The celebration of the Day of the NCM, an institution that has been working with and for young people for 15 years, was held in its premises under the motto Love has explained everything to me (St. John Paul II), including a concelebrated Holy Mass celebration and an interesting special program in the Renovabis hall, as well as a festive reception.

Perfect members of the Body of Christ

Holy Mass celebration, which was animated with songs by the tamburitza orchestra from Mostar accompanied by a youth choir led by prof. Filip Milošević, was presented by the archbishop of Vrhbosna, Metropolitan Msgr. Tomo Vukšić, with the concelebration of the chargé d'affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Amaury Medina Blanco, director of the NCM, Rev. Šimo Maršić and about 20 other priests.

At the beginning of the Holy Mass, Director Maršić gave words of greeting and welcome.

In the appropriate sermon, the Archbishop first referred to the biblical readings, saying that the apostle Paul said in the Epistle to the Ephesians that Jesus, after the ascension, in his Church gave some to be apostles, others to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be teachers, others to be shepherds... “And it is obvious that St. Paul, reminding of this, does not want to stop there, but we could continue at the level of examples: one gave for pastors, for chaplains, for bishops, for parents, for sons, for daughters, for pupils, for students, for leaders of the Youth Centre, for those who gather in that Youth Centre, and so throughout history this story of the Apostle Paul is applicable to different situations. Of course, first of all, to the Church itself as a continuation of Jesus' presence on earth, but also to all of us who, as members of the Church of God, gather for our common prayers, with which we express our glory to the Lord, grateful for so many blessings, and pray for the same God's blessing for our future days”, said Archbishop Tomo and further spoke about the “perfect man”.

“A perfect member of the Body of Christ is a saint (...) We remember one such today - his name was Joh Paul or Karol Wojtyla, before he assumed the office of successor of St. Peter – to whom we send our prayers for a blessing, we, all of us, each in our class and in our vocation”, said, among others, Msgr. Vukšić.

At the end of the Holy Mass, words of thanks were given by rev. Šimo, mentioning that they received a large number of congratulations, and invited Msgr. Amaury to read the message of Pope Francis to the NCM, which was translated by the pastoral associate at the Youth Centre, rev. Ljubo Zadrić.

Celebration program

After the service, the celebration continued with an appropriate program led this year by former NCM employee Minja Todorović and animator Ana Kulier. After greeting the gathered and thanking everyone who supported the Youth Centre for 15 years, they announced the band of the Association of Catholic Students Emaus with the song Snagom ljubavi tvoje (The Power of Love of Yours).

This was followed by a performance by children from NCM's Kindergarten Anđeli čuvari (Guardian angels), who sang two songs with appropriate choreography: Dobar dan and Tko stvori (good day and Who created).

Then the skits Molitva and Katolička akademija were performed by young people from Hrvatsko nadzemlje, and after them Emaus performed again with the song Ljubav, and a video greeting from the partners and friends of the NCM who have supported it for many years was shown.

At the end, with a song, Emaus, animators, volunteers and educators who are daily participants in all the Centre’s projects and activities, and with a celebratory cake, the NCM employees presented director Maršić with a certificate of appreciation, which was handed to him by employee Mario Tucaković.

The last act of the program, after the scout greeting, was Emmaus' performance of the hymn of the meeting with the Pope in Sarajevo in 2015, entitled Footsteps of Peace.

The gathering continued with a reception in the restaurant and hall of the NCM, which also showed gratitude to all the young people, friends, partners, volunteers and others who have invested a part of themselves in this institution and its projects over the past 15 years.