predication.net

No one doubts that we should have compassion for the sick, for those who have suffered misfortune. Therefore, if one limb suffers, all the limbs suffer from it (1 Cor 12:26).
Even young, cheerful boys and girls should learn to visit the sick and minister to them. This is also important for the development of personality. Many of the so-called “problems” of youth and inner crises arise from concentrating too much on oneself. Contact with the pains of another distracts from selfish closeness, purifies, and eases the heart.
Material misery, even today in the world, is much greater than we are aware of. Recently, documents handed over to the United Nations show how a good three-quarter of humanity lacks even the necessities. With equal concern, as society is embarking on interplanetary explorations of space, we are to discover the misery and need of the people around that we may one day hear the voice of Christ himself: I have been I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat (Mt 25:35). Today, however, there are noble societies for the protection of animals, the security of animals, the security of forests, the protection of natural beauties. A gentle person has a kind of reverence and gentleness for everything that exists. Animal cruelty reveals a perverse affection and should be punished, especially in children. But let us avoid excessive sentimentality. Animals are not persons but things. They serve man. It is not immoral to hunt and kill animals. But it must not be lost sight of, as far as necessary, helpful, and equally a method, in the way it is done. The limits of mercy no one can be more merciful than God himself. Humanly, we say that even God’s patience has its limits and will one day cease towards the reprobate. More precisely, it does not cease.
God’s mercy, as the sun does not cease to shine. However, it does not penetrate where the windows are barred, to him who has closed himself off from God’s rays. Therefore, the great mysteries of the grave will not resolve the conjectures that only a kind of sentimental tolerance of everything will inspire. We certainly pray for all the dead because we know nothing of their fate. For all the living people, then, the gate of God’s mercy is still open. And yet even God Himself, according to the human expressions of Scripture, is angry, threatens, severely chastises, calamities come, calamities, wars. Atheists of all ages adduce these facts as evidence against the existence of God. Christians, on the contrary, believe in the providence of God. God leads us to good, when he punishes.
Genuine compassion cannot remain evil but uses all means of correction, even harsh punishment. Similarly, he seeks to act to the best of his ability. It would not be “merciful” state authorities who would let free to steal, to assault the innocent, who would suffer the public disorder. They are not merciful parents who spoiled their children, nor teachers who have taught their charges nothing. Ancient authors sometimes extolled Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance. Her spirit in man, the desire to track down every crime and punish every iniquity, is, according to Aristotle, a praiseworthy passion. We rightly say that the spirit of vengefulness is a pagan spirit. But we cannot so simplify the fact that we neglect justice for the sake of mercy. Sending a just order is a better act of love than undeserved kindness. Cowardice manifests itself under the auspices of understanding, especially where we forget our duties so as not to be inconvenienced. We are afraid to harm one we care about, even though others suffer who do not matter to us.

How do we know people? From the direct knowledge that I will meet them, I talk, I see them with my own eyes and so on. We can also know a person by not meeting him directly. For example, he lives far away or has already died. Nowadays, film, camera, etc. can help us. When it comes to the distant past, such as the time two thousand years ago, it can help us in the specific case of John the Baptist, the Scriptures and the tradition of the Church.

Why is we so interested in the person of John the Baptist even today? These are the words of the Gospel, where we read, “Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist” (Mt 17:13). This happened after the transformation on the mountain, where Peter, James and John saw him talking to Jesus, Moses and Elijah, and Peter exclaimed, “Lord, we are well here. If you want, I’ll make three stalls here … ”(Mt 17: 4). And as they came down from the mountain, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” (Mt 17:10). The Jews were convinced that Elijah would be born before the Messiah. Although the Lord Jesus confirms this opinion, he declares John the Baptist to be Elijah, who has actually fulfilled Elijah’s mission for the time being. We know about John the Baptist, what the angel Gabriel said to Zacharias when he offered the sacrifice in the temple: He himself will go before him with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons and to bring the unbelievers to the wisdom of the righteous and to prepare the perfect people for the Lord ”(Lk 1: 15-17).

The words “in the spirit of Elijah” mean that John will speak with the same determination against the sins of the people and especially against the sins of their leaders, as Elijah once did when he spoke against the pagan queen Jezebel and her pagan priests. With the same zealous spirit, John will exhort the people to repentance. And John fulfilled this prediction of the angel. Herod Antipas was one of the sons of Herod the Great. From his father’s inheritance he received Galileo and Transcord, Pereu. He lured Her brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, and lived with her. She could not listen to what John the Baptist had allowed her to say when he accused her of not living with her husband’s brother. John was more afraid of God than she was, so he really acted like a prophet. Herodias used her power at the first opportunity to control Herod, and when her daughter, who liked Herod and his guests, performed, she showed to ask Herod’s head of John the Baptist. This completes John’s mission. John honestly fulfilled his mission as the announcer of the expected Messiah.

It is truly his humility, his devotion to the cause of God, when he declared, “A mighty man than I am after me” (Lk 3:16). When asked if he was the one to come or to wait for another, John did not deny and confessed, “I am not the Messiah” (Jn 1:20).

In this Advent time of preparation for the feasts of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, we should also know the person of John the Baptist as best we can. Not as he looked physically, but we should look at the content of his words, which he proclaimed as the forerunner of the Lord Jesus. These words are timely even today. They remind us of what is essential in preparation for the feasts of the Nativity and which we should not overlook. When we realize all this, we are to adjust our lives accordingly, which John likens to the path: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mark 1: 3b). For us, John’s words sound like an announcement of the salvation that the Messiah – Jesus Christ will bring us.

The answer to this short gospel should not be long in coming. We must not think long, make decisions. Time is fast approaching, the birth of the Son of God is at hand. Let us ask for the strength to profess our faith, to fulfil our religious duties with all faithfulness to God. Behold, our God is coming! John’s words are important to us. Let’s not despise John! When we learn to know John if we keep his words in the practice of the lives of believing Christians, then the world will know us not only by name, that we are believers, but above all by our words and deeds. The world thus learns that living with faith is a source even today.

Invitation to the trip (Luke 3: 1-6)
God invited me to follow him.

Someone likened our lives to the road. God has invited us to embark on our way of life through our parents. None of us gave our lives, and none of us asked about the world. Our life is a gift we have received from God. We should be grateful for the gift and take care of the gift. We are aware of this at the beginning of this year’s liturgical year. A person’s life is said to have died or given up if he knew what to expect from fear and hardship.
The Lord Jesus knew of human misery and therefore accepted man’s nature. “He renounced himself, took the nature of a servant, became like people; and according to outward appearance he was considered a man” (Phil. 2: 7). He showed us the way, for he declared, “I am the way” (Jn 14: 6). Before leaving for the Father, the Apostles said, “And ye shall know the way where I go” (Jn 14: 4). His predecessor, St. John the Baptist, also invites us to follow Jesus.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, level his paths! Every valley is filled and every hill and hill is reduced. What is crooked will be straight, and what is bumpy will be a smooth path. And every flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3: 4-6; Isaiah 40: 3-5).

With these words, taken over by John the Baptist from the prophet Isaiah, the immediate history of salvation begins. They point to excellent care in locating those events from all over the world. The scriptures here do not serve with images, symbols, but with historical facts and precisely established chronology. The first of these facts is that God addresses his word to John, who is called to be a prophet and accepts a special mission. This will integrate into the historical series of prophetic tasks, both in terms of way of life and taking the assignment, which corresponds to the great prediction of the prophet Isaiah. Prophetic words are fulfilled in John. His special mission can also be seen in what John does, that is, in baptism. The prophets before him also called the nation to repentance. Through immersion in the waters of the Jordan, people bear public witness that they want to live differently: the purged wish to embark on the path of repentance. Jesus Christ began a new work in us and finished the job. The more faithfully we fulfil Jesus’ words, the greater the reward awaits us at his second coming. Therefore, the actual words of the prophet Isaiah, which John the Baptist reminds us: “Prepare the way of the Lord, level his paths! Every valley is filled, and every hill and hill is reduced. What is crooked will be straight, and what is bumpy will be a smooth path. And every flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Lk 3: 4-6; Isaiah 40: 3-5). It is a challenge to embark on the life path of the Lord, which will end for the whole world at the end of time. We understand liturgical Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas, a time of joyful anticipation, but also a time of joyful repentance. Seeing this in the apostle Paul’s call to the Philippians: “Brethren, rejoice in the Lord continually. I repeat: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all people. The Lord is near” (Philippians 4: 4-5).

On the path of life, one is aware of one’s constant transformation. A small child grows into a larger child, a teenager, then a man or a woman, and finally old age comes. Man has aged since his conception. When we realize that we have reason and free will, we become responsible for our thoughts, words, and actions. And that makes us significantly different from other living or non-living nature. We realize that our lives are not a coincidence, that we live at all, that we live today, that we are what we are, and that we realize that we are rightly accountable to the world and that we will also be responsible to God for our manifestations in life. Imagine a potter who takes the clay made into his hands, puts it on a potter’s wheel, which he sets in motion, and at the same time transforms the clay into a particular object, such as a jug, vase, or candlestick. It is always just clay, let it be in the state of preparation for formation, whether the rough shape of the object begins to form from clay, and it is clay even when the project finishes, decorates. Even then, it is clay when the subject already serves its purpose. And it is clay even when we break an object, destroy it and only shards remain after it when it is difficult to know what the bits come from.

We must realize that man is human before he is born. When we connect the first cells of a man and a woman, we talk about a new person. Although we do not yet see a man with the naked eye at that time, he is already a man who has his soul; he already has in himself – as geneticists say – encoded everything that the eyes will see much later, until man’s death. It has had its way since its inception. No one can make a statement of destruction, of murder, because no one has given him this power. Therefore, one does not have the right to consciously and voluntarily end one’s life in any life situation. Likewise, none of the people has a right over human life, only God.
That is why we realize the importance of our way of life, the responsibility for everything that happens when we use reason and free will. An unborn child has rights that his parents cannot deny him, not a stranger, like a doctor. Therefore, an adult should also fulfil the obligations that society imposes on him when they are not against the will of God. A man should always do God’s will on his way of life. God did not give a man much power to perform abortion or euthanasia in the name of his science, life.

On the contrary, God asks each person to live on the path of life so that he will always do God’s will. God wants us to always be in touch with our God. They lived in friendship with him. When we have departed from the path God has given us by sin, we are to remove sin, that is, to level the sidewall, to fill the valley, to reduce every hill and hill, and to make a bumpy path smooth (cf. Lk 3: 4-6). Repentance, confession of our sins, a life of prayer, acts of Christian physical and spiritual mercy, faithful obedience to the commandments of God and the Church are our assurance that we are friends of God, brothers, and sisters in Christ.

Advent reminds us of the great trust that God Himself shows us on our journey through life. He trusts us. We can indicate this in the story of David Wilkerson from his book The Cross and the Dagger.
It’s his story of what he survived among young people in the New York underworld gangs. He also talks about Nick, who came to a religious meeting with his team. Nick recalls, “We came to the meeting with the intention of making the preacher perfect … A woman in the stadium was playing organ, and I told the boys to step on their feet and shout to start doing something. A young woman came out on stage and began to sing. I started whistling and everyone laughed. The events went the way I wanted, and I was satisfied. Finally, the preacher came out and, before his speech, called those present to charity. I thought he wanted to sneer like everyone else. He said: “I ask the gang members to collect alms themselves. Then let them go behind the curtain and come to the podium.” I thought he was unaware of something. Everyone knew that behind the curtain was a door, and it was open. “Six volunteers, please,” he said. I was on my feet at that moment. I identified six boys and they came to him. I intended to make him a good day or make a fool of him. We wanted to start now, but he delayed us and prayed for a long time. I wanted to laugh. The whole area belonged to us. When I thought someone gave a small amount, I stood with him until he gave more. Everyone knew who Nick was. Then we all met behind the curtain. The door was there – and open. Some in the audience began to laugh. They knew what we were planning. My boys were waiting for the signal to leave. But I stood. Suddenly I understood. That preacher believed me. This has never happened to me before.” The preacher’s behaviour impressed the boy, the gang leader, so much that not only did they hand over all the money raised, but it was also the beginning of a change in his life. Thus, in Nick’s life began a new journey, the journey to the Lord or the return, to which he invites St. John Baptist. Nick realized that the preacher trusted him. That changed his life.

God also trusts us. It’s Advent. Waiting time. A time of change, improvement of the goal, and meaning of our lives. God trusts us. We realize this is a fantastic thing. God trusts me. God gives me hope. God loves me.

When we compare our lives to the path, it is clear that it is easier to walk or travel straight. Anyone who chooses a highway will not take fourth-class roads because the route is safer, faster, or more pleasant. When do we realize that God is our goal and not the ordinary? Who would be so foolish as to give priority to a plan of lower quality? And that is why, during the Eucharistic Sacrifice, we ask for mercy from Christ, foretold by John the Baptist.

We all know that the greatest enemy of the Lord Jesus is often us as believers. Unbelievers rightly criticize us when they see our lives at odds with the words we speak. In this time of preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus, we want to improve our relationship with God, not to be blamed for being a mismatch between our words and our actions. The Evangelist Matthew also wants to help us do this when he recorded the terms of the Lord Jesus for us as well, “Not everyone who speaks to me: Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt. 7:21).

The Lord Jesus speaks of the twofold foundation on which men place their relationship to God. One stays comfortably on the surface, namely, at words, concepts, wise sayings, formal execution. Others go to the depths, to the rock; that is, they seek to understand the Lord Jesus’s terms and put them into practice. We know, however, from other professions and fields, how essential it is in training to heed the prohibitions, the groundwork, which often takes much time, drains a lot of finances, and yet pays off when the foundation is sufficiently deep or firmly laid. It would be downright risky if this did not apply all the more so about God. If the Lord Jesus seems harsh to us when He called a man a fool who only listens to and does not implement His word, it is probably only because He wanted to make wise builders out of the worldly hearers, and therefore out of us as well.

Frequently, however, we join the majority who make light of their position. He wants to reach the goal quickly and as cheaply as possible. Lamentations, tears, and the sight of a burning pyre are not pleasant, not only in the material realm but also in the spiritual realm. Too bad we do not take notice of the soul, if not of Christ and His teachings. And here is where the care we had for the beginnings of our faith will show itself. Let us remind ourselves that the preparation time for First Holy Communion, Confirmation, is not enough. How is not enough only the knowledge of the first grades of elementary school, how isn’t enough at least the folk wisdom that says it is easier to learn from the mistakes of another than from one’s own? Because even in the sphere of our soul, faith, convictions, the winds blow and precipitate themselves on our house of faith, in adulthood, children’s dresses, we must often build up our spiritual life in silence, unobtrusively, for years, indeed, often using renunciations of voluntary and permitted things.

Putting it off until later is a sign of disappointment that can destroy more, and we don’t even realize it at first. Even a thief does not become a thief all at once, but gradually. Nor is good character a thing of one day. For example, even you who are preparing for marriage. Isn’t good preparation, renunciation, self-control, self-control needed? Good practice for marriage will prevent divorce, abortion, infidelity. A career is a madness that has already crossed many people’s plans. I’ll be different in retirement… Heart attack, stroke, unforeseen cancer, house built on sand. The betrayal of faith, the nodding, the things overlooked without a word… Where a believer can speak up, stand up for… All of this also brings the fact that God cannot be offended. God’s mills grind slowly but surely: “Whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:33).

What to do? The answer is in the words of the Lord Jesus, “Only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of God” (Mt. 7:21). And let us recall the words of James the Apostle: “So also faith: if it has not works, it is dead in itself” (Jam. 2:17). Let us unite our minds with the teachings of the Lord Jesus. Often we may find that life is more complicated with Jesus, more arduous, but that makes our yoke joyful and worthwhile. Proverbs says: “The whip cracks only at the end.” And we don’t think of the end as painful but joyful. Let us avoid bad examples. Let us not allow unbelievers to judge us. Let us not always and everywhere say what we think. Let us guard our words. Let us frequently remember the counsel of the Lord Jesus, “But when thou goes to pray, enter into thy closet, shut the door behind thee, and pray to thy Father which is in secret. And your Father will reward you, for he sees even in secret” (Mt 6:6).

Before the holidays,very woman schedules time for central cleaning of the flat: wipe off the dust, clean the windows, spruce it up, organize… It is, for many women, an inherent and yet so commonplace matter. However, not only for women but all of us who enjoy reason and free will, the Advent season should be used above all for inner cleansing. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is therefore not a secondary matter for the Christian believer.

In the Gospel of Matthew, he tells of how whole crowds came to Jesus… and Jesus healed them. It is said that in a clean dwelling, there is also healthy life. Especially those who have damp, wet, or not bright, well-ventilated flats know this. Similarly, we can also speak of the soul. Often we have brought this on ourselves, and – our soul bears the undesirable consequences. We are sick. There is sin in our souls. But Jesus invites us to Himself. We didn’t read in the Gospel that he begged anyone, asked anyone to come to him. The crowd came willingly, and they came because they realized that Jesus could help them, give them what they could not get, buy, and procure elsewhere. Entire crowds came to Jesus. They did not come out of curiosity, out of longing, but they desired that Jesus would heal them. Jesus laid his hands on them; others at least touched the hem of his garment so that their request would be granted.

Jesus listens to everyone. We have no report in the Gospels that he didn’t listen to anyone, though some struggled a lot to do so. The Canaanite woman pleaded much for her daughter. Jesus heard her because of her strong faith, even though she was a Gentile, and granted her wish. Indeed, there were more unbelievers among those present. Matthew tells of the reaction of many who saw that the dumb speak, the disabled are made whole, the lame walk, and the blind see, were amazed and glorified God for all things. Not a few, indeed, in their flesh, though they had previously come in disbelief, returned in health, not only physically but spiritually as well. For in more than one case, Jesus said: “Go, thy faith hath made thee whole!” (Mk 10:52). But we know that he dismissed some sick, saying, “… but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer a sacrifice for your cleansing….” (Mk 1,44). However, to the sinners, he said: “Go and sin no more!” (Jn. 8:11). This means that Jesus did not heal only sick bodies, though there were more of them than those He healed in spirit. Today, the tables have turned. God has given men reason, and therefore He has chosen some to be physicians of human bodies. These restore health. But even here, we often sigh: the physician heals, the Lord God heals!

The Lord Jesus is also present in the sacrament of the priesthood, where He manifests His spiritual power. The sacramental absolution, the priest’s forgiveness to his brothers and sisters, not in his name but as the representative of Jesus on earth, cannot be mediated by himself. Still, he needs another priest to grant him this grace. Whoever can appreciate this small act given by Jesus Christ to the Church, which we call the Sacrament of Reconciliation, does not count the minutes spent in preparation for this moment of forgiveness of sins. We have marvelled many times that God is so good to us. Those who have not understood this will say this too: “You are forgiven and can sin again.” These are words insulting to God, dishonouring this great gift. These are the words of an ignorant man, words full of dislike. We are weak. We know that we will not last long without some weakness, some mistake or error, without more strength. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, every intention that we call good must have the resolution that we will guard against sin, that we will forsake the near occasion of sin, that we will ask for help to persevere in good.

We know that those whom Jesus healed became sick again after a time and had to die. We must realize that frequent reception of this sacrament will strengthen us so that we will more easily persevere in good. Our sound will must prevail. Let us do all we can to perform this sacrament well. Let us use the time to prepare for it and, after receiving the sacrament, let us step out with the determination to remain faithful to Jesus, and in that state, let us live the feasts for which we are preparing. What we have failed to do so far, let us try this year.

Yes, order and cleanliness in our homes are needed. But this is our temporary home. We know we are called to eternity, so let us purify our lives in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Our whole life is the way to God. The way to God is simple. It was found by all people of all times and nations. Philosophers and scientists have found their way to God, but so have they. Who had no idea what philosophy and science were but had common sense and could be open to the deeper side of life and its secrets? Even those who knew how to be natural felt the way to God, that they could not understand everything, that they also encountered incomprehensible things. The more they researched stuff themselves, the clearer it became that not everything could be explored. Not everything can be explained by causal processes alone. All this amazes one. A person who cannot wonder does not perceive the great time of the world and life for a great time. He understands only one side of things. Maybe he analyses, uses and controls. We’ll say it’s practical. But everything behind it escapes him. So one gradually loses sense of other essential aspects of things, the world, life. Only a person who can admire gets on the path to God. We have more theories about the possible origin of the world and the things of this world. But each of these theories presupposes a miracle. Whether it is the theory of eternity or the idea of mutation, whoever transmits it with a light heart has no problems. One can copy improbability to improbability.
Imagine a stalk of wheat—height more than a meter. And the diameter of the stem is two, three millimetres. At the top carries a limb. The wind moves him, and the stalk does not break. It’s ingeniously constructed that we admire it, but we can’t imitate it yet. We can’t form a branch. And yet, the stem is created around us and without us. It will satisfy us if someone says it is a coincidence. He who does not want the truth to triumph over him will triumph over it. If some people do not care about the fact, it is unnecessary to prove something to them. However, it is an excellent lesson about the nature of man and his possible attitude to the question of God. He does not prove God in the true sense. We seek and discover God. The belief in the existence of God is one of the knowledge and discoveries that we gain only if we have a genuine interest. Whoever finds and knows God must have a genuine interest in him. Who speaks confidently. Prove to me that God exists; he will probably never find God. Whoever wants to see God must seek Him. He must be attentive. First, he must be able to keep quiet, and he must be able to wait. If you want to experience the beauty of the forest, you can’t ride a motorcycle in the woods. He must walk silently to watch. Then he will see everything; he will discover everything. For example, flowers, birds, beasts. He who seeks God must be open and full of interest. Today’s naturalists are increasingly expressing respect for faith in God. Werner von Braun, for example, said. The better we understand the structure of the atom, the nature of life, and the course of the Milky Way, the more reasons we have to marvel at the wonder of God’s creation. Our need for God is not based on fear. Man requires God no less than bread, water, and air.

Love of self, love of God, and love of neighbor.
Much is sometimes said about so-called total selflessness. It has been promoted with great enthusiasm, especially by some French authors of past centuries. La Rochefoucauld does not hesitate to assert that in egoism, in the love of self, every virtue drowns as in the sea. Despite all this, however, Aristotle had already pointed out that such a lofty solution in no way corresponds to real life and that it cannot even correspond to it. Who could be good to one who does not even care for himself! It is useless to appeal to the gospel. Although it says that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mt 22:39), it does not say that we are to love him instead of ourselves, to do good only to him and not to ourselves.
If the love of neighbor is not to be exhausted in lofty words, it must be ordered to pass into action. We must find the right proportion between self-interest and service to others, and this is not easy. Nor is it easy, between the love of God and the love of one’s neighbor is not as apparent as it might seem. Two millennia of Christian education have taught us to combine the two. We forget that the indissolubility of the two loves is the unity of two opposites, a wondrous agreement characterized by the mysteries of God Himself. At the beginning of the journey to perfection, Christians experience contradiction rather than unity of the two ideals. Like Abraham, the eternal example to all believers (cf. Gal 3:6-7), the ancient ascetics abandoned their homes, relatives, friends. The desert and solitude attracted them.

“Until man discovers that he is alone in the world with God,” writes St. Albert the Great, “he will never be happy.” Apophthegms, anecdotal narratives from the Fathers’ lives of the desert, illuminate this longing for solitude with sayings and examples. Abbot Arsenics that he sought counsel from God, how best to save his soul. He then heard from above the words that for centuries became the program of Eastern. “Flee from men, be silent, keep your peace!” He carried out this advice so perfectly that it seemed
exaggerated even to the monks in the desert. Then Abbot Mark kindly admonished him, “Why are you running away from us?” But Arsenics stood firm: “God is my witness that I love you. But I cannot be at the same time with God, and I cannot be with God and people at the same time. There are tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of angels up there, all with the same will. It is different among human beings. They have an intention of other, and that’s why I cannot leave God and be with people.” So it seems indeed an inevitable consequence that led to the foundation of monastic orders: to serve God is to leave the world and people. The word monk comes from the Greek monachos, alone, solitary. “A monk has separated himself from all,” writes Evagrius.
The point, then, is how to merge complete and unconditional love for God with concern for our surroundings. The answer to this question is inseparable from the problem of the presence of God in the world and man. In the company of men, we manage to think of God and to do his will only if we can see God in our neighbours as well. At the beginning of the Old Testament, we read that man is the image of God (Gen 1:26). But in a true sense, we can experience the unity between the word of God and the world of man only after the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the commandment of neighbor’s love, united with God’s passion, is called the new commandment (Jn 13:34).

We are beginning to experience a new church year. What kind of year will it be in our lives, family, parish, nation, and the world? Indeed we are among those who begin with optimism at such times. We want to use the days of the new year to gain new graces, to eliminate the mistakes, errors, and imperfections that we have not yet gotten rid of. We want to lift our souls to God, but at the same time, we realize that this may also be a year when the Lord will call us before His judgment.

But even so, he felt:

I believe you can do anything.
I think that you will help me.
I believe that you love my servant too.

Lord, I am a man, and you, Lord, are great, mighty, if you find it, my servant can be healed, and you don’t even have to touch him because I don’t deserve you to cross the threshold of my house, to come under the roof of my dwelling…

Let us, therefore, begin from the beginning to walk the right way – to give ourselves wholly and entirely to Jesus. This is what today’s Gospel encourages us to do. It is the centurion’s response, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will recover” Mt (8,8). An exciting event, an encounter. Jesus is already known in Palestine as a miracle worker. He heals, cures, teaches. He acts like one who has extraordinary power. People come to him with different motives. For some, it is enough to see and hear Jesus. Others, burdened by sickness, want to touch at least the hem of his garment and want to be healthy. Still, others who are sick are brought by parents or friends. But they are all Jews.

A Roman officer, a Gentile, also comes to see Jesus. He does not come to ask Jesus for himself, but he asks for his servant, much to his surprise. Indeed, he must have loved him very much or been indebted to him for something. We don’t know. But that is not the point. What is significant is that his servant is seriously ill. The centurion would like to prolong his life, so he pleads, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralysed and suffering terribly” (Matt. 8:6). Jesus is comforted by the centurion’s request. Everyone around Jesus is surprised: a Gentile begs Jesus? Jesus wants to settle the centurion and immediately answers, “I will come and heal him.” (Mt 8:7). Here the centurion surprises everyone present with his answer. He realizes the difference between him and Jesus, so he says: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant shall recover” (Mt 8:8). Jesus saw more in the heart of the centurion than those present at his plea. The centurion’s words speak of the virtues this Gentile carried in his het:

Humility – I am not worthy…
Faith – but say the word…
Trust – and my servant shall recover…
Love – I, too, am a subject man…

These are unique words that Jesus could not refuse and, at the same time, not point out to those present what we are all to strive for, in which the Gentile-officer has outdone us. His words wove a beautiful bouquet of virtues that he carried in his heart. The desire for such a bouquet of integrity should be in the heart of each of us in this new church year. Humility, faith, trust, love. This is what Jesus liked about the centurion. Surely it will please him and us. Pride, arrogance, and haughtiness need to be replaced with humility. Instead of self-love, self-privilege, and egotism, we should be more attentive to the needs of others and act with the intention that Christ is also in our neighbor—not procrastinating, not counting, but trusting that Jesus will also reward us with praise.

Let us hear the words: “Go!” And let us genuinely go. “Come!” And let us take the time. “Do it!” And let’s not procrastinate. Lord, thank you for the example you have set for us through the centurion. This example is good advice for the new church year if we want to live it without mistakes, errors, and neglect of good. We know that our optimism alone is not enough, so we ask for your blessing.

Wearing clean clothes
St. Bernard worked zealously for the conversion of sinners. He was not afraid to visit, even the various inns and other places where sinful people gathered. Once he played with his …at a pool hall. Here one of them asked a question. What would you do if God revealed to you right now that you were going to die in one hour? They answered variously. One would have gone …another to return what he stole, another to reconcile and say goodbye to his family… When they had all answered, they turned curiously to Bernard. What would you do? Bernard replied: I’d keep playing pool. Soon we will begin Advent, the coming of Jesus Christ. This season has not only reminded us that Jesus has come to Bethlehem, but above all our anticipation of the second coming of Jesus. The appearance of Christ the King. He calls us today as well:
“Watch therefore all the time and pray that you may escape all that is to come, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Lk 21:36). Expecting to meet the Lord is not something rigid, something that would make us be killed. It does not mean living in fear. On the contrary. Whoever lives in such a way that he is ready for meeting with God lives a peaceful and joyful life. For he has that which is necessary for a quiet life – a clear conscience. A person having a pure conscience lives in harmony and in friendship with God and those around him. He who does not steal does not slander, does not lie, who knows how to share, keeps holy Sundays and holidays, accedes to the sacraments … in short, who gives to God what is God’s, to man what belongs to man and to himself, what is required for the health of body and soul, he is ready for an encounter with God. He has a lighted lamp; that is, the light of God’s grace is in his heart. Our life is full of meetings. Death appears to us from ordinary life as loneliness, as the severing of all ties, friendships, acquaintances. But the Gospel says otherwise. We read of an excellent, new encounter with the Lord in it, which has a solemn atmosphere. Therefore, a “new” meeting, because it is an encounter with Jesus, a person whom we have not yet seen with our own eyes, but with whom we through our faith have long been in contact with. Thus, a person living according to the Gospel, the man who lives with a clear conscience, should and can rejoice that in death he will not be thrown as it were, into solitary confinement, for then, he will leave all to meet Jesus, in whom he will find the fullness of peace and happiness. Then, we may enter into an encounter with Jesus, we need to have a wedding dress. Otherwise, we will be thrown out for the door, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sign of this dress is our baptismal, the christening gown we received at our baptism. We were then cleansed of all sins, and we became children of God. Let us remember this day. It was the day of our birth when we were born for heaven.

Brother, sister! When you received this robe, the Baptist said to you the words: ” …you have become a new creature and have put on…you have become a new man, a new creature… Let this white garment be to you a sign of this worthiness. Your parents and relatives shall help thee by word and example to bring it undefiled into eternal life. “1 In life, however, we, as children, have often fallen into puddles, which is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation here. Don’t we also sometimes delay repentance? Therefore, let us prepare ourselves to be received into the wedding hall now. Are we ready for an hour of which we have no idea? If God had revealed the hour of our death to us, we would have remained calm, like St. John of God. Bernard? If we are ready, yes. If not, let us try to think about our approach to reconciliation with God. Let us resolve today that whenever we feel in our souls that we have offended God by grave sin, we will try to be reconciled to Him at the earliest opportunity. Jesus’ call, “Watch…!” 13:35) was directed not only to the disciples but also to us.

Introduction.

We are beginning a new church or liturgical year. We Christians do not have a unique counting of the years like the Jews, and we do not have a fantastic beginning like the Chinese, Buddhists, Muslims… For us, the first Sunday of Advent is not a variant of the new civil year. Because ordinary years count, they go one after the other and are never the same; there is only one of each year in history, so church years do not matter; they are always the same because they are a repetition of the cycle of feasts. That is why it is better to use the name liturgical year and not the ecclesiastical year. During the liturgical year, we remember the same mysteries of our salvation.

Sermon

Thus, today, on the First Sunday of Advent, we begin to remember the coming of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. In doing so, we recognize the historic Advent when the prophets of the Old Testament prepared the nation for the coming of the Messiah. Their predictions have come true. God came into the world in Bethlehem when He was born as a bit of child of the Virgin Mary. We are also beginning to experience a liturgical Advent. During the four weeks leading up to the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord, we will read from the Holy Scriptures, not only in churches but also at home in private devotions such as the Advent Wreath, about the events that preceded the coming of the Lord Jesus into the world. These are especially prophecies. The liturgical hymns are also a wonderful experience of this short season of Advent, both in their content and melody. During these days, we also remember more of our life’s Advent. None of us knows the day, the hour, or the place where our death will find us. Our whole life, then, is a preparation – an Advent for meeting God the Judge.

Advent is thus a time of new graces when we become more realistically aware of a kind of beginning and an end.
We also find this idea in today’s Gospel of St. Luke, from which we will read passage after passage throughout the liturgical year, except on certain feasts and Sundays. Today’s course begins with the words: Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs…” (Lk 21:25).

St. Luke unconventionally presents the awaited Messiah as the Judge of the world at the end of time. It is a remembrance that the One foretold by the prophets is the same One whose coming humanity awaits at the end of time. Advent tells us that God is sending his Son, the eternal Word, into the world (cf. Heb. 1:2), and it is up to the people whether they want to hear God the Word. This Word, Jesus Christ, was born as a sign “for the fall and for the rising up of many… and for a sign to be contradicted” (Luke 2:34), “for the Word of God is living, effectual and sharper than any two-edged sword; piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul from spirit, and of the joints from the points, and judging the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The Word made flesh brings a state of crisis upon the world, it divides; the Word comes to redeem the world, but whoever despises and does not receive Him “shall be judged in the last day” (Jn 12:48). The time between the birth of Christ and the coming of Christ, the Judge, is given to all to consciously and freely express by their lives their relationship to Christ. The response to the words “follow me” (Mt. 19:21) will be the reward or the punishment. It is characteristic that when the wise men from the East first inquired about the born Messiah of whom the prophets wrote, “King Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him” (Mt. 2:3), and on the third day after God’s birth, we have to remember the slaughter of the boys of Bethlehem. These and other facts say what Jesus predicted: “Do not think that I have brought peace on earth. It is not peace I have brought, but a sword.” (Mt. 10:34). At the beginning of Advent, therefore, we also commemorate the second coming of Christ, who will then be seen coming in a cloud with power and great glory (cf. Lk 21:27). And this requires us to be careful that that day does not take us by surprise. It is an exhortation for the whole liturgical year: “Watch therefore all the time and pray that you may escape all that is to come and stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21:36).

With terrible words, the Lord Jesus predicts the end of the world. The end of two worlds. First, the end of the local, particular world, such as Jerusalem, and the destruction of the Temple, which was worse than the end of the world for the Jews in 70 AD. And finally, the end of all this wonderful thing we call Earth. The vision of its future already finds empirical justification in the potential forever worse inventions and a diminishing sense of responsibility. But that’s only someday, someday. But already today, we are each experiencing our end of the world in different spheres of our lives. There was a time when a young, healthy, non-disabled person had it all, and gradually he lost one thing after another until finally, he had nothing left. The end of our world is a gradual process; that is the actual reality that we experience day by day. And it is precisely at the beginning of Advent that we are concerned to live responsibly before God, without hysteria and any gallows determination. When Advent reminds us of the end of the world, we also understand it as our death. Everything that lives must die; only artificial flowers do not die.

Advent is also the school of knowing how to die properly. We are preparing for the feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus, and it is a souvenir to remind ourselves more of the need to prepare for our death and make the most of our lives. That is why Advent is also timely in that we enrich our spiritual life with the values of inner culture and, above all, with the virtues. The new liturgical year is an opportunity for us to use each day to enrich our lives.
When two men learned of the death of their friend, they had this conversation. One asked the other: “How much and what did he leave behind?” To this, the other replied: “Everything!”

We shouldn’t act like the king in a fairy tale. He dressed in beautiful clothes and displayed himself for admiration. He was coming out of his palace when the sun was shining in his face. Then the gold of his dress reflected off his clothes, and his subjects could admire him. This filled him with joy. Once, he made the mistake of going out early. The sun shone from his back, and he saw his shadow for the first time. The black shadow and not the glint of gold had provoked anger in him. Annoyed, he mounted his horse, rode forward, but he could not outrun his shadow. He was stupid. And the tale goes that even today, he still runs in anger after his shadow.
Don’t we also run after our shadow? We should learn to live with our shadow – death. It is a reality that we fear, but we do not despair. Why do we not despair? We have trusted in Christ and are cooperating with him. Let us recall a severe thought.

The story tells of a poor man who suffered because of his poverty. But he kept praying, “Lord, please let me win the lottery for once.” He was getting worse and worse, winning nothing, but he kept praying, “Lord, please let me win the lottery just once.” Until one night, he wakes up to the voice of the Lord God saying to him: “So help me too and buy at least one lottery ticket at last.”
We should take Advent as a time of grace and cooperate with God. Perhaps that is the only reason we did not accomplish what we set out to do in the past liturgical year, that we did not just talk, or make plans, or build castles in the air, or dream rosy dreams, or roll up our sleeves, or honestly put ourselves into difficulties, into overcoming obstacles, and so we did not make progress. Let us say to ourselves: enough!

I remember the words of a friend, a young priest, a few weeks before he died. He had no idea that the Lord would call him so quickly. Then he said: “It is important that the hour of death should find us morally alert. That our conscience may be operative and worthy to direct our action towards God in this fateful hour. When we see around us blasphemy, desecration of Sundays, disrespect for man, lack of concern for the Christian education of children, immorality and disruption of families, lies and other injustices, does it trouble us? Let us live differently. Let us awaken our conscience and the conscience of those around us. Let us repent for ourselves and for them.”
Christmas is at the door. Even death is upon us, and death, a phenomenon that demands and deserves our attention.