Fifth Sunday of Easter B Jn15: 1-8

The connection with Jesus decides (Jn 15: 1-8)
Can we say of ourselves that we are Christians when we do not live with Jesus?

We understand that the light bulb will not light without a source. A car with an empty tank will not move. A student who did not go to school or study cannot advance to the next year.
Old or non-functional things may please the collector, but the modern man longs for quality things to serve him as much as possible. We are rightly fighting against the devastation of nature and the destruction of the environment. We will say: It goes without saying.

In the life of faith, Jesus’ words also apply to the end of the world: “As a branch cannot bear fruit of its own, if it does not remain in the vineyard, so can you, if you do not remain in me” (Jn 15: 4).

The Old Testament often uses the symbol of the vineyard and the vineyard. The vineyard symbolizes the chosen nation (cf. Isa 5: 1-7; Jer 2:21; Ezekiel 15: 1-8 and others). God is the sole owner of the vineyard. God and the nation belong to each other. God has historically cared for the vineyard, and fruit is rightly waiting. The nation is obliged to connect with God through its life, fidelity, and love for God.
Jesus explains God’s friendship as participation in God’s life. In comparison with the vineyard, where it is important and necessary that the branch be connected with the vine trunk, if it wants to bear fruit, Jesus emphasizes our connection with it through the Church. As the pulp of life flows in the vineyard, so does the life of God flow in the Church. By joining with and through the Church, all members receive life force.
The vine with the branches and fruits is the image of the Church. Jesus points out the importance of the connection with the Eucharist. The analogy of Jesus speaks at the Last Supper, before his death, when he assures the disciples that he remains connected forever. He explains the connection through the Eucharist thanks to every known and acceptable thing from nature – in the image of a vine and a branch. “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (Jn 15: 5) Our connection with him is a guarantee of the spiritual fruitfulness of our Christian life. Jesus emphasizes our spiritual connection. The children of God can live only in an uninterrupted connection with God. From him, as a divine vine, we draw the life-giving juices of divine life. From Christ’s death and resurrection, we can draw and bear fruit in our lives. “He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ”(Jn 15: 5). Jesus is the tribe on which the Christian grows as a branch, only connected with him through faith, love, and hope. He that is far from Christ speaker of him, saying, If any man abides not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; Then they will gather them, throw them into the fire, and burn them ”(Jn 15: 6).

It is the duty of the Christian to remain in touch with Jesus. Only in connection with him do we have the guarantee that we can bear fruit, that we will gain eternal life. Living without connection with Jesus captures the analogy to a torn-off branch that withers and eventually ends in fire. It is not enough to acknowledge Jesus but to live according to his words. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father.” (Mt 7:21)
The life of a Christian only makes sense in a firm and certain connection with Jesus.
The twigs receive a life-giving pulp from the vine without their fault, but then they have to bear fruit. Christianity has high ideals of life and rightly demands of its lives according to these principles, especially through acts of love. The infertility of love in the spiritual life of a Christian is grave guilt. Human life is not worthless or meaningless if it is connected with faith and love with Jesus. The connection with Jesus gives value to human life even if it seems useless, meaningless, lost, unsuccessful, or failed. Let’s realize what different situations a person can get into. And in connection with Christ, sickness, failure, and our disappointments also make sense… And vice versa. Life without connection to God, no matter how successful, glorious, and so on, is a worthless life in God’s eyes.
The words “Remain in me, and I in you” (Jn 15: 4) are a challenge to live without sin. The only sin separates us from Christ and is the greatest enemy of our salvation. Sin destroys God’s life in us. Acts, no matter how valuable, beautiful, done in sin, against God, which does not coincide with God’s will, will not stand. They pick them up and throw them into the fire at the hour of death, where they burn.
We are aware of our human weaknesses. Jesus’ words about the vineyard are not only a warning but especially an encouragement to stay in touch with Christ. We carry the gift of friendship with God as a treasure in fragile vessels that we must watch out for. The words are that nothing dies as easily as God in our hearts.

After hanging from the pilgrimage, John hung across over the bed. The older brother found him under the cross several times to pray. Over time, he began to realize his unfaithfulness to God. The sight of the cross evoked remorse in his heart. Not only did he stop praying altogether over time, but he even folded the cross off the wall. Then his brother asked him why he did it. John said, “As long as I had a pure heart, I loved God and prayed. When I cast God out of my heart by sin, prayer became difficult and unnecessary for me, and I feel hatred for God, so I folded the cross from the wall. ”

The sin in the heart of each of us does something similar. The branch does not have to dry at once. Gradually. The departure from God also does not have to happen all at once. What about our relationship with God? Prayer, sacraments, participation in Mass, other acts of Christian physical or spiritual mercy?

Let us build our Christianity on Christ, with whom we want to know more, love him more, find what unites us, know how to accept difficulties and crosses, but we do not want to turn our backs on Christ, not see, do not hear him. every branch which bears fruit is cleansed to bear more fruit. ”(Jn 15: 2)

The brother understood John’s crisis. He didn’t start putting pressure on his brother. Vice versa. He opened up to John. He started talking to him about himself. About his fights, defeats, and victories. John found the strength again to meet Jesus in the sacrament of reconciliation. Through the graces he received in the sacraments, peace returned to his soul and the strength to continue living in connection with God. John himself later helped others to strengthen their relationship with Jesus.

Is this also our case? Experience? The light comes on when we connect it to the source. The car moves when we fill the tank. The student will advance to the next year when he starts studying and going to school.
Our faith does not belong in the collection of antiques. Faith and science do not contradict each other. The view of beautiful nature speaks of God’s love for man. It is self-evident to those of us who have believed in Jesus’ words: “My Father is glorified in that you bear much fruit and become my disciples” (Jn 15: 8).

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GOD’S LIFE

 God’s Life in Man – the life of the Holy Trinity
If the spiritual life is the presence and activity of the Saint Spirit in us, then it can be said that God’s or divine life is in man. The Greek Fathers often speak 0 so-called deification (hemopoiesis) and like to refer to the year of the gospel: And it is not written in your law: «I said, “Are you gods?” (Jn 10:34). Western authors, rather, were afraid that the statement would be misinterpreted, for which they prefer to speak of God’s “grace.” The spiritual life is thus «life of grace,» «life of the supernatural.»

Both statements have their advantages and disadvantages because our speech can only be approximate, and only part of the expression is a secret. If we say we have a supernatural gift, “God of grace,” we can easily understand that we have more but less, thousands of differences, constant growth or loss, gain or loss. The term «God’s life in us.» has its advantages. We know from Christian revelation that. God is the Holy Trinity. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that even Christian “sanctification” has the character of “Trinity,” we have been baptized and live for the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.
“As we have been instructed,” writes St. Basil, “So we were baptized, and as we were baptized, so we believe, and you know. It is the seal of our faith; faith is then the voice given to God, who works in the Trinity. ” However, Christianity is a monotheistic religion; he believes in one God. However, he is in three people. How does this supreme mystery of God manifest itself in our lives? According to a well-known statement, which we read, e.g., in St. Cyril of Alexandria: «All good things come to us from The Father – through the Son – in the Holy Spirit. » On the contrary, ours the ascent to God takes place «in the Holy Spirit – through the Son – to the Father.» The word God in Scripture, especially in the New Testament, means mostly the first divine person – the Father, in heaven (Mt 6: 9). However, he is God in the true and full sense and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1: 3), but in him, he also became our Father, who wants to prove everything to us who loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but that he had eternal life (Jn 3:16). His redemptive work,  we then became the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us resides (1 Cor 6:19).

In Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:21)
Even pagan philosophy concluded that complete happiness could be found only in those who have all the perfections, i.e., in God. The philosopher Celsius (against whom Origenes writes) is; however, he mocks Christians for wanting to come to God in a strange, distressful way, under the guidance of an unlearned Carpenter Nazareth. But the Christians believed that Jesus was the Christ, The Son of the living God (Mt 16:16) that no one ever knew God, only the only-begotten Son of God revealed to him (Jn 1:18) that he is the only gateway to the Father (cf. Jn 10: 7). Perfection, then, cannot be other than in Christ and according to Christ. “Every act and every word of the Savior,” he writes St. Gregor Nazianus, “is the rule of devotion.” And St. John  Chrysostom summarizes in one sentence our responsibilities: «You are Christians to imitate Christ and obey His laws.  It is sometimes argued that the notion of “following Christ.” not quite complete; it means something external than when a beginner in the painting makes a copy of a classical work. It is better to talk about “life in Christ” than just «According to Christ.» This objection seems witty, but it is superficial. He who does not live in Christ and with his grace could never really imitate him, and vice versa, Christ’s life, and grace will be given to those who truly seek to imitate his deeds and thoughts.

Byzantine author Nikolas Basilar writes nicely about it in the book Life in Christ: ‘Who has chosen to live in Christ;’ he must unite with his heart, unite with him as with the head (dinkier life does not come); this connection is not possible without unity in the will. So we have to deal with him … » However, it would not make sense to follow Christ only on the outside, go to Palestine, go where he went, and so on. These are things inferior. It is much more important to know how to get used to it and to master its spirit. Be able to lay down questions about the problems of daily life in this light: «What would Christ do, or what would he advise me in today’s situation? ” However, it is not and ought to read the gospel superficially, but it is necessary to meditate on it, to experience it.

When Origin speaks of the interpretation of Scripture and the Bible history, he is firmly convinced that it is not enough to return to historical significance. It is not enough to know that Jewry crossed the Jordan to the Promised Land. We also need to know the spiritual meaning, the symbolic significance of this transition (baptism of water enters the Church). This essential exegetical method Origenes also applied the interpretation of the person of Christ. Jesus from Nazareth was a historical person living in Palestine. His words and his destinies are exciting, but all that it would mean little to us if there were no other, deeper, 20 lives of God, a universal sense of his person. Historically, Christ has us leads to the knowledge of Christ, who is the Logos, the eternal Word of the eternal Father. Someone who makes this claim was suspicious as if here was beginning the mistake of modern Christian rationalists, who want to see in Christ only a symbol of all good and beautiful, which the human soul desires. However, the historical person of Jesus himself would not make much sense. However, Origin’s idea is different and, in fact, profound. It is not enough to look at Jesus as a great prophet. He knows it is the fulfillment of all prophets. It is necessary to know it to reflect on the whole world’s history, even further, beyond the boundaries of time and space.

Among the Jews, only those could recognize Jesus as the Messiah, who saw in it all that the development of the history of the Old Testament was directed towards. On the contrary, they moved him on judgment and to the death of those who judged that the ideal of the Messiah would not speak. For the Jews to receive the message of Christ, they needed to understand at least the main features of history and the true meaning of his nation. The Misunderstanding is Royal, his temple, kingdoms, prophets, the condemnation of Christ, and his surrender to death. The apostles point out this, which is why they like to speak to the Jews briefly in their sermons summarize the history of the chosen nation (cf. Acts 7: 1). However, this historical perspective of Jesus’ personality was heathen. However, they could receive Christ only in a live context. In various ways, God once bore him to the fathers through the prophets (Hebrews 1: 1), the Jews boast. Clement of Alexandria came from a Hellenistic environment. He was brought up in a culture of Greek philosophy if he felt a kind to exhibit the ability of those Christians who came out of the chosen Jewish nation.
He himself is from a pagan background. However, he does not feel that life for him seldom does not feel inferior. After all, even the Greeks had of his “Moses,” he is the philosopher Plato. Even his teaching is preparation for Christ.

This basic idea returns to the teachings of modern thinkers (Teilhard de Chardin, Soloviev, and others). It should be and the main axis of our spiritual life: to see Christ in everything and look at all the life events toward Christ. 

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Unbelief in Christ – an amazing betrayal

Imagine this situation: You are sitting in a car or bus that does not have the brakes in order. You sit and wait for death, and you don’t know it. If you knew it, you knew, you would certainly do something to prevent it, to prevent it. You will not sit down and get into this vehicle unless this serious error, such as bad brakes, has been rectified.

The lives of those who have refused to believe in Christ should be changed as soon as possible because they resemble those who sit in a vehicle without brakes. The words of the Gospel draw our attention to this: “He who despises me and does not receive my words has a judge” (Jn 12:48).

Those who have lost faith or did not believe in Christ are therefore critical that they do not realize how endangered their eternal happiness is. They need to understand that those who have refused to believe in Christ should try to change their minds. We see how many ways God is trying to show man how his life is endangered not only here on earth but especially his eternal life. Unbelief in Christ is also unbelief in God, and God wants to save all people.
St. Paul says that God created us without us, but He can save us only by our doing. Therefore, he sent us his Son, who taught us all we should do to be saved. Jesus taught us two gifts that we must not overlook: we have a reason, which makes us the pinnacle of all creation, and free will, which must cooperate with reason also in the matter of the salvation of our souls.

But let us also note today that God is testing us. Not to lose us, but to deserve his love even more. Therefore, sometimes it blinds our eyes and hardens our hearts so that we can then touch the bottom of God’s grace. Therefore, let us understand correctly that such states in our lives can also be a gift of God: A person is dissatisfied with himself when:
– he is disappointed
– feels a disease of his body or his neighbor
– survives the death of a loved one
– feels the temptation of body and soul

God does not allow this to destroy man even more, or because he is not interested in his creation, but vice versa. We should also correctly understand in our faith the words of an old Christian proverb: “Whom the Lord God loves, he visits with the cross.” This is to be realized before any of the above tests of faith come upon us.

None of us can say that he has not yet encountered difficulties in his faith. We must realize that the Lord wants to test us repeatedly, on the one hand and the other, to serve the punishments here on earth for our sins of unbelief that we have committed or to gain a higher degree by working for ourselves. Fame.

But let us also realize that even through our efforts, through our sufferings, trials, that is, through our example, he wants to win other brothers and sisters to his side. After all, more than one right approach of a Christian to God, when seen by indifferent and unbelieving people, encourages them to think and ponder. How many people have found their way to Christ based on the well-lived life of a believing Christian!

Therefore, let us not accept the trials sent upon us by the Lord as punishment, but as a grace that the Lord Jesus wants to work with us and that he has chosen us from among many to supplement in our own bodies what Christ’s body still lacks. This is how he mentions St. Paul in his letter.
We realize that unbelief in God’s help, in His protection, or in His reward for all that we do for the salvation of our souls and our neighbors would be a great insult and betrayal of Jesus’ love. Jesus did not love us only when He spoke of His passion and death. Jesus loved us even when he said, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30). For us today, this means that when we truly rise, we will see God in Jesus, and so we will go from darkness to light, from death to of life.

None of us want to sit in a car that has bad brakes. We are worried about our physical life. Therefore, let our attitude to faith be more serious, more responsible so that we do not once know the disappointment that could occur very quickly, unforeseen.

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How to live when I can’t believe it?

1. You cannot live without faith
Yes, I have to tell you right at the beginning: When we can’t believe, then we can’t even live. In that case, you don’t, I can’t advise. An unbeliever cannot be helped. He wanted me would explain to you why this is so. We think that God is some theological concept, idea, or natural by force or something similar. My friends, God is a personality, and He truly lives and fulfills everything in everything. Oh, I don’t peace be with God, if I have not dealt with God, yes, if I am a child of God, I will live out of reality. And that’s a dangerous thing.
It was a big time in my life when I was young the officer in the first world war suddenly understood: “God is, after all, our destiny here too! ” At that moment, I felt like the man who had hit the car to the wall. I also said before: “I believe in one thing God “or similar phrases, but I didn’t understand that it was reality. Suddenly, however, I came across the reality of God.

One touching psalm in the Bible says that God is so real that He cannot escape. It says here: “If I ascended to heaven, there you are.” American cosmonaut Glenn said it shook him when you were in a space rocket. He realized, “God is here too!” “If I ascended to heaven” or rushed into outer space – “you are present there too!” If I dug into the even deeper than 1000 m – I would meet God there too! The psalmist says, “And if only I am in the grave, and you are there. “When I am in front of someone time flew to California, my wife from the aforementioned Psalm One passage I read when I was in San Francis opened his suitcase: “If I took the wings of the morning, Zory abounded by the longest sea, even if Yours accompanied me there hand and Your right hand would take hold of me. “God is a great fact! And because God is a great reality, we cannot.
To leave him out of our lives with impunity. When I live as if It was not God, by despising His laws, keeping Sunday holy, committing adultery, lying, I do not honor my parents, I do not glorify God; I live out of reality. I don’t know under such circumstances advise life!

Let’s look around the world around us: Many can’t live, nor those who earn a lot of money. They feel great restlessness in their souls: it doesn’t work in their personal lives either in the family. “How do we deal with life when we can no longer believe? “Then we will not know or live! And not at all, when we have to die. One hundred of us will not be here in a hundred years. Then we have all been dead. When someone says, “Nothing comes after death. Then we are dead! “then consider who you would rather trust, your heart or God’s word? How will it be with us dying when it suddenly comes to mind: “Now I can’t take with me none of what I have caught up with! ” maybe he built a house, I didn’t, maybe you. It’s nice for me Library. Of all that was pleasing to me, not of the people who were with me Dear, I can’t take anyone and anything with me. You’re the only one
we will take with us into eternity: Our guilt before God. Imagine: You are lying on a deathbed, and suddenly you think: “I have to give up everything – just all my guilt and sins, beginning at a young age, they will now appear with me before the saint and a righteous God! “How shall we stand before God’s judgment without faith in that, which justifies the wicked. And we before We will stand by him!

The Lord Jesus, who is so merciful, said, “Do not be afraid those who can kill you to death. ” Before such people, I would, I was afraid; but He says: These are small fish! – “Don’t be afraid of them, but fear him who can kill the body and damn the soul in hellfire. “- and as if a chill ran down His back, Jesus says once more – “Yes, fear him!”
A famous professor lived in Norway a few years ago, Hallesby. I also met him. He was a great man. A true, respected Norwegian. He aired throughout the week via worship radio. I can still imagine it today, how he stood in front of the microphone and said, “It may be that you are tonight you lie down comfortably in bed and wake up in hell tomorrow morning. I would therefore like to warn you! “These words caused a great deal of commotion, as Norwegians also belong to the category of “modern people,” how they play a “fantastic” role today. One journalist from the largest newspaper published in Oslo wrote an introductory article entitled “We do not live in the Middle Ages” with the following content: It is terrible that such a modern means as radio can be a spreader of such nonsense! And when the big newspaper publishes something like this, then all the smaller ones cry with them. And through the whole paper forest, it was: “We don’t live after all in the Middle Ages  !! How can one professor talk about hell!
And God’s word says, “God wants everyone to be saved, that everyone may know the truth. “Therefore we speak of faith, for God hath showed us the way of life which is blessed and blessed to die. How do we deal with life when we can no longer believe? How do you organize your life properly when I can no longer believe it? Without you can’t live it!

I want to explain it to you in another way. Imagine you have a nice little goldfish. One day you are, you think, “You poor thing, you still have to be in that cold water! I would finally like to make it really nice for you! ” And then her remove from the water, dry the terry towel with a towel and fold into the nice golden cage. You give her the best food-I don’t know what are they feeding goldfish -: ant eggs or something like that? So you give her the most beautiful and fat eggs and say, “My nice goldfish, such a beautiful gold cage, those beautiful ants eggs, the good air! You’re finally fine! “How will the fish react to this? He will be gratefully waving the fins  say, “Thank you, thank you!” No, he won’t, but he’ll catch it for air and flutter like wild. And if she could speak, for sure, she would cry out, “I do not want your golden cage, nor your ant eggs, I want to get back to my element, to the water! ” You see: Our element is the living God who created the heavens and the earth and us.

“All life springs from You” is how the Swiss begin the National anthem. God is our element! Unless I have a room with God, I can also give my soul a golden cage – you understand: today’s man gives his soul everything: fun, travel, the best food, good wine, everything- and our soul does shakes and says, “I basically don’t want all this! I long for my element; I want peace with God! “Do not be against yourself so cruel! Our hearts will cry in us until it finds peace with the living God! As a fish longs for its element, so does our soul to reach God, who is our element! How can we deal with life when we no longer know to believe? Then I can only say one thing: not at all in life, not at the moment of death, but not after death in eternity! And if you object, “All the people are doing pretty well they can manage, “then I have to answer you: But then still looks! However? For example, a man like Goethe was handsome, rich, wise, he was also a minister, in short, he had everything-one on at the end of his life, he told Eckermann that if he would count all those hours when he felt inner in his soul satisfaction that it wasn’t even three whole days. Such, without rest, was his life! No, one cannot deal with life if he has no faith!

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Jesus brings light

We know that human, animal, and plant life is not possible without light. We know that light is an amazing force that has the ability to awaken new life. We believers also know that our soul also needs light, even if it is imperceptible to our senses, the light of the graces necessary for salvation.

In Jerusalem, the Feast of the Sanctification of the Temple is also called the Feast of Light. In Solomon’s pillar, Jesus, when called upon to do so by the Jews, declares himself the Anointed-Messiah, saying, “I have told you this before, and you do not believe. The works that I do on behalf of my Father testify about me, but you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep … “(Jn 10:25).

We know that the apostle John wrote the gospel only after three synoptic-evangelists because the personality of Christ is already beginning to be attacked by the first heretics. John wants to show with his gospel that there is only one way to know the answer to the question: Who is Christ?

And we are to believe his actions, and that is the answer at the same time. After all, the deeds he performed are a sign that behind them stands God, who cooperates with Jesus and through them bears witness to Christ as his Son. The Jews opposed this, and therefore anyone who opposes this will not work out the truth. But whoever receives God’s testimony in the deeds of the Lord Jesus can say that God-Father himself gives it to Jesus, that is, such a person hears the voice of the Lord Jesus, becomes his sheep, and thus obtains eternal life from him.

Jesus – The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep, they can rely on him, and he testifies to this: “… no one can snatch them from the hand of my Father. The Father and I are one “(Jn 10: 29-30). That is, salvation is secured there. The greatest reason why believers who have come to know the Lord Jesus and heard his voice go after him and come to salvation is that the unity that is between the Father and the Son, that is, the unity in the divine essence: “The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30). Because as the Father wants to save all people and therefore bears witness to Jesus and to those who believe in him, he gives salvation through him, so the Lord Jesus gives salvation by choosing to take on the task of saving humanity, but also by making this sacrifice of your life. Therefore, we accept that our salvation is in the hands of God, and no one can snatch us from the hands of God.
When we realize this, we still have an obligation to let it develop in a particular life. Jesus ‘words: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27) address us to the practical part of carrying out Jesus’ words.

It is the observance of the beatitudes that Jesus said above. These are examples he gave to the apostles at the Last Supper and during public performances. And also the prayer to which Jesus called through the apostles to all who believe in him. This brings light into our lives, from which they retreat, although sometimes slowly, all doubts, fears, insecurities.
He who gives himself completely and completely to him will receive a hundredfold more: “And whosoever shall leave my houses, or brethren, and sisters, or father and mother, for my name’s sake …” (Mt 19:29). This is the path of light. Therefore, we know that he who encounters light does not desire darkness because the light is better.

However, we know that the first step is not enough. Even though there is fatigue and other difficulties in the spiritual life, let us remain confident in the Good Shepherd. We know that he leaves 99 sheep in the mountains and goes after one stray and rejoices in her return. It is a wonderful idea that Jesus loves us more than we can often imagine. Rather, we wave our hands over each other, extinguishes the extinguishing wick, or break down the broken cane. However, he resembles a woman who, when she sweeps the house and finds a lost drachma, calls his friends, neighbors and rejoices together.

This is the light it enriches. Such light is also a loving father from the parable of the prodigal son. She overtakes her son and forgives him because he loves her very much—light triumphs over the darkness. And Jesus does all this only because, as he himself says, he sees it done by the Father: “The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30).
Being a good shepherd is not only a matter for the priest, but a father, a mother, a superior, a brother, and a brother should also be a good shepherd. Be able to say a good word. To accept this word, to put off other sins as well: to agree with the sin of the other, to help with the sin of the other, to uphold the sin of the other, not to punish sin, and so on.

As vegetative animal life, it isn’t easy to imagine without light, let there be more light and grace in our spiritual life.

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Lord, give us good priests!

Nowadays, we have become accustomed to recalling some professions that society needs, and there is a lack of them. We celebrate the day of builders, railway workers, teachers, and the like. Our Church all over the world also commemorates one vocation, the priestly. I ask everyone not to accept this consideration as an exaltation, a preference for a priest, but we to all realize a serious need that we can express with an idea or slogan: Lord, give us good priests! Let us translate these words into even more sincere prayer, for today, more than ever needs more priests than in the past.

The Gospel draws our attention to this by saying, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27).

As we follow the texts of Sunday gospel readings, we feel the wonderful concern of the Lord Jesus for the Church here on earth, for our brothers and sisters. Last Sunday, we read about the events after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus when he appeared for the third time to the apostles on the shores of the Sea of ​​Tiberius. At this meeting, Jesus asked Peter a question – do you love me? – to which Peter had to answer three times. We know that Peter was so impressed that he realized the seriousness of his Master’s words and wept at the last answer. Christ appointed Peter the first pope, the first bishop among the apostles. Because he went to preach the teachings of the Lord Jesus to Rome, where he also died, our faith is called Roman and Catholic because we are followers of the teachings of the Lord Jesus.
We know that the Lord Jesus did not stop caring for His Church even after His ascension, that He promised her the Holy Spirit, which happened on the tenth day after the Ascension. The Holy Spirit is the one who still directs his Church through the visible head of the Church-Pope.
Also, the Holy Father John Paul II. On his travels around the world, today’s gospel often used the words of today to emphasize, as a representative of Christ, the need for new vocations, namely religious and priestly.
The fact that Jesus used the analogy known to the listeners of everyday life – sheep listen to the shepherd and follow his voice – is not unworthy of us. We feel that this is not about reducing human dignity but also about a wonderful comparison, a wonderful idea. We know that a good shepherd is willing to do his best not to lose a single entrusted sheep.

The Lord Jesus died for all. Jesus is the Shepherd, and we are his flock. That is why we understand the words of the Gospel: “My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand. The Father and I are one “(Jn 10:30).

When we follow the events in the Church in our country in the last years after the Second Vatican Council, we find that the attitude of the priest has changed not only relates to unbelievers but also believers. The priest of the 21st century is aware that it is not to serve him but serve him. However, many people misunderstand this. Some would like to go so far that the priest would like to see him as his vassal, run to nod his hand, comply with them above all, renounce his precepts, conscience, respect their power, position strength. The priest today must be especially aware that he is working with two great gifts of God, that not only a he-the priest but also his surroundings, the people, have the gift of reason and free will. That is why the Church today does not want to exert pressure, make threats but rather teaches, explains that a believer or a baptized person has rights in his faith and duties. When we realize this principle, no one will say that a pastor “must” if your life does not indicate that you are a believer!

As the priest respects the teachings of Christ, so he must demand it from his believers. Many look at the priest incorrectly. Some underestimate him; others attribute to him what he does not have at all. A priest is first a person who, consciously and voluntarily, after preparation in a seminary, receives the priest’s power from the bishop’s hands, which he does not receive from the bishop but Jesus Christ himself. However, this thing does not deprive him of his human weaknesses and imperfections. He retains his temperament, abilities, hereditary traits, and other positive and negative traits. That is why, especially today, those who see only mistakes in the priest must remember the words of St. John Mary Vianney, who said, “Believers have the kind of priest they ask for,” which means that criticism without help, good advice, words of recognition, understanding, and prayer is little. Many people, in turn, want from the priest what he cannot. The priest is only a mediator of grace.

Lacordaire says: – A priest is a man to whom Jesus Christ has entrusted all people. –
Francois Mauriac expressed the meaning and, at the same time, the priest’s power in this way. – I don’t ask anything else from the priest to give me God.-
Giovanni Papini wrote: – The salvation of the world is in the hands of the priest! Christianity is the only medicine that can heal humanity, and the priest is the only doctor who can distribute it.-
Otília Mosshammer explains: – The profession of a priest is something entirely different from the profession of a doctor, teacher, or engineer. The science the priest is to learn is the folly of the cross. Priesthood means continuing in the work of Christ, in preaching the truth, in leading believers to eternal life, the goal, in giving grace in the sacraments. He has power like a spathe priest is the mediator between God and men. And the priest himself must be aware of this. He must not forget that it is a precious vessel in which God Himself hides.

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TWO VIEWS OF THE WORLD

With a new practical philosophy of control, nature comes a new theoretical philosophy because the objective reality is only nature. This teaching is called naturalism and narrows the objective reality only on matter, time, space, and motion.  An alternative to this teaching is supernaturalism, whose followers are convinced that objective reality includes something more than just nature, something like God.

If “objective reality” represents God, it is better to cause Him, and it is foolish to force Him to adapt. The U.S. However, if object objective reality ’is only a nature that we can conquer, we would be foolish to adopt it. The common principle of both philosophies is that the lower stage of development should be subordinated to the higher, and not the other way around. The practical philosophy of the time, respectively the opinion for life, was based on the theoretical philosophy of the time, from the worldview: God is here so that we will adapt to him.

The modern view of life is based on the modern world of opinion: there is no God, and therefore his role in the world we will play. Both philosophies are catching up, but one of them is wrong—cadastral wrong. Until recently, we were still optimistic about the new one’s thoughts and ideas associated with uncovering the secrets of the universe and the related myth of the universality and necessity of technical progress. However, they are two reasons why this optimism dies quickly. One is, of course, the fear of collective thermonuclear or social suicide. The other one, but it eats us deeper. Freud’s simple observations in Civilization and Its Discontents show that we are not at all happy with his new, godlike power.

We control nature, but we can’t control the controller, which we are. Self-control is uninteresting until the subjugation of nature “flies.” But that is exactly the moment when we need self-control the most. If we rule everything around us except ourselves, we do not dispose of essentially any power. Increasing power, he concentrates on nature in ever weaker and weaker hands. Inheritance, the environment, the spirit of the times, the “necessary dialectic of history,” the media – it’s always something else that he has a foot on the gas instead of us.

THE WEST CIVILIZATION
IN HISTORY Where are our weaknesses?
Certainly, not in technology. We are like King Mi data – we are intoxicated with new power and wealth beyond a fierce price: everything we touch dies and cools down. Not even intellectually. We are learning more and more and more, though it is becoming less and less important. I am intoxicated by knowledge as well as by power. Figuratively speaking, our heads are going to fly away; some have it already, and it happened.  We are not even morally weaker. I do not think so, that we are generally much more immoral than our ancestors. We are less courageous, more sincere, we cannot command and are clearly more chaste than they were, but they were more difficult than us, intolerance, snobbery, and inhumanity. They were better in “harder” things; we are better in “finer” ones; however, I think the balance has been maintained. Although we are not weak in morality as such, we certainly do much weaker knowledge about her. We know incredibly much about nature, but very little about well. We know much more about what is less than us and less about what is more than us. So if we act morally, we are better than our philosophy. Our ancestors were worse than their philosophy. 

The problem was that they did not live according to the established rules and principles. Our problem is that we don’t have any. For the first time in history, we have abandoned moral objective the law. Philosophy of moral positivism (its morality is determined and created by man), moral relativism, and subjectivism ceased to be considered a heresy with which some rioters came and became the predominant “orthodoxy” intellectual institutions. University faculty and the media refused to believe any state of general and objective morality. Our civilization, especially the two groups mentioned, has now played a grandiose game of ethics. Discussion of ethics filled the gap that arose after the death of the image of ethics. However, it is a discussion that St. Paul (2 Tim 1: 7) characterizes as follows: “They are always learning, and they can never know the truth “(perhaps it was a prophetic vision of ours TV talk show!). It’s intellectual “ping pong,” in which opinions are rather “shared” rather than to seek the real truth. But how can we look at something we don’t believe exists? The opinion that in the sphere of morality, there is truth and that an accessible and impartial mind is not in itself its goal, but a means of its search, they called intellectual institutions “simplified,” but “simplified” was just their idea, not of society. In an era in which “anything flies,” virtue becomes a wonderful revolutionary phenomenon. In times of rebellion, authority becomes a radical solution. At the age of confusion”progress to” leading to self-destruction, tradition becomes a hero on a white horse.

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The springs of crisis in our faith

When we look around, we often see that believers are not fulfilling their responsibilities as they did before. Sometimes we hear it: I was a minister, and now I don’t believe it. Or: I have already prayed for it; God didn’t help me when I was sick. When I see myself go to church X.Y., I don’t go there and stuff.
We know that the basic activity in a person’s life is faith. It is needed in natural life, but also in the supernatural. It is impossible to imagine life without faith. We must be grateful to the Lord Jesus for drawing our attention to something significant today.

In the Gospel, the Lord Jesus turned to doubters and murmurs, saying, “The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:63).

Jesus’ talk of the Eucharist, which we have been discussing for several weeks, guided our thoughts. This speech infuriated the Jews and brought evil into the ranks of his disciples. Like others, they could not understand how Jesus could eat his flesh and food. That is why we hear the words from their mouths: “It’s hard speech! Who can listen to this ?! ”(Jn 6,60).
And many departed from Jesus. Leaving the Lord Jesus must not be seen as a problem – whether to acknowledge the Lord Jesus. We must understand this as an emotional problem that has been present to many in listening to Jesus. And when the emotions passed, the feelings weakened, the need for rational thought appeared, and his students did not resign. Jesus asks them to believe in faith, but they are unable to understand it.
Pascal said that for both love and faith, we need courage. Lack of courage to believe not only weakens it but often makes it impossible.
What are the obstacles that make our faith impossible?

The most serious obstacle is when we want to explain everything with our reason, which is impossible. We often hear: What I don’t see, I don’t believe! And yet, there are many things that we do not see and believe exist. We haven’t seen any gamma, and yet we believe it is. We haven’t seen the electricity, and we believe it exists. A blind man has never seen the sun, and yet he believes it exists.

The greatest difficulty for the apostles was to believe what is impossible by human forces. How can Jesus let us eat his body?
The answer to this question is substantial, important, and yet simple. If Jesus can feed five thousand people with five loaves, if he can restore the blind man’s sight when he has raised Lazarus to life for three days, then that means he can give his body for food. Faith, in this case, is a sign of trust in Christ. Thus, the apostles believed the Lord Jesus completely. To the question of the Lord Jesus: “Do you also want to go away?” (Jn 6:67). Peter answers, “Lord, and to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).

It is possible to depart from Christ; it is possible to betray him, it is possible to renounce him completely, but what about giving the human soul instead of Christ ?! The soul of man is hungry for God. She also takes over, although I can’t saturate her. On this topic, he said seriously the words of St. Augustine: “You have created us for yourself, Lord, and our souls are dissatisfied until they rest in you.”

Every Church, and even more so Christianity, has its secrets, which can be clarified and fully understood only in the light of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. That was the reason of St. Paul to write the following words in the Letter to the Corinthians: “But if Christ does not rise, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). The resurrection of Christ is the last and most serious evidence, an argument.
The second reason that often causes a crisis of faith is our earthly thinking. This is how some of his listeners understood the words of the Lord Jesus, and so his apostles often thought. The most serious concern for them was the concern for a temporary life. To ensure the most satisfying life here on earth, free oneself from difficulties, and enjoy it as much as possible. And many thought that was most necessary. To believe in eternal bliss – heaven, in the Eucharist, in eternal life, and is a lot for man today.

How does the Lord Jesus respond to these difficulties? His words are clear. Taking care of life here on earth is a good thing; it’s necessary. The Lord Jesus praises her elsewhere and stresses that this concern will not solve human life. In addition to the body, man also has a soul, and therefore he must take care of it.
The words of the Lord Jesus from the Gospel are eloquent: “The Spirit quickened; the flesh profited nothing. The words I have said to you are Spirit and life “(Jn 6:63). The word flesh in this text means temporary abode here on earth. When it is, it is wrong to rely on it because it will all end one day and realize that our real life is just beginning after our death. In our lives here on earth, we must learn to properly evaluate our relationship, which means that we must not disparage our mission on earth, but we must be aware that we will be rewarded for living here on earth one day.

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Fourth Sunday of Easter Jn 10, 11-18

Today we have Sunday as a good shepherd or, in other words, a day of prayer for priestly and religious vocations. The question of priestly vocations is important for the church because the church cannot exist in the long run without priests. Let us consider today why the number of priestly vocations is declining.
First, let’s look at where and how priestly and religious vocations arise? Most often in families. In such families where religious life is lived. Where parents, grandparents show an example of the Christian life. However, this does not mean that a priestly vocation will automatically arise in such a family. The priestly vocation is a gift. The gift that God gives. Or in other words, it is grace. But grace builds on nature. It is difficult to imagine that the priestly vocation will arise in a young man who lives far from God, from the Church, and is practically an atheist. But there are cases where someone in the family did not receive religious education but then met someone who led him to God for faith. Or he got into some faith community. But even this does not necessarily lead to a priestly vocation. They are just a prerequisite. I do not know the situation regarding priestly vocations in America, but here in Europe and, of course, declining in my country. Although the word decline is not entirely correct, it is maintained in a minimal number more precisely. And this number is kept stable. And that specifically means that in one year, there is one, in some two, in some even three. Although the Church has freedom today and can act as she pleases, it should be borne in mind that other organizations also have freedom and influence people much more intensely than the Church. Today’s world offers great opportunities for young people to realize themselves. In the past, such options were not. The church has lost the influence it previously had. This was reflected in the decline of children who go to religion, in the decline of church marriages, funerals. Of course, the number of people who regularly attend Holy Mass has dropped significantly. These are all factors that do not favor the emergence of priestly vocations. I would not like this situation to lead us to hopelessness. We know that God is above all things. The question is whether we can do something to increase the number of priestly vocations. Yes, we can. How? By living a zealous Christian life, by showing that faith is important to us, and, of course, by praying for the priestly vocation, because prayer will never go unnoticed. However, if we do not use any of these means, let us not be surprised that the number of priestly vocations does not change. God does not act violently. God not only calls to the priesthood, but also allows this vocation to be realized. Sometimes it seems like it’s just a coincidence, but in my opinion it’s not. For example, I started attending religion in the ninth grade. This was not possible before. I was lucky that the religion was taught by a priest who knew how to gain our interest. I asked him if I could minister to his church. Mining was the first step to my vocation to the priesthood. In the church where I ministered there was a living community that had a great influence on me. Another problem was school. Theology could only be studied from a grammar school. Getting to grammar school in Bratislava at that time was quite a problem for me. My parents were not in the communist party, I had no working background, and I was just an average student. I graduated from high school in another city, the city where my father came from. It was quite a coincidence that a classmate who also wanted to be a priest joined me in high school. We strengthened each other, encouraged each other. Then came another problem. Getting to the seminar was not easy at all. There were many more candidates than they could accept. The so-called numerus klausus was introduced. Every fourth person who signed up for the seminar. What has happened. The priest who taught me religion retired, and a priest who was vice dean at the Faculty of Theology came there, and I had great protection. While studying theology, I did military service. I could have lost my life twice. We had a military exercise last night. There was a lot of snow. The military car in front of me crashed into a gorge. The soldiers who were in it were severely wounded. I could easily sit in that car too. It once happened that one soldier drank too much alcohol and started firing a submachine gun. The cartridges flew around me about 10-15 centimeters. Fortunately, nothing happened to me. Maybe someone will say all I was talking about was just a coincidence. However, I think that without those coincidences, I would never have become a priest. Whoever feels the priestly vocation must freely decide for him and accept it. Not everyone follows the vocation to the priesthood they have felt in their hearts. But that another chapter.Bildergebnis für obraz dobrego pasterza

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See the value in the Eucharist.

Man is constantly hungry, thirsty, unsaturated. The child is fed with a slice of bread; he feels the joy of the little things that his parents convey to him. He is happy when someone is close to him. However, this satisfaction does not last long.

The young man leaves his house, sees that his neighbor already has a bun with ham, his colleague is getting better, so he starts to get hungry for those things and starts to long for them and own them. And his appetite grows, he rises … He wants it because he thinks it will make him happy, he wants to match others.
The desire to own turns into a desire to control people because the objects are already boring, and they cease to enjoy. And hunger is coming soon, so it needs to be calmed because it’s a natural thing…

We know that even if a person has everything in one moment, he will find that he actually has nothing, that it does not make him happy. He feels deceived, weak, disgusted … He wanted to be fed up with things, friendships and finds himself dissatisfied and unable to explain himself. Then, one slowly reaches for alcohol, tries the effect of narcotic poisons, and feels happy and relaxed. But after sobering up, after leaving effective things, he feels even worse. If he heard it, it’s still good, but the opposite happens. It will change into a habit. He feels hungry. He knows that he hurts that it will not help him, the path of the week begins, the path to loss of health, the destruction of youth, the path to pain for even his dearest, and finally death. He wants to get rid of some hopelessness once and becomes a slave.
And yet, even in the most difficult state, something resembles an event reminiscent of the life of the prophet Elijah. The prophet is disappointed, afraid, asleep, and someone wakes him up: “Get up and eat, for you, have a long way to go” (1 Kings 19: 7).

This is what God has forgotten. Jesus Christ comes and wants to strengthen us, please us and give us only what has real value. Therefore, he says, “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35).

Not everyone will understand these words at the first hearing. Not everyone will understand them today. Some listen to them and enough. Others will understand them, but they will not put them into practice. Others will immediately take the opposite view, resistance. The whole problem with accepting Jesus’ words is that they think like people without faith, and Jesus speaks like God. To understand the content of Jesus’ speech, it is necessary to say that Jesus spoke to them in the language of faith, and they look at it only through the light of their reason. And here, we must see the root of all misunderstanding. To benefit from his words, we must first believe him and then live as He shows us. And this is the essence of today’s reflection on the gospel of Jesus.

Saturate – Saturation is the difference. Some people are nobody, and nothing is to the taste of it. They have their comment, opinions. Alright. But they do not lay hands on anything; they do not want to be criticized. The Lord Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist is based on faith in the audience. Jesus tells us unequivocally that his faith is love.
“Don’t mess with each other! No one can come to me unless he is drawn to the Father who sent me. ”(Jn 6: 43-44). So it was with Abraham, Andrew or Peter, and many converts, such as Paul and Augustine, who lead many converts to each other, we do not know why he does this, but he will show his love to everyone.

It’s worse when someone rejects it. The Jews of today’s gospel not only rejected his love but did not cooperate with it. They sought intellectual evidence for everything, they were ignorant, and therefore they could not understand the teachings of the Lord Jesus about feeding their own Bodies. Another would have followed if they had opened themselves to his teachings if they had not looked at him only through the eyes of this world. They despised their Messiah. They wanted to live here on earth forever, and Jesus teaches them that after death, they will live forever. He tells them that the Father is sending him, and they see in him the son of Joseph and Mary. And so it is not strange that there was a misunderstanding between them and Jesus.

We are experiencing something similar. Our weak faith shatters everything. And the Lord Jesus wants nothing more than to strengthen our faith. He, therefore, gives us some evidence in this matter. One of them is this gospel. When we believe that Jesus is really giving us his Body, it will change the view of our lives, our thoughts, our deeds. When we see in the Eucharist a value that far exceeds all other values, persons, we find satisfaction, joy, simply what can saturate man here on earth.

When we approach St. Mass to the Sacrament of the Altar, it is a beautiful sight. There the brother stands next to his sister; age, position, figure, inner testimony, faith do not matter. Everyone can ask for what they need. Jesus does not obstruct him. And why all this? Although it is so beautiful, our goal is not this world but the state of bliss that we call heaven. And the earthly bread is not enough for us to achieve this state, but the bread that the Lord gives us. Yes, he who is earthly bread will satisfy his instincts only for a time, but he who receives the Body of Christ desires to live with Christ forever. 

I have a long way to go. The way we feel exhausted, tired, exhausted, but the bread – the Body of the Lord Jesus – gives courage: Take and eat!

This bread is a reinforcement not to be drawn back into the whirlpool of earthly passions, appetites that only deepen hunger, which widens the gap between what they want and what they do. The mystery of Christian victory over weaknesses is in the Body of Christ. Even at today’s St. Mass, we will hear a challenge: Blessed are those who are invited to the Feast of the Lamb! Yes, only those who are friends of the Lord Jesus are blissful and happy.

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