Let’s remember yesterday’s reasoning. Let’s repeat something from him… Jesus says: “…that which comes out of a man defiles…” (Mk 7:20). After all, Jesus did not tell the apostles not to observe the law about washing. This is what caused the Pharisees and the scribes to conflict when they asked Jesus: “Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of their fathers and eat bread with defiled hands” (Mk 7:5)?

Jesus knows that the washing regulations originally applied only to the priests who performed the sacrificial service. The validity of these words expanded also because a blessing had to be said at each meal, meaning that a religious act was performed here. So they began to add human commands to God’s word, and more emphasis began to be placed on human commands than on God’s word. After all, even human orders were essentially correct if they fulfilled their purpose – the removal of pollution. Washing hands before eating was proper, and especially when they returned from the market, where there was plenty of dirt at that time. It was right that upon return, the emphasis was placed on bathing or washing the hands up to the wrist. It was right to emphasize the washing of cups, jugs, basins, and beds. However, it was not right when these human oral orders, later confirmed in writing, came to the forefront of what God commanded. The Pharisees and scribes placed great emphasis on the fulfillment of these human commands, and failure to fulfill them was a serious crime.

It can be seen from the Gospels that even in the time of Jesus, these regulations were strictly binding and their non-observance was punished with even harsh punishments. Jesus proves how far they have deviated from the truth. He explains that: “Nothing can defile a man that enters him from the outside, but that which comes out…” (Mk 7:15). He does not say that they should not maintain natural hygiene, but he reminds us of the importance of spiritual purity. Jesus teaches that food cannot be distinguished from “pure and impure”, but that the root of evil is found in the spiritual-spiritual area of ​​the human “I”, from which all evil comes as an evil seed to poison people in the world. Eating or washing cannot create the right relationship with God.

Can we receive the Eucharist in a state of grave sin? Not! And yet Christ’s body is pure even when we receive it in sin, but it does not benefit us and harms the soul. We understand that Jesus’ words about what defiles a person are clear. It is about the inside of a person, about the soul, about the relationship to God, to the neighbor, and oneself: “For from within, from the human heart, evil things come…” (Mk 7:21-23).

The inside of a person decides whether a person is clean or unclean. Every sin, already committed in thought, causes damage to a person’s peace, joy, and happiness. A sinful thought is already a personal guilt. When we are aware of this reality, we allow the purifying and sanctifying grace to penetrate more deeply into our soul, which results in a more thorough and vigorous treatment of our interior. And that’s what Jesus wants with today’s gospel: to heal our insides. How wonderful and necessary it is: to accept Jesus’ words about the purity of our hearts.

Exorcist Imrich Degro

Some communities and priests have been promoting the theory of healing ancestral roots in recent years. In short, it is about freeing oneself from the sins of one’s ancestors through prayer or the Eucharist. 

“It’s very tempting. Basically, I don’t have to make any effort to change, I don’t have to take responsibility for my actions. So I’m not to blame for what’s happening to me, because my ancestors and their sins are to blame, “ exorcist Imrich Degro explains in an interview. “​If we have any mental illnesses, then with the shortcut of the root healing prayer, we avoid treatment and our problems can deepen further. Perhaps psychological or even psychiatric treatment would be necessary. “ 

Priest Imrich Degro advises going with caution even to the so-called liberation prayers. “It’s quite widespread and I consider it a bit of a national sport. I don’t recommend it unless people have objective difficulties and problems. “ 

Today, the modern practice of healing ancestral roots is not recognized by church tradition

About the controversial theory of healing ancestral roots with the exorcist of the Archdiocese of Košice, priest Imrich Degro. 

This belief does not come from the Catholic Church. Neither in the Bible nor in theology can we find anything about the healing of ancestral roots. It appeared in the last century. Psychiatrist McAll wrote the aforementioned book in the 1980s, and his theory began to spread widely. Both he and his parents were Anglican missionaries in China and there he encountered a very strong Chinese ancestor cult. He also saw there how the Chinese cast out evil spirits from people, so when he returned, he tried something similar on his patients.

In Slovakia, the controversial theory of healing ancestral roots is popular, the author of which is the psychiatrist McAll. According to this theory, we can free ourselves from the evil deeds of our ancestors with the help of prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist. What is its tradition?

Since 2002, the Catholic priest Imrich Degro has been commissioned by the Archbishop of Košice to perform exorcism in the Archdiocese of Košice. At the same time, he works as a university teacher at the Catholic University in Ružomberok. He also wrote a pamphlet on the subject, Do we suffer for the sins of our ancestors?

He chose patients who did not respond to any therapy. He researched the family trees of these patients and found that there was an ancestor in their family trees who died a mysterious death or was not found, could not be properly buried, or his survivors could not say goodbye to him.

Since he was a practicing Anglican, he began to pray with these people, so he chose prayer as therapy. In the interviews, he discovered that these patients had some sort of unresolved attachment to dead people in their family. He called it Occult Entrapment Syndrome. He found the Holy Mass to be the most effective form of detachment.

What is problematic about this view, apart from the fact that it is apparently unscientific? 

He also published studies about his patients, which are clearly based only on examples he has experienced. He did not base it on any theory or theology. Even he himself admits that he is not a theologian and that it only seems to him that this is how the healing grace of God works, as he describes it.

Later, this theory of his was taken over by an American Claretian, who applied it to mentally healthy people, and it became a popular practice, especially in the charismatic movement, and it still is today.

Ancestral healing can also seem scientific by referring to the renowned psychiatrist Jung, who also theorizes that the actions of our ancestors fundamentally influence us. 

Although it has an air of science, Jung’s theories are now obsolete. What Jung says about the subconscious and temporal simultaneity is no longer accepted today.

Psychiatrist McAll, however, describes clinical cases where fundamental changes took place in patients’ lives after the healing of the ancestral roots. That is, people on whom no psychiatric treatment worked suddenly felt much better. How do you explain it then? 

It can be a phenomenon of the placebo effect or a psychological effect where a person really believes that he will reconcile with himself through this ritual.

Why is it important for people to believe that through prayer we can resolve the past and thereby influence our present? 

Because it is very tempting. Basically, I don’t have to make any effort to change, I don’t have to take responsibility for my actions. So I am not to blame for what is happening to me, because my ancestors and their sins are to blame. Just do some prayer and I don’t have to do anything else. It’s a quick solution and today’s time is very instant, we want everything right away.

The first instruction for this was issued by the Vietnamese bishops’ conference half a year before the French, because missionaries were coming from America to preach it. A few years ago, the Polish bishops also commented on this. It is very widespread all over the world and it is necessary to be clear about it. 

The Czech and French bishops’ conferences have issued an instruction on the topic of healing ancestral roots, which condemns this practice. So does this phenomenon seem to be fashionable in other countries as well? 

So the teaching of the Catholic Church claims that we do not pay for the sins of our ancestors? 

Definitely not. We do not inherit the sins of our ancestors, and we do not inherit the guilt or punishment for the sins of our ancestors.

However, the theory of the healing of ancestral roots refers to statements from the Bible, which speak of punishments for the sins of the fathers up to the third or fourth generation…

Yes, it is mentioned in several places in the Old Testament, where it is written that God punishes sins up to the third and fourth generation. But advocates of the healing of ancestral roots take these states out of context.

We must perceive the texts within the framework of the entire Revelation, that is, the Bible. And the intention of the Scriptures is to speak especially about the great mercy of God, which is written that it can last until a thousand generations, while the punishment of God is very small compared to his mercy. This practice refers only to the Old Testament.

So the statements of the Old Testament about punishments for future generations do not apply? 

They apply in the sense that the sins of the fathers are repeated as the fruit of the example, the education of authority. So when I, as a child, see the sins of my father or grandfather and see the consequences of their actions, and yet I do the same, then the punishment for such actions can be greater. It is understood in this spirit, and this is also how Saint Thomas Aquinas explains it.  

In the New Testament we find no mention of punishments for the sins of our fathers? 

If there was a problem in early Christian times, Saint Paul would certainly have written something in the New Testament in his letters that he wrote to many Jewish communities. After all, we know that the Jews who converted to Christianity carried the great heritage of their fathers. However, Paul speaks of the inheritance of Abraham as a blessing rather than a punishment.

In the Gospel of John (chapter 9) we have a story about a blind man who was sick from birth, Jesus healed him and the disciples ask Jesus why he was born like this, if his ancestors sinned or if he himself sinned. Jesus answered that neither he nor his parents sinned, but he was born so that God’s power, God’s glory, would be shown in him. By this, Jesus, on the contrary, shows that seemingly unfortunate destinies are not the inheritance of sins. Sin is always personal, it cannot be transferred. 

Original sin probably has nothing to do with this theory…

We inherit original sin, we call it Adam’s sin, but this sin is not our personal sin. That is the state, and that is what the church calls it in the catechism. 

Some time ago, the country was shaken by the suicide of Dušan Pašek Jr., whose father died in the same way. How should we then understand such recurring sins in families?

On the spiritual side, nothing like this is inherited. We will probably never know if there were any genetic predispositions to depression. I see it more as a model, an example of authority, we cannot refer to anything else.

If something like this is repeated in families, it is usually taboo, there is no talk about what is wrong. I think that it is necessary to openly talk about it, even with the children, that your father committed this, but it is not the right solution to problems, it must be pointed out. 

How does the church view suicide today?

She perceives it as a sin against God’s fifth commandment, but it is no longer like before, when she refused to bury suicides. The Church perceives suicide as a manifestation of self-loathing, as cutting off relationships with others and rejecting the gift of life. But the church recognizes that a person at such a moment probably did not see any other solution, there could be a clouded mind or a mental illness, which significantly reduces the seriousness of such a sin.

We don’t know if the person regretted it at the last second, that’s between the person and God. That is why today the church buries suicides. 

Repeated sins in families apparently lead many to seek questionable rituals for healing ancestral roots. Is there a special way to cut through such a series of unfortunate events in the family? 

There is no need to cut it somehow. I don’t inherit it, there is nothing to cross spiritually. It is important to talk, to educate, to show correct solutions to problems. Suicide can be a kind of escape from problems. 

However, it is necessary to distinguish another phenomenon in this topic, and that is occultism and curses, which can be crossed. 

What do you mean?

If a person still persists in grave sin, if he tried occultism, he could open himself up to the action of evil spirits and let them into his family, that is, open the door for them, as it were. The practice of exorcists says that these spirits can appear in different forms.

We usually call them by the name of the sin they lead us to, such as the spirit of suicide, and this one can also tempt the descendants in the family, but only tempt. However, everyone has free will and can refuse this temptation. 

Here we are already moving into a purely theological debate. How to find out if a family is tempted by such a spirit? 

Discerning whether an evil spirit is at work in the family is a difficult process, it must be well researched with an exorcist priest. Here people can be helped by prayer for deliverance or exorcism if there is a real presence of evil spirits. But that is another matter, it must be distinguished from the healing of ancestral roots, which the Catholic Church tradition does not recognize. 

The curse is mostly associated with fairy tales such as About the Wicked Brothers. Does the Church really recognize the effect of the curse? 

Yes, she calls him a curse. This curse can be effective if God allows it, without God’s permission it is not possible. 

Why would God allow man to curse people? 

God allows this only for our spiritual good, so that we can, for example, change, convert, for example, forgive and reconcile in our families. God is always after some spiritual good. If God allows an evil spirit to operate, He will not allow it to do as it pleases. He is limited by God’s power, he can only do as much as God allows him to do.

But it is important to say that the curse only works among the living, not among the dead, it is not transferred to those who have not yet been born. That is, if, say, my grandfather cursed me with a family curse, it only applies to living descendants, it is not passed on to future generations. Today it is popular to say, someone must have cursed me, but it is not so simple, it needs to be investigated in detail.

What spiritual dangers are there if the mentioned ancestral healing is practiced?

We may be in danger of simplifying the whole reality, throwing the responsibility for ourselves onto our ancestors, and then we no longer look for other solutions. It is necessary to go deeper and examine your way of life.

We often cause difficult situations in life by ourselves with a sinful lifestyle and do not make amends. If we have any mental illnesses, then with the shortcut of the root healing prayer, we avoid treatment and our problems can deepen further. Perhaps psychological or even psychiatric treatment would be necessary.

There is also a danger when the mediator of root healing becomes a kind of shaman for us, a guru on whom we become too attached. 

Furthermore, thanks to this theory, a certain malice towards our ancestors can be “born” in us, hatred that they are responsible for something that I am currently experiencing. Such an attitude is against God’s fourth commandment. We are to honor our parents.

We thus allow unnecessary negativism and sin into our lives. Too much digging in the past, for example in family trees up to the fourteenth century, can take us away from reality and from our life, for which we are responsible.

But do you admit that personal sin can also affect those around us?

Sin always has an effect on our surroundings. A bad example is, even if I hurt others, I influence them, I hurt them. John Paul II. he also talked about the structures of sin, that is, that sin creates certain structures in the world. Take, for example, the sin of corruption.

We know the practice of whole villages or towns praying for the forgiveness of the sins of their ancestors. Whether for sins from the period of Nazism, which dominated almost an entire generation in some areas. Do such collective prayers have any meaning?

Apologizing for sins is important. In the Bible, the Israelites apologized for the sins of their ancestors, but not in the sense of my parents or grandparents, but for the sins of the nation or the nation’s representatives.

John Paul II also called us to do something similar, he himself prayed for the church and apologized for the sins of the church committed by church leaders in the past. This makes sense, because unforgiveness is a great obstacle for God’s grace to work in a person’s life.

Therefore, we should forgive not only those closest to us, but also the representatives of the states, those who may be responsible for the situation in which we find ourselves.

How is it different from a disputed root healing prayer?

The difference is that this practice is based on the assumption that we inherit the sins or punishments of our ancestors, which is false. Plus, this practice is based on the fact that we can free our ancestors, that they are in the power of the devil and we free them. But that is not possible.

The Church speaks very clearly, at the moment of death the soul either dies in friendship with God and goes to heaven or purgatory, or it is damned and goes to hell. And we can no longer free the damned soul. 

So the indulgences we talk about during November belong to a different category.

These belong only to souls in purgatory, they do not apply to damned souls. We pray for the souls in purgatory that they may reach heaven and meet Jesus as soon as possible. 

The prayer of root healing leads us to the fact that we are not focused on God and the souls in purgatory, but on ourselves. I want to get some relief for myself to ease my troubles, and as a side effect I am trying to save the ancestors.

In the history of Catholicism, we do not know that the church served a mass for the healing of ancestral roots. The church serves the mass for the living, for their complete healing, and if the mass is served for the dead, then for their salvation. 

So if the healing of ancestral roots is not in accordance with the practice of the church, how can a person of faith heal the wounds of the past in accordance with the teaching of the church? 

We are to pray for our dead regardless of whether they are in hell, purgatory or heaven. But we pray for them. If they happen to be in hell, then God will use these prayers for someone else. If they are already in heaven, they no longer need them either, but God will use them again for another soul who needs them.

We also believe that souls pray for us. The Church talks about the exchange of spiritual gifts, it is also true that the more we pray for them, the more effective their prayers are for us. 

We can also pray prayers of supplication. In them we ask God for the sins of our ancestors and all people who have sinned. An example can be the prayer on the first Friday of the month.

If we hold grudges against our ancestors, they need to be forgiven, and that forgiveness must be specific. We must clearly name whom I forgive and what I forgive. My prayer might go something like this: “Lord Jesus, at this moment I forgive my father for abandoning me, for committing suicide. Please give him eternal salvation.’

You claim that so-called ancestral healing leads us to think that the souls of our ancestors still wander among us and have some influence on us…

Yes, this erroneous practice speaks of wandering souls who need our deliverance. But that is not true, the church teaches us that immediately after death the soul stands before God and there the reward or punishment occurs. It is true that some exorcists say and have such experience in exorcisms that sometimes the evil spirit appears to them as the soul of a deceased member of the person’s family. But it’s a lie.

An old ritual of exorcism warns exorcists at one point that they must not believe the devil if he presents himself as the soul of the deceased. Even Thomas Aquinas, the greatest teacher of the church, says very clearly in his theological summary that the soul cannot act on another body, only on its own body. Thus, after death, if the soul is separated from its own body, it cannot affect another person. Souls are not wandering, they are either in heaven, or in hell, or in purgatory. 

The Roman exorcist Matteo La Grua claimed that it is possible that some souls serve out their purgatory in the place where they lived to see the effect of their actions on their family. But that is his opinion, it is not the official teaching of the church.

Can the prayer for liberation recognized by the Catholic Church be a solution to certain problems in people’s lives? 

In the Catholic Church, we distinguish between exorcism and prayer for deliverance. The essence of exorcism is a direct command in the name of Jesus to the devil to leave a given person, place or thing. Prayer for deliverance means that we are not commanding the devil directly, but just asking Jesus to come and deliver the person from the evil spirit. 

As part of exorcisms, we know minor exorcisms, major exorcisms and pre-baptismal exorcisms. The big one prays for the possessed and can only be prayed by an exorcist. The smaller ones are prayers for liberation and are used during the preparation of adults for acceptance into the church. Any priest and even a layman can pray these if he has the permission of his bishop.

These deliverance prayers can also be prayed in evangelistic meetings. And then, not everyone knows, but before the baptism of children, a “pre-baptismal” exorcism also takes place in the form of a prayer for deliverance from original sin and from the devil’s influence.

Today it is very fashionable to use these prayers for deliverance quite en masse. That’s all right? 

It is quite widespread and I consider it a bit of a national sport. I don’t recommend it unless people have objective difficulties and problems.

Why don’t you recommend it? Can it have any negative impact?

People then focus more on the devil than on God, and this is not God’s will. Our mission in life is not to fight the devil, but to live with God. When the devil comes into my life, I should resist him, I can do that by prayer, good deeds, reading the Scriptures. If we pray these prayers often, it happens that we see the devil everywhere, even where he is not. 

 

 

The evangelist noted that people ran all over the area. They took off – and continue to take off. They were running around looking for healing. Even today, they run after doctors, ambulances, and pharmacies, after bioenergy therapists, and ointment makers, they start looking for the right diagnosis and effective medicine. And besides, not only look for medicine, but also to look for better living conditions, to look for a good job, material success, and profit; they are running to the point of having a heart attack – and often this is the only result of their running.

Running, chasing, and flying – have become the disease of modern man, and this disease destroys him more effectively than all other diseases. The reason the people of the Gospel started – was the meeting with Christ; they converged where they detected his presence. We are freed from such running. We can detect Christ’s presence, alive and personal, at every step, within reach. We observe how people in cities, and also in rural settlements, in their daily running, almost directly touch the church, which is open for them right next to the road, on the street, but they pass indifferently around the open door; do these people relieve in the real presence of Christ in this place? It would certainly be no loss to tarry for two or three minutes; on the contrary, it would be a profit. The call does not reach us then: Come to me, all you who are burdened and persecuted… ? In such a meeting of his open heart with our faith and trust, he would become for us at least to some extent a Counselor, our help, an exhalation, satisfaction and, perhaps, even healing – and our pursuit would not be so dramatic or even tragic. The world-famous psychologist (V. Frankl) says that the tragedy of today’s man is that he cannot stop himself…

After all, it is not only about stopping at the right moment in the church (or in its vestibule); perhaps it is necessary to somehow slow down our pursuit due to a moment of reflection during prayer (a tithe of the rosary, a passage from the Holy Scriptures, an evening examination of conscience) when the mind can focus on where the final limits of our pursuit are. Blessed is the opportunity to stop with Christ at the moment of St. reception, where I establish intimate contact with him without nervously running around the whole area

 – Fact the fact of God’s existence is so obvious, both throttle ugh creation and through the conscience of man, that the Bible calls an atheist a “fool” (Psalm 14:1). Therefore, the Bible never tries to prove the existence of God, rather it assumes His existence from the very beginning (Genesis 1:1). The Bible reveals the nature, character, and work of God.

Who is God? – Definition

Right-thinking about God is of the utmost importance because a false idea of ​​God is idolatry. In Psalm 50:21, God admonishes the wicked with this accusation: “you think that I am like you.” For starters, a good definition of God is “the supreme being; Creator and Ruler of all that is; He “who is” perfect in power, goodness, and wisdom. “

Who is God? – His nature

We know that certain things are true about God for one reason: in his mercy, he has taken care to reveal some of his attributes to us. God is a spirit, immaterial (John 4:24). God is one, but exists as three Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17). God is infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), incomparable (2 Samuel 7:22), and unchanging (Malachi 3:6). God is everywhere (Psalm 139: 7-12), knows everything, and has all power and authority (Ephesians 1, Revelation 19: 6).

Who is God? – His character

Here are some of God’s attributes that are revealed in the Bible: God is just (Acts 17:31), loving (Ephesians 2:4-5), true (John 14:6), and holy (1 John 1:5). God shows compassion (2 Corinthians 1:3), mercy (Romans 9:15), and grace (Romans 5:17). God judges sin (Psalm 5:5,6), but also offers forgiveness (Psalm 130:4).

Who is God? – His work

We understand God better from his works, because what God does results from what he is. Here is an abbreviated list of God’s work, past, present, and future: God created the world (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 42:5); actively supports the world (Colossians 1:17); carries out his eternal plan (Ephesians 1:11), which includes the redemption of man from the curse of sin and death (Galatians 3:13-14); draws people to Christ (John 6:44); he brings up his children (Hebrews 12:6); and will judge the world (Revelation 20: 11-15).

Who is God? – Relationship with Him

God became incarnate in the person of the Son (John 1:14). The Son of God became the Son of man and is therefore the “bridge” between God and man (John 14:6; 1 Timothy 2:5). Only through the Son can we have our sins forgiven (Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation with God (John 15:15; Romans 5:10) and eternal salvation (2 Timothy 2:10). In Jesus Christ “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). So to know who God is, all we need is to look to Jesus.

There is now a large body of research that addresses the question of human happiness and therefore a full and satisfying human life. Many of them have compiled various more or less comprehensive” happiness lists”. In principle, they all agree that a full and happy human life must include the following three qualities:
GROWTH – to be the best possible one within of my abilities and capabilities I can be, self-actualization (cf. Maslow, Goldstein, etc.)
TRANSCENDENCE – having a transcending purpose in life, something to live for, something to strive to be the best possible, something to die for, if it came to that (cf. Frankl.)
RELATIONSHIPS – to live in a community where we share this way of life, share its joy, and at the same time help each other to grow more and more in this life (Grant and Glueck study, Powell, etc.)
AUTONOMIC LIVING – this is how this form of life is sometimes referred to, where the value of life – and our sense of happiness and fulfillment – do not depend on anything external (such as money, possessions, recognition, power, etc.), but flow directly from within us, we experience them within ourselves, and at the same time we don’t need any external motivation (paycheck, praise, awards) to live this way because we are motivated by life itself, which we live and which itself is our reward (cf. Plato, Seneca, etc.).
GOD is the one who lives this form of life in the greatest conceivable intensity: HOLY (= no evil) and PERFECT (= the best possible) – there is no conceivable quality that He or His Life lacks, it contains within itself absolutely everything, including everything that exists on earth.
LOVE – God is one, but not alone. He is a communion of three Persons, each of whom lives for the other two Persons and in them finds the perfect meaning of His existence, giving Himself to them in ultimate love.
THE TRINITY – results in relationships of such profound affinity, understanding, and inner unity, that though Three Persons, they are but one being, one being, the One God in perfect communion of relationships. As human beings, we were created by God for to share in this life of God, to have God share His life and who He is with us. In Christianity, we call this by the technical term CREATION: God became man to man became God and had to participate in His eternal LIFE.

 “Or does human life have no meaning and does a person have a goal?” This question, with which M. Blondel begins his work L’Action (Action), still has its full topicality and represents an area everyone must address. Otherwise, he will not find himself and will lack a mature and mature personal identity. This is important because we only have one life! That is why the most basic question in religion classes is: Why are we in the world? This is how religion gives us answers to the most significant questions regarding our lives: Where are we from and why are we here? Where is our goal? “Eternal life consists in knowing you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17, 3). These words are the motto in the introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (hereafter KKC), which was also published in Slovak in 1998. To know God means to live, but to live life is not of this world. This knowledge is the goal of our life.

Therefore, the hunter is created not for this world, not for this life, but for another world, for another life, which means happiness that we cannot even imagine. St. speaks about this life. Augustine in the book of his Confessions, which are like a life confession and a confession, a celebration of God’s incomprehensible love: “When I cling to you with my whole being, I will never feel pain or effort, and my life, filled with you, will be a true life” (Confessions, 10 , 28; cf. CC, 45). We are created for this happiness, and this happiness is sought by our “restless heart”, which St. Augustine (Confessions, 1, 1). The New Testament uses several expressions to characterize the bliss to which God calls man. It is: the coming of the kingdom of God, seeing God, entering into the joy of the Lord, entering into the peace of God (cf. CCC, 1720). According to St. Augustin, “we will rest there and see: we will see and love. We will love and praise. So it will be endless in the end. After all, what other goal do we have, if not to come to the Kingdom, which will have no end?” (On the City of God, 22, 30).

” This desire is of divine origin. God put it in the heart of man to draw him to himself because only he can fully satisfy it” (KKC, 1718). This is how St. Thomas Aquinas: “Only God satiates.” Therefore, we can answer the old catechism question that “God created us to know him, to serve him and to love him, and that’s how we came to paradise.” Beatitude gives us participation in God’s nature and eternal life” (CCC, 1721). This simple sentence is like a tightrope on a steep mountain path, like something to cling to when everything is uncertain. At the same time, the meaning of the catechism is very simply explained in this truth: it is a way, a help to a happy life, a help in life, a guide, a map with precisely marked goals.

The fleeting desire for eternal life and eternal happiness confronts us with decisive choices. “He teaches us that true happiness is not in wealth or prosperity, nor human fame or power, nor any human creation, however useful, such as science, technology, art, nor in any creature, but only into God, the source of all good and all love” (CCC, 1723). A young man who graduated from school shortly after the gentle revolution started a business, and his work was successful. He almost became a self-confident man, which he made everyone feel. He saw the meaning of his work life. He devoted all his strength to her, but she did not fully satisfy him. He was a witness at marriage once. He confidently sat down on the bench. But as soon as the ceremony began, he disappeared. He had not been in the temple for very long. He didn’t know when to stand up, or when to stay seated. He didn’t even know the songs, he just opened his mouth,

When during Holy Communion the youth choir sang songs of praise about God’s love, the priest noticed that something was being done to him. The businessman lowered his head, his shoulders shook, and wept. After the ceremony, he came to the priest and said: “Those young people who sang are happy. They know why they live. And I understood that I don’t know why I live. I felt sorry for it. Father, help me to be happy like them.” This question is answered by Jesus when he met the rich young man (Mk 10, 17-22). Jesus’ answer leaves no shadow of doubt about the path to be taken and is summed up in the words: “Come, follow me!” (Mk 10:21), as soon as you renounce everything. The evangelist left us a note that highlights this consideration for us: The young man “became sad and went away sad because he had a lot of property” (Mk 10:22). These words are eloquent. The true meaning of our existence cannot be achieved without Christ, without God. We cannot achieve this without giving up everything.

Maria Cristina from Savoys (1812-1836), noble queen, and wife of King Ferdinand of Naples wrote in one of her poems: “Although I am healthy… But what next? – And I have gold and silver… But what next? – And fate put me in a high place… But what next? – I am almost the only one with such spirit and knowledge… But what next? – Even if I enjoyed the world for a thousand years… And then? – We almost die and nothing remains: – Serve your God and then you will have everything!” (A. Luciani: Letters to yesterday). Those are thoughts unsurpassed and true! We only have one life, so the question, “Why are we here?” is vitally important. God answered this question very clearly in Jesus, crucified and risen. Now he stands at the door and knocks. Whoever wants, he will open for him. Those who open up to him will not regret it.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and the catechesis (teaching) of the apostles show us the paths that lead to the kingdom of heaven. Strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we strive to follow them step by step with our daily deeds…” (CCC, 1724). A good Christian life was already a “way” to God for the first Christians. Even our life is not only one of many paths, but also a path that God himself shows us, and which reliably leads through this life and safely leads to the goal. Whether we achieve it depends on us. God does not force us to do this, he only invites us: “If you want…” (Mt 19, 17). However, it is worth achieving. Jesus Christ assures us of this: “Come, you blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you…” (Mt 25, 34). What “eye has not seen, nor ear heard”, and what “has not entered the human heart” (1 Cor 2, 9)

Today’s Feast of the Sacrifice of the Lord, popularly called “Groundhog Day”, offers us two facts. Above all, it is a memory of Christmas, it is the symbolic end of the Christmas circuit – a kind of echo of Christmas. It is a memory of how the Virgin Mary brought Jesus to the Jerusalem temple. We will remind you of that first. But today’s holiday is also a great task for each of us: We are to be the light of the world. And so we want to realize that we are supposed to be that light, to radiate, warm and aw, taken new life. The Virgin Mary had baby Jesus all to herself for forty days. And now she came with Joseph through the east gate to the temple of Jerusalem to fulfill the prescription of the law of Moses. The priest comes and leads the mothers in line to the temple. There he stretches his hands over the children and announces: Every firstborn boy is dedicated to the Lord. He mentions how in Egypt the heathen firstborn boys perished, but the boys of the chosen nation of Israel were saved, and now they are to thank for it. Joseph handed over two baby pigeons and, like everyone else, dropped five shekels of silver into the temple treasury.

The ceremony in the Jerusalem temple is over, and the women are leaving. The Virgin Mary came out last. And in front of her stands an old man. Her hair is white as snow, and she reaches out to her with her shaking hands. The Mother of God knew that at this moment the whole world was reaching out its hands to Christ the Lord. The whole world is waiting for redemption. Maria handed her child to the venerable old man. And the old Simeon first looked to the sky and thanked the Lord for waiting so many years and not in vain. And then he looked at the child and uttered the prophetic words: God, I can die now. I saw the Savior. He will be a light to the entire world and bring glory to his nation. And an eighty-four-year-old old woman, the prophetess Anna, daughter of Phanuel, approached. She also praised the Lord. And it seemed to the Virgin Mary that two people were standing there who had been expelled from Paradise – Adam and Eve. They stand there and give thanks that rescue is coming. They thank you for

Now the old man Simeon turned to the Virgin Mary. What does he want to say to her? Simeon predicted: This child of yours will be accepted by others and will be for their enlistment. But others will stand against that child – to their destruction. And you will observe and experience all this, and a sword will be dug into your soul. Maria knows that. The others will rejoice, and she – Seven Pain – will cry. Redemption will come to the second, and she – the Seven Painful One – will experience pain. The others will have peace and she – the Seven Pain – will be pierced by a sword. Yes, the Seven-Pained Mother of God will stand under the cross of her Son, she will not be able to give her Son even a sip of water when he cries “I am thirsty”! She will stand under his cross and will not be able to hold back the spear with which they will open Christ the Lord’s Divine Heart. But at that moment both hearts will be pierced. One spear and the other,

And so they left the Jerusalem temple and walked around Herod’s palace. He will be the first to take the dagger to pierce Christ the Lord. And Mary will run again at night – just like on Christmas Day. Herod will be the first, but not the only one. His nation will rise against Christ. The world will eventually rise against him. But his cross will shine triumphantly in heaven when he comes in his glory. Yes, today’s holiday is the last memory of Christmas, but also the first harbinger of Easter. The firstborn sons in Egypt were killed on the Passover. And this child is already preparing for his Easter. That is the event of today in the life of the Virgin Mary. Today’s holiday is also a task for each of us. Christ the Lord is the Light of the world, and he commands us all – be the light of the world too! And we ask: How can we spread this light of Christ? To that end, we will tell a small story from life.

Friends invited a lonely young man to come to their house on Christmas Day. They had a cottage on the hill not far from the bus. After the festive dinner, they were supposed to go to midnight mass together. And so the young man set off on his journey. It was afternoon and the sun was shining. He went uphill, first through the forest, then the forest stopped, but the weather changes quickly in the mountains. And suddenly the wind blew a blizzard, heavy snowflakes stuck to his eyes, he waded through the snow up to his knees, sweating with fatigue and fear. He thought, “What if I fit in here, what if no one finds me?”

He started calling for help, but no one heard him. The young man remembered God: “Lord, you are my light and my salvation. Please don’t leave me!” And the blizzard and the white milky mist disappeared as quickly as they had come. He saw the hill and the illuminated windows. He had a wonderful Christmas Day. Yes, people can get lost, not only in the mountains. People can also go astray in their lives. May they always find someone to show them the way? May they always find the light of Christ? Let Christ the Lord be our light. May the Virgin Mary be our star, as it is said in one poem: “Mary, Mother, you have been in me – like a starfish to a swimmer at sea.” – Just as that little star shines and delights – the one who prays and the one who sins.” Let us be the light of the world and let us all meet one day when the eternal light will shine.

Either God exists or He does not. Which of these two hypotheses are you betting on? This is how philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal addressed the readers of his famous book Ideas more than 300 years ago. Believers and even semi-believers will answer God without hesitation. Although it looks different in practice. They do not renounce God explicitly, but often explicitly alienate themselves from Him. They become prodigal sons, not all at once, but gradually. Let us try to express this concretely. I was talking to a businessman. He wakes up thinking of the many deadlines that await him that day. At breakfast, he throws a glance at several newspapers, drinks coffee, telephones the clerks in the car, looks over the most important files in the office, rushes to a meeting with the heads of departments, negotiates with representatives of other companies, receives visitors, hears complaints, signs contracts. All day, every day, the same merry-go-round. No thought of God, no prayer for guidance, and higher motivation for his work. In the evening, he often comes home with a head full of plans and worries. Whatever religiosity he may have inherited, such a way of life will gradually alienate him from God. Man enjoys, plans, decides, gets angry, disregards God, and is guided by vision, benefit, profit, and success. God, church, and good deeds are slowly forgotten. Such people, with this way of life, gradually lose interest in God and the spiritual life. Certainly, not all of them are businessmen. But do not we too get carried away by our worries so perfectly, that God has no place either in the mind, in the heart, or the feelings. We allow ourselves to be so deceived by our work, by our petty interests, that we lose other things, and above all, we lose contact with God. One ceases to commune with God, to consult with Him, to seek His company in prayer, to read the Holy Scriptures. His place is taken by friends, television, sports, career, and politics. It is not that he rejects God altogether, but he will always prefer something else. And they don’t miss God. It is similar to the story of the prodigal son. As long as he had enough money, and enjoyed life, it didn’t even occur to him to think about God. Which caused him to change his view of his Father, and his life. The poverty in which he found himself. And it will be similar today. It is only when people today lose the values on which they build their lives, then they will begin to seek God again. In other words, man must first empty himself, and make room for God. Voluntarily, man is probably not able to do this. He must be forced to do so by external circumstances. Just as they forced the prodigal son.

 Children imitate their parents, Fathers, and mothers, you are teachers. Your children are students. The pitch of your angry voice, your mannerisms, and your mood are all imitated by your young children.