When British Prime Minister Arthur Neville Chamberlain arrived from negotiations in Munich, he was happy to show the treaty of the agreement, which was Munich’s betrayal, and the agreement became a scrap of paper. When God made a covenant with Abraham, he said to him: I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger; the whole land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. Then God said to Abraham: “But you also shall keep my covenant, and your seed after you throughout all generations.”

God decided to make a one-sided, eternal covenant to be the God of Abraham and his seed. Israel did not keep the covenant; God did. However, this nation went through various tragedies due to its unfaithfulness, such as Assyrian and Babylonian captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem. Subsequently, the country was scattered all over the world by the Romans, survived the Holocaust, and is still here. God protects it even though, as a nation, it did not accept God’s son as the Messiah.

Jesus said to the Jews and us, “Truly, truly, I say to you: Whoever keeps my word will never see death.” It is his promise (covenant) for us as well. For Israel, it is the promise of constant protection and existence; for us, it is the promise of eternal life. Israel did not accept the Messiah. What about us? That’s why we ask. What do we do with the received word of Jesus, and what does it mean to keep it? – To carry God’s word in the heart, mind, and memory. That is, returning to it and constantly refreshing it. In this way, the word of Jesus will be alive in us and bring life that nothing can overcome, not even death.

Today, the Lord addresses the Jews with harsh words. And not just anyone, but “those Jews who believed in him” (John 8:31). This dialogue of Jesus undoubtedly reflects the difficulties the Jewish Christians caused in the Church’s beginnings. Since the Jews were descendants of Abraham by kinship, they considered themselves superior not only to the Gentiles who did not believe but also to all non-Jewish disciples of the same faith. They say: “We are Abraham’s seed” (John 8:33); “Our father is Abraham” (v. 39); “We have only one father, God” (v. 41).

Even though they are Jesus’ disciples, Jesus seems to mean nothing to them that could add to their noble origin. However, this is where they could have done better. The true sons of God are not those according to physical descent, but the promised heirs are those who believe (cf. Rom 9:6-8). With faith in Jesus, anyone can achieve the Abrahamic promise. Since this is so, among the disciples, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for they are all one in Christ Jesus” (cf. Gal 3, 27-28).

We, too, can be tempted to be led astray by spiritual pride. We don’t need to talk about our relationship with other religions; let us think only about our own Church. How often do some of us consider ourselves to be better Catholics than others just because we are part of this or that movement, follow this or that discipline, or pray different prayers or devotions? Some may promote themselves because they are rich, others because they have studied more.

Some are because they hold important positions and others. After all, they come from wealthy families. Therefore, let us remain in truth and service to others, which brings true freedom and inner transformation so that we can grow in righteousness and holiness. “I would like each of us to feel the joy of being a Christian… God leads his Church; he is her support, especially in difficult times” (Benedict XVI).

Thoughts for today’s Gospel:

Knowing the truth brings freedom in the form of inner transformation. This transformation is, therefore, a spiritual process in which a person grows in righteousness and holiness › St. John Paul II.

The more a person does good, the more accessible he becomes. There is no true freedom without service to goodness and justice › Catechism of the Catholic Church.

St. Joseph was chosen by God as the bridegroom of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the foster-father of his only-begotten Son, as the head, breadwinner, and guardian of the Holy Family. Today the Church worships and invokes St. Joseph also as his heavenly patron, as his special protector and intercessor with God. St. Joseph was born in Bethlehem.

Although he was one of the descendants of King David, he was very poor. He moved to Nazareth, probably for work. There, the Holy Scriptures mention him already as a mature man. He was a carpenter. That’s why they also called Jesus the carpenter’s son. In Nazareth, he became engaged to a girl named Maria. According to the Jewish custom of the time, an engagement was already considered a marriage, but the betrothed did not live together for a year. The Holy Scriptures say that the Virgin Mary was already betrothed to Joseph when the Archangel Gabriel announced to her that she would become the Mother of God.

However, the secret of the Son of God was to remain hidden from people. Even Joseph did not know about him at first. When Joseph noticed that Mary, who was engaged to him, was in a blessed state, although they had not yet lived together, he wanted to release her secretly, that is, give her a release letter, where the reason for the release should also be stated. Josef did not think about an official, that is, a public release, because he was convinced of Mary’s innocence. In a dream, the Lord’s angel urged Joseph not to be afraid to accept Mary, his wife, because what was conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and he will name him Jesus. Here, God’s secret and God’s plan are revealed to us: Joseph, the Nazareth carpenter, Mary’s groom, will be Jesus’ father before the Israeli law, thereby saving Mary’s honor and taking care of her and Jesus.

This was the main cause and purpose of Joseph’s marriage to Mary. We can imagine how much Mary would have suffered from people if it wasn’t for Joseph! Mary would not have been able to refer to the secret of the angels announcing that she conceived Jesus, overshadowed by the power of the Most High. The world wouldn’t believe her. Even Jesus would find it difficult to perform publicly if he could be accused of an illegal origin! Thus, before the world and before the law, Joseph was Mary’s husband and Jesus’ father. The honor and good name of Mary and Jesus were saved. In addition, Mary and the baby Jesus needed a provider and a protector.

About the size of St. Joseph is expressed by St. Augustine as follows: “In heaven, not all are holy in the same way, they do not shine with the same light: the brightness and magnitude of these stars of paradise also depend on whether they are more or less close to the Sun of righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, and to the Immaculate moon, which is the most holy Virgin Mary.

Among all the stars of heaven, among all the saints of paradise, no one can be closer to Jesus and Mary than St. Joseph, since he is the foster-father of one and the purest bridegroom of the other. And it is precisely on this double dignity, which heaven grants him, that his superiority and exaltation over all holy and blessed spirits is based”.

Pope Francis, who has been criticizing armaments since the beginning of his pontificate and who has been expressing support for Ukraine almost every week for two years now, mentioned several causes of the war. The main Russophiles do not take note but repeat what the Pope was wrong about. This was gradually proven by Putin, whose war caused enormous damage not only to Ukraine but also to Russians and people with low incomes all over the world. This is also shown by a brief calculation of Russian losses and the costs of the war.

The Soviet Union, ruled by Communists from Moscow, whose collapse Putin describes as the greatest disaster of the 20th century, expanded its territory by forcibly occupying other states, whose territory it then Russified. Mainly when Stalin and Hitler divided Europe, and then Moscow occupied the Baltic states. The USSR collapsed in 1991 due to its economic incompetence caused by the communists. After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine renounced nuclear weapons, and Russia, in 1994, committed to guaranteeing its freedom, independence, and territorial integrity. (Budapest Memorandum)

In 2013-14, mass protests began in Ukraine after President Yanukovych rejected the association process with the European Union. The topic of grand corruption was also added. After weeks of protests, the parliament removed him from office. (similar change to our November 1989) In November 2016, Yanukovych admitted that he had written a letter to Putin with a request to send Russian troops to Ukraine. Then, in 2014, Russia forcibly occupied Crimea and Donbas, effectively starting the current war. (around 1900, 53% of Ukrainians and 28% of Russians lived in Donbass. More here: Donbas.

Putin got away with it because the sanctions were weak, they were not enforced, and the West still naively believed that good relations with Russia would be achieved through mutually beneficial trade. Putin evaluated it in such a way that he could afford to occupy Ukraine militarily, install a pro-Russian non-democratic government in Kyiv, as in Belarus, and tear off another territory. On February 24, 2022, he ordered the attack. He miscalculated because the Ukrainians began to defend themselves successfully, and the free West supported them militarily. The biggest war in Europe since the end of World War II began.

Destroyed lives and families

The greatest tragedy is the destroyed human lives. According to qualified estimates from September 2023, Russian military losses are approaching 300,000. This includes 120,000 dead and 170,000 to 180,000 wounded soldiers. Ukrainian losses are estimated at nearly 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded. Since then, the death toll has risen. According to a January 2024 estimate by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, including 587 children. On the 2nd anniversary, President Zelenskyi said that Ukraine has 31,000 soldiers killed, and the with the fact that the actual number may be twice as high. Putin and his Verchuška caused the most immense slaughter of Slavs after Hitler.

For a long time, Russia has had many more abortions, murders, and suicides than the EU. Putin’s propagandist, political scientist Rostislav Išenko, on the state TV Russia Today about the Ukrainian victims of the war: “We count it dry. 100,000. 300,000, half a million. I don’t feel any sadness about it; quite the contrary. The more we kill, the closer the end of the war is.” Russland verstärk Angriffe auf Ukraine: Entrüstung nach Propaganda-Aussage  • Russia’s average offensive war losses in February 2024 were 983 people a day – Those sent to death by Putin to murder Ukrainians and steal their freedom and territory.

In two years, the Russians attacked medical facilities more than 1,500 times despite international agreements.   

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop Šefchuk says how Russian aggression destroys families. “The Russians kidnapped 20,000 children from Ukraine… We also have 35,000 missing soldiers.” He quotes a devastated woman: “Am I a widow? Should I pray for my husband as a living person or as a dead person?”… “Today, most families are divided because men are in the army and women with children have left the city or even the country.” There are 4.5 million refugees in Europe alone; others are displaced in Ukraine. “The worst months of my life” – children taken from Ukraine, Eduard Buraš, who is dedicated to helping Ukraine, describes in an interview. Children carry the war with them; they have empty eyes and are afraid of the screeching of trams.

Persecution of the Church

The Russians also destroyed more than 600 temples and church buildings and abolished religious freedom. (Statement of the Chairman of the IRFBA on two years of Russian aggression against Ukraine accompanied by abuse, killing of priests, and destruction of places of worship here: In the occupied territories, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was pushed underground, Senior Archbishop Shevchuk explained. “There are no more Catholic priests in this part of Ukraine. We received information that our people in Donetsk went to pray in the church every Sunday even without a priest, but the church was confiscated and the doors were closed. In the occupied territories around Zaporizhzhia, the Russian authorities issued a special decree banning the existence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and confiscating our property. That’s why people pray in their homes, and if they can, they participate in our services via the Internet.”

The ongoing imprisonment also reminds the danger faced by Catholics in occupied Ukraine of fathers Ivan Levický and Bohdan Heleta, who were arrested in November 2022. “Are they alive or dead? We have not received any news since their arrest. “They dragged Jaroslavovič out of the house barefoot, with a bag on his head. Later, they came and took his wife to identify him,”. I wrote about how a Slovak priest was kidnapped a year ago here. He died in the ruins of the church. A six-year-old girl and her grandfather were killed in the village of Veliki Burluk near Kupinask.

But some misguided Christians still proclaim Putin the savior of Christian culture and justify his aggression. 

Kremlin against Ukraine

The Russians occupied 42,000 km2 of Ukrainian territory until the invasion on February 24, 2022. Then, another 119,000 km2, which is 27% of Ukraine. In 2022, the Ukrainians regained 74,500 km2, leaving over 14% of the territory of Ukraine under Russian control. (Note – Hitler and the Hungarians took away 20% of Slovakia’s territory through the Vienna Arbitration) The Russians devastated an even larger territory. A joint report informs it of the Ukrainian government, the World Bank, and the United Nations. Housing, transport, trade, and industry are the most affected. (For comparison – according to the budget for 2024, revenues of the Slovak Republic should be €53.48 billion and expenses €61.32 billion.) The two-year war has so far cost Ukraine more than $19.6 billion in tourism revenue alone…

Under Stalin, Moscow caused a famine in Ukraine that killed 3-6 million people. For months, Moscow planned not only military operations but also how it would steal twelve thousand tons of grain worth a billion dollars a year. This did not work out for the Russians, but Ukrainian grain producers will lose 3.2 billion USD. The war caused food prices to rise worldwide, including in Slovakia.

It contained 300 tons of humanitarian aid, including generators. Shortly before, a transport with 33 pallets of assistance for 660 Ukrainian families arrived at the warehouse. (Caritas. pl)

The Russian government most harms Russians.

Little is said about the price the Russians are paying for the war. Since the end of World War II, no one has harmed the Russians as much as their government. In the material, social, cultural, and moral areas. (Facts here: Now, I will list only part of the material costs and losses from the ongoing war:

The average monthly salary in Russia (2023) is €712. (Slovakia €1,373; Austria, where the communists never ruled, €2,850.) Almost half of the people in Russia do not have enough wages to cover basic expenses. Also, 300,000 people died or were injured in the war, and also because There was a shortage of doctors. Two percent of doctors and health workers went abroad to avoid conscription. In addition, 3,000 medics were mobilized to provide care on the battlefield. In January 2024, the Russian media also published reports of desperate residents of Russian cities who were freezing in their apartments, where they were a few degrees above zero. In some places, there was even ice in the rooms. The reason was cracked water lines that had not been maintained for years when the funds intended for this were stolen corruptly. 

The Church did not invent fasting but merely adopted and developed the fasting practices of Judaism and the ideas of the Greco-Roman world regarding fasting. Judaism knew only one fasting one-day binding on all: the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
But the mark of holiness was to fast twice a week – Monday and Thursday. This is observed by the Pharisee in the Gospel of Luke (18:12). On special occasions or in times of need, public fast days were proclaimed to solicit help from God.
The Jews understood fasting as a supplication to God, a sign that they meant their prayers, and also as repentance and reconciliation. In fasting before God, they confessed their sinfulness and asked for forgiveness and help. The two aspects belong together for the Jews because it is for them; every need is a sign of their disobedience to God. By fasting, they want to return to God. The early Church adopts the practice of two fast days a week. But it consciously separates itself from Judaism by commemorating Christ’s arrest and crucifixion by declaring Wednesday and Friday as fast days. In the East and Spain, Christians also fast on Mondays, and in the West, often on Saturdays in preparation for Sunday. In addition to the not-so-strict weekly fasting, Christians were preparing for Easter by fasting for one or three days, then for the whole of Holy Week, and then, from the end of the third century, for the entire forty days. In the two days immediately before Easter, the perfect abstinence from food was required; on Wednesdays.

On Fridays and during Lent, one ate in the ninth hour (= fifteen hours) or, as St. Benedict prescribes in his Rule, until the evening. The monks, for themselves, the Lenten practice of the universal Church. Many ate only every other day, and others – especially in Lent – fasted for five days and ate only on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, they imposed restrictions on their food choices. They abstained from meat, eggs, milk, cheese, and wine. Their usual fasting food was bread, salt, and water, legumes, herbs, vegetables, dried berries, dates, and figs.
– “Yet the heroes of monastic asceticism preferred …raw food over cooked food. Cooked vegetables had already the character of a festive meal.” (2)
The universal Church forbade the eating of meat and wine during Lent. However, some movements within the Church called for a general abstinence from meat and wine, such as the Manichaeans, the Apotactians, and the Montanists. Against these dualistic tendencies, the Church defended itself by pointing out that all animals and plants were created by God and given to man for his enjoyment and that they were, therefore all good. The Church opposed the ideologizing fasting and the prohibition of certain foods and fought for the freedom that Christ brought us, freedom from the law and all legalistic thinking.
The clash between the Jewish practice of fasting and the practice of some of the Greek world can be felt in the New Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christians are supposed to fast. They have distinguished themselves from the Pharisees, who disfigure their faces
to let people know they are fasting. The disciples are to fast in secret, not before men, but before the Father, and they are to with a cheerful countenance (cf. Mt 6:16-18). It is said of Jesus that he fasted for forty days in the desert. But he does not impress the Pharisees as a man who fasts. On the contrary, he eats and drinks with the people and shares their joy, so much so that they even call him a glutton and a drunkard even his disciples have to take the rebuke, why do they not fast like the Pharisees and John’s disciples? And Jesus answers: “Can the guests at a wedding mourn while the Bridegroom is with them? And the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be absent from them. The Bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast” (Matthew 9:15).
For Jesus, fasting is a sign of mourning. For grief, however. He has no place among his disciples, for in Jesus, the time of salvation and thus of joy has already begun. Now, it is time to let God gift God. This place indicates a dispute between the early Church and Jewish practice. On the one hand. Fasting is overcome by the coming of Jesus as the Messiah; on the other hand, it is not yet final. There is still sin and death. Only when these are finally destroyed will Lent lose its meaning. Now, the disciples are fasting because they are waiting for the Lord. So, their fasting takes on a new meaning. It is no longer a manifestation of grief and repentance but a fast in anticipation of the Lord’s coming.
It has an eschatological meaning. In fasting, Christians confess that salvation is not yet here so that they are entirely penetrated by it. In their fasting, they look back to this salvation to be filled with joy more and more, which, for them, is the joy of the coming of Christ, the joy of the wedding celebrated with them by their divine Bridegroom.
Acts tells us that the community of the local Church fasted before sending Paul and Barnabas. Fasting was in preparation for laying hands before being commissioned to preach (Acts 14:1-3). The Didache, the first non-scriptural Christian text, requires fasting in preparation for baptism. “The baptizer and the baptized and others to whom it is possible, “Let them fast before baptism. Instruct at least the baptizer to fast for a day or two.”

When we talk about God’s justice, we often think of revenge, but God is not like that Not being angry with my brother, even if he has done something to me and some retribution is expected, is fair. That is what God would do in our place.