70th
year of priesthood dr. Fra Častimir Majić
Fr. Častimir Timothy Majić, a member of the Croatian Franciscan Custody of the Holy Family
for
USA
and
Canada
, celebrated his seventieth anniversary of priesthood. The
Eucharistic celebration on July 26 in the Croatian parish of
St. Jerome
in
Chicago
was
led by the Custos, Fr. Marko Puljić. Concelebrating with the
honored celebrant, Fr. Častimir, were the pastor Fr. Jozo Grbeš;
the guardian of St. Anthony monastery in Chicago, Fr. Joseph Nenad
Galić; the
monastery vicar, Fr. Ljubo Krasić and Fr. Philip Pavich, a
member of the Custody.
In the sermon Fr. Marko spoke about God
feeding his people with "outstretched hand" and calling
them to interpersonal sharing and giving. Man is ready to share and
give authentically only when he recognizes God's gift in all that he
has and in all that surrounds him. Giving always enriches twofold,
the one who gives and the one who receives, because as the great
Dostojevski says, only what we have given to others goes with us to
heaven. Reflecting this thought the preacher emphasized the
readiness of Fr. Častimir’s mother Iva, who after the death
of her husband Ante, did not stand in the way of her only son
becoming a Franciscan and a priest, but readily gifted him to God
and the Church. It is obvious that, when sharing with others is done
with love, the blessing is increased beyond measure just like the
lad’s bread and fish in Jesus’ hands. Through Fr. Častimir,
Franciscan and priest, many have felt the power and beauty of
God’s blessing in his seventy years of priesthood. Are we also
ready to give that way, asked Fr. Marko, especially when it comes to
inspiring young people in our families to decide for a priestly and
religious vocation.
The pastor, Fr. Jozo, collaborating
with the parishioners arranged a banquet in the parish hall in honor
of the celebrant. Mario Romanović provided musical
entertainment. During the banquet numerous congratulatory messages
arriving from all parts of the world were read with special
attention given to those sent from Mostar by Provincial Fr. Ivan
Sesar and the Minister General of the Franciscan Order, Fr. José
Rodriguez Carballo. Several speakers also recalled their memories of
the life and work of Fr. Častimir. It was especially touching
to listen to those that Fr. Častimir encouraged as children of
Croatian immigrants, and those he inspired to learn the Croatian
language, history and heritage. Fr. Častimir's involvement in
the organization, gathering and shipping of humanitarian aid to the
Old Homeland during the war there around the end of the twentieth
century was also highlighted. Representives of the Croatian parishes
in which Fr. Častimir once served also came.
At the end of the banquet the celebrant
of honor thanked God that he lived to see this day. He thanked those
present who came to the Eucharistic celebration and the communal
banquet. He remembered his co-workers in newspaper work and in other
fields of labor who have moved on to eternity and he jokingly
invited everyone to come to his one hundredth birthday.
Fr. Častimir Timothy is the oldest
member of the Custody and of the
Herzegovinian
Franciscan
Province
. He was born
January 9, 1914
in Vitina in
Herzegovina
. His parents were Ante and Iva nee
Boras
. At
baptism he was named Ivan-John. Then World War I came and took his
father away from the battlefield to captivity in
Russia
. Immediately upon returning from
Russia
his father died in 1923 and little Ivan-John got a late start in
elementary school in Vitina, finishing in 1927. Then he went to
middle school in Široki Brijeg and as a gifted and capable student,
successfully finished in 1936. Meanwhile he entered the novitiate in
Humac near Ljubuški in 1933 and was named fra Častimir-Timothy.
After a year of novitiate, he studied philosophy and theology in
Mostar. He made his solemn vows on
July 4, 1937
in Mostar and
was ordained a priest by Mostar Bishop Fra Alojzije Mišić on
June 4, 1939
, as World War II began. Of those nine newly ordained priests two
are still living, Fr. Častimir and Fr. Zoran Ostojić.
During World War II the Provincial administration sent him to
Freiburg
for German studies. He attained his doctorate in 1946. Then he
began a second doctorate in general theology also in
Freiburg
and finished
in 1951. That same year
he left for the
USA
and joined the Franciscans of the Holy Family Custody who were
working in
North America
already from the beginning of the 20th century. Fr. Častimir
did pastoral work in the Croatian parishes of
St. Louis
,
New York
and
Milwaukee
. In
addition to being occupied with pastoral work, for several terms he
served as editor of the weekly Danica-Dawn, which came out of
Chicago
. Also
for several terms he was editor of the Croatian
Catholic Almanac and the Croatian
Catholic Messenger, both publications of the Croatian
Franciscans.
In the Custody he served in the offices
of Custos, Guardian of St. Anthony monastery in
Chicago
, and
Councilor. He is a member of the Croatian
American Academy. For many years he was president of the
Association of Croatian Priests of USA and
Canada
and at that time editor of their news organ Vinculum Caritatis. He was a member of the Executive Committee of
the Catholic Conference for Ethnic Problems with headquarters in
Washington
D.C.
Fr. Častimir
was the founder or member of various patriotic organizations among
immigrants that worked on assembling Croatian immigrants and
kindling the hope of a newly established free
Croatia
. For his work during the Balkan war he was decorated by the first
President of the
Croatian
Republic
, Dr. Franjo Tuđman with the medal of the Order of Croatian
Honor on
May
27,1997
. It was conferred by the then Croatian General Counsel in
Chicago
,
Domagoj Šola,
June 20, 2000
at a eucharistic celebration at St. Anthony's in Chicagu.
Although well
on his way to his 96th year of life, Fr. Častimir still
regularly writes memoirs of the 66 Herzegovinian Franciscans who
were killed by the communists in 1945 and his contributions which
are eagerly read are regularly published in Naša
Ognjišta from Tomislavgrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Croatian
Franciscan Newsletter from Chicago.
