SLOVENSKA ŽUPNIJA SV. GREGORIJA VELIKEGA | ST. GREGORY THE GREAT SLOVENIAN CHURCH 3/60 Številka - Number / Leto - Year 21.1. 2024 3. NEDELJA MED LETOM 3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 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 HALL RENTALS 905-561-5971, ext. 2 E-MAIL hallrental@ stgregoryhamilton.ca Po krstu in skušnjavah v puščavi Jezus pokliče prve učence, naj mu sledijo. Jezusovo sporočilo je namreč: »Čas se je dopolnil in Božje kraljestvo je blizu; spreobrnite si in verujte evangeliju.« Gre za nujno sporočilo; ne gre izgubljati časa, potrebno je delovati takoj. Božje kraljestvo se je približalo, treba ga je sprejeti in to je lahko na dva načina: s tem, da se spreobrnemo in verujemo evangeliju. Spreobrniti se pomeni odtrgati se od škodljivih stvari in se povezati z Bogom. Gre za korenito spremembo usmeritve, ki jo Jezus zahteva od nas. Prvo berilo je vzeto iz Jonove knjige in pripoveduje o Jonovem poslanstvu v Ninivah. Prerok vabi Ninivljane k spreobrnjenju z grožnjo neposredne kazni: »Še štirideset dni in Ninive bodo razdejane.« Tudi Jona, podobno kot Jezus, govori, da je čas dopolnjen in da je božji poseg neizbežen. Njegova grožnja je videti kot nekaj negativnega, dejansko pa ima pozitiven pomen in prebivalci Niniv to razumejo. Ko prerok oznanja božjo kazen, ni njegov namen nikoli negativen, temveč ima namen spodbuditi ljudi, da bi se kazni izognili. Prerokovo oznanjevanje izzove iskreno spreobrnjenje Ninivljanov, ki zapustijo svoja hudobna dejanja in se obrnejo k Bogu. Bog je videl, da so Ninivljani odstopili od svojega hudobnega ravnanja in da lahko uresniči svoj načrt, ki je načrt ljubezni in odrešenja: »Bogu je bilo žal zaradi hudega, o katerem je gov6ril, da jim ga bo nardil, in ga ni storil.« Tako so bili Ninivljani rešeni. V evangeliju Jezus govori o isti nujnosti: »Spreobrnite se in verujte evangeliju«. V tem sporočilu ne gre zgolj za povabilo k spreobrnjenju, temveč je tu tudi oznanilo dobre novice, to je, da je Bog pripravljen poseči za naše odrešenje, želi razliti svojo ljubezen na nas, spodbuja nas, naj odstranimo vsakršne ovire. Pavel v pismu opozarja Korinčane: »To pa rečem, bratje, da je odVESTNIK 2024 | merjeni čas kratek.« To pomeni, da hoče Bog uresničiti svoj načrt ljubezni. In ker je časa malo, se je treba spreobrniti. »Odslej naj bodo tisti …, ki ta svet uporabljajo, kakor da ga ne bi izrabljali, kajti podoba tega sveta mineva.« Na novo je treba izmeriti vrednost vseh stvari. Poklicani smo k življenju, ki je v intimnosti z Bogom. Naše rešenje je edina stvar, ki ima vrednost. Vse druge stvari so relativne, nimajo absolutne vrednosti. Edina absolutna vrednost je božja ljubezen, ki se nam hoče posredovati, da bi mogla spremeniti vse naše življenje. Naše načrte in naše veselje je treba na novo ovrednotiti, treba jih je presojati z določenim odmikom, ker to niso bistvene stvari v našem življenju. Mi namreč objokujemo stvari, ki niso tega vredne, ali pa se velikokrat veselimo stvari, ki so dokaj površinske. Zaradi vsega tega vedno potrebujemo spreobrnjenja. Moramo se odlepiti od negativnih usmeritev, da bi mogli vzpostaviti iskreno in globoko povezanost z Bogom. V današnjem evangeljskem odlomku Jezus takoj po oznanilu pokliče prve učence. Jezus hodi mimo, vidi dva človeka - Simona in Andreja; drugič Jakoba in Janeza -, ki opravljata svoje običajno delo. Prva dva mečeta mrežo v morje, druga mreže sušita. Pravi jima: »Hodita za menoj!« In onadva takoj vse pustita in mu sledita. Marko nam to pripoved o poklicanju predstavlja v tako izpiljeni obliki z namenom, da bi razumeli bistveno. Jezus hodi skozi naše življenje in nam pravi: »Hodite za mano. Vaše življenje bom naredil lepo in rodovitno. Vas, ki sedaj lovite ribe, bom naredil za ribiče ljudi.« Res nismo vsi poklicani, naj sledimo Jezusu tako kot apostoli vendar pa smo vsi poklicani, da hodimo za Jezusom. Jezusu moramo slediti, to je tista stvar, ki je pomembna; vsi naši načrti morajo biti usmerjeni k hoji za Jezusom. Svojo nalogo moramo opraviti tako, da bo skladno z Jezusovim klicem. Način, kako se opredeljujemo do stvari, je veliko pomembnejši od stvari samih, ki jih počenjamo. Preden se odločimo, se moramo vedno potruditi, da bi spoznali in izbrali tisto, kar Gospod zahteva, da naj storimo. Tako lahko v polnosti živimo v njegovi ljubezni. Jezus je prišel, da svet preoblikuje s svojo ljubeznijo. Potrebno je, da veliko ljudi sprejme njegov klic in so učljivi ob njegovih navdihih. (prim. Oznanjevalec 2009, št. 1) 18 | VESTNIK 2024 3RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Response: Lord, make me know your ways. First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5. 10 Jonah calls the people of Nineveh to repentance. They hear his call and return to the Lord. Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Life is short. Do not waste it on passing things. Gospel: Mark 1:14-20 Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. “Follow me.” Illustration In 2006 Qusay Hussein, an Iraqi man from Mosul (Nineveh of the Old Testament), was playing a game of volleyball, cheered on by his family and friends, when a suicide bomb exploded near him, taking away his sight, half his face and nearly his life. Given a second chance at life and speaking of his experience many years later, Qusay said: “I live in Austin (Texas) now. I’ve been here almost seven years, and soon I’ll have completed my degree at the University of Texas. I’m a refugee, a product of war, but in many ways I feel lucky. Not only am I still here, but I’ve started a new life doing things I could never have imagined. I’m hopeful about the future. If what I’ve been through has taught me anything, it is that you should take every opportunity that comes.” nothing for which they should mourn. This dramatic language is because Paul felt the second coming of Christ was imminent and he wanted to shock his fellow Christians into following a more Gospel way of life. The call to Simon, Andrew, James and John and their response is no less striking. They are going about their ordinary work, casting their nets into the lake, or, in the case of James and John mending their nets in preparation for fishing. Jesus calls his new disciples to believe in the Good News. In fact, Jesus is the Good News, and he is calling them and us to believe in him and all that his kingdom stands for. Like Jonah and Paul, the disciples leave all to follow Jesus. Jesus then gives them their new responsibility, to become fishers of men. They are to proclaim the Good News of God’s kingdom of love, justice and peace to those they meet on their journey of life, calling others to follow Jesus just as they have. From mending nets, they will now Today’s readings speak of taking opportu- follow Christ mending broken hearts and bodies and renities, of being given a second chance and of storing others to the fullness of life. They are given new the invitation to live our Christian faith in new opportunities to teach, to heal, to hear God’s word, firstly and life-changing ways. in their own hearts and then in the hearts and on the lips of those they serve. Answering Jesus’ call literally turned Gospel Teaching their lives upside down. By the time Jonah has the word of God addressed to him “a second time”, he has alApplication ready been seen as the cause of a storm at sea, As was true in the life of the disciples, Jesus comes to thrown overboard and swallowed by a big fish each one of us in our ordinary lives. If, as St Paul says in – all in his efforts to escape from the God of today’s reading, we are “engrossed in the world”, we can Israel. Seeing what befell him because of his be blinded to Christ’s presence in the day-to-day events of lack of obedience to God’s will, Jonah takes our lives. We will miss the opportunity to follow Jesus, to this “second chance”. In doing so, he brings be bearers of the Good News for those around us and to salvation to the people of Nineveh. His mes- live our Christian lives fruitfully and faithfully. Our God is a sage is urgent: there are, Jonah tells the peo- God of “second chances” and of endless opportunity. Like ple of Nineveh, only forty days left before their ourselves, neither Paul nor the disciples were perfect, but city will be destroyed. they were all offered the opportunity to follow Jesus and In our second reading, Paul reminds the some were even given a second chance to understand his people of Corinth “time is growing short”. mission and message. This can reassure us that, should we Paul’s language is dramatic and can even ap- fail, God is waiting to offer us another opportunity, to offer pear cruel and outrageous, especially when he us forgiveness and healing and a return to his loving emsuggests that those who have wives should brace. live as though they had none; and those who are mourning should live as though they had VESTNIK 2024 | 19 GOOD MORNING FRIENDS! January 14, 2024 As you all know, as a community, we participated in the diocesan initiative to help smaller parish communities in the One Heart, One Soul campaign. When the parish council was presented with this initiative, we were not big fans of the rollout, had questions on the process, and felt that the campaign was designed for a different type of community. Because we know our people we spent countless hours discussing how to proceed and presented a different, softer way of proceeding with this campaign which was ultimately approved by the diocese. The One Heart One Soul campaign was designed to do two things: U First, this campaign presented us with the task of raising $200,000 which was equal to the funds our parish brought in during the 2017 year and if successful, we would receive an extra 10% to use as we saw fit for the betterment of our community. U And Second, to use this campaign to continue to build the bond between parish and community. The larger parishes within the Hamilton diocese would in fact help the smaller parishes by contributing 25% of their fundraising efforts to the One Heart One Sourl Campaign which would in turn be divided amongst the smaller parishes of which we are considered to be. These smaller parishes instead of loosing a percentage of our funds raised, would in fact have an increase of 10% should we reach our goal. Well, I am standing here today, so happy to be able to announce that we have reached our One Heart One Soul Campaign goal of $200,000.- In fact we have surpassed our 20 | VESTNIK 2024 goal slightly. Because we reached our goal, the One Heart One Soul Campaign has added $20,000 to our total bringing our available funds to $220,820.- which is now accessible to our parish community. This is a big financial boost and initially, these funds were intended to be used for the repair of our bell tower or the repair of our parking lot area. Of course, the amount we have available will not cover all these costs and we will further discuss at parish council as well as at our Občni Zbor (AGM) the best way to use these funds. I would like to thank all of you who participated in making this One Heart One Soul campaign a success – we could not have done this without everyone’s commitment, participation and contributions. With this, it now is an appropriate time to also thank the people behind the scenes who make so many things happen here at our parish – your Parish Council: Sonya Podrebarac, Elka Peršin, Sidonia Poppa, Mary Ann Demšar, Tony Horvat, Derek Perz, Manica Perše, Trish Hill and Heidy Novak. These people work tirelessly at not only making things happen here, but figuring out what we need to do to keep things going and we have some pretty wonderful ideas in the works. As you know, we’ve started Children’s liturgy (at the English 11:00 a.m. Mass) which is key to developing the spirituality of the young hearts of our community. So bring your children, bring your grandchildren and have them participate and grow stronger within our church community. We are also organizing our annual Pustovanje evening, which is a wonderful family event giving everyone an opportunity to come with your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends as we watch the excitement as the youngsters bring their imagina- tions to life with their costumes. There is always a costume parade, there are prizes and this year there will be the opportunity to participate in karaoke segments. So if you or anyone you know can sing, or if you think you can sing, come out and join in the fun! Watch for our posters as we add information each week with details of what to expect at Pustovanje being hosted on Saturday, February 10th. Also, this year is our 60th anniversary year of our actual St. Gregory the Great parish. We are hoping to make this a good one and planning to add to each of our events to make it even more commemorative of our humble beginning and look forward to your participation. Finally, as we continue year after year we ask for our parishioners to lend a hand and volunteer to help keep our church and community growing strong. With active parishioners and with casual members, we only need volunteering hands once every year or two. We will be publishing all our events by the end of this month with volunteering requirements and hope that everyone will consider coming and helping out to keep our Slovenian community not only to exist, but helping it thrive. Wishing everyone a truly wonderful Sunday along with a happy and healthy 2024! Heidy Novak GOD CALLS WHO GOD CALLS By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB I can remember in the summer of 1981 as I graduated from Monsignor Farrell High School in Staten Island, New York, a very humorous moment that I shared with my mom. I’ll come back to that in a minute. It was May of 1981, one month from graduation. I had just let the word out to my friends and family that I was going to attend Don Bosco Seminary College and give a shot at becoming a Salesian priest. My good high school buddies Ray, Spode, Scott and Kevin were more than a little skeptical knowing that I was a bit of a teenage wild man. The teachers at school thought the same way, one of them saying to me, “Ryan, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” When they heard the news, the overall attitude of family, neighbors and parishioners of our local parish was: “Well, that’s interesting!” Throughout my high school years my parents knew that I was discerning the Salesian religious life. They saw that God might very well be calling me to this special vocation. I was always glad to be around St. Joseph-St. Thomas for the teen club, coaching the little guys’ basketball league, teaching CCD with Scott or shoveling snow for Monsignor Gordon around the rectory. At Farrell I admired the Christian Brothers very much and appreciated the great education we received and the fun of high school in the late 70’s (no need to say more). I was also gung ho for summer camp with the Salesians. Every summer I’d go up to camp in Newton, New Jersey, and it was a real home away from home. I was happy being a camp counselor with the Salesians my sophomore and junior years of high school. Thank God my parents were 100% supportive. They understood that God calls who He calls. Yes – I was young. Yes – I was naive. And yes – I was very mischievous. Yet mom and dad knew that God very well might be calling me to be close to Him as a religious. After all, I really did develop a love for Jesus that was real. I would never miss Mass. I prayed my three Hail Mary’s every night and I was happy serving others. They also saw in me a zeal for life and an ability to connect with people that was unique. “Go ahead and try it – don’t be afraid,” said mom that spring. Now for the humorous moment… My mother went up to daily Mass one day and the little nun, Sister Elizabeth, stopped her and offered her congratulations. “Mrs. Ryan,” she said, “I am so very VESTNIK 2024 | 21 happy to hear that your son is going to go to the seminary to become a priest.” “Thank you, Sister,” mom replied, “Stephen will go off to the Salesians in September.” Then there was a long pause and Sister said to my mom, “Oh no… Stephen? It’s Peter your other son who has the vocation. Stephen?” When mom got home she laughed and told me the story. Over the years she always repeated that story with a smile. And that little nun, who taught second grade at St. Joseph-St. Thomas, did in fact pray for me every day. She wrote a Christmas card to me year after year, even after I was transferred to new assignments several times and we almost lost track of one another. In the Bible in 1 Samuel 16, the prophet Samuel goes to Jesse’s house to choose and anoint the new king of the Jewish people. He reviews the many sons paraded in front of him and some of them looked like they would be very suitable candidates for the job. The Holy Spirit leads him to anoint one of them – the least likely. He chooses David, the youngest who seemed least qualified. In verse 7 the passage states that humans see the outward appearance but “the LORD looks into the heart”. There’s a lesson here: God calls who He calls! The little nun, Sr. Elizabeth Demeo, MSC, passed away on Sunday. May God bless her! She probably never knew the laugh she brought to my mom over the years when mom recalled the story. Remember... God calls who God calls. Delavnica »rezancev nudlcev« je v sredo v polno pognala. Prva ekipa že navdušeno pripravlja prihajajoči Bazar, ki bo letos v nedeljo, 3. marca. 22 | VESTNIK 2024 VESTNIK 2024 | 23 London - Kljub hladni in v Londonu, zasneženi nedelji, se nas je, 14. januarja ob treh popoldne, lepo število zbralo pri nedeljski maši - prvič v novem letu 2024. Naslednja sveta maša bo v nedeljo, 11. februarja, na praznik Lurške Matere Božje, ko je tudi svetovni dan bolnikov. MARRIAGE - POROKA V soboto, 20. januarja 2024, sta sklenila zakrament svetega zakona ženin: Anthony John HARI (oče: Andrei Alois Hari in mati Susan Mary roj. Bubaš) iz Burlingtona in nevesta: Jenna Kelli STEPHAN (oče je Gordan Georg Stephan in Marti Sandra Louise roj. Creighton) iz Caledonie. Čestitke in božji blagoslov naj ju spremlja na zakonski poti. 24 | VESTNIK 2024 Children’s Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great Slovenian Church Let’s celebrate our love and devotion to Jesus! “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” This week we will have fun as we discuss how Jesus calls us to be fishers of people! Where? St. Gregory’s the Great Slovenian Church When? 11:00 am (English mass) VESTNIK 2024 | 25 O BVESTILA - A NNOUNCEMENTS KOLEDAR DOGODKOV - Jan. 21st - Lipa Park - Koline Luncheon - Feb. 4th - Bled - Koline - Feb. 10th - St. Gregory - Pustovanje - Feb. 11th - London - Maša ob 3:00 p.m. - Feb 14th - St. Gregory - Ash Wednesday Pepelnica - Feb 19th - Slovenski Park - Family Day - March 3rd - Lipa Park - Spring General Meeting - Election of New Executive - March 3rd - CWL - KŽZ - Bazaar - Mass 10 a.m. CLEANING OF THE CHURCH - Jan. 27th - Lojzka Novak & team - Feb. 3rd - Lukežič & Volčanšek team - Feb. 10th - Gosgnach team BRALCI - READERS - JANUARY 21ST Slovenian - Olga Glavač English - Sidonia Poppa GIFT BEARERS AT MASSES - Jan 21st - Josie Hapke & Mary Holder - Jan 28th - Mary Miketič & Pamela Gosgnach DRUŠTVO SV. JOŽEFA Villa Slovenia - Tuesday’s night social gatherings restarted. Torkovi večeri so zopet v polnem teku. Vabljeni, da pridete skupaj in preživite nekaj uric v dobri družbi prijateljev. Na mizi v cerkveni veži so še kuverte za članarino. V kuverti je članska izkaznica za leto 2024. Dajte denar za članarino ($15) v kuverto in kuverto oddajte v nabiralnik za nedeljsko nabirko. 26 | VESTNIK 2024 Na račun »Eno Srce, Ena Duša« - »One Heart, One Soul« ste za našo slovensko župnijo sv. Gregorija Velikega do 31. decembra 2023 pripevali: $201,122.Hvala vsem, ki ste v teh letih prispevali, da smo dosegli naš cilj zbrati vsoto $200,000. - za Eno Srce Ena Duša (OHOS) nabiralno akcijo , ki jo je za župnije organizirala škofija Hamilton. Ker smo zbrali to vsoto - in spadamo med manjše župnije - imamo sedaj na razpolago $220,820.-, ki jih bomo lahko uporabili za naše projekte. POKOJNI / DECEASED 3. januarja 2024 je odšel k Bogu po večno plačilo Joseph Raščan, v svojem 87 letu starosti. Pokojni je bil doma iz Male Polane, 1957 je odšel v Kanado in se ustali v Calgary. Zelo je bil vključen v slovensko skupnost. Pogreb pokojnega je bil 12. januarja v Holy Trinity Church Calgary in pokopan na Mountain View Memorial Gardens. Pokojni Joe je sorodnik Cvetke Milosavljevič. - Sožalje sorodnikom, pokojnemu pa večni mir in pokoj v kanadski zemlji. V petek, 19. januarja 2024, je zaspala v Gospodu Lidia Scarcelli, stara 88 let. Od nje se boste lahko poslovili v sredo, 24. januarja v Smith's Funeral Home, 454 Highway #8 med 3. in 5. uro popoldne in 7. in 9. uro zvečer. Ob 4h popoldne bo molitev rožnega venca. Pogrebno sveto mašo bomo za pokoj njene duše darovali v naši cerkvi v četrtek, 25. januarja ob 11:00 a.m., nato pa jo položili k večnemu počitku na Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery. Iskreno sožalje možu Eduardu, hčerki Nancy (Leonard) Campbell in sinu Donatu (Frances Demšar) Scarcelli. Pokojni Lidiji pa večni mir in pokoj. DON BOSCO CWL members are asked to pay their membership dues if they have not already done so since a cheque needs to be sent to our national office by the end of January . - Thanks, Rosemary V tem tednu so naslednje obletnice smrti faranov, ki so zapisani v naših knjigah: Simončič Germ Malevich Cesar Sagadin Košir Krenos Evans Sagadin Hanc Jurman Ivan Louis Ani Maria Maximilijan Cenka John Erin Lee Julijana Joseph Josephine January 23, 2013 January 24, 1991 January 24, 1996 January 24, 2001 January 24, 2001 January 24, 2022 January 25, 2019 January 26, 2019 January 26, 2023 January 27, 2018 January 27, 2022 SV. MAŠE - MASSES: Mon. to Fri.: 7:00 P.M.; Saturday: 5:30 P.M. (Slo); Sunday: 9:30 A.M. (Slo); 11:00 A.M (Eng) - From July to Fall Banquet only 10:00 A.M. - KRSTI / BAPTISMS: For an appointment, call one month before. POROKE / MARRIAGE: By appointment, call one year before the wedding date. SPOVED / CONFESSIONS: First Friday of the month 6 to 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 or Cell: 905-520-2014 VESTNIK 2024 | 27 SVETE MAŠE - MASSES 3. NEDELJA MED LETOM 3 SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 21. JANUAR RD Nedelja Božje besede PONEDELJEK - MONDAY 22. JANUAR †† † † † † Jože Žapčič Za zdravje Vincencij, diakon-muč. TOREK - TUESDAY 23. JANUAR Za žive in rajne župljane Pokojni farani Tony Ferko Anton Vengar, obl. Tilka Vengar 9:30 A.M. - - - - - - Angela z družino Sestra Frida Koller Rose Marie & Tony Vengar z druž. Rose Marie & Tony Vengar z druž. 11:00 A.M. Družina Bojan Milosavljevič 7:30 P.M. Družina Milosavljevič † Toni Ferko 7:00 P.M. Toni in Marija Franc z družino SREDA - WEDNESDAY 24. JANUAR † Eileen MacKenzie †† Pok. duhovniki naše župnije 7:00 P.M. N. N. Slomškovo oltarno društvo ČETRTEK - THURSDAY 25. JANUAR † Lidia Scarcelli † Jože Gačnik 11:00 A.M. Pogrebna maša - Funeral Mass 7:00 P.M. Sin Roman in Marija z družino † Erin Evans, obl. † Julijana Sagadin, obl. † Maximilian Sagadin Jr., obl. 7:00 P.M. Jožica Vegelj z družino Peter in Josie Verhovšek z druž. Peter in Josie Verhovšek z druž. Severijan in Akvila, muč. Frančišek Saleški, šk-uč. Spreobrnitev ap. Pavla PETEK - FRIDAY 26. JANUAR Timotej in Tit, šk SOBOTA - SATURDAY 27. JANUAR Za verne duše v vicah † Joe Hanc, obl. Angela Merici, ust. Uršulink Za zdravje Henrik, duhovnik 4. NEDELJA MED LETOM 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME † † † † Za žive in rajne župljane Frank Saje, obl. Ann Božnar Tony Ferko Jože Zadravec 28. JANUAR Za zdravje Tomaž Akvinski, duhov- † Joe Lackovič nik in cerkveni učitelj † Marta Raščan 28 | VESTNIK 2024 5:30 P.M. Marija Košir Žena z družino N. N. 9:30 A.M. - - - - - - Žena z družino John Božnar z družino Sestra Frida Koler Toni in Marija Franc z družino 11:00 A.M. Daughter Žena Vera z družino Cvetka Milosavljevič