A dozen priests concelebrated, including the Vicar General of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić and the charge d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in BiH, Msgr. Amaury Medina Blanco.

At the beginning of the Eucharist, Archbishop Tomo noted that on Ash Wednesday, begins the time in which the faithful will think and work in a special way on their conversion. “We ask dear God to bless us so that we may be as successful as possible on this path, for the sake of our salvation and the salvation of this world”, said Msgr. Vukšić, reminding that on Ash Wednesday this year, according to the wishes of Pope Francis, the World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine is also marked.

“May dear God prevent every evil intention and every criminal hand so that all his creatures on this earth can live with the blessing of peace”, said Archbishop Tomo.

Do good deeds selflessly

In his sermon, which he divided into two parts, Msgr. Vukšić first reminded that during the Lent preparation “faith teaches that it is not enough to perform official services in temples or participate in them because God expects more from us, he asks for the conversion of the heart”. He then spoke of the “means” of returning to God, that is, of conversion: prayer, fasting, and good works.

“Scripture teaches that it is pleasant to return to God because God, as it is read there, is tenderness, mercy and goodness (...) The Christian way of praying, fasting and good deeds must be accompanied by humility. The way of necessary humility and self-denial, which is far from all boastfulness and arrogance”, said the Archbishop and then spoke about almsgiving, prayer and fasting. Explaining that according to the gospel, almsgiving should be given in secret, he stressed the need to pray in secret and fast without proclaiming it to others.

Prayer for peace in Ukraine

In the second part of the sermon, he emphasized “solidarity in prayer and fasting with brothers and sisters who suffer in Ukraine”. “We pray with the whole Church that this war will end immediately and peace will prevail. We pray and fast also with the intention that all open issues and misunderstandings, in Ukraine and around the world, are always resolved only through dialogue in meetings of legal representatives. We pray and fast also with the desire to protect every human life. And that every fruit of human hands be preserved as a means in the service of life and all progress”, stated the Archbishop of Vrhbosna and then read the letter of the head of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk, which he received the same day. Emphasizing the reason for sending the letter, which is the World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine, he encouraged those present to join the Caritas BiH action to help people in Ukraine, according to their abilities.

“This is a special day for all of us because we understand that we are not alone in our tragedy. Despite everything, the war continues (...) We are especially worried about the cities of Kharkiv, Sumy, Hernihiv, Kherson and other besieged Ukrainian cities where there is a lack of essential life needs, medicines, and the local population needs to be saved. By giving up food we are in solidarity with them. Today, however, we unite in prayer (...) To unite in prayer means to exchange life with one another, it means to exchange one's life force with one's neighbour, to give one's life strength to one's neighbour and, with whom we are united in prayer“, read Msgr. Vukšić from a letter written by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop, who, among other things, pointed out that “uniting in prayer, uniting with the world and spiritual inner life, we are aware that we are children of one Church, the body of Christ whose Head He is”.

After the sermon, the Archbishop blessed the ashes and followed the rite of sprinkling a small amount of ashes on the foreheads of the faithful that came from burning olive branches blessed last year on Palm Sunday, with a call to conversion expressed in Genesis: “Remember, man, that you are dust and that you will be reduced to dust”, or in the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark: “Repent and believe in the Gospel!”

The Holy Mass was animated by the Cathedral Choir Josip Stadler under the direction of rev. Marko Stanušić.