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Truth for the soul is as important as bread for the body. Even according to the Holy Scriptures, the truth liberates, uplifts, and can calm. We ourselves require and expect it in our ordinary interactions with others. Opinions about truth vary. Thomas Aquinas, the Italian philosopher, and theologian, put it most succinctly in the idea, “Truth is the correspondence of matter and reason.” Our testimony must agree with reality. The opposite is a lie. A conscious or deliberate untruth masquerading as truth. We all have experience with lying. Those who think they are not lying and have not lied are deceiving themselves. Lying is binding. It is a bondage we feel on our souls and our hearts alert us to it.

A lady said to me in a meeting: “Everywhere I go there is insincerity, falsity, and acting out. Everyone is just lying and playing at something they are not.” Lying has permeated all spheres of our lives. Lying is at the origin of getting rich, accompanying us to a career, drawing too much attention to ourselves, or if we want to conceal something so that it doesn’t come out and we suffer shame.

Lying also hurts, it leads us down a path of insecurity, it leads us down a path we don’t want to go down. Both are within us. We often feel our lies suffocating us, and if we are hurt by a lie, pain is added. What would happen if we accepted the words of the Bible? “If you speak, say yes, yes, no, no!” Aren’t these words that warn us how to treat each other so that communication is clear between us and leaves no one in uncertainty or in deception? Maybe we wouldn’t say so much, but we would know where we stand. No one’s conscience would be troubled and no one would feel the pain of lying.

In the book Robinson, there is this scene: Robinson teaches Friday that salt is needed. He takes a piece of unsalted meat and spits it out. Friday puts salt on his tongue and spits it out. Both are trying to prove their truth. Robinson, the need for salt, Friday the unpleasantness of salt.

Today we heard: You are the salt of the earth. How? There is only one person in the Bible who could say about himself: “I am salt!” It was Lot’s wife who turned into a pillar of salt as she fled from the burning Sodom and Gomorrah. Lord Jesus certainly did not mean it that way. How is that salt? Who can eat salt alone? Even in times of hunger, no one eats it. Even in times of thirst, no one drinks it. People on a ship without drinking water would die of thirst, salty sea water is undrinkable. Salt by itself is not good. Salt changes the composition of the soil; kills life, raises blood pressure…

Salt becomes useful when it is used for seasoning or preservation. That is: when it is mixed with other things. So we are not salt, but we should be the salt of the earth. As we heard in the Gospel when Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth”. That is: we should be mixed with the earth; – that is, with what is around us, with what and with whom we live. Why? To make the environment “tasty”, that is, to make life better and protect it from spoiling.

The right amount of salt adds flavor to things. Italians have a saying about seasoning salads. They say they use three ingredients for this: oil, vinegar, and salt. And they also have this comment: “Let the spendthrift pour oil – that means the more the better.” Give the vinegar to the miser, that means the less the better. Well, give salt to the philosopher! This means to a person who knows how to judge the right measure.” It follows that estimating the amount of salt is the most difficult. They are composed of how much we should be in the world and how much we adapt to the world. If we are too “of the world” then our salt of life is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out to be trampled upon by men. If we are “off the world” we can be disgusting fanatics.

In each of the four Gospels, Jesus is mentioned as the one who came to baptize Holy Spirit. He poured out the Spirit of God on God’s people as the fulfillment of prophecy. At the end of his life, Jesus began to speak more about the gift of the Spirit, whom he came to send. At that time, for the first time, he spoke openly about the Father, about the love and unity that would characterize his disciples. The connection between these three things is obvious. Jesus even went so far as to tell his disciples that it was better if he departed from them bodily so that they might have the Spirit.

After crucifixion and resurrection were his last words: …but in a few days, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost …the Holy Ghost shall come upon you Spirit, you will receive power and be witnesses to me… (Acts 1:8) They waited and prayed. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. They spoke in tongues, praising God and proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins as
Jesus had commanded them. What Jesus spoke to them about, they experienced themselves. They experienced a new relationship with Jesus and a new knowledge of the Father. It was the result of the Father and the Son indwelling through the Spirit.

Holy Spirit in their hearts. They were working in and through them in the proclamation of the gospel and confirming it by the signs that the Son had promised. The disciples experienced the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit in great abundance. They possessed great peace, joy, and confidence. They knew until they were and who was working through them. The apostle Peter, in his sermon that day, recorded in Acts 2, makes it clear that what the disciples have gained, anyone can gain. It’s supposed to be the normal part of Christianity, part of the normal experience of conversion. Consequently, this outpouring of the Spirit becomes the standard expectation and experience of Christianity.

Twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul meets a group of disciples from Ephesus. He asks them just one question, to ascertain if they are Christians: Have you also received Holy Spirit when you believed? (Acts 19:2). When he finds out that they did not, he tells them about Jesus, has them baptized, lays his hands on them, and “the Holy Spirit came upon them, and spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6). The teaching of Jesus and the experience of the early Church point to an obvious and effective reception of the Holy Spirit as the key to understanding and experiencing Jesus and the Father. They point to the clear and concrete experience of a particular Person who acts concrete work, bringing concrete results. Christians who have this experience have not had this experience, have been instructed. Those who have had this experience have been prayed with to receive them.

The Word and Spirit of God have been actively manifested throughout all stages of salvation history. Their relationship with the Father, however, was revealed gradually. At Pentecost, God completed the revelation of Himself as Father, as Son, and as Spirit. The mystery concealed for ages was revealed and the power of this mystery has spread to the ends of the earth. How is this revelation related to God in our times today? Among the approximately one billion people who belong to the various Christian churches, many millions do not experience what should be normal for the Christian life. They are baptized as babies and often grow up in an environment that is not Christian. Few of them come to adulthood to affirm the baptismal fact
-a personal decision for Christ and effective reception of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

The rite of Confirmation, which in many churches is such a confirmation decision in adulthood, is often celebrated after inadequate preparation and with little expectations. The consequence is that many Christians are unaware of the work of the  Holy Spirit, and so have only a vague knowledge of Jesus and the Father. If their apostle Paul had asked: “Did you also receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They would have answered like the disciples of Ephesus: “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” I would now like to share with you a conversation I had with Mary Trapp the well-known character from the film With a Song Around the World. The outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit in her life. This will enlighten us about many things that we consider.

How few of Jesus’ words penetrated the minds of his disciples is evidenced by the incident described a while ago. No sooner had he foretold to them of his mockery, disgrace, and mortal suffering—and immediately after that two disciples, those closest to him, begged him for an honorable place in his kingdom. There are far more people asking for places of honor than there are places. Sometimes they are simply proud people, confident in their dispositions and capabilities, and satisfied with themselves, but rarely satisfied with others. Unfortunately, those who are satisfied with themselves generally have bad taste (H. de Balzac). Sometimes, however, even a person who is truly capable and critical of himself applies for a higher position with the noble intention of accomplishing more and more successfully. Of course, it is possible to apply – but not at any price, because even later you have to pay too high a price for the acquired position. it’s not true that we are to perform every task we see before us. Some tasks are only a temptation (L. Rinser).

Often moral reflection disappears when we are strong, or when we have our own idea of ​​strength. If God calls us to some place or some task – he will make it clear to us, he also gives us all the possibilities for it. But even then, as Lord Jesus explains, the position should be taken as a service. We see him on the altar burdened with the cross, as the servant of us all, because this cross according to justice belonged to us. But if he, God’s Son, the greatest of the greatest, became our servant – who among us dares to be a master.

There were two rabbis in the time of the Lord Jesus. One was called Shammai and was strict the other was called Ilev and was rather liberal. A certain Gentile came to Rabbi Shammai wanting to become a proselyte. He asked the rabbi to explain the Torah to him, for as long as he could stand on one leg. The rabbi was angry, took his staff, and drove him away. So the gentile went to Rabbi Ilev and made his request, He told him, well stand on one foot and I’ll tell you. Don’t do to your neighbor what you don’t want others to do to you. The rest of the Torah is just an explanation and you will learn that later. Jesus pushed this requirement higher and said. Do what you want others to do to you.
Why should we love God? Because God is the foundation of our existence. Also because God is good, and kind. It is natural for man to love what is beautiful. The devil does not want people to love the Lord God. That is why he tries to make people believe that God is unjust, that he does not care for people, that is, he tries to present God in a negative sense. Man becomes what he loves. He who loves money becomes a money lender. He who loves only himself becomes an egoist. How is the love of the neighbor manifested? Love of neighbor is manifested, by acts of physical and spiritual mercy. Contemporary culture leads man to the fulfillment of his desires. First advertising awakens these desires in man, and then man tries to enlist what advertising offers him. The society in which we live is called a consumer society because it is consumer-oriented. Many people live only for themselves. They do not help others. They live by the motto, let each man take care of himself. This only confirms how far the world today has moved away from the teachings of Christ.

Being the first does not always apply only to ports, culture, art, and the like… It also applies in spiritual life. Jesus reminds us: “And many who are first will be last and the last first” (Mk 10:31).

God’s word must pass through our minds and free will into our hearts. The word of Jesus entered the hearts of the disciples, and they left everything and followed him. And that is what Jesus wants from us. Not only to keep the commandments but to put God first in everything. God has priority over material values, but also over people. Because entering the kingdom of God is difficult. However, whoever places his hope in God and not in himself, in people, in things, or in his career, will not escape God’s kingdom. Whoever takes on a lot, who prefers himself, his pleasures, people, things, power… to God, is like a camel that cannot pass through the eye of a needle, because he does not want to and cannot get rid of what has no value before God.

God does not forbid us to own, to prove something, to mean, to travel, to enjoy… but God must and should be in the first place. Where to learn it? Where is the proven recipe? It is a book of books – Holy Scripture and Church tradition, which the Church teaches and explains.

An interesting story is told by a sister who works in Algeria. It is a Muslim state, even more fundamentalist, hostile to Christianity. We hear what those who want to accept Christianity have to undergo, that often the transition from the Muslim faith to Christianity ends in death. A Muslim man bought cheese in a shop, which the shopkeeper wrapped for him in paper. Hygiene is often neglected. After the man ate the cheese on the bus, he started reading from the paper the cheese was wrapped in. After a few days, he bought cheese again in the store and the saleswoman wrapped it in the same paper. He re-read everything that was printed on the paper. The text piqued the man’s interest. The next time he made a purchase, he only asked for paper. The saleswoman easily gave him a book from which she tore pages and wrapped cheese in them for customers. The book was Holy Scripture. The reading of the Holy Scriptures thus appealed to the Algerian, that he looked for a Catholic chapel in the city and asked that someone explain the text of the book to him. After a while, even though he knew that hardships and perhaps death would await him, he asked for baptism.

Someone may argue that what happened in Algeria does not concern him. And yet, it’s worth thinking about. Shouldn’t I also reach for the Holy Scriptures more often? There are various events in life where we find the right guidance on how to solve difficulties, how to overcome problems, how to win over temptation and sin, how to correct our life on earth on the way to eternity.

Cooperate more with the Holy Spirit.It is gratifying that more and more Christians are cooperating with the Holy Spirit. It is not only during the preparation for the reception of the sacrament of confirmation, but also during the reception of the other sacraments. Hear that several parents pray to the Holy Spirit when their child is born in the mother’s womb. Their model is the cooperation of the Virgin Mary with the Holy Spirit, who cooperated during the conception of the Lord Jesus in her womb. Many of us cannot imagine preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation without asking the Holy Spirit to know our sins, truly repent of them, and make atonement for our sins in love. After receiving the Eucharistic Christ in silence, in meditation, we let God speak and act on our spiritual and physical life. Not only the sick, but also spouses and priests, but also the healthy and those who are preparing for marriage and receiving the priesthood, when they devote time and attention to the gifts of the Holy Spirit,Jesus’ words belong to each of us: “Peace be with you!”… “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20,21,22).The Acts of the Apostles describe the events on the fiftieth day after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. With great power and wisdom, the apostles leave the supper table and begin to fulfill Jesus’ command: Go and teach… (cf. Mt 28:19). It is the beginning of the public activity of the Church. We understand Pentecost as the day of the birth of the Church. On that day, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and those present in the Last Supper in the form of tongues of fire. Another phenomenon, a roar likened to the wind, gathered the inhabitants of Jerusalem and those present at the feasts to listen with amazement to the sermon of the apostle Peter and subsequently to be baptized.The Holy Spirit is one of the three divine persons in whom we believe. It is the essence of our faith and not just its object. We confess: “I believe in the Holy Spirit…”. He is a Giver, but at the same time a gift of God the Father and the resurrected Christ for the Church. After his resurrection, during the first meeting with the disciples, Jesus “breathed on them and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit'” (Jn 20:22). On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit manifested His power. The fearful, unlearned apostles spoke in tongues that were spoken in Jerusalem: “How is it that each of us hears them in our own language in which we were born? We, the Parthians, the Medes, the Elamites, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the Libyan regions around Cyrene, Roman immigrants, Jews and Parozelites, Cretans and Arabs: We hear them speak in their own languages ​​about the great God’s works” (Acts 2, 8-11). That’s what the Holy Spirit does. Equal to God the Father, God the Son, and at the same time God is not the Father and God the Son, but God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Holy Spirit deserves our respect, honor, celebration… as the Father and the Son.Among the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, let us notice more the “gift of tongues”. Every gift of the Holy Spirit, like this one, must be understood and accepted. The gift of tongues is one of the smallest gifts of the Holy Spirit, which primarily serves to build the personal faith of the recipient. It rests on speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Spoken words, which may be unintelligible and may resemble the beginning of a child’s speech. Such talk of the child means nothing, but how much joy these words bring to the parents. The gift of tongues serves to glorify God. Whoever wants to say everything about God will not find the words. The Holy Spirit comes to the aid of what human words cannot express. They have experience in the meetings of the Holy Spirit movement with the gift of tongues. You can also hear the opposite opinions, attitudes, opinions that they can pray in the usual way. They say that if the Holy Spirit wants, to pray in tongues, so why shouldn’t I have that option. In the First Letter to the Corinthians in chapters 12 to 14 St. Paul writes about the charisms of the Holy Spirit and the principles of drawing on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Here is a guide for those who would like to start fascinating spiritual adventures. Yes, the gifts of the Spirit are for all who have believed in Christ. Whoever has received baptism and received confirmation is to cooperate with the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, art, piety and the fear of God. God the Father wants each of us to be, first of all, a wise person, to be able to follow him in life, so that life has meaning and value. A Christian has the right to draw on special gifts that are for the baptized, such as the gift of tongues. There are also other gifts, such as prophecies, the gift of working miracles or the gift of healing. God the Father desires to give us everything, what we need to build personal holiness and build the kingdom of God on earth. Holiness begins today, and so does salvation, and not in some vague future. Therefore, we can already ask for the gifts that we need and that the Holy Spirit wants to give us.The Acts of the Apostles teach that the gifting of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was not a one-time event. They say that the Holy Spirit manifested itself several times even in the early Church. Through the laying on of hands by the apostles, many received these gifts. Even today we can receive these gifts. It is necessary to believe God’s word, to ask the Holy Spirit, to be in a state of friendship with God, and it must benefit us and everyone.When was the last time we asked for the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Do we not ask out of fear? Why are we afraid? It is not enough for students to pray before an exam. It is not enough to pay attention to these gifts only on the Feast of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”In order to be in communion with Christ, we must first be touched by the Holy Spirit. He precedes us and inspires faith in us” (KKS 683). The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Christian life. Just as the soul is not visible by itself, but only through its action, so also the Holy Spirit remains hidden (cf. CCC 687), but is known in its “fruits” (cf. CCC 1832). The Holy Spirit must not be a great unknown among us and in us. After all, Jesus said: “It is better for you that I go away. For if I do not leave, the Comforter will not come to you. But when I go away, I will send him to you” (Jn 16:7). And when the disciples ask him before returning to the Father when he will restore the kingdom, he says: “But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit is now the “other Comforter” who will remain with us forever. Through him Christ is in our midst, through him we may call God “Abba, Father”. The Catechism mentions above all four actions of the Holy Spirit (cf. CCC 737,1092).He prepares people for Christ. From the beginning of creation, He lives as the life-giving Spirit in all creatures. In the history of the Old Testament, that Spirit prepares the chosen nation for the coming of the Messiah. He is the Spirit of Advent.He reveals Christ: “…and no one can say: “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3; KCC 683). The Holy Spirit lets us know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. It reminds the Church of everything that Christ said. “The Holy Spirit is the living memory of the Church” (CCC 1099).It makes Christ present. In the life of the Church, Jesus is not only mentioned, but the Risen One is present in his word, in “the least of my brothers”, in the sacraments. The presence of Christ in the Eucharistic ways, which are transformed into his body and blood by the action of the Holy Spirit, is special. (cf. CCC 1107).Connects with Christ. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. It unites everyone in whom it works with Christ. “The Holy Spirit is like the sap of the Father’s vine, which bears fruit on the branches” (CCC 1108). He is “the inner teacher who prompts, directs, corrects and strengthens this life” (CCC 1697). He is also a teacher of “interior Christian prayer” (CCC 2672). That is why we fervently ask him daily: “Come, Holy Spirit.” (Cf. CH. Schönborn OP. From the work Foundations of our faith).In one of his short stories, the Russian writer Alexei Tikhonov talks about an old man who lost and found the light of faith again.It is Easter and an old man stands with his wife by the grave of his daughter. In the sacred silence of the cemetery, he says to his wife: “All my life I have been looking for my God… But here, life unexpectedly took away a part of ourselves from us – Olga. I take stock of what I have experienced and say: God is and his will is above me…” TheHoly Spirit often acts with its gifts even when people underestimate it. In the Holy Spirit we recognize that “God is love” (1 Jn 4,16).It is up to us to start cooperating directly with the Holy Spirit in our whole life, in our daily events. Already at today’s holy mass. Now.

During the last week of Easter, we will discuss one of the six truths of our religion every day. As an echo of the biggest holiday of the year. 

Man is sinful by nature. It is said unnaturally and harshly in a way. Original sin caused this catastrophe in man. As a result, every person is bound to sin, from which God’s grace frees us. Our Heavenly Father loves us infinitely and does not want even one of his little ones to perish. “For God so loved the world that he gave him only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The explanatory dictionary uses the term grace to refer to many terms, but the word mercy is undoubtedly one of the most famous. So we can say that our Heavenly Father has mercy on us so that we can achieve salvation. God’s grace is the only cure for the weakness of human nature. Man alone cannot do anything, and therefore he is forced to rely on the Lord if he wants to be saved. Freedom was enough for a person to sin, but to be able to return to the realm of justice, he needs the help of grace, which he receives from God’s mercy. In his infinite love, God gives us two main graces in the fight against sin: helping grace and sanctifying grace. Each of us knows St. Augustine, a zealous teacher of the doctrine of grace. He very often emphasized the essence of grace, always saying: “Grace is free, it does not depend on our merits, it was already before our merits. And this is also when it is offered to us as a consequence of our actions.” Nevertheless, you will surely agree with me that grace is a gift of God because our actions are done from God’s initiative. It is not only a gift of God to man, but it is an undeserved gift of God to a person who does not value him so much. The very graces that help or sanctify have the goal of perfecting a person. To build in him a greater resistance to sin. Helping grace comes from the very action in a person. It consists in the fact that God helps a person by enlightening his reason for knowing his supernatural focus Simply put, God will enable man to know his focus for eternity. Sanctifying grace rests on participation in God’s knowledge and love. Simply put, God reveals his perfection and mercy.

Man has his full meaning only in the Creator. He creates man for himself, so that man finds in his Creator the perfection of God’s image. God’s love for us is great to such an extent that he offers us his grace out of God’s motive. We are sinful and sinfulness closes our perception of God. Man’s sinfulness is his essential tragedy. And why? In such a state, a person often finds a replacement in time. Only God can raise a person to himself. To raise him from the dust of his wretchedness and sinfulness, so that man can be an active child of God. What makes a child a child? I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s undoubtedly innocence. Innocence consists in trusting God to the fullest extent possible. Man did not deserve the status of a child of God. Why? Through his sin, he lost God’s favor. We can say that a person in the position of God’s child is from God. God is infinitely gracious and merciful. He is not interested, in a man being outside his heavenly homeland. All supernatural good is a gift of God’s grace. Saint Augustine says: “Before the first parents acted against God’s will, they loved God and God loved them.” Despite the fact that our first parents had an animal body, they did not feel anything in it that disobeyed them. human perfection, the man sold himself to sin. This sale to sin has far-reaching consequences for mankind. Man lost the graces that come from the Heavenly Father. But the sacrifice of Jesus Christ won us all graces back. He redeemed us and secured for us the plan of our salvation, which is already half fulfilled. It is up to us how we handle our sinfulness. It is just that we deserve a just punishment from God for sin. We, humans, can only acquire righteousness by overcoming sin with the help of God’s grace. Saint Augustine sacrificed his whole life for the doctrine of grace and its defense. He cared that people did not fall into delusion and begin to justify their wrong actions. It is the duty of every Christian to ask God for grace. Only the person who is no stranger to mercy can have the right to ask God for mercy.

At the end of the civil war of the North against South America, the fate of South America was decided. President Abraham Lincoln’s advisors urged him to punish the Southerners for all the bloodshed they had committed and proposed various punishments. The President listened to them attentively, and when they had finished, he said in a humble voice, “Is it possible to destroy my enemies when I plan to make them my friends?” replied the President, who, instead of revenge, made a generous plan of restoration.

Of course, this example has its flaws, but it tries to show an unconventional way of getting rid of enemies. Every child of God should naturally distribute graces around him out of love and selflessly. No one has the right to ask the Heavenly Father for grace and mercy who cannot be merciful himself. Let’s try to make our life coincide with God’s will. God’s will represents life according to the gospel. We have reason and free will at our disposal. But we must also take into account our weakness, which is manifested in our sinfulness. Despite our ingratitude, our God offers us weapons against sin. Resistance to sin is a very effective weapon. Resilience must be nurtured by prayer and sincerity to God. To be able to resist sin, God’s grace is needed. After all, we all want to achieve salvation. I wish you to be open to the action of God’s grace and to develop sufficient resistance against sin