predication.net

Today, the Church pays homage to the cross of Christ, in which the mystery of God’s infinite love shone in the highest way. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Johan 3:16).

Today’s holiday has a long history in the Church. It was first celebrated on September 14, 365, when St. Helena found the cross’s real remains. The celebration of this event spread rapidly among Christians around the world. In Jesus’ day, crucifixion was a reasonably common punishment. The Romans had a real terror before the crucifixion. Cicero himself says it is the cruelest punishment for slaves. The convict had to carry the cross’s transverse arm for the ridicule and fury of the crowd to the execution site. We do not know precisely what the cross of Jesus was like. It doesn’t even matter. The important thing is that he did not move away from him and that he brought him to Calvary. His cross, which he carried for all of us, thus became an assurance that every difficulty, every cross carried in connection with him, makes sense.

From the apostles’ time to the present day, many people have failed to accept that God became man and died for our salvation on the cross.  The cross’s drama “foolishness to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23). There has always been and still is, a temptation to deny the cross its value. Although the ancient world boasted thinking death by crucifixion, the terrible and humiliating way of execution, Christians worship the cross as a sign of Jesus’ suffering and his victorious trophy in the fight against the devil, sin, and death. We honor the cross because Jesus revealed to us his great love for us, and through the suffering, he endured on him, he saved us and healed us.

The cross teaches us what love is. What was the wood of disgrace turned into the wood of life and the ladder of salvation? As Jesus spread his shoulders on the cross, he was filled with great joy. He wanted everyone to understand that his shoulders would welcome sinners approaching him in this way. He saw how people would love the cross and worship him because he died on it. Jesus saw martyrs who, out of love and in defense of the truth, experience a similar fate. He saw the love of his friends and their tears beneath the cross. He saw triumphs and victories and great miracles that will take place around the world in the sign of the cross. Christ also saw us, on many occasions, respectfully kissing the cross, he again revisited our frequent beginnings. The cross of Jesus, which for many is madness and offense, is for us a school of daily life. Let us have the courage to go to the cross. In it, not only has God’s infinite love manifested itself, but it also gives us light and a sense of everyday situations and even leads us further. In it, the mystery of Jesus and our resurrection is revealed to us.

Life brings various situations that we often cannot cope with. The reality that most often raises questions is suffering, pain. We meet her in many forms and look for the meaning behind the pain. He who searches sincerely will sooner or later discover the sense of pain that has befallen him. Suffering and pain came into our human lives, along with sin. However, through the cross of Christ, they became the gateway leading from sin to holiness. He who has been too good for a long time forgets God, feels good in the world where he is, and does not desire another. However, if this person encounters suffering, he realizes his weakness and realizes that he does not have as many strengths and virtues as he thought. Many times we feel helpless against human suffering, pain. We do not have the power to carry our cross, to receive it with love in our lives. Our mouth is accused, “Why me, Lord?” My dear, in Christ! Just like at the cross of Jesus, Mary stands with us – Jesus and our loving mother. Jesus could not give us a more excellent gift on the cross than his mother. She stands by the cross full of hope, an example of patience to us, for she loves very much, and the love of her mother extends beyond death, and we believe that her tears did not flow in vain, for her Son’s death overcame sin and death.

The Christian life is to be similar to the life of Christ. And what else can bring us closer to the Crucified more than the cross? This cross will often be manifested by minor inconveniences at work, at school, in interpersonal relationships, and in a mild illness … Suffering can be a means of practicing in virtues and uniting with the suffering of Christ the Savior, who, although innocent, still suffered for our sins. There is no doubt that suffering allows us to develop, to grow. From suffering may come the ability to love sincerely and unselfishly, to understand oneself correctly and truthfully. Nothing is forgotten on the cross of Christ. There is the cry of that operate, the tragedy fired, fired from the apartment, the hunger of children, the despair of mothers, the humiliation of the unemployed, the torment of cancer, the abandonment of the old man, the growl of a dying girl, the drama of a lifted girl, long hours of insomnia, grief, physical torture, mental anxiety, … nothing is lost here. In this sense, too, it is true that the Son of Man came to seek and save what perished.

He came looking for your pain and found it. He seized it. And he did a lot with that. He did not come to present an intellectual debate about his suffering, nor did he eliminate human pain. He did something much more: He came to share, to participate, to taste, and to take upon people’s pain. Since then, one understands that suffering is not unnecessary. From this point of view, the whole history of salvation is understood as a constant expression of God’s love for us, and by our suffering, this love can be repeated. As interventions by garden shears, they serve to refine the fruit and sow the grain for a rich ear, and the suffering thus received is the renunciation of wild fruits in the interest of a beautiful harvest.

These are just a few views of the cross that this holiday tells us about – the Exaltation of St. Cross. Therefore, let us come to the cross with Mary, the new Eve, and the mediator of grace, to seek glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the world, the cross is foolishness, but it is a place of an answer for us. Answers how He loves the world. So that he sent his only Son.

I wish you and ourselves that we may always discover the love of God in the daily cross because only here can we surrender entirely to God, empty our insides, so that God, the Lord of peace and love, may enter.

Forgive not once, but repeatedly.

The parable of the ruthless servant in the Gospel of Matthew is one of the most difficult, not in terms of understanding, but in terms of implementation in life practice (see Mt 18: 21-35). Peter asks about the right attitude towards someone guilty of him.

Forgiving each other is one of the most challenging tasks in our lives. Moreover, Jesus urges us that our readiness to forgive has no limits. Apixaban image

Peter’s question is relatively generous when he can think that he can forgive the same person up to seven times. So, it’s not just about forgiving once, but repeatedly. Forgiving seven times in itself means forgiving fully. However, Jesus puts the crown on his generous offer when he sweeps it off the table like a soulmate and tells him that it is necessary to forgive without restriction, that is, seventy-seven times.

It must have been an incredible amount.

To prove what he means, Jesus tells a parable. This occurs on at least two levels: material (debts) and relational (transgressions, sin). The first striking thing about this parable is that it concerns the question of God’s kingdom. Peter asks Jesus to deal with earthly reality, and Jesus proves his answer with a parable about the kingdom of heaven and how to approach it. In this way, it re-establishes the mutual relationship between earthly reality and the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is a state of fullness of life, of abiding with God, from which all that restricts life is excluded.

In the parable, the king accounts with his servants, probably debtors. One of them owed him an incredible sum, nowadays comparable to, for example, the state debt (even in antiquity, something like this existed). We don’t know much about the servant; it’s just obvious that he must have been a high-ranking personality (a vassal ruler) if he could owe such a huge amount of money.

But the point lies elsewhere.

It is evident that this is an unpaid amount, and both know it well. The king threatens to bankrupt the entire family (that is, the community as a whole for which he is responsible) in state bankruptcy. Still, at the servant’s request, he not only grants him a deferral of payments, as he requested but generously forgives him all debt. It gives him – and thus his whole community – life, a restart.

But then this high-ranking servant stumbles upon someone who owes him a negligible sum, a few hundred crowns, and behaves quite the opposite – he does not allow him to postpone the payment and ruins him, forced him to live. When the king learns that his generosity did not inspire the servant, he imposes on him the punishment he threatened, that is, expulsion from the fullness of life. Finally, Jesus comments on Peter’s question by saying that, like that ruthless servant, anyone who is unwilling to forgive will end up without conditions.

But is it possible and educational in real life to do this? Should we forgive and forgive everyone’s debts without restriction? Will this not collapse the understanding of justice and will not only benefit all dishonest and criminals? By his words, Jesus certainly did not want to destroy the foundations on which human society stands, that is, responsibility, justice, and honesty. He certainly did not want to say that his disciples should not strive for social justice and behave rudely and foolishly. The point lies elsewhere.

It is about the lives of others.

In the Matthew version of our Father prayer, in the request for forgiveness, words of the same basis as in this parable are used, which means “debt” and also “transgression/sin.” The parable speaks of economic matters and debts, which are also a symbol of guilt. Debt and wrongdoing can become so burdensome that they prevent life, sometimes literally. The debtor or the offender may find themselves in a completely hopeless situation without forgiveness or forgiveness of the debt. The parable’s purpose is not the threat that if one does not forgive debts or transgressions headlong, one is denied access to the kingdom of God. The goal of Jesus ‘words is to appeal to man, Jesus’ disciple, to consider others and his life situation.

In the first place, God desires the life of man, a full life, and the removal of all that prevents this full life — including an open relationship with God —. These can be material debts as well as debts in relationships caused by sin. And it is the responsibility of the disciple of Jesus, or of the whole community of disciples or society in general, how much they care about others’ lives. God is leading by example – his mercy is limitless, which does not mean that transgressions and debts are trivial matters in his eyes. For him, however, a person’s full life is a priority. And for us?

The first foundation of Christian theology is the fact that
God turns to us with the word. Plato and Aristotle described the ideal of the best human activity as “an uplift.” mind to God. “It is undoubtedly a noble effort. But if we stay with this program alone, then Christianity would not be different from other religions.
We have learned in the Bible that God speaks, and we are to listen to his voice coming from above. It’s a voice who speaks and simultaneously creates the universe and which then becomes a word that speaks of the glory of God (cf. Ps 19: 1)
The word of God the Creator pervades the universe, it gives him beauty, order, and growth, writes St. Basil. It compares then this revelation with the systems presented by the pagans philosophers. They, too, have found the history of the world into which it is incorporated human history is the fruit of a long one development. So people spontaneously asked where they started, what was in the beginning. Mythology speaks of the initial chaos, about the god Chronos, about time without concrete definition, etc. Greek philosophers sought the first substance, from which the following forms of life arose – water, air, fire, etc. When their thinking improved, even religious philosophers determined that at the beginning of everything that is variable must be an immutable Being, that is God. But what kind of God? The idea of ​​good and beauty, absolute law. It is a perfect Being, but for its perfection.
The message for today closed in on each other, unable to communicate with anyone outside, that is, incapable of “words.”
St. John the Evangelist confronts us with the opposite statement:
“In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and that Word was God
(Theos). “This divine Word is the meaning of everything human and cosmic development. Do we want to suggest the main phase?
The first phase could be called the history of heaven and earth. God spoke his creative word: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth “(Gen 1: 1). This was just the beginning because “the earth was without form and void” (Gen 1: 2). However
With God’s words that follow, the earth will be filled with plants and animals, all the beauty of nature. All visible nature is nothing but almost concretization, the embodiment of the divine creative Word. But how can, we, call a word in the true sense if there is no one who
does he understand them and who will answer them? And at this stage of creation, the sixth day ends with the last work of the Creator: “Let us, make man, to be our image “(Gen 1:26). He is a creature
but completely privileged, he is able to hear the words of God,
be aware of, and respond to the neck. And so it was created paradise, abiding God with people in friendly conversation.

The second period is tragic. It is a history of sin.
Man refuses to obey God’s word, he does not accept it. The disaster is coming. The creatures don’t talk to him about God, they become dumb, without words. Man no longer lives in paradise, but in desolate and formless earth, this time not in the material but in the spiritual sense. Heaven, they no longer speak of the glory of God, but appear as “vanity above vanity “, as a chaotic course of events. This is how the Old Testament sage Ecclesiastes characterizes the world (1,1).

The third stage of history begins with the vocation of Abraham.
God turns again with an intelligible word: “And he said The Lord gave Abram … “(Gen. 12: 1), and he obeyed. So he became the father of the believers, the father of the chosen people, in which still lives the prophecy, that is, the people to whom God reveals his words, putting them in their mouths, and they communicate them to their countrymen, these are the history of biblical revelation.

The fourth stage is announced by the Apostle John: “And the Word is
it became flesh and dwelt among us “(John 1:14) was the sixth and last day of God’s working week in the history of Israel. The Goodman appeared on earth. Through him the eternal Word of God is embodied, humanized and on the other hand, humanity understands and unconditionally accepts them. As a man, Christ does nothing but make the Father’s voice heard and give him a total answer with his life, especially at the last minute: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit “(Luke 23:46)  So the words reached their peak. There can be no more, even more, perfect revelation. Behold dialogue enters into the eternal dialogue of the Holy Trinity. And what is our place after this so full revelation? St. John sums it up in these words: “We are all
they got from his fullness, grace after grace … of God.

The message for today no one has ever seen it. The only-begotten God, who is in the arms of the Father, has (he) reported “(John 1.17-18). Christians are called to hear The Word of God that Christ reveals and simultaneously with Christ to give an answer throughout their lives. “Conversation, dialogue with God “is one ancient definition of prayer.
So it can be said that man is a dialogical creature, he is “Praying beings” (Evagrius). About St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionists, he says that nature walks led him into ecstasy. He once turned to his companion in the woods, “You can’t hear these trees and these flowers calling, ‘Love God!'” Then, overwhelmed, unable to say a single word, he finally sighed, “How is it possible not to love God?”
They saw him touching a stick of flowers and saying, “Shut up, shut up!”

For two thousand years, the Church has been bringing the gospel to the world message of divine fatherhood. And just today we realize how the world is resisting accepting them. We are wonder? Jesus himself foretold this in his speech after The Last Supper: “Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you …” (John 17:25).
St. John, who speaks widely of this language, is called “theologian” in the Eastern tradition, that is, one who knows God (Theos) and his only-begotten Son (Logos). The word that the Father speaks from eternity. Jehovah on “theology” is thus deeper than that which could be imagined in purely rational terms, secular, which could also be defined as “the science of God”. Because the Christian concept of God is substantially different from the pagan deities and also from the God whom profess philosophers, it follows that the method of how
to know him, he must choose other paths. Therefore, for the great
spiritual master among the Church Fathers, Evagria from Pontus, theology is the “contemplation of the Holy Trinity”, the most perfect degree of prayer. Christian thinkers have always been aware of this.
Unfortunately, at the end of the Middle Ages we observed how gradually even in religion it begins to run into the new way of worldly thinking. The so-called scholastic method in its decadent phase, simplified and therefore impoverished, proceeded as follows.
Let’s first try to realize what he can know about God mere human intellect. These concepts form “natural theology,” theodiceu. Everyone sincerely admits that these concepts are very imperfect.

God remains a mystery, so he is expected to be alone it will reveal and perfect our limited knowledge. The weakness of our notions of the divine world is proved as follows – our intellect is limited, while God is unlimited; we can do about it catch something only to a limited extent. Christian God is a mystery in a much deeper sense because he is the Father, he is a free Person. Jehovah has decided they escape the motives of both physical and logical necessity. The history of salvation lies in the fact that is God gradually reveals his secrets. He does it gradually, but above all he does it personally, in confidence

The message for today conversations with the chosen ones. They cannot be “monologues” on one side or the other. It follows that Christian theology cannot be reduced to a systematic list of revealed ones truth In this way, what is we read in the Holy Scriptures and what tradition teaches. God’s word which is essentially a message, becomes abstract and a dead term if it is “objectified.” Already a saint
Gregory of Nazianz spoke with contempt for such “Theologians” – made theology “technology,” he says. He decided to leave them and “go to the school of the Galileans fishermen. “And it is this disciple, Evagrius of Pontus, set a rule against those rationalist thinkers: “Only then will you be a theologian if you pray!” The temptation to fall into the mistakes of these “technological theologians” is very relevant in our time dictionaries, verbal analyzes, archaeological a study of the Holy Scriptures and when one thinks it is possible to understand the meaning of a word without going through the same experience as the person who says the word. About one of such rationalists in the religious things were jokingly said, “When he dies and meets with God face to face, – she says to him, ‘Colleague!’ And God Instead of answering, he sends him to the angel who taught St.Augustine, how ridiculous those who want are pour a little shell over the whole sea. ”
4

Principle: Loving people always have something to say. Jesus says, “Be merciful… Do not judge. Do not condemn. To what extent you will measure, so shall it be measured to you” (Luke 6: 36-38). Jesus’ words speak of generosity. The Lord Jesus elevated the love of enemies to the central command: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who reproach you” (Luke 6:27). -28).

The Christian realizes that he is the work of God’s generosity, and therefore he strives to behave as Jesus teaches him. The Christian does not exalt himself, but by his behavior, he tries to remind the surroundings of his God’s generosity towards us sinners. Christ’s words raise many questions. How does the Church carry out this commandment? It is necessary to give a personal answer to this and similar items, but a response is also expected for the Church. Each individually and all together, we are called upon by Christ to work together on the commandment of love. The world needs witnesses. Witnesses of love.

A great human rights activist – a black man, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a great and fearless believer, Martin Luther King, who was shot by an assassin for his conviction, said to these words: “Do what you want, but we will not stop loving you.” We realize that loving those who do not love us is difficult, very difficult, but it pays to love. The command of love is not just for someone, perhaps strong, but Jesus gives the command of love to every person. The command of love binds every believing Christian. Every Christian, he receives an example from Christ. Christ died for our sins. St. Basil says, “Man is a creature who has been commanded to become God.” And St. Athanasius says, “The Son of God became man so that the sons of man could become the sons of God.” John Paul II writes in the encyclical “Redemptor hominis” (Article 8): “Christ is united with every man.”

How many times last week have we been left out when someone around us needed our help, an example? We didn’t help. We didn’t shake hands. They didn’t advise. Perhaps one word was enough, a smile, a handshake … Perhaps we have many excuses, reasons to apologize that the person in question is of such a nature that he does not care; he is not interested in cooperation. Is the command of love a superhuman requirement? Yes, it is unattainable by our weak human forces, but perhaps by the power of God, which is always up to us. Jesus helps us not to compare ourselves with our neighbors, but with God, and to follow God in love. He loves all people, embraces the saint and the sinner.

Let us add the principle from the beginning: From God’s perspective, many things will appear to us in a new light, and we will recognize that our neighbor was not as an enemy as we imagined him to be.

Perfect willingness to forgive as an ideal

Purpose: I want to make it clear to the audience that the gospel requirement to always forgive is an ideal that we should strive for without hesitating when we cannot fully and completely fulfill it.

Crossbar in your eye

As drivers, you probably know this situation: Another car will go right in front of you and will not give you priority. There will be no accident, but you are angry. And to show your anger, blow the trumpet. You go on and suddenly, you turn a bit risky on the road with priority. The car that comes after you brakes but does not blow. You are looking forward to the one who follows or is following you so forgiving. And now you think much more leniently about the previous person who took your advantage. This example makes it clear to me that surely each one of us is still dependent on the forgiveness of our surroundings. None of us is perfect. Everyone always makes mistakes. And that’s why it’s only fair for us to forgive ourselves for what they’ve done to us. Forgiveness is the glue without which families, friendships, every form of community and society as a whole would be broken.

Perfect willingness to forgive

That is why I understand when Jesus calls us to forgive. Our text becomes more difficult as we go into detail. Peter asks if he should forgive seven times. Seven is not meant here as an absolute number – in the sense of more than six and less than eight. Seven in the Jewish understanding is a symbol of perfection. Peter heard Jesus say: Your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees! They taught that one must forgive two – or three – times. Peter knows that Jesus said: Be as perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. That is why he asks: Do I have to forgive perfectly, that is, always and everything? Jesus does not simply agree with the question, but the willingness to forgive that Peter has in mind increases: Not seven times, but seventy-seven. The forgiveness of disciples must be much more than perfect. In explaining the parable, he clarifies what he means: We must not only always forgive everything, but also wholeheartedly.

First difficulty: Great injustice

When we imagine using this requirement in real life, we get into trouble. It seems to me that too much is required when a person is asked to forgive his partner in marriage by seven adulteries, bounces. And then with all my heart. Eighth and ninth, etc. What about a mother in an African country in a civil war who has to watch soldiers kill her children. She can be told, “You must forgive the murderers of your children with all your heart! Even though they still massacre your husband and parents! ” It seems to me personally that there must be mercy for the victims. This would mean that, to suffer what had happened to them, they would not be additionally required to immediately forgive criminals perfectly.

The second difficulty: Life in the state community

The second difficulty emerges from our text when we look at Christianity-marked statehood. Doesn’t an unconditional and perfect pardon order also apply to law enforcement and judicial authorities? For Christian society as a whole? Should all criminals be pardoned immediately? In the past, considering this difficulty, they have helped each other by exempting rulers, judges, educators, and other authorities from this command when they have to punish the injustices committed by their subordinates. But today such a morality cannot be the solution for us – two classes. Firstly, it opens doors and gates to its will, and secondly, it contradicts the principle of equality, by which our hierarchy of values ​​is bound. A society that feels bound by Christian principles cannot simply ignore the forgiveness order.

The third difficulty: God’s debtors

It is difficult to say whether Jesus meant the law of the state or a number of inhuman crimes when he gave the command of forgiveness. In Matthew’s Gospel, the requirement to be prepared for perfect forgiveness is in the talk of life in the church community. So, it is a relationship between the disciples of Jesus and the disciples. Here, the massacres can be ruled out. But it is not only Paul’s letters that teach us that even the first Christians were not angels. So the question remains, how did Jesus come to this harsh demand: You must always forgive everything with all your heart, that is, be perfect in your willingness to forgive. He gives the answer in the parable of an unjust servant. The king in the parable represents God. The message is clear: The debt that God forgives man is unimaginably greater than the debt we cause to each other. The sums mentioned in the parable are in the ratio of 600,000 to 1. In other words: One cannot sin against someone else at all so hard that one’s debt is even he could only roughly match what each man has before God.

Christians in recent times have probably hardly had any problems. Again and again they were pushed into them: You are part of a fallen creature, you are involved in inherited sin. You are all actually massa damnata – destined for damnation. Even Christians who are serious about their faith now have problems with such a negative image of man. In all self-criticism, however, we see a lot of good that is hidden in a person and what a person does. Whatever the personal balance of crimes and good deeds, the cynical African mother would say from the example: What you did to God is much worse than what the murderers have done to your family.

Attempting a solution: The ideal we are orienting ourselves from

The three difficulties mentioned must certainly not lead us to reject Jesus’ demand for a perfect willingness to forgive. As his disciples, we must hold fast to her. However, we must also see it in the overall context of its message and its effects. Jesus was a preacher and not a legislator in today’s sense. He certainly did not understand his requirements as norms in today’s legal sense, which apply unconditionally and relentlessly until an exceptional rule is formed. It was he who had a heart for the poor and weak who would certainly understand because the victims of cruel injustice have trouble forgiving their tormentors. We humans, with our abilities, unlike God, run into the limits of being merciful. However, Jesus’ demand for a perfect willingness to forgive should encourage us to work on those borders as well. I can practice in small steps; by, for example, forgiving what I do not prefer; or by realizing that God still loves those who don’t seem worthy of love to me at all. So I can try to forgive my willingness to work, to improve it.

 The same is true for the state. It certainly still needs the police, the courts and prisons. But the treatment of criminals should show as much respect for their human dignity as possible. The impetus for this may not be the idea that we are all poor little sinners and sinners before God. But we can live in the consciousness that God’s love is the cause of our being and our hope for the future, that is, our Where and our Where. And that is why, in God’s name, we try to love even those who, according to our standards, would no longer deserve any love. This could make us and our society more merciful step by step. And in the end, we would all benefit from this, as people who are dependent on forgiveness over and over again.

This amazing discovery has two dimensions:
1.) Nothing separates God from ourselves:
Let us return to Paul’s statement: “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Paul announces here something that is already known from the Old Testament:”But once his sons leave my law and they shall not walk in my command, when my provisions abideand they don’t keep my rules,
then their punishment by reed and their iniquity by the bastards.
But I will not deny him favor and I will not break my faithfulness. I will not desecrate my contract and I will not take away the words of my mouth. I have sworn to my holiness once and for all that I will not disappoint David. His family will last foreverand before him shall be his throne like the sun; and forever the moon will be firm,
a faithful witness in the sky. ”(Psalm 89: 31-38)

In the Psalms, God spoke of David and of his promise to him, which is completely unchanging and firm: What God once promised, he will fulfill and keep under any circumstances.
Paul writes that the same is true of all of us, because God has made a New Covenant with us in His Blood and will never break that Covenant again! It is a “new and eternal” covenant.
We are often tempted to think that if we do not follow God’s commands exactly and commit sins, God will forsake us. Paul certainly states the opposite: not even the greatest and most serious sin we are capable of can cause God to cancel His Holy Covenant with us and stop loving us. On the contrary, he remains faithful, he is still beside us – even though we have driven him out of our hearts with grave sin, he remains at least behind his door, so that when they deviate a little, he will be with us and shake his hand to reconcile “Hi, buddy, but it took, didn’t it?”
John the Evangelist puts it in other beautiful words: “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just: he will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ‘For if our heart reproaches us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.” 1 John 1: 9; 3.20)
Jesus himself portrays this wonderful fact in the story of a son who wasted everything his father gave him – and yet his father expected him with open arms and a heart full of love (cf. Luke 15: 11-32).
We can therefore live in absolute certainty: There is no such sin, no crime, or nothing on Earth, in Heaven, or in the depths of the Underworld, which could cause God to leave us for just one moment! All you have to do is call “Father!” At any moment, and on the other hand, the confidential will immediately say, “Son!”And the second dimension of this certainty?
2.) Nothing separates us from God’s love:
Paul the Apostle writes, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Is it tribulation anxiety or persecution, hunger or nudity, danger or sword? As it is written: “They kill us for you every day,they co nsider us sheep to be slaughtered. “But in all this we glorify victory through him who loves us. And I am confident that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present, nor future, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus: to our Lord. ”(Romans 8: 35- )” We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19), writes John the Evangelist. It is God’s love that is poured out in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Romans 5: 5) and that causes us to be able to love God; that in spite of the falls, which are sins, we always rise again and follow Jesus to the Father. As long as we remain in God’s Love, nothing can separate us from it and nothing can endanger us! “God is faithful. He will not allow you to test beyond your strength, but with the test he will give you the ability to endure, ”(1 Corinthians 10:13). Paul. The devil’s power is broken by God’s Love at that moment. We must not imagine the devil as a giant, says one of the Church Fathers, at most as someone as strong as us, who, unlike us, does not have the Holy Spirit! So he will never overcome us – until we alone leave God, who is the source and source of our invincible power and the unwavering trust and hope that is absolute certainty in God!

FIRST REVERSE
“I want to acknowledge God, to serve him, keep his commandments. This, the first turn, is a conscious decision. God is accepted as The lord of my life.” (Heinz Schurmann) “It simply came to my notice then
God – in nature, in discipline, through some meeting. I’ve been hit, and I want to serve him. Already I don’t want to sin hard. I feel it already I must not live as before, and I’m starting a new life. Alone
I decide because I knew God.” (Yves Congar)
SECOND REVERSE
“It simply came to our notice than the life of a Christian. I am a Christian, in fact, only when I accepted this conversion.” (Hans Buob) “The second turn is a decision to perfection; it is whole by surrender; is complete (Heinz Schurmann)
There is an ancient scheme describing (and also practicing) the path
man to Christianity: The essence of the second turn At the second
conversion, finally I fully accept new identity, position, relationships
and life the son (daughter) of God, brother (sister) of Christ and a member of God families.
At the first turn I decide “Practice” religion – that is adhere to commandments, to fulfill religious obligations not to act evil deeds, obey God’s will, to serve To God who is mine Mr. and “boss”.
The essence of the second turn at the second conversion finally I fully accept new identity, position, relationships and life the son (daughter) of God, brother (sister) of Christ and a member of God families. At the first turn I decide “Practice” religion – that is adhered to commandments, to fulfill religious obligations not to act evil deeds, obey God’s will, to serve To God who is mine Mr. and “boss”.
GOOD TO SEE THIS IN THIS JESUS ​​INTERVIEW:
FIRST CONVERSION: “Here a leading man asked him,” Good teacher, what should I do? that I may inherit eternal life? “19 Jesus said to him,” Why do you call me good? No one is good, only God. 20 Thou shalt know the commandments, Thou shalt not commit adultery. You won’t kill it! You won’t steal! You will not testify wrongly! Honor your father and mother !? “21 He said,” This I have kept all things out of my youth.” (Luke 18: 18-21)
SECOND CONVERSION: “When Jesus heard this, he said to him,” You still lack one thing. Sell everything, give what you have to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me. 
When he heard this, he was sad because he was wealthy. 24 And when Jesus saw that he was sorry, he said, “How difficult it is for those who have possessions to enter into the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the ear of the needle, as to the rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18: 22-25)
The essence of the second turn BY THEN…(more or less)
• I’m a human.
• My homeland and home is here, on earth.
• I live my life here.
• This is where my dreams, desires,
wishes, …
• My goal is to live this life as pleasant as possible.
• I hope God will help me in this and will bless my desires.

• When I die, it will be over of all this – I will leave and lose
all this – and that’s why I would like to live here on earth as long as possible and live to see old age in health and in peace and in fulfilled desires and so… I do not desire after death, it somewhat scares me!” Sell everything what do you have…”

 Jesus was repeatedly concerned with the hunger and thirst of men in such a specific way that he performed miracles to feed them. The multiplication of the loaves and the transformation of the water into wine are proof of this. Hungry and thirsty for righteousness, Jesus is not talking about the hungry and thirsty for material food and drink, but for righteousness, that is, perfection, holiness. God justifies man by His grace, which is the basis of Christian perfection, the goal of which is not here on earth because the Christian is called to be perfect to be perfect as the perfect heavenly Father is. He who has an awareness of Christian perfection can never feel satisfied with his righteousness, his virtues, his good deeds. It is generally thought that the Gospel beatitudes are intended for a few chosen people who are completely consecrated to God. The Second Vatican Council said: The world cannot be transformed without the spirit of the Beatitudes. Without the spirit of poverty, without the love of the cross, without silence, as well as without hunger and thirst for justice. And yet there are not many Christians who have these qualities. For whom the search for the kingdom of God and his righteousness comes first. Often, even in believers, there is still too much hunger and thirst for earthly things. Only when one abandons the desire to be saturated with earthly goodness does he become hungrier and thirsty for God, for communion with him. When a person has this hunger and thirst in him, then no matter what he does for God, it seems too little to him, he does not tolerate even the slightest unfaithfulness and tries with all his might to ignite this hunger and thirst for God in the hearts of others. love .. 2 Corinthians 5:14 said St. Paul. Lord, let us desire You with the same eagerness with which we desire food and drink when we are hungry and thirsty. I know only you can feed me. But I will achieve perfect saturation only in heaven. Saint Augustine wrote in his Confessions late I began to love you, beauty so old and so new. You were inside and I outside and there I was looking for you, there in your beautiful creatures You were with me, but I was not with you. I was distracted from you by everything that would not have happened at all if it had not been in you. You called and screamed, drowning out my deafness. You were brilliant and radiant, so you drove away my blindness. You spread a sweet scent and I inhaled it and longed for you. I’ve tasted hungry now and I’m thirsty for you. You touched me and I longed for your peace

Two births
It didn’t happen in your home that your son or daughter wrote in your calendar, so that you don’t forget! It has become a custom not only to write the world in official documents, but also to celebrate. Although years are often not pronounced on such an occasion, especially for middle-aged women, it is still nice to remember our loved ones, friends or co-workers on this day. Just a little; a flower, a kind word, a short prayer for our believers, and we will bring joy to a person who remembers the day of his birth on that day, when his mother brought him into the world.

Today, the Church commemorates the birth of the Virgin Mary. We do not find any information about the birth of the Virgin Mary in any of the four Gospels. And yet the long series of names we read in today’s Gospel is named Mary at the end.

We know that the genealogy of the Jews was closely followed, especially because of the promise God made to Abraham’s ancestor that the foretold Messiah would emerge from his family. From this time it arose that a woman who had no child was considered punished by God for some sin because no other descendant arose from her womb, and thus the hope of fulfilling the promise. We can read about the birth of the Virgin Mary from the parents of Joachim and Anna in Jacob’s Proto-Gospel, which originated in the middle of the second century. Although this work was attributed to the Apostle James, the Church did not accept it in the list of so-called canonical books, that is, in the number of 72 books of the Scriptures. We know that in addition to canonical books, there are dozens of books, letters, and gospels that are ascribed to important personalities, especially the apostles, but they have not written them. However, these books do not contain any errors or delusions. There is much more good than evil in them, but the Church has reservations about them. The birth of the Virgin Mary is not a commanded holiday. He does not commit to attending Mass under sin, and yet it has become a great holiday in the Church. In addition to the feast of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus and the Nativity of John the Baptist, we also remember the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. We do not remember another birth in the Church. The feasts of the saints are memories of their deaths – second birth – birth for heaven.

Today, it is up to the worshipers of the Virgin Mary to draw new strength in the spiritual life. We know that the Virgin Mary already enjoys the reward of Jesus. We know that she was taken to heaven for her faithfulness and also crowned Queen of Heaven. We do not add anything to the Virgin Mary by our prayer and participation in the Holy Mass. She already has everything to the highest degree of fame. And yet, our participation in Holy Mass and our approach to the sacraments makes her happy. Today, Mary does not forget her worshipers and asks the Son for the necessary grace for us. On her birthday today, attending church is a source of new graces and a multiplication of the gifts we need most. Someone remarked on the sidelines of today: When a natural mother can enjoy a visit to children, how much more is our Heavenly Mother! Children never leave their mothers without attention. When the mother has distributed everything materially, at least with her smile, caress, blessing on the forehead, she will enrich her children. And so it is with the Mother of all mothers on the day of her birth.

Many people like certain types of flowers. When they want to make them happy, they show their love to them with these flowers. We are different in skin color, language, age, height, gender, education and the like. We are different, and yet today we all want to offer one flower. Let it be a white flower – the purity of our souls. We resemble this color in her holiday. Mary, immaculate, conceived, Mary, who did not consent to sin, wants to accompany us today with the blessing of her Son. And this is the “best” for us to say goodbye on her holiday. Mary says: Thank you for coming. Don’t forget, come again!