We're Off!

 Well tomorrow I take a big step forward and all I can say it is about time. Hopefully this day becomes the door for me to open for greater spirituality and understanding of our faith and where I am in it.

 Through the Hungarian Church in Toronto there is pilgrimage to the Martyr's Shrine in Midland Ontario. There is a Hungarian memorial area there where we will have mass and we will also pray the Rosary and also pray the Stations of The Cross,

 Father S from the Toronto Parish has indicated that there will be prayers and other spiritual development on the 2 hour bus journey from Toronto and back. It will be a long but extremely rewarding day and I am like a little kid waiting for Christmas!

 The trip will also let me finally decide if we will leave our parish in Hamilton and join the Toronto parish permanently. A little more travel but more parish life and Father S from what I have seen has done a lot for spiritual strengthening and renewal and teaching. Something we have not had nor will have in Hamilton. Mind you when we get back Saturday night I will have to prepare the mass power point presentation for the Feast of  St. Istvan (Stephen) of Hungary and then Sunday we will have the big feast celebrations after the mass. 

 So as you can see I do have not only a lot to learn but also decisions ahead of me for my spiritual future. I am so lacking in this and it is starting to really get me down as I want to grow in my faith and that is the other reason I am drawn to the Toronto parish. Back to the original reason here the picture at the top of the page is of the church at the Martyr's Shrine and here is the link also

 The Martyr's Shrine.

 Please visit the site and when you travel in or to Ontario try to incorporate this into your travels. Finally yes I will provide an update and fill everyone in as to how the trip turned out. As always take care and God Bless!

Today's Importance for Hungarians

 As we all know today is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven. It is also a very significant day in Hungarian history. Today is the day the King Saint Stephen on his death bed with no heirs to leave the kingdom of Hungary prayed for the Virgin Mary to accept Hungary and become the Queen of Hungary so now you can see why it is so important of a day. I guess a two fold day of significance.

 In fact at St. Matthias Church in Budapest at the altar there is the Holy Mother with the Hungarian crown on her. (sorry couldn't find a better picture). Here are some details from the church's site about the altar,

 In the middle of the main chancel, which is a tetradecagon with seven closed sides, Frigyes Schulek created an altar with early Gothic features. Above the tabernaculum there is a cross also created by Schulek, two scenes from the life of Mary on the sides: her introduction at the church of Jerusalem and the visit of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The higher section of the altar is dominated by Our Lady with the crown, floating in a wreath of light: on 15th August 2000 the Lady of Hungarians was crowned with a duplicate of the sacred crown, with the Pope's approval and blessing, brought on foot from Rome by members of the church community. Through the wreath of light around Our Lady a vague image of the Saviour on the Christ window, illustrating the ancient rule of religion: "per Mariam ad Iesum" - through Mary to Jesus.

 Take a tour of this beautiful church ( I have been there and it is spectacular!). Here is the link

Mathias Church

  This holy week is special for Hungarians as we will also be celebrating the feast  day of St. Stephen. So I will try to do my best and provide a little more history next week. Until then as always, take care and God Bless!

The Sunday Reading

First Reading
Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed One.”


Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16

R. (10bc) The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear,
forget your people and your father’s house.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
So shall the king desire your beauty;
for he is your lord.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.
They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.
R. The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold.


Second Reading
1 Corinthians 15:20-27

Brothers and sisters: Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through man, the resurrection of the dead came also through man. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; then comes the end, when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for “he subjected everything under his feet.”


Holy Gospel
Luke 1:39-56

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

And Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.”

Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Foundation of Faith

 Todays second reading is really about the foundation of faith. Again this is something we should look to in these  days as the moral fiber of society is slowly ripped apart. Due to lack of faith and our young being taught that wealth of material belongings is all that count. The one with the most at the end wins. We have eroded our faith and we need to change. Here is the reading so read it over and take it to heart!

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19

Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age —and Sarah herself was sterile— for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.

The Sunday Reading

First Reading
Wisdom 18:6-9

The night of the passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage. Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned. For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution.


Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
R. (12b) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.


Second Reading
Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19

Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance;
he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate,
even though he was past the normal age —and Sarah herself was sterile— for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead,
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol.


Holy Gospel
Luke 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Father Solanus Casey

 Yesterday it started to rain outside so I retreated downstairs to the basement to finish the Power Point Mass I do for our parish. I dig up the hymns put up the response in the responsorial psalm, the weekly bulletin and any other notes for the parish. After getting my daughter set up on her laptop that we had to get her for university I commenced my task. Now TV when I am on the computer usually just runs in the background and I ignore it. For some reason though yesterday I turned it on to EWTN and was unable to work as I guess I got the last 20 minutes on the show about Father Solanus Casey. Truly an amazing story about an amazing man and the lives he touched.

 Here is a link to the  Father Solanus Guild and the cause for his beautification. There is even a chance to have a prayer intention said at his tomb. Take care and enjoy.

Thoughts for Today

 While reading through the liturgy for today the second reading really captured me, here it is again,

Second Reading
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

Brothers and sisters: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.

 I really liked this passage and reread it many times. Simple yet powerful, think of heaven and what can be ours and not the possessions we have on here on earth. Reflecting on a lost life I remember how many times I would work late thinking I was doing good for my family and getting ahead. Certainly it is always the opposite the time you lose with your loved ones are irreplaceable and then there is all the time not going to church to the House of our Lord! This is definitely irreplaceable and it really bothers me to know how much I did miss out in my life and the real wealth I missed by not going to mass or taking my faith seriously.

 Did I get further ahead? No in fact I fell behind and it is hard to catch up! (but I am working on it!) Take care and God Bless!

The Sunday Readings

First Reading
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!

Here is one who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, and yet to another who has not labored over it, he must leave property. This also is vanity and a great misfortune. For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he has labored under the sun? All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest. This also is vanity.


Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

R. (1) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night.
R. (1) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades.
R. (1) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. (1) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. (1) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.


Second Reading
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11

Brothers and sisters: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry. Stop lying to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all.


Holy Gospel
Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”