On September 26, the Redemptorist Family celebrates the memory of Blessed Gaspar Stanggassinger, priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, who, charged with the formation of young people, offered them an example of joyful charity and assiduous prayer.
Click the image below to view the full Biography of Blessed Kaspar.
Below read the extract from the homily of the Holy Father John Paul II, delivered in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on the day of the beatification of Kaspar Stanggassinger, 24 April 1988.
(…) The Church places before our eyes the example of the life of Kaspar Stanggassinger, a modest but no less heroic follower of Christ. His life had a fundamental religious imprint given by his family. He was called to the priesthood very early and was thus entirely projected towards God. He became a Redemptorist priest, not to isolate himself from men but to lead men to God in a closer union with Christ. During his priestly ordination, he said: “By the grace of God I want to become all things to all men.”
The Holy Father Kaspar fulfilled this purpose by faithfully fulfilling his daily duties. He did not seek the extraordinary but did “what the day required.” As a tutor and teacher of the young men preparing for the priesthood, he was always present. “I want to listen to everyone willingly, as if I had nothing to do.”
Father Stanggassinger was for his young Christians the “good shepherd” according to the example of Christ, who knows his flock and leads it with care. In his education, he was concerned with harmoniously developing spiritual and moral strength in man, always according to a religious call. He was deeply convinced: “Only the man who prays can know himself.” It was therefore very important to him that his students had, as the central truth of their lives, faith in God and in Jesus Christ. As a “good shepherd,” Blessed Kaspar Stanggassinger was an example for his young friends on the Christian path to holiness. He lived firsthand what he taught and expected of them. He firmly placed God at the center of his life and work. He wanted to belong to him completely and to do his will in everything, even in small and modest things. With his sense of daily duty, Father Kaspar shows us the path that we must all follow: the path of holiness in the imitation of Christ in daily life. His great love for the young must be a model and a stimulus for priests, parents and educators. Blessed Father Kaspar, pray for the young people of our time and lead them to Christ!
(…)
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