By our own strength, we cannot defeat the coronavirus epidemic, nor the wars, enmity, and hatred raging around us, but we can boldly cry out to the Heavenly Father to send us the Holy Spirit. With him, we can solve our problems, fix our troubles - Franciscan monk Csaba Böjte vasarnap.hu According to the head of the Saint Francis Foundation in Déva, our task is to seek communion with the Holy Trinity in the light of revealed truths.
– What is the message of Pentecost for us after such a difficult year, burdened with a world epidemic, financial difficulties and hopelessness?
- Hope is very much needed now, and Pentecost is the festival of hope. Just think about the spiritual state of the apostles after Maundy Thursday and Good Friday! Much like the man of today. They were uncertain, afraid, anxious. They didn't know what tomorrow would bring. Fear is always hidden in man. But Jesus Christ said, do not worry, because I am sending a Comforter, the comforting Holy Spirit, who teaches everything, explains everything, and will be with you. The apostles trusted the word of Jesus Christ and stayed together with prayerful love.
We must believe that the human world is not a closed system, not an uninhabited island, but open to the supernatural, the Holy Trinity.
The sky meets the earth - this is what the feast of Pentecost means to me. The apostles experienced God's help, comfort, and guidance. He gave them strength and showed them tomorrow. By our own strength, we cannot defeat the coronavirus epidemic, nor the wars, enmity, and hatred raging around us, but we can boldly cry out to the Heavenly Father to send us the Holy Spirit. With it, we can solve and fix our problems and problems.
It is important that we still dare to call and ask the Lord God the Holy Spirit to pour out in this world closed by the coronavirus!
Tear apart our borders, tear down our walls, so that we can sit at the same table again as good brothers and sisters and build God's kingdom together.
- Of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the most elusive. Christ walked among us, became a real man, God is the Creator Father, and we know that the three are one, but perhaps we address the Holy Spirit in our prayers the least often. How can we feel him in our lives, how can he send us a message?
– I just told the children the other day that we don't understand exactly how the telephone works, but we still use it. It is difficult to imagine how the human word becomes an electronic signal that goes up to a satellite and immediately reaches another person, whether in Australia or anywhere in the world. So we don't understand, but we still use the possibilities offered by the phone every day. We, who are only made of a handful of dust, cannot fully comprehend God's infinity. But all this is not so important, because if I have a living faith, I can communicate with God, be together, and talk. Even the simple, uneducated peoples were with the living God with deep love. We have several senses. We are used to trying to grasp everything with our hands, eyes, tongue, and ears.
Our faith is a sense organ with which we can embrace the infinite, with which we can enter the presence of God.
We don't have to try to translate God, for example, into the language of mathematics, because He is much more than that. Our task is to seek communion with the Holy Trinity in the light of revealed truths. He who seeks God will find him. In the Holy Scriptures we read: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me." May the revealed truth give us strength to open our hearts to the Lord God the Holy Spirit!
- The feast of Pentecost is also the church's birthday. Why is it absolutely important to be a part of the Mother Church?
– We all feel that we are lonely, we need companions, friends with whom we can work and pray, with whom we can share our troubles. We want to be accepted, and we want to accept others. Pentecost is really the birthday of the church, that is, the birthday of communio, the community. The Holy Trinity is also a community of love.
God calls us to live in a community of love.
A child who grows up alone, who is neglected, who is not taken care of, will have a very hard time being viable. It is difficult for him to learn many basic things that he could have learned in seconds from his peers in the community. We are social creatures. We are consciously looking for the big family to which we belong.
– The emblematic event of Pentecost is the farewell in Csíksomlyó. What is the power of this pilgrimage that has become a tradition?
– The Székely military people. The Pentecost farewell is actually a vow pilgrimage. In 1567, Transylvanian prince János Zsigmond wanted to forcefully convert the Catholic population of Csík, Gyergyó and Kászon to the Unitarian faith, which denied the Holy Trinity. On Pentecost Saturday, he arrived in Csík with a huge army to carry out his will. While the Tolvajos-tető battle was taking place, the old men, women and children prayed to the Virgin Mary in the church in Csíksomlyo to help them. Finally, the prince's army was defeated. We hold the farewell in memory of this. The people of Székely then consciously defended their faith. Every community has smaller holidays, but there is also a need for big holidays like this, when the big community gathers with joy and love. We give each other strength when many of us gather in the name of Christ!
The full interview can be read HERE
Author: Bernadett Mizsei / vasarnap.hu
Cover photo: Csaba Böjte. Photo: velvidek.ma
