Grant that I may see You in every person, grant that I may love everyone for Your sake.
I know that if I do not love, I do nothing; I know that if I lack love, I lack everything.
Miroslav Bulešić
Resolution from the Spiritual Diary of Miroslav Bulešić: "to enter whole, to remain alone, to come out different".
A leader is not born, a leader is made. Throughout his whole spiritual preparation for the priesthood, Miroslav Bulešić examined himself, his fitness, his mission, his goal, his virtues, and even his loftiest longings, with a scrupulousness that might seem almost excessive by today's standards. He was ready to call all of this into question, and it was reason enough for him if something was not in keeping with God's will: "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3, 7-8, cf. 1 Cor 13,3-13).
Bonaventura Duda liked to call himself a man of longing. He was a man of longing throughout his whole life, and — as his days went on — increasingly so. And in all this he laboured tirelessly to go out and meet that longing, striving for its fulfilment.
But he was equally a man of delight. Whenever some longing of his was fulfilled, whenever he was assured of a beauty, goodness or truth ripened in someone's life, he would rejoice greatly. His joy was truly infectious. Together with him, it carried along many of those around him.
Stjepan Lice, from the book I Lived in the Time of Fra Bonaventura Duda
Bonaventura Duda in fact lived his whole life without a father or mother. That is why he loved the feast of Christmas so much, experiencing the Holy Family as his own: “Do you want to celebrate Christmas well? Find a way to be someone’s companion and fellow-sufferer, and, if possible, someone who brings them joy. Perhaps that will be through nothing more than a helpless silence. But if you can, find a way to make it — without troubling anyone — a deed.”
I did not want to devote myself entirely to basketball and be nothing but a basketball player. It was clear to me that life has far wider, deeper and higher dimensions than the game, and that the charm of the game lies in genuine, not purchased, competition. So I decided early on that money, fame and vanity must mean nothing to me. I play, I live, and in that I shall succeed.
If you set off from the main entrance of Mirogoj along the first path by the northern arcades, at their far end – by the small entrance to the cemetery – you will find a small open chapel. Go in! There before you first stands the grave of Ivo Tijardović, and behind it the grave of Ante Mimara. In the corner you will at once notice Krešo’s fine bust on a small pedestal, where it is carved in gold letters: "To a wonderful man – a believer – a famous sportsman of the world – a Croatian patriot – a faithful husband – a tender father". And the signature: His wife Ljerka and children – Ana, Iva, Krešimir Petar.
God placed on the path of my life many wonderful people, for whom I lived, prayed, and strove to reveal the face of God, His boundless mercy. In that mercy alone I too place my trust. God gave me a wonderful family. I have not failed. My life has had a deep meaning.
Mons. Ivan Mustać
The family is the most fundamental, most burning and most challenging question facing the Croatian people and the Church. It is the first and most important path of the human journey, for man comes from the family and owes it the very fact of his existence. If a man lacks a family, a worrying and painful deficiency arises within him that will weigh upon his whole life.
Mons. Ivan Prenđa
From Don Ivan I received a treasury of great riches. He watched over us, led us everywhere, rejoiced sincerely in the beautiful moments and wept with pain in the difficult and sorrowful moments of our lives. We felt that he watched us closely and worried over us. He always said that at night he could not sleep peacefully while young people were wasting their lives on the waterfront. What moved him most of all was the birth of a new child. To this day I have never met anyone who rejoiced so much over every new life!
Ines Jednaković
In 2001, Mons. Ivan Mustać was appointed Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Zadar by Archbishop Ivan Prenđa. Their relationship reminds us of the relationship of the Apostle John, the beloved disciple, to Jesus. From the day he came to know the Archbishop, he never left his side. And just as Jesus entrusted John with the care of his Mother, so the Archbishop entrusted Don Ivan with the most important tasks for the Archdiocese of Zadar.
On 20 October we celebrate two anniversaries of the Jesuit Father Ante Gabrić - his departure for his second homeland, India, in 1938, and his departure for the house of the heavenly Father exactly 33 years ago.
The Servant of God Father Ante Gabrić was a guardian and teacher of many young and old Indians. I still have very vivid memories of the time when, as a child, I listened to his talks in the church of St Elijah. He described his experiences and reflections so vividly and convincingly that all of us children answered, back then, that we wanted to go with him to India, that land of longing. As a teacher, this life role of his prompts me to wonder whether he could still be an educator today. Are his educational methods and attitudes still acceptable today, more than 30 years after he left us? I believe they are, and if you doubt it, I will try to convince you of it too.
Who was Father Ante Gabrić?
Father Ante Gabrić was a Jesuit and missionary, a great and holy man. He was born in Metković on 28 February 1915. His parents, Petar Gabrić and Katarina (née Antićević), raised their Ante, his four brothers and his four sisters in faith and love.
Don Bosco: "... you will be saved from this scourge" - 1854, when people were dying of cholera in Turin
During the nineteenth century, Turin was ravaged by cholera on several occasions, which raged especially in the poorest city districts, which were in turn overcrowded and lacked adequate healthcare.
As early as May, Don Bosco told the young people clearly that cholera would come to Turin and leave devastation in its wake, adding: "Be assured: if you do what I tell you, you will be saved from this scourge."
First Mass motto: "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act" (Ps 37:5)
Don Ivan was a person who showed me fatherly care – on the one hand sometimes strict in his guidance, and on the other full of a love through which I could see the God who loves me. My image of the Church was Don Ivan, through whom God showed himself to me as a good Father, and Jesus Christ as the good shepherd.
Šime Ćurko
Ines Grbić summed up the person of Mons Ivan Mustać: "Mons Ivan Mustać, or simply Don Ivica, was a charismatic person who, wherever he was, left his mark and gave himself without reserve. He had grown so close to people that we regarded him as one of us; to many he was like a member of the family. His humanity was original, genuine, wholesome. Liberating and enriching, so that life, by passing through him, became deeper, nobler, more beautiful. Easy-going, natural, unaffected. A person you could confide in, who could understand you. His priesthood was without complexes, given in service, in reaching the soul entrusted to him or the one standing before him as a priest. He was a union of an idea and its realisation. A visionary and a realist. He left nothing to chance or circumstance – a practical man, one who got things done; and that is how he was in the priesthood too. He combined in himself the human dimension, open to God and sanctifying, with the divine. Through the river of his dynamic life flowed the proclamation of the Gospel (kerygma), service to God and to people (diakonia), and communion (koinonia)."
