Why am I a Christian?

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Christianity = home for me !! It is a place, a community of people where I feel good and at home, simply welcomed and understood. I never thought that I could become a believer or that I would become one. This is simply not possible, no one becomes a believer in their own free will, just like that, from one day to the next. It is not possible, and it does not work in such a way that a person spends the evening as an atheist and wakes up as a believer in the morning. If someone is a Christian, then only by the will of God. I, too, received the faith and accepted it with joy. And I accepted it all, the gospels, the dogmas, the Church, and the hierarchy. I have accepted all this and I believe in everything that the Church proclaims through its teaching office and from the revelation of the Son of God.

Nowadays, however, I think it has always been like that, being a Christian is a very ungrateful and sometimes dangerous thing. A Christian becomes a fool for the world only because he believes in something that cannot be proven and looks to many people who do not yet have faith as a fairy tale or a tool for manipulation and control of people by the Church. But this is not true, we Christians are not a soulless, unthinking herd that obeys orders and mindlessly accepts everything that is served to them by the leaders. These are practices only, sects do not have their own opinion.

Even I, as a believing Catholic, often become the target of ridicule and attacks because of my faith, which I accepted as the meaning of life and the goal of my entire earthly journey. Unfortunately, many people, even educated people, when they do not understand the faith, at least ridicule it and consider the Christian to be a backward restriction forgotten somewhere in the 13th century. All because he believes. Few atheists know that Christianity is a really difficult and demanding way of life, at least for those who live it honestly, truthfully’d vividly. It is a journey where at the beginning a person confronts himself when a mirror of his self is held up to him, and he is then often unpleasantly surprised and even shocked. It is a journey full of effort of self-sacrifice, self-denial, improvement, a journey full of vulnerability because a believer learns to love all people without distinction, he tries to see Christ the Lord in everyone. That is why a Christian is often, I would say, constantly mentally and heartily open and therefore extremely vulnerable and easy prey for people who just want to kick themselves because they do not understand faith, its mystery, beauty, and uniqueness. Being a believer is truly a gift and not the privilege of a select few. It is a gift from God.

Because a person accepted faith and believed in God and accepted him as his Lord, he exposes himself and takes on much greater responsibility and is therefore judged more severely. When he knew what was good when he knew how to act and didn’t act that way when he offended..etc. On the other hand, the non-believer does not have such a sin and guilt if he did not know and did not know the truth and beauty of faith. The 20th century gave the world many examples of people who were exemplary examples of truly living and true faith in communion with God. I will mention only the most famous ones, Padre Pio, John Paul II, Mother Teresa, Faustina Kowalska… etc. Their example is not anything special, it is a model of what the true Christianity that God wants from us should look like. Their example seems extraordinary to us because many believers are still not able to live the faith that they received and accepted so devotedly and fully, and non-believers because they did not accept the faith and attribute these merits of theirs only to their good heart and character, which is partially true, but the result of their deeds results mainly from faith and communion with God and love for God and people. I ask, if there was no faith, would a person even know what is good, and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, who would teach him?? After all, if they did not have communion with God the Father and his Word and his commandments, our ancestors could not know that raping, murdering, harming, and causing pain is bad!! How would they know?? They wouldn’t be able to suddenly say to themselves this is not good, this is not right while killing if someone didn’t teach them. I aim at God. I ask, if there was no faith, would a person even know what is good, and what is bad, what is right, and what is wrong, who would teach him?? After all, if they did not have communion with God the Father and his Word and his commandments, our ancestors could not know that raping, murdering, harming, and causing pain is bad!! How would they know?? They wouldn’t be able to suddenly say to themselves this is not good, this is not right while killing if someone didn’t teach them. I aim at God. I ask, if there was no faith, would a person even know what is good, and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, who would teach him?? After all, if they did not have communion with God the Father and his Word and his commandments, our ancestors could not know that raping, murdering, harming, and causing pain is bad!! How would they know?? They wouldn’t be able to suddenly say to themselves this is not good, this is not right while killing if someone didn’t teach them. I aim at God. if someone didn’t teach them. I aim at God. if someone didn’t teach them. I aim at God.

Christianity is a difficult and thankless path in life here on earth. It is a path full of ridicule and contempt, a path in the shadow of past mistakes and hurt. But if this path should be rejected only because it has committed many serious mistakes and harms in the past, it would be as if we hated the Germans because their ancestors conquered almost the entire world and sent millions of innocent people to their deaths. Christianity is about something completely different, which, unfortunately, is neither seen nor heard so much, only because only the mistakes and missteps of believers and clergy are always made visible and highlighted. But they are also human and make mistakes like everyone else. I am also only human, and I also make many mistakes, sometimes more than I would like. No one sees the merit and necessity of Faith and believers and God himself.

And that’s why I’m also a Christian so that they can see what Christianity is, I give the best testimony I can, I live the best I can, and I love people, which doesn’t mean that I let myself jump on the head. This is why I believe and why I am a Christian, to love, God, people, and life itself!! I hope that my poor explanation of the reason for my faith and the meaning of faith at least shed some light on us, the fools of Jesus Christ for the world, as believers in fairy tales and mythical beings. A Christian is a person like everyone else, he just lives for different things and a different preseason has a different meaning of life and life goal. Dear brothers and sisters, if you don’t believe and don’t understand, then please at least try to tolerate and without prejudice to know and search for who we are and why we are the way we are, and why we believe in what we believe. God bless you all, my dears !!!

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What does it look like in Heaven?

Thinking about Heaven, the ultimate goal that every Christian should aspire to, is certainly a topic that legitimately arouses his curiosity. Even though the Scriptures said that the “eye has not yet seen, nor ear heard” what God has in store for his faithful, we do not necessarily have to resign ourselves to any thought speculation about Heaven. From the context of Catholic faith and philosophy, by observing the human psyche as well as by observing the created world, Catholic theologians tried to guess what Heaven might be like or the state of the human soul after death.

Of course, these considerations and subsequent knowledge about Heaven are not necessary for the salvation of the soul. It is enough for a Christian to believe that there is a Heaven and that the saved soul will be eternally in a state of bliss. Speculations about what Heaven looks like, what laws apply there, what its status is about the material world, or whether it is a part of the material world, all of this is rather something extra, which can be expected of course with individual faith, but it is not necessarily of interest to everyone. The important thing is to get to Heaven, then we will see. Conversely, unless we work to get there, it’s pointless to speculate about it, because we won’t see it anyway.

In connection with Heaven, certain errors are widespread even among many Catholics. They forget that Heaven is not just some state of the soul, but must be a concrete place where the resurrected and glorified bodies of men will dwell in space.

Another mistake is the idea that all saints will be equal in Heaven. It is a mandatory tax nowadays, but it is not. God is infinitely just and therefore cannot and does not want to disregard the quality of holiness. Some saints will be closer to God, as it was in their case already on Earth, and others a little further, and those who will come to Heaven only from Purgatory will be even further.

Many of today’s people infected with oriental mysticism have an idea of ​​Heaven as something like the state of nirvana in Hinduism and Buddhism, that is, it is some kind of immobility, impersonality, even dissolution in the universe. Christian Heaven is different. In it, a person will have his/her identity preserved, he/she will meet other people, members of his/her family, etc.

The idea of ​​”getting rid of being” that is widespread in the Orient is foreign to Christianity. There, God’s very act of creation is seen as something negative, as a violation of harmony, and human existence is also seen as just a series of sufferings and desires to be rid of. The goal is the annihilation of being.

In Christianity, it is, on the contrary, an elevation of being to a higher quality level and an even greater participation in God’s grace. Therefore, even the Christian Heaven is not a negation of space and matter, but its promotion to a new, more beautiful, and better quality.

Where is Heaven? Heaven is where God is. God is omnipresent, so the position of Heaven can be everywhere. What is necessary for the soul to be in Heaven, that is, to enjoy infinite bliss? She must look at God and participate in Him. This can happen anywhere. Saints and angels are finite beings and they must be located somewhere, especially after the resurrection, where the saints will have a real body, not an ethereal one. The Council of Constantinople in canon no. 10, from the year 543 says: “noncorpus aetherum et figuresphaericam” (it will not be an etheric body, nor spherical. But this does not say what this place is for these bodies, but, naturally, we mean the real place.

Theologians believed that this place, e.g. some star, is already in a glorified state and that the rest of the universe will be similarly transformed at the end of the world. This heavenly world forms the surface of the upper hemisphere, which embraces the Universe from above. We would be below the surface of this hemisphere and the highest sphere of Heaven – the empyrean, above it. St. Thomas believed that Christ ascended above this Heaven with his glorified Body. The other saints, according to the size of their merits, are placed at different distances from Him, in ascending order, that is, in all directions. According to these opinions, Dante’s Heaven is also compiled.

All these are not strictly theological opinions, but rather astronomical and contemporary. It is certain, however, that at least Christ’s Body (certain matter) is in a glorified state and that our Earth will also be transformed into a glorified state one day. Wanting to establish astronomically from the fact that Christ the Lord ascended to Heaven, where he is, is childishly naive. Medieval views about Heaven are astronomically naive and flawed, but ideologically correct.

We are sure that God exists, that Christ and Mary are glorified according to the flesh, that therefore a certain part of the former matter is in a new state, and that souls are in bliss. This invisible world must be found somewhere. Schneider writes: “The spiritual world does not begin where the material world ends, but on the contrary: it dominates it without coming into conflict with it regarding space”.

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By working on ourselves, we get closer to God’s Son.

Who is Christ for people? Are we living according to his teachings? Whoever carefully reads the biography of Jesus Christ, the Gospels, will find in it inspiration for the open activity to which Jesus directly calls us. The unclean spirits said: “You are the Son of God” (Mk 3:12).

Mark talks about the moment when Jesus wants to rest after a tiring day, by the seashore. The crowd, however, changes Jesus’ intention, and Jesus is the same act here: he heals, teaches… Jesus had to solve the controversial issue of fasting, and the sanctification of the Sabbath and Mark presents him as a miracle worker to whom Jews and Gentiles come, so that at least by touching him the dress was healed. Marek does not write about these events on purpose. They gave Jesus the title “Son of God”, which indicated his dignity. Jesus does not want them to recognize him as the Messiah, since the moment of his supreme mission – the resurrection – has not yet come. This fact means a manifestation: the victory of Jesus over evil.

Jesus gives us an example that our life should be active. Serious work on self-improvement must be based on the thought: “We are unprofitable servants, we have done what we were obliged to do” (Luke 17:10).

Let’s remember that some people do not have confidence in the activity, while others rush into the activity without thinking and without love. Jesus did everything with love, which also gives value and meaning to our lives, and must be in the first place in every action. It is easy to tear down a house, but it is more difficult to build one. It is easier to criticize and more difficult to act. If we spend all our time criticizing, we will have no time for action. An active life is not dreaming, building only on planning; all this must also take place.

An example for students.
You don’t just dream of being a good student, but do everything to be one. Do you put your duties as a student first before entertainment, hobbies, television, and the Internet? Not only the students but also all of us must realize that our good intentions are useless if they are not realized, if they are not transformed into action. God not only promised the Comforter – the Holy Spirit, but also sent him. A person who is not active declines. A thing, a machine that just sits and is not used, also wears out. Let’s face it: we only achieve perfection when we act.

Observe the people around you. How many people are lazy, waste their precious energies and the result of their life is deplorable? The effectiveness of the action is not given by the intensity of the movement, but by the weight of the spirit, which it contains thanks to its effort. We see it in life too, that some people accomplish a lot in a short time, with a few actions, and with little activity. Others, on the other hand, perform very little over a long time with several actions, with greater activity. This means to us that the whole difference lies in the quality of the soul of those who acts. The activity of the animal is instinctive. Human activity is deliberate and should be experienced with faith. 

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God of joy.

God is a God of joy. And if Christianity is a religion of joy, it is essential because it directly shares in the joy that dwells in the Holy Trinity. Joy is like the air that reigns in God. We used to say that God is mercy, love, and peace. Under certain life circumstances, a person can understand the divine attributes that have been revealed to us with his heart. He experiences, for example, the paternal goodness of God, who takes care of his personal needs, or the mercy of Jesus Christ, who forgives his sins.

To enjoy joy, we must immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the Holy Trinity. May God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit experience complete and perfect joy together thanks to the love with which they love each other. The perfect love that exists in God results from the mutual self-giving of the persons of the Holy Trinity. Because as soon as there is a gift, there is potential joy. In God this gift is complete, so his joy is complete. The Father is the joy of his Son when he gives himself completely to him. The Son is the joy of his Father when he also gives himself completely to him. They are each other’s joy. And to be able to imagine it, we can say that the explosion of love between them is the person of the Holy Spirit.

Despite the noble doctrine, the Holy Scriptures do not despise the simple joys of life. He knows the joy of a rich harvest or vintage, the joy that we are among brothers and can glorify God together, the joy of the birth of a child, and the joy that springs from the admiration of creation. Perhaps we are little aware of it, which is why the statement of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is still valid: “You all seem to me to be little redeemed people.”

Christian joy presupposes a person capable of naturally rejoicing. Human joys are pleasing to God. Let’s not forget to offer them to him to purify, sanctify, and intensify them. However, the discovery of true joy presupposes that we will be able to advance higher, that we will not stop at the horizontal level of the joys offered, but that we will find a vertical direction in them.

Because Christian joy is primarily spiritual joy. It is normal for it to radiate into all-natural and emotional joys. It is she who makes natural joys the true joys of the human heart. He who stops at human pleasures, however uplifting, without trying to connect them with their source, only verifies their transitory character. His desire for authentic joy will not be fulfilled.

Man is a being who desires, therefore he can know joy. He cannot live without her and is looking for her with all his might. Very often it is the desire for joy and happiness that inspires his actions and life decisions. However, man is primarily a spiritual being. God created him to live in union with him, therefore no joy can satisfy him. His heart will be filled only when he receives true joy, which the world cannot give, but which God gives to those who ask for it.

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The Value of the Sabbath Let us know what makes the Sabbath

Bodily restrictions in favor of the dominance of the spirit are the way to achieve, not only to strengthen, the will of a person, but also to increase asceticism.

A Catholic Christian can adopt it as a great spiritual exercise at the beginning of the church year, without which spiritual growth is indispensable. Jesus did not introduce this means of self-improvement. Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on Saturday. It was enough that he said to him: “Stretch out your hand” (Mk 3:5).

Jesus is God. God ordered that people dedicate the Sabbath rest to him, but God is not only concerned with love for him, but also with love for his neighbor. Therefore, when he heals a sick person, he teaches everyone that he is the Lord of the Sabbath and that the Sabbath is established for man, and not the other way around. When it comes to love for a person, he can use the Sabbath for that.

What does this mean for us believers in practice?
Even though the church regulations oblige us to participate in the holy mass on Sundays and on public holidays, when someone needs our love and help, for example in caring for a small child, then he does not sin. However, we must also ask ourselves this: What good would it do us if we were at three holy masses and did not help the one who urgently required our help right then? With a little goodwill and a proper assessment of all circumstances, things can be arranged in such a way that we fulfill our religious and other obligations. Will the excuse: be “I’m tired after a whole week – and still go to church?” What is fatigue? For those who correctly understand the Sunday meeting with Jesus, the hour is not only not a burden, but they cannot even imagine their life without it. Sunday without Holy Mass means nothing to him. Festive lunch – we can cook it on another day. Even time for a hobby, a hobby with a little love for God, can be solved differently. Constant non-fulfillment of obligations speaks volumes about your faith. Here, it is not enough to say, “I am a believer.”

Let’s also recall some distracting events, which are deliberately scheduled for the morning hours, to lure the faithful away from the Holy Mass. Some organizations also hold their meetings for this hour and organize various events, and it’s funny when they even do violence that you have to…

The Lord Jesus did not desecrate the holy day by helping the sick. If the circumstances require it, we can miss the Holy Mass in exceptional cases out of love for our neighbor. It must not become a general rule. The daughter comes to visit, and the mother no longer goes to Holy Mass because she has to cook! How many know how to arrange things to their satisfaction anyway and can understand it correctly? Goodwill. We want goodwill from others, and when God wants it from us, then we are deaf. 

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The word of the priest 

To become a lamb

Taking everything in stride does not mean indifference or giving up. Rather, this attitude smacks of reconciliation.

To become a lamb

Illustration photo: Flickrcom Sarah Macmillan

In the mountainous regions of Slovakia, where there are baskets of sheep, wolves can appear there. In folk tales, these animals, although so different, live close to each other.

The contrast between the sheep and the wolf is so great that their comparisons and characteristics have entered our language. We say about someone that he is as calm as a lamb. We call aggressive people ravenous wolves. When someone is a wolf but does not want to admit the color, then we say that he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Sheep with lambs are peaceful animals. They graze peacefully, living side by side. They are not aggressive towards themselves or other creatures. The wolf has a reputation as an aggressive animal. The idea of ​​meeting a wolf causes fear in most people. It is interesting that John the Baptist, looking at Jesus, said about him that he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Once upon a time, centuries ago, when the Israelites were fleeing from Egypt, on that memorable first Passover, when the angel of death went around Egypt to destroy, according to biblical tradition, all the firstborn; only those whose doorposts were smeared with the lamb’s blood were saved. The blood of this innocent, dumb animal has already saved human lives. With Jesus, however, it is more than that. He will shed his blood for us and become the new Lamb of God, who will eat the sins of the whole world as a sacrifice.

When reading the Gospels, we can realize that Jesus was a Lamb not only on the cross, but he behaved like a lamb all his life. He was innocent, calmly fulfilling his mission. Although we have places in the Bible where he shows emotion and gets angry, he behaves calmly during those final three years of wandering.

He walks around the country, meets people, preaches, heals, and forgives sins. In human terms, we would say that peace, love, and acceptance of others radiate from him. He behaves like a calm lamb. He also allows himself to be brought to court, crosses the Stations of the Cross, and allows himself to be crucified. He doesn’t fight back, he doesn’t want to run away, he’s not aggressive, he doesn’t scold anyone, and he tolerates everything calmly, even if he suffers a lot as a person.

“God treats people like the lamb in the history of salvation. He makes a pact with them and remains loyal to her.’

It would be nice to approach the mentality of Jesus in your way of life. Only if we have the strength for it and, better said if we have humanly and spiritually matured to such an attitude. It is a great thing if a person can calmly accept life with its good and bad sides. Taking everything in stride does not mean indifference or giving up. Rather, this attitude smacks of reconciliation. That is difficult. It takes a balanced person to accept one’s impotence, failures, limited ts and not get mad about it. To become a lamb is to adopt the mentality of a lamb.

Some will say that it seems surrendered and passive. But we are not perfect. My weaknesses and limits also result from my nature. I’ll get angry and rebel in vain, I can’t handle everything. What’s worse, as I age, my limits become even more pronounced. I may be disappointed, but the best way is to try to accept my own life and its limitations (that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take care of my health or stop trying to be better).

John the Baptist speaks of the Lamb of God, and as a believing Jew, he carries in his heart the centuries-old experience of his nation with the rescue and liberation from Egypt. In the history of salvation, God treats people like the lamb. He makes a contract with them and remains faithful to her. He humbly bears human weaknesses and unbelief. He never goes back on what he promised.

As we read in the Old Testament, God is directing all of history step by step to the arrival of the only true Lamb – the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He calmly fulfills his mission and sacrifices himself on the cross for all of us.

The sheep in the basket do not have a reason, they follow instinct,ct and yet they know what to do. It’s time to graze, it’s time to go to sleep, it’s time to follow the shepherd. This role was placed on them by the Creator. John the Baptist in the land of shepherds, which was Palestine, knew all this well. When he calls Jesus the Lamb of God, he shows that the Son of God is peacefully fulfilling his mission to sacrifice himself for us.

Talking about peaceful sheep may sound a bit childish and passive. Wolves seem more active and yet John compared Jesus to a lamb. This is also my role: to become a lamb. Not a passive recipient of life and a passive participant in events. Becoming a lamb means two things: learning to calmly accept life as it is and making peace with it. To lean on the Lamb of God, who went through the same path.

Quietly, but consistently fulfill life’s mission. We all have some. If we are faithful to him, it is always a process in which we give ourselves, that is, it is a sacrifice.

I don’t want to be a wolf. I protect myself from becoming a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A third option remains: to become a lamb. Does that sound weak?

The true Lamb of God shows one thing: peaceful progress in fulfilling one’s mission, which bears the signs of sacrifice, leads to victory and a fulfilled life with the Lord.

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Preparation for Lent
Let’s not underestimate this year’s Lent time.

It is far from Lent. How about starting to prepare for Lent today? Let’s ask ourselves, as part of this preparation, have we understood the true meaning of fasting? But how can giving up food become an expression of Christian love? Jesus explains the answer to this question and others, how to understand the meaning of fasting, the fasting practice, and the fasting period, by asking: “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them” (Mk 2:19)?

We read how Jesus healed the sick, strengthened the weak, and comforted the suffering. But how did it all begin? In many cases, these people sought Jesus, or someone sought him on behalf of a sick or suffering person. The words about Jesus’ power and miracles were enough for them to follow him. Jesus talks about filling old vessels with new wine. The new wine is the Holy Spirit, which he wants to pour out on us out of love to heal, strengthen and renew us. However, Jesus will not impose himself on us. He wants us to turn to him and invite him to us. And that means being a new vessel. He is waiting for us to put aside everything “old” that separates us from him so that we can accept the “new”.

However, there is one catch. If we want to experience the presence of Jesus, we must change. We need to set aside some time for him. We must give up bad habits that distance us from him. Even so, we are never sure whether we can make the necessary change on our own. However, the good news, the gospel says that Jesus will not only help us on this journey but will accept our small efforts and bless them a hundredfold. Sometimes it changes us without realizing it; it will carve out our personality the way a grinder grinds a diamond to make it shine and become a real gem. Jesus wants to help us, but he is waiting for the moment when we turn to him. He expects at least a little effort on our part so that the old vessels are not broken by receiving the new wine. Our decision to devote at least fifteen minutes a day to prayer can be an excellent start.

Let’s give God a little time, and he will bless us, heal us and lift us because we have given something up. Let’s ask Jesus to show us what we can do to draw closer to him. And then let’s take that small step and ask him to act. Religious people often have difficulty accepting differences in other people’s lifestyles, especially in religious matters. We can find something similar in the rebuke of the Pharisees, which they addressed to Jesus Christ: “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, and your disciples do not fast” (Mk 2:18)? But this rebuke was not justified.

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Doctrine of the church.

Should contemporary man change according to the doctrine of the church, or the doctrine of the church according to today’s man?

The new church at  Ťahanovce

Rastislav Čižik

One of the most frequent starting questions during mutual meetings is the question: “What’s new?” We are naturally curious about the news. As if it sometimes goes so far that well means always having something new. And on the other hand, without news, a person ceases to be interesting. Almost every area throws something new at us: cars, computers, programs, laws, decrees, publications, recipes… And the modern winner is the one who manages to keep up with this fast time. Otherwise, we are classified as “dinosaurs” or “cave people”, or in the best case, we have just been pushed aside, somewhere in the historical dustbin of the Middle Ages…

On the one hand, we perceive something similar in the field of Christianity. There is much talk today about the new evangelization, even in church circles. Pope Francis constantly calls for the necessary creativity to invent new – more modern alphabets to transmit the Gospel to contemporary people; to be in and “keep our finger on the pulse of the times”. Undoubtedly, it is very important, but even here we run into certain barriers. Recently, I once again picked up the book In the Footsteps of Pope Francis. It is a book about the so-called theology of tenderness. This is what some theologians call the current Pope’s special way of thinking and approach. And right at the beginning, its author Alvaro Grammatical tries to show how this theology of tenderness came about and how it can be beneficial.

He first tries to diagnose the time from the point of view of Christianity and the Church. He says that we are not only living in a time of change, but rather that we are experiencing a change in time. About the Church, this means something NH has not been here before and which we must not overlook: people no longer see the Church as the only place of salvation as they once did. It is related to a change in values: I can do what I like, and what I feel is true. Truth is no longer perceived as an idea, but as a movement, a constant change; the truth is modified according to the current circumstances – everything depends on the context. And the question arises from this: How will I, a Christian, react to this change? And here a fundamental problem arises, which some then squeeze into a provocative question: Should man change according to doctrine, or doctrine according to man?

If we follow the first path – man is supposed to change according to the doctrine – then according to some we risk losing the man of today; we are in danger of not addressing him in his real situation. But where will I get if I go the other way and change the doctrine according to the person? Won’t I end up in the same relativism as the world around me? Won’t we end up with Christianity, which promises prosperity and well-being, i.e. paradise only here on earth? Is this the new way?

We don’t have to give an answer right away, let the gospel answer. In it we find the well-known story of a young man who comes to Jesus with the question: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 18:18) And we know that the Lord Jesus gives a breakthrough answer for that time: for he places the beginning of eternal life already in this world; the bold views of the time dating the beginning of eternal life to the moment of death. However, Jesus says that eternal life begins already during earthly life and is reflected in our relationships. And here he hits on the young man’s problem: The security he has invested in his possessions. When Jesus calls him to give up his confidence and lean only on Christ, the young man ends up in sorrow.

And what did Jesus not do at that moment? He didn’t run after this young man, kneel before him and beg him to change his mind. Christ did not do this, even though he could calmly say to him: “Listen, don’t make forums, we will somehow agree. I didn’t think so. You don’t have to sell everything. Maybe even half will be enough. I was just testing you. Come back.” Why didn’t Jesus do that? Because this would not help the young man – this would harm him. This would perhaps strengthen him in his self-sufficiency – in the assumption of his perfection. Therefore, this man got what he needed: he needed to leave Jesus sad; he needed to bump. Possibly this impact stopped him, maybe it healed him, led him in a new direction. Maybe he couldn’t do it and in the end, he decided for Christ. We do not know. But therein lies the answer to the question posed.

To change a person or to change a doctrine? What is the answer? Neither one nor the other! But first of all: Enable a meeting with the real Jesus Christ! When Jesus compares us Christians to salt in one place, we can guess that there may not be a lot of salt in the food. But what does he warn against? So that we don’t lose our typical taste – the taste of the true gospel. Because the old well-known truth says that the world does not read the Gospel, but it reads the life of a Christian – it reads my life. And what will he read in it? Superficiality, formalism, moralizing? Is this the flavor of Christianity today? That is why the gospel constantly gives us back the true taste of Jesus Christ. And he always mixes at least two ingredients: truth and love.

The evangelist Mark complements his colleague Luke and states that before Christ revealed his problem to the young man, he looked at him with love; and then revealed his problem to him. Truth together with love, and love together with truth: for truth without love is legalism and condemnation, and love without truth is blindness and naivety. But love with truth is the living Jesus Christ. Therefore, Pope Benedict XVI could introduce his encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Love in truth) with the words: “In Jesus Christ, love in truth becomes the face of his person and for us a calling to love our brothers in the truth of God’s plan. After all, he is the truth (cf. Jn 14:6).   

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Jesus leaves our sins for us.
He died for us.

Peter Chrysologius, a teacher of the Church (Raven bishop 424-450), teaches: “People came to Jesus to be healed. Jesus loves each of us and says: “The healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick…” (Mk 21:17) ! The gospel for each of us. Sin is a terrible disease.

Two men fall into a chimney. One comes out with a dirty face, the other comes out clean. Which one is going to wash? The one with a clean face. The dirty one looks at the other and says to himself: “How fortunate that we did not get dirty.” The one with a clean face looks at the dirty one and hastens to wash. But it depends on the point of view: When they look at their hands, the clean one recognizes, that he doesn’t have to wash, but the other one notices that his hands are full of soot and so he goes to wash (from the Italian TV series Don Matteo).

It can also be said in the words of St. Louis IX. († 1270). Leprosy is a terrible disease, but it cannot be compared to sin. Leprosy destroys natural life, and sin destroys eternal life. What is worse? Different people may give different answers. Their relation to eternal life is decided. King Louis once asked a courtier a question: “Which would you choose, to be a leper or to commit a mortal sin?” The courtier replied: “Better thirty mortal sins than to be a leper.” And to this, the king said: “You speak of very unwise, for you ought to know that no leprosy is so evil as sin. Sin in the soul makes a man a devil, and no leper is like the devil .”

I believe in eternal life. Let’s say these words now in silence.
If we apply this encouragement to ourselves, we will be convinced of the great power of the love of the Lord Jesus, that even in today’s sick, often hopelessly exhausted, disappointed and tired age, the word of Jesus has its power. It is beautiful when we realize that the world is healing through us, that he has recognized us as worthy of his great love, so that we can help others find the values ​​of life that “moth does not eat, rust does not destroy, and a thief does not steal”. Then we too will be even more amazed at his teachings, we will have a personal experience with Him that He has a power that nothing can match.

Today we already confess that Jesus is the true God who has unlimited power, is the Teacher of the ageless gospel, and we are his co-workers. And one more time. Let’s learn to say them whenever we are tempted to commit a grave sin knowingly and voluntarily. I believe in eternal life. Let’s imagine before our eyes Jesus saying to us: “I want to, be clean” (Mk 1:41)!

We are not interested in the lepers of the world. And because the shirt is closer than the coat, we realize what to do with sin. In the following confession of faith, let us be aware of the words: “I believe in eternal life.”

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2,Sunday A Joh 1,29-34

A Christian’s life obliges him to bear witness (Jn 1:29-34)

We are required daily to witness life for sacrifice

We know that there is no testimony like testimony. The testimony of a responsible and mature person has more value and meaning than an irresponsible or possibly a child. The argument of one who knows the matter from his own life and experience will carry more weight than one who has only heard about it. They say that reading about something is beautiful, but being there once, seeing it, experiencing it – that’s more than reading about it a hundred times.
Our faith teaches us to know and to want to testify about what we know, what we know, and what we have already experienced. The world around us rightly expects us Christians to show them our faith not only with words but especially with deeds.

We see an example in St. John the Baptist, who confessed about Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:29), but the Gospel also speaks of another example of testimony, when St. John the apostle writes: “And I have seen it and bear witness that this is the Son of God” (Jn 1:34).

John the Baptist was the first Christian who understood his calling. The vocation of a Christian is to bear witness. The mission of a Christian is to bear witness to Christ with his life, even when he is not directly aware of it. A Christian must not be indifferent to his mission. The power of example either builds or destroys. The figure of John the Baptist and subsequently also the apostle John in today’s Gospel do not encourage personal correction, nor do they emphasize some religious truth as usual, but they make people more familiar with Jesus Christ. The texts of the readings have a common idea, an experience of personal life. They bear witness not to remain silent when it is necessary to speak and even shout about God. John the Baptist, when he recognized Jesus in the crowd, surely with the help of the Spirit, that he was the awaited and predicted Messiah, cried: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). John fulfilled his mission. He prepared the way for the Messiah, and it is still necessary for the Messiah to be presented to both the nation and all people until the end of time, so that he may die quietly in Herod’s prison. When he refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” he refers to him as the Messiah. Already in the Old Testament, the Messiah was presented as a lamb or a ram, which scatters enemies with its horns and wins over the world, and cleanses the world of all evil.
More than sixty years passed from the event – when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist – to the writing of the Gospel by Saint John the Apostle (baptism in the 28th year – the 95th year of the creation of the Gospel). And this period is proof that Jesus was the Messiah. First, Jesus himself teaches the apostles and the crowd for three years, proves his power and mission by word and deed, and dies on the cross for our sins, so that on the third day – as he predicted – he will rise from the dead with his power, when he meets with the disciples for another fifty days before with his ascension to heaven, he returned to the Father, so that his work could be continued by the disciples in the power of the Holy Spirit, whom he had sent upon them with the Father. And at this time, the title “Lamb of God” was not only confirmed, but many are more and more aware of the importance of Jesus Christ in their lives. Jesus died at the moment when the lambs were being slaughtered in the temple before the Easter holidays.
The secret of our salvation is the secret of love. John the Apostle bears witness to this: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3, 16). And the apostle St. Paul says about God: “… he did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8, 32).

The testimonies of John the Baptist and the apostle John are a challenge for us to bear witness to God’s love for man. The Johns began the life of witnesses of Christ. They set an example. They accomplished their mission. Our task, who have believed in Christ, is the obligation in our own time, in a way appropriate to us, to continue what the Johns started. The Johns grew in their testimony. In the beginning, their testimony was not the same as at the end of their lives. We should also pay attention to that. We have all been washed by the blood of the “Lamb-Christ”. And so Jesus’ words about the cross: “Whoever wants to come after me…” (Mt 16:24), but also the words: “And everyone who leaves homes or brothers and sisters for my name’s sake…” (Mt 19,29), became a challenge for many and gave their lives to testify to God’s love.

In mid-February 1958, the state police tracked down the priest Štefan Vlk, who had been hiding for several years, and was accused of spreading religious literature. The policeman noticed that the bench in the hideout was covered with a tarpaulin. When he lifted the blanket, he found no anti-state material, but a board studded with nail tips. He was horrified and shouted: “And what is that?” And when the priest did not answer him immediately, he asked loudly: “Why are you doing this?” Priest Štefan answered after a while: “When he died for us on the cross, it is fitting that we also suffered something.” When he was already in prison for the fourth year and was transferred to the camp in Valdice, he brought with him from Příbram a sentence of 250 days of correction, which means that the prisoner only got to eat once every three days, and that’s why that he never did on Sundays.

Testimony needs to be given even today. Although not immediately by prison or by his blood, but each by his own life. We do not live in such a time and society where everything is in order about the orders of God and the church. And that’s why. When the world does not believe in Christ today, it means that one reason is weak: we Christians are weak. If there are unbelieving people or non-practicing Christians in our neighborhood today. It must not and cannot satisfy us that each of us is the mastermind of our happiness, and possibly that what doesn’t burn you, you don’t put out. Our insufficient example of faith in our life must burn and torment us. It is not enough to be a good person, it is necessary to be a holy Christian Catholic. If the “good guys” were really good, there would be a lot fewer bad guys. The example ignites, both bad and good. The challenge for us: is to ignite ourselves so that we can ignite others. He who does not burn cannot ignite. Who is dead in soul

It is right that we want to be among those who are not silent in their lives when they have to talk about God, faith, about what is essential in a person’s life. Even in our surroundings, many people know very little about God. And there are even more who hear more about God and see only negative and bad things from Christians. And in this wide field, there is a place for each of us. The life of a Christian is correct when it is the life of a witness of Christ. The world is waiting for our testimonies. Indeed, words are often not enough. We know it from our surroundings and life.

The woman talks sweetly and often about God, but people run away from her, avoid her, and even laugh at her. He goes to church every day. He wears a rosary around his neck. Catholic greetings to everyone. He does not miss any pilgrimage or church celebration. All right? She is angry with the priest because he does not do as she wants. In the church, they pull away from her because she wants to excel in prayer, singing, and piety. When the children grew up, they stopped fulfilling the duties of Christians, because in childhood it was often a terror of faith, violence, and not an example of love. It is a memento for many of us.

God wants our cooperation. God sees even in secret. God likes our faithfulness, perseverance, sincerity, and humanity… Therefore, let’s know God in heartseart and through love in humility let’s open the door to him in our actions. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph lived in the silence of Nazareth. And everyone fulfilled their mission in their own time. Challenge? Memento? Addressing? Yes, to each of us.

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