Someone said that God laughs when we plan something. If God is calling you, He has His plans for you. We can also say that we will not find peace if we oppose him. If God calls, it is right to follow his way. We must not run away. After all, there is no escape. Even though we know that God respects our freedom, when God calls us, we must not resist. If he is calling us, he has plans for us. Even in today’s Gospel, we heard how our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38).

The activity of the world is often manifested by a lack of time and especially by a lack of workers who will selflessly care for the good of those who do not realize that they have become slaves to their activity, that they are betraying themselves, that they have degraded the meaning of life, exchanged it for fleeting values ​​that they lose their meaning with death. It would be wrong for the Church to leave the field in which Christ commissioned her to care for those afflicted and depressed in their lives. Jesus pointed out that others, not with pure thinking, sincerity, and honesty, will be interested in these people. They will be like ravenous wolves in their methods and activities. The Church has the duty of shepherd even to those outside the Church. The world’s activity will always be more significant so that the harvest will be great, and the Church needs workers to remind the world of their purpose, goal, and mission of life. There will never be a surplus of workers in the world. The activity of workers always requires sacrifices. Many will also accept the vocation to become a worker in the harvest, but because of the worker’s sacrifices, some will resign at the beginning, others will be deceived, and others will be deceived… Those who persevere to the end will bring a rich harvest. Jesus draws attention to this situation by saying: “Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38). This means that without prayer, any apostolate cannot stand.

The names of the apostles and the power with which Jesus bestows and entrusts them indicate that the Church is apostolic because it is based on the apostles, in the sense that it is based on the apostles as witnesses, whom Jesus entrusted with a missionary mission. With the help of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the Church, the apostles will protect and pass on the teaching, entrusted treasure, and healthy words until Christ’s return. The Church is apostolic, which means that all members of the Church share in its mission, although in different ways. Through the sacrament of baptism, a Christian receives a call to apostolate. The fruitfulness of the apostolate of ordained ministers of the Church and lay people depends on their vital connection with Christ. The apostolate takes on the most diverse forms according to vocations, the times’ demands, and the Holy Spirit’s various giftst. 

We could compare the whole world to such a harvest. Each of us is an ear of corn, and our earthly life is a time when our souls, like ears of corn, 

Is it easier for a believer or an unbeliever? We don’t even realize how many situations we are faced with every day. Believers and non-believers must believe. Where whom and where we believe what. The event of the gospel, which has just ended, directly introduces us to the crowd behind Jesus. We become spectators of the Gospel story, even more. We can be in the center of the action and hear Jesus’ words with our own ears: “..daughter, your faith has made you well…” (Mt 9:22).

It is impossible not to notice her supernatural faith, which Jesus points to as the reason for the healing: “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” It consisted of two actions: First, you made up your mind, and said in your spirit: “As soon as I touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mt 9:21). That was an act of reason. And then they will work, an act of faith, a deed. As she made her way to the center of the crowd and touched the robe. It was not banality. She did so, despite the prohibition of the law. According to him, her touch made others unclean. It could have had unpleasant consequences. This also requires faith. How is it that the healing did not take place at the moment when the woman said to herself “if I touch?…” An act of will was also necessary. And why was even the act of touching itself not healing? After all, so many touched Jesus and power did not come from him. .. Supernatural faith is always about cooperation: human reason and human will with God’s grace. And if natural faith is based on trust in experience, agreement or technique, supernatural faith is based on a much stronger foundation – on the authority of God. I believe because God said. Experience can disappoint, there is usually a malfunction in the technique, the agreement is broken. God – absolute Truth, is infallible. He cannot will, think, speak otherwise than the most perfect. In this lies the certainty of faith. Perhaps out of habit we follow Jesus in a crowd. We listen to his words almost every day. Maybe we can be excited by the singing of a crowded church or the idyllic idyll of church holidays. Is that enough for us?

Why is there no healing in so many encounters with Christ? How to heal unresolved disputes with relatives, neighbors… To heal a relationship with an angry sibling or friend. Can we take two steps to heal? So simple and challenging at the same time. When we can realize with reason: if I get closer to him, I get closer to Jesus; we have taken the first step of faith. I believe, Lord, that you are in him, in her. Let us recognize his face in a sympathetic person, even in the one who does not remind us of Jesus. Christ is also in a sinful man, and he suffers. Do I bypass him? The second step is the deed, the very touching of Christ in the neighbor. It can take a variety of forms. Love for Jesus, whom I saw in a person, can be inventive..

The passage opens with opens with Jesus returning to his hometown,where a paralyzed man is brought befor him a on a stretcher. This encounter sets the stage for the profound events that follow.The paralyzed man’s physical ailment serves as a metaphor for the spiritual and emotional paralysis that can afflict us all.As we contemplate this scene,we are reminded of the various burdens we carry and the limitations they impose on us.

The faith displayed by the friends of the paralyzed man is remarkable.They believe in Jesus’ power to heal and are willing to go to great lengths to bring their friend before him. a When Jesus  sees  their  faith,he forgives the man’s sins,recognizing the importance of addressing the root causes of suffering.This act of forgigiveness emmphasinez the interconnection between spirituel and  physical healing,highlighting the transformative power of reconciliation and forgivess indeed lives.

The religious leaders present present are troubled by Jesus’ words of forgiveness,as they consider it blasphemous. Jesus,perceiving their  thoughts,poses a question that challenges their understanding:”Which is easier :to say, Your sins are forgiven or the say; Get up and walk? By demonstrating his authority to forgive sins,Jesus challenges conventional beliefs and opens up a new paradigm of understanding.This episode urges us to question  our  own preconceived notions and be open to the transformative  power of forgiveness and healing.

As we contemplate this narrative,let us strive to cultivate faith like the friends of the paralyzed  man,who were unwavering in their belief in Jesus’healing power. May we also have the courage to challenge conventional thinking just as Jesus did

It ‘s a strange story. How very relevant even in today’s time. Jesus arrives in the region of Gadara, and the first inhabitants of this region whom he meets after stepping ashore are two men tormented by an evil spirit. Possessed. No one can help them, and that’s why everyone prefers to avoid them by far. But not Jesus. Despite the fact that, according to the scribe’s record, Jesus did not say a word, the evil spirits immediately understood that Jesus was not indifferent to the fate of the two unfortunates whom they were tormenting. Unlike their fellow tribesmen. Jesus orders the evil spirits to come out from inside the two unfortunate people and allows them to enter, as they requested, into a herd of pigs that were grazing far away. Two men are single. The herd, into which the demons from the two possessed ones had just entered, ran to meet the waves of the raging lake.

As the evangelist Matthew states, she perished in the water. The shepherds, who saw all this, fled in terror and fear to a nearby town and told the story of what they had witnessed a while ago. We can well imagine what was going on in the city after this news. However, the ending of this story explains a lot to us. Instead of joy at the rescue of their two sons, brothers, maybe husbands and fathers, panic rose in the city. Matthew does not mention the welcome of his fellow citizens, who were finally freed from the torment of possession by an evil spirit, but he mentions “the whole city” that went out to meet Jesus to ask him to leave. The material damage they suffered from the drowning of a herd of pigs was probably more important to them than the spiritual gain of the freedom of God’s children, which was given to their two fellow citizens by the Son of God.

Awe are very similar to the inhabitants of this Gadar town. We are willing to accept God only when he does not reach out to our “flock”. If he does not demand anything from us, and after all, not the “sinking” of our sins and iniquities. We choose the security of our imaginary pastured pigs in various forms of material success and exchange it for God’s blessing, which we renounce. How often do we hear the complaint: Where was God when the unsuspecting victims were killed in a terrorist attack? Where was he when a British judge sentenced the innocent little Alfi to death, or when an old Canadian woman, fearing for her life, had to get the words Don’t euthanize me tattooed on her shoulder before entering hospital treatment?

Where was God at this or that disaster? He was where we wanted him. He was beyond our city, country, continent, from where we expelled him. Politely and politely, politically correct, in the language of diplomats and lawyers, we asked him to leave. And we even insulted him vulgarly and threw him out in “artistic clothes”, as happened recently in the theater in Brno. Just as he commanded the evil spirits to come out of the men they were afflicting, we asked him to come out of our civilization. Perhaps it is not too late to come to your senses. Hopefully humanity is not too far on its way to extinction and we will catch up with Jesus and invite him into our midst again.

Have you ever experienced a storm in your life? I don’t want us to remember the natural cataclysm. A storm in us, in the family, in the neighborhood can last not hours, but weeks, months, or years. Who counts the tears, sleepless nights, days of waiting for the other to realize a mistake, a mistake, a fall… And comes and says: “Sorry, … forgive, … forget, … help to change, .. .let’s start again…” It’s hard when we see what a natural storm destroys. It is more difficult, much more painful when a storm is caused by a loved one – for no reason, without a cause, when he stomps, slowly injures, bloodlessly murders, and at the same time does not see, does not hear, does not want to admit it…

In the Gospel, the frightened apostles on the stormy sea see Jesus as “he threatened the wind and said to the sea: “Shut up, calm down! The wind stopped and there was a great silence” (Mk 4:39). From time to time we hear people claim that God is not interested in the world. Many also believe that God created the world, but then left the world to fend for itself. God exists. The above is proof of the existence of God, God is in us, and we are in God. Our paths in life are also his paths. We read about God already at the creation of the world, that he saw everything he had created, and it was good (cf. Ex 1:12, 18, 25). We even know that “God created man in his own image” (Ex 1:27). Even after people’s sins, God does not stop loving humanity. Good God, God – Love does not forget its children. But we, God’s children, must return to God, return our love to him. Can we say that in the Holy Scriptures, there is something written that God wants us to do badly? Is it bad when the Church, for example, teaches about respect for parents, that we must not kill unborn children, that none of us even in old age and neither in illness nor in misfortune must he decide to end life, euthanasia? Is it bad when we hear teachings about the need to respect conscience? We are created in the image of God, but even if someone does not believe in God, he must feel moral responsibility for life and what about it is related to him.

In the storms of life; life conflicts; battles, and matches with our “I” again and again God speaks to each of us. Converts and all who found strength and reconciled with God rediscovered God, speak of a God who still loves. God loves every person, even when a person insults, ignores, does not accept, or expels God from his life. When we open ourselves to God, and accept God as our Lord of life and the goal of life, we can say that God has called to us many times: I need you! I require your consent of reason and free will to end your suffering. I want to help you. I require your approval.

We, the people, do not wait for consent to change the style or the way of life of our neighbors. Whoever lives in sin is blind, deaf, dumb… Does he not see that he is causing pain, suffering, and sorrow to those around him, dear ones… – is God to blame for that? Man is gifted by God with reason and will. Man can also say to God: no! It is Christian when we understand Christ’s words: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Mt 5:38n)

The teaching of Christ does not hinder true love, on the contrary,
only God knows how many of you there are, which not only at today’s Holy Mass but often in prayers you turn to God for your dearest ones. Your loved ones will often understand your love for them only after your grave. What you endure for the love of God for your loved ones!
A friend says to a friend: “Get a divorce! He drinks, he beats you, he embarrasses you, even the children will agree.” And she remarks with tears in her eyes: “I promised that I would not leave him in any adversity.” Another
example: Both students. When she informs him that she is expecting a child, she immediately adds that she will not keep the child. Surprised, he says: “No! Have we done something stupid and should we do it even more? No, our child must live!”
Another example: She visited her brother to talk him out of a bad acquaintance. Other examples: One is devoted to a friend who has fallen into the power of automatons. The second devotes a lot of time to a friend who got into the dubious company of a sect. Third, even though she has many responsibilities in her family, does not forget to help her sick neighbor every day. why are they doing that? What makes them do it? They don’t know the saying: What doesn’t burn you – doesn’t burn?

They have one thing in common. They understood and put Jesus’ words into practice: “And whoever gives one of these little ones a glass of cold water to drink as a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will not lose his reward” (Mt 10:42).

A believing Christian realizes that if God asked a great thing of him, he would not refuse. The a more Christian knows the teachings of Jesus, the more he recognizes the greatness of God’s love in his life. True love becomes the driving force to more consistently realize communion with God in life. In the spirit of faith, the Christian realizes that every person has the right to love God, in a specific life.
The words of the Lord Jesus are often difficult and difficult to implement. And God does not bargain with man. God says in favor of man: “He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:38). Jesus redeemed us without us, but he will not save us without us. We are not alone on the path of our salvation. Living in community requires caring for brothers and sisters. True love for God teaches us to love God. We are to love God above all else. Love for God must not be hindered by love for one’s neighbor and also for oneself. That is why Jesus says: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” And whoever loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). When Jesus says it, we cannot wave our hands at it, but we are obliged to stand up to his words with all our hearts, even if we should lose everything else. God cannot say otherwise and want otherwise, that would be contradicting himself. Don’t be surprised that Jesus puts us in front of difficult and inevitable decisions in life. We should not be surprised that he makes these great demands on us. No man can take the place in our heart that belongs to God. And it is not enough to give the first and honorable place to God only in the theoretical field, but in everyday life. Only he can be our true and eternal love. In a life united with Christ and in love for him, we cannot avoid experiences marked by the cross and other sacrifices. It is indeed difficult to love Christ as those closest to you who have renounced him. How often do Christians forsake God for love of men! By doing so, they show that they love God less than their neighbors. Every sin we commit speaks of a greater love for our neighbor or for ourselves than for God. When we sin, we forget that whoever renounces his love will not get anything more, better, better or more beautiful, on the contrary, loses much more. It must be remembered that Christianity cannot be separated from the cross. From the moment when Jesus set out on the way of the cross, the cross became a part of our Christian life. We each have our own cross. Nature resists the cross. He wants to avoid the cross. She doesn’t want to go his way. A Christian cannot stand on the opposite side of the line.
However, Christ does not prevent anyone with his teaching from walking the path of joy. He wants us to embrace the supernatural path of love. Human love, if it is not based on God’s love, will not bring true joy and true happiness to a person. It can even rob you of eternal joy. When many do not realize that they are walking on the wrong path in their lives, every Christian must point out his brother or sister about his bad, wrong, and incomplete view of life’s path.
Love can become blind, and false, against which Jesus warns: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). How many parents wrongly love their children when they love their bodily and natural goods more than their souls. They do not want and cannot deny children things, forbid them, do not lead them to renunciation, self-denial, asceticism, work, to the true values ​​of life. Superficial life of faith and an insufficient approach to spiritual duties by parents is a school of unbelief for children. If they ask children, just to learn something before receiving communion or confirmation, a few definitions, it happens that for children God is an inanimate abstraction. Faith requires realizing Christ’s words: “Let your speech be “yes-yes”, “no-no” (Mt 5:37). Unhealthy Christianity but also the social approach of parents to raising children is quickly manifested in the fact that demands are increasing, but obligations are decreasing. And what happens that parents do not expect from children is that children commit violence against their parents, even criminal activity.
We can observe similar situations with the husbands themselves. It cannot be called love that we can afford everything. Spouses must not forget that their promise also binds each other. And everything that does not agree with the teaching of God is against their love. Relegating God to second place sooner or later brings the breakdown of love and disappointment. True love is a medicine against egoism, selfishness, infidelity, hypocrisy, and separation. If natural love is to have true value, it needs to be based on supernatural values. Natural carnal and spiritual love need love for God. When God is respected in the first place, then natural love will also grow.
True love cannot do without looking at old age. Thus, those who are living the higher years of life should not forget their goal in life, and they should also be a role model for their successors. The young should honor the years, the gray hairs, and the life of the old, and in specific expressions towards the elders, they glorify God and obtain a blessing for their lives.
Every deed we do out of true love for our neighbors in the spirit of Christ’s teachings can be compared to a glass of cold water, for which a reward from God is promised. It is not only physical deeds but also spiritual ones.

It is appropriate that we learned to see, and hear, but also to react appropriately and quickly to things and events in life around us. Many are ashamed to come to the surface with their shortcomings of body and soul. A Catholic Christian cannot be satisfied only with the salvation of his soul.
It is right that we believers know how to talk about matters of the soul on various occasions. It is beautiful to hear that we pray for each other, and what is more, that our actions say that we value each other’s souls.
It is the praise of a father when a grown son says to him: “Father, I have never heard you say not only God’s name in vain but also the words of indecency.” It is the praise of a mother whose daughter says: “Mom, thank you for being an example of a Christian woman. She knew how to properly maintain well-being, peace, and love in the family.” It is praise for neighbors who can be said to be able to live in understanding, mutual respect, respect, and love. It is a praise that not even inheritance can divide siblings, quarrel, and destroy the love between them. There are other things to praise…
Why is it praising? Because they put God first. And their life becomes the reality of the Lord Jesus’ words: “He will not lose his reward” (Mt 10:42).

Already today, we pray to persevere in true love. Already today, now, let God be in the first and most honorable place in our life, in our relationships. Already today, now, we pray and ask not only for the dearest but also for distant relatives, and co-workers for the true love of Catholic Christians. What about the fact that maybe over our grave or in eternity they will know that we loved them more than they thought.

On the wall of one of the concentration camps, they found a beautiful confession of faith left by an unknown prisoner. It read like this: “I believe in the rays of the sun, even when I can’t feel them. I believe in God even when God is silent”. Christ tells us about how important faith is in our lives in today’s Gospel when he praises the attitude of the Roman centurion. So let’s think for a moment and look at this fascinating character.

The centurion was Roman and could despise the Jews as almost all Romans did. But this centurion not only respected the Jews but also treated his servants and slaves very humanely. He proved it by how much he cared about his servant’s recovery. To better see the whole picture, it should be remembered at this point that slaves and servants had almost no rights at that time. The owner could treat them however he wanted. He could even kill his slave without breaking the law. The centurion was above all a deeply religious man. Christ praises his attitude when he says: “I tell you, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel”. This praise makes the Roman centurion a model for us Christians living in our century.

The attitude of the centurion is worth following, especially today when people are leaving God and the Church for petty reasons. Why is that so? We simply lack humility. And because we lack humility, we lose faith. Unfortunately, we are many times wiser than God… We know better what the world should be in order. Many times we dictate to God what to do. And we can say that we are almost always dissatisfied. We criticize others, but we have done nothing good. For many of us, the Holy Liturgy, confession, sacraments, and devotions are just an experience and a boring reality. When we behave in this way, we deprive ourselves of the connection with the most important source of graces for us, which is the Eucharist and the holy sacraments.

We must remember that faith is a great grace from God for each of us and that it is given to us not only as a gift but also as a task. So we must not only thank God for our faith but also do everything to persistently deepen and cultivate it. And that requires effort and persistence. God never leaves us, never fails us. We leave Him… when we start with the excuse that we don’t have time for personal prayer, for the Sunday Holy Liturgy, or confession at least once a year… And then, when something in our life starts to go wrong, and we don’t succeed, we blame God and complain that He has left us.

“With faith, we stumble over every blade of straw, with faith we move mountains” – wrote Sören Kierkegaard and Karol Lehmann noted that the one “who believes in Jesus Christ does not have to die alone”. So let us value our faith and deepen it with good prayer, participation in the Eucharist, frequent confession, and living according to the voice of our conscience. We understand our faith as the greatest and most valuable treasure.

FROM will end this reflection with the thoughts of a soldier who died in one battle. In the pocket of his military coat, they found the words of this prayer: “I prayed for health, that I might accomplish great things; fragile health was given to me so that I could do good things. I asked for wealth so that I could be happy, I received poverty so that I could become wiser. I asked for many things so that I could enjoy life; I was given life to enjoy many things. I didn’t get anything I asked for, but I got everything I needed. Against my pleas, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am the most blessed among men”.