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Indeed many of you have heard or read about the establishment of a monastery of Carmelite sisters next to the concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland. Their mission was to pray to God for all those killed in this concentration camp during the Second World War. This is a serious, significant, and necessary matter for us believers. But not for everyone. Because some were annoyed by this place where the Carmelite sisters prayed and caused prayedous inconveniences to the sisters, they say: Heaven was closed over Auschwitz! God was not there then! He was silent! He allowed it! He committed and did not help! And that’s why we don’t even need these nuns there now.

The evangelist Luke points out in today’s Gospel the request of the apostles: “Give us more faith!” (Lk 17:5). And the answer of Jesus is equally interesting: “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed and said to this mulberry tree: Be plucked up with take root and plant yourself in the sea, she would obey you” (Luke 17:6). The Gospel shows us how we should personally approach this when it advises us to say: “We are unprofitable servants; we did what we had to do”(Luke 17:10). The existence of suffering and injustice in the world is as sure as the sun rising in the morning. Even the Lord Jesus suffered a terrible and shameful death on the cross. The apostles suffered persecution. The only exception was Saint John, who did not die a martyr’s death but was also tortured and exiled to the island of Patmos. The end of the apostles was terrible. Let’s remember Peter’s death. In his novel Quo Vadis, which was awarded the therapist Prize, writer Henryk Sienkiewicz writes how Peter walks up one of the Vatican hills. This older gray man does not carry a cross but walks beside him. People around him say that he is leaving to see the Lord. Peter takes one last look at Rome and, at the hour of his death,h gives his blessing to the city and the world. The first believers survived cruel and brutal persecution until the Edict of Milan in 313 when they got their freedom.

The Church also suffered in the following years; when the Orthodox Church was established in the East in 1054, there was a split between East and West. Not even five centuries will pass, and another pain for the Church! The division in the West. The reformation movement brings another break. The Anglican Church was founded,  led by King Henry VIII. and the Directioners of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. In addition, freedom of belief was guaranteed and emphasized. The Church’s release was not and is not because priests and believers continue to suffer and are persecuted worldwide. From history, let’s remember Wenceslaus, John of Nepomuk, the Košice Martyrs, Bishop Metodo, his companions, and others. But also in the world – Joan of Arc, Vojtech, Stanislav, Pavol Miki, and his companions, Karol Lwanda, Thomas Morus, Maximilán Kolbe. The Church has elevated many to the altar as blessed or saints, but it is also an incalculable number of unknowns,

What about the millions who died in concentration camps under Hitler and Stalin? Let’s not be surprised that a person came to the point of desperate questions: Why did God allow this? Why does he not help his faithful? Let us include the answer to these fundamental questions of our existence in the readings from the Holy Scrip that we have just read. When we observe the world surrounding us, we make more than one remark that God is silent about wrongs, persecution, and oppression: “Lord, we plead with you, and you do not hear us? We cry to you, there is untruth and injustice, and you do not help? Why do you look passively? Behold, violence and injustice are before me; disputes and passions arise.”

After these reproaches to God, the prophet Habakkuk gives a clear answer: The Lord said to me: “Write the vision clearly on the board so that it can be read fluently.” The vision is still for a certspecifice, but hasten to the end and does not disappoint; if he moves away, wait for him because he will surely come and not miss. Behold, he puffs himself up, in whom the soul is not upright, but the righteous will live because of his faithfulness” (Hab 2,2-4). When we read the Letter of the apostle Paul to Timothy, we find that the apostle gives an even more precise answer to our questions: “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lorr of me, his prisoner, but suffer with me for the gospel, strengthened by the power of God” (2 Tim 1:8). The Lord Jesus wants us to bear witness to him and share in the difficulties and inconveniences we endure for the sake of the gospel. Holy Father John Paul II. wrote an apostolic letter on the meaning of Christian suffering. He notes that when we connect our suffering with Christ’s, this suffering takes on a new character, value, purpose, and value.

Yes, whoever suffers in union with Christ, it is faith that gives him hope and strength;
that his suffering is not foolishness,
that it makes sense,
that it is worth suffering with Christ,
and that is necessary for our salvation.

For a non-believer, suffering is nonsense, and he often despairs. For the believer, every suffering is of great value and grace if he suffers in union with Christ. Lord Jesus suffered for man and man. Every person, therefore, participates in their redemption. Thus, the Lord Jesus calls everyone to join in the suffering he endures because our rescue was born through this suffering. Throughout our lives, we should ask God for deep faith and fulfill the tasks that the Lord gives us. In time, we will surely understand the wisdom of his plans, that he did not wish us harm when he inflicted suffering, pain, persecution and pe, and perhaps even death on us. We realize that without faith, we cannot understand this deep meaning of our suffering and co-redemption with Christ. And it was for this faith that the apostles begged, and we should also pray.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem says that there are two kinds of faith. One type of faith refers to the acceptance of church truths, and the other is the gift of the love of the Lord Jesus.
Cyril writes: “The faith that the Holy Spirit bestows as a gift of love does not only concern the truths of the Church, but also about superhuman things. Whoever possesses faith of the second kind and says to this mulberry tree: Be uprooted and planted in the sea; she will obey you. He who speaks in faith, believing that it will come to pass and does not doubt in his heart, will receive this love.” The words of the Lord Jesus apply to this kind of faith: “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed…” (Luke 17:6). As we know, a grain of mustard seed is tiny, but it has incredible power because it will grow into a big bushy one. Tree. Likewise, faith in the soul can do very great things in a short time. A soul illuminated by faith in God will still feel and experience the infinity of God’s love here on earth. To have this faith – the belief in God that God gives and does superhuman things – we must strive for it.

This faith, about which St. Lukáš and Cyril of Jerusalem, causes us not to lose our faith because of the sufferings inflicted on us or the spreading injustice. Therefore, we ask: Lord, strengthen our faith! Those who have faith can look at worldwide suffering and pain so that it enriches them and does not break them. Let us not be surprised because some did not understand the prayers and contemplative life of the Carmelite sisters near the concentration camp. We cannot imagine life without faith. The student must believe the teacher that two and two are four. The patient must trust the doctor, the son, the father, and the cooking the recipe. Let’s also consider our faith and recognize its advantages, a wan outstandingntribution to personal and social life. 

Brothers and sisters, the Second Vatican Council, means a great deal in the history of the Church. Today we are witnessing many changes and adjustments. For example, we glorify God in Mass in the people’s language. He also emphasized the value of the sacraments and made them present to a believing person. We can say that the Church is alive and allows each member to be active in its community. Among the serious things of the Second Vatican Council, we can also include the abolition of the Index. These were lists of works that the Church forbade reading, listening, and watching, even under the weight of sin. In this way, she protected believers from unnecessary mental anguish, stress, and pain. Many were offended by the cancellation of the Index, paused, and asked: Why? It was brought about by the times themselves. Each person was endowed with free will. Today’s world has entered such a rapid scientific, cultural and political pace that every person, especially a believer, must realize that it is impossible to continue with the old educational principles. We must therefore be aware of our free will. Today’s person has to find his place in society; he often has to make decisions very quickly and solve the complex issues of life around him. However, he must know his religious life’s seriousness, beauty, and responsibility. He has a conscience that he must take care of, which means dreaming means trying to live as a Christian who is aware of the value of his convictions. The index protected the believer from scandal. Today’s man must realize that he must defend himself from scandals and that he should not be a scandal to others and live according to the principles of Jesus Christ.

Jesus touches our consciences more deeply. He says, “It is impossible for scandals not to come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better if they hung a millstone around his neck and threw it into the sea as if he were to offend one of these little ones” (Lk 17:1-2).

We believe Christians who have come to know the doctrine of Jesus and seek to fulfill our lives in connection with Him must see, hear, feel, and feel the freedom that the Creator has given us. Therefore, we must not feel abandoned but be aware that we live in constant connection with the Creator of all beings. In this connection, aware of our relationship with God, we take a positive attitude to each value, not looking at the frame in which it is framed but the image.

The execution of a young man took place in the city. Under the gallows, he was given a call to say his last wish. And the young man says: – I see my father here. I want to say something in his ear. The embarrassed father timidly walked up to his son. As he approached, the son bit his ear and kicked him. The public was very outraged. And the convict continues: – I was not a bad child. I had an exemplary mother who taught me prayers, and I prayed the rosary with her. But dad, he still made fun of the faith and ridiculed it. When he returned drunk, he smashed paintings and trampled on the cross and rosary. The mother from torment had a heart attack. After her death, my father took charge of me. Although I felt an aversion to alcohol, it made me drink. And then nothing was holy to me! I have committed shamefulness, fraud, and murder. Justice has triumphed! I am dying on the gallows, but execute with me both those who brought me here and those who offended me. May my father, my teacher in the scandal, also die…

Do you still think, brothers and sisters, parents and friends, that there is something easy to offend or set a bad example? I do not speak everywhere because many are offended so often that they do not even realize it. Let us ask our consciences: How long will I offend my children with alcohol, with sinning? How long do I want to offend those around me with my attacks against Christ, the Church, priests, and believers? How long do I want to sell my talent, education, and status? Would a hundred eyes be enough for me? I would still have my hands and feet if it were true: If thy hand, thy foot, the eye is the author of sin… You know what to do! Otherwise, the words apply: It would be better for him to hang the millstone around his neck and throw it into the sea. I know that we must take these words seriously. Our happiness depends on them not only here on earth but also on our joy, the joy of others, without end.

The abolition of the Index puts more weight on our freedom. After all, we are free confessors of the teachings of Christ. Therefore, Christ rightly expects us to act according to His counsel.
Let us pray: Divine Savior, you do not recognize the compromise between evil and sin, so we always want to stand on the side of those who avoid scandal because we have come to know the truth that no one will give us and only you will provide a reward for perseverance in the good.

We Europeans already have the cultural heritage of Greek philosophy
and the Hebrew religion. Both these movements think in their classical forms of a world where evolutionary silence reigns and which is stable in its way.
Plato imagined that in a world of ideas, every living organism is more or less its perfect embodiment: evolution does not take place; the world exists. There is, for example, the idea triangle, and all existing triangles on this planet are more or less a perfect image of it. The idea will be there even if there is no triangle here on Earth. Similarly, there is, for example, the concept of a horse. All existing horses on this planet are more or less perfect imitations of this eternal idea. Of course, there is no room for evolution in such a world. Plato’s disciple Aristotle then attributes to things so-called substance and so-called accidents. The meaning is what makes a thing what it is. The importance of a triangle is its triangularity, the importance of a chair is its clarity, and the importance of a horse is its hoarseness. The meaning is invisible. The accidents are visible: color, smell, taste, or shape.
The accidents somehow hang on to the substance but otherwise have nothing to do with it to do with meaning. I can dye my black shirt pink: the shiftiness remains, but the accident changes. Accidents can’t exist like that: no green color is hanging in the air, only green grass or a green bottle. Even in Aristotle’s world, there is no place for evolution: horniness cannot become horniness, nor can selfishness become doggishness. Aristotle noticed the different levels of complexity among organisms. He, therefore, classified them into so-called scala nature, the ladder of nature: each creature, according to its perfection, occupies one rung here, from which, however, it can get neither up nor down. The biblical tradition supported this view of the world: the first chapter of Genesis was understood as a description of events. Although here I have e a kind of hint of development – creation did not take place all at once but in a six-day interval, roughly speaking, from less perfect to more perfect – from the seventh day onwards, nothing serious happens to nature; the species have remained unchanged as they are to this day, and although the Flood appropriately reduced the number of organisms, they are still the same species; Noah’s I managed to preserve the pre-flood creatures and maintain continuity.
Since Europe grew out of the roots of Greek philosophy and Hebrew religion, it is unsurprising that the idea of a stationary world persisted in biology into the nineteenth century and in astronomy into the mid-twentieth century. The first serious problems arose in the eighteenth century when people began to explore the earth’s interior and found the remains of extinct dinosaurs. These skeletal finds made it clear that none of the creatures exist today. This means the dating number of species on Earth. The latest attempt to reconcile biblical tradition with the law …was made by the Frenchman George Cuvier, who came up with the theory of cataclysms. It is worth knowing something about it; contemporarylogy returns to this idea of catastrophes, albeit with different connotations. According to Cuvier, God created the plant community and animals, which flourished on Earth for a time, then disaster struck, and everything died out. God then created another group of plants and animals, but even these were eventually destroyed by catastrophe. There were several creatures, and God always created a new group of plants and animals after a catastrophe. God made only the last creation, in addition to the animals and plants; in this previous creation, the Bible speaks of man,
so there was no need to write about the previous ones. Therefore, we find in the earth the remains of those past creations.
The first to come up with a solidly documented idea of evolution was another Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. In 1809, he published a book called Philosophe Zoologist, which proves that evolution is ongoing. Unfortunately, alongside Lamarck’s real contribution, we tend to teach Lamarck’s mistaken idea of how evolution takes place in secondary schools. The classic Lamarck example is the idea of an animal that feeds on the leaves of trees. Whoever stretches his neck higher reaches for the larger, more leaves. After a lifetime of grazing on leaves, the channel nevertheless lengthens. Only then is it right. Lamarck, however, imagined (incorrectly) that the creature would be able to pass on this new trait – an elongated neck – to its offspring. His offspring will continue on the path he has set, and they, too, will stretch their necks as far as possible. Their descendants and their descendants’ descendants will do the same. And Lamarck concludes. The giraffe. Scholars would speak of the heredity of the used and the unused. It’s easy to criticize Lamarck after you’ve taken a course in general genetics here at school. According to Lamarck, if I started going to the gym and soon developed muscle bulges, then. My kids should be born muscular. That seems to be different from how it works. Lamarck’s views must be considered in the context of the times. Virtually nothing was known about heredity in the early nineteenth century. There were curious ancient views, for example, that a child would have …the father’s temperament at the moment of conception. It needed to be discovered what was inherited or how. Looking through a simple microscope at sperm, it was assumed that in the sperm, you could see a tiny child curled up like that, as in the mother’s womb. So the only parent is the male; the mother only supplies the nutrients and allows the baby to grow inside her body. People of all generations have been hidden in Adam, like Russian Matroska.
Charles Darwin advocated the idea of what is called blended inheritance, blending inheritance. He correctly observed that a child carries within itself the characteristics of both parents and grandparents. The child is thus the average of the parental features: when we blend red and white wine, …a pink mixture is created. This (incorrect) view persisted until the great beginning of the twentieth century, when, in 1900, the experiments of the monk Gregor Mendel were rediscovered.

People can enjoy various things and events – from winning, success, happiness… But can we enjoy the winnings, success, and satisfaction of our dear ones? And can we do it even when it comes to others, strangers? Can we also rejoice in the return of the prodigal son, brother, sister, and friend to God? On this subject, the gospel speaks when Luke emphasizes the words of the Lord Jesus: “I say unto you, Thus in heaven, there shall be greater joy over one sinner who repents… ” (Lk 15:7). Around the Lord Jesus, there were many tollbooths-customs officers and other sinners who were considered less esteemed by the Pharisees and scribes and therefore resented Christ, who pretended to be the Messiah, for meeting such people. They thought it to be pollution and were enthusing strangely. They want to tear the Lord Jesus away from his most faithful listeners. Such actions seem strange to us and also outdated. Perhaps we will say: That was then. The other group can demand tolerance; the Lord Jesus could meet with whomever He wanted.

We can therefore respond differently to the gospel text. However, when we look around, we have to admit that Phariseeism is not an outdated thing. After all, even around us, and perhaps we are ourselves, they also proceed in the same way with regard to the Church as they did with the Lord Jesus. Some accuse the Church of being too lenient with the contemporary world, while others accuse it of being too strict. Perhaps with these objections they want to erode trust in the Church. For this is also how they acted against Christ. We, too, are more or less responsible for the state of opinions. The Lord Jesus responds to reproaches with three short parables that we know very well, that are close to our hearts, and that whenever we listen to them, we feel that they touch us. In the first parable, the Lord Jesus speaks of a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them has wandered, and he is looking for her. When he finds her, he takes her on his shoulders and returns to the basket with pleasure. In the second parable, the Lord Jesus tells of a woman-housekeeper who lost one drachma. She inspects and sweeps out the whole house, and when she finds her, she summons her neighbors to rejoice with her. In the third parable, the Lord Jesus tells of a father who has two sons. One of them takes his part of the property, which he wastes, and the worried father is waiting for his return. When this son returns, he receives him with great joy. In every parable we can find a lesson for us. It is the joy that appears after moments of restlessness, searching. These three parables have something in common. God rejoices in the return of the sinner, and in the same way the Lord Jesus rejoices in this return and wants us to rejoice for the same reason. The shepherd, the housekeeper and the father of the family are equally worried, at the same time very vigilant, when they are eager to find what they have lost: a sheep, a drachma, a son.

In the same way, God treats each of us with His infinite care and great patience. Each of us can feel that the stray sheep can be ourselves. None of us is forgotten by the Lord Jesus. He patiently cares about everyone and longs for love to be healed. He does so not in the sense of humiliating us but to accept us with His care as a shepherd of His sheep. Paul the Apostle writes to Timothy, “I thank him who strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, for recognizing me as faithful and entrusting me with service, even though I was previously a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a rapist” (1 Timothy 1:12).

These words may seem excessive to us. In any case, they also concern us. After all, who among us can say that he had never experienced something like this before he met Christ, who warmly received him when we were bothered by our sins? Who among us has not felt strengthened in the remission of sins when we have realized our sin in the depths of our hearts? Whatever we think of ourselves, let us be convinced that the Lord is always with us. We must never be ashamed or afraid but, on the contrary, hope and trust in His mercy. He who hopes and draws upon God’s mercy will not be disappointed. We are all sinners, and God is willing to forgive us. Let us realize that until the end of our lives, we will need His forgiveness and will not be able to endure the good without God’s grace. This constant patience that surrounds each of us is also our joy when we come to terms with it. There are two things to be aware of from the readings: The Lord Jesus cares about us and wants to forgive each of us.

At the end of the narrative of the prodigal son, we can find another lesson: The elder brother returns from the field. When he hears music and dancing, he asks for the reason. When he finds out this is his brother’s return, he opposes the brother who squandered part of his fortune with a bad lousy, and now his father still prepares a feast for him! He, who was faithful to his father, never received anything like this from his father in return. We have a question that the Lord Jesus answers to them— come to the father rejoices at the sinner’s return? Why do you not glory but still feel touched and object that God does not consider your virtues and merits? The Lord Jesus summed it up in words he put in the father’s mouth, addressing the elder son: “… for this brother of yours was dead, and he came to life, and he was lost, and he was found” (Lk 15:32).

Why does anger appear in us at the expense of the good bestowed upon our neighbors? Those who have often changed or are returning say that the Christian community they return to does not receive them with joy but often indifferently and suspiciously. Therefore, some prefer to stay in their old place. Doesn’t all this cause turmoil for those “righteous” who think they are perfect?! To some, it seems God is interfering with them when He tells them to change their lives. They cannot stand that God can manifest Himself behind their closed group and serve others to do good. Often, evil comes from the fact that we consider ourselves more perfect than others and want to be specially marked from this motive by God’s care. We believe ourselves to be proper, valuable, and rewarding sinners who need God’s forgiveness. Can we pray for those who have done us pain and hand rm, who have offended us? If not by mouth, then at least in our hearts, do we not wish them punishment for this?

God desires that we change our attitude to sin for ourselves and those whom the Lord calls and forgives so that we can also accept ourselves. As God endows us with love, let us also give our stray brothers and sisters on their return to the basket like sheep found by the Lord. Let us rejoice as a woman with her neighbors when she saw a coin. Let us open our arms and hearts to every prodigal son, and let us not be like an elder brother who, although faithful to his father, did not treat his brother as his father wanted.

Let us arouse this intention, and we will become enriched and happier today. It will be a big win for us. It will enrich those who are returning and let them feel welcome among us, and we look forward to their return and meeting.