Solemnity of St. Nicholas Tavelich 2017

November 17, 2017

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1978

…Whoever is rich in good deeds and if his soul is filled with the grace of God then there is no need to fear…

On Sunday November 12th, 2017 the faithful parishioners of St. Nicholas Tavelich Parish gathered together to celebrate the feast of their Patron Saint. The Holy Mass was led by Reverend Tomislav Kasić, pastor of Croatian Martyrs Parish in Mississauga, along with Monsignor Stanislaus Jaworski.

Fr. Tomislav mentioned in his homily that holiness is like being distinguished, being distinguished for good and glorious things, like Jesus, who in his distinction was sinless and held a firm will to serve God the Father. Reverend Tomislav pointed out that to be distinguished is like being special, different, but not like actors, sports stars or intellectuals that people fan over, but instead by being moral, perfect and holy. Adding to that he stated that we are all called to be holy, like Jesus, like Nicholas Tavelich whom today we celebrate. That holiness can be shown through concrete things such as a smile on your face, cheerfulness, generosity, being loving and through sacrifice. Father Kasić ended his homily by reflecting on the martyred death of St. Nicholas Tavelich, and by posing a question, what would we do if we had only 24 hours left to live, would we fear death, how would we live out those last 24 hours, would we have any regrets? Whoever is rich in good deeds and if his soul is filled with the grace of God then there is no need to fear.

At the end of Mass, Fr. Marko Štefanec thanked his friend and brother in Christ Tomislav for presiding over the solemn Mass, as well as Msgr. Jaworski. Our Pastor mentioned that with every Eucharist and with every celebration we want to be closer to God, so that He is magnified in our lives. He also mentioned that on August 30th of this year we entered into our 50th Jubilee year of existence as a parish congregation. In the year 1968 the Croatian congregation of Winnipeg was established, and our first pastor Julije Balog arrived. Therefore in 2018, in the month of November, we will be having a big celebration, our 50th Jubilee of our parish congregation.

The Mass was enriched by the parish choir led by Fr. Marko and by the tamburaši led by David Knezić.

Following Mass parishioners gathered in the parish hall for our luncheon. Together we ate a delicious meal prepared by our lovely parish ladies, enjoyed live music from our tamburaši and watched our folklore group Hrvatska Zora perform a few of our cultural dances.

Marica

Foto: Marko Štefanec