This year's gathering of ministers, which was held under the motto Before everyone: ministers (cf. Mt 20:26-27), was jointly organized by the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary (VBS), the John Paul II Archbishop's Centre for Youth Pastoral Care. (NCM), KŠC Petar Barbarić, Catechetical Office of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna and commissioner for the pastoral care of spiritual vocations, recently appointed, rev. Dr. Ljubo Zadrić, who was in charge of coordinating the entire event.

Serving

The program, as in previous years, consisted of two parts: a liturgical celebration in the seminary church of St. Aloysius Gonzaga and the fun-sports-recreational part in the KŠC premises.

The arrival, gathering and short rest took place in the KŠC, where the ministers, about 350 of them, from: Novi Travnik, Vitez, Gromiljak, Busovača, Novi Šeher, Sarajevo, Uzdol, Odžak, Skopaljska Gračanica, Kupres, Rankovići, Bistrica (near Uskoplje and near Žepče), Podmilačje, Travnik and Prozor, directed towards the seminary church.

The Holy Mass celebration was led by the archbishop of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić, in concelebration with 16 priests who came accompanied by ministers, among whom was the dean of the Travnik deanery, rev. Josip Lebo, as well as event coordinator Rev. Zadrić.

Also, two deacons served at the altar, with the assistance of VBS theologians.

At the beginning of the Holy Mass, the archbishop encouraged us to thank the Lord for "honouring us that we can all be servants of his altar together. Thank you, dear ministers, who serve at the altar. Thank you, dear priest brothers, who are called to be servants of the altar and servants of the servants of all altars. May dear God bless us in our service to his altar and to all our brothers and sisters."

Jesus' kingdom and earthly kingdom

After the biblical readings and the proclaimed gospel, Msgr. Vukšić began his sermon with the thought that in his speeches and proclamations, Jesus often spoke about the kingdom of heaven or "his kingdom", as it was called in the Gospel passage that was read. "And probably like us today, especially his listeners at that time, they didn't quite understand what he was talking about. Very often, the kingdom that Jesus preached and testified to was almost identified with the kingdoms of this world, and in those times, states were kingdoms and empires, so they also saw the leaders of the kingdoms as something similar to the leader of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of Jesus. Quite simply, there was often confusion in their heads. We see one of these confusions in today's passage from the Gospel when a woman - the mother of the sons of Zebedee (...) James and John, two of Jesus' closest disciples, after Jesus' speech about the kingdom (...) and the announcement of his resurrection and the establishment of that kingdom - approaches Jesus himself and asks that two of her sons sit in his future kingdom - one on the right, the other on the left", reminded the archbishop, noting that this shows that neither the mother nor the sons mostly understood anything, but identified the kingdom of Jesus with one of the earthly kingdoms.

You, dear ministers (...), your title, your name, the term used to denote your service at the altar comes from the Latin word, the verb ministrare, which means to serve; serve at the altar; to serve anew every time the Holy Mass of the coming of Jesus is celebrated, to be the servants of his coming, just as every presence of a priest at the altar is a service to the coming of Jesus, to the re-dwelling of Jesus among brothers and sisters, to a service to the renewed sacramental, Holy Mass presence of Jesus among brothers and sisters ( ...) Jesus says he will not be as they wanted to be - among Jesus' true disciples - on the contrary, whoever wants to be the greatest among you, let him be your servant. That, dear brothers and sisters, is the basic rule of the kingdom of heaven. And then Jesus sets himself as an example of complete service, so the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve even now - and to give his life for redemption. The pinnacle of his redemption is that he gave himself as a favour to us - for our redemption from sin and for our salvation. He is the servant of the servants of God, especially in this hour because he gave his life to the end for our sake and for our salvation", said the archbishop of Vrhobosna, encouraging both priests and ministers to their holy service to God's arrival under the circumstances of bread and wine among people. "Continue to be a means of God's goodness and God's salvation", concluded Msgr. Vukšić.

The prayers of the faithful were led by ministers from several parishes, and the liturgical singing and playing was animated by the choir of the Travnik KŠC led by Vlatka Čabro.

Fun, knowledge, competition

In the hall of the KŠC, where the ministers were welcomed and greeted through a game by rev. Zadrić, the film Duhovni velikani Crkve u Hrvata – Travnički svetac sl. Božji Petar Barbarić (Spiritual Giants of the Church in the Croats – Travnik’s Saint Servant of God Petar Barbarić) was shown.

This was followed by lunch and the beginning of the fun-sports-recreational program. In addition to participating in the quiz on knowledge of ministerial service, basic religious doctrine and the Holy Scriptures, competitions were organized in sports skills and other activities: football, table tennis, chess, Ludo, animation, games without limits.

At the end of the competition, there was a ceremonial awarding of cups, diplomas and certificates of thanks, which were distributed by Archbishop Vukšić.

The meeting ended with a short address by the archbishop of Vrhbosna and a prayer.

Let us also remind you that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the minister's meeting was not held for three years - from 2019 to 2022, and from 2023, this joyful event for the Church of Vrhbosna and its youngest believers continued.

Knowledge quiz

From 1^st to 5^th grade

1. Ema Grgić (Parish of the Holy Family, Kupres)

2. Ana Lukin (parish of St. Anthony of Padua Busovača) and Blanka Androšević, (parish of Holy Trinity, N. Travnik)

3. Vito Nikolić (parish of Heart of Mary, Skopaljska Gračanica).

From 6^th to 9^th class

1. Matija Antolović (parish of St. Anthony of Padua, Žepče)

2. Petra Hrnjaš (Parish of the Holy Family, Kupres)

3. Andrija Anđelić (Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prozor).

Chess

1. Ivan Crnoja (parish of St. John the Baptist, Podmilačje)

2. Ante Perić (parish of Holy Trinity, Novo Sarajevo)

3. Anto Matijević (parish of St. Anthony of Padua, Žepče).

Table tennis

1. Toma Ilinković (parish of Holy Trinity, N. Travnik)

2. Danijel Zoranović (parish of St. Leopold Bogdan Mandić, Briješće)

3. Adrian Lekić, (parish of St. Anthony of Padua, Busovača).

Football

Younger age

1. Parish of St. Anthony of Padua, Žepče

2. Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prozor

3. Parish of the Lord’s Ascension, N. Travnik

Most useful player: Ante Franjić, Prozor

Older age

1. Parish of the Lord’s Ascension, N. Travnik

2. Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prozor

3. Parish of the Holy family, Kupres

Most useful player: Danijel Bilić, Novi Travnik

In the game Ludo, the award for the calmest person went to Iva Botić from the parish of St. George Vitez, while the most successful animation games were:

1. Parish of St. John the Baptist, Uzdol

2. Parish of the Lord’s Ascension, N. Travnik

3. Parish of the Holy Family, Kupres.