predication.net

God judges – not by our criteria, but by His. And He says you are not to judge your brother but to lovingly admonish, encourage, and pray for him. God will also believe me and not compare me to how others are doing, but each one will be considered for himself. We must reshape what is happening around us that is wrong; we must take the attitude of those actively creating and not those passively waiting to see what happens next. We must become prophets of the times – teachers who know God’s will for us and the world and what He wants us to do. To be a prophet in this world requires listening to God and doing what He desires.

How and whether to listen to God today… we can tell by example and the lessons learned from it. An Indian Catholic priest recalls an incident at the Bombay airport. The queue stopped before him for a long time at the security check. For there stood a young European man, holding a mouse in his hand and with a snake around his neck, dressed in Hindu robes, with ashes on his forehead, talking to the policeman: “Let me get in with these gods.” The line was stopped, and irritated people shouted at the policeman to throw the young man out. A priest standing just behind him began to pray for the man, and God showed him his name and identity. He laid His hand on him and said: “Joseph, are you not a German Catholic? How humiliating is holding these two creatures and saying they are your gods?” The man asked, shocked: “How do you know me?” The priest pulled out a cross and showed it to him, saying, “This is your God. He died on the cross for you and me. He loves you.” The two men boarded the plane, and the flight ended with Holy Confession, receiving Jesus in the Eucharist and finding true peace and joy.

Who can help us recognize the quills in our inner sight? The Law, the commandments by which we show our dependence on and love for God, helps us know the plummeting stones. In what way can these “stones” be selected? This is only possible by an attitude of repentance, of true conversion, in which I look in truth at what I am. God’s Word says to us that we are all sinners. We are not to be the judge of our neighbor because we are sinners. What are we to do? Jesus came to save us, to set us free from sin. He, who is here among us today, points out to us by the light of His Spirit our sins, our hurts, our fears, our prejudices so that we may recognize them and turn them over to Him. The result will be a sight that will be clearer, and you will know yourself better and judge your neighbor less because you will see him as a brother, a sister, and you will not condemn, reject, or despise him. If you know the evil he does, please be sure to tell him and encourage him to do better.

Let us allow Jesus to guide life’s journey, for He knows how to eternal life. Let us accept the law of love that he offers us as the law by which we want to act.

In a fitness center, athletes raise the dumbbells. They gradually add heavier and heavier weight to the dumbbells, and then they always have joy when they raise the dumbbell above their head. Every man increases the burden of his days, months, and years. There comes a time when we will not be able to lift either our feet or our hands. We must raise our life into the hands of God. For us, Mary’s life can be an example. Jesus could redeem humanity even without Mary. But God liked the love of man. The love that lasts even in suffering and pain. He chose Mary because she knew how to be with her Son even in hell. Every man can give his suffering to Jesus. Paul of Tarsus wrote; Now I rejoice in the hell I endure for you. For the body of Christ, the church, I add to my earthly life what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” Colossians 1,24. From Mary’s attitude toward suffering, we can draw strength and help. Faith gives meaning to our suffering and pain. For unbelieving people, hell has no meaning. An older woman was living alone in her apartment and complaining. I did not know what time it was. I was very thirsty, so I went for water. I had to go up three flights of stairs. But I felt unwell and fainted. When I came to my senses, I went back to the room. On the bed, I fell again. I wanted to go to bed but could not; I only pulled down the feather bed on me. And I covered myself. How miserable man is. God is also in our difficulties and sufferings and helps so that grief does not weigh us down. Through hell, we can ask for blessings for others. Our task is to eliminate suffering in the world through our service and love. During the Second World War, an uprising broke out in Warsaw. The rebellion was suppressed. In a bombed house lay a believing Jew. He wrote on a scrap of paper. I know that I will never see the sunrise. God, you have done everything to make me not believe in you or doubt you. But I will die as I lived, with firm faith in you. This person had admirable dedication. Events such as war, misfortune, and illness can destroy trust in people. But many people showed with their lives, like Mary, for example, that their faith was more substantial than the suffering they had to endure.

Principle: Loving people always have something to say. Jesus says: “Be merciful,… do not judge… do not condemn… with the measure you measure, it will be measured to you” (Lk 6:36-38). Jesus’ words speak of kindness. They knew this virtue and already amazed the pagan philosophers. The Lord Jesus elevated the love of enemies to the central commandment: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27 -28).

A Christian realizes that he is a work of God’s kindness and, therefore, tries to behave as Jesus teaches. A Christian does not exalt himself, but with his behavior, he tries to remind those around him of the kindness of his God towards us sinners. Christ’s words raise many questions. How does the Church fulfill this command? It is necessary to give a personal answer to this and similar questions, but a response on behalf of the Church is also expected. Each individually and all together, we are called by Christ to work together at the command of love. The world needs witnesses. Witnesses of love.

The great fighter for human rights – a black man, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, a great and fearless follower of Christ, Martin Luther King, who was shot by an assassin for his beliefs, said in response to these words: “Do to us what you want, but we will not stop loving you.” We realize that loving those who do not love us is difficult, very difficult, but it is worth loving. The commandment of love is not intended only for someone, perhaps the strong, but Jesus gives the commandment of love to every person. The commandment of love binds every believing Christian. Every Christian receives an example from Christ. Christ died for our sins. St. Basil says: “Man is a creature who was commanded to become God.” And St. Athanasius says: “The Son of God became a man so that the sons of men could become the sons of God.” John Paul II writes in the encyclical “Redemptor hominis” (Art. 8):

How many times in the past week have we stood aside when someone around us needed our help, for example? We didn’t help. We did not shake hands. They did not advise. Perhaps one word, a smile, a handshake was enough… We probably have many excuses, reasons to excuse ourselves, that the person in question has such a nature that he is not worth it, is not interested in cooperation… Is the command of love a superhuman demand? Yes, it is unfulfillable by our weak human powers, but it is possible by God’s power, which is always close to us. Jesus helps us not to compare ourselves with our neighbors but with God and to follow God in love. He loves all people and embraces the saint and the sinner.

Let’s add to the principle from the introduction: From God’s perspective, many things will appear to us in a new light, and we will recognize that our neighbor was not such an enemy as we imagined him to b

Every person endowed with common sense and free will wants to be happy. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks to us about happiness, when, from the Sermon on the Mount, St. Luke reminds us four times that Jesus emphasized the words “blessed” and “woe to you.” Jesus is a very demanding teacher. Jesus’ words are received with misunderstanding, underestimated, and postponed for a later time… Saint Luke wrote the Gospel in Greek, which was the language of the culture and art of that time. The word “blessed” can be interpreted differently today. We can say that God is blessed in the true sense of the word. When Jesus preaches on the mountain and utters the word “blessed,” he thinks not about God but about people. Jesus said the word “blessed” a total of eight times. Let’s stop at the four mentioned by St.

” Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God ” (Lk 6:20).
For this happiness, for God’s sake, man knows how to renounce on earth, share, and endure lack.
” Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled ” (Lk 6,21).
Jesus does not underestimate or forbid the natural needs of the body. The church’s command to “do works of penitence as determined by the church authority” helps this.
” Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh ” (Lk 6:21).
This sadness leads a person to the depths of his heart and body.
” Blessed will you be when people hate you…because of the Son of Man ” (Luke 6:22).
Since Cain, humanity has suffered from a lack of brotherly love.

The first part of the Gospel periscope ends with the call: “Rejoice on that day and rejoice, for you have a great reward in heaven” (Lk 6:23). The very words of the Lord Jesus for those who believed in him are joy on earth. What follows is a real spiritual revolution, a change in man’s mindset about God, his neighbor, and himself. Jesus revealed God’s fatherhood to us. The text teaches us to understand the Christian service. With the words “blessings”  and “woe,” we realize how he looks at us, God, and we learn what we must do to meet God’s rightful demands of us.  Common sense tells us about happiness. God gave us reason and free will and offers even more. He provides eternal happiness that nothing can replace. Compare it to the earth. And it’s worth it.

What does this mean for us specifically? What do we want, and what will we do? Already at St. mass, already today?

The name indicates an individual, means a particular being, and represents a person. This is especially evident from the Bible: The name of the Lord be glorified means God be glorified. Whoever knows the word of God knows God himself. Even in the prophet Isaiah, the Lord says to Israel: Do not be afraid, I have redeemed you, called you by your name, you are mine. And in another place, it is said: The Lord called me from my mother’s womb; already in my mother’s life, he thought of my name. And to the one who fears that his name will be forgotten after all, he is reminded: Can a woman forget her infant and not have pity on the son of her womb?

Even if she forgets him, I will never forget you. I carved you into my palms. And here, I will present two episodes from the New Testament that are connected with the name. God sends his messenger to a young girl in Nazareth. The Virgin’s name was Mary. The angel Gabriel was to announce to a recently betrothed virgin that she would have a child. We don’t want to consider the surprise of Maria, Josef, and perhaps the whole neighborhood. According to Luke, this surprise disappears after the questions Mary asks the angel. Although the election of God to become the Mother of the Son of God was difficult for Mary to understand for some time, the announcement of the name was still difficult to believe for the young woman.

What young couple expecting a child doesn’t have a thousand thoughts on a name? Sometimes, the search for a name goes without controversy. Kinship often interferes, and traditions must also be taken into account. Sometimes, a movie, a book, a star, or a blockbuster plays a role, and saints play their part too. Frustrated that they couldn’t agree, the young father picks up a magazine, and a name is born. Everyone likes an inscription: Sabina. That’s just how it goes sometimes. The small but subtle joy of searching is denied to Maria. She didn’t have to look anymore. Mary is chosen to be the Mother of Jesus. This name is to be given to him. Jesus, God saves. God gives a name; a name is a program. This happened so many times in the Old Testament.

Both mothers at the beginning of the New Testament thus experience the God of their people. Elizabeth calls her son John; God is kind. Mary obediently calls her Jesus, and God saves them. When God associates a person’s name with a program or some mandate, then it is permissible to question whether this is the case when parents name their children. Whatever the word is, they want the little person to one day become a personality who will make a name for himself that will last.

Most often, a person does not say: My name is, but only: I am Kristina, I am Tomáš. Character and personality have something in common. People grow according to their name. We celebrate birthdays because we are happy to be alive. We celebrate name days because we rejoice that we are an unmistakable person, born for eternity. I called you by name. You belong to me, says God, according to Isaiah. This idea has something to do with the second event from the New Testament. Jesus is on his way and faces a new, incomprehensible life for us. Many of his disciples cannot understand this. Even so, Mary Magdalene is very desperate. He runs to the grave on Easter morning, searches, cries, and lets the imaginary gardener talk.

And then one of the New Testament’s most beautiful, mysterious, moving events happens. Jesus speaks only to Mary. She recognizes the one who addressed her by the voice as the harpist’s hand brings the strings to sound; the sound of Jesus’ voice brings Magdalene’s soul to exaltation. Only words like friendship, love, and affection can indicate why Mary Magdalene now recognized Jesus. Perhaps we also know something similar. Whoever pronounces our name as our name, perhaps in a hurry, is not insignificant to us. We feel love for him; we listen to him. When we are insecure, we feel biased. If we are afraid, the sound of our name burdens us. That sound shows the connection between me and you.

With our name, we have both a personal future and an entirely personal eternity. At the beginning of our life, we ​​are given two names, one given to us by our parents, the other we receive as a result of the sacrament of baptism: Christian. With this name, we will survive all dying and humiliation and be called to God’s home. Only love gives a name. This also applies to us humans; it also applies to the mystery of God. Names are gifts of the heart and kindness, a sign of favor, statements of belonging, and a promise of God’s future. We wish you joy from your first and Christian names, from the daily certainty of the living God who calls us all by name. The Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene tell us that God gives a name and calls by name. He gave us the name of the man and the task to be. He calls us by name: you are mine. That is our calling; you are not born to become dust and ashes but are paid for life and eternity.

At first, he compares himself to the Ten Commandments. And if he is sincere, it convicts him of many sins, whether envy and sinful lust or theft, lying and not keeping promises and word, disrespecting parents, cursing wickedness, and worshiping idols such as money or human praise. On the other hand, it is easy to be blameless regarding the law. If, therefore, a man, after he has believed and been converted, and after he has passed through the catechumen and has learned the Commandments, abandons evil deeds and grave sin, he might feel that he is already in a good place. He is already living righteously, his sins are erased, and he no longer has to look at himself as a sinner. But, the mistake trap!
Jesus says: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I keep my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”(Jn 15:10). What are they? Jesus repeats the N.T. command to love God with all your being, body, soul, passionately, to the uttermost. To love one another as he loves us devotedly, faithfully, irrevocably, unconditionally, and unconditionally, to the uttermost, even unto death, because that is how He loves us. To worship, genuinely love, actively, even strangers, even our enemies, and to be merciful to all, even to them, as our Father, God. Jesus speaks of those who “are counted worthy of that age and resurrection” (Lk 20:35), and these are the criteria of this “worthiness,” i.e., ability and readiness to live in the Kingdom. Outwardly, this readiness manifests itself, for example, in the fact that no effort, no sacrifice, no suffering, nor any persecution can turn us away from this, as he writes, for example, that “so we also glory in you throughout the churches of God: for your perseverance and faith in all persecutions and tribulations which you endure. And this is a sign of the righteous judgment of God, that you will be recognized as worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering” (2Sol 1:4-5)
What happens if we realize this? Perhaps the author described it best of the famous Pilgrim: “Toward the end of the week, I was preparing for confession, and it occurred to me that it should be as detailed as possible. So, I began to go through and look at all.  My sins from my youth to the present day. I did this very thoroughly, and to not forget anything, I wrote down everything I remembered as accurately as possible. I covered a large sheet of paper with it. I heard that in the Kitaev hermitage, about five miles from Kyiv, a priest who lives an ascetic life and is very wise and full of understanding. Anyone who has come to him to receive the sacrament of reconciliation found an atmosphere of tender compassion and left with a salutary lesson and peaceful spirit. I was greatly comforted when I heard about him and immediately to him. We talked for a while, and then I asked for his advice, handing him a paper to look at. He read it and said:
“My dear friend, much of your writing is utterly trifling. […]
You have given all sorts of details but overlooked the principal thing; you must still include the most serious sins. You have not confessed or written that you do not love God, hate your neighbor, do not believe in the word of God, and are full of pride and ambition. In these four sins is all evil and our spiritual destruction. They are the primary roots from which the shoots of all sins sprout, into which we fall.” At first, the author protested: “Forgive me, venerable father, but how is it possible not to love God, our Creator and Protector? What should we believe in, if not in the Word of God, which is all truth and holiness? To all ..to all my neighbors. Why should I hate them? I don’t
nothing to be proud of.” But the confessor instructs him thus: “Pity, my dear, that you have understood so little of what I have told you. Look! I will teach you more quickly if I give you these notes. I always use them when in my confession. Read them, and you will clearly and accurately prove exactly what I told you.”
The pilgrim takes the notes (they are as an appendix at the end of this reflection). After, with their help, he examines his interior, he discovers with horror the truth about himself: ‘At the reading of the confessional mirror which I received from the priest, I was horrified, and I thought to myself: ‘Heavens! What terrible sins are hidden in me, and yet  have not noticed it!” The desire for purification led me to beg this great spiritual father to teach me to know the causes of all this evil and how to cure it.”
At that moment, our Christianity finally “clicks” where it should be: I am a sinner, and though I may be blameless in the eyes of the law, I am still a proud and selfish sinner in my heart. I am utterly helpless against this; in no way can I not overcome or remove this sin in myself. I am a sinner, a wretch, and a wretch. My only hope is that the merciful Lord will look upon me. The efforts, so slight in magnitude, will add a significant quantity of his grace and abundantly supply what is lacking in my insufficient efforts! And so, according to the words of Scripture, “with fear and trembling work out your salvation” (Phil 2:12).

The Pharisees watched the actions of the Lord Jesus. Their conduct was not honorable. Jesus knew this. The Pharisees took pride in keeping peace on the Sabbath. Their many commands and prohibitions concerning the Sabbath did more harm than good to the believing Jews. We can see this from their unhealthy attitude toward the suffering man with a withered and paralyzed hand. The Lord Jesus is very merciful. He has amazing compassion for the suffering. After all, He is the Messiah. That is why He wants to give the Pharisees proof that He is the Messiah. He will heal the hand of the sick man and, in so doing, will also provide them with the lesson that He is Lord of the Sabbath. Shortly before this event, the apostles picked ears of corn and ate the grains on their way across the field. The Pharisees did not like this because it was the Sabbath. They found it very hard to bear that Jesus was breaking their commands and prohibitions, so they were careful in the synagogue to see if the Lord Jesus would heal. So, in their opinion, He was guilty of breaking the Sabbath peace. The Lord Jesus knew the evil mindset of the Pharisees, so He asked them a question: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (Lk 6:9). This put the Pharisees in a problematic situation. Logically, one should neither do wrong on the Sabbath nor neglect to do good; in this case, it was healing a diseased hand. Jesus acts humanly, but also as God, and commands the sick man, “Hold out your hand!” (Lk 6:10). And the evangelist Luke says that for this defeat, the Pharisees will take revenge on Jesus: “But they, full of folly, took counsel what to do with Jesus” (Lk 6:11).

We see two directions here. The Lord Jesus acts under the influence of love, and the Pharisees under fanaticism. One has his hands open for doing good, and the other closes them. They are like a paralyzed hand; they do not do good. The Lord Jesus wants to heal them from the bonds of the Law. Do we also feel more bound by the prescriptions of the law than by love?

The Gospel wants to lead us not to be enslaved by regulations but always to act in a spirit of love. We know that church regulations will give way to love. For example, the obligation to attend Sunday Mass does not oblige a mother who has a sick child or when a natural disaster strikes someone, and we must help them even at the expense of Mass. Knowing how to spread love and indulge another are valid values for the soul’s salvation. The saints often asked themselves: What will it profit me for my immortal soul? And for this, every human command, decree, or order must give way. Let us, therefore, ask God to preserve such a right attitude even in the difficult circumstances of life. Let human wickedness have no place in our Christian life!

What did we think about yesterday? About fasting! 
Following the question of fasting from yesterday’s Gospel, which was controversial between the Pharisees and Christ’s apostles, today’s question directs us to the question of plucking ears of corn on Saturday. Some Pharisees said: “Why do you do what is not allowed to be done on the Sabbath” (Lk 6:2)? Jesus and the apostles are passing through a cornfield, and the disciples are plucking and crushing the ears of corn. The Pharisees point out that this activity is forbidden on the Sabbath. Jesus refers to an event from the Old Testament (1 Sam 21, 1-7) where David and his company violated the prohibition known from the book of Leviticus and ate from the bread presented to God as a sacrifice, which could only be consumed by the priests. Jesus himself is more like David and stands as Lord over the Sabbath commandment and the Torah. Every law and commandment builds on some solid value and protects it.

However, the meaning of the commandment does not lie in the literal implementation of the letter but in the spirit of the law. Therefore, the commandment is not binding if its fulfillment goes against the meaning of the Law or would prevent achieving a higher goal or values. Rules are necessary in every society but are only meant to help maintain order. A fence cannot be more important than the land it protects. Man is the master of the law because man is not for the law, but the law is for man. That’s why we live according to a particular order or statutes, to serve us or the community and not satisfy the legislator or the law. Thus, we subordinate the lower to the higher in terms of meaning. Whoever looks deeper into the meaning of Jesus’ words will sooner or later realize that God’s law was not given to us to limit us. It is given to us to free people, develop them fully, and help them live a whole life. After all, Christ himself says in Mark’s Gospel (cf. Mk 2:27) that the holiday is for man and not man for the holiday.

A simple example from life will also help us to understand better. When someone falls ill with kidney failure, the insufficient activity of which causes infection and death of the patient, he is immediately ready to sacrifice this organ to save his life. Likewise, every reasonable person submits the lower to the higher, even in everyday little things. But our prioritization of higher values ​​in the spiritual realm is no longer so one hundred percent.

Christ commands us to be as prudent and clever as the sons of the world. If God allowed us the kidney disease, I mentioned, how quickly we could decide to save our lives, and even at the cost of the risk, we would sacrifice a body organ! Let us be like the sons of the world, not only in saving our earthly life but, above all, in saving eternal life. Let’s discover the true meaning of the law, which brings us to God and brings an ordered life here on earth.