predication.net

We will save our lives if we persevere with Christ Many people have begun their plans in all areas of life with enthusiasm, they have been passionate about the cause, they have been spirited, and yet they have not come to the end of their goal successfully. Perhaps we know this from our own lives. Why does it happen? It’s not enough to just start, but you also need to persevere. Not to be discouraged, not to be discouraged, not to be seduced. All the more so when it comes to something so significant and important for our life, such as our eternal life, the salvation of our soul, the eternal encounter with Jesus. Because we are weak human beings, the Lord Jesus Himself wants to instruct us to persevere in the journey He has begun, as He counsels us in today’s Gospel: “Beware lest you be deceived. For many will come and speak in my name: That time is at hand. Do not follow them!” (Lk 21:8). Let us look at the text of the Gospel in more detail. A group of people gathered around the Lord Jesus, admiring the beauty of the Temple of Jerusalem. The architecture of the temple and the sacrifices that took place in the temple filled them with a kind of contentment. The Jerusalem Temple is the work of an entire nation, a reminder of their faithfulness as well as the protection of the Most High God. This gives the Jews self-confidence. And this is where the Lord Jesus speaks to us: “The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another of what you see; all will be destroyed” (Lk 21:5). We can imagine the concern that followed these words among those present. The temple was to be destroyed and what about the protection of the Most High God? What about the pledges of allegiance to the prophets? In light of this, curiosity and fear grow in intensity, and so they ask, “Teacher, when will it be, and what will be the sign when it begins to happen?” (Luke 21:7) This is a serious curiosity. It is necessary to prepare for this, to prevent the catastrophe, or not to be surprised by it. We see, however, that the Jews believe more in the temple than in the presence of God. They fear for their temple, they fear that it will be destroyed. Let us think whether we do not hear such similar alarmist messages even today. The church will be destroyed! We see various actions arising in groups that want to hurry to help the Church. We see something similar with the Jews who want to save the temple. Even today some believers want to save the Church and its tradition. In doing so, they do not realize that it is not they who save the Church, but that the Church saves them and they can be saved in her. If the Lord Jesus had told us that the Church would cease to exist, surely some would have rejoiced greatly, others would have remained indifferent, but there would also have been many who would have worried as they would have been influenced by various truths. After the questions, which we understood well, Jesus takes the floor. He does not speak of the time when the destruction of the sanctuary will take place and what events will precede it. Let us recall that the Lord Jesus never answered questions just to satisfy human curiosity or to appease human restlessness. The Lord Jesus helps those who pay attention to this to remain content, to take note of this fact, and thus actually warns them of the dangers or difficulties. Immediately afterwards, however, He points out how to live rightly. Above all, he warns of the dangers of false prophets. For at that time, because of the turmoil, people begin to look around them for someone to satisfy them. The Lord Jesus warns them against the “miracle explainers” of that time. He warns them against those who will distort the facts and who will identify faith with economic or even political matters. Do we not often hear disturbing words too? Believers are obliged to belong to the left! What is to be understood by this? The Lord Jesus says: Do not follow them! Do not call anyone Father, Teacher or Lord. For it is hard to trust anyone else to decide what God wants of us. The Lord Jesus trusts that everything He says will become clear and understandable to us. Immediately afterwards, the Lord Jesus warns against false alarms about the end of the world, because such talk is quickly believed. The mention of great earthquakes, famines, various terrors, and of great signs in the heavens is a precaution so that the one who has believed Christ’s words will not be alarmed when any of these words come to pass. In these events it must not yet be thought that the end of the world has already come. The various false reports have a bad effect on man’s behaviour. Often under their pressure man commits follies and indiscretions. Such alarmist messages bring about various changes in the world, but they should not touch our inner being. The news of the end of the world causes man to decline, as if he had ceased to be himself. Think of the Jehovah’s Witness sect. This sect has “known” exactly when the world is going to end many times. On the appointed day they waited ready in white sheets. It seems ridiculous, but when one considers it, it is painful how some circles of people can strip other people of their humanity with their prophecies. We have to realise that all these false prophecies about the end of the world that are being spread by various cultists are harmful. Such prophecies lead to indifference and slowly but surely to apostasy from God. Thus, all this has an unwholesome effect on the inner being of the believer. These false prophets thus attack the most precious thing, that which is in us from God. And this is what the Lord Jesus is talking about in the next section when He emphasizes that the real conflict is within us, in our inner struggle with evil reactions as well as with other people. Everyone is subject to unrighteousness, to aggression from others, especially those who hold various ranks and positions. “But before all this they will lay hands on you and persecute you, they will deliver you over to the synagogues and imprison you, they will drag you before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. These things will happen to you, that you may bear witness” (Luke 21:12). Here one realises that one may become the object of others, often those dearest to one’s heart, seeking to harm one: ‘They will also betray your parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and will take the lives of some of you’ (Lk 21:16). Therefore, everyone can encounter opposition, often even outright malice. Everyone can therefore feel lonely even within the circle of his own family, and yet feel within himself that he cannot trust anyone. He is convinced that they are encroaching on his freedom, that they are exerting a strong pressure on him, and therefore he will strive all the more to free himself from them. That inner struggle has actually been provoked by the opinion of other people, which hides a certain thing, namely, that the sanctuary is being torn down and the dwelling place of God is being built up. It must be remembered that one must not resort to self-defence, nor seek for victorious weapons, for that would be personal revenge. To respond with aggression to aggression is a notion that does not match the spirit of the Gospel. The believer is not defending himself, but witnessing in a different way, that is, pointing to the presence of the living God by his behavior and words. Otherwise, man is helping God for his own ends. When man ceases to think of himself, then God unites Himself with His sacrifice and gives him “eloquence and wisdom” which your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict.

You may have seen the representative work Historia Mundi – History of the world. Great deeds of essential people are described there; royal pedigrees, the splendor of royal buildings, and the immense power of monarchs, k, kings or emperors. How small we, simple people, feel next to them. In the Gospel, we heard about a poor widow who threw only two coins into the temple treasury, and the whole Church is talking about her, and she will be talked about until the end of the world.

Why? She showed us the way to the greatest treasure in the eyes of Jesus. He sat in the Jerusalem temple and observed faces, hands, and deeds. He observed hearts. Many rich people came who did not hide anything and gave out a lot of money. Everyone could see how much they lost. A timid widow also comes. She could not compete with the rich. Embarrassed, she threw two small coins into the box. She had no more. Jesus saw this, called his disciples, and evaluated this widow’s act with the words: “This poor widow threw in more than all the others” (Lk 21:3). The reason? The rich only gave from their surplus and did not become poorer; the gift did not hurt them. But she gave everything. Did she not act unwisely? What will she live on? Because she did not hesitate and gave everything, the Lord Jesus praised her. Christ speaks clearly about our genuine and most important need: Not food, not clothing, not an apartment, not a good chaplain’s place, but God! Without God, we would not live for a moment; without him, we are lost!

Dear brothers and sisters, the same Jesus is also mysteriously present among us; he looks at us and observes what we bring to the treasury of his Church. We approach modestly because we get only small coins and a few wallets according to the measure and standards of this world. The words of St. Paul also apply to our congregation: “Just look at your calling, brothers, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, nor many powerful, nor many born” (1 Cor 1:2).  Even today, Lord Jesus looks at this, how we approach the “treasury of his Heart”. Ch.”dren approach and bring childhood innocence, sincere religiosity. It is two pennies in the eyes of the world, it is a priceless treasure in the eyes of Jesus. Two young men come and put their marital fidelity into this treasury of God. Parents approach and place their children in the treasury of the Heart of Jesus. Elders and widows arrive, whose life has already been marked by work and crosses. They present their two wallets: a prayer and an offering.

Father died. Shortly before, he called his children and gave them a final warning and instruction: “Children, I want to tell you a little secret before my death. You were often dissatisfied that we always extended our evening prayer a little. You know that I always added a sixth tithe to the rosary,d I told you that it is sacrificed for a special purpose, which I did not reveal to you, but I will tell you now. When I married your mother, on the wedding day, I made a vow in which we promised the Lord God that every day to the rosary, we, will add a sixth tithe for the blessing of the son-priest. Now I die with a good feeling and the thought that not one but three of you have given yourselves to God. We did not tell you this so as not to affect the will of your vocation.” The father died, and the sons remained faithful to their profession.

From modest gifts, Jesus builds the kingdom of God. This is the greatness and dignity of the Christian life. But this also obliges us every time we enter the temple of God when we come to celebrate the Eucharist. Then we should examine ourselves and ask: Am I bringing everything I have? Do I present to God as a sacrificial gift my entire livelihood, my life with its joys and pains, work, effort, and failures? There is nothing more reasonable we can do with our lives than to throw them into the treasury of God’s goodness and mercy. So it will keep its value forever.

Let us, therefore, pray with St. Ignatius: Take, O Lord, accept all my freedom, my memory, reason, and all my will. All that I have or that I rule. You gave it to me, and I give it back to you, Lord. It’s all yours, do with it as you please. Give me only your love and grace because it is enough for me.

Today we commemorate the feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. A woman who perfectly fulfilled the meaning of her name – the origin of her name is Elizabeta, and means “God is generous.”. She is most often depicted holding bread and roses in her arms. Even in my childhood, this miracle of hers appealed to me. I sat under her statue and imagined how she boldly walked to the poor, gave away, took care of them, and God helped her in this. When needed, he turned the bread into roses to protect her so she could do even more good. Even in today’s gospel, we see a parallel in generosity about the fact that our task is to be like Elizabeth. Not to collect but to give away.

This time of November has led many of you to think or discuss whether there is life after death. Perhaps you have read the book Life after Life by the American doctor Moody, who deals with Lazarus’ symptoms. The stories he describes happened to those who survived clinical death and were awakened to life. This may not yet convince anyone of the existence of life after death. Still, many are troubled by a lot of confusion when reading it, such as understanding depersonalization, the great light, the tunnel, the wonderful feeling of joy, and so on. In this soulful time, Jesus wants to bring light to our doubts with today’s Gospel, which describes the meeting of the Lord Jesus with the Sadducees, who deny the resurrection.

The Sadducees asked the Lord Jesus about the resurrection of those who had died physically. We also often meet Sadducees. A group of Sadducees sought conflict to oppose Jesus. The Sadducee class came from the strict priestly class and became more of a political group than a religious one. We may take them as a second Jewish sect, smaller than the class of Pharisees, with whom they disagree because they teach more strictly and have confined the revelation of God to the Five Books of Moses. They deny the resurrection and the soul’s immortality; they do not believe in life after death or angels.

Therefore, they tell Jesus a fictional event that is directed against him. They refer to the Law of Moses, which orders: “… if someone’s brother dies who had a wife but was childless, his brother should marry her and beget offspring for his brother”  (Lk 20:28). They also talk about one woman who, after the death of her husband, was married to his seven brothers. That is why they ask the Lord Jesus: “Well, which of them will be his wife at the resurrection? After all, the seven had her as his wife” (Lk 20:33).

The Sadducees say there can be no life after death because comic scenes would follow. The previous question formulated in this way is ridiculous. However, it is not because there are many similar questions even today. When people talk about life after death today, many do not believe in life after death, ridicule and misinterpret it. For one group, this life is compatible with our life here. That’s why they try to live fully here on earth, and that’s all they expect from life. The second group speaks of the double life as a mystery that beckons man. However, it is vague and therefore resembles dreaming of an earthly paradise where one will not lack material things, goods, and joy. So they see the second life after death as a higher quality earthly life. Some say we only live once, so life should be enjoyed to the last drop. Others, on the other hand, give themselves up on dreaming of a place of fantastic progress in earthly understanding. True, there are many different attitudes among us. We must not forget to mention those who live in connection with God. Their knowledge of eternal life is vague, something like a fog before us that prevents full knowledge.

We can also ask: Is there a resurrection? If so, how will it be done? We are supposed to believe it, but how do we convince ourselves of it? In this spirit, the questions of the Sadducees and, indeed, many of us were asked. They talked about marriage and its continuation after death. The Lord Jesus will tell them that their thinking about these things is purely earthly. Therefore not concerned with the items after death, which require different reviews. Consequently, he emphasizes to them:  “Sons of this age marry and are given away. But those who are recognized as worthy of that age and resurrection no longer marry or give in marriage”(Luke 20:36). This does not mean that they cease to be human, but that natural laws no longer apply to them after death. A completely different, new reality has arisen, separate from the one on earth, and therefore people in the new life after death are not angels. Still, they are no longer people in the earthly understanding of the word.

Jesus explains two essential characteristics of life after death:

1. They will no longer be able to die. We must understand that they are freed from all biological processes. You can’t talk about illnesses, worries, difficulties, and the like here.
2. They will be called sons of God. This new life completely replaces life on earth, and we can understand it as entirely different. It is a new birth.

In the first part of the answer, Jesus points out a fundamental approach to these things. It is an answer not only for the Sadducees but also for us. So when he talks about life after death, he cannot stick to the evidence that applies to life here on earth because something completely different applies to life after the end. When a person convulsively clings to the earthly understanding of the matter after death in this matter, he will not avoid wrong and erroneous views, and delusions will occur. That is the first part of the answer of the Lord Jesus. It may seem harmful to some, so Jesus explains it even more to prove to the Sadducees that those who have died will rise from the dead. He will point to a document known to the Sadducees, which are the words concerning Moses, who is the greatest prophet for them. Lord Jesus says:“… when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, because for him all live” (Luke 20:37-38).

This is a serious thing to think about. These are profound words. They believe that Moses is alive, so they speak against each other. Jesus no longer says. He proves nothing more to the Sadducees. He only pointed to the text of the Scriptures known to the Sadducees and confirmed that it speaks of the resurrection. By this, he clearly says of their lack of faith and respect due to the living and true God when they deny what is in the Scriptures. Thus, when we believe in the living God, we must trust and entrust everything to him. We realize that the Lord Jesus does not say anything further, but what he said is very serious. To deny the resurrection after our death would bring the true and living God to the level of pagan gods made of inanimate matter, wood, or metal. And yet none of us trusts such gods. For the belief in the afterlife, the behavior of the seven brothers from the Second Book of Maccabees is a great encouragement.

These brothers were brought before the pagan king, forcing them to renounce their faith by torture. However, their belief in a new life after death gave them courage in the most challenging moments. Shortly before his death, the second of the brothers cried out: “You evil-doer, you remove us from temporal life, but the Lord of the universe, for whose laws we die, will resurrect us for eternal life” (2 Mach 7:9). The third brother, who is to be mutilated, he stretches out his hands and says: “I received them from heaven, but because of God’s laws I do not consider them as nothing, because I hope that I will receive them again from him” (2 Mach 7,11).

Our belief in the resurrection is based on a promise from God. Although the Maccabees did not know what awaited them after death, they were convinced of the resurrection, which gave them the courage to endure torture and death. One may want to ask how they came to such a firm conviction. We must remember that this question was during a time of persecution. They had to calculate that there could be martyrdom. Therefore, the preparation for this step did not begin when they were brought before the king. Still, they had been preparing for this moment long before, when they accepted the teachings of the true od and thus the risk that was associated with their faith. Whoever carefully followed the text could discover one profound thing. It is impossible to believe in the resurrection, in eternal life, if a purely intellectual way of thinking leads to it without special commitment and acceptance of a particular risk. This affects all of us. After all, we live in times and in a world that tries to distort and reject specific spiritual values. This one, the world’s disapproval of the faith practiced by the world today, is why it is more difficult for this world to understand the behavior of the seven brothers.

Today, the objections to faith are less visible and violent but much more dangerous. We encounter the denial of spiritual values ​​that can be decently explained. And yet we witness many apostasies, which are preceded by the renunciation of a zealous environment and the reduction of the Church’s influence on society. This indifference to faith causes serious difficulties. Suppose we do not seriously listen and courageously fulfill the obligations of faith, which also entails renouncing the things of this world, and its mindset. In that case, we must be aware that it may happen that we soon stop believing in the resurrection. To persevere in the faith means to unite one’s wisdom with the teachings of the Church. Saint Paul the Apostle knew this when he wrote encouragingly to the Thessalonians to persevere in prayer: “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may be spread and glorified as it is with you and that we may be delivered from perverted and evil people; for not all believe” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2).

We realize that we are all exposed to harmful influences like the Thessalonians. May God save us from this! St. Paul asks God to strengthen the believers and endow them with perseverance in faith. The time of souls we are experiencing is a seriosevere time toking about the value of life and its purpose, and therefore let this moment of thinking about the existence of life after death strengthen us. May our faith grow and become stronger every day so we can overcome all difficulties because there may come even greater ones than those we are experiencing today. Still, the thought that it will all end one day and the reward will let it be a joyful prospect for us in the future.

Jesus Christ is King (Luke 23:35-43)
What does Christ the King say to the world today?

On the way to church, someone would approach you: Do you know any kings? Perhaps someone would say without thinking that they see the surname King and, maybe, would think of the poet John the King. Others, more versed in political events, would think of the Queen of England, the kings of Norway, Sweden, or Spain. Would we remember Jesus Christ the King?
In the liturgical calendar, the last Sunday is called Christ the King Sunday. On December 11, 1925, Pope Pius XI established the feast of Christ the King with the encyclical Quas Primas. It is at a time when monarchs, thrones, and kingdoms are being abolished. And it is then that the Church becomes more aware that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of all things. The Church gives this title as a solemn address that Jesus is the Lord of the whole universe; to him, the Father has given all power, and he will come at the end of time as the Judge of all the universe. Jesus did not acquire the title “King” like the potentates on earth by force, inheritance, or appointment…

And yet, the inscription above the crucified Jesus is authentic: “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38).

The Jews were angry at this inscription, which Pilate, the governor, and administrator of Palestine, had placed over Jesus’ head. The Jews deliberately put the Lord Jesus on the cross between two thieves to humiliate Him as much as possible. They had forgotten what Jesus had said earlier, that He would draw everyone to Himself when He was lifted from the earth. According to Cicero, the cross, a sign of disgrace, humiliation, and a defense of human dignity, death for the enslaved person, became a sign of victory, glory, power, hope, and a throne for God who took human flesh. Jesus already proves his victory and power when he hangs on the cross. The leading men and soldiers mocked him: “Save yourself if you are the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:37). They did not understand what the one crucified with him understood when he said: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42). And Jesus, despised by men, rejected by the nation, humiliated by the soldiers, abandoned by the apostles, the one who, out of love for men, became man to reconcile them to the Father, says to the first man, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:43). The first man canonized. It is not the beloved Apostle John; he was the only one of the Apostles who stood at the foot of the cross. It is not Peter to whom He promised the head of the Church on earth. It is the thief to whom conscience is echoed, who accepts the grace offered to believe that the condemned one beside him is the awaited and foretold Messiah. Jesus proved not only in word but in deed that He is the God who is the hope of all sinners who will acknowledge their sins and ask that He will remember them also in His Kingdom. Jesus demonstrates His power. He doesn’t have to have a wand, an apple in His hands, and a royal crown on His head. He doesn’t need counselors, ministers, servants, or soldiers around Him. His treasure is not the treasures which the moth devours, the rust destroys, the thief steals, but the love which He proved by shedding His most precious thing, His blood, not for friends only, but for all sinners. Behold Christ on the cross, the true King. King of all human history. The King who redeemed and saved all men. The King invited all men to accept him as their brother and his Father as their God the Father. Jesus is the King who respects the freedom of his brothers and sisters, even when they despise him, betray him, and do not accept him, but then they become his enemies, and the King must justly condemn them.

It is a joyful reality that even the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the King of kings, has followers, admirers, those who accept his teachings, fulfill them, and receive the reward of their lives in Christ’s kingdom.
It is also a painful fact that many did not accept Jesus when he proved by word, by signs, death, and resurrection that he is the Son of God, and they reject him even today, and therefore they are facing punishment, damnation, hell.
Throughout history, every man has been the engineer of his happiness and unhappiness. With Jesus, it is not true that they are predestined and predestined. Each person decides for himself his eternal life, salvation, or damnation.
Jesus as King is wisdom itself. Justice is immeasurable. The reward is blissful. All defiance, anger, resentment, hatred, and sin will cease, lose strength, courage, and power before him as King and Judge. Whoever is condemned will be condemned justly.
Conversely, anyone who acknowledges him as his God and Lord during his life on earth will receive an equally just reward.
Therefore, neither in damnation nor blessed glory will they be equal. Each of his life on earth prepares a degree of punishment and praise.
Such words as favoritism, connections, power, and standing in judgment will lose their credit. On the contrary, those who are marked as having been humble, pure, humiliated, poor, merciful, imprisoned, tortured, and put to death for Jesus’ sake, as well as the hungry, thirsty, naked, and homeless, and those who have thus shown their love as to Jesus Himself, will shine like stars in the sky of heaven.

Long live Christ the King! Let us confess this with our lives. To love God, to love our neighbor as ourselves is the surest asset for a joyful encounter with Christ the King. We remind ourselves of this to fulfill this command reminded by Jesus with even greater love.
Just as Jesus accepted death on the cross, not out of compulsion, so we choose Jesus Christ as our King without compulsion. We not only want to know the teachings of Christ, but to keep them, to fulfill them, and thus to share in his Kingdom. Our life, actions, and words are our “yes” to Jesus. A religious sister remembers visiting a family where a disabled child was lying in a cradle. When the sister asked what the child’s name was, she was told, “That’s our professor of love.” And the subsequent explanation, “From him we learn to live love.”

Jesus Christ is the Teacher who teaches and demonstrates true love to all. It is up to us to do it. May the sight of Christ crucified be more and more an appeal to us to do God’s will, live according to the commandments, and keep the commandments. We will have time for Christ because we want to be with him for all eternity. We will put Christ before everything. By taking the nature of man, He proved His love for us. Let us draw strength, courage, and grace from the crucified King. May our lives be marked by victory over the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

The Sunday of Christ the King is not a commemoration of people equally weak, though personalities of different positions; today, the King of King’s feast is celebrated.

Lord Jesus said: “My house will be a house of prayer” (Luke 19:46).

The figure of Jesus is mainly associated with good qualities. Today, however, Jesus got angry. Why? He came to the sanctuary – and saw the fair. The shrines of the Jews were beautiful. They were large spaces surrounded by walls. There was a court of the women, a court of the men, a holy place where the priests and Levites sacrificed, and a place called the holy of holies, where the high priest entered once a year to offer incense to God. Everyone could enter the courtyard of the Gentiles, both foreigners, and Gentiles. The whole sanctuary stood in a high place above the city. Jesus Christ loved this sanctuary. He went there every year to his Father’s house. But in the last year of his life, when he entered this sanctuary, he wept over it because he knew that it would be destroyed and that only a stone would remain. And so it happened. And so it is until today. Only a piece of the wall remained, called the “Wailing Wall”.

Jesus Christ loved the Jerusalem temple so much that he entered it as his Father’s house. Then it is no wonder, when he saw sellers and buyers in the temple, that in anger, he overturned the tables of the money changers and drove the sellers out of the temple. Is not the sanctuary a house of prayer? Jesus Christ had great interest and zeal for his Father’s house. All people at different times wanted to build the most beautiful house-church for the Lord God in the middle of their houses. Christians offered the first Holy Masses in private homes. The table was an altar. In Rome, Christians gathered in the catacombs and underground cemeteries, and at night they celebrated the Eucharistic celebration at the graves of the martyrs. When Christians were allowed to pray in public, wealthy Romans made their fine houses available for people to pray in. This is where the basilicas come from. Then came terrible times, raids of barbarian nations, and it was necessary to protect oneself. They gathered in stone churches with small arches and a tower that was also a shooting range.

The Middle Ages came, and the religious people of those times, whose names we do not know, built such beautiful shrines to God that we admire today. These stunning towers direct our thoughts and hearts to God. There are colorful stained glass windows in the arches, beautiful carvings, and sculptures above the entrance to the church. People began building churches for God when new times came after the Middle Ages. TodModernurches no longer have pointed or Gothic arches; they no longer have so much gold. Modern churches are being built next to modern apartment buildings worldwide. They are simple houses where God lives, and people pray.

We have seen the church many times. But do we know what each thing means?
The tower shows us that we have a Father in heaven.
The bells remind us to go to the temple and pray.
At the entrance to the church, there is a shrine in which there is holy water so that those who enter here can wash and be clean.
Strange things happen in the confessional – the secret of conversion and forgiveness through God.
We listen to God’s word from the pulpit.
At baptism in the baptistery, we became sons and daughters of God.
The most important place in the church is the sanctuary, where the holy guests are kept. Jesus is in our midst and will always be with us.
There are still many things in the church: organs, pews, bells, and the like.
All this is to help us to feel good here and to be able to pray fervently in it.

At Holy Mass, we pray for those who give donations to the church, that the house of God may be beautiful, and that it may be a worthy sign of our faith and the faith of those who built and maintained this church. Tell me, where is your place in the church? How do you pray in church? Are you in the right place? How are you doing here? Do you value and respect the prayer of others? Don’t you talk when others are praying? Do you make time every day to be able to come here and tell God that you love him even for staying here with us in the church day and night?

Let’s wish that our temple is genuinely ours, that we feel good in it, visit it o, often and take care of it.

Who has not encountered weeping in his life? We say we are in the valley of tears from birth to death. Pain is the punishment for our sins. But there is no crying like weeping. There is a difference between the cry of an infant and that of his father. There is a difference between crying for joy and crying for pain.

Even today, we are aware of this difference when we read the Gospel, “When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it…” (Lk 19:41).

Christ’s coming to earth powerfully manifested God’s love for human beings. The Lord Jesus, especially in the last three years, when we speak of Him as Teacher, has not only explained His mission and why He came into this world but we have been instructed how we are to live here on earth to be worthy of the fruits of His Passion and death.

The Lord Jesus, as God, knew that His journey here on earth was coming to an end. He knew His mission would culminate in a few days, yet He weeps over Jerusalem. This weeping is justified. How does God know that this city will not accept his sacrifice of love, that is, his death on the cross? In the same way, other cities, individuals, and nations will not take his teachings of love. He knows that for many, his death is useless. Indeed, he knows that every man has the power to decide his eternity. Every man with reason and free will is created in the image of God and, therefore, either desires or rejects eternal dwelling in a state of bliss with his Creator and Redeemer God.
The weeping of Christ over Jerusalem is a solemn remembrance for Christians. We know that in the year 70 – as recorded by the historian Josephus Flavius – this city that crucified Christ was destroyed by the Roman army, and the nation was scattered throughout the world. In two thousand years, the country disappeared from the world map. They lived scattered all over the world. Today we know that the government has its state existence again. But even all this should alert us to the grave motives that led the Lord Jesus to tears over this city.

We know that Jesus wept only twice. The first time was out of love for His friend Lazarus, where He showed His human love when His friend Lazarus died, and the second time He wept out of pain over the blindness of the people of Jerusalem.
He did not weep over the betrayal of Judas, but we can assume that the tears over Jerusalem were also tears over Judas at the same time. He did not grieve over the betrayal of Peter, but we may also surmise that his tears over Jerusalem were understood by Peter, for he indeed remembered his betrayal. But we know that the Lord Jesus did not weep even when He was scourged, crowned with thorns, when He carried the cross, nor when He was crucified.
The Lord Jesus wept only at the hardness of human hearts. Weeping over Jerusalem is also crying over us when our hearts are complex because he teaches love when our hearts have become a rock that does not receive his words of love, when we reject him with words, when we despise him, when we hinder others from having our hearts belong to Christ, when offenses, strife, sins without regret, desire for correction and repentance come from us.

This is a clarion call for us believers to struggle against sin, against our faults and shortcomings, and not to neglect to do good because we must live in union with Christ; so that the words that Jesus wept over our indifference and the hardness of our hearts do not apply to us.

We know how it hurts a father when a son falls under sin. The son often does not realize that the father suffers more for his sins. Only when perhaps the son becomes a father will he then understand why the father was sometimes sad for him. To prevent sorrow and pain, to prevent tears, means more effort in the fight against evil and sin.

There is a difference between tears and weeping. We also know the tears of repentance. Let us not content ourselves with the tears of repentance in our eyes alone but also be sensitive to the tears of repentance in our hearts.

With Jesus’ parable about the talents, which is from the Gospel of Matthew, we meet in a modified form also in the so-called gospel to the Jews, which the Church did not recognize as a gospel inspired by God, but which was widespread and widely read among the so-called by Judeo-Christians, i.e., Christians coming from the Jewish people.

In today’s Gospel, the first servant, to whom the master entrusted five talents when he left, obtained five more for his Master and was praised by the master for this when he returned. The second servant, to whom the master entrusted two talents when he left, buried them in the ground and was mildly reprimanded by the master for this. The third servant, to whom the master entrusted one talent at his departure, squandered this talent with harlots and flute players and stood empty-handed before the master upon his return. And for this embezzlement, he was thrown into prison. What led the writer of this Gospel to the Jews to make these changes? According to Jewish law, one entrusted with some money fulfilled this obligation if he buried the money in a safe place and then, when needed, dug it up and handed it over to the one who entrusted it to him. The author of the Gospel to the Jews, therefore, wanted to preserve the prescription of the Jewish law.

Let’s take a closer look at the parable’s meaning: Who is this parable of Jesus directed against?

Directly against the Jewish scribes, the Jewish scholars of the Scriptures in its Old Testament part. During his public ministry, Jesus constantly blamed them for the fact that they received the key of knowledge in their hands, which opened the door to the kingdom of God, that is, to salvation. Still, they do not use this key to actu this door to those who would like to recereceiveo the kingdom of God. Jesus tells the Jewish scribes: “…you have taken the key of knowledge! You did not enter yourselves, and you prevented those who wanted to enter” (Luke 11:52).

The key to knowledge is the word of God, the word that God spoke to the chosen Jewish nation and thus to all people in the Scriptures. But what exactly did these Jewish scribes do with this revealed word? Did they give him hearts opening knowledge to the suffering, poor and sick? Have they softened the hearts of sinners? Or they made of it only a kind of fence that separates them from God and thus allowed them to close themselves in their own “righteousness,” which will enable them to say in God’s temple: God, I thank you that I am not like other people: blackmailers, dishonest or like this tax collector. What is to be done with the word of God? These are profound words. Serious because God is an incorruptible Judge who will ask each one exactly what he has done with the word of God entrusted to him. Jesus’ parable was addressed primarily to the Old Testament Jewish scribes. Still, it retains its relevance, brothers and sisters, even today, when we are no longer interested in Jesus’ disputes with the Jewish writers. The Word of God was entrusted to the Christian Church. This means to every person of this Church in different ways. Brothers and sisters, the word talent has passed into all modern European speech. It comes from the Greek word – talent, and in modern European languages ​,​it means – talent or aptitude. Today, we don’t even realize that the word talent, talent point to God, who gave something to a person who put something into a person. Before Christianity, the word talent meant only a unit of weight or money. This unit of weight got its meaning as a talent, an aptitude, precisely in Christianity, based on the parable we heard. The simile distinguishes between a person’s talent and ability. To better understand what it means. The talent here means a considerable amount of money. Thus, according to the latest studies, one talent is the salary of 16 well-earning workers of that time in one year. According to the level of their abilities, servants receive talents for their management. There is an emphasis on the idea that we are entrusted with something and are to do something about it.

And that is God’s word for us, which we, Christians, encounter in Jesus Christ. It gives us a firm position and direction in which our life should go, but at the same time, it makes us messengers and witnesses of his truth before people. A genuine Christian can’t revel in his Christianity and not be interested in his surroundings and their problems. Christians cannot be active in the same way. On the one hand,d in their abilities at birth, there will also be differences in the understanding and knowledge of the content of the faith given to them at baptism. Every Christian, whether he has greater or lesser abilities, must be involved in his surroundings and solving problems. Every Christian can and has the opportunity to engage again and again every day. What Jesus wants here was perhaps best described by his great disciple Paul when he writes in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “Let everyone consider us to be Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries.” And it is required of administrators to be faithful” (1 Cor 4:1-2). What Paul says about himself and ers applies to all Christians without exception. “But I do n about whether you or another human court judges me. I do not even believe myselconsiderr I am not aware unaware, but that does not excuse me. The Lord is my judge. I don’t even consider myself because Iunawareare of anything, but that doesn’t excuse me. The Lord is my judge. I don’t even judge myself because I’m unaware of anything, but that doesn’t excuse me. The Lord is my judge.

Therefore, judge nothing prematurely until the Lord comes. He illuminates what is hidden in darkness and reveals the intentions of hearts. Then everyone will receive praise from God” (1 Cor 4:3-5). These words apply to bishops, priests, parents, educators, and every Christian. Each of them is entrusted with the word of God, but not for themselves. . Each of them each their shoulders for the word of God. God has revealed his word to us, and that means which means he has given us to look for ways to practice it in our lives. And according to the faithfulness that fulfills this duty, each of us will answer God one day and be judged by God. Indeed, there are dif, different ways of providing this service. Providing I, as a priest, am there to study this word of God and explain it to you in an appropriappropriatelyevers, are called to that you pass on this word of God in your immediate surroundings, according to the measure of your abilities. And here, brothers and sisters, the question falls on me as a priest and on you as believers: What have you done, and what have I done to pass on the word of God that was entrusted to me appropriately? For example, what did our Catholic parents do to pass on the word of God to their children? How much have they thought about suitable ways to bring their children to Jesus Christ, to his love? Brothers and sisters, I don’t want to rebuke anyone today, but how many families do we have where parents complain about their children that they are no longer Christians? What did these parents do with the word of God entrusted to them to keep their children close to Jesus Christ? Many parents were content with the proper fulfillment of Christian duties and drove their children to church while they were young. And that was all. So they built a fence around their Christianity and separated themselves from others. That is the most profound meaning of this parable. If we did not pass on the word of God entrusted to us as Christians in suitable ways we were thinking about our surroundings, we would be tough to answer for it, according to that parable. So this seemingly straightforward parable poses a serious question to each of us: which we are puzzled over in our surroundings, and according to that parable, we willtoughcult to answer it. So this seemingly straightforward parable poses a serious question to each of us: which we are puzzled over in our surroundings, and according to that parable, we willtoughcult to answer it. So this parable, seemingly very simple, poses a grave question to each of us:

What have we done with God’s word?
And we will be responsible for that one day.

Brothers and sisters, we take everything formally. We have heard many things in life, but we often do not understand what is hidden behind what we hear. I guehear never even realized what responsibility we took upon ourselves as Christians. I wanted to say: Amen. But since I don’t want to end these words so harshly, I would like to end with a small request: It is never too late to think about your responsibility. I will ask you a question. Not to you older adults anymore, but to the young people here. I see them in the back who sooner or later get married or get married: How much and what do you want to do to correctly explain God’s word to your children who will be born to you?

Daily trifles are our displaced rosary beads.
Those mines (another evangelist remembered as talents) were the highest-value currency. Although the king from Christ’s parable speaks of “little things,” – how abundantly he rewards faithfulness in these little things: Have power over ten cities. So that little thing was not so small.

Because nothing is petty, nothing small – for true love. In the eyes of faith and love, everything is essential, holy, and excellent. The little things are little beads of the rosary that move in the hands; these are our daily activities if we perform them as carefully as possible; these are our daily affairs, experienced in the spirit of faith and love; from them grow our human greatness and immortal glory. Little things – these are tiny drops of God’s graces, thanks to which every day and every activity becomes worthy of a reward and not a small tip.

God entrusted us with those “little things”: he entrusted us with time, strength, health, abilities of the heart and mind, various innate possibilities, and different chances – and such a chance, perhaps underappreciated, is also our sufferings. God entrusted us with all these talents, saying: Trade till I return. We may be proud of our faith in God – but God instead believed and trusted us because he entrusted countless possibilities to take advantage of. Trade till I return. Trade not only with a thought of our merit and reward – but above all, out of love for the community in which we are to live. Trade until I return. The church year ends, and our attention turns to the prophesied coming of Christ. We confess aloud: Christ died, rose from the dead, and Christ will return.. .we await you’re coming in glory. Would this confession not be an empty phrase? The mines or talents entrusted to us must be diligently multiplied if we expect. They are not given to us for our arbitrary disposal, to do with them as we please, but they are entrusted to us as capital, to put them multiplied into the hands of the King who will return.

One of the issues on which there is no unanimous opinion among Christians is the fate of the dead. The Catholic Church, Eastern Churches, and several Protestant churches teach that the immortal soul lives on after physical death – either in bliss with God or in rejection. On the other hand, there are opinions that all life ends with physical death, and the dead will only rise in the general resurrection at the end of history, and only then will their fate be salvation or rejection. There is a rare opinion that only “good” people will be resurrected and the bad will never be resurrected /Jehovah’s Witnesses/. Opponents of the immortality of the soul and, thus, the immediate continuation of life after death claim that only the doctrine of resurrection at the end of time is supported in the Scriptures. The principle of the soul’s immortality is clearly stated in tradition, but since some Christian congregations do not recognize it, we confine ourselves to Scripture.
The Old Testament mentions this problem only in passing; the question of death, or the fate of the deceased, appears sporadically. Among the few mentions, let us say the prophet, Daniel /Dan, 12, 2/: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting disgrace.” In the 2nd Book of Maccabees, one of the tortured brothers says: “You shut us out of the present life, but the King of the world will raise us to eternal life!”/2 Macc, 7, 8/, the others and their mother express themselves similarly. There is also the prayer for the dead ordered by Judas Maccabee: “For if he had not hoped that the fallen soldiers would rise from the dead, it would have been useless and unreasonable to pray for the dead … he ordered an atoning sacrifice to be offered for the dead so that they might be freed from sin ” /2 Macc, 12, 44-45/. /It should be mentioned that the Jewish canon was established in Javna at the end of the 1st century; he did not recognize the books of the Maccabees. These passages use expressions about the “resurrection of the dead” and thus seem to contradict the soul’s immortality even after physical death. Some statements from wisdom books are also used in support, such as “For the living at least know that they will die, while the dead know nothing more” /Ecclesiastes 9, 5/, or in Psalm 6: “No one among the dead remembers you, who praises you in the underworld?” /Ps 6, 6/. Some conclude that according to the Scriptures, the deceased is dead until the day of judgment and will only be revived at the end. But let us mention another statement about the deceased: “They no longer have a share in anything that happens under the sun” /Ps 9, 6/, so that in these contexts, we can rightly assume that we are dealing with reflections on the fate of the deceased according to earthly circumstances. The eternal existence of the soul, i.e., life even after bodily death, is also found in hints in the Old Testament writings. For example
Several passages in the New Testament also describe the resurrection of the dead; the apostle Paul often addresses this subject. He writes more extensively in 1 Thessalonians, and in 1 Corinthians, he devotes the entire 15th chapter to this subject. Among other things, he writes: “For as all men die in Adam, so shall all be made alive in Christ” /1 Cor, 15, 22 – the apostle speaks here of the resurrection of all, not only of the good/, respectively “… because the trumpet will sound and the dead will rise incorruptible…”/1 Cor 15, 52/, “… and those who died in Christ will rise first.” /1 Sol 4, 16/. In early Christian times, there was a belief that the coming of the Lord would take place during the lifetime of their generation, so Paul continues, “… and we who are alive, who are still living, will then be caught up with them in the air to meet the Lord” /1 Sol, 4, 17/.
It should be noted that if we follow the Old and New Testaments in their entire context, we see a straightforward “pedagogical approach” – God gradually reveals Himself to man and teaches him. It sets solid moral standards but is lenient and often adapts to a person’s current abilities. Let us mention the polygamous practice of the patriarchs and kings, although Christ clearly defines this area as a relationship between a man and a woman. Similarly, the question of a person’s posthumous existence is profiled in stages in Scripture. However, in the Old Testament, it is clearly stated that a person consists of a body and a soul. At the creation of Adam, “God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” /Gen 2:7/ – this is an essential point of the doctrine of the immortality of the human soul. However, this was still the prevailing view in Old Testament times that after bodily death, the “breath of life” ascends to God. “Who knows whether the breath of life of the sons of Adam ascends to the heights and the breath of life of the animals descends to the earth?” /Ecclesiastes 3, 21/. However, these statements do not testify to the death of the soul; they only express the uncertainty of the preacher in this question and do not mean a final confirmation. It must clearly state what happens to the breath of life – the soul – when it ascends to the Lord. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: “For if there is an animal body, there is also a spiritual one … The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a quickening spirit.” /1 Cor 15, 44-45/. “But I say, brethren, flesh and blood have no part in the kingdom of God, nor corruption in incorruption.” /1 Cor 15, 50/. Although he writes these words in connection with the necessity of the transformation of the mortal body during the resurrection, from them can also be deduced the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and, thus, of the continuation of life after physical death. For all others, we quote the passage from the 1st Epistle of the Apostle Peter: “… for the highest fruit of your faith, the salvation of souls; you will receive.” /1 Petr, 1,9/. We find several similar passages in the Apostolic Letters.
In the Revelation of John /Apocalypse/, there is a passage where the Apostle, after opening the fifth seal, “…saw under the altar the souls of those who were killed for the word of God and the testimony…”/Off 6, 9/They cried, “…when will you avenge our blood?”. Each of them was given a white robe and told to wait a little longer until the number of their fellow servants was filled…” /ZJ 6, 10-11/. Some claim that the Apocalypse must be understood exclusively figuratively, without referring to realities. And so that this passage means that those who have died in the Lord are to “rest in their graves” until the Day of Judgment, as interpreted by the instruction given for them / some Slovak translations have the expression “rest”; others “give up.” “/. The fact that they are in the tombs also expresses their placement under the altar, and the white robes are only a symbolic expression of their future resurrection.
Furthermore, in the next sequel, we read: “A great multitude from all nations … stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were clothed in white robes, they had palms in their hands, and they shouted with a loud voice” / Revelation 7:9/ One of the elders next to the throne explains: “These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they stand in his temple day and night…. .” /Revelation 7:13,14/. Several Old Testament quotations follow. The objection that this is a description of the righteous after their resurrection is not relevant since it is about their service to God in the present “day and night” moreover, this paragraph is followed by a series of events /the seventh opening seal, the sounding of the seven trumpets, the seven bowls of wrath, three witnesses, etc./in addition, the writer then mentions the “first” resurrection and only in St. 20 Judgment Day. Thus, the righteous serve the Lord before the Last Judgement and the general resurrection. Since, according to Paul, flesh and blood “cannot participate in the kingdom of God,” only the soul can have this participation, which therefore does not disappear with death but continues to exist without a body. It is also worth mentioning the statement in the 1st letter of the apostle Peter about Christ. After his crucifixion and before his resurrection, “So he went and preached in the spirit in prison. They were once disobedient when God’s mercy awaited them…. .” /1 Pet 3, 20 /. This passage is traditionally used as the article of faith, “descent to the dead” in the Creed. Still, the important thing is that one can only preach to those alive – if not physically, they must be alive within the framework of spiritual existence. Only the soul can have this participation, which does not disappear with death but continues to exist without a body. It is also worth mentioning the statement in the 1st letter of the apostle Peter about Christ. After his crucifixion and before his resurrection, “So he went and preached in the spirit in prison. They were once disobedient when God’s mercy awaited them…. .” /1 Pet 3, 20 /. This passage is traditionally used as the article of faith, “descent to the dead” in the Creed. Still, the important thing is that one can only preach to those alive – if not physically, they must be alive within the framework of spiritual existence. Only the soul can have this participation, which does not disappear with death but continues to exist without a body. It is also worth mentioning the statement in the 1st letter of the apostle Peter about Christ. After his crucifixion and before his resurrection, “So he went and preached in the spirit in prison. They were once disobedient when God’s mercy awaited them…. .” /1 Pet 3, 20 /. This passage is traditionally used as the “descent to the dead” article of faith in the Creed. Still, the important thing is that one can only preach to those alive – if not physically, they must be alive in the context of spiritual existence.
Perhaps the most famous passage in the New Testament is Christ’s response to the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection and tried to catch him up with a combined story about a woman who caused seven men to die one after another. Whose will it be after the resurrection when they rise from the dead? In answer, Jesus says: “When they rise from the dead, they no longer marry or are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” /Mk 12, 25, Mt 22, 30/. Lukáš presents the extended words of Christ: “Those who are recognized as worthy of the world beyond and the resurrection will no longer marry or be given in marriage /Lk, 20, 35/. “And as for the resurrection from the dead, have you not read in Moses in the story of the thorn bush how God said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living!” /Mk, 12, 26-27, Mt 22, 31-32/ In Lukáš, he adds: “…everyone lives for him” /Lk, 20, 38/. At first sight, it seems that these words of Christ exclude the existence of the soul’s life after death and only confirm the final resurrection at the end of time. Is it so?
No, Christ was answering a specific question of the Sadducees concerning the resurrection. However, He confirms the soul’s life after death in several places. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he says: “… the poor man died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, in great agony, he looked up and saw Abraham and Lazarus from afar at his bosom.” /Luke, 16, 22-23/. So he is not saying that the rich man died and was buried after the resurrection of the dead and saw Lazarus at the end of the world. The plot shows the immediacy of the rich man and Lazar’s survival after death. Of course, it is a parable, so it has a symbolic meaning, but it testifies to the fact that the dead live after death – either in heaven or hell. When we look at Christ’s parables, they are all grounded in reality. These are not speculative ideas; Christ uses authentic life images to make people understand them – let’s look at his parables of the sower, the lost drachma, the lost sheep, the good shepherd, etc., to understand the meaning better. So if he used authentic life imagery in these parables, why would he spread false ideas about the life of souls after death in this parable if it were not true? We can also mention the words of Christ: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Or what will a man give for his soul?” / Mt, 16, 26,
If we realize that Christ used the phrase “God is the God of the living and not of the dead,” then if the patriarchs mentioned were dead and awaiting the final resurrection, they would no longer be alive, so this remark by Christ would be a contradiction. God would only be their God in the future after the resurrection. Moreover, in the scene of Christ’s transfiguration on Mount Tabor, it is written: “Then Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they talked with him” /Mk 9, 3, Mt 17,3/, Luke adds that they spoke of his “end which was to take place in Jerusalem”/Lk 9, 30/. It can be countered that according to the Old Testament, Elijah did not die but was taken alive from the earth /2 Cr. 2, 11/ and so he could speak to Christ, but this cannot be said about Moses, whose death is described in Dt 34. Opponents often argue that it was a particular case for which God “raised” Moses, similar to how he raised some of the dead during Christ’s crucifixion, who came to Jerusalem after his resurrection /Mt 27, 52-53/. However, this cannot be accepted; all the Synoptics write about the appearance, or “shown,” not the resurrection. Moreover, it is evident from the other descriptions /Christ’s facial expression changed, his clothes turned white, etc./ that this is a non-standard phenomenon and not a resurrection to ordinary life, as in the case of Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, etc., where the dead returned on standard terms and in a normal appearance.
The last words of Jesus on the cross have a solid message value. And here is a well-known passage with a repentant thief who says to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise! ” /Luke, 23, 42-43/. He did not say to him: In x thousand years after the end of the world, you will be resurrected, and then you will be with me. He said, “Today.” They both died that day, so the promise had to be fulfilled towards the immortal soul of the villain. He is alive and well before the final resurrection if he has been with him in paradise ever since. As early as the 1980s, I came across an interpretation that is still common today that the sentence is not to be understood as “Verily, I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise,” but: “Verily, I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.” It is a grammar game with punctuation marks. From the earliest times, Christians understood this statement to mean “Today you will be in Paradise,” not otherwise. Any other meaning would not even make sense. Why would Christ emphasize that he was saying this “today”? He knew he would die; he could not say it “tomorrow” and not even in the past because he had never spoken to the villain before. Why wouldn’t he phrase other statements this way, e.g., Why does he say “I thirst” in John’s Gospel and not “Today I thirst,” or why didn’t he use the word “today” in any other statement? There are many sayings in the Gospels where Christ begins with the phrase, “Verily, verily, I say unto you…” and never “Verily, verily, I say unto you today.” He only used the word “today” in this context when answering the thief on the cross. The logic of things and the faith of Christians from the earliest times prove that Christ promised the thief paradise on his death.
In conclusion, we can say that the belief in the immortality of the soul, that is, in the continuation of life even after physical death and not after the final resurrection of the dead is confirmed not only by tradition but also by Scripture.