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We can often admire some brothers and sisters for their beautiful relationship with God, neighbor, and the Church. Their behavior is not just attractive, but also sensitive and beneficial. Their conduct directly inspires us. This is true holiness. They do it solely for God, willingly sacrificing their free time and other things. However, some seek to be seen as pious. Yet, their life, behavior, and words evoke the exact opposite. They are more detrimental to themselves and the Church. Their righteousness is misguided or even false. Lord Jesus says: “A good man brings forth good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil man brings forth evil from evil. After all, his mouth speaks out of the fullness of his heart ” (Lk 6,45).  

These words of the Lord Jesus warn us that true piety springs from a good heart and manifests itself not only in words but, above all, in deeds. For the Lord Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to me: Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father, which is in the sky “(Mt 7 21). So righteousness must come from love. And love – it’s not calculation, praise, celebrations, recognition, tributes for proven service… The Pharisees often boasted of being pious. 

But who is good? He who has a good heart! As you are inside, so will your deed. Let’s remember the publican and the Pharisee praying in the temple. Although the Pharisee fasted and gave tithes regularly, his actions are like chaff that does not weigh against God, but the humility and humiliation of the publican, who is aware of his weakness, that he is afraid to lift his eyes, weigh and have excellent value before God. So, the Lord Jesus wants us to go deep and not just stay on the surface and talk to the wind. That’s why he uses a comparison that even children can understand. That is, either a person builds his life on the Lord Jesus and thus survives the last judgment, or not, and his efforts, his life will collapse like a house of cards. 

We should build our efforts, plans, attitudes, and the meaning of our lives on Jesus’ teaching. Everything we would make outside of Jesus, although it is beautiful and maybe briefly here on earth, seems powerful, effective, and strong, everything will one day end in failure, disappointment, and horror. He who does not build on Jesus builds on the sand. Difficulties will come, winds will blow, and the effort will go to waste….Who is pious? This question cannot be answered in one sentence. He who fulfills his religious duties attends holy masses, prays, fasts, and does good deeds should be pious. However, many deny piety to these very people because it has become a habit for them only. They have nothing to do or are directly hypocrites because they do it only and only for praise or for others to notice them.

How to explain it? Unfortunately, we are witnessing that many”people have a noticeable discrepancy between their external and internal behavior. Others are in the Church, and others are at home. Can we talk about a good Christian? Although he prays and participates in the Holy Mass daily, he is angry, slandered, lazy, and reluctant. Is this true piety? True holiness is when we do what we say. James the Apostle writes: “So does faith: if it has no works, it is dead in itself “(Jam 2,17).

Therefore, let’s ask our conscience more often: Are we doing some things just for the praise of people? For reward already here on earth? Are our actions in line with our words? Let us be encouraged and soul the birds of action recommended to us by the teachings of the Lord Jesus, which the Church proclaims. To unite in good our words and our deeds. Let’s learn from those people around us who have already understood the words of the Lord Jesus, and their behavior is an example. Everyone has a mistake, let’s be aware of that, and therefore let’s learn from them only goodness and beauty, which have value before God.

The story of Mary and Martha is mainly interpreted as a warning against being too subject to the worries and tasks of life, as a warning against workaholics, and against forgetting to take care of the most important thing due to our many worries, namely listening to God’s voice.
Jesus’ words to Martha: “You worry and worry about many things…”, but perhaps it could be interpreted differently. After all, we know what it means: “You care too much!” We tell the other person to care for themselves and not stick their noses where they don’t belong. Jesus’ words do not seem to condemn or reject Martha’s care, but I would say that Jesus appreciates her hospitality. Instead, His words seem to me like a defense of Mary, which Martha was attacking. “Marta, take care of yourself, and don’t judge Maria when she does something differently than you do.” 

It’s a common human error to judge others, evaluate them, and finally condemn them because they do things differently than we do. At the same time, it is clear to all of us that every person is different, so everyone has to act a little differently. For Martha, the natural and correct way of expressing her respect and love for Jesus is through her hospitality, care, and the food she prepares.

And only for Mary is it correct to express the same attitude towards Jesus differently: by listening. Similarly, the same faith and holiness will be manifested in each believer in a slightly different way, in a slightly different way of praying, in a somewhat different way of thinking and talking about spiritual things. 

Let’s worry mainly about our faith and our relationship with Christ. Let’s not unnecessarily judge their faith and piety by wasting time and hurting others.

Who was Saint Anne and Saint Joachim? We know very little about them. If so little is said about the Virgin Mary in the Holy Scriptures because God wanted to leave her hidden and humiliated, then about St. Anne and Joachim, her parents, are not spoken to at all. We know their names from ancient traditions. We know that Anne was barren. So what to say about her? How can we be encouraged by their example if we don’t know anything about them altogether? I think it is enough that they were the parents of the Virgin Mary. I will help myself with the words of St. John of Damascene, this author from the turn of the 7th and 8th centuries, to express what the Virgin Mary’s parents mean to us: “O blessed couple, Joachim and Anne!

The whole creation is in debt to you because, through you, it brought to the Creator a gift surpassing all gifts, a noble mother, the only one worthy of him who created her.” What would the parents like if the daughter were the Mother of God? St. John explains: “Blessed couple, Joachim and Anne, truly whole and without blemish! They recognized you from the fruit of your womb, as the Lord said somewhere: «By their fruits you will know them.» You lived godly and worthy of the one you gave birth to. You led a pure and pious life and brought forth the beauty of virginity.” Yes, a tree can be recognized by its fruit. If the daughter is full of grace and unblemished, then her parents are saints.

St. Joachim and Anne are our best education teachers. They raised the Mother of God. How did they proceed? What did they try to give their child? Did they want her to dress nicely, to have everything that was asked of her? Did they want Maria to be pretty and well-traveled, to have schools, and to be respected in society? Were they trying to keep her busy and, god forbid, not get tired? Not! First of all, they led her to God, to holiness and righteousness before God. “Joachim and Anna,” continues St. John of Damascus, “sowed for righteousness” and reaped “fruit of life”. They lit up the “light of knowledge”, diligently sought the Lord, and the fruit of righteousness came to them.” These holy parents planted love for God and neighbor in Mary’s heart daily, protected her purity, and carefully cultivated good habits. They did not care as much for her clothes as her spiritual beauty. Then, they could enjoy her: “Rejoice, most blessed Anna, because you have given birth to a girl!” … You will bring this girl before God, the King of all, “clothed”, as it were, with “golden fabrics”, the beauty of the virtues and adorned with the grace of the Spirit, whose “glory is within.”

Let’s learn from St. Anne and St. Joachim! The luster and glory of this world are passing away. Not if you give your children what you see in their eyes will make them happy. But if you prepare them for life, teach them to love God and lead them to a pure and moral life and virtues. The Virgin Mary is the most incredible woman in history. Her parents certainly did not regret that they led her strictly but with a love of holiness. Humanity is still grateful to them for what they brought up. God, the Church, the nation, and society need such parents today. God chose her child for great things. They cooperated with reverence to promote the growth in the grace of their little Mary. Thanks to their discipleship to the Holy Spirit, they cooperated in the sanctification of Mary. Who knows what God is calling your children to do? He certainly has big plans for them in his economy of salvation. Let’s pray that all parents like St. Anne and St. Joachim will be teachable.

“Let everyone consider us in this way as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries.”

(1 Cor 4:1)

In the catacombs, various pictures were found painted on the walls, primarily representing Christ the Lord in all forms. They also painted Him in the form of Orpheus. We know from history that Orpheus was a famous poet in ancient times who is said to have tamed even wild animals with his music and singing, just as Jesus drew the worst criminal to himself and turned him to God. Another rumor has been preserved about this Orpheus. She says that Orpheus’ wife was bitten by a snake, resulting in her death. Orpheus could not recover from this loss – he wandered the mountains-valleys out of grief and sang mournful songs. Until he finally decides that he will go down to the underworld to Hades, i.e., to the land of the God of the dead; there, he will look for his wife, and no matter what it costs him, he will bring her back to the surface among humans. After untold hardships full of terrible dangers, he reached the underworld region. Here, he found his wife among the dead, and with the strange magic of his singing, he so moved Hades, the ruler of the underworld, that he released his wife Eurydice, with whom he returned to the surface of the earth among men with great joy.

Therefore, they depict Christ the Lord in the form of Orpheus because even the most blessed creation of the mighty Lord God, namely man, was bitten by a snake in which the devil hid. This poisonous bite extinguished the life of his soul and deprived him of eternal life. Jesus took pity on the man and decided to free his soul from the underground Hell. He descended from Heaven: by untold labors and terrible torments, He redeemed the soul of man from Hell. When He finished His great work, He returned to Heaven, but in His stead, He placed His apostles, priests, here on earth to continue His divine work, the salvation of men. Jesus Christ continues to live and work in his priesthood:

Christ teaches through the mouth of the priest; Christ offers the sacrifice through the hands of the priest, and Christ distributes the blessing through the priest’s actions. What Christ did when he walked the earth is what the Catholic priest also does. That is why St. Apostle Paul: “So we are Christ’s ambassadors and as if God exhorts through us” (2 Cor 5:20). “Let everyone consider us to be Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries” (1 Cor 4:1). The relationship between the priest and the faithful is so close and inseparable that if this relationship were to break up, the Catholic faith and the Church of Christ would also break up and cease. This will be discussed. Listen up!

Once, a stout deer was resting in the grass, dozing, when suddenly a shot from a machine gun rang out. The deer jumped up, looked around, and, seeing no one, lay down in the grass again. Before long, the rifle fired again. Startled, the deer jumped to its feet and turned its eyes curiously in all directions, but even now, it did not see a person, so it lay down in the grass again. No sooner had he laid down than the rifle rattled a third time, and the deer was gone. – This example moved one of the young men so profoundly that he decided not to go to the party. That’s what the sermon sounded like to me, he told his comrade, because last year, right around this time, I fell off my horse and almost broke my neck. Now, in the winter, I have barely recovered from pneumonia. That was the second shot. I’m afraid the third shot will catch me at this party. I’m not going there; I’d instead go to St. Confession. His fellow began to mock him for being a superstitious coward when frightened by the priest’s silly fable. The young man was ashamed and went with the other species for fun. Wine, music, and singing quickly diverted his mind from the sermon. They chatted merrily and sipped delicious wine. When he raised the glass to his mouth, he was caught by a violent cough, and in the effort, a vein burst in his lungs, and he exclaimed: I said that the third shot would see me here, and that was it.

Whoever has ears to hear, listen! He never went unpunished and rejected the words of the priest preacher. Christ the Lord said a long time ago: “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever despises you despises me.” (Luke 10:16)

2. Now, he fixes his gaze on the altar from the pulpit. The priest St. mass. How is the Most Holy Sacrament altar formed? So the priest, before the lifting, recites the words that Christ the Lord said at the Last Supper: “This is my body. This is my blood.” The transfiguration would not have happened even if an angel had spoken these words. However, I, the smallest of Christ’s disciples, will take bread in my hands and say Christ’s words over it, and the transformation will happen. In this strange power lies the dignity of the ordained priest. I prove that the priest renews Christ’s sacrifice of the cross with the Holy Mass and makes the faithful partakers of the graces of the sacrifice of the cross. That is why the priest is called the vicar of Christ.

Terrible blindness and unforgivable indifference have gripped people living now:

• They do not notice Christ, the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross.

• They do not want to participate in the graces of redemption because they despise St. Mass.

• They do not participate in it.

Poor blind people! How much happiness, blessings, and graces you will get rid of! Be careful not to take this grace of God in vain; God may take it away from you. In France, they are already in such a state that five or six villages have one old priest because young priests were called up for military service, many priests died in the war, and now they suffer from such a terrible shortage of priests that they have to take the dying believers to the sixth village. to find a priest who would provide him with the sacraments for the journey to eternity, and it most often happens that the sick person dies without the sacraments on the way.

Such abandoned believers will gather in the Church on Sunday, where instead of St., they pray the mass themselves; instead of the sermon, they read the instruction from some book, and while they perform the Sunday service like this without a priest, they go to bathe themselves in tears, they mourn the previous St. masses, sermons. Previously, they did not respect St. Mass; now, they must be without them for punishment. People living in our times treat a priest like a sick person treats health: they mourn him when they no longer have him. Even the faithful will recognize what a priest is worth when he is no longer among them. So that you, too, do not behave like that, appreciate the priest’s work, listen eagerly to the word of God, and devoutly participate in St. masses. Pray for the spiritual shepherds so that they work more successfully to save souls.

Especially in country days, ask the supreme shepherd, Jesus Christ, to pour into the hearts of as many young people as possible the vocation to the priesthood because, unfortunately, the current family upbringing fills young people with horror towards the priesthood when they experience that everyone scorns, rejects and hates the priest. Well, nothing for that! Nevertheless, even to the death bed of that slanderer, that enemy, the rejected priest approaches, presents to his sinking eyes the five wounds of the suffering God, shows him the stream of mercy that washes his soul white, and hears the priest’s words: “Brother, accept, holy food for the journey to eternity, may he protect you from the evil enemy and lead you to eternal life.”

Christ lives in priests; we are His soldiers, and our banner is the cross of Christ. I take up this banner and follow my divine master. I am going to the holy battlefield to win souls to Christ. God’s word is my sword, the helper of St. mass, food is prayer, and watchword is love. If you ask to be saved as I want to save you, none of you will be damned. When the eternal Judge comes to judgment, then together, in one place, the shepherd and his flock will be. We will confidently come before the Lord Jesus to receive the imperishable crown of eternal life from Him. 

You’ve probably already met people on the street who offered some street deals to mobile operators or other companies. These people often encounter misunderstandings, but they are not deterred and urge action from more and more people because they believe that it makes sense and will bring some success in the end. 

 Even today, Jesus offers us his Word in a parable. He does not care who receives it and how, but he sows. He wants to hit everyone, but not everyone wants to be hit by him. Cultivating the soil was not easy, especially in the ancient Orient. The soil was first sprinkled with grain and then plowed. Therefore, it could fall in different places. And several stalks could grow from one grain to multiply the harvest. Three-quarters of the story is about failure, and only one-quarter is about success. By this, Jesus wants to say that we should proclaim the Word of life, even if it seems to be in vain. Because His Word brings life exactly where needed and impresses at the right time. The other day, I read an interesting article about T. Edison, a great inventor and holder of over 1500 patents and inventions. Although not everything in his life was moral and worth following, I was still drawn to his determination and willingness not to give up. His most famous invention, the light bulb, “cost” him over a thousand trials before it was functional and usable, and in today’s money, it cost him about 2 million dollars. Edison believed in his concept of the light bulb, and even though it cost him a lot, it ultimately brought him success. Let us ask God that we, too, know how to live with the Lord similarly, to announce Him in good times and bad times, and not to be discouraged by failures on our faith journey…

This saying of Jesus is very popular, but what exactly does the word abide mean? Dictionaries offer us more than fifty different synonyms, from “not to leave” and “to stay” to “to rest“. However, in today’s Gospel, the word should have two meanings. The first is to continue to be in the state you are in right now. The second meaning is more dynamic: to decide at every moment not to leave but to stay. Abide in me. At baptism, we were already grafted onto the life of Jesus (see Rom 11:17), so it is enough if we remain in him. We should abide in his love because he has already placed us in it.

We all know how easy it is to forget this truth. And this is where the second meaning of the word stay comes into play. Because we tend to forget that we are connected with Jesus, we must make a new decision for this connection with him daily. Our life is also like a branch that needs the vine’s nourishment (Jn 15:4-5): in the grace of Jesus, we can find the strength required to stay with him. Thanks to Grace, we can trust him even amid trials and see the strength to fight temptation or ask him for guidance and help before making difficult decisions. Staying with Jesus like this may seem complicated, but he promised to help us. But as? As I abide in you.

We can abide in Jesus because he chose to abide in us. He is connected to us by love. He is connected to us even when we do not feel this connection. Whenever we stay close to him, he is ready to encourage us. Thanks to this constant mutual exchange of life and love, our heart finds peace and rest – Jesus remains in us, and we in him. We can experience it, for example, when it fills us with peace during prayer. Or when we decide to repent or make peace with someone we hurt. We also see it in love, which gives us the strength to serve others. That is the fruit of abiding in Jesus.

Like Mary Magdalene, we, too, can accept Jesus’ liberating action. We are to give not what we have but what we are. The image of Mary Magdalene, created based on legendary and apocryphal data, with which people still identify to a large extent today, differs in some elements from the image compiled from the reports of all four evangelists. We tried to supplement the facts that we do not know about Mary Magdala from reports about some women in the Gospels so that this abbreviation may have led to a distorted image of her character.

What the evangelists write?

The evangelists mention her fourteen times in their writings. Each describes Mary Magdalene, whose feast day we celebrate this month (July 22), with their sensibility. Lukáš brings her close to Jesus from the beginning of his public appearances; she accompanied him during his suffering and burial, and Jesus was the first to appear to her. Matthew mentions her among the women who watched Jesus’ suffering from afar and how she comes to the tomb with another Mary at the dawn of the first day. At the end of his Gospel, Mark states that Jesus appeared to her as the first and only woman. In the Gospel of John, she has a unique position: she stood by the cross of Jesus, came early in the morning to the tomb where Jesus appeared to her first, and brought Jesus’ disciples a precious testimony and Jesus’ message about their mission.

What the evangelists do not write?

The evangelists do not say that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute or a sinner. She cannot even be identified as the woman who washed and anointed Jesus’ feet because she is not named in the Gospels (cf. Lk 7, 37-40). Not even with the sinner in John’s Gospel who was about to be stoned. Lukáš states that seven evil spirits came out of her. Illness, either mental or physical, was also considered to be the influence of an evil spirit. Jesus healed her; it is unknown under what influence of an evil spirit, and she, aware of the gift she received from him, could return to the fullness of life and give herself in selfless service. Jesus’ healing touch freed the imprisoned powers of love in her, which could now express gratitude to their Liberator.

Freed for God’s ways.

Inner healing will be verified by life itself. Only a person who is internally healed, free, and united in his thinking, feeling, and action are capable of giving himself in selfless love. She can detach herself from her plans to fully open herself to God’s ways, like Mary of Magdala, who followed the Lord as a disciple, the first among other women. Love did not allow her to distance herself from the Lord even in the hour of his suffering on the cross. And she did not leave him even after death: she testifies that love is stronger than death. A woman who, like Jesus’ Mother Mary, pursued only one goal in life from the moment of her liberation, to be with Jesus and for him, did not change it even after Jesus’ death.

We find her at the grave, as she too is waging a battle with death, which at first she thinks she has won. She did not know that the match was unequal. And with her, we don’t remember when we often looked for the living among the dead, the fullness of life in fragments of fleeting earthly happiness, and the love we wanted to pay for as in a store. But we get the most beautiful facts in life for free—both love, the fullness of life, and true happiness. There is no way to subscribe. However, like Mary Magdalene, we can accept Jesus’ liberating action and not pay but donate. Not what we have, but what we are.

Witness of the Resurrection.

Only love can fight death. The love of Jesus won this battle as the purest, most selfless love, which does not seek its own benefit but the highest good of the other. Only the one who loves us and gives everything for us can speak our name so that we recognize his love, himself. After his only address in front of the empty tomb, Mária knows that he is alive and near. He sent it to the apostles, to those who would also be sent to testify about the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection. And Mária expresses her entire experience in a few words: I saw the Lord. As Eve saw the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, Mary saw the fruit of the tree of life in the garden before the tomb: the living Lord.

Questions for reflection.

Do I recognize with gratitude what the Lord has already healed inside me? Are there still wounded places I should allow him to enter with my love? Do I perceive that the Lord knows my name and pronounces it with love, thanks to which I can recognize his call and my mission?