VESTNIK 2021 | 3. VELIKONOČNA NEDELJA 3 RD SUNDAY OF EASTER SLOVENSKA ŽUPNIJA SV. GREGORIJA VELIKEGA | ST. GREGORY THE GREAT SLOVENIAN CHURCH 16/57 Številka - Number / Leto - Year 18. 4. 2021 Fr. Drago Gačnik, SDB ŽUPNIK - PASTOR NASLOV - ADDRESS 125 Centennial Pkwy N. Hamilton, ON L8E 1H8 PHONE: 905-561-5971 CELL: 905-520-2014 E-MAIL gregory_sdb@ stgregoryhamilton.ca WEB PAGE www.carantha.com HALL RENTALS CELL: 905-518-6159 E-MAIL hallrental@ stgregoryhamilton.ca Kristus je moral trpeti in vstati od mrtvih »Spokorite se in spreobrnite se torej, da se vam izbrišejo vaši grehi!«. »Jezus Kristus, pravični, on je sprava za naše grehe«. »V njegovem imenu oznanjujte pokoro ter odpuščanje grehov med vsemi narodi«. Iz treh odlomkov današnjih svetopisem- skih beril smo izbrali temo, ki kljub različno- sti združuje osrednjo misel o odpuščanju gre- hov, ki ima svoj izvor v veliki noči. Ni naklju- čje, da je, kakor poroča apostol Janez v evan- geliju, Jezus na velikonočni večer srečal apo- stole in jim zaupal nalogo, naj človeštvu po- sredujejo odpuščanje grehov in možnost, da postanejo nove in čiste stvaritve: »Katerim grehe odpustite, so jim odpuščeni, katerim jih zadržite, so jim zadržani« (Jn 20,23). Prvo oznanilo te vesele možnosti je oznanil apostol Peter v govoru, ki ga je imel pred množico Jeruzalemčanov v tempeljskem »Salomonovem stebrišču«. Peter je pričel svoj govor z ostro obtožbo greha, ki je upor proti Bogu, neumen poskus »umoriti začetnika življenja«. Toda Bog pre- maga sovraštvo in smrt ter postane za človeka začetnik življenja in lju- bezni. Vendar le pod enim pogojem: da se človek »kesa in spremeni ži- vljenje«. Gre za »spreobrnjenje«, ki ga je Jezus oznanjal od samih začet- kov svojega oznanjevanja. Odločilnega pomena je božje dejanje odpu- ščanja. Toda človek pri tem ni nepomemben. Srednjeveški filozof Mojzes Maimonide (13. stol.) je zapisal: »Kesati se pomeni odpovedati se grehu, ga odstraniti iz svojega duha in iz svojih rok, skleniti, da ne bomo več grešili. Bog ne pričakuje od človeka nič drugega kakor to, da pred njim iskreno izjavi: Grešil sem! Obsodba, ki jo je Bog izrekel nad Jeruzale- mom, je ravno v tem, da je ta rekel: Nismo grešili.« Drugo sporočilo je v čudovitem pismu apostola Janeza, ki predstavi odpuščanje kot nekak prizor. Nad nami je podoba Boga, ki je pravični sodnik človeških krivic; mi smo nasproti njemu strti zaradi naših vnovič- 146 | VESTNIK 2021 Illustration There’s a theory in psychology called “cognitive dissonance”. At its heart is the idea that if people try to hold together two contradictory ideas, attitudes or behaviours, then they experience psy- chological stress (“dissonance”) which they try to reduce or remove at all costs, to make their ideas, attitudes or beliefs consistent with each other. This means that when we do hold conflicting ideas or beliefs, something has to give – one of our beliefs, attitudes or behaviours has to be either abandoned or modified in some way to make it consistent with the other. The theory was first proposed by an American psychologist called Leon Festinger, who in the 1950s studied a religious cult which believed that the earth was going to be destroyed by a flood. Cult members bought into this idea wholeheartedly – giving up their jobs and their homes. When the flood didn’t happen, this set up cognitive disso- nance: their belief was in conflict with the facts. But 3 RD SUNDAY OF EASTER Response: Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord. First Reading Acts 3:13-15. 17-19 Peter proclaims the good news that God raised Jesus from the dead for our for- giveness. Second Reading 1 John 2:1-5 Jesus is the sacrifice who takes our sins away. Gospel Luke 24:35-48 The disciples are stupefied to encounter a very physical Jesus, risen from the dead. “Touch me and see for yourselves. ” nih grehov, ponižani zaradi naše nezvestobe. Toda glej! Zraven nas stoji »zagovornik, Jezus Kristus, pravični« in se postavi v našo obrambo. On je tisti, ki nas varuje pred božjim srdom ne kakor zagovornik, ki mu je mar le lastni zaslu- žek in lastna slava, marveč kot tisti, ki daruje Očetu svoje življenje kot »nedolžna žrtev za naše grehe in za grehe sveta«. Človek se tedaj vrača v svetlo območje božje milosti in ljubezni. Tako prihajamo do poslednjega sporočila odpuščanja, kjer Jezus nastopa kot predstojnik bogoslužja. Najprej pozdrav: »Mir vam bodi«, nato resnično in pristno bogoslužje božje besede v premišljevanju Svetega pisma. Poslušalci odpi- rajo svojega duha globokemu razumevanju tiste besede, ki jo sedaj vnovič beremo v luči prihoda Božjega Sina ter njegove zmage nad zlom in smrtjo. Na kraju Jezus zaupa apostolom poslan- stvo, naj bodo pričevalci velike noči vsemu svetu, kateremu naj odkrivajo bogastvo in osvobajajo- čo moč, ki se izraža ravno v odpuščanju grehov. Velika noč ustvarja nove ljudi, osvobojene zla. Znana prošnja Davidovega psalma »Čisto srce, o Bog, mi ustvari in duha stanovitnosti v meni obnovi!« (Ps 50,12) je tako v polnosti uslišana. V Prvi Mojzesovi knjigi (4,7) je rečeno, da greh »preži pred durmi« naše hiše, toda mogoče »mu je gospodovati«. Kristusova velika noč označuje odločilni prehod. Kristusova moč je nad močjo greha, uničujoča reka zla nima moči, ki jo ima blagodejna moč odpuščanja: »Kjer se je pomnožil greh, se je še bolj pomnožila milost«. V okrožnici O Božjem usmiljenju papež raz- mišlja: »V križu se Bog najgloblje sklanja k člo- veku in k temu, kar človek zlasti v hudih in bole- čih trenutkih imenuje svojo nesrečno usodo. Križ je kakor dih večne ljubezni, ki se dotika najbolj bolečih ran človekovega zemeljskega bivanja. Križ je zadnja izpolnitev mesijanskega progra- ma, ki ga je Kristus napovedal v nazareški sho- dnici: Gospod me je poslal, da ubogim oznanim blagovest; da naznanim jetnikom oproščenje in slepim pogled, da zatirane izpustim v prostost in oznanim leto božjega usmiljenja (Lk 4,18-19)«. - (Prim. Oznanjevalec 2005-2006, št. 3) VESTNIK 2021 | 147 instead of simply acknowledging that their belief in the flood was wrong, some cult members still clung to it, but modified it somewhat. They said that they had been right all along about the flood, but they reinterpreted their belief, to say that the earth had been spared because of the faithfulness of the cult members. Festinger concluded that some people would resolve their psychological stress by blindly believing whatever they wanted to believe, rather than abandon their beliefs. Gospel Teaching The theory has been applied by some people to the followers of Jesus. They believed he was the Messiah – that he would set Israel free and establish God’s kingdom. But this was empirically proved to be wrong when Jesus was crucified. According to this theory, Jesus’ disciples were unable to cope with the trauma of the crucifixion and so, rather than abandon their belief in Jesus, they came up with the idea of resurrection as a coping mechanism to help them deal with their psychological stress at his death. Today’s very unusual Gospel almost seems to have been written as a rebuttal to any idea that the first disciples “invented” the resurrection as a cop- ing strategy. Not only does Jesus appear among them – he asks for something to eat. He’s not a ghost or a figment of their imagination. And the sight of him is described as something terrifying, rather than wishful thinking. Look at the words used to describe the disciples’ experience: “alarm and fright”, “agitated”, “dumbfounded”, “they could not believe it”. Rather than welcoming Jesus with great joy, it is almost as if they have to be shaken out of their disbelief by Jesus. “Touch me,” he says, and he asks for something to eat. Far from clutching at straws to explain away the death of Jesus, they are so immersed in the brutal fact of his death that they are unable to process seeing him in the flesh. There is a stunned lack of understanding among those first disciples, even as they are overcome with joy. Application Perhaps the greatest proof of the authenticity of their experience lies in their lived-out response to these events. “You are witness to this,” Jesus tells them – witnesses that he is the Christ who suffered, died and rose, for the forgiveness of sins for all peo- ple. And that was precisely what so many of them did: witnessed not simply by their words but by their actions, even to the point of giving their lives to share this astounding news with the whole hu- man race. Our faith has to have the same elements we see in those disciples: the honesty of their struggle to accept the news of Jesus’ resurrection, so that it can also become real for us, so that we too can “see for ourselves”; a genuine personal encounter with the risen Lord, with his love, his presence; and a desire to witness, to share this good news with the people of our time. Like them, we do this by our lives – by giving of ourselves in a genuinely self- sacrificing way, so that others may find life. We are called to bear witness to the truth that Jesus’ cross is the way to life. This is no denial of the death of Je- sus, but an affirmation that he shows us the way to life, precisely by his dying. There are no shortcuts to that struggle for faith, or to that personal encounter with Jesus. And there can be no passing the buck to others to do the work. We are his witnesses today. 148 | VESTNIK 2021 Cilj naše kampanje je v treh letih zbrati vsoto $200,000.00 za našo župnijo. Nekateri še vedno ne razumejo, da vse, kar boste darovali preko te kampanje, bo prejela naša župnija in še 10% iz skupnega sklada. Škofijski uradi pa bodo vodili vse računovodske zadeve, tako, da nam ne bo potrebno tega dela urejati. V Vestniku vsak teden objavimo koliko ste »obljubili« da boste darovali za kampa- njo za našo župnijo preko škofijskega računa in koliko je že dejansko »vplačanega«. Iz škofije nam tedensko poš- ljejo tekoče stanje na našem računu. Na računu »Eno Srce, Ena Duša« za na- šo slovensko župnijo sv. Gregorija Velike- ga sta številki: $96,759 - Pledged - obljubili $52,504 - Paid - ste že vplačali Od prejšnjega tedna ni bilo novih pri- spevkov za sklad Eno Srce, Ena Duša. Hvala vsem, ki ste že prispevali. Smo že skoraj na polovici zastavljenega cilja. LIGHT, STOP CRYING AND RUN By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB Working with Jesus surely makes things happen according to God’s plan – not simply my plan. Ultimately things work when God leads and is involved in every aspect of my life. Ultimately things backfire when I “play” God and act as IF everything depended totally on me. So… in all our work for the Lord I am reminded that it is the Lord of the work that really guides and moves hearts – and moves mountains when there are obsta- cles. I’m just a cooperator with His grace. Easter means Christ is alive. He works. For us now in 2021 – in this crazy world with its secularistic view – we need to really know and believe that Christ is alive. We are alive in Christ. God’s not dead – He is powerful. God has triumphed! God wins – sin and death lose. The devil loses! God is in control. Here are three words that came to me this week in an Easter meditation: Light, Stop Crying and Run. Let me expound on them with you. I. LIGHT – CHRIST IS OUR LIGHT The journey from darkness to light is one that we all experience, not just once, but at various times in life. Whatever is weighing us down at the present time: fear, anxiety, depression or any other burden, is overcome by the light of Jesus Christ. God restores and makes all things new through Jesus. He is the source of our hope and joy. He is the light in the darkness that helps us to see the way forward. Look around – there’s a lot of darkness out there. People seem to be stumbling around lost and crashing into obstacles. It almost seems like the darkness is win- ning out over the light. At the Easter Vigil we sang in church: “Christ be our light.” WE asked him to help us WALK IN HIS LIGHT. WE need to follow His light out of this mess. Please – go to the light. Follow the light. Walk in the light! II. STOP CRYING – HE IS RISEN In one of the post-resurrection accounts in the gos- pels two angels appear to Mary Magdalene and ask her, “Why are you weeping?” Mary Magdalene’s eyes are full of tears when she sees the open tomb and the body VESTNIK 2021 | 149 gone. She is distraught. So watery are her eyes that she can’t even see clearly that Jesus is in front of her. Not until he calls her name does she know it is Him. Then Jesus Himself asks her: “Why are you crying?” When Jesus rises from the dead, He calls us by name and tells us to stop crying. His words to us today are – STOP CRYING AND GET LIVING! So… WHAT ARE YOU CRYING ABOUT? This past year my crying has included: COVID, Biden, Trump, a lost vacation to Ireland and the restrictions on reli- gious practices and worship. Terrible stuff, right? NO! Not really. Many people that we know have been crying about: the death of loved ones, hospital stays, elderly isolation, addiction, divorce, irreconcilable differences with parents, unemployment, spousal abuse, no job, dead end jobs and intolerable people. Disastrous stuff, right? NO! Not really. Come on. NO MORE TEARS – HE IS RISEN! God’s own Son came into the world, to save us from our sins, and to rise from the dead. His Resurrection really hap- pened. And that Resurrection is the promise of our own resurrection from the dead. No more crying. III. RUN On Easter morning Mary Magdalene ran to get John and Peter to check things out at the tomb. Peter and John ran there to see for themselves. Afterward the two of them ran back to tell the others. Then all the apostles started running around Jerusalem and even to the furthest corners of the known world to announce the Good News. Today we are not running around with excitement about Jesus’ Resurrection. We are walking around in slow motion. We’ve lost enthusiasm and zeal. We are slow to go spread the news of Jesus Christ – The LIFE of the World. It really is time to get moving! It’s time to run to- ward holiness. It’s time to run toward a better and deeper prayer life. It’s time to delve into a better for- mation in the faith. It’s time to be a more joyful and zealous witness to the Gospel. We’ve lost our running shoes. We need to run to- ward holiness and away from sin. We should be run- ning away from temptations. We ought to be running away from frivolous distractions. It’s time to get moving. 150 | VESTNIK 2021 O BVESTI LA - A NNOUN CEMENTS DIOCESAN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY MASS THE 2021 ANNIVERSARY MASS HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19. As the restrictions from COVID-19 continue and for the safety of all concerned, a decision has been made to cancel the annual Anniver- sary Mass scheduled for June of 2021. Bishop Crosby would still love to offer congratulations to all those who will be mar- ried 25, 40, 50, 60 and 60 plus years in 2021, so you will be able to register your anniversary via the link below, and we will send you the certifi- cate you would have received if the Mass had gone ahead. https://hamiltondiocese.com CWL - KŽZ Our Lady of Good Counsel Mass will be held by Fr. Drago, on Monday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. Due to the current Covid re- strictions and church closures effective April 19 th by the Hamilton Diocese, we will NOT be able to have our traditional Mass with Service Award pin presentation. Unfortunately this was also the case of last year. Presentation of the awards will be post- poned to next year when, with great hope, we will not be in Lockdown or required to prac- tice such strict social distancing. Our Service Award recipients are: 2020 Daniela Pavlich, Štefka Novak, Angelca Kržič – all 10 years of service 2021 Veronika Sampl - 40 years Madeleine Ferko -10 years Congratulations and thank you for serving the Catholic Women’s League. OBVESTILO IZ ŠKOFIJE GLEDE MAŠ DO NADALJNEGA Additional Restrictions related to the Stay- at-Home Order: Following the announcement by Premier Ford this afternoon (Friday, April 16, 2021) out- lining further restrictions attached to the Stay- at-Home Order effective on Monday, April 19, 2021, please note the following norms for all Parishes in the Diocese of Hamilton. 1. Masses and other liturgical celebrations scheduled for Saturday, April 17 th and Sunday, April 18 th are to take place in Parishes provid- ed in the 15% capacity limit and all other Covid-19 protocols are observed. 2. Beginning on Monday, April 19 th , 2021 all churches in the Diocese of Hamilton are closed until further notice, with the excep- tion only of the following: - Weddings with a total of 10 people (including the priest/deacon); - Individual Baptisms with a total of 10 peo- ple (including the priest/deacon). To the ex- tent possible Baptisms should be postponed until the church is reopened. - Funerals are permitted in the church with a total of ten people (including the priest), but are strongly discouraged for the health and safety of the priest and the mourners; It is rec- ommended that only the Rite of Christian Buri- al at the cemetery take place in accord with the requirements of the Provincial Order and the Ontario Bereavement Authority. Confirmations scheduled for the month of May will likely need to be postponed; further information will be forthcoming as we ap- proach the end of the Stay-at-Home Order. From: Monsignor Murray J. Kroetsch, PH, VG, Chancellor Date: April 16, 2021 VESTNIK 2021 | 151 SVETE MAŠE - MASS TIMES: Monday to Friday: 7:00 P.M., Saturday: 5:30 P.M. (Slovenian-Sunday Mass); Sunday: 10:00 A.M. (Slovenian-English - For the time of Covid-19 it is only one Mass on Sundays) - KRSTI / BAPTISMS: For an appointment, call one month before. POROKE / MARRIAGE: For an appointment, call one year before the wedding date. SPOVED / CONFES- SIONS: First Friday of the month 6 -7:00 P.M. (or by appointment) BOLNIKI - Sporočite, če je kdo bolan ali v bolnišnici, da ga obiščemo. You are welcome to call for a personal conversation with your priest – please call for an appointment. Tel: 905- 561-5971. DON BOSCO V tem tednu so naslednje obletnice smrti faranov, ki so zapisani v naših knjigah: We ask that our members consider reciting the rosary at home with special intentions for the health and well being of all, recovery of those affected by the coronavirus and an end to this pandemic with help from our patroness, Our Lady of Good Counsel. KRST - BAPTISM V soboto, 17. aprila 2021 je zakrament svete- ga krsta prejela Julijana Mary Barber, hči Franka Barber in Karoline, roj. Bownik. Iskrene čestitke staršema ob krstu tretjega otroka. Naj ju spremlja božji blagoslov in priprošnja nebeške Matere Marije. Vajdetič Marko April 22, 1970 Slobodnik Justin Peter April 23, 2008 Nedelko Steve, Jr. April 23, 2019 Puscher Marija April 25, 2013 NAJEM PARKIRIŠČA Morda ste opazili, da je od 1. aprila letos parkiranih več avtomobilov na našem parkiri- šču za dvorano. Imamo pogodbo s podjetjem, ki v bližini obnavlja parkirno hišo in so rabili 65 parkirnih prostorov. Pogodba je sklenjena za čas od aprila do decembra letošnjega leta. To je dobro, da parkirišče ne bo samevalo, za nas pa je to dober dohodek, ki bo pomagal da ga, ko pride čas, lažje obnovimo. POSVETITEV POMOŽNEGA ŠKOFA Zaradi trenutnih dogod- kov glede Covida-19 so se na škofiji odločili, da bo novi pomožni škof, Wayne Lawrence Lobsinger, posve- čen to nedeljo, 18. aprila 2021 ob 2:00 p.m. v hamil- tonski katedrali. Iz prvotnega 2. februarja so posvečenje najprej prestavili na 29. junij, zdaj pa so se za- radi negotove situacije odločili, da ga posveti- jo to nedeljo. Prisotni bodo tisti, ki so bili po- vabljeni že za 2. februarja. Mi pa bomo z moli- tvijo spremljali njegovo posvečenje. 152 | VESTNIK 2021 SVETE MAŠE - MASSES od 18. 4. 2021 do 25. 4. 2021 3. VELIKONOČNA NEDELJA 3 RD SUNDA Y OF EASTER 18. APRIL Evzebij, škof † † † †† † †† † Za žive in rajne župljane Marija Bukvič Marija Horvat Mihael Borojevič (Slo) Pokojni iz družine Bohnec Marija Horvat Štefan in Gizella Ray Jože Bajec 10:00 A.M. IN CHURCH AND ON FACEBOOK - - - - - - - - - Elizabeth Gimpelj Mož Ignac z družino Marija in Toni Franc Vera Gonza z družino Ignac in Terezija Sarjaš Ignac Dorenčec Mia Goodfellow in družina PONEDELJEK - MONDA Y 19. APRIL Leon IX., papež † Za misijonarje Stjepan Đundraš Za zdravje Helena Kwasniewska Dragica Đundraš Ana Tadić TOREK - TUESDA Y 20. APRIL Teotim, škof † † Gizella Ray Na čast Kristusove krvi Zdravko Troha Cecilija Sobočan Ana Tadić Danica Maradin SREDA - WEDNESDA Y 21. APRIL Anzelm, šk.-uč. † † † †† Ana Zorčič, obl. Ignac Korošec Bernie Gašper Pokojni iz družine Gašper Hči Jožica Vegelj z družino Bernardina Mujdrica z družino Družina Mlačak Družina Mlačak ČETRTEK - THURSDA Y 22. APRIL Aleksandra, mučenka † † †† Milka Skale Anton Suhadolc Pavel in Paul Richard Novak Jožica Purkart Manja Erzetič Toni Ferko PETEK - FRIDA Y 23. APRIL Jurij, mučenec † †† Edward Madronich Agneza in Jože Berkovič Manja Erzetič Zlatko in Marija Berkovič SOBOTA - SATURDA Y 24. APRIL Rudolf, mučenec Robert, opat † † †† † † † † Matija Vlašič Karel Volf Za duhovne poklice Mihael in Olga Rožman Anka Hubert Ana Nedelko Joe Lackovič Angela Hozjan Žena in otroci Žena Marija Slomškovo oltarno društvo Družina Mlačak Marija Volf Darinka Nedelko Žena Vera z družino Družina Žižek 4. VELIKONOČNA NEDELJA DUH. POKLICEV 4 TH SUNDA Y OF EASTER 25. APRIL Marko, evangelist † † † †† † †† † † † Za žive in rajne župljane Alojzija Novak Leonida Bratkovič Maks Pavlič Maks in Maksimilijan Sagadin Frank Saje Avgust in Matilda Berkovič Ivan Žerdin Franc Marič Marijan Pavlich 10:00 A.M. ON THE FACEBOOK - - - - - - - - - Družina Frank in Lojzka Novak Družina Frank in Lojzka Novak Žena Milka Milan in Sandy Ferletič Žena Anica Sin Zlatko Mary Fylypiw Mary in Branko Mary in Branko