faith. It was in this family and community environment that Father Seby was brought up.
He would have completed the equivalent to his primary and secondary schooling in Janjevo. They would both spend their formative years and years of priestly formation and education together. Dr Kolich came from Rome to the Archdiocese of Wellington where he remained until recently returning to Croatia. Father Seby left his home and family and went to Zagreb where he studied philosophy and graduated with a Diploma in Philosophy.
Propaganda College was well known to many New Zealand and Australia priests who had also studied there. It was and is a College in Rome where students for the Priesthood from Mission countries were chosen to complete their studies in philosophy and theology before being ordained to the Priesthood. Quite a few of those ordained would then remain on at the Propaganda University the Urbaniana to complete a degree in philosophy, theology or canon law. This was a major move for Father Seby. Not only did it involve leaving his country of birth but also learning a new language Italian and living in an institutional form of life in which there were at least thirty different cultures and languages represented.
This experience was to give him an understanding and appreciation of the church as universal. He also learnt to tolerate and appreciate the differences that existed between peoples who had in common the Catholic faith. There were immediate challenges and adaptions to be made. I recall, for example, his mentioning that the lectures were in Latin and he had to struggle to learn to understand spoken Latin and also how to respond in Latin.
The classes in the auditorium were large and in his early days he dreaded being asked to respond to a question proposed by a professor. At Propaganda College — like all colleges and seminaries throughout the world — he would have been well trained in Catholic theology, scripture, history etc. We need to recall that this was before the Second Vatican Council, something I will refer to later.
Apart from this intellectual formation the most important part of his preparation for priesthood was his spiritual formation. After studying theology for four years he was granted a Licentiate in Theology. None of his immediate family would have been present. After completing his theological studies and after his ordination he was asked to attend the Urbaniana University and begin his studies in canon law.
At this time it seemed there was little hope for those Croatian priests studying in Rome to return to their homeland. He was happy to undertake graduate studies. Obtaining a degree in canon law or theology etc requires great commitment and discipline of self and mind. I think he spent five or six years doing research and writing a thesis which had to be written in Latin. This was not an easy task for him but he finally completed his thesis and then had to defend what he had written before a board of professors.
I recall this was an occasion Father Seby would have rather avoided! However he successfully defended his thesis and was granted the degree Doctor of Canon Law. Like other episodes in his life he realised that when the task was completed the time, effort and personal concern involved made the end result well worthwhile. I know from priests who studied in Rome with Father Seby that he was well liked and remembered. There are numerous stories about him.
He must have been quite a character! What is common to them all is that he had a sense of humour, a practical wisdom and kindness about him which endeared him to many. He is best remembered for the person he was rather than any achievements he had in his studies. This would have been a very formal occasion in the presence of His Holiness. The protocol was that each student knelt and kissed the hand ring of the Pope when the Pope stood before him. The Pope could only smile! Father Seby was an ordained priest and had completed his studies in Rome. What was he to do? Many of the Croatian priests had not returned back to their homeland.
Some stayed on in Rome and worked in various Congregations in the central Vatican offices. Others went to the United States and South America. Father M Kolich had already gone to Wellington. If I remember correctly it was Fr George Marinovich later Msgr Marinovich and now deceased who suggested to Father Seby that he volunteer for the Auckland diocese in which there was a large number of people who had emigrated from Dalmatia since the turn of the century.
There was a large community in Auckland especially in the western part, and many had gone north where they worked hard and long hours as kauri gum diggers, farmers etc. They very much appreciated the opportunity New Zealand offered them and wanted to build a future for themselves and their children. Father Marinovich considered it was important that there be a priest who spoke their language, knew their culture and who could attend to their spiritual needs.
I am quite certain that Fr Seby understood his coming to Auckland meant he would be a priest in service to his own people. He arrived in Auckland on 13th April He spoke little if any English but he was eager to begin his mission! I suspect the reason for this was because Father G Marinovich was an assistant priest there and also Fr O Sneddon the editor of the Zealandia and later Bishop Sneddon was present. Fr Marinovich was born in New Zealand and he was fluent in speaking and in writing Croatian. Fr Sneddon had studied in Rome and would have been there until the end of the war.
He was fluent in Italian and would have known Fr Seby in Rome. This meant that Father Seby had priests present with whom he could communicate. They sat down for dinner and were served a fine meal by New Zealand standards. Amongst other delights on the plate were roast beef and kumara. Father Seby looked at the plate and decided not to eat the same. When it was explained to him that the kumara was a sweet potato and the string was part of roast beef he thoroughly enjoyed the meal!
What we took for granted could be confusing to new immigrants. Time would show that Fr Seby had to make many adaptions in New Zealand. It must be remembered that each word in Croatian, Italian and Latin is spoken as written. These are phonetic languages. He appeared to have some difficulty in speaking English fluently but I was impressed with his knowledge of English grammar and spelling. To my knowledge there were very few other people who were as competent as Father Seby in writing English as a second language not learnt from birth.
Between February and February he had various appointments. He also spent one year at the Mission House in Ponsonby during this period. His experiences in these parishes varied as did his memory of his time there. He particularly liked Whakatane. The parish priest there was Father Matthew Curley now deceased. Father Seby occasionally recalled an instance when he, Father Curley and the other assistant priests were at table: Father Seby took a loaf of bread and broke off a piece.
From that time on they were close friends and after Father Curley retired Father Seby would occasionally visit him. I was appointed to Dargaville in I had already heard of him. He came to Dargaville in February The parish priest at the time was Father B Doherty now deceased which meant there were three of us living in the presbytery.
I detected that Father Seby was happy to come to Dargaville. After his arrival it became fairly clear to me that Father Seby considered he had not been permitted to do what he had originally came to New Zealand for, and that was to attend to the spiritual needs of his people. Now there was the opportunity to do this. From my perspective Dargaville was a good parish to serve in. There were state schools to be visited once a week where the priest taught catechism to the Catholic children for thirty minutes at Te Kopuru, Tangowahine, Tangiteroria.
Arapohue and the Dargaville Intermediate School. Added to this there were many elderly people in the parish who needed to be visited and given pastoral care, and also a fairly large Catholic Maori community who were served by visiting Mill Hill priests. Because most of the population lived outside of Dargaville it meant there was a considerable amount of travel — much of which was on shingle roads — to do in parish work.
Father Seby and I had the responsibility of attending to many of these pastoral works. This also gave each of us the opportunity to get to know one another very well. On a personal level Father Seby opened up a bank account in Dargaville. I learnt that the reason for not doing this earlier was his suspicion that banks may crash as they had done in Europe.
This would give him a certain independence to do what he wanted to do but was also necessary to share the pastoral work. The stories Father Seby told about his experiences in Whakatane when he drove a scooter to Ohope and other churches to offer Mass became legendary. Obtaining his licence to drive a car was a major undertaking.
It took three months of continual daily practice with a mutual friend of ours explaining the Road Code to him in Croatian before he obtained his licence. At very short notice it was arranged with the local Traffic Officer for Father Seby to sit his written and driving test. Thirty minutes later he appeared smiling and very content since he had passed the written test in English and the driving test with ease.
We had to have a celebration since to Father Seby it was a major achievement! It reminded me of his defence for his doctorate in canon law and other events in his life: After achieving what he set out to — even if he had some difficulty and lacked a little in confidence — the end result made it all worthwhile. There are lessons for us all to learn in life! Father Seby had a simplicity about him which was contagious. He appeared as a simple, wise, uncomplicated, likeable person.