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The crowd noticed that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there. So they also got into the boats, came to Capernaum, and sought Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” you are fed up. Do not seek after the Passover food, but for the food that remains for eternal life, and it shall give you the Son of man, for his Father hath called his seal ” They said to him, “What shall we do to do the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “It is the work of God to believe in him whom he has sent.” They told him, “What sign will you do? To see and believe you? What do you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus replied, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not bread from heaven; For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. And they said to him, “Lord, always give us such bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. “
Jn 6: 24- 35
Catechesis: What is the Church?
The French naturalist, popularizer of natural sciences Jean Henri Fabre (1823 – 1915 – illustrated encyclopedic dictionary, ČSAV – Academia 1980, p. 621) retired to his birthplace, where he liked to debate with a local priest. One day, the dignified gentleman hurried home, saying he had to prepare a Sunday discipline. “What are you going to preach about?” Fabre asks. “On the divine origin of the Church,” replied the dignified Lord. “And what would you say, Mr. Fabre, on this subject, believers?” The priest asks. “It is very easy,” the scholar replied. I would say, “Take, say, 12 men from our village, train them for three years, then place them in De la Concorde in Paris, and let them declare. We are now founding a new religion!’ Two thousand years, let a bill be made of what happened to the twelve and their new religion!”
An exciting, but also a well-founded view of the Church.
What is the Church?
To the question: “What is the Wandering Church,” our excellent, yet still curious catechism answers: The Wandering Church is a society of people living on earth who
1. are baptized,
2. Believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ (if they have attained the use of reason);
3. Recognize the Pope as their visible spiritual head.
Spiritually, even the unbaptized belong to the traveling Church if they sincerely desire to know the truths that God has revealed, and they seek these truths impartially. (Small Catechism, SSV Trnava 1971, question 118)
St. Paul put it into words: What is invisible in him – his eternal power and divinity – can be known from the world’s creation by reason from created things, so they have no excuses (Rom 1:20).
This year, I was moved not only by the sight of the crowds that filled St. Peter’s Square during many services, but I also often watched the long crowds of pilgrims who humbly waited to pass through the Holy Gate. I tried to imagine the life history of each of these pilgrims, which consists of anxiety and pain. A story that met Christ and that – in dialogue with him – set out on the path of hope. As I watched the constantly flowing groups, I gained a kind of plastic image of the wandering Church. To that Church which is located, as St. Augustine – “between the persecutions of the world and the comforts of God” (c. D. I. 8). And St. Father John Paul II, in the apostolic letter Novo millennial ineunte writes: “The innumerable sons and daughters of the Church have followed in the footsteps of the saints, taking turns here at the tombs of the apostles, filled with the desire to confess their faith, confess their sins and receive saving mercy.
The Church, then, is truly a sublime, divine-human institution. It is a Divine institution because the Lord Jesus Himself established it.
The Lord Jesus first promised St. Peter that he would become the head of the Church. It was in Caesarea when the Lord Jesus asked: Who do you consider me to be? – Simon Peter answered, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord Jesus responds by saying, And I say unto you, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what you lose on earth will be bound in heaven (cf. Mt 16: 13-19).
The very provision of St. Peter came to the head of the Church only after the Lord’s resurrection at Lake Tiberias, when the Lord Jesus, after a threefold declaration of love, entrusted him with this office with the words: Feed my lamb, feed my sheep (cf. Jn 21: 15-17).
The divine element in the Church was, is, and will be beautiful forever, as St. Paul: You have prepared a glorious Church, without blemish, without wrinkle, and without any other error, but holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
Unfortunately, the human element in the Church was often unfortunate. All we have to do is go through the history of the Church, and we can see how many sad, even black pages people have written in the history of the Church. From the very beginning, various delusions began to appear. The apostles have often had to take strict action against heretics! Arianism and many other offensive behaviors of irresponsible members of the Church came from both superiors and simple believers. The so-called black century, the century of the significant decline of the papacy. History also knows two and three parades… And finally, Hus and Luther were Catholic priests … However, the Church overcame all human misery with the special help of the Holy Spirit because the gates of hell will not overcome her… (Mt 16:18) and: Behold, I am with you until the end of the world (Matt. 28:20).
I used to read the story of how a little boy had fun on a boat: he scratched at the mast, ran, ran, … But a storm and a storm broke out. The passengers retreated to the lower deck of the cabins. However, the boy remained outside. We have called on him to hide that he is in great danger. He rushed on and replied to the warnings: I’m not afraid. After all, my father is at the helm of the ship. If I was in danger, he would definitely tell me!
My dear ones, it is beautiful to sail even in a stormy sea when we are sure that the boat we are sailing on cannot sink. And that boat is the Church and at its helm is HE, LORD JESUS. Diocletian minted coins in vain: In memory of the destruction of the name of a Christian … In vain, enemy tombstones dug the graves of the Church. She is here, and there are no monuments after them.
Our parish is also the LOCAL CHURCH. What is our local Church like? Indeed, the Divine is lovely in her, too! But the human thing that depends on me, on you … is it really wonderful? Am I a healthy limb on the body of this local Church, and through it on the body of the worldwide Church? What mental state am I in? Am I living as a beloved child of God, as a faithful brother and sister of the Lord Jesus, and am I a beautiful temple of the Holy Spirit?
We often have a great desire and courage to criticize everything that happens in the Church. Well, you have to start ruthlessly from each other! I often want to be a reformer of the Church! Here, too, it is necessary to start from each other. May the branch I am in the tree of the Church always be green and bear rich fruit of good deeds! May the limb by which I am on the mysterious body of Christ always be viable, engaging in the religious life of the parish community! May I be as valuable a member of the Church of Christ as the Venerable Father Bishop Vasil Hopko and the Venerable Religious Sister Zdenka?
Let us walk to the eternal home, to the completion of the Church in the kingdom of heaven according to their pattern. They will certainly help us to achieve the desired goal with their effective help.
©
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Point out the size and price of each person. Encourage the search for God kingdom.
Pearls and gems adorn the royal crowns, rare editions of Scriptures, liturgical subjects. In Christian art, they have jewelry from gold decorated with pearls to commemorate the heavenly Jerusalem. Pearls were valued not only for their excellent financial value, but also for their beauty. Pearl “grows in the mud.” deep on the seabed. He develops his radiant beauty in complete darkness. On the day. In the light, the pearl begins to complete its beauty with glitter. And people are willing for it expensive to pay. Today, Jesus introduced us to the beautiful beauty and value of God’s kingdom the parable of the precious pearl: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant who looking for rare pearls. When he finds a very valuable pearl, he goes, sells everything he has and buy it” (Mt 13: 45-46).
In contrast to the parable of the hidden treasure, which was found in its entirety unexpectedly, there is a parable about a rare pearl. The buyer searched for her for a long time, and suddenly he found them. The seeker received the finding as a coveted reward for his searching. The search was not unnecessary. It is a challenge for us to have God, seek in all seriousness and hold fast to him in all faithfulness. For who
God’s cause is not worthy of every sacrifice; he will never understand the rarity of a pearl.
The precious pearl is indestructible, it cannot be lost, and we get it here on earth to pull our hearts up to heaven. The apostle’s Paul and Matthew also left everything when they learned the richness of Jesus’ word. Let’s now imagine ourselves as a treasure, like a priceless pearl of value. God knows our value and wants us to belong to Him.
It will probably be difficult for many of us to imagine this. Many of us are for our own, he considers failures and sins worthless. We often feel that we have done something which left an ugly, possibly indelible stain on us.
However, the truth is that Jesus has come a long way to find us. Gave up of all things, he suffered death on the cross, that we might become children of his Father and co-heirs of the treasures of the kingdom of heaven. How wonderful is our God? In his, we are pearls in our eyes, and they value us more than we can imagine. One oyster complains to the other. I’m in pain: I feel like I have the lead ball in the body. What will it be? The second oyster proudly replies, “I’m fine. I am healthy and cheerful. You’re probably going to die on your ball, and I still have life ahead of me. ” A crab floats around them, listening intently to the conversation and saying, “What do you know, proud. oysters, about life? Do you think that youth and health and beauty are everything? She’s in pain, but within it grows the rarest beauty of the ligament pearl.”
Let’s allow Jesus to find us today. Let’s not hide behind our sins, for their pride. Jesus longs to enter our hearts; let us not be afraid to accept this the Father’s pearl – Jesus. God calls us to discover the joy of being, it becomes a great treasure for us.
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Psychologists often point out how you take revenge when the development of sensible, reflective reasoning ability is neglected in education. While sensory perceptions and impressions alternate as images in film, reason unites and seeks unity. The prudent man therefore gathers and binds together the results of your daily experience. Scouts are advised to write a diary according to the example of great people. Well, just writing is not enough. When you get old events, impressions, we read the thoughts again; we see clearly what they are in, make a mistake where we are rushing, or what procedure it serves us. A special kind of personal experience is also manifested in the Christian exercises of questioning the witness, the general confession, the spiritual exercises, and the renewal.
Experience others also complement own experience. Even large tangible capital is common. And money we give and receive. Exchanging money is usually too much, he shall not become rich, but he shall not be poor either. By exchanging views, however, mental wealth is growing. It’s a shame when people get along because they have different opinions. But it is the same pity when they have to keep quiet just so they don’t have to keep arguing. Democracy is a discussion, a comparison of different personal opinions. This, of course, presupposes education for a good debate. Children should also learn to interpret their opinion clearly, concisely, tactfully, politely, liking. And old people should not forget that they are still not just teachers for department that they must be able to listen, appreciate the other, teach even from the young. Even youth has its irreplaceable experience.
To this day, we value Roman law, which is an expression of justice and prudence. It was created by centuries of development. At first, the praetors, the judges, relied only on their predecessors’ successful and sensible solution. Thus, the customs and laws that lasted for centuries grew freely. Too, the art that gushes from inner inspiration, needs training and study of classical patterns. In the literature, the field of time, science excels people census, will well be applied by people with a broad horizon of general education.
A prudent person is happy to consult if he has to deal with individual serious cases. Proud people brag that they do everything themselves. It is usually even secret to achieve the greater effect when the result suddenly appears in public. One well-known Roman university professor had a bad reputation that he often rejected dissertations. He just tossed all those works that could go smoothly if they were their creators a little modesty and asked for advice a little before submitted their text officially. They told him she was laying very high requirements.
A few tips for sensible conduct
A prudent person does not act hastily. He can stop and think about what he will do. Some authors have tried to express individual aspects, from which he should have his own deed to observe.
a) Have a goal in front of your eyes. Already according to intention and intent, a reasonable person is known. He knows clearly what he wants. Don’t talk to others until he knows exactly what it’s about. If he does not know what he has to do is not starting work. He looks well at the map before it comes out into the unknown by car. If we are careful, we will see for ourselves how much time, unnecessary effort, and inconvenience we will save if we can before each work stop for a moment and ask ourselves, «What am I supposed to do? Why? What’s the point?”
b) Consider options. In the Gospel, this is emphasized by simple figurative language: If any of you want to build a tower if he does not sit down first and does not recalculate the load, whether he has to its completion? Make him then when he lays the foundation, and he won’t finish it, not everyone who sees it has started, mock (Luke 14: 28-29). It’s not just about knowing if we’re up to the task. It is also about choosing the most effective method. Several paths often lead to one goal. In the Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola returns more often to this experience. To him who has chosen to follow Christ, there is presented a meditation “on two pledges,” i.e. clear knowledge of the method of Christ and the method of the enemy. Soon comes the contemplation of “three pairs,” which is about different people who want something but don’t know what leads to the goal. The so-called second-week the exercise ends with a personal «choice» of means when the best concrete options for committing are systematically considered and selected. Those who cannot estimate the real possibilities still have difficulties with other people. Either he asks them too much or too little. He is angry that he doesn’t answer his letter, about whom everyone knows that he doesn’t like to write letters. On the contrary, it will not deliver you dare to ask for something, even though the other is waiting for it and wants to comply with him. According to an old proverb, it resembles a shod metal that sews shoes on only one hoof, so it has a locomotive fit. In the end, he was alone, although he could have had a lot of friends and co-workers.
c) Stability and strength in making commitments.
It is better to go a long way when we have already chosen a neck than
to return three times and look for a shorter path. Don’t finish work done is a lost effort. Nervously weak people suffer from determination. It takes so long for various options to shake up, they choose the worst. It’s good to think, ask for advice, wait, but even that must have its limits and time. Let’s not kill the mental energy by thinking about the little things, about what is not worth it. Strength in the decision, understandably, must not cross borders and become intransigent. A stubborn man goes his way, even when he is already he was utterly wrong. So a prudent person is still learning. True wisdom, he seeks God in everything. Knowing God then is how writes Guardini, something alive, but all living things are growing.
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To point out that God has a fondness for small beginnings.
A tiny, round mustard seed was considered the smallest of all seeds. It can easily slip between your fingers and get lost in the ground. Imagine a simple tiny seed buried in the background as it grows slowly in a plant large enough to provide shelter for a large flock of birds. Modest the beginning, the magnificent end. Beloved brothers and sisters! Isn’t God’s kingdom like that? Today we have heard these beautiful words to the gospel: “The kingdom of God is like mustard grain” (Mt 13:31).
This parable shows Jesus’ love in humble beginnings with huge results. The gospel changed the world, but what it was like in Jesus’ inconspicuous entry into the world.2 Where God is active, there is such manifestation of the inner force of growth that extensive work will arise even from the minor beginning. Human scales do not bind God; it does not need a magnificent start, a strong organization. God’s works are primarily created in silence and secret.
Jesus uses this well-known miracle of nature to draw attention to the transformation that will take place in our hearts when God’s word is planted in its roots. In baptism, we have received the greatest gift we can imagine – God’s kingdom, but only in its infancy. The seed of God’s kingdom grows with us all the day we pour it on with faith and obedience. The kingdom of God does not have a flashy form; on the contrary, it is close, but it has the form of a bit of mustard grain. And it is from this insignificance that something emerges big. God does beautiful things and uses the most straightforward tools and materials. St. Peter of Chrysologus says that the kingdom of God in Christ, whose God sown like a mustard seed in the womb of the Virgin Mary and finally ripens into a tree that will bear the most valuable fruit.
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In the past catechists, we reflected on the words of St. Augustine and considered how to live in God’s presence all day, every day, and throughout their lives. St. Augustine pointed out that when we live according to God’s will, we glorify God with our lives even if we do not pray. We live in his presence, sanctifying ourselves and others.
But today, we ask: Do we really desire it? Why do many baptized people live this way of life? Or is it enough for us to live with God only occasionally, as people say “in the church,” and live the rest of my life as if God did not exist? It was on this topic that I recently read an interesting consideration:
“Adam’s fear of God, which he experienced after his fall, entered our nervous system, our subconscious. Therefore, prehistoric but also modern paganism – that is, the religion that one creates for oneself – is marked by schizophrenia. According to which worship, or otherwise religion, consists of prayers and sacrifices, which serve to reconcile the deity and to gain his favor, but in the daily life of man, the deity has nothing to care for. ”
Most clearly see this way of perceiving faith in the case of superstition. Man is afraid of forces he does not know and cannot control. Since they can harm him and do not know how to defend them, he tries to find some defense mechanism. He will perform a ritual, make a sacrifice, pay only to do something to protect himself. At its utter extreme, this perverted form of religion manifests itself in human sacrifice. Since God is powerful and everything depends on him, we need to appease him. We need to be given the most valuable thing we have to show that we respect his sovereign power. That is why we sacrifice man. And so we offer murder to God, who is the giver of life, who wants us to live and be happy. This is an entirely perverted view of religion, but this can provoke the fear we have before God.
Father Balázs reasoning helps us to understand that this logic applies not only in this extreme form, superstition, and human sacrifice but also in every other form when religion is perceived only as a necessary accompanying phenomenon of our lives when I have to give God what belongs to him. so that I may have peace from him and live my life freely.
This reflection also helps us understand why it is so difficult to invite a person to live his faith deeper. After all, he has already given him everything that belongs to him. After all, I agreed with the dream that the price for peace of mind is a mass for Christmas and Easter, plus that it will give children to religion, the first holy communion, and the confirmation! And now the price is suddenly rising? Should he go to church every Sunday? If we start from his mentality of fear, where religion takes only how to give God what it takes to be okay with him and live as I want, then it seems like a grand deception to him. Fear is then multiplied by not knowing where it ends. After all, God’s demands will continue to grow, and then he will have no room left to live peacefully, freely where he can do whatever he wants and is not controlled by anyone or God.
It’s precisely the same logic as when a teenager rebel against his parents and tries to gain autonomy, and it seems to him that his parents are just increasing their demands, and he has to fight more and more to show them that beware, that’s not how it works! A similar situation is experienced by a husband whose wife wants to involve more deeply in his parental “duties,” and he loses his freedom, or by an employee to whom the employer is beginning to fill his free time by organizing events in his free time.
Here to see the difference between being someone and doing something. If I want to be someone, my attitude is diametrically different. If I want to fulfill the role of a Christian, a parent, a priest, etc., then each new request will only be an additional task in the already scattered calendar.
If the proclamation of Christ comes into this logic – to do things – then it will meet with misunderstanding and rejection. He will go to church faithfully every Sunday, both for confession and praying, but he will not want God in his daily life. That is why people react so aggressively to questions of faith when they grew up in a traditional setting where religion was passed on as a duty and not as a personal relationship with God.
It is essential to keep these things in mind when we want to announce the gospel’s good news to someone. If he suffers from this ailment, he must first be cured; he needs to look at faith as a relationship with a loving father. Otherwise, all our efforts will end in misunderstanding. Even if he accepts something, it will only be like the annexation of Crimea. I will take the dictation because I still cannot fight the stronger one.
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TOPICS FROM YOUTH MASSES
The question for today’s St. Mass reads:
“Why is it sinful to make love when we do it with someone we love very much?” Before we answer this question, let’s clarify a few essential things:
WHAT DOES “LOVE” SOMEONE MEAN?
FAVORITE AND FULLNESS: LOVE:
It is a purely “bodily” and instinctive relationship of affection for the opposite sex, which one feels just like a dog or a cat. It does not bind to one person, but in general. A typical example may be various “skirts” and the like.
FALLING IN LOVE:
It is an emotional relationship, and its hallmark is exclusivity. What we are in love with is unique and irreplaceable to us (at least as long as love falls). Falling in love with a girl is usually referred to as “love” in our culture.
COMMON CHARACTER:
A common sign of love and infatuation is selfishness. Our relationship is based on the fact that someone (or something) is interesting, attractive and satisfies our needs. If it ceases to meet this need, it becomes unattractive to us, and we look for something else that will satisfy us again.
Neither is necessarily tied to a relationship with a person, but it is also possible to do things:
MAN, I like girls,…… but I’m entirely crazy about Suzana. It’s cool. But after three years, we don’t understand much. We’ll probably leave it at that. Yesterday I met Katherine and…
FOOD I like good food, …… but my favorite is Pizza. I really won’t let her. Although, since I ate her, I don’t eat here much, and I prefer fish to butter now.
FILM I like going to the cinema. I adore the movie “Intruder”! But I’ve seen him five times, and I’m tired of going to him anymore. But now I’m fascinated by a new movie, “Scream II.”
LOVE
Love, on the other hand, is the exact opposite: it is a gift.
Love is the same in all situations:
• the missionary loves his believers with the same love and renounces many things and often live for them;
• the mother also loves her child and undergoes a lot of worries, strains, and renunciations for him;
• the husband also loves his wife, and because of her, he gives up his current family, the old-fashioned way of life, …
Its hallmark is “the pursuit of happiness and the development of the person we love.”
LOVE AND CHRISTIANITY
Love is crucial for Christianity.
Salvation = to be like God. But if “God is love” (1 Jn 4: 8, 16), then:
Salvation = to become love.
The Bible and the Church confirm this:
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another. That ye also love one another, as I have loved you. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another.
(Jn 13,34n)
… But one who is incarnate to the Church will not be saved, but he will not remain in love: for he remains in the Church only “flesh” and not “heart.”
(KKC 837)
LOVE AND SEX
And we’re basically:
• Everything that comes out of love is okay because it resembles us in God and fills us with God’s life.
• All that does NOT come from love is a sin because it develops our selfishness, distances us from God, and denies us true life. This also applies to sex:
SEX AS EASY:
If I understand sex as the appropriation of something – in this case, another person with whom I “do” something because it is pleasant for me and fills me with satisfaction, it is a sin because it is selfishness. I am doing this against my interests and goals.
This includes sex motivated by love and infatuation.
• In the first case, it is a purely animal relationship, and if I am an animal, I cannot be like God at the same time. Therefore, a Christian will undoubtedly not long for some erotic salons, use the services of prostitution, or cultivate “disco adventures.”
• In the second case, it is also a selfish appropriation of the other. This is often manifested in jealousy and – after the satisfaction of the “toy” disappears – on the contrary, by divorce.
SEX AS DONATION:
But sex can also be a gift, a gift of our body to the one we love. This is when he is motivated by love. But donating means one thing:
You can’t donate something twice in a row to two different people. • We can only donate something to one person. You can only give it to one, and then it no longer belongs to you because it belongs to the other.
• Donation is permanent. If you borrow something, you can take it back over time. But if you donate something, you present it once and for all, and it can never be taken back.
• The donation is permanently sealed by a contract, which clearly states that the thing belongs once and for all to the other, and you waive ownership of the item – also once and for all.
But the same goes for donating your own body out of love:
• I can only donate my body to one person;
• I give it once and for all
• and I seal this donation by contract.
Technically, the gifted person is called “HUSBAND”, resp. “WIFE” and the gift contract is called “wedding”.
HOW DOES THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION SO?
• If we understand the word “love” as a relationship of love, then sex is not sinful because it is a gift: to one person in marriage. Then it is even something sacred, and it literally becomes a form of “liturgy”, because in it, we present, indicate and experience something of the unity and love of the Eternal
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Could money and fragrant bread.
Today I would like to start with a short story. An Indian boy, growing up on the prairie, came to the city once to visit. They were walking through a busy street full of people. Suddenly the boy stops and says to his friend, who was at home in that town, “Be careful, can you hear that?” The Indian boy took a few steps and bent behind one large concrete flowerpot. When his friend approached him, he also saw what the little Indian had heard and searched for: a little cricket making barely audible noises. “Didn’t you really hear him?” The Indian boy asked. The city man began to sage (as the inhabitants of modern cities like to do): “You know, you Indians, who have lived in close connection with nature since childhood, have better developed hearing.” “That’s not true, I can do it for you,” the Indian replied, pulling out the smallest coin. He threw her on the sidewalk among the walking people. The bouncing coin barely audibly rang. And though this sound was fainter than the voice of a squirrel, all passers-by looked around. The Indian commented: “Although we have about the same sensitive hearing, everyone only hears what is important to them.”
After this story, we might ask ourselves if we are listening to God’s Word, and even if we give it time and attention, how much of that personal message are we able to hear and receive for us?
We have heard one story from the evangelist John of Jesus’ life. It would be good if we heard not only a story in it, but God’s Word with a vibrant and current communication… (How much of the story we have is very subjective… imagine an old black and white photo…, someone will react: foreign pictures, boredom, give it away… another dream… the couple in the photo, how they look at each other beautifully, how they probably liked… the expert may be researching the technique the photo was taken and can speculate for a long time about whether it was successful… and someone else he cries the photo, because his grandparents, who are no longer alive, have heard of their great love and owes this love for his own life…).
The photograph of today’s gospel is the family album of God’s revelation is very significant. This is evidenced by the fact that the story of the miraculous satiety of the crowd is described in all four Gospels (none of the miracles of Jesus receive so much attention), even up to six times – always a little differently. Let’s see how the author of the fourth – the youngest gospel, seized this story. It was either up to six different levels or one story, retold in different ways, depending on what the evangelist wanted to communicate…
Let’s look at the details. The time is essential: “They were close to the feast of the Jewish Passover.” This story is Easter; it has to do with liberation from slavery.
This is also underlined by geographical data… Jesus crossed to the other side of the sea and a large crowd of people with him. The lake, which is not so big, you can see the other shore, is called the sea here. It is an obvious allusion to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Jesus is the new Moses – the deliverer. And it was important for the evangelists to emphasize that just as Moses miraculously fed his people in the wilderness, so does Jesus… And it happens on the hill where they ascended, where he meets or meets the earth, where God can be experienced.
There are two ways to live your life. One is expressed in a biblical image from the Book of Genesis. After sin, man, knowing that it is wrong, that order, harmony in the world, and relationships are disturbed, hears that God is coming. What will he do? Hiding. Yes, this is one possible alternative to living life – to hide from God, to live on the run from him, and it can go so far as to declare that there is no God. The second way to live life is expressed in the image of a chosen people who, after liberation from Egypt, travel through the desert to the promised land. He’s not there yet, but he’s on his way. He knows where he’s going, he has to work hard, and sometimes very hard, but he knows what the point is. He goes… And even when he is tired or disgusted or wakes up, he always re-motivates himself and steps forward. And God feeds him on this path… This is a picture of a well-understood existence: To be a pilgrim.
We are used to calling the deed of Jesus a miraculous multiplication of bread. It is close to us because we would like to have a God who will do for himself what transcends us, what we cannot do. But it is interesting that the evangelist deliberately avoids the verb “reproduction.” He uses other verbs… It does not satisfy our curiosity and natural desire for sensations (we would like to know what was done in Jesus’ hands, what “technique” he used… The author focuses more on helpful descriptions, which reveal our mentality, which we are to adopt if we want to belong to those saved, new people.
First, Jesus tests his provocative question, “Where do we buy bread to eat?” This corresponds to the mentality of the old world, in which it works that man perfectly
He can accumulate indefinitely and long-term hard and cold money. He exchanges in good time for a soft, tasty bread that cannot be collected because it is perishable… Philip calculates to finally conclude that everyone must come to if he wants to be God: We can’t solve it; this task is beyond us. This is the first step. Andrew takes the second step, coming up with a proposal that is not enough to solve the problem, but it is at least something, in fact, everything that can be done.
Part of the rescue plan is a boy, a young man. It is a popular way of (symbolic) action to save God; let’s mention the young David fighting against Goliath…
The young man is a symbol of a new person. The child does not perceive the problem yet. The old man perceives him, sometimes too much a, and muddles, speculates, tries to save at least himself “his own,” or resigns. The young man will do what he can, make available what little he has. And things move…
The evangelist does not say that Jesus multiplied bread and fish. It uses other verbs…
He “took” the bread that was given to him.
“He gave thanks”… God is here… It’s his fight…
“He gave away”… is an essential verb… He who wants to accumulate, collect, turn bread into money loses… Let us remember the story of manna, which is a forerunner of the story of Jesus… Who wanted to order more, so that he also has to stockpile had an “iron reserve,” it went wrong…
And everything was enough, abundant. God acts is not an emergency, but it must not be wasted, hence collecting detachments.
This is a story of crowding satiety, which is an instruction of the mentality of the new, transformed world of those who are saved and wander…
How did the audience understand him then?
Jesus’ contemporaries did not understand the story of the satiety of the crowds, so he left them… How do we know this important story?
When we look at old photographs, they evoke memories of what we have experienced and what we know… And emotions… The stronger the story, the more vivid, more prosperous, and powerful the memories are.
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We say that everything goes differently if you have an uncle upstairs in the office … in other words: You can’t get anywhere without protection. And today, let’s add: Not even to heaven! Indeed, it has already happened to you that you needed something, you asked, and you knew that they have it, that it is in their power to get and get it, but you were not known to them, so you left without success, help.
In the Gospel, we heard his mother seeking to meet Jesus with her apostles, cousins, and cousins. Namely, in the speech spoken by the Lord Jesus and his contemporaries, there was no difference in words between brother and cousin. At first glance, it might seem to us that the Virgin Mary had more children, and the Lord Jesus could have both a brother and a sister. Many churches and sects still misunderstand this part of the Gospel even today because they do not know or do not want to know the true meaning and content of these words. But that’s not the point of this passage. The Lord Jesus highlights our spiritual kinship very high here over bodily kinship.
Those who listen to Jesus’ words have an excellent relationship with him and other members of this family, as with their mother, father, brother, or sister. That our commitment to this spiritual community is more vital than blood also consciously sets an example for us. When Jesus is on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem, he leaves his parents, later goes to his mother and stays in the company of those who want to listen to him. When interrupted by relatives while proclaiming the Gospel, he keeps them waiting. He particularly emphasizes the precedence of spiritual kinship in these words: “For everyone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother” (Mt 12:50).
We are baptized well. We have a Father in heaven. Jesus Christ gained this family relationship when he received us as his brothers in the Holy Spirit. It is a pity, however, that we thus abolish it with sin. Because we sin against and deprive ourselves of the right of son ship, we cease to be children, brothers, sisters, and mothers. But what to do when it happens to us from human weakness? We should correct it as soon as possible.
Remember the war. Many of you have experienced it; others have seen it, at least in the film. When they searched the house, they inspected the whole house; they looked into the closets, under the bed, and into the bed from the roof to the basement. Nothing escaped the watchful eye of the seekers. Every thorough Christian Catholic should undertake such a thorough examination of his soul. Yes, even the one who approaches the sacrament of reconciliation every month.
You come here, dear brothers and sisters, and you often feel more mentally ill than physically ill. You are kept afraid; you feel tension, dissatisfaction with yourself and your conscience. You’d rather erase it all and start over. Yes, get started. You have the opportunity and enough free time to carry out a thorough review of your spiritual life. You want to be happy. But how do you want to feel comfortable when you are not family with Jesus?
Prepare and be reconciled to God! You are often short of breath, and the priest has to wait until you exhale, and then you continue. But this is not about the priest, and he will remain, but about those who are also waiting, but above all about you … When you are not ready, you only speak as if from a plate that sounds like a confessional for thirty or forty years. Not. I will break the plate before a good, holy confession because you are no longer tired of listening to it and try to listen to another, a new one, which will play to you after a good and sincere prayer before the sacrament of reconciliation. Then think. Take the help of the spiritual mirror that every prayer book has and examine your friendship, your family, spiritual relationship with Jesus. True, it can’t be done fast. Every vital thing needs time to be realized.
Confession is the most important thing for a Catholic Christian after falling into sin. This means that one who wants to make a sound, holy confession must find a time and place not to be disturbed by anyone or anything. Depending on when he was not in the confession, he must devote adequate time to it. When a person does not question his conscience daily, when he ignores his conscience, he must make more effort, slowly take over his life, friendships, acquaintances, and attitudes. This is how even those who have not been in confession for many years and today have the opportunity to prepare.
No one can argue before a righteous Judge that he has not been told this where he is. And maybe Jesus is sending you right here to start a new life with us today, now. The real, the supernatural. You are ashamed at home, afraid that someone will see you, do not have complete confidence in the priest, is your friend, and you are a sinner. Do not hesitate! Jesus is waiting! But you, brother and sister, who come to the holy confession every week, also apply to you: “For everyone who does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Mt 12, 50).
You, too, sometimes have to devote more time to your confession sacrament of reconciliation. Compare the periods of improvement in individual sins or permission. Whether you have a factual correction or you are falling in love. You look better on the outside, and you say it yourself, but you’re worse in your soul, don’t think.
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An obstacle to following Jesus1
“You’re as stubborn as a ram.” I guess we’ve heard this proverb many times and cooked it, they used it themselves.
Today’s gospel brings us an idea similar to our analogy, but hidden in two long sentences. “The men of Nineveh will stand up in court this generation, and they will condemn it, for they have repented at the preaching of Jonah — and here is someone bigger than Jonah! The Queen of the South will appear in court against this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon
wisdom – and here is someone greater than Solomon!” (Mt 12: 41-42)
I’m sure you’re wondering now how this has to do with our ram! Not at all with the ram, rather than with his stubbornness, even the determination to withdraw from its position. The queen of Sheba (probably today’s Ethiopia), attracted by Solomon’s Wisdom, came to Jerusalem. She covered a long distance as she knew God’s revelation, which was then in Israel. For this proof of his desire after God’s knowledge, the buckwheat will deliver an accurate judgment of the damnation Jewish nation of Jesus’ times in the Last Judgment. Why? Contemporaries our Lord did not listen to him and indifferently, even stubbornly and with incomprehension they passed him. And yet, the Wisdom of God revealed in Jesus is more than that of Solomon. He himself is the Wisdom. Nineveh, by the way, also pagans they repented of Jonah’s sermon. These too are incriminating witnesses against the Jews at the Last Judgment, who asserted, did not want to recognize Jesus as God Son. Jesus’ words are dramatic. Both examples are complementary.
In Ethiopia of the queen, we see a great love for the truth, and in Nineveh, there is a pity for a performed break. Let’s try to think about our positions or in a relationship now to God, or about the surrounding people. We don’t push ourselves sometimes either, stubbornly; your view of the matter? “That’s all nice of you to say, God, but in this situation you cannot live according to You. “Or:” I will not admit the truth to a neighbor, do I think I am stupid?” “I will not reconcile with my daughter, for she is not equal to me, and I am, I have no reason to go after her first!” And thus, or so on, we stubbornly oppose it Jesus himself. And there is nothing he can do for us. Do we want it too? We’re here, in the church, so I believe not!
And yet, God did something for us. All he had left was. Maybe it was a desperate step of love against the hard head of a ram; let’s call it what we want. He writes about it in his Gospel of St. John that He loved the world so much that He put His to death the only-begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but that he should have eternal life for God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to go through it, the world saved.
The Lord does not want the eternal death of Jesus’ contemporaries or ours. He wants our eternal life. But we need to believe him again. Start loving the truth about us like Queen of Sheba and begin to repent as the Ninevites when, in fact, they recognized your sin. And then the Lord will start to change our hardened stone hearts into loving one’sheart of meat.
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The devil in Scripture
It is surprising to one who knows the religious litigation of the ancient nations how rare is did was, a demon, in the Old Testament. Clearer than personality appears only in chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis, and yet in the symbolic form of a snake. What the surrounding nations attributed to the activities of the demons, the Jews relate directly to God. He sends death, disaster, disease. The authors of the books of Scripture they were always afraid of giving the impression that it was an exception to Some other deity of the Lord.
Nevertheless, it is clear from the Old Testament that the history of humanity cannot be explained without the influence of the evil spirit. He is not a deity. It is the “serpent,” one of the field animals made by the Lord God (Gen. 3: 1; cf. 3:14). However, it is a strange creature. He’s extraordinarily cunning; he knows more than Adam and Eve, he knows how to destroy God’s work (3: 2-5).
He pretends to be a friend of people, but from the very beginning aims at his goal. He wins the game, pulls the man into happiness, but God’s punishment falls on his head in the first place. Even the New Testament does not speak of evil spirits often. And here, however, it stands out from the very beginning. Public Jesus, the performance begins immediately after the direct baptism in Jordan conflict with the devil (Mt 4: 1.). Although we do not know well how to imagine the details of this encounter and temptation, there is a clear basic idea: The Messiah Distinguishing Spirits begins its activity with a fundamental choice. He has a choice between God’s way, which is foolishness in the eyes of Gentiles and outrage for the Jews (cf. 1 Cor 23), and in another way, seemingly reasonable, the one he presents to him in Satan. He should show up as the crowds were waiting for him. Similarly, as in the Book of Genesis, the devil acts as a counselor here,
a friend like the one who wants to show direction. Christ, his counsel
from the very beginning, does not accept. He often casts out devils during his activity, and by his death, he makes Satan without the mighty (cf. Heb. 2:14).
Scripture begins with the appearance of the devil at the beginning. After the last book of the New Testament, the Apocalypse (Chapter 12), ends human history through a mighty scene: the struggle of the Church with the monster, symbol of the Antichrist and God’s ultimate victory over devil.
The devil in the first Christian literature
The word “demon” has been translated into Christian literature by Greek philosophers. Plato places the world «demonically new» between heaven and earth. It is the realm of spirits that are not either by the gods or by the people. However, he assumes that they are good.
Thus, they correspond more to Christian angels and work
in the world. That is why they are offered sacrifices. Therefore, Christians did not say anything new when they claimed that pagan sacrifices were made to our demons, that demons spoke in divination. They are, however, the belief that these are evil spirits because they are associated with a false cult, with a false religion. However, it is interesting how few Christians have taken over from Jewish and pagan “demonology,” which was varied in the first centuries after Christ. She helped explain the goat’s nomological problems, especially the connection of God’s world with earth, spirit, and matter. Christians were interested in the moral. Questions more than about space systems. It went first and foremost about how to explain that there are two in the heart of man, so much from different affection, affection for good and evil.
Didache (The Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles) found the answer in the action of two spirits: good and evil. Lust, carelessness, ungodliness, lies, and all corrupt affections inspire an evil spirit. Hermes speaks of the “two ways”: justice and ungodliness. Good or bad, the angel wants to lure us in one direction or another. «There are two angels by man: the angel of righteousness and the angel of evil. I exclaimed, “How can I do this, that I may discern their work when they both dwell in me?” Still, you are Hermes is not quite sure what exactly the word means, good and evil spirit. The inspiration of the good spirit easily coincides with the direct action of the Holy Spirit. The expression “Evil decline” then often means the same as passion, evil sympathy. Thus, e.g., calls «demon» pride, anger is said to be a “very evil demon.” How to imagine the influence of the devil it is not easy to explain to today’s people how it works evil spirits in the world. They are too skeptical. However, their doubting also has its origin in the superstition of others, who imagined the devil in the form of fairy-tale creatures, similar not to a waterman, an elf, etc. Let’s try to get closer to the truth of the faith by rational reasoning.
In modern times, there is an increased interest in sociological studies. We realize how we are embedded in the environment we ourselves, our deeds, our feelings, and even our thoughts. We do not believe that we are just a “product,” the result of external influences. Nevertheless, these influences are and are. Food, climate, society. Psychologists show how even though the presence of another person beyond reaches into our feelings and inclinations. We become good; with evil, we are easily inclined to evil. Christianity gives this human community a deeper dogmatic basis. We are one mystical body in Christ. If he suffers from one limb, his pain is transmitted to the others (cf. 1 Cor 12-14).
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