Slovenčina
Bishop Jozef Halko's homily on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in present-day Slovakia
Dear pastor, dear fellow priests, reverend deacon, distinguished guests who have already been named, brothers and sisters.
When we read the Gospel, we often have the tendency to think of it as a record of something that happened a long time ago. In fact, we can directly say it was two thousand years ago. And, to an extent, this is true, because what we have just read was written two thousand years ago and told two thousand years ago, some several thousands of kilometres away from here.
But, after Jesus’ resurrection, his words break away from the confinement of a concrete time and a concrete place and instead become a universal model situation that should and does call to us, that should and wants to touch the depths of our hearts. The situation we find ourselves in today is proof that this word has power; we have come as a baptized people desiring to hear the Word of God with inner spiritual awe, to receive the Eucharist, to create a community.
Two thousand years ago, many thousands of kilometres away, Jesus said to his disciples, “Go into all the world, to all nations, teach them and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” And we, people of the 21st century, are baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are like those who are learned, who understand the content of the Gospel.
Brothers and sisters, that you have come here today, that we are gathered here to bow down to the Lord, is living, undeniable proof of the strength of God’s Word, the power of Jesus’ message.
It is important to realize how someone might perceive this using purely human criteria. Somewhere, in some far-flung corner of the 50- to 80-million inhabited Roman Empire, one man tells another twelve, “Go, teach all nations, baptize them.” Speaking in strictly human terms, one would probably say, “This is pure megalomania, how can it succeed?”
But these words were spoken by the Son of God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, spoke these words, this calling, this mission. And he didn’t just say them two thousand years ago; but throughout these two thousand years, through the living Word, through the living Gospel, he spoke, he proclaimed this invitation, this mission, this calling, to all people of all times so that the spiritual torch of faith, a living faith, a faith to live by, could be passed on from generation to generation.Sometimes it is said that the faith of the Slovaks is just a traditional one. But, wait a minute! If something can become a living tradition, if that faith is passed from generation to generation, then it isn’t JUST a tradition, but rather arises FROM tradition, because there is a clear, spiritual lineage where every generation passes on the faith in such a way that the following generation incorporates it into their lives, their thinking, their feelings, their opinions, and their relationships. This is not just traditional belief, but a faith that, through tradition, always needs to be accepted at a certain moment in order to be effectively disseminated.
In this context, we are, of course, very grateful to all those people in our spiritual ancestry who, in some special way, contributed to the fact that the spiritual impulse for the deepening of the faith was effective and reached many hearts.
You all know that I am aiming this in the context of our celebration today of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, our missionaries. I am, in fact, saying these words with a bit of trepidation because we have here on the altar two relics of St. Cyril in a highly symbolic constellation. You may be surprised to see two reliquaries. Both contain fragments of bones from the body of St. Constantine-Cyril. One of these is at home here, was here, and will remain here. The other, in the glass reliquary, has been touring for almost three weeks by airplane, vehicle, and by foot to visit various Slovak communities in Canada and the United States until September 11th.
Brothers and sisters, it is symbolic because Cyril, through this constellation, St. Cyril teaches us that he wants to be among us here at home and, at the same time, to be pilgrims like he is. Because he wants to be home among you, to give to you through your language, what is so close to your hearts, your thoughts, your feelings, your perceptions, he wants you to know, through these words, that you too are pilgrims as he is to the kingdom of heaven.
The question arises, of course, it may be asked, from what part of the body of St. Constantine-Cyril do these fragments, these blessed fragments of relics come from? Is it a piece of his leg? Maybe his arm, or perhaps a fragment from St. Cyril’s skull?
Well, if it is a fragment from the holy missionary’s feet, then they are the feet that, despite fatigue, pain, and illness, walked in Central Europe. They sacrificed themselves to walking, wandering, carrying the Word.
In the painting on this side, the apostle St. Cyril holds in his hand, or St. Methodius, it is true for both, they have in their hands the papers on which is written the Word of God. Those feet that walked, walked to carry something important.
St. Cyril asks us, “Where do your footsteps take you? Are they the feet of a pilgrim, one who knows that in every moment of their life, they must consider where they are heading, where their everyday steps are leading them? Are your feet leading you to do good? Are your feet taking you where it is necessary to bring the Word? The Word that builds, that deepens, the word that sanctifies, that is not negative but positive, that does not destroy, or slander etc. Or is the Word that builds …”Perhaps it is a fragment, a piece from St. Cyril’s hands, the hands, or by whose hands, were written the first sacred characters of the Glagolitic alphabet, based on three well-known symbols; the circle, the triangle, and the cross. In fact, the first letter is the cross, as if it was to say, “Woe to me if, with these letters and these words, I proclaimed anything but Jesus Christ and him crucified,” as St. Paul wrote.
Our words, our expressions, what emanates from us when we speak, contain the message of the cross, the circle, and the triangle. The cross is a symbol of sacrificial love, forgiving love. Is the atmosphere of the cross encoded in the meaning of our words? And is the meaning of the triangle encrypted in the atmosphere of our words? Is it not the Holy Trinity? The Holy Trinity, which is the foundation of everything and a community of love? A challenge to build a community of love in every one of our communities?
At least two letters of the Glagolitic alphabet are a combination of such a triangle embedded in a circle. The area inside the circle symbolizes the present, this time. The circle itself, which is never-ending, is a symbol of eternity. It is Jesus Christ, who became man, who is the connecting point, the person through whom we received baptism. The triangle, representative of the community of the Trinity, is encoded in the alphabet, and we all have been baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God entered into history, into space and time, so that he could lead us; that is why there is also that circle. And that is why all the letters are combinations of these three symbols. St. Cyril tells us,
“I have created this alphabet by my own hand, and using my spiritual and intellectual creativity, so that it is not just composed of mere characters, but that it symbolizes something beyond you, and because it is beyond you, it penetrates the depths of your heart. It does not simply reach you, but it strikes you. It reaches, strikes, and transcends you.”And perhaps it is a fragment from St. Cyril’s head. The head from which was born the idea to create a new alphabet, a brilliant expression of not just linguistic, but cultural and social empathy. He first listened to how they spoke, how they expressed themselves, what consonants and vowels the people pronounced, and then he crafted a custom-made alphabet which made it possible to write in their own language, and then to offer the Word using their native tongue. The Word with a capital “W”; the Word of God, the Gospel.
St. Cyril, here represented by this bone fragment, is asking us, “Are you able to enter with love-filled empathy into the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of other people? Can you understand the language by which they speak? Not in linguistic terms, but spiritual, psychological terms, because it is only when we empathize with each other, when we try to empathize as we speak, in good faith, that everyone wants to say the truth, everyone wants to say what is good, only then can we build bridges connecting our hearts.
This is what St. Cyril teaches us; he did not speak in a language other than what the people spoke, but he desired to communicate in the comprehensible language of love, appealing not only at an intellectual level, but at a cultural, and a communal, social level.
And all this because Jesus Christ said, “Go into all the world, teach all the nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” The triangle, so they would accept, live, and realize the cross of Christ in order to fill the present space and time with love and be directed in the way of the circle to eternity.
But do you know what the most amazing news is today? The same living and present Christ that the two brothers, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, accepted is here among us.How beautiful will it be when, in the presence of the relics of St. Cyril, we concelebrants will proclaim with reverence the words of the Eucharistic consecration. “This is my body, this is my blood.” This is the moment when the triangle enters the circle, when, through the will of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Son becomes present, so that when he is raised before your eyes, you say those four fateful letters; AMEN. We will thus give our patron saints great joy since we will open ourselves to Jesus Christ.
Today we are not only experiencing what was when we give thanks for the great figures in our nation’s family tree, and not only look with hope at what will be, that our living tradition will always be alive, never lost, never-ending, never dull. But what is fascinating, and makes one tremble, is that right here, this Sunday, in this moment, at 11:10 a.m., the living Christ, not a faded demo of Jesus Christ, but a real, present, living, resurrected, victorious Christ will touch our hearts. He who said, “Without me you can do nothing, but with me can achieve much, with me you can maintain and pass on this living tradition, with me you can build spiritual bridges that cross everything if you invite me to be the builder. I built the bridge, opened through the cross and the empty tomb as the resurrected one, a bridge between heaven and earth.”
Let us try to experience all that will take place in the following moments as those who believe with a living faith in the presence of the King of Kings, through whom everything was made and everything can be made, renewed, to put it in modern terms, restarted so that we, people of the present time, can venture forth with great inner readiness and a constructive approach towards the future.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
