predication.net

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What do I see the meaning of life in, and what do I do to ensure I’m not wrong?

Introduction.

Many will also use the time of holidays and vacations to answer questions and reevaluate their lifestyle, which they don’t have time for during the rush and duties, or forget to realize. For example, what can a person do with his body? At least a few records. It jumps to a distance of almost 9 meters and a height of nearly 2.5 meters. He runs a hundred meters in less than ten seconds. Marathon in two hours.
It is said that someone who trains can, for example, swim tens of kilometers without resting, lift twice as much as he weighs… In Quinens’ book of records, we read that a person kills an ox with a blow of his hand, pulls an airplane or a train set several meters with a rope in his teeth… And yet this miracle, the human body, is composed of elements that cost about twenty crowns together.
The politician announces that he will eat, drink, r, relax and tramuch lot in retirement. Others sell their honor, name, and body to be famous, rich, to prove something, to mean something.

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

Behind that and other values, names, decisions, and attitudes, we talk about the meaning of life. Positive and negative actions and behavior cause various questions, surprises, disappointments, hope, joy, peace of mind, and certainty of a new life. The meaning of life affects us too.

The parables about the treasure hidden in the field, the merchant looking for precious pearls, and the net that catches all kinds of fish want to say what Jesus wants to remind us about the kingdom of God.

The parable of the treasure hidden in the field and the buyer looking for precious pearls in connection with the kingdom of heaven speaks of the high price of heavenly values. Each person walks their path in life, and all galleries are the same. They have one mission, one goal. God enters the course of each person appropriately. God enters a person’s life on a specific day during a particular event. What was is not decisive. It doesn’t matter if someone was looking for God or drowning in sin. The treasure in the field was discovered by accident. No one was looking for him.

On the other hand, the buyer was looking for a rare pearl. Both cases say that the finders came to the treasure only by God’s grace. A person discovers God even when he is not looking for God when he is not looking for him,m and possibly, when he is looking, he finally finds him. First gives himself and reveals himself, and then faith grows out of man’s free choice. Always and in all cases, heavenly values ​​are of great value. How many people walked across the field where the treasure was hidden? Jesus walks among us, and how many people do not notice him?
The buyer searches for and receives the coveted pearl. The search was not in vain. He was looking for the centurion Cornelius (Acts 10:1-43) and Lydia (Acts 16:14). To follow them means to seek God with all seriousness and to hold fast to him with all faithfulness. For whom the cause of God is not worthy of every sacrifice, he will never understand the preciousness of the pearl. The precious pearl is indestructible, it cannot be lost, and we will get it here on earth to pull our hearts to heaven. Even the evangelist Matthew left everything when he recognized Jesus’ wealth. The treasure hidden in the field and the pearl are Jesus himself.
Our life and roles hide the meaning of life. A peasant, a day laborer who loves the part, works, the amount is not his, but when he finds a treasure on the field, he will do everything to make the glory his. The peasant is an example in that he gives up everything to get the treasure. Man likes to live on earth. When he recognizes Christ, his prize, he does everything to make Jesus the center, the meaning, the goal of his life. Jesus is the pearl in which all the glory of the Father is hidden. When a person gets to know God, he realizes that the kingdom of God is not a property but a value like different values. Man acts radically. He wants God no matter what. He wants nothing that is not essentially connected with God.
Both parables agree that the find will sell everything to get what is trecognizeized as treasure. It is something very valuable that they are willing to sacrifice everything else for it. The difference between the parables is that in the case of the treasure in the field,d, it is a matter of chance; I; in the case of the pear,l, it is a targeted search.
The kingdom of God is the greatest gift. The search and the performance do not give the reality of this gift. However, its existence is given only to those who seek, desire and strive for heaven’s kingdom. Knowing God leads to what the rich young man did not understand. He did not do everything God wanted from him because he left sa; he gave priority to possessions before God.
Abraham is a model of a farmer and a merchant because when God asks of him, even as an only son, he is willing to sacrifice him.
The nation of Israel behaves the opposite of Abraham. Jesus – the Messia,h came, and they did not accept him. The treasure was offered to them, and they preferred their will. And God wants everything. God does not bargain. God does not go below the price. God wants the heart. A pearl is worth a heart. The treasure is worth the heart. In this way, the words about who is looking for his life, that he will lose it, and who loses his life, that he will find it, can also be understood.

The parable of the net and the fish of all kinds points to God’s grace of calling, which God offers to all. God loves everyone. The sea, the world belong to God. God casts a net, the Church preaches, catechizes, and evangelizes; the catch is for everyone. The hunt takes place based on Jesus’ mission command: “Go into all the world…” (Mk 16:15). Jesus wants everyone to be written in BookbookLifelife at the end of time.

And for that,t God needs our cooperation. Let us repeatedly ask: What are we in the world for? It affects us essentially. We give ourselves the answer to the questions posed by life. And we can answer these life questions only by answering our everyday existence. In other words: don’t look for what life can give you, but look for what you can give life. Don’t ask how much joy you find in others, but how much you see yourself and give to others. Ask not only about the goal of life but also about the path to it.
Ask a small child which three wishes he wishes. The answers are childish: perhaps some candy, a computer, a bicycle… When you ask the same question to an adult, the solutions will be appropriate according to intelligence, such as health success… And ask the dying. Human life’s meaning and fulfillment can be compared to a container for liquid. Why would a container be beautiful at first gl but without a bo? Tom. And what would be the use of a containing has a bo that cannot be opened or filled? Human life needs both “space and bottom” simultaneously, meaning and fulfillment, i.e., Content and goal. One without the other is of no use. The devil tempted Christ three times. He promised glory and,d eventually, power. He submitted the Content to him three times. But not once did he offer him a life goal. Man today is in a similar situation. The tempter comes three times in a lifetime and hundreds of times a day.

We realize that the joy of the human soul inevitably includes finding quality content and the goal of life at the same time. Then we will understand the two commandments on which the entire Law and the Prophets rest (M. Kašparů: On the joys of the human soul).
The kingdom of God is a treasure and, therefore, the only catch, the superior real value. To the extent that whoever has it has everything and wants nothing more. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul” (Mt 16:26)?! For such a treasure, it is worth doing business, giving up, working ng, and living.
A Christian is a person who has let himself be found by Jesus. All false values fade along with the joy of this discovery, but the true ones begin to shine with a new luster. Joy was the essential experience of early Christianity.
Wealth on earth, no matter how valuable it is, whether it is sports glory, medals, wreaths, diplomas, or other awards, fades quickly, disappears, is forgotten, and is destroyed. However, the treasure of God’s kingdom will not be destroyed by rust, moth, or thief.

When a student asked his teacher Plato how much earthly wealth he could have, he received the answer: “Enough so that it is not an obstacle to achieving your goal.”

Even a Christian can only have enough wealth so that it is not an obstacle to achieving his eternal goal. No wealth, power, or fame must become an obstacle for a Christia to forget the meaning of life.

One of the wealthiest people is multi-billionaire Morgan. It is guarded daily by a security guard. He asked the journalist: “Are you satisfied with your fate?” He answered: “My spokesman will answer this question for you. Or ask about my garden; you will find out how I manage it. But you can believe me that any of my employees are happier than I am.”

We are not surprised to hear from time to time that someone has radically changed their way of life. And it’s not just those who go to monasteries, like this or that beauty star. The change of life is the discovery of something of more excellent value.

On September 26, 1660, St. died. Vincent de Paul, of whom it is said that more money passed through his hands than all the banks of that time in France put together. However, he died poor for this world but rich for the kingdom of God. After serving the sacrament of the dying, he blessed his spiritual sons and daughters. At the words: “God, come to my help…” Vincent’s lips moved gently and never closed again… He gave his noble soul into the hands of the Lord… He lived for others. He had people with low incomes as his treasure. He helped them materially and spiritually. God owed him nothing.

Let’s each ask for a happy hour of death for ourselves. Even today, let us consider God’s kingdom as the most valuable treasure, for which we want to work, to seek and which we want to acquire like a precious pearl.

Now thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your actions! » Ag 1, 5.

Our life is constantly rained: work, children we have to put in school and their classes, checks we have to pay, distances we have to cover. Even if we do everything we can, we have to admit that we are not keeping up, which is why it seems strange that the Holy Scriptures call us in several places to stop and think. Why do we strain so much? What are our desires and goals? How do we want to achieve them? Do we even think about God, his requirements, and his will? God wants us to work. Do we work and live to honor him and help others? What hierarchy of values ​​do we profess? Let’s look at ourselves objectively. We are not just looking for excuses and alibis. Is it in our interest and for our good?

In previous decades, during the era of building socialism, ideological materialism was enforced. Pragmatic materialism is voluntary. Respects civil liberties. He doesn’t impose anything on our actions; he doesn’t argue with us. He offers enticingly. Once we ask what is the meaning of our life, today we ask what is our standard of living. An ethic based on self-sacrifice seems to have died out. Man will no longer give up his interests for a supra-personal ideal or the common good.

Let’s take seriously the warning of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who pointed out that the world that man has created for himself surrounds him from all sides and becomes a prison for him, thus leading him to cry out for freedom and something completely different. Silence must be learned if work and life are to retain meaning because science without values ​​becomes a nightmare and the main defendant of all development. Ideology is the trump card where the desire for wisdom, for contemplation, and for inner freedom does not even shy away. If we realize we are acting unwisely, let us have the courage to change.