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Through Baptism, we received participation in the life of God. But how does God live? What does his life consist of? Jesus Christ told us something about this when he revealed that God is indeed one, but triune. Jesus made visible the goodness and love of the heavenly Father. He lived to the extreme to fulfill the will of his Father to the extreme, to the cross. He also spoke about the Spirit who comes from the Father, who receives everything from Christ and proclaims it to us. God’s Spirit guided Jesus in fulfilling his mission, and Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.

From these few indications, we can guess that the life of God is the life of individual persons, one for the other. Their relationship is so strong and deep that he is also a living person, the Holy Spirit. From this brief indication of what creates the life of God, we can guess that we, too, as baptized people, are called to cooperate in the growth and development of God’s life in us. This practically means that we develop our relationship with the triune God and our relationships with people and human persons.

We heard about these relationships with people in very specific, practical situations in today’s reading from the Old Testament. These are not easy requests. They require overcoming our egoism, an effort to respect others and do good to them. God challenges us as a motive for such an effort: “Be holy, as I, your God, am holy!” Holiness is God’s perfection. Practically, it means a challenge to grow in likeness to God. We are to express this similarity in our relationships with people.

In the Gospel, Jesus gives us yet another motive for such an effort: The other person, a person in need and suffering in various ways, a person who requires our service and overcoming our egoism, is a person with whom Jesus Christ himself identifies: “What have you done – or they didn’t – to one of these least of mine, you did it to me – or you didn’t.” There can be no stronger motive for doing good to one’s neighbors, for showing love to people. And in his caring love for us, Jesus reveals that these deeds will judge us. Jesus will reward us for manifestations of serving love in our neighbors by accepting us to direct and full participation in the life of the triune God – or, God forbid, exclude us from this participation if we were oblivious to the misery and suffering of people and closed ourselves in our egoism. When we think a little about these words of the Gospel about the last judgment, we realize how little we cooperate with the development of God’s life in us and how, in our daily circumstances, we must increase our efforts for concrete and practical love toward our neighbors – following the example of Christ himself, who loved us to the extreme, to complete self-sacrifice. But this complete self-giving for our salvation out of love for the Father led Jesus, even as a man, to full participation in God’s life at the moment of his resurrection.

Practical instruction: Manifestations of serving, attentive love towards neighbors, motivated by the belief that I am serving Christ himself in them.

Prayer: Merciful God and our Savior, turn our hearts to you and teach our minds with the heavenly doctrine so that we may improve in the Christian life through fasting and repentance. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God, lives and reigns with you in unity with the Holy Spirit forever and ever. 

 I am a “twin”…

Thomas from today’s Gospel is similar to us in many ways. Maybe even more than we would like. The name Thomas means Twin in Hebrew. And the figure of the apostle Thomas is genuinely the “twin” of many of us. After all, how many beautiful moments have we already lived with Jesus, how many times have we seen for ourselves what Jesus is capable of, and yet there are moments when we live as if we do not know Christ? Like we wouldn’t believe. In such moments, we become the “twin” of the unbelieving Thomas. Fortunately, Jesus left us one great gift that can tear us from our “unbelief”. That gift is community. When Tomáš was outside the community, he began to have a problem with his faith. But when he returned to it, his faith came alive: “My Lord and my God!” Community is an excellent gift for a believer.

Faith is not a “recluse”. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. No one gave themselves faith alone, just like none of us gave life alone. We receive faith from others, and we have to pass it on. In the community, our faith can grow. And by faith, we conform to Jesus. In the community, Tomas believed anew in “the Lord and God”, he decided to follow Christ anew. Unbelieving, Thomas decided to become the “twin” of Jesus in the community! Solitude and isolation can help me to become the “twin” of the unbelieving Thomas. Community can help me to become a “twin” of Jesus.

Go deep:  Are there periods in my life when I live as if I don’t believe in God? Am I part of a community that would help me grow in faith? Do I realize my behavior can weaken or strengthen another person’s faith?

Tip for you:  I will renew my faith today by praying I believe in God!

 The word Magnificat is very well known to believers. It is a hymn that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, sang during her visit to Elizabeth. In it, Jesus praises the Lord for all the blessings he shows the entire human family.

 He begins it with the words: “My soul praises the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior, because he has looked at the humiliation of his servant. Maria also experiences and implements what she sang throughout her life. This is also an encouragement for us, so we, too, desire to remain in constant communion with God’s Son, Jesus Christ, throughout our lives. How we can do this, says the American spiritual writer Vinny Flynn in the seventh mystery of the Eucharist: There are no limits to how many times we can receive. Here he discusses the idea of ​​spiritual Holy Communion, that is, apart from the period when we can really receive the sacrament of the Eucharist, we can also receive it spiritually, by the very desire of this sacrament. We can unite our hearts with the heart of Jesus present in the Eucharist. The saints give us wonderful role models. St. Francis de Sales decided to receive spiritual communion at least every fifteen minutes to connect all the day’s events with receiving the Eucharist at Holy Mass. Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe not only received the Eucharist. But he attended the Blessed Sacrament very often. It was more than ten times a day. Even that was not enough for him, and, like Francis Sales, he decided to receive spiritual communion at least every quarter of an hour. “Sometimes,” he explains, “spiritual communion brings the same graces as sacramental.” However, we must not forget, brothers and sisters; that regular sacramental communion cannot be replaced.

Our spiritual communion must always aim at sacramental communion. The essence of communion is union with Holy Communion, which unites us with God, and spiritual communion helps us stay there. Saint Catherine of Siena testifies to us that spiritual communion has real value compared to the sacrament. Suddenly, she saw that Christ held two chalices. I pour your sacraments into this silver chalice. We may say – That is history, which Saint Padre Pio advises us: “During the day… call on Jesus even in the midst of duties… He will come to you and will always be united to your soul by means of his grace and holy love.” Fly in spirit before the tabernacle when you cannot physically stand there. Pour out the emotional desires of your soul there, and receive the lover of souls evens more than you could receive him sacramental.’

So what do we do? Shall we decide on spiritual communions? Certainly, yes! But how do we start? Above all, we choose to make a good spiritual communion whenever we cannot receive the sacrament at Holy Mass by praying Saint Alphonsus: “My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. Above all, I love you and long to possess you in my soul. Since I cannot receive your sacramental, at least come into my heart spiritually. I embrace you because you are already here, and I completely unite with you. Never let me be separated from you.” We can also use others or our prayers.

Spiritual, Holy Communion means stopping momentarily to meet the dream in the depths of the heart. St. John Vianney advises: Spiritual communion acts on the soul as the wind acts on an extinguishing fire full of ashes. When you feel that your love for God is cooling, quickly make a spiritual communion. Furthermore, spiritual Holy Communion means that we invite God to do what He wants: to come into our hearts with all heaven and lift us through the veil into the eternity of His love.

 Let us commit ourselves to it fervently, so that our life may become a great Magnificat and always be united with the Lord as his and our Mother Mary.

All over the world, many young men and women will give their consent to Christ’s call: “Follow me!” (Mt 9:9). These young people decide on the priesthood, religious, or missionary life. They want to introduce Christ to people. But Christ’s call concerns each of us: teenagers, adults, and even the more advanced age. The Lord Jesus invites us to follow him and not only invites us but asks us to follow continuously, without which we are not worthy of the kingdom of God.

Follow me! It’s a brief challenge. It is not easy to decide and immediately comply with such a challenge. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that it doesn’t matter to the person in question for whom Jesus gave the challenge. And it is not an easy decision at all when Jesus adds: “Foxes have their hiding places and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Mt 8:20). When the addressee hears such talk; it seems to him that the Lord Jesus is asking too much. He would like to gain time before making a decision and begs Jesus: “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Mt 8:21). Jesus is a good psychologist and knows what is going on in a person, and for the sake of making decisions more accessible, he adds a warning: “Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back does not belong to the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

The famous opera singer Chose Mo-Chica, who performed on the stages of the most famous operas in the world, was a movie star in Hollywood and had famous actors and singers as friends at the height of his family when he was in Per. He suddenly joined the Franciscans. Everyone thought it was some drilling. Mochica used to stay in the best hotels; he had all the comforts. Even the performers themselves felt that he would soon sober up. But he was serious about his decision. This is how he became a Franciscan priest years later. Pope Pius XII. allowed him to perform on opera stages even after ordination. With the money he received, he built a home for abandoned children, a church, and a school in Peru. There is no contradiction between his priest and artistic mission. He says: I am trying with all my energy to bring Christ to radio, television, theater, opera. I will sing as long as the Lord gives it to me and my vocal cords allow. I will sing to build a new home for many more abandoned children.

Brothers and sisters! We are surprised by the determination of the singer who did not hesitate to leave a famous and comfortable life and to the call of the Lord Jesus – follow me – he will say his unconditional yes. You might say to yourself: It’s adorable, but what should we do? How should we follow Christ? After all, not every one of us can become a priest! Your question is correct. Not everyone can become a priest or religious. It is a state to which the Lord himself calls his elect. And yet, the Lord calls each of us to follow him. Many of you have probably heard the word – lay apostolate.

The Second Vatican Council emphasized the importance of the lay apostolate to such an extent that it issued resolutions on the apostolic activity of the People of God, that is, on the lay apostolate. We know that the laity are all believers, except for clergy members and religious orders approved by the Church (cf. LG 4). From the beginning of the decision above, we learn that the apostolic activity of the laity, rooted in the Christian vocation, must never disappear in the Church. (Introduction). Our Christian vocation obliges us to postulate. Some of you might think to yourself: But in what way? I know most of you would answer this question correctly. There is a very effective method that applies to everyone you know, and that is our best living example. We don’t even have to talk or convince anyone because the proof of our faith will be noiseless, modest deeds. We have too many options.

The very first possibility occurs in family life. You know very well how much effort and patience is required when raising children, how difficult it is to listen to the problems of the other spouse calmly, and sometimes disputes between relatives are complex to resolve. If we tried to solve these difficulties in the Christian spirit, we would gain more adherents of faith in God and Christianity. We allowed him to perform on opera stages even after ordination rather than bombastic sermons, which are not backed by convincing deeds. The second option is our workplace. We spend a third of the day with our colleagues. Through our considerate behavior and attitude to work, we will testify to them about our faith and Christian mission. The third option is to study youth. Proclaiming Christ with your life among young people who are looking for their ideals and the goal of their life is an excellent chance for a young person to be passionate about Christ. Another option is for the sick and suffering. Whether they are in hospitals or at home on their own, let them be an example to others in enduring hardships and pains. The knowledge that through our suffering, we become participants in Christ’s suffering gives us strength and courage.

Brothers and sisters! We dealt a little with the problem of the lay apostolate. It seems to us that fulfilling our Christian mission will not be easy. So what should we do? We are to look for a powerful ally, which we find in the person of the Lord Jesus. Let’s not forget our heavenly Mother, Mary. Let us ask her to be our intercessor with her Son so that after union with Jesus in the Eucharist, in prayer and contemplation, we will receive the necessary help for our apostolic work. Do we still remember the words of singer Chose Mochica? He said: – I am trying with all my energy to bring Christ to radio, television, theater, opera. – May we also succeed in bringing Christ into family life, into the workplace, among the youth, the sick, and the suffering! Let this activity of ours be repeated repeatedly because this is how we will succeed in fulfilling the mission that must never be forgotten in the Church. 

Employment and occupation. 

You perceive the difference between a profession and a job. Employment can be what feeds the worker and his family. Occupation is what fulfills a person. So is the vocation of a father, mother, missionary, priest, charity worker, teacher, craftsman… There is an obvious difference whether an activity is a job or a vocation for someone. In the true sense of the word, the question of vocation is also encountered today during the celebration of two great men of the Church – St. Peter and Paul. Simon is a fisherman. It is no different from its fellow tribesmen, who make a living by fishing. For Peter and some other apostles, it was a job (and maybe a vocation until they met Jesus). Jesus invites Simon to follow him. At his call, he leaves everything: family, ship, co-workers… He understands his entire following life as a response to Jesus’ call. However, his answer was tested several times, in which he did not always pass with flying colors. And yet Jesus founded the Church on him. He turned an ordinary, simple person into a rock of the Christian faith. The nobility of the profession and the wretchedness of human nature are two components of Peter’s personality. And that is still in the Church – both nobility and human wretchedness. The way to Christ at St. Paul is quite different. Small in stature but big in spirit. He attends important Jewish and Greek schools.

He was a learned rabbi, a passionate opponent of Jesus and his work on earth. “I greatly persecuted God’s Church and destroyed it. In Judaism, I surpassed many of my peers because I was more zealous for the customs of my fathers” (Gal 1:13-14), as he later admits in his letter to the Galatians. His first but true contact with Christ near Damascus means a radical change in his life. Jesus changes the life path of a young, ambitious man. He sends him to preach the good news among the Gentiles. Saul becomes Paul – the apostle of the nations. An educated man, but without material means, and on top of that sick, he familiarized the entire then-known world with Christ’s teaching. Is it even possible? What led Peter and Paul to change their lives completely? Although their life paths are different, the answer is the same: an encounter with Christ. They were willing to hear and accept the voice of Jesus. Even more, they believed in him. They let themselves be filled with the light, power, and fire of the Spirit of Jesus. They followed the vocation path that God had ordained for them.

Not only the apostles, but every person has his path – calling. God offers it to each of us in a certain way. To accept the kingdom of God, as Carlo Careto says, means to take our vocation, which God prepares for us through the concrete life in which we are immersed. To know this, God precedes us. He precedes Adam, Abraham, David, Moses, Peter, Paul… He is the one who determines everyone’s calling. He calls Adam to life, he calls Abraham from his homeland, he calls David to the royal throne, he makes Moses a powerful leader, Peter and Paul his friends… We may not have to go anywhere to follow the Lord Jesus. Every Christian is called to follow the Lord Jesus and thus to salvation. This calling and following has three degrees. Let’s test where we are at the same time. According to Pseudo-Dionysus the Areopagite, there is talk of the path of purification, enlightenment, and unification (via purgative, illuminative, and unitive).

Purification:  On the way to God, one must first purify oneself from everything that hinders perfection. Attention, not just a customary confession, but a sincere effort to turn away from sin. It is evident with Pavel and Peter. The one who goes to confession at Christmas, Easter, before marriage, at a funeral, before a funeral…to “have it” – that is, confession – is not on the path of purification. It is a constant effort to correct life through the sacrament of penance, daily examination of conscience, meeting with the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist, and prayers…

Enlightenment:  Then begins the growth in knowing the truth – enlightenment. I find time to educate myself in faith and think about what Jesus means to me. I answer the question: Who do you think I am? You know what it took Peter and especially Paul. Peter walked with Jesus for three years. Paul had to be taught by Ananias, meet with Peter…

Unification:  In the end, the soul longs only for union with God. My food is to fulfill the will of the heavenly Father – says the Lord Jesus. Paul: I no longer live, Christ lives in me… It is thinking according to the Lord Jesus. St. Ignatius of Antioch speaks of uniting with God as the strings of a guitar. In the book Following Christ, we read: You would be perfect if you eliminated one mistake in 60 years of life in one year.

Brothers and sisters, we must realize that our vocation to life is so defined that it does not allow us to think about compromises, indecisiveness, or half-hardness. God calls each of us. Therefore, let us not make excuses for our wretchedness and weakness because God is the God of the impossible. Let’s open our hearts to him so that he can fully work in us.

Know today what has not happened to your sons who do not know… The teachings of the Lord… his strong hand and his outstretched arm › Dt 11, 2.

Moses addressed these words to the people who had witnessed many divine events and, for humans, the minds of incredible things. They witnessed God’s unquestionable interventions in their lives. They experienced that everything was possible for him and that nothing could happen against his will. Yet they rebelled against him, despised his gifts, and desired the things from which he kept them away.

Will we be ungrateful, unworthy, unreasonable, or irresponsible? Well, they were, but God continued to take care of them and admonish them because the sick needed a doctor. Even religious people are not spared adversity, suffering, or humiliation. The Holy Scriptures do not speak of believers as the privileged ones who walk on a red carpet strewn with flowers but as people who can experience suffering with the confidence that whatever befalls them can be good for them.

Says the mother: “My son, who is three years old, snuggles up to me and knows he can trust me. It is good that he goes through various experiences, such as falling, scraping his knees, pricking himself with a rose thorn, etc. In these situations, he cries, but this is the only way he can grow and harden.” Believers can lean on an unshakable support: God, whose wisdom and love calm them, even when they go through periods of darkness and do not understand the reason for many things. God wants to help us in our lives and enlighten us with his light; we have to shut up and listen to him.

We run in many directions daily and want to use the time. Our mind is busy with work, family, a whole range of responsibilities. Let’s face it: we rarely think about God. We have a lot of plans, and time seems to fly. And yet, how much time do we waste with useless talks or watching TV… Well, if we want, today we can decide to wait for the Lord, to give him time to visit us and touch us with his presence. If we wait for him, he will lean towards us.

People tend to say: “This is worthless!” Unnecessarily taking further steps for the sake of the other. It is resignation over the condition of another person or society. It makes no sense to waste precious time and energy that we can creatively invest and use to develop something else. We are discussing breaking a stick over an unavoidable reality and a hopeful investment in another. Today’s Gospel opens this space for us. In this, Jesus does not put a napkin in front of his mouth and explicitly says: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs and do not cast your pearls before swine…” Even though for the Jews, “dogs” and “swine” were the traditional names of the Gentiles, in this case, Jesus focuses on the evaluation of the students’ activity and its effectiveness.

This is not an assessment of a person who rejects the message. But it’s about evaluating an activity that has meaning and direction from a silly one. He does not break a stick over a person. Instead, it is an invitation to invest energy and creativity in those in which the authenticity of life becomes visible. We are talking about a change in mindset. That is, the message of Christ offered by us cannot be filled with style, as if it were a comfortable sofa, the purchase of which will bring comfort and virtual happiness. Here, Christ opens the space for creativity and reflection.

That is, love does not judge but thinks creatively. Indeed, it would be ridiculous to throw the Bread of Life and the Word of God in front of a person who does not know how to appreciate them. However, the love and sensitivity of the evangelist lead to thinking about when, where, and how to help the neighbor to be ready to receive them. Throwing the Truth between the eyes without preparation brings rejection and more hardening. Acting in such a way is disrespectful to man and also to the Truth.

On the contrary, good preparation and the announcer’s personal example work wonders. But that takes a lot of time and patience, which we need to get used to. It may be time to work on it.

The Gospel text (Luke 1, 57-66.80) gives an excerpt about his birth. Apart from the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist, the Gospels no longer describe the circumstances of proclamation and birth itself.

We are witnessing an exciting paradox that Luke presents to us in his gospel. The proclamation and birth of John the Baptist through the outer luster exceeds the proclamation and birth of Jesus Christ. Zechariah is a priest; the declaration takes place in the holiest place for Judaism – in the shrine of the Jerusalem Temple. John’s birth occurs in the joyful atmosphere of a family and relatives who have come to rejoice with gifted parents. In contrast, Jesus’ proclamation takes place to a young girl in a private house in the unknown Nazareth in Galilee, which has a reputation as a pagan region. Jesus’ birth takes place in poverty and seclusion. The evangelist invites the reader to trust not what he sees but what the word of God says.

The Prophet of the Supreme

Luke intended, on the one hand, to highlight the performance of John the Baptist, but at the same time to show that John himself, despite his miraculous conception, is not the Messiah but the prophet who prepared the way for the Lord Anointed. The words are heard about John the Baptist in Zechariah’s hymn: “…you will be called the prophet of the Supreme… “(Lk 1.76). In the proclamation of Jesus, the angel says: “… Will be called the son of the Supreme… “(Lk 1,32). Similarly, a miraculous child is picked up when visiting Elizabeth, which Mary wears under her heart (cf. Lk 1.39). John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth into a priestly family, where the priesthood was inherited from father to son. So John was waiting for the priest to be sent to the temple in Jerusalem. God set a different path for him, not the priest’s path but the prophet’s. His parents accept God’s plan. It also suggests a different name from the father’s.

In contrast to the established practice of giving the descendant a name after the parents or ancestors of the genus, Elizabeth and Zechariah, in joint agreement, provide a name that the angel already called him when proclaiming Zechariah in the temple. The name John, in Hebrew Johann, means the Lord is merciful. At that moment, Zechariah will return to speech, and as a first thing he will do, he will sing the mercy of the Lord, which he has shown them and the whole nation.

The son’s birth in old age, his unique name, and the sign of the loss and return of speech to his father raise a reasonable question: “What will this boy be like? “(Lk 1,66). God begins to fulfill his promises to the nation of Israel and all of humanity immediately in John. He will be a prophet who will prepare the way for the Messiah of the Lord.

Circumcision is a physical sign to the Jewish nation of the covenant that God made through Abraham with the entire country. Circumcision Day is a celebration of this continuing union of God with Israel. It is performed on the eighth day after birth, only on male offspring. The father announces the name of the son. At the birth of her daughter, her father announces her name in the synagogue on the first Saturday after birth.

Punished Zacharias?

I want to touch on one more question. Why was the righteous Zechariah punished for disobedience, only for asking a sign from God? After all, he and his wife were of advanced age; their doubts were justified. Moreover, in Scripture, other biblical figures have asked God for a sign, received it, and yet bound it without harm. After all, the Virgin Mary asked the angel: “How does this happen, I don’t know the man? “(Lk 1,34) The difference is that Mary did not ask for any sign because she did not doubt God’s omnipotence ( whether God could do such a thing ), but he asks about the way it will happen.

Human life is too short to understand all the contexts that events bring. How often has it happened to us that, with a distance of time, perhaps up to a dozen years, we have understood the significance of an event in our lives? Biblical texts present many events in which the first word of God was not the only one, and man is expected to trust God. Just mention the story of Abraham, from whom God first asks for the sacrifice of a son. However, he then shows him not to cover his hand on his son (cf. Gn 22). God belongs to the first word – challenge, invitation, and the second, rasp. Last word, word of fulfillment. The reaction of John’s father after regaining speech is the best explanation for us to understand this passage correctly. The first thing Zechariah did was not pour anger at God’s address, but he gave a wonderful hymn in which he glorified God. He understood God’s actions correctly, realized his failure, and waited patiently for this “second word “of the God he had received.