predication.net

In the realm of faith, we encounter food that has no parallels, to which nothing on earth can be compared. John the Baptist died in prison because he told the King and Herodias the truth. The description of the event first turns our attention to Herod and Herodias. The Gospel scene also tells about hope.

Francis Bogdan in the book “To Spread the word of the Lord” (Kraków 1995, p. 227) tells this event: A woman possessed by the devil was brought to the bishop. The bishop saw that this was an unusual case and called many people. He approached this woman with the Eucharistic Christ. The evil spirit began to shake its victim, smashing it like some kind of object. Someone from the crowd called out: “Why are you trembling before a piece of bread?” And a harsh voice came out of the woman: “I tremble not before bread but before Christ himself.” During the blessing, the devil left the suffering woman. The crowd heard from the mouth of the devil himself about the strength, power, and love of Christ for us humans.

Another event speaks of the greatness of God’s love in the Eucharist. She is told by St. Ján Eymard (+1886). One day he received a container with little guests. It turns out that a group of thieves stole it ten years ago. Some of them were thrown into the landfill. One of them felt remorse and began to fear God’s punishment for his act. He finally found the courage, confessed to the priest, and the container came into the hands of the priest.

We realize that dishonoring this love of God causes a lot of damage to a person’s soul. The sacrilegious acceptance of Christ does not bring grace, but real punishments already here on earth. One stops enjoying friendship with Jesus. He has no joy in the faith. He is subject to the other effects of spiritual emptiness. The Church teaches and reminds us that receiving this gift is a means for us to receive many new graces. It is not easy today to receive Christ in the Eucharist. It is necessary to overcome shyness, lack of interest, and, of course, personal sin. However, we believers can convince ourselves of the greatness of the graces that we receive through the gift of Jesus, which he gives himself to us. It is necessary to appreciate this gift.

Along with the well-known “Stradivarka” violin, there is also a tradition of this event, which was reported by Paris radio on March 25, 1957. An elderly woman asked a tax official to borrow 10 francs for bread. She wanted to give a violin in return. The official looked at the dusty violin and rejected it, saying that business is not allowed in the office. The old woman left. When they were closing the office in the evening, they found her dead in a corner. When they examined the violin, they found that it was a well-known violin, the value of which reached one hundred thousand francs. The old woman died of hunger. Neither she nor the official knew their value.

We will use the price of life for our victory.

Thou art a priest forever” Heb 5:6.

The writer Antonio Sicari writes in his book Portraits of the Saints that the life of a holy parish priest is so full of innocence and miracles that one is tempted to tell it as a fairy tale. And a fairy tale would sound like this: “There once lived in France a Christian village boy, John, who from his earliest childhood loved solitude and the Lord God. And as the lords in Paris provoked a revolution and prevented the people from praying, the child and his parents went to mass in the corner of a granary. The priests were hiding in those days, and when they were caught, they beheaded them. That is why John dreamed of becoming a priest. Although he knew how to pray, he lacked education. He guarded sheep and worked in the fields.

He entered the seminary very late and failed all the exams. But professions were very rare at that time, so they finally let him graduate. He was appointed parish priest in Ars and remained there until his death. He was a parish priest in the most remote village in France. But he was a pastor through and through, and that doesn’t happen often. He was so great that the most remote village in France could boast the most distinguished French parish priest. All of France took to the road to see him.

He took over all who came after him, and if he had not died, he would have converted all of France. He healed souls and bodies. He read in their hearts as from a book. The devil tempted him, but still, he could not prevent him from becoming a holy man. He became a canon, then a knight of the Legion of Honor, then a saint. But while he lived, he never understood why. And that was the finest proof that he truly deserved the glory. In Paradise, where the true worth of men is revealed, the events of the 19th century are called the century of the Parson of Ars, but France has no idea of it.”

In this story, we feel the hand of an artist who, in a few short strokes, has succeeded in sketching almost the entire profile of a saint, the patron saint of priests. But suddenly the author stops and realizes that behind this innocence lies the deep, authentic drama of a man who faithfully served God and his fellow man. His consummate devotion to his vocation is an encouragement and invitation to us, for the Church is not made up of people who are better than others, but of people who want to become better than they are.

Dear brothers and sisters. Essential decisions and announcements in our lives are usually first told to our closest people. And it happens in a confidential atmosphere. For example, whether we decide to enter marriage, priesthood, or fundamentally change our direction in life by changing jobs or moving. Even in today’s Gospel for the Feast of the Transfiguration, Jesus communicated his essential message with the three apostles in a confidential atmosphere. He took them on top.

The evangelist Matthew recorded that when they were awake alone, the face of Jesus lit up as well as his clothes and he was transformed in front of them. What is the meaning of transformation? The transfiguration is the revelation of the person of Jesus, his deep reality. The eyewitnesses of the event, i.e., the three apostles, are speaking. that they were overshadowed by a bright cloud, which in the Bible always represents the presence of God, and they heard a voice that said to them: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Mt 17, 5). In addition to Jesus and the apostles, Moses and Elijah were present, and God appeared to them during their lifetime.

Jesus had a revelation of God’s will on Mount Sinai – the Ten Commandments. Elijah again had God’s revelation of the mission he was to carry out on the mountain. Unlike these two episodes, Jesus in the Transfiguration is not the one who received the revelation of God, but it is in him that God appears, showing his face to the apostles. Whoever wants to know God must look at the face of Jesus, at his transformed face. Jesus is the perfect manifestation of the Father’s holiness and mercy. However, Jesus, like Elijah, did not receive a revelation about what to do, because it is known to him. Rather, the apostles are those who hear the voice of God in the cloud commanding them: “Listen to him.” God’s will is fully revealed in the person of Jesus.

It wants to live according to God’s will, it must follow Jesus, listen to him, accept his words, and deepen them with the help of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, just as with the apostles, Jesus communicates his message to each one of us. The fact that he is the Son of God who came to save us and that only he has the “words of eternal life” (Jn 6, 68). Christ offers each of us a life in abundance, which consists in living according to God’s word. Let’s feed on God’s word, let’s grow in the knowledge and love of Christ, whether as individuals or as a parish community. Let’s meet him in the Eucharist, and listen to his words in prayer and love. The parish community is our strength in following Christ.

Jesus, who led the apostles to the mountain to pray and show them his glory, invited us to this Eucharistic celebration. Here we can listen to him, here we can recognize his presence during the breaking of the Eucharistic bread and thus become a living Church, a temple of the Holy Spirit, a sign of God’s love in the world. Let us surrender our lives to God today and let us be filled with his gift to us, which is Jesus Christ. He brings God’s life and light where it is lacking. Into our life situations, problems, and sufferings, he strengthens us and makes us his witnesses. Let us return to our homes with hearts filled with gratitude and joy, because we are part of the Church, whose head is the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ.

It is said that someone who trains can, for example, swim for dozens of kilometers without resting, lift twice as much as he weighs… In the (Guinness) book of records, we read that a person can kill an ox with a blow of his hand, pull an airplane or a train set several meters with a rope in his teeth. And yet this miracle, the human body, is composed of elements that together cost about twenty crowns.

When the multi-millionaire industrialist Filberto Guala sold and gave away his property and joined the strictest order of the Trappists, it caused various reactions in Italy. Similarly, when Georg Mayr Melnhof, the son of a well-known noble family, a trained economist, coming from a billionaire family, where he was supposed to be the administrator of the largest Austrian forestry, entered the seminary in 1995.

Behind that and other values, names, decisions, and attitudes, we talk about the meaning of life. Acting and behaving in such a positive and negative way raises various questions, surprises, and disappointments, but also hope, joy, peace of mind, and the certainty of a new life. The meaning of life affects us too. Parables; about the treasure hidden in the field, about the buyer who is looking for precious pearls, and about the net that catches all the other fish, want to indicate what Jesus wants to remind us about the kingdom of God. The parable of the treasure hidden in the field and the buyer looking for precious pearls in connection with the kingdom of heaven speaks of the high price of heavenly values.

Each person walks his path in life, and yet all paths are the same, they have one mission, one goal. God enters the path of each person appropriately. God enters a person’s life on a certain day, during a certain event. What was is not decisive. It doesn’t matter if a person was looking for God or drowning in sin. The treasure in the field was discovered by accident. No one was looking for him. The buyer, on the other hand, was looking for a rare pearl. Both cases say that the finders came to the treasure only by God’s grace. A person discovers God even when he was not looking for God, when he was not looking for him, and even when he was looking, he finally found him. God first gives himself and reveals himself, and then faith grows out of it, under the free choice of man. Always and in all cases, heavenly values ​​have such a price that everything else can be given for them.

How many people walked across the field where the treasure was hidden? Jesus walks among us, and how many people do not notice him? The buyer searches again and gets the desired pearl. The search was not in vain. He was looking for the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:1-43) and Lydia (Acts 16:14). To follow them means: to seek God with all seriousness and to hold fast to God, with all faithfulness. For whom the cause of God is not worthy of every sacrifice, he will never understand the preciousness of the pearl. The precious pearl is indestructible, it cannot be lost, and we will get it here on earth to pull our heart to heaven. The evangelist Matthew left everything himself when he recognized Jesus’ riches. The treasure hidden in the field and the pearl are none other than Jesus himself

Courage is a rare quality or gift. It is needed by those who manage, lead, and administer. Today, however, we will remind ourselves that even believers should strive for it. In the Gospel, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, teaches us about the evil in the world. He uses the parable of the tares among the wheat. He refers to good people with grain and bad people with tares. A farmer who originally sowed only good seed on his field and wanted to destroy the tares before the harvest so as not to spoil his wheat would have damaged the wheat’s growth quite a bit. The lesson that follows from this parable is considerable. Lord Jesus wanted to tell his apostles that when they see so much evil in the world, not to be disgusted because, with their attitude, they could do even more evil. Let them not judge the wicked. Let them realize that tares will always remain tares, wheat only wheat. The bad always have a chance to improve, and the goodness of others can be tested,

This parable reminds us how the Lord Jesus behaved toward the wicked and those who have fallen. The Lord Jesus also received Nicodemus with the most incredible patience and understanding. Finally, Nicodemus became a disciple of the Lord. We can also mention here the public sinner Maria Magdalena. Everyone wanted to stone her because she was caught in adultery. No one brought to the Lord a man with whom she committed evil. The Lord Jesus saw their baseness. He did not despise her. He rewarded her sincere conversion and love by making her a great saint. He appeared to her first after his resurrection, and she also convinced the apostles that the Lord had “indeed” risen.

Likewise, Matthew the Apostle. He was initially a publican whom everyone despised because he greatly extorted people. After meeting Jesus and acknowledging his guilt, he compensated everyone he hurt. He eventually became an apostle and evangelist. Lord Jesus rejected only those who did not want to buy their guilt and those who considered themselves righteous and despised others. It is certain from the parable that the Lord Jesus is the Judge and no one else. Judging others in the eyes of God is at least as unreasonable as plucking tares from among the wheat. The Lord Jesus tells us: “Let both grow until the harvest” (Mt 13:30). Therefore, leave the judgment to the Lord, who will surely come and judge the living and the dead. Lord Jesus also calls us to behave in a Christian way towards evil. In ordinary life, we often hear remarks: Why does the Lord Jesus suffer evil? Does he not see that while the bad are well-behaved, the good suffer?

First, we must carefully consider that we are pure wheat when we speak like this. Don’t we want to use these excuses to justify our evil? Furthermore, it should be clear that as good Christians, we should not despise or judge anyone. We know that only the Lord is the most just Judge. We often exaggerate the faults of others, while the Lord knows all and is infinitely forgiving. Perhaps we would not like to give someone a second chance to improve, but we certainly expect the Lord to give us multiple opportunities, so we do not perish. I believe when we dare to criticize someone, how often does the Lord have to warn us: “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your eye? ” (Luke 6:41).

WITH Saint Paul advises us to be patient with evil, as the Lord is patient with us. When we prevent corruption patiently, we realize we are getting God’s help. As good Christians, we cannot agree with the sin of the one who commits it. We must accept him as our brother who needs help, which we will not show him by condemning him, but by being patient with him, by giving him an example of a good Christian life, and especially by praying for him. Let us know that the Lord despises only the sinner who does not want to improve. There are indeed many tares among the wheat in the world. But if we think a little more honestly about the situation, we have to admit that even in ourselves, there is something good and evil, some wheat and some trash.

Also, when we ask the Lord to be merciful, let’s add those we think are tares. So let’s leave the judgment to the Lord, who emphasizes to us: “Let both grow until the harvest” (Mt 13:30). There, the good and the evil of the bad will be revealed. Let us ask the Lord to find grace with him and to be able to be the good wheat in which the tares do not remain.

Saint Francis de Sales thinks about peace like this: “God is a God of peace, because love dwells where peace reigns. Take care always to keep the holy peace and tranquility of heart which I so often recommend to you. All thoughts that cause us mental turmoil and confusion cannot be from God, who is the Prince of Peace. They are the temptations of the enemy that must be shunned and ignored. It is necessary to live in peace always and everywhere. If tribulation overtakes us, whether internal or external, let us bear it calmly”.

Perhaps we pay little attention to our soul and inner peace, which is so lacking in our hearts and in our relationships. In today’s fast-paced times, we live in a lot of turmoil, stress, noise, nervousness… and it does not benefit us at all. We really need to think and stop and not get carried away by this accelerated pace of everyday life. The Apostle Paul writes in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “God has called us to live in peace” (1 Cor 7:15).

If we want to find God’s peace, we find it in regular prayer, in the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and in the Word of God. When some problems come up, it often happens that we want to solve them right away, anxiously, just to get rid of them quickly. From experience, I can say that the best strategy is to leave time for yourself to calm down and then solve problems calmly and constructively.

We live in a fast-paced world that even tries to overtake reality. Planning and designing has become a profitable business for many professionals, but also a part of the life of an ordinary person. It must become your motto if you want to be in an advantageous position. A person who operates in such a world and belongs to the Catholic Church can sometimes feel that this organization is very slow to respond to certain things. One would expect her answers to be more prompt and specific. But is this her role?

But the Gospel offers us a different concept of the Church. He talks about the kingdom of God, which he compares to a bit of yeast or a small mustard seed. It is a small reality, even an insignificant one that hides within itself the power to reshape the whole. This is how these facts become very important at some point. It does not mean that only the dough becomes yeast but that the yeast leavens the whole dough. This does not mean that all vegetation is just mustard bushes, but that at some point, the shrub becomes a significant and significant element of the ecosystem.

With this thinking, I asked myself, are we not adapting to worldly thinking in our thinking and often slipping into the logic of the world, and so we are going the way of marketing rather than the gospel? Especially in the desire to eliminate everything that contradicts the gospel. Yeast transforms the dough with its presence. With its presence, the mustard bush becomes an element of the world’s ecosystem. Let us not forget this when we think our efforts seem fruitless. But even when we are overcome by the desire to believe statistics or tables, performance or accounting in our view of activities. Apostolate and evangelization cannot stand on productivity and visible results. The gospel is not a statistic. The task of evangelizing is based on love and witness. Let’s find enthusiasm in our own activity, not in its acceptance or success.

The statement “I believe in God” is the source of all other truths about man, the world, and the whole life of every believer. We believe in only one God; we are monotheists, not polytheists. And why? Because according to the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, there is only one God, and also, according to the laws of logic there can only be one God. If there were two gods, one would be both the limit and limitation of the other, and neither would be infinite; neither would be perfect; therefore, neither would be the true God. Israel’s basic experience with God is as follows: “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The prophets repeatedly call the people to renounce false deities and to turn to the only God: “For I am God, and there is no one else.” (Is 45:22)

Monotheistic religions include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The question of why God calls himself by name can be interesting for us earthlings. It is because he wishes to be addressed. God does not wish to remain unknown – incognito. He also does not want to be worshiped only as a feeling or imagined “higher being.” God desires to be known and addressed as real and active. In the burning bush, God reveals himself to Moses as the living God, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” (Ex 3:6). Then God reveals to Moses his holy name: YHVH – YAHWEH – I am that I am – I am present (Ex 3:14). God thus allows his people to call to him. Yet, he remains a hidden God; he remains a present Mystery. Out of respect, God’s name was not pronounced in Israel – and it is not pronounced – it is replaced by the honorable name ADONAI – Lord. The New Testament also uses this very word,

While all creatures have received all they are and have from God, only God is the fullness of being and all perfection. He is “that which is,” without beginning and end. Jesus reveals that he too has God’s name: “I am.” (John 8:28). By revealing his name, God makes known the richness of his unspoken mystery: He alone is, forever and ever, transcending the world and history. He made heaven and earth. He is a faithful God who is always close to his people to save them. He is holy after rebuke, “infinitely merciful” (Eph 2:4), always willing to forgive. He is a spiritual, supernatural, omnipotent, eternal, personal, perfect being. It is truth and love, the path and goal of our human existence.

It is only natural that God gave us humans something to help us achieve our eternal goal – the salvation of the soul. This gift is the Eucharist – Jesus is mysteriously present in bread and wine. The Eucharist is the guarantee of our happy, eternal life. Jesus spoke about this several times. (see John 6:22-71, 1 Cor 11:17-34 and we could give other quotes). The same law applies here as in the order of nature: He who eats the food of the fields lives – he who does not eat dies. He who eats the food of the Eucharist lives – he who does not eat dies. It is up to each of us if we accept this truth and how we enter eternity.

There is one more thing that is strange, interesting, and about God. Jesus dies on the cross praying, as someone who does not forget the first commandment of the Ten Commandments – to worship God, his only one: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Lk 27:46), as well as “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46). Jesus prays the 22nd psalm, the prophetic psalm of the terrible suffering of the Messiah turns into a prediction of the Eucharist: “The meek will eat to their fill.” (psalm 22:2) The filling of the meek with new manna comes from the cross. Jesus, King of heaven and earth, grant us places in your kingdom when we complete our life journey after many trials and all the struggles. Come to your kingdom, in which there is no more pain, in which there are no more painful tears, where eternal well-being and eternal joy illuminate all the blessed cheeks.