Jesus did not deny the need for bread. He multiplied the loaves twice and fed the hungry multitudes. But he didn’t stop there. He wanted people to understand the meaning of the Eucharist. What is the Eucharist? This is the actual body and blood of the Lord Jesus. Why it is essential to receive the Lord Jesus. Of course, the point here is to embrace the teachings of Jesus and try to follow Him. If we follow Jesus, we will also have the right attitude toward material values. It is undeniable that in today’s world, many people live in poverty, literally starving, while in other countries tons of food is being thrown away, and people are overeating. Selfishness, the desire for profit, is to blame. How many times has it happened that, to keep prices down, food has been destroyed instead? Only Christ is able to change a man. The desire for material things must not exceed its measure. It depends on what prevails in our life. Is it love, or is it selfishness? If egoism prevails, then we think only of ourselves and do not care about the fate of other people. In the former socialist countries, after the regime change and privatization, people got factories. But many of these factories went bankrupt. Why, because the new owners, squandered the property. Why? Because they had no peace in their material desires. And worse, hundreds of people lost their jobs and thus the opportunity to earn their bread. Therefore, if we want to eradicate world hunger, we must change people. But we cannot change ourselves. Only Christ can change us. The question is whether we want to change. There are huge differences between people. It is the result of human egoism. If people reject Christ, it will end in disaster because negative human qualities will begin to manifest themselves. History has shown us this many times, but people have yet to learn their lesson. Our desires for material things mustn’t become a drug for us—finally, here are two statements of the Lord Jesus. The camel will sooner go through the eye of a needle than the rich man will get to heaven. And do not lay up for yourselves treasures which moths and rust will devour, but treasures which will endure to eternal life. And I’ll add one more. What does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world but harms his own soul?

Although today we do not feel more or less a lack of priestly vocations in particular, we hear voices from the Church that today there is a deficit of 300 thousand priestly vocations. There are dioceses, for example, in Bohemia, Litoměřice, Pilsen, and Budějovice, where a priest administers more than three or four parishes. 

Jesus said: “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27). These are Familiar words. The image used by the Lord Jesus was well known and close to his listeners. Jesus gave this image a deep meaning. Thought. The sheep know, recognize the voice of their protector, and shepherd from other voices. They know that behind this voice is protection, help, safety, and a caring hand.Already in the Old Testament, the prophets speak about this topic. The prophet Ezekiel refers to the people as sheep about the shepherd who cares for them. It is not an insult to the people that they would be compared to an unreasonable herd. The shepherd is understood as the expected Messiah. Ezekiel points out that the Messiah is to be a descendant of David (cf. Ezekiel 34, 23-26). He talks about the protection and safety that the sheep will receive from the shepherd, that is, the faithful from the Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah predicts that the Messiah will gather the scattered nation, the sheep, that is, the nation that suffered in captivity at that time, receives a prediction of freedom (cf. Jer 23:3). In the prophet Micah, we read that the Messiah will walk at the head of his people and open the gates of captivity for them (cf. Micah 2:12).

The idea of ​​the shepherd, the sheep, the shepherd again and again becomes current and timely, and those who accept it and believe in its power do not become a little herd or an unnecessary shepherd, but the opposite. To belong to God, to be more with God, to give oneself completely and completely to Him, to fulfill God’s will specially, to dedicate one’s life on earth to God, is the answer to the call, the address that God gives as a gift to man. Not everyone can meet the criteria to be a shepherd. We understand a vocation as a gift that a person must receive, cooperate with it, and be aware that he did not receive it only for himself, but as a shepherd he takes responsibility for the brothers and sisters entrusted to him. Vocation is a gift. It cannot be bought. God is the giver. It is the secret of his love for man. He often calls those who least expect it. We are all responsible for future occupations. There is often a lot of mystery surrounding the profession. It is necessary, even today, to pay attention to future professions. The number of children in families is decreasing; thus, the number of jobs is also decreasing. Consumer society seduces those who have felt the call. Young people are threatened during childhood and adolescence. Morale is falling. Resistance to spiritual things is increasing.

Today, let’s ask Jesus, the “Good Shepherd, ” for these great blessings.

Apostle of Nations – St. Paul wrote: “He who does not want to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessal 3,10). It is known that Indian sages forbade boys to eat when they did nothing for themselves or their parents. The Spartans had extraordinary judgments against lazy people. A lazy person was first reprimanded. Later he was caned. After the third reprimand, if he didn’t improve, he was sent into exile. Old Cato in Rome used to have applicants for Roman citizenship look at their hands to see if they were calloused or worked. No, we don’t talk about laziness, but on the contrary, about the need to work also in the field of faith, to work on one’s sanctification, improvement and acquisition of new virtues and merits.

The month of May is the month of the Virgin Mary. Since the Middle Ages, the Church has been praying the litanies to the Virgin Mary this month, which we call the Loreto litanies after the well-known Italian Marian pilgrimage site of Loreto. Even though centuries have passed and many of the titles and epithets we give to the Virgin Mary have lost their timeliness, and especially young people no longer understand them, or they seem out of date, we still want to pay more attention to them for our benefit.

On the first of May, Pope Pius XII. in 1956 declared St. Jozef, a worker. From IV. century we meet with the veneration of St. Joseph was not recorded in a single word, sentence in the Gospels, what he would have said. However, we know that he was a caring partner of the Virgin Mary, a husband before the world, and a true foster father to the child Jesus. After the annunciation, when the angel told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife (cf. Mt 1:20), he takes upon himself the beautiful mission of working for Jesus here on earth, thus proving his faithfulness to God in quiet work.

In the synagogue, Lord Jesus told his countrymen: “A prophet is honored everywhere, except in his homeland and in his house” (Mt 13:57). Despising someone hurts and offends. Jesus tries to be the first to prove his mission to his fellow citizens, that he is prophesied and the expected Messiah. He will not convince them with his words or deeds. They look at him only with natural eyes, and that is why the evangelist Matthew remarked: “And because of their unbelief, he did not do many miracles there” (Mt 13:58). We know that the Lord Jesus is very grateful to the mother and foster father for the good deeds they have shown. Their intercession in the kingdom of God is great. That is why the Church has been paying attention to the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. We do not bow to them, but in many devotions we turn to them for intercession with the Lord Jesus. Yes, we also pray directly to the Lord Jesus, but we also use this possibility and desire our work through them, turn your activity into a reward from the Lord Jesus. We have many proofs that we are not left without graces when we invoke the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph for help and protection. So we realize that it pays to pray, beg, that is, to work on our sanctification, obtaining graces for our life here on earth and through these saints.

The example of the Virgin Mary does not lose its meaning and value even today, in the age of advanced civilization. During May, we used to decorate pictures, statues, altars of the Virgin Mary with spring flowers and visit Marian pilgrimage sites and our churches in more significant numbers and more often. In this month, we pay special attention to the Litany of Loreto, where we say fifty times various attributes and titles of the Virgin Mary, thus paying her respect and at the same time working on our sanctification.

We too, want to notice the individual titles, think about them, explain them to ourselves, maybe speaking little today, but the same effective meaning when we follow her in her humility and humiliation. When we stand at the beginning of these reflections, it is like the desire of a little girl who wants to make a flower for her mother from the first spring flowers. The little girl feels joy in this activity. She is tireless in picking flowers. and when he puts flower to flower, he thinks of his mother, to whom he wants to give a flower out of love. The little girl knows that she will make her mother very happy. What can such a child give his mother more beautiful? After all, his mother is only waiting for this. The little girl cannot and cannot provide her with anything more. Our activity is also similar to a little girl. After all, we feel that we are sons and daughters of the Virgin Mary. The Lord Jesus reminded us of this on the cross: “Behold your mother” (Jn 19:27). In this month, when nature revives after the winter months, it’s as if we too feel the need to notice our heavenly Mother in this Easter season, in this most beautiful month for many. That’s why we want to willingly offer our hearts in every consideration. We realize that to the Virgin Mary, we cannot add anything to her glory, which she received for her faithfulness from her Son. The Virgin Mary already has the highest degree of glory, a reward from the Lord Jesus. Despite this knowledge, our voluntary participation in her devotions, prayer and meditations at the Litany of Loreto manifests our active love for the Virgin Mary. we know she likes such an activity and appropriately asks us for blessings, graces from her Son and everything necessary for us and those we will think of. When we fulfill this commitment, we too will surely receive the reward that the Lord Jesus gave to his mother and his foster father – St. to Joseph.

We don’t want to have our hands folded and wait. We know that even heaven is conquered by violence and only violent people can take it. Our violence, our increased reverence for the Virgin Mary, and our more frequent prayers and reflections on her life will be rewarded. We believe that her love will manifest even more in our lives.

We can hear the mathematical lesson. We understand the words, but we can’t understand it. It happens that after the explanation, the teacher asks the pupils if they have understood the reason. Most of the time, the pupils answer yes. Then, when the teacher gives the pupils an example, they have to practically prove whether they have understood the explanation correctly. Many times it turns out that many pupils have yet to understand the explanation or have misunderstood it. Many times this was also the case when the Lord Jesus was teaching. Of course, He did not teach mathematics, but spiritual things. He was teaching about eternal life, the salvation of the soul. Many times people did not understand these words. For example, they talked about suffering, dying, and rising from the dead. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to understand Jesus’ teachings. There is a difference between mathematics and the teachings of Jesus. Math can be understood by reason. Of course, not everyone can understand, at least the higher mathematics, by reason. Not all are able to pass a math exam at university. To understand what Jesus taught, we require our reason and our faith. Faith transcends our reason. Faith is not against reason, but it is beyond our reason. Sometimes people will say. I only believe what I can understand, what I can see. This attitude is wrong. Imagine if we told a person. Who lived 2000 years ago that people who are 10 thousand miles apart will be able to talk to each other, see each other as if they were quite crazy about each other. A person who lived 2000 years ago would say. I don’t believe that, that’s not possible. And yet it is possible. Today unbelieving people say, no heaven, and eternal life does not exist. There is only what I can see, feel. These people are called materialists. How much they are mistaken. We cannot see or feel many things that any measuring instrument cannot detect, yet these things and realities exist. Yes, some people say. I only believe what I see. There are people who have visited a miracle, and yet they remain unbelievers—and one more thing. Many times we believe what others tell us too readily and when someone tells us about believing in God for eternal life, we reject it. Judge for yourself if such an attitude is correct.

Jesus said, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” When his disciples heard this, many said, “This is hard talk! Who can listen to this?!” Jesus knew for himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, and he asked them: “Does this offend you? And what will happen when you see the Son of man appear where he was before? The spirit gives life, the flesh avails nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life. But some of you do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and would betray him. And he said: “That is why I said to you: No one can come to me unless the Father gives him.” Then many of his disciples left him and did not walk with him anymore. Jesus said to the Twelve: “You also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him: “Lord, and to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and recognized that you are the Holy One of God.”

Freedom. To encourage a free and responsible decision in life

When we think about our life, life often puts us in a situation where we have to make a free choice. It will only depend on us how we decide. God gave us freedom; he will not limit us in its exercise.

Jesus asks the apostles the question: “Do you also want to leave” (Jn 6:67)? He leaves everything to the free decision of the apostles. After the appearance of Christ in the Capernaum synagogue, where he announced the institution of the Eucharist, many disciples left the Teacher because of his words about the Eucharistic mystery they found it difficult to accept. “It is hard speech! Who can listen to it” (Jn 6:60)?! Only the most devoted remained with Jesus, and the Lord is now waiting for a reconfirmation of their friendship and unconditional trust in him. So he turns to those who faithfully followed him daily and asks them: “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter answers in the name of all: “Lord, and to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and recognized that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:68-69). And the apostles said yes once more.

Let’s ask ourselves the question: What would the apostles be without Jesus? Where would their steps lead? Who would fulfill the desires of their hearts?
Life without Christ, as it was then, is meaningless now.

But our freedom is not only for us to wander aimlessly along the road, from one side to the other. It serves us to focus on a specific goal – on Christ. Then we will discover with astonishment that joyful dimension of freedom that chooses Jesus and everything that brings us closer to him and rejects what distances us from him. But, freedom is not enough by itself; it needs a guide – the North Star. The pole of our life, marking the direction of our steps at every moment is the Lord, because without him, to whom would we go? How would we fill our short days that God gave us? What is even worse without it?

Many people mean by freedom so much as being carried away by their passions and instinctive appetites of the moment. These people basically forget that freedom is indeed an absolute and fundamental human right, but a possible choice of evil does not characterize it but by the possibility of responsible action of good, which we recognize and desire as such. A person with a double understanding of freedom will reject any truth that presents a valid and binding goal for all humanity, because it will seem an enemy of his own freedom. In the Holy Scriptures, the basic thing on which the entire dignity of the human person rests is repeated over and over again: God created man as a free being. It follows that man is free. And where there is talk of freedom, there must also be options – at least two to choose from. God will never take away this freedom from man. “NEVER” This is the foundation that makes a person human. This is the definition of a person. And so each of us is in a state where we have to think about what to do and what not to do. Our responsibility for free depends on how we decide.

The church has a tabernacle. In it also dwells the eternal and holy and infinite God. And let us recall one more god-host. If you think from your heart, you are entering into my thoughts. God-Jesus Christ invites us to reflect on and embrace his words: “As the living Father sent me, and I live from the Father, so he who is me will live from me” (Jn 6:57).

Jesus speaks of a mystery that we would never have known if he had not taken the trouble to tell it himself. God explains to man the mystery of love that is in the Holy Trinity. The Father – the eternal, omnipresent, infinite, omniscient… In the fullness of time, God sends His Son to earth, who is equal to Him, and with the Holy Spirit they are one God. God comes to the world as a man. Human nature is to help mankind live according to God’s will. And when God the Son knows that the moment of going to the Father has come, when he has reminded and instructed men of all that God expects of men, at the Last Supper – when he dines with the twelve for the last time, Jesus takes the bread and wine, the daily food of man, in his hands and makes a wish. At the words: this is my body… and this is my blood, after these words been spoken by the priest, under the forms of bread and wine, God remains present among men until the end of time, when at the Last Judgment Jesus will come as Judge of the living and the dead. According to the Gospel, several walks away from Jesus in Capernaum when Jesus gives them the promise of his body and blood – as a strength for eternal life. They needed more faith, trust in the power of Jesus, and because they relied on and trusted their logic more than Jesus, they left disappointed.

We believe in the presence of the Lord Jesus from the moment of the transfiguration until then, as long as the ways of the bread and wine list. That is why we have tabernacles in our churches where, especially under the manner of bread, for practical reasons, we keep the Eucharist, that is, the living Lord Jesus. And yet even many Christians who know this, believe this, neglect it, and do not receive the Eucharist often. Why? For various reasons. It is to their shame, however, they ignore the necessary strengthening, especially for themselves. One can go for several days without water and a little more without food. Strangely, a believing Christian only needs to receive the Eucharistic Christ once or twice a year, and even then only because he is commanded to do so by a Church command. Another opposite and equally wrong approach to the Eucharist is that of those who also receive daily, or when they are present at Mass, but do not practice the Sacrament of Reconciliation; if they do, they do so only once a year as well.

For many, First Holy Communion is the beginning and end of friendship with Jesus. But there are also encouraging examples.

Let’s talk about something. “The Jews grumbled at Jesus because he said: “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” They said: “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say: “I came down from heaven?!” ” (Jn 6:41-42). Jesus predicts the establishment of the Eucharist and emphasizes its importance for eternal life. The Eucharist protects us from death and gives us hope for eternal life. We all know that one day we must die. And yet, many live as if they should not die, they are not preparing to meet God – the Judge. We believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead so that our death would not be final, but that it would be a gift from God the Father so that we could “live forever”.

Jesus personally teaches us about such a death. He prepares us for it with his sacraments—especially the Eucharist and the anointing of the sick. The Holy Spirit constantly impresses upon us that under the forms of bread and wine in the Eucharist, the living, risen Christ is present. The Eucharist is Jesus himself. Jesus, who invites us to experience the drama of temporary natural life and who wants to give us eternal life. Therefore, the Church administers the sacraments in connection with the Eucharist. Jesus knows about our difficulties. Being a Christian means accepting God as your Lord. To know our God, love him and fulfill everything he asks of us. God asks to renounce every sin. Although it is difficult to live with God, it is not impossible. God himself made sure that we could have an easier life with God. That is why he instituted the sacraments and especially the Eucharist. We have to learn the approach and the fruit flowing from the Eucharist.

The priest speaks. I once went to church for a religion class. A cleaning lady ran out of the church gate and shouted: “I can’t take it anymore!” Those children are unbearable, completely ill-mannered!” And she began to tell how the children ran amok in the house of God. They were, of course, boys. Some were ringing bells at the altar steps, others with a larger bell at the door of the sacristy. Two were sitting in the confessional, others were chasing each other between the pews. , others were trying to play the organ. Suddenly the children noticed that I was coming. When I entered, they were all sitting in the pews. Only the red face and messy hair betrayed some kind of battle experience. After praying, I said to them: “Boys, it seems that you behaved inappropriately in church an hour ago. Do your parents allow you to make such noise and go crazy at home?” Embarrassed, the boys said they didn’t, especially when grandpa or grandma was sick. Not even then when a priest or other guest arrives. “You would honor your father, grandfather and guests with a calm demeanor. And don’t forget that the Lord Jesus is hidden in the Tabernacle under the form of bread. You act like you don’t believe in his presence.” The boys’ faces were contrite. I asked them, “Will you still act like that in church?” “No!” they answered regretfully. If only they would keep their word.

The Eucharist gives hope for eternal life. As we build our relationship on earth with the living Eucharistic Jesus, Jesus will not reject us at the hour of our death

It is the property of contemporary civilization that can satisfy man’s material needs. And very quickly. Today, especially in the West, man has everything he wants. This results in man not being able to enjoy. In the former socialist countries, people used to be happy when they could buy bananas, tangerines, or oranges. And how children used to rejoice when they got a toy. Very simple compared to today. Today, children have everything, but they can’t enjoy it or only for a concise time. Everything gets old quickly because there are always new things on the market, and whether it’s children or adults, people want new things all the time. A lot of times, they don’t appreciate the things they have. The question is, is that right? There is one more fact that we need to be aware of. Today’s modern man thinks he does not need God. He can arrange everything, achieve everything without God. We know that we cannot attain salvation, and eternal life, without God. But eternal life, the salvation of the soul, today’s people are not interested in that at all. People are interested in this earthly life and to live it as best they can; they think they don’t need God. Instead, they think that God the Church is only getting in their way. Jesus foresaw this condition and therefore asked the question. Will the Son of Man find faith when he comes? The material values people value so much today can quickly be lost. A nuclear war may come and man may lose all physical wealth. Let us not forget that man also has an immortal soul, which God can only satisfy. But the mistake is that many people do not even realize that they have a soul. They do not understand what God can give them. And when they do, it will be too late for them.