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Some events will happen in life that will affect him ultimately. For example, someone does some evil deed for which they go to jail, and we say they will be stuck with it for the rest of their lives. But even if someone is selfless from a young age, helps others, and is honest and fair, this will also be with him throughout his life. It is the same in the religious field because how a person was raised in faith also manifests in his life. Today, on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, we remember the greatest secret of our faith, which Jesus Christ also spoke about. Today’s Gospel confirms this: Go, therefore, teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The core of this mystery is that there is only one God but in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Mainly, you elders, during the long years that you have been going to Church, you must have heard many speeches about the Trinity, but today, we would like to draw back the veil of this mystery at least a little. However, we must immediately state that we cannot do this for our poor reason, so we have no choice but to exclaim with St. Paul: What a depth of God’s wealth, wisdom, and knowledge! How incomprehensible are his judgments and unsearchable are his ways! However, the Holy Trinity accompanies us all our lives, despite our weak minds, which we are often not even fully aware of, and at each such meeting, we promise her something.

The first meeting with the Triune God was at our in the faith, The sacrament of baptism is a significant event in the life of a Christian. It symbolizes the washing away of sin and the rebirth into a new life in Christ. Many churches perform baptisms by immersing the individual in water, while others may use sprinkling or pouring. Regardless of the method, the act itself is a powerful symbol of spiritual cleansing and the start of a journey of faith., when the priest poured water on our heads and said: I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… At this moment God – the Father accepted us as his children, God – the Son made us our brothers and sisters, and God – the Holy Spirit enlightened our souls. This is how our life began in the name of the Triune God, and although we could not speak yet, we promised through the mouths of our parents and godparents that we would grow up in faith and love for God. This promise was to be implemented by those who made it for us. Therefore, the question for parents and godparents is now appropriate: Have you fulfilled this promise? Have you passed on the faith to your children and godchildren? Have you taught them to love God? Do you yourself live as believers, baptized people, as God’s children?

Our next meeting with the Holy Trinity occurred in the confessional, where we heard the words: And I absolve you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… The Triune God has forgiven us for all the evil we have committed and is constantly waiting for us to fall before him in knees, confessed and rose again for their sins. But let’s be honest: Do I use confession for purification and resurrection from sins? How often do I receive this sacrament? We could list many such meetings, but let’s try to focus on at least one more. One day, you stood in front of the altar and promised to be faithful to each other for the rest of your life. Then the priest placed a stole on your hands and said: And I, in the name of the holy Church, confirm that you have concluded a sacramental marriage, and I bless it in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… Thank you, dear husband and wife, swore that you would stand by each other in happiness and unhappiness, good and bad, health and sickness. Did you comply? Promises must be fulfilled, especially those we make to God, because the word makes us honest people.

In the Church of the Virgin Mary in San Francisco, a statuette of the baby Jesus was lost from the Nativity scene over Christmas. They immediately started looking for her, but without success. When it seemed they would not find her, a certain policeman noticed how a little boy, barely 7 years old, was pulling a red cart with a statuette. He began to scold the boy and reproach him for stealing. But the boy jumped into his speech, looked at him intently and joyfully announced to him: You know, sir, I wrote to Jesus to bring me a red card and I promised him that when I got it, I would be the first to drive it. So I’m fulfilling my promise, and I’ve driven it through the streets since morning. This nice and funny story tells us that God fulfills his promises and that we should also imitate him. Let’s remember that we want to do everything for the greater honor and glory of the Holy Trinity and to be faithful to her all our lives.

Jacob traditionally cuts to the living and pillages the shortcomings of the first Christians and, of course, ours as well. Today, he is aiming for strife. Likewise, the Gospel also portrays to us this ailment among the apostles. What is its leading cause? James points out pride with the words: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The proud resists God and sets himself above others. Even the apostles argued among themselves on the way, which of them was more remarkable. All spiritual authors agree that pride is the summit and, as it were, the sum of all vices and sins. Despite this, we are aware that we often have «proud» thoughts that we do not consider to be so bad. So, subconsciously, we distinguish, as it were, two types of pride: serious and less severe.

Eastern authors talk about two similar but fundamentally different vices: vanity and pride. In the West, we have seven cardinal sins; in the East, we have eight (including vanity). In both cases, we take credit for the good and expose for admiration something that is not our merit. We seek glory in it. However, it can be true glory or “vain glory,” i.e., we brag about something admirable in itself, except that it is not our merit, or we allow ourselves to be praised for small, insignificant, vain advantages. Can we brag? In the eyes of ascetics, the only genuine praise should be virtuous, a share in God’s life.

Christians further enrich our understanding of the pride, which they view as an undeserved gift of grace. The classic image of pride is the Pharisee who prays: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector (Lk 18, 2).” The proud demand admiration and respect from people for what they undeservedly received from God, thus considering themselves superior to others. It is rightly pointed out that those who lead a spiritual life are particularly susceptible to the danger of pride. It is the ‘last demon’ that attacks those who have freed themselves ‘from the others’. However, it is not limited to them. It instills a sense of superiority over others for good deeds, theological knowledge, or calling to a spiritual state… It is said that pride precedes a fall, a stark reminder of its consequences.

The proud easily fall into base sins; a theologian proud of his knowledge ends up espousing delusions. “Self-sufficiency of one’s judgment” is, according to Theodore of Cyrus, the most severe disease of intelligent people who have lost their humility. “Own will” and “self-will” are the pride of people capable of practical life. Vanity, «vain glory,» is understandably a much less harmful vice. What can a person be proud of? If someone can be admired for his curly hair, beautiful voice, and origin of a wealthy family, he seeks fame in the things that are “vain” and insignificant compared to the great values ​​of life.

Within. Francis of Sales says that sometimes it is a “passion” that is quite ridiculous (what people can brag about!), but that has a hard life; it is said to die «up to half an hour after the death of a person.» Even at the last breath, human considerations bind us. In a more developed stage, vanity leads to insincerity, lies, strife, and scattering of properties. It is also called “human considerations,” understandably in a pejorative sense, if someone can be diverted from the good out of fear of losing unnecessary admiration. We are also talking about ambition and unreasonable desire for human praise.

Let’s consider ambition for a moment. Ambition, as we see in the case of the apostles described in today’s Gospel, is often compared by spiritual authors to a thief who accompanies the traveler to the end of the road and robs him there. An ambitious person may diligently work, keep the commandments, and attend church. The stronger his desire for honor, the more fervent his efforts. But in the end, he will lose the credit for his good deeds, because he did them not for God, but only for vain praise. So we can associate excessive ambition with vanity. Perhaps this would have been a reality for the apostles if they had not been cleansed by the Holy Spirit and remained in the desires described in today’s Gospel. They strove for perfection in order to have leading positions.  

Therefore, it is typically carried out, as St. Writes. Paul, that God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world God decides to shame the strong; God has chosen what is not born of the world and what it despises, even what does not exist, to bring to nothing, that is, so that no one can stand before God (1 Cor 1, 27-29). And so people experiencing poverty become great people.

Edward Osborne Wilson (1929-2021) was one of the most famous natural scientists of the 20th century and the father of sociobiology.

Wilson was a recognized scientist and a long-time professor at the prestigious Harvard University. He was also a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction and the author of other books. Thanks to his views on religion, Wilson has also attracted attention. 

 Recognized expert and spiritual father of sociobiology.

Wilson was born in 1929 in the US state of Alabama and lost one eye in a fishing accident at young age. But despite his handicap, he became famous as a biologist, entomologist (insect expert), and specialist in ants, which he also studied in remote places on the Pacific islands. During his career, he described about four hundred species of ants. His work earned him the nickname “the modern Darwin.” 

 He was also very interested in ecology and the future of the planet. He told the New York Times in 2008: “Future generations will forgive us for our terrible wars of extermination and failures, but they will not forgive us for so recklessly exterminating so much of wildlife.”

However, Wilson also raised controversies, and criticism was leveled at his probably best-known work, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, from 1975. He defined sociobiology as “the systematic research into the biological bases of all social behavior. His goal was to explain behavior purely biologically using evolutionary genetics.”

“However, the work caused controversy in the scientific community because in it Wilson suggested that human behavior, including altruism and aggression, is strongly influenced by genetics and not just by the external environment and upbringing. He then used this knowledge to explain the difference between different cultures and societies around the world,” reads the article dedicated to his life.

“Social science professors and the American far left claim that the human brain is a blank slate and that human behavior is largely determined by history and culture. Anyone who claims that human nature is biological opens the door to racism or discrimination against women,” Wilson later summarized critical responses to his work. Wilson was even attacked during his lecture when a group of protesters threw water on him. However, Horák writes that “Wilson was a complicated character. He took criticism personally, he didn’t talk to several scientists at all, he didn’t hesitate to call the stars of biology quacks if they disagreed with him, and he shouted objections to their work during his colleagues’ lectures.

 Religion Through the Eyes of Wilson.

 Wilson was not a Christian, but he was not an unbeliever either. He admitted on one occasion that “I am not an atheist, because it would be foolish to deny the possibility of the existence of some form of higher intelligence, but religions are a manifestation of tribalism – they contain the belief that only one tribe is chosen by God.” 

In his 1978 book On Human Nature, Wilson acknowledges that religious sentiment is hardwired into man. He writes that “belief is one of the general characteristics of social behavior that is visibly manifested in every society – from prehistoric to modern.” This publication shows Wilson’s view of religion as a product of evolution. 

 In the book The Meaning of Human Existence, Wilson recognizes the positive contribution of religions – their members are motivated to do good and provide social and health care. For many, the church is a refuge and consolation from various afflictions and poverty. Also, from a psychological point of view, Wilson evaluates faith as beneficial. It answers deep existential questions and provides a sense of security. He adds that “religion lends its followers a proud identity, legitimizes rules of conduct, and has clarified all the mysteries of the cycle of life and death.”

On the other hand, however, Wilson criticizes religion for suppressing rational thinking and for often breeding violence and suffering. He points out that man naturally needs to belong somewhere, and religions satisfy this need for acceptance into the community. At the same time, however, other religions discriminate in the sense that only they are considered God’s chosen ones, while those “outside” are marked as excluded.

 Wilson criticizes this —differences in beliefs between different religions produce schism and violence. “Only faith can motivate an otherwise good person to commit a bad deed,” claims the natural scientist. From a biological point of view, he evaluates religious belief as “one of the Darwinian tools of survival and reproduction. It acts as the glue of a successful tribe in a competitive struggle with other tribes.”

 From Christian to Deist.

 Wilson also touches on the problem of evil. He writes that “it is difficult to imagine the existence of an all-powerful being like God and at the same time the existence of various injustices and suffering. “The objection that God is only testing our faith or that God’s ways are unfathomable is not enough,” writes Wilson.

 Wilson’s views on religion are a paradox. While in The Creation, he called for a harmonious dialogue between faith and science, in other places, he expressed the wish that the world would be better off without religious belief. However, as Wilson adds, “people still believe more than they know.” Wilson considered secular humanism the only worldview compatible with the natural sciences. In 2003, he was one of the signatories of the so-called The Humanist Manifesto. 

 Although Wilson was not a Christian but a deist and had a rather critical view of religion, his position can be somewhat understood, and one can agree with many of his arguments. He grew up in the south of the USA, where Protestant fundamentalism is strongly present. This direction is characterized by, e.g., literal interpretation of the Bible. When Wilson started attending university, where he became familiar with the evidence for evolution, he left the last remnants of the Christian faith. As Wilson writes in  Consilience, “I said “goodbye to the church. However, I am not an atheist or an agnostic, but I have ceased to be a Southern Baptist.’ Many’intellectually based people are exposed to this dilemma—they recognize faith in a twisted presentation, then reject it and finally criticize only a certain form of religion. This form of belief is then understandably at odds with scientific thinking. 

Pope John XXIII said of the announced Council that there must be a new Pentecost. He remembered the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in the early Church, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. There was a sense of stagnation in the Church before the Council. Too often, impulses or mostly simply decrees from above, i.e., from the hierarchy, while the Christian people behaved largely passive. 

The Council Fathers acceded to the Pope’s request. Relying on revelation, they showed new ways and did not relinquish concrete instructions for a new revival in the Church. (Cf. The expressions “must,” “right and duty” in the texts of the Council mentioned below.) After the first crisis, these suggestions   increasingly being taken seriously, and their importance and impact  (cf. the Synod of Bishops in Rome 1985). To properly understand what is at stake, we must again start from the mystery of the divine love that emanates in his creation and would like to become fruitful.  Love is never lonely and alone. Love means being there for each other; it means giving and receiving. Love means communion. Only after a long period of preparation, as we see in   Old Testament writings, God reveals himself in and through Jesus, who became man, and his most profound mystery is that his essence  is love, which is why he is triune. The Father gives himself entirely to the Son,  the Son to the Father. This mutual love is inwardly fruitful in the Holy Spirit. Yet there is never – and this is true of love in general – the abolition of personal diversity (contrary to the ideas of Eastern religions). The Father is and remains forever  Father. The Son is and remains forever the Son. Just as the Holy Spirit. The mutual giving and receiving is complete so that the Son can say, “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10.30) and also: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” (J 14,10). 

God has called and ordained humans to participate in His divine love life. Thus, we can expect in advance to receive a share of this peculiarity of his divine love. Paul points to this fact in his teaching on the body of Christ:  “You are the body of Christ, and each of you is one of his members.”  (“Just as the body is one, but has many members,  and as all the members of the body are one body, though many,  so it is with Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12). As the unity of all who are in Christ – one body – as well as diversity – each individual is one member -both are given and worked by the Holy Spirit,  without which our participation in the divine life would be unthinkable.  Paul first explains unity: “The One Spirit baptized them one body, and we are all watered by the same Spirit” (1 Cor 12:13). 

(Teilhard de Chardin rightly pointed out that our purely human capacity for love cannot be enough to unite all humanity.)  We Christians must accept and maintain this unity given by the Spirit and not want to “produce” it ourselves.  (cf. Eph 4:3).  Paul then speaks of the diversity of the members, or instead of, their capacities and the gifts of grace with which they are endowed. For a harmonious whole to be formed in the body of Christ, he already works in advance God’s wisdom: “But God gave the members of the body, and one of them  he gave to each one of them a task as He willed,” (1 Cor 12:18). And again, it is the Spirit, who gives the individual members special powers and tasks  to serve for the good of others and the entire. “All this works  the same Spirit, who bestows on each one a special gift, as himself” (1 Cor 12:11). As the one Spirit thus permeates all the members of the body and thus guarantees unity, so too is the one Spirit who assigns tasks to the individual members and mutually brings them into harmony to complement and enrich each other. “They are different endowments, but the same Spirit” (1 Cor 12:4). 

Thus, God’s mutual giving and receiving of love for us Christians is enabled marvelously. 1CO 12:14 and following, Paul points out that no member should feel  useless, expendable, or even as worthless.  Every limb has a task. But this is given to it by the Spirit, “as He Himself wills” (1 Cor. 12:11), not as the member would have it. The limbs of the Church  cannot arbitrarily choose their tasks or assign them to others. They are given beforehand by God (cf. 1 Cor 12:18).  Some gifts mark the person concerned beyond death. For example, Mary is and remains the mother of Christ  as the head and body, i.e., the mother of the Church. The Apostles and prophets remain the living foundation to build (cf.  Eph 2:20). The Christian people have always had a feeling for the unique gifts of the saints and, therefore, have also asked these saints for help. (The Beatitudes in Heaven, for they belong with us to the one living body of Christ).  In religious societies, the Council referred to the particular charism  of the founders to remain faithful to them and continue cultivating them (II.  Vat., Religious Life, 2). 

As the love of God implies communion and individual divine  persons are precisely themselves that they can fully give themselves to others, so to the members of the body of Christ realize themselves by  “serving others as good stewards of the grace of God in its manifolded, each one by the gift he has received” (1 Peter 4:10).  Therefore, The Church is alive to the extent that all its members  pursue spiritual gifts as they receive, develop, and use them to serve their neighbors and the whole. The gifts are principally given to exercise mutual love and must serve that love.  Love, therefore, cannot be used against spiritual gifts.  “Hold fast to love and pursue spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14:1).  It is no accident that service is repeatedly listed among the charisms in the Bible. “He that serveth, let him do it out of the strength which God gives (1 Peter 4:11).  The charism of service is indispensable to the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:22) and is especially valued by the Lord.  (cf. Mt 20:26 ff.).  We may ask ourselves why the liturgy knows only the petition for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (e.g., in the hymns of Pentecost), which are derived from Isa. 11:2 ff.  by theological tradition (Augustine, Thomas Aquinas) to the divine virtues (faith, hope, and charity) and the eight Beatitudes. These gifts help the personal sanctification of the limbs. For the good of the body of Christ, for the animation of the Church, carried by the whole people of God, the charismata are always to be implored also, and (as in the primitive Church before Pentecost) together  (cf. “with one accord,” “together,” “in one place,” Acts 1:14; 2,1) because they help to build up the whole body of Christ, the community of believers! 

It is by promptly placing the individual member, without arbitrariness or conceit, at the service of the entire, and always in a new way, as the Spirit gives and enables, that the task which God has prepared for him and thus works on his personal holiness.  For the unique spiritual gifts that are enumerated  in 1 Cor. 12:8-10 (especially the gift of prophecy, the gift of interpreting what  to speak in tongues, and, as the case may be, to impart knowledge) is the transparent permeability of what would  Holy Spirit would like to show that this is particularly important because otherwise, there would almost inevitably be falsification. If someone displays a charisma of this kind or can be traced  (cf. 2. Vat., PO, n.9), the person concerned must be open and willing to be purified by God and do it himself to contribute to his work. Clinging to charismata, desire for honor and assertion, impatience, zeal, desire for conversion and healing that do not have their origin entirely in God, conceit in spiritual matters, lack of willingness to be corrected by the proper party, resistance, or even rejection attitude towards particular neighbors: these are all obstacles that threaten the appropriate use of spiritual gifts. It must be  extended to wait until these gifts come forth purely and clearly. Cf. Pr 3:11-34: “Do not cast away, my Son,“He laughs at the scornful but gives grace to the humble.” The Holy Spirit would give to the members of a group or community varied charisms and use them always in new ones, in new and varied ways. Cf. 1 Cor 1:4-7: “Always for you God I give thanks to you for the grace of God that has been given to you in Christ Jesus; He has enriched you in every way… For the testimony of Christ was confirmed among you so that you are not left behind in any gift of grace.”

“Who is the city of God but the holy Church? “Is the Church and the Kingdom of God the same? Augustine agrees, “Then already now, the Church is the kingdom of God and heaven. “ This kingdom of Christ is here below (nunc) yet warring (militia)”; only at the end of the ages (in fine saeculi, tunc)  it will be perfect. Thomas Aquinas says nothing else: “It is spoken especially  of the kingdom of God in a twofold sense: once as a host  of those who wander in faith; and in this sense, the Church militant is called the kingdom of God; but then as a gathering  of those who are already safe, at the goal, and in this sense, the Church is the overcoming Church is called the kingdom of God. “

For Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, the two successive states of the Church, nunc et tunc, now and then, the final and continuous state of the kingdom of God. J. Bonsirven says the same thing in “Le Règne de Dieu”: “Is the kingdom of God the same as the Church…? The answer can only be yes. ” Cardinal Charles Journet claims no different: “We believe that there is no  identification of the Church and the kingdom of God cannot be abandoned. They are two terms, but they denote a single reality. The Church is the kingdom; the kingdom is the Church. The term ‘kingdom’ refers to eschatology. But it is with Christ  stepped eschatology, primarily a qualitative order, into time. Since the time of Christ, the whole Church has stepped into the last time; it is eschatological. ” But over the last hundred years, this precise  identification in the name of eschatology has been questioned in discussions  that are not yet closed. Yet it is  much is at stake, for it is not only the character of the Church that is at stake but also the practical implications with great implications. If the Church is, by it is heavenly, because “it is where Christ is” If it is his body, and if that body includes not only those believers who are here today but also those who have gone before us and those who will come after us until the end of time.

 “We do not consider why the Church and kingdom should not be identified.” For more than a hundred years, on the other hand, it has been said that the Church and the kingdom are not to be identified because the kingdom is a purely eschatological reality, while the Church is said to be only a sign of the kingdom, which points to it. And this tangled question is, we must try to clarify; therefore, let us first hear what the Council teaches. Then, let us consider the reception of this teaching.

We are experiencing the wonderful celebration of the Sending of the Holy Spirit – Pentecost. Initially, it was a pleasant holiday in Jewish culture – celebrating the wheat harvest. In connection with Jesus’ departure to heaven and the sending of the Comforter Spirit, we can safely say that it is also a harvest festival, but this time not of wheat, but of gifts and of the Church that is being born. If we were looking at the beginning of the Church, it was precisely Pentecost when the apostles appeared in public for the first time, and the first followers were added to them. It is no longer the example of Jesus but the word of the Comforter, which attracts into the arms of the new family of God’s children those who long for fulfillment, for the meaning of life, and for God.

The Holy Spirit is one of the persons of the Holy Trinity, as important as the Father and the Son. Yet, it is a divine person who is often neglected by Christians and needs to be given more importance and attention. And without him, we would not have the gifts we receive, entirely undeservedly. Without the Holy Spirit, God would be unreachable far from us; Christ would be only a thing of the past; the Gospel a dead manuscript; the Church would be only some organization; the authority would mean domination, missionary mission only propaganda. But with the Holy Spirit, the universe lives and is not only in pain; the resurrected Christ is present among us, the Gospel is the power of life, the Church means community, authority is voluntary service, and missionary mission is the celebration of the Holy Spirit.

The Church has existed for 2000 years, despite everything it has been through, despite all the mistakes that Christians have made and are making, despite all the persecutions either from their members or from others. But what holds it, what sanctifies it, is the Holy Spirit himself. We have also had the Holy Scriptures for a long time, and generation after generation, it can appeal again to those who bow down in humility and allow themselves to be inspired by it. The Holy Spirit is still active. From him come all the charisma and gifts we need for the Christian life and serving others. And yet, in the Church and our lives, the Holy Spirit is always somewhere in the background because we do not ask him for help. Jesus wants many difficult things from us, but we try to handle everything independently. We remember Only when we fail, but it’s usually too late; it has nothing to do with responsible and trusting reliance on God; that’s human calculation.

We try to live holy, but we fail. Furthermore, we try not to sin, but we can’t. Likewise, we strive to live according to the requirements of Scripture, to live the Gospel with our lives, but we fail. We try to be good mothers, good fathers, good Christians, but without success. The reason is straightforward: we try to do it ourselves with strength. We do not ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to come and give us strength to do what we are not good at.

Once upon a time, there was a man who watered the garden. A huge boulder stood in the middle of the garden. The man called his son and asked him to roll the boulder away. He knew very well that he was asking for a deed far beyond the powers of a small boy. Little Joseph leaned against the boulder to roll it away but without success. The boulder was too heavy for him. He thought, “How is it possible Father wants something from me that I am not good enough for? Then he turned to his father and said: “Dad, I can’t do it.” The father looked at little Joseph and replied: “Joseph, you forgot something important. Look, I’m here with you. But you forgot to ask me for help.”

And so the question arises: Do you want to get help? “Do you want to penetrate the depths of God”? (cf. 1 Cor 2:10) Do you want to know God even more? (Not only with reason and theory, but with the whole person). Do you want to understand Scripture? Do you want to see the real presence of God in your life? Do you want to become light for others and salt for this earth? Do you long for healing, fulfillment, forgiveness, and acceptance? Do you long to meet love? Then open your heart wide and invite Him in. But you have to want it, not just wishfully dream about it.

Talking about the Holy Spirit is a very demanding and challenging task. It is like explaining the secret of the Trinity of God; when a person thinks that he knows something and has managed to grasp something, he finds out how far he is from the truth. The Holy Spirit is the person who moves the universe; he is the untouchable giver of all good. To know Him means to meet Him and experience Him in oneself. I wish each of us could do it. Only one thing is needed: invite Him into your life and not pretend you can handle most things alone.

In each of the four Gospels, Jesus is mentioned as the one who came to baptize with the Holy Spirit. He poured out the Spirit of God on God’s people to fulfill  prophecy. At the end of his life, Jesus began to speak more about the gift of the Spirit, whom he came to send. At that time, for the first time, he spoke openly about the Father, about love and  unity that would characterize his disciples. The connection between these three  things is obvious. Jesus even went so far as to tell his disciples  that it was better if he departed from them bodily so they might have the Spirit. After  crucifixion and resurrection were his last words: …but in a few days, ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost …the Holy Ghost shall come upon your  Spirit, you will receive power and be witnesses to me… (Acts 1:8) 

They waited and prayed. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. They spoke in  tongues, praising God and proclaiming the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins as Jesus had commanded them.  They experienced for themselves what Jesus spoke to them about. Furthermore, they experienced a new relationship with Jesus and a new  knowledge of the Father. It was the result of the Father and the Son indwelling through the Spirit 

Holy Spirit in their hearts. They were working in and through them in the proclamation of the gospel and confirming it by the signs which the Son had promised. The disciples experienced the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit in abundance. They possessed great peace, joy, and confidence. They knew until they were and who was working through them.  The apostle Peter, in his sermon that day, recorded in Acts 2,  makes it clear that anyone can gain what the disciples have gained. It’s supposed to be the regular part of Christianity and the average conversion experience. Consequently, this outpouring of the Spirit becomes the standard expectation and experience of Christianity. 

Twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul meets a group of disciples from Ephesus. He asks them just one question to ascertain if they are Christians: Have you also received the Holy Spirit, when you believed? (Acts 19:2). When he finds out that they did not, he tells them about Jesus baptized them, laid his hands on them, and “the Holy Spirit came upon them; and  Spoke with tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:6). 

The teaching of Jesus and the experience of the early Church point to a prominent and influential reception of the Holy Spirit as the key to understanding and experiencing Jesus and the Father.  They point to the clear and concrete experience of a Person who acts in concrete work, bringing concrete results. Christians who have yet to have this experience have been instructed. Those who have had this experience have been praying   to receive them. 

The Word and Spirit of God have been actively manifested throughout all stages of salvation history. Their relationship with the Father, however, was revealed gradually. At Pentecost, God completed the revelation of Himself as Father, as Son, and as Spirit. The mystery, concealed for ages, was revealed, and its power spread to the ends of the earth. How is this revelation related to God, with our times today?  Among the approximately one billion people who belong to the various Christian churches, many millions do not experience what should be expected of the Christian life. 

They are baptized as babies and often grow up in an environment that is not.  Christian. Few of them come to adulthood to affirm the baptismal fact.  A personal decision for Christ and an adequate reception of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The rite of Confirmation, which in many churches is such a confirmation  decision in adulthood, is typically celebrated after inadequate preparation and with little  expectations. The consequence is that many Christians are unaware of the work of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has only a vague knowledge of Jesus and the Father. If their apostle Paul had asked: “Did you also receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They would have answered like the disciples of Ephesus: “We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  I would now like to share with you a conversation I had with Mary  Trapp is the well-known character from the film With a Song Around the World. Translation of her autobiographical novel Sing in My Arms, publishing after she had experienced the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit in her life. It will enlighten us about many things that we consider.

Two words appear more often than usual in public spaces these days—law and Justice. The times when society in search of Justice is subjected to the confusion of overly complicated laws repeat themselves cyclically throughout history. In ancient Rome, there was a well-known sign: “Too much law, not enough justice!”

A good law is a gift, so we use the word lawgiver. However, the law can also try to silence the truth and rape Justice. Blindfold, sword, and scales are attributes of Justice. It should be impartial, judge objectively, and have the power to punish. At its service is a prosecutor, a defense attorney, and a judge. They are all very fragile parts of an apparatus with power, and power is temptation. One of them is the tendency to listen to the crowd’s call.

Let’s not forget the crowd shouting: “Barnabas!” or “Christians ad leones!” Not so long ago, the judicial apparatus sent many of the now-blessed to the hell of prisons and labor camps. Gustáv Husák also found himself in that hell together with them, which is why he belonged to the presidents who generously granted pardons and amnesties. 

It is no coincidence that one of the works of corporal mercy is the redemption of prisoners. We often rely on God’s mercy and believe in forgiveness. God has given us a gift in the form of a conscience that admonishes us. Let’s use this Lenten season to talk to him.

A senior Prison and Judicial Guard Corps officer once told me that people convicted of an unintentional crime fall into two groups. The first one is in prison for no reason because the most significant punishment is the voice of their conscience for life, and the second one will wait out the sentence because she has no conscience…

Joy and happiness.

“How happy a person could be if he didn’t have to think about being happy.”Aldous Huxley “

The more a person cares about pleasure (joy and happiness), the more this is for him, delight (joy and happiness) escapes.”V. E. Frankl.“

Just as pleasure is not the same as giving meaning to a person and his life, neither is it lack of pleasure does not make life meaningless.”V. E. Frankl

The words “joy” and “happiness” have two different meanings. The first refers to situations that occur without our fault. An example, could be a lottery win. The second meaning speaks of joy and happiness related to what we do. An example can be the care of a garden or your child. We’ll be fine here about this second meaning of joy and happiness.

Joy.

Let’s start with the joy of reaching the Goal. If the group succeeds in climbing a wall, reaching the top of a mountain, etc., they will appear together with fatigue and a feeling of joy and happiness. Who has yet to experience it? It’s hard to understand; it goes to Artists — painters, graphic artists, sculptors, composers, writers, poets, actors, builders, etc. He talks about the joy of the finished work.

The joy of a tourist brand. You don’t even need to reach the top of the mountains. And yet we can experience joy when, after a moment of uncertainty, whether we are going the right way on the trip; suddenly, we see a tourist road, a sign that assures us that we are going the right way to the set Goal.

Joy as a byproduct. For the climbers, it was not about pleasure and luck. They wanted to reach the top. The joy that is achieved reached its peak; it was a byproduct. It was the same with tourists in search of a brand.

HAVE SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR

Where does the road lead to joy and luck?  A goal gives a focus (orientation) to a life path. That’s how this journey becomes meaningful. Joy and happiness emerge as a byproduct of approaching the Goal or achieving it.

Example: Architect L. K worked on a challenging project. He was working, literally, “day and night.” When it was finally his turn, failures managed to solve several problems, and the project was successfully finished, he sat down and looked at what he had created, feeling deep happiness and joy. He almost didn’t want to believe what he had in front of him and what he was looking at. Is..just” his work.

Dead-end street. Why take a detour? Why not take it for luck and joy directly? It shows that, in this way, it is possible to make happiness and joy a goal. At the same time, however, it turns out that a person is then like that. Who tries to walk straight through an avalanche of stones literally up the slope?

Joy and happiness

V. E. Frankl speaks in this connection — where we want to go to happiness and joy directly — about the so-called hyperreflection. He understands her, thinking too intensely about what we want to achieve. At the same time, he talks about hyperintention, which is too intense an effort. We know that these psychological processes do not help our efforts, but the opposite holds her back. And so it happens that the one who wants to be “very happy” is ultimately unhappy, and the one who wants to experience ..great joy” is ultimately disappointed. Joy and happiness are not unique experiences of this kind. This regularity also applies to recognition, self-realization, etc. As soon as they become a goal in themselves, they disappear into the distance. A false path to joy and happiness Goal… Goal of effort a … the way to the Goal c …false path (shortcut) to joy (R) and to happiness (S).

This path despises, neglects, etc., heading to meaningful goals and, therefore, fails to achieve true joy and happiness. The negative impact of a false trip. We strive for joy and happiness “We’re done with it,” and finally, we confess to the author of the book of Proverbs ..vanity over vanity, everything is vanity.” Psychologists today detect a whole range of feelings of futility in those 10 of people who strive for the impossible — to achieve direct joy and happiness on the way He talks about neuroses, phobias. obsessions. Prejudices, hostility… Let’s listen. What’s one of the most famous says about it psychologists: .. Neuroses, phobias, obsession, prejudices etc. Are the best defined as a person’s stubborn focus on themselves.”

Søren Kierkegaard suggests a hopeful way out of an otherwise dead-end situation. He says: ..the door to happiness opens outwards.” Go out, from myself and from a dominant interest only in making me feel good. And what will happen then, V. E. Frankl expresses it succinctly: ..If it succeeds bringing a person to a meaningful life, it is easier and faster then gets rid of neurons.” And that’s what the representative of the third Viennese school of nurse psychotherapy, says, an expert who spent his full life helping people escape such an unpleasant state.

The joy of contrast. For one characteristic joy and happiness, we want to draw your attention to a conclusion.

Happiness often appears in opposition to the opposite.

Example: The joy of traveling comes after we have been confined at home and were not allowed to go anywhere. The joy of home we enjoy afterward. since we have been away from home for a long time,  they could.