Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel ….8 October 2018 The feast of our Blessed Lady of Hungary
Mary at everyone of Her appearances asks us continuously , to pray to turn trustingly to Her Holy Son, and to do all that He asks from us ! Nowadays I often try and imagine in my mind’s eye, as upon Her Holy Son’s request Mary gathers the apostles in Jerusalem in the Upper Room , so that they pray in the quietness before Pentecost , ask with trust the life-giving emanation of the Holy Spirit ! I try to imagine the small details also, to contemplate the Virgin who gave birth to God !! Mary is praying before noon with the apostles , they sing beautiful psalms , then quietly She departs and prepares a nice lunch , lays the table, then calls Her precious Son’s friends : come and have such! Then after lunch Mary encourages the apostles with Jesus’ words to pray with endurance : “9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for[a] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”Luke 11, 9-13
Mary prays together with the apostles , the days go by, seemingly nothing happens , but the Blessed Virgin Mother does not give up , encourages , heartens ,reassures , just as in Her apparitions in many, many parts of the world ! On Pentecost Sunday the miracle happens , the third divine person, the Holy Spirit becomes incarnate in the apostles , then through their prayers emanates on all those who ask for the sacrament of baptism from Saint Peter and his companions !!
On the Feast of our Blessed Lady of Hungary I encourage you with love, listen to Mary with trust ,we should also in our own Upper Room , in the sanctuary of our heart start praying, lets put out two hands together and crouch at the feet of our Saviour ! In the life-giving community of the one God, in the Holy Trinity lets quieten down , lets choose the better part , lets get our hearts used to the magnificence , that infinite joyful peace in which the greater things are born! Let the God of love address , call us , who not only wants to become our companion in this earthly pilgrimage , but would like to transform us to His own image and likeness , making all of us more beautiful !
With love ,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
Luke 1, 26-28
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel….Friday 5 October 2018
I am reading the words of today’s gospel humbly on my knees ! I am afraid that even seeing all Your miracles of our world, people still do not look deep within themselves , they do not step bravely on the path of reconciliation, conversion !! All over the world insatiable greed, scathing envy , unstoppable discord, arguments are eating away everything, murderous wars are disfiguring Your beautiful creations , the faces of Your beloved children redeemed by Your precious blood !!
What can we do ?
We are insignificant, small , fallible, weak , we cannot perform great miracles , but see we decided by Your side , by life, in Your name we accept, take in the children in trouble ! Many of us from many places have gathered under the banner of Your great saint , Saint Francis our father and despite our weaknesses , with a trusting spirit in You , loving, supporting each other we take the children in ! This tiny spirit on the table is our profession of faith , our trust in You, the token of our love!! We dared to accept these tiny, fragile lives in Your name , with a trusting spirit in You, despite our insignificance placing them on our table !!
Help us my Lord to shout it into the world , that Your way is a feasible plan , beautiful, joyful , to keep Your commandments is delightful, because it is really good, to be good , it is good to do good , to walk on the way of merciful love !! Just as it is great after a tiring , dusty day to stretch out in a bathtub full of water , the same way it is good to leave behind the rancid casts off of selfishness , avarice and be cleansed in "bath” of reconciliation ! It is good to be reborn and decide by serving love , leaving behind our selfishness , paying attention to others , live for others , go on a pilgrimage with our brethren on the dusty roads of this world, to praise You with love !!
With love,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Jesus said to his disciples, "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. "Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
Luke 10:13-16
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel Sunday 30 September 2018 Sunday , Memorial of the Holy Scriptures.
"For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” Mark 9, 38
Looking at the pictures taken of the happy , smiling faces of our children from our different child protection homes in Transylvania and in the turmoil of the Arena , my heart is filled with gratitude towards those who bent down with love, goodness and welcomed these young people drifted away from their families, with this wonderful experience . Who could say how many glasses of water our children received between the 12-16 September in Budapest !?
It is good to be good ! ! Together to give thanks to our Creator , from whose kind-heartedness we received all that we have is joyful and good ! To teach our children to give thanks joyfully for all that we receive day after day is the most important task of every teacher ! This joyful gratitude that I feel , that fills me that makes our faces more beautiful , turns our glances towards each other , give meaning to our work and leaves a good taste in our mouths for life, to start again tomorrow , to move on !
Our gathering in the Aréna for me in putting it in the most appropriate word was a joyful praise of God , of our big family gathered from so many different places , a psalm of the XXI.century with its own colourful bustle !
May God grant us that such and similar events to this thanksgiving, may fill our schools, our villages, our churches !!
With love ,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
Father Csaba's reflection on the gospel Saturday 29 September 2018 Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
Anybody can ask the question : do angels exist ?!
I accept the teachings of Jesus Christ , I am a believer ! I believe that God us the Lord of space, time , the visible and invisible world ! I believe that my Creator sees all that has happened and all that has not happened yet , our deeds as well just as He did Nathanael under the fig tree. Lets trust in Jesus , our Redeemer does not want to present a false image to us when He talked about the angels of God ! For this reason today on the feast of Saint Michael , Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael archangels , I bow my head with great respect and I ask with living faith for the powerful help of God’s angels for our children , my people , our world !
With love,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
John 1:47-51
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel Thursday 27 September 2018.
Meeting with God is a grace, Herod would have had the opportunity to meet with Christ , to repent , to start a new life , even to become the great apostle of the Master! Let’s think about it , this man with his own power, strength , if he would have chosen to stand by our Redeemer how much good he could’ve accomplished ?! Herod did not go to Jesus , he chose the way of the dance of loose women , the nightly orgies, murder !
Jesus can bring out uneasiness not only in Herod but in all of us ! It would be good if we would also look for the opportunity to meet with Him ! God’s holy presence is like that of the blessed sunshine , He reveals to us our real lives, faces and all the “dirt” , blemishes present in ourselves , in our surrounding, the unfinished dreams , makes visible to us the ruins left behind !! It is certain that such a meeting is the hour of truth , because in the presence of God the veil will drop off, our true colours will show , the half-truths will also become evident, and in the light we will see everything much more clearly ! One does not have to get frightened , we are all pilgrims on a continuously developing, unfolding journey , perfection for us is an attainable , far away goal for us !! Sin hurts, conversion is joy, healing ! It is not from the light that our lives will be in ruins , sullied , but in the light simply everything will become visible that is not completed yet , all that defaces us !! In the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ we should not be disheartened , but we have to knuckle down that through repentance , good deeds we dress in the nice wedding garments , to become more beautiful, orderly for the meeting with God , the feast !! This is the eternal happiness , that we all long for deep within our heart !
With love,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Picture : Our children from Szentsimon in festive outfits.
Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, "John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And he tried to see him.
Luke 9:7-9
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel Wednesday 26 September 2018
Upon the call of Jesus you can step on the way of serving love, following the example of Mary , but you can also refuse this invitation, just like the rich young man!
Lets dare to say yes for love,goodness ,lets dare to set out towards each other , lets dare to take each others hand with trust ,have trust in each other , rejoice in the fact that we are brethren !!
I am not sure what it means to God if we love each other , but when I saw two of my dear colleagues , huddled up like this, looking happily the performance of our children , then my heart is filled with joy ! I am sure that the most beautiful gift for our Creator that we can give in this world , that is if we also set out on the way of love , joyfully, happily , we are kind-hearted towards each other !
With love,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Photo : My two dear colleagues Zsóka and Éva
Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, 'Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money - not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.' They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.
Luke 9:1-6
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel….. Tuesday 25th September 2018
"My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”Luke 8, 21
Do you want to get into deep, personal relationship with Jesus , like the one He had with His mother, relatives? If so then go , listen and put Jesus’ words into action in your life !
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Photo : One of our sons from Zsombolya dancing and a girl from Budapest admiring it...
Then Jesus' mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you." But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
Luke 8:19-21
Father Csaba reflection on the gospel 23 September 2018 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
The spirit of ambition, the evil tempter , well-well is even there among the apostles !! Jesus does not get angry , but does not move on passively either , but wisely, calmly puts His apostles in their place !! No problem if you want to be great , but the one who’ll be the greatest of you , is the who can be a servant to all !!
He puts things in their proper perspective , they shake the dust off their feet and life goes on !! How great it would be if we would learn from Jesus and if in one another , ourselves we discover the evil, the sin and we could so simply rethink everything and peacefully move on !!
With love,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Photo: The quietness of the church in Déva
They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
Mark 9:30-37
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel.. Friday 21 September 2018 The feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle .
Jesus addresses people, sees them beautiful , and those people in His creative glance are born again, become more beautiful , become saints ! First and foremost you have to see your companion, your children beautiful, and you’ll see that in your surrounding bright eyed people will live !! Do not be afraid of the new school year , just love !!!
"Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full--pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”Luke 6,38
If you love your work bravely, with endurance , your children , your colleagues , they will grow more beautiful ! The pure glance of your children will be a source, a well from which for us the water of life will gush forth ! It is good to work for them and because of them , quietly persevering in the good times day after day , if need be restarting a thousand times ! Your most important duty as a carer , to love the children , to trust in them , to believe that the road on which we set out will lead them and you as well to heaven !
Lets step with love on the way of Jesus Christ,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."
Matthew 9:9-13
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel Thursday 20 September 2018
Love is the only force giving birth and developing our world ! God was urged by love to share with us His children the joy of existence !! God is only lead by love in His kind-hearted creative work to bring into existence ,His children and in time to develop us in His creative work . On the eve of Christmas this infinite love became incarnate , came among us , became man so that He could play with us in the dusty streets of Nazareth, , to listen to us, to speak to us, to share His secrets with us , that God is a community of love , the living Holy Trinity ! Jesus invited all of us into this blazing community of love, to the heavenly feast where there is no first or last guest , where the Heavenly Father awaits all His children to come home ! This is such good news , that Jesus could not keep silent about , with which He sent His disciples all over the world, and sacrificed His life for on Good Friday ! Our existence is a journey from nothing towards the infinite ! In our mother’s womb two tiny cells met and from “nothing” a life burst ! We were borne , we started to walk , talk , and taking delight in more and more things , we are walking slowly , our goal is the Infinity ! To roam the Infinity , to discover , to understand God’s wonderful secrets , for this our earthly life is not enough , we need infinite time for this , but this is no problem as we are immortal ! Our aim is to grow up , so that sitting at the one table with our Creator , we can be part of the community of Saints , of the community of love of the one God in the Holy Trinity ! Our Creators first words are about this , His first commandment is very clear about this , our God is asking to love Him with a burning love : “Worship your Lord , God!”
On Good Friday it was not the nails that kept Christ on the cross , but His infinite love towards us , the faith that we are capable to grow up to ,this holy, living community of love ! Our Redeemer believes that we are capable getting rid of the selfish bounds, limits like the butterfly the chrysalis , fly towards heaven and unite with Him in love ! It is an unbelievable challenge , unbelievable vistas for all of us , to come to a sudden holt , giving up our soaring , every compromise, solitude is hell itself !
With love,
Father Csaba,
translated by dr k.e.
Picture: God bending down to His child Saint Anthony.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.' Jesus spoke up and said to him, 'Simon, I have something to say to you.' 'Teacher,' he replied, 'speak.' 'A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?' Simon answered, 'I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.' And Jesus said to him, 'You have judged rightly.' Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.' Then he said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' And he said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'
Luke 7:36-50
Father Csaba’s reflection on the gospel Wednesday 19 September 2018
My grandmother’s sponge cake was the best in the world . I remember the wood stove’s purring , and as a child listening to the crackling of the fire, we the grandchildren were waiting for the nice cake to be ready. Grandmother never complained about the stove , the flour, eggs or other ingredients necessary for the cake , carried on with her work the best she could!! During the communist dictatorship she used the simple ingredients available during those needy times, on the old stove for her grandchildren to prepare the world’s best cake , because she loved us very much .
Over the past years we had many such children who did not do well with one or another carer , but when a switched on carer appeared and it turned out how clever, bright , resourceful the child was !! The years passed and the mischief-maker child became the foundation’s pride and joy . Yes the person who wants to explain their own inadequacies , they always find a problem, worry in the work entrusted to them , in the colleagues, in the surrounding, in “others” except in themselves they cannot find the “solution”.
Jesus’ contemporaries did not want to convert , step on the way of love and for their decisions they made Saint John the Baptist , but even Jesus Christ responsible. May God grant us that we don’t always look for faults in others , but using the given situation, opportunities given to us by God lets love those with with whom we live, work together . Lets not love humanity en-gros , but as individuals and especially those whom God sent our way . Their faults, their shortcomings or even their sins do not give us the right to get off the way of love . Lets not be choosy in the people, circumstances , but lets love those who are where I am , whom God presented me with !
With love,
Father Csaba
translated by dr k.e.
Picture: Pál Éva carer , with the children in her care.
Jesus said, 'To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another,
"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep."
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, "He has a demon"; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!" Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.'
Luke 7:31-35
