This year, too, thousands of faithful celebrated the diocesan pilgrimage of the Diocese of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza together on 28/07 in Máriapócs. The principal celebrant and homilist of the solemn Holy Mass was Bishop Jenő Schönberger of Szatmár. Present at the Holy Mass were Bishop Ferenc Palánki of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, Bishop Emeritus Nándor Bosák of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza, the clergy of the diocese, its seminarians and faithful, including the participants of the diocesan youth camp.
Year after year, more and more parishes are represented by foot and bicycle pilgrims at the diocesan pilgrimage. From Kisvárda, Mátészalka, Nyírbátor, Mérk, Vállaj, Újfehértó, Nagykálló, Ófehértó, Debrecen, and Nyíregyháza, they undertook the arduous pilgrimage, including the community of the nearly 100-strong youth camp, who arrived at the shrine led by Bishop Ferenc Palánki. The report on this can be read HERE .
In addition to the community of young people, we also met many families with young children, who pass on the legacy of their faith on these occasions, as their children can meet the larger Church community at the diocesan pilgrimage. Every moment a child receives a model from us, our place in the world is also strengthened. We not only give, but we receive back many times over. The practice of every tradition, upholding the memory and presence of our ancestors, results in a 'seeing further'. The article on this, titled 'From My Father's Shoulders, I See Far', can be read HERE .
In his homily, Bishop Jenő Schönberger of Szatmár, after a historical introduction looking back at the beginning of the pilgrimage, reflected on three gifts of Jesus' love based on the Gospel passage (cf. John 6:1-15): the Gospel, that is, the Good News, the Blessed Sacrament, and Jesus' mother, Mary. We are publishing his homily in its entirety.
Your Excellencies, reverend bishops, brother priests, religious brothers and sisters, pilgrim people of God beloved in Christ!
I thank Bishop Ferenc for the invitation to your diocesan pilgrimage, which began 50 years ago at the initiative of the priests of what was then the Szatmár deanery. On this occasion, I am among you today as the Bishop of the Diocese of Szatmár. I came with joy to ask, as a pilgrim with you, for the protection of the Weeping Madonna of Pócs for you, for the bishops and priests of the diocese, and for all my fellow human beings living in its territory.
Thanks to the priests 50 years ago, who thought it was time to take the Gospel message seriously, to 'ask!', and because they might have felt too few to stand before God alone, they prayed to Mary, the Mother of God, with the words of the Fatima prayer: 'Holy Virgin, your hour has come, just speak a word to your Divine Son and the world will be saved.'
For the world was in great trouble then, in 1974. Humanity had survived the most intricate attempt at genocide in its known history, the two World Wars that claimed 50 million victims, and the greatest organised attempt at plunder of the past two millennia, communism, was raging in full swing.
György Konrád, Kossuth Prize-winning writer, described the year 1974 thus: 'Reason turned against itself, science became a weapon of accusation, every fact served our incrimination, every speech, every overheard word strengthened the communists.'
In that year, in Brussels, leaders of 26 Western European communist parties held a conference titled "The Current Crisis of Capitalism in Europe". And Brussels has not managed to get rid of them since.
In Moscow, in 1974, opposition writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested, and the next day he was expelled from the Soviet Union.
And in Romania, in the same year, Nicolae Ceaușescu, the party general secretary, was also elected president of the people's republic.
And also in this year, a decree having the force of law prohibited foreign nationals from staying with Romanian citizens.
But this year also prepared for the Holy Year of 1975, which Pope Saint Paul VI opened in December 1974, after the Christmas midnight Mass, by unblocking the Jubilee Door of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
What prompted the priests of the Szatmár regions, then attached to the Archdiocese of Eger, 50 years ago to make a pilgrimage to Máriapócs and ask for heavenly assistance? Was it the floods or communism? I don't know, everyone must decide for themselves, but that it was not in vain is proven by today's pilgrimage. For they believed in miracles, and the miracle happened. Although God's mills grind slowly, they grind surely.
We just need to be persistent in prayer. As persistent as the people in today's Gospel who listened to Jesus and witnessed God's miracle.
What a mighty pilgrimage today's Gospel recounted. Here it only speaks of a crowd, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come to form believers in Christ into a community, into a Church. Yet they cannot even be called believers in Christ; only Jesus' miraculous person and teaching captivated them and drew them forward. They wanted to listen to Jesus. To drink in His words – as the saying goes. Encountering Him and His teaching was their main nourishment. He so captivated them that they even forgot to eat. Jesus' behaviour is interesting: His heart was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He began to teach them many things.
Dear Brothers and Sisters! In today's reflection, I would like to speak briefly about three things, all of which stem from Jesus' love for us.
From Jesus' love springs the Gospel, the Good News, for as He says, He came to proclaim the Gospel and to lead us to salvation. Therefore, He first teaches the crowd, spiritually nourishes them, and only then does the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves follow.
Today, not a 'large crowd' but the faithful people of a diocese made pilgrimage to Máriapócs.
All of us who are here thank Jesus for the Gospel, the Good News, which we have received with faith, primarily through the mediation of our grandparents and parents.
Thanks to our Holy Father Pope Francis, we celebrate the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, and so, among many other things, we thank them for this. For preserving and passing on to us the gift of Christian faith. May God bless them here in earthly life, and in eternal life, may He reward them with eternal blessings!
Jesus' second gift also emerges in today's Gospel. The situation seems hopeless! A huge crowd, a starving crowd, and empty satchels. Only one boy has five small loaves and two fish. Andrew the Apostle poses a problem: "What is this for so many?" For Jesus, none of this was a problem. His divine power and love overcame every difficulty. He was ready for anything for His own. And this was only a foreshadowing of what He intended as a gift to remain with us until the end of the world in an even more hopeless situation: the Blessed Sacrament, which He distributes daily through His priests in Holy Communion to those who desire to be in the closest relationship with Him.
During the multiplication of the loaves, food still comes from outside; in the miracle of the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus Himself becomes food.
On the first Maundy Thursday, Jesus' love goes to the extreme, when He no longer gives something, but gives Himself.
When the waves of our lives crash over our heads, it is good to know that Jesus is with us. We thank Him for this at every Holy Mass, in every adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. No one else has such love, only He!
Dear Brothers and Sisters! Jesus' third great gift of love, which He gave us just before His death, was His Mother. "Woman, behold your son! Behold your mother." For He might have thought that if God's glory and power could even frighten those who believe in Him, we should have someone to whom we can turn with confidence, because she is like us, only human, but beneath whose heart the heart of God's Son also formed. She who is closest to God, whose maternal heart understands everything and almost breaks for everyone. She, the Holy Mother of Jesus Christ, but by God's will also our mother. O Mary, your hour has come, yes, there beneath the cross, and that hour has lasted ever since, to intercede for us, to shed tears, even bloody ones, to warn us and seek a way out for us, because our paths have become entangled due to our sins. How many Marian apparitions prove that our Heavenly Mother is not indifferent to how her children live, nor to how many are lost forever.
Our Lady, just speak a word and the world will be saved. Do not look upon our earthly troubles with indifference. Again and again, inspire us to do whatever My Son tells you.
He also promised that whoever seeks the Kingdom of God will be provided with everything they truly need. But He also expects His Church to be a true community of love, in which brothers and sisters pay attention to both the spiritual and physical well-being of one another.
Saint John the Apostle writes in his first letter: "The love of God was made manifest in this, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:9-11). This is the honest answer to the threefold great gift that Jesus Christ gave us in His infinite love. Why then can we not love one another? Why is there so much hatred, war, and lack of love in the world? Is it not because they do not know Jesus, nor His gifts? … And indeed, we Christians may be among them.
Three men died at the same time and ascended to heaven. At the gate of heaven, someone stopped them.
— 'Who are you?' he asked the first man.
— 'I am a famous preacher. I wrote many books, I even had a television ministry, and through me, millions of people converted.'
— 'That is all well and good. But tell me, do you know Jesus?'
— 'Of course I know Him, for as I said, I am a famous preacher.'
— 'Well, and who are you?' he asked the second man.
— 'I am a famous pastor. I shepherded vast congregations on earth, and my church services were watched by millions of people on various television channels.'
— 'That is truly wonderful! But tell me, do you know Jesus?'
— 'Of course I know Him, for I am a famous pastor!'
— 'And who are you?' he asked the third man.
— 'As you yourself can see, I am a simple, old man. My life passed quickly, and during that time, I was unable to create anything lasting. I lived in a small house with my wife and children for many years. I prayed a lot, and I strived to remain faithful to my God.'
— 'Well, and do you know Jesus?'
— 'Yes, Lord, I know You.'
And what about us, my Brothers and Sisters, do we know Jesus? Do we wish to know Him better and better? Then we are in the right place, for the Blessed Mother can most authentically introduce Him to us. Therefore, let our salutation and plea finally ascend to her with the words of the Church's ancient hymn:
Hail, Our Lady, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, star of hope, we bless you.
Now the exiled people of Eve implore you.
To you we sigh, weeping and wailing
in the depths of our valley of tears.
Hear us then, our heavenly advocate!
Gracious Mother, turn your eyes of mercy upon us at last!
And show us Jesus, the sacred fruit of your womb,
that we may see Him after this exile!
O blessed, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen.
At the diocesan pilgrimage, Bishop Ferenc Palánki bestowed the PRO COMMUNITATE CHRISTIANA award upon distinguished individuals who enrich the faithful community of the diocese with their particularly noteworthy and exemplary church-building activities or life's work. The 2024 recipients are Sister Katalin Teréz Torma (School Sister of Our Lady) and Györgyi Hegedűs, retired catechists. The commendation of the award recipients can be read HERE.
"Blessed are the people who know how to celebrate" (Psalm 89:16). After presenting the awards, the Chief Shepherd thanked Almighty God for the diocesan pilgrimage and Bishop Jenő Schönberger for his teaching. "This teaching means a lot to us, because it helps us to know Jesus Christ, so that when we pass through the gate, we may greet Him as an acquaintance. We can recognise Jesus Christ in the community, in the Church, in our prayers, especially in the sacraments, and in a special way, we can also love Him in one another.
The Bishop thanked the organisers of the pilgrimage, Father Péter Mosolygó, Director of the National Shrine, for the loving reception, his brother priests for their availability and for hearing confessions, the organisers of the diocesan youth camp for their work, the young people and the faithful of the diocese for their presence, and he especially thanked the foot and bicycle pilgrims for their offering for our diocese, our families, our loved ones, our sick, and those in need.
Given that it was the World Day for the Elderly and Grandparents (28/07 this year), the Chief Shepherd also specifically thanked and prayed for grandparents and the elderly, for fulfilling their vocation and passing on their faith. On this World Day and at the diocesan pilgrimage, a plenary indulgence could be gained under the prescribed conditions, and so, led by the Bishop, turning to Almighty God and invoking the intercession of the Blessed Mother, they jointly recited the prayers necessary for this.
Finally, they also prayed before the Blessed Sacrament for our diocese, for our communities, for peace, and the attendees also articulated their personal requests during the silent moments.
At the pilgrimage, before the start of Holy Mass, there was also an opportunity for silent adoration in the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Máriapócs. The pilgrimage concluded in the afternoon with the recitation of the Litany of Loreto.
Ágnes Kovács/Öröm-hír Press Office/Diocese of Debrecen-Nyíregyháza