The mother of Zebedee’s wants for her sons significant places.

Posted on 24. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to the chief priests and the scribes. They condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles to be laughed at, scourged, and crucified, but he rises from the dead on the third day.

The Lord Jesus initiates his twelve disciples into the events immediately before him. It can be said that he confides in his loved ones. If we have someone to confide in with our difficulties and joys and find understanding, it brings us relief and encouragement. Similarly, it is a precious service when we can be trusted listeners and supporters for others. The second, more serious reason for Jesus’ sharing is seen in his efforts to prepare the disciples for what is not yet found in their ideas. He prepares them to accept the path of suffering, ending only with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. In addition to this incredible prediction, however, there is also Jesus’ encouraging warning about his resurrection. Jesus’ prophetic announcement contains not only a shady side, but also an encouraging, soulful one, and this is always important in distinguishing true prophecy from false prophecy.

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons approached him with her sons, bowed down, and begged him for something. He asked her: „What do you want?“

The mother of Zebedee’s sons probably knew what she wanted, but she couldn’t say it openly enough. Jesus’ question leads her to a simple openness. And so should our lifestyle, without ulterior motives, without trying to secure something for our own benefit behind another’s back or even against him.

She said to him, „Tell these two sons of mine to sit in your kingdom, one on your right and the other on your left.“

Mothers can be very ambitious in imagining the future of their children, and they are ready to provide the best they can for them. However, their ideas do not always correspond to the ideas of their children, nor even to those of God, and this must be distinguished. Similarly, it is necessary to know when the mother’s task of representing her children in serious decisions or opportunities ends, and to allow them to assert themselves in life.

Jesus answered: „ You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink from the cup I have to drink from? They said: „We can.“

Human ideas about God’s will for one’s life may seem simple and straightforward, but life is often more complex. Similarly, our answers to God’s challenges can be clear and firm, but their implementation usually proves more difficult. God invites us to try to understand God’s idea of our life as best as possible, and not to force God to fulfill ours. Similarly, a humble request for help to fulfill God’s will in one’s life is related to this, not just wanting to carry it out.

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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C Lk 11,1-11

Posted on 23. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

Don’t be afraid to beg …Every time I read or listen to the Old Testament narrative of Abraham standing before God and literally with him, as a merchant, he bargains for the number of the righteous for whom he will preserve sinful Sodom; again and again two facts appeal to me – on the one hand, the accessibility, generosity and mercy of God, who patiently listens to Abraham’s bargaining and what’s more, approaches them; and at the same time, openness, and from our point of view, perhaps even audacity, Abraham, who, although with respect, but very persistently, soothes the well-deserved wrath of God, over the sinners of Sodom. (Only below the line, in that big city, with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of inhabitants, there were not even ten righteous –that’s a warning. How would we turn out? Would there be at least a few righteous among us, that is, those who live with God and with men according to law, or, if you will, according to God’s law?) The Old Testament story, which teaches that God can be asked at any time for anything, is followed by today’s gospel in terms of content. It begins with prayer, a prayer we all know well. Lord’s Prayer. But still. It sounded somewhat different from what we are used to. We pray (and hopefully more than once a day) the Lord’s Prayer as recorded by the Evangelist Matthew. Does this mean that the evangelist Luke, from whose pen we heard today, was mistaken? Of course not, it is not a mistake, a wrong interpretation, an incorrect transcription of Jesus’ prayer. The gospels are not a stenographic record of Christ’s words, nor are they a historical study, let alone a report from the life of Christ.

Twice in the Gospels, we hear the Lord’s Prayer, and each time it is recited a little differently, but these are not two different prayers. It remains the same prayer with the duplicate content. At Matthew, we find the Lord’s Prayer composed of seven petitions; at Luke, two are missing. Nevertheless, St. Lukáš did not lose anything. Now let’s not compare the linguistic differences between evangelists, but let’s look at the content of this “prayer”. (Tertullian says that the Lord’s Prayer is a kind of summary of the entire gospel.) Luke’s Lord’s Prayer is a kind of compendium of Jesus’ lessons, scattered throughout all the Gospels. It is a model of everything essential that is supposed to characterize Christian prayer.

It begins with SALUTATION – and that is already a sign of the universality of this prayer. It includes all who believe in God (not only Christians, but also Jews, Muslims, Anglicans, and separated Protestant brethren, and generally all people who believe in any way). For us, for everyone, God is our Father; no one can just appropriate that – we say Father OUR, not Father mine, or Father of Christians. Even when we pray as individuals, we pray on behalf of the whole human family to God the Father. That is the universal dimension, and at the same time, the salutation and the entire prayer in general also have a very personal dimension. For we should not overlook the beautiful fact that Jesus does not use the word “our FATHER” (which sounds rather mechanical and impersonal), but that Jesus’ ABBA, with which he addresses his and our Father, sounds translated as our “Papa”!

I will not go into the interpretation of this prayer of all prayers (countless theological and spiritual treatises have been written about it), but only the composition of this prayer. Five petitions follow the invocation of the Father, the order of which is certainly not random. First, we ask that the name of the living God be sanctified – the name of God will and must always remain HOLY! In the next petition, “Thy kingdom come”, we ask that God’s reign on this earth be manifested through peace, justice, and reconciliation.

At the same time, we ask for the coming of this kingdom – the kingdom towards which we are all moving, more or less consciously. The kingdom of God is the goal of our life’s direction; it would make no sense to long for any other goal and fulfillment in our lives. What follows is a request for what we need for our lives here and now, on an earth where, through our sin, we are creating a place of chaos, tension and unjust misery, whether material or spiritual, instead of God’s order and harmony. Therefore, we ask for daily bread (which is the fruit of God’s blessing on our labor) and for forgiveness of our guilt (which requires that we forgive others). And finally, we ask God that we do not succumb to the onslaught of evil in our – unfortunately, so numerous – temptations.

Jesus, after giving the disciples this treasure of the Lord’s Prayer, adds a parable about a person harassing his friend in the middle of the night. The interpretation of this example of Christ is twofold. The first, which picks up the insistence of the supplicant; the second, which emphasizes the unwilling, but still the help of the desired. The first interpretation is older, most vol. Fathers and ascetic interpreters of Scripture use it as proof of the necessity of persistent prayer. (If you are persistent in prayer, if you are equally persistent, God will surely hear you.) In Christ’s parable, however, it is not primarily about the perseverance of prayer, but about the certainty of being heard by the Father. The main person is not a supplicant at a closed door, but a friend who complies with the night’s request. (To understand this interpretation, you need to know Jewish customs and rules. For it was unthinkable that the Israelite of that time should deny his fellow-tribe hospitality, even if it were under the most challenging circumstances. However, it is easy to imagine that he complied reluctantly, without the noble motivation of friendship, just for his intrusiveness and insistence.)

So the main idea of this evangelical example is this: „When a person who is disturbed in his sleep and has certain difficulties in complying hears a neighbor’s request, how much more surely the almighty and benevolent God, whose supplications can never lead us into difficulty, and who even ENCOURAGES us, will hear EVERY request and prayer of ours! For constant prayer. Has not that exceedingly comforting and encouraging word come out of the mouth of Christ: „Beg and you will receive; seek, and you will find; beat, and it will open to you. For everyone who pleads receives, and whoever seeks finds, and whoever knocks, to him will open up…!“ My dears, these words do not need further comment; they only need our faith and prayer. Let’s not be afraid to beg, let’s not hesitate to beat, let’s keep looking. The words of Christ’s promise never cease to apply; it is up to us to take them seriously and not be shy to beg as insistently as Abraham, or as that nameless friend, at God’s door. After all, Christ called us friends and God accepted us as his children in baptism. Is it conceivable that God would not fulfill the wishes of his children, mainly if he addresses them with such an intimate address? „daddy

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St.Sarbel Machluf

Posted on 23. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

July 24, non-binding monument

Position:

priest, hermit

Deaths:

1898

BIOGRAPHY

He came from Lebanon. He became a humble and ascetic religious figure in Anna. In 1859, he received priestly ordination in Berne. He excelled in hard work and adoration and proved himself very well in serving people. He later lived as a hermit. Since he was always perfectly obedient to his superior, he performed many wonders. These continued at his grave even after death.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MEDITATION

A WILDERNESS FROM LEBANON

He was born on the 8th. 5. 1828 in the Lebanese village of Beka’kafra and was baptized according to a Maronite rite named Youssef. He had five older siblings. At the age of three, their father died, and Uncle Tonios took over the care of their poor peasant family. The other two uncles were hermits at Kouzhaya and begged their family for the necessary graces.

Despite the hardships that befell the family, Youssef grew up in a peaceful environment where one lived according to one’s faith. He attended Mass daily and soon began to engage in private, inner prayer with his Lord. As he gained more knowledge, he liked to express his thoughts in verse. At the age of sixteen, he began to see this life as a dream from which he would wake up at death.

Once he met a monk in pasture, from whom he learned about religious life, and who finally told him: “By prayer, you will soon win the peace you desire. But you have to bring it to other people, too, and you have to heal them out of despair and delusion.” Youssef then took those words to heart as a task from God.

At the age of 23, one Sunday evening, he secretly left his native house. He went barefoot to the monastery of Our Lady of Manifold in Anna ya, where, after a conversation with the superior, he was accepted and became a novice. The family that sought him out in the monastery attempted to dissuade him from his spiritual vocation without success.

Youssef was given the religious name Sharbel. He excelled in humility; he did not justify himself for the wrong in the stress tests, but he even offered everything painful to God with the excuse that he could give him so little. He sought an ascetic life, and therefore asked the superior for the most challenging work possible. Due to his good health, he was granted. He was taller, with a thin figure, and wore the same clothing, sandals on his feet, in both summer and winter. He draped his scrounged fur over the kutna only at the behest of his superiors. Likewise, he was attentive to unconditional obedience, extremely modest in his eating habits, and wished others well. Furthermore, he renounced meat permanently and slept little, as he spent a considerable part of the night in prayer.

About a year or two after the end of his novitiate, Sharbel was sent to study theology at the monastery of St. Cyprian in Klan. He took the task of education very seriously, saying, “It must all serve my brethren.” He became a connoisseur of morality and is said to have excelled teachers in many subjects.

In April 1859, he received priestly ordination in Bkerke. After returning to the monastery, he zealously continued his unusually ascetic life. He also hid the symptoms of kidney disease. One way of his penitence was by wearing a wire shirt. The reason he still offered sacrifices to God was love. He was very persistent in adoration, after joint midnight prayers he stayed daily before the tabernacle.

At the age of 36, he applied for permission to live a hermit life in solitude. However, the superior did not comply with him and instead entrusted him with visits to families and serving the sick by administering the sacraments.

Sharbel thus became a wandering monk, bringing the most important thing – peace, love, healing. God’s providence crossed his path with those who were despairing and seeking. In the region, converts increased and piety deepened. Sharbel’s speech was very simple, but often urgent and warm.

In the evening, Sharbel went to the kitchen to beg for lamp oil so that he could continue his activities. There, once a servant tried to make a joke out of him and poured water into his lamp instead of oil. Unsuspectingly, Sharbel lit the lamp in his cell and continued to work. Before midnight, the superior came to reprimand him for wrongdoing against the order, of which he was not aware. Due to the need to save oil, all the lamps should have been extinguished a long time ago. Priest Sharbel humbly accepted the rebuke, but later the servant confessed what he had done. It was discovered that the priest had been shining plain water for over four hours, and the wick was soaked with water; there was still water in the lamp.

The superior then gave a message to the patriarch. After this incident, Sharbel received the desired permission to visit the hermitage of St. Peter and Paul, located about half an hour from the monastery. He called his hermitage a “country residence” and converted part of the surrounding land into a garden. He slept on a straw bale of oak leaves and bark, with part of the trunk under his head.

Once there was a locust raid, and the monastery garden was in danger of significant damage. At that time, Superior called on Sharbel to protect the garden from imminent harm. He obediently went, prayed in front of the chapel, and then walked through the garden and the field, sprinkling it with a boxwood twig and a container of holy water. And the locusts flew away.

At the insistence of the people, the superiors were again sent to wander among them and offer blessings. It happened then that Shebrail Saba of Ihm esh went mad and became a sadist. Sharbel approached him and spoke softly to him: “Sebrail, why did you do evil? It is so easy to have God as a friend. You suffered and people thought you were evil! They don’t understand your behavior! Remember your first Holy Communion, the prayers and the love that burned your heart at that time. You seek your pleasure too far away, but you have it with you in prayer.” Then he uttered a verse from the gospel, and the young man rose transformed entirely. At other times, during periods of shortage, Superior ordered Sharbel to provide sufficient food for everyone, and the reservoirs were then replenished mysteriously.

Wonders around Sharbel Machlúf increased. As he grew older, others worked around the hermitage, and he had an assistant since 1896. Two years later, in mid-December, he contracted a cold and then passed out at the altar after being transformed. Makarius took him to the cell, and then he managed to get up and finish the liturgy. He suffered greatly, but he sacrificed his whole life for it. Shortly before Christmas Day, he received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. His last words included prayer: “Father of truth, Your Son is a propitiatory sacrifice. His blood pours out for me. Accept my sacrifice.” During a subsequent stroke 24. 12. 1898 died.

After his funeral, some people stayed at the grave until nightfall and saw a bright glow emerge from it. In the following days, people learned that a kind friend who had gone into God’s arms continued to help them.

After 23 years, the downpours ravaged the monastery cemetery, and therefore it was decided to raise the remains of Father Šarbel. His body was discovered in the mud, covered with a thick layer of mold. After its removal, the body appeared completely intact, even without signs of rigor mortis. When they put him in a coffin in one of the cells, he looked asleep. In the morning, however, they said they found a polluted corpse again, squealing with sweat. After a new wash, the sweat was repeated, but the body’s defiance against the law of nature persisted.

The burial in the monastery crypt took place on the 24th of [month]. 7. 1927. In February 1950, a monk noticed a thick pale red liquid seeping between the stones. After opening the tomb, it was found that the reddish myro flowed out of the body, undisturbed by decomposition. Miracle healings of pilgrims then began to take place in the place. It is reported that the blind saw, the deaf heard, and the paralyzed walked. Sinners turned and believers left strengthened in faith. The grave became a place of pilgrimage not only for Catholics, but also for Orthodox and Mohammedans.

In June 1950, a religious figure from Lebanon, accompanied by four of his students, was photographed at Šarbel’s hermitage. In the developed picture, the figure of Father Šarbel, who was said to have never been photographed during his lifetime, was seen standing in front of the group.

Šarbel Machlúf was Pope Paul VI. beatified on 5. 12.1965 and 9. 10. 1977 canonized.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER

Today, I will reflect on what my task is from God, with what attitude, and how satisfactorily I fulfill it.

God, You called Your holy priest Sharbel to extraordinary discipline amid the desert’s austerity, and You filled his heart with all virtue. Please give us that we too may follow Christ in His suffering on the cross and attain His eternal kingdom. We ask this through Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, for he lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit throughout the ages of ages.

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Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene John 20,1-2, 11-18

Posted on 21. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

I’m Marie. They call me Mary Magdalene. I know, I’ve made many mistakes in my life. I insulted God with my sins. I was weak, fragile, and troubled. I couldn’t get out of it. I thought no one would help me anymore. And then He came. Jesus entered my life. I had the grace to live at that time when the „Word became the Body“, when God came into the world in the Son, in Jesus. He set me free and banished seven evil spirits from me. After this encounter with Jesus, my life changed. Not just for a moment, he changed forever. Since then, I have always wanted to be close to him, to spend time with him, and listen to him. His word reached the heart. His words changed people. His word healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out evil spirits. His word was Spirit and life.  I accompanied him during his mission in Israel, together with the other women, I helped him as much as I could.

When Jesus was captured, I experienced fear. I didn’t know how it would end. But even then, I wanted to be with him. As the evangelist St. writes about me. John – I was under the cross with the Virgin Mary, and I cried. My heart was very saddened by the sight of Jesus doing the work of redemption, all wounded. I was unaware of it at the time. I thought it was over. I was also at Jesus’ funeral and saw his lifeless body being placed in the grave.

On the first day of the week, I went to the grave to anoint his body with oil. But the stone was rolled away. I ran to Peter and Jan and told them about it. They went there and saw that it was as I told them. That’s when I saw the man I was about to meet at the grave; she thought he was a gardener. I felt so until he addressed me by my name: Marie. That’s when I met him; I knew he was Jesus. That he is my Jesus, whom I love so much. My heart was filled with great joy that the one my soul loves lives. I immediately went to announce this joy to the other disciples: I saw the Lord.  Reflecting on my life now, I can divide it into two distinct parts.

1st life before I met Jesus
2nd life after I met Jesus

I want to tell you all: God never breaks a stick over you. He will not break the broken reed and put out the smoldering wick. Jesus entered my miserable life full of sin and set me free. And so I could start a new life—a new life as a beloved child of God.

I know life is hard, and Jesus wants to help you live it with Him. Obey him in what he tells you through the Holy Scriptures, through your bishops, priests, and deacons. Receive him often in the Eucharist, because the Eucharist is the source and peak of the entire Christian life. Adore him, thank him, ask him for mercy, ask him for forgiveness. Jesus was thinking of you then at Golgotha, nailed to the cross by your sins.

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God is manifested through silence.

Posted on 20. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry wrote: You will not receive any sign, because the God from whom you ask for a sign manifests itself precisely in silence. An interesting idea that could be the motto of thinking about today’s word of God. In the book of Exodus, we read: They told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; Pharaoh and his servants changed their attitude towards the people and said: „What have we done, that we have dismissed Israel from our service?!“ Why did he change his decision and have a hardened heart even though he had experienced so many signs from Moses?! He did not consider the signs that God wanted to reveal to him through them, but instead invited the Egyptian sorcerers to perform a similar act.

How does Moses calm the people? He said to the people: „ Don’t be afraid! Stand firm and see how the Lord will save you today. The Egyptians, you see now will never be seen again. The Lord will fight for you, and you will be silent.“ Moses tells the fearful people that they must be quiet so that they may learn to know God and thus recognize God’s signs in silence. Not only did the Egyptians and the Old Testament people have problems with the signs, but also some scribes and Kori Pharisees said to Jesus: „ Teacher, we want to see some sign from you.“ And they didn’t get them! They could not be silent, but reflect on the words and deeds of the Lord Jesus. Why will the Níinivians precede them to the kingdom of God?  For they repented of Jonah’s preaching, and here is someone greater than Jonah! What is repentance if not stopping, listening to God’s voice (this time through Jonas)?

Why will the Queen of the South judge them? Because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and here is someone greater than Solomon!“ I underline the word listen again! To listen is to be quiet! Where, in what, did Elijah know God, and how did he appear to him? He said to him: Come out and stand on the mountain before the Lord! The Lord was passing by. Before the Lord went, the wind, significant and violent, which tears the mountains and breaks the rocks. But the Lord was not in the wind. An earthquake downwind, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake and fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And a quiet, delicious noise after the fire. When Elijah heard this, he covered his face with a cloak, went out, and stopped at the entrance of the cave. (1 Kr 19, 11-13). So what about those signs? You will not receive any sign, because God, from whom you ask for a sign, manifests himself precisely through silence.

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Does God control everything?

Posted on 18. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

One 16th-century creed claims that “it does not happen in this world without [God’s] arrangement”. Every Reformed confession claims this or something similar. “ God’s sovereignty” – His freedom from external management – “ is the core of doctrinal Calvinism”.

But is God’s sovereignty absolute? Does God control everything? And if so, how should God’s absolute rule affect the way we live?

What does Scripture teach about God’s sovereignty?

God’s sovereignty is manifested in His providence, which is His complete rule over creation. This is how God describes His reign:

„ I form light and create darkness, I work well-being and create misery; I am the Lord who does all this.“ (Isaiah 45:7)

„ The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord like streams of water, it leads him wherever he wants.“ (Proverbs 21:1)

Jesus claims that if God controls even seemingly insignificant things, such as the hair that falls from our bodies every day (Matthew 10:30), then He indeed controls significant historical events as well. Nothing escapes God’s attention or His control:

„But our God is in heaven, He does everything He likes.“ (Psalms 115:3)

If we lived in a world without sin, accepting God’s sovereign providence would be a straightforward matter. But what if things are going against us? Scripture teaches that God so restrains Satan and all our enemies that they cannot harm us without His permission. But sometimes it happens and God wants it (Job 1:12, 2:6):

„With a trumpet blowing in the city, that the people would not be frightened? Will something bad happen in the city that the Lord would not cause it?“ (Amos 3:6)

Sovereignty is a complex concept, so it is essential to understand the purpose of God’s rule over good and evil. If God’s providences seem reprehensible to us, it is because we forget that God is carrying out his good plan and has enough patience. When Joseph’s brothers sold Joseph into slavery, no one but God saw the intended end: The Lord sent Joseph to Egypt to keep many people alive with his far-sighted guidance (1. Moses 50:20). The providential medicine in Joseph’s life brought a sweet salvation, even if it tasted bitter.

God’s sovereign providence will never fail to fulfill its good will.

God’s sovereignty and the evil actions of men meet most shockingly in the death of Jesus. God used the “hands of ungodly people” to carry out His “finite plan” and sacrifice His precious Son as payment for our sins (Acts 2:23, 4:28). God does everything according to his holy will. It is always suitable for believers (Ephesians 1:11, Romans 8:28).

What does a faithful response to God’s sovereignty look like?

Sovereignty may not seem to require any reaction on our part, but it does. After all, “God in his usual providence uses means”. For example, God promised that no one would die on Paul’s ship, doomed to shipwreck (Acts 27:24). At the same time, however, it required passengers to remain on board (Acts 27:31). So, what does a faithful response to God’s sovereignty look like?

Respect

Particularly difficult providences tempt us to curse heaven. Job’s wife sensed God’s hand in their tragedy, but could not honor His sovereign activity. Her husband asked a critical question: “ Do we receive good things from God, and shouldn’t we receive bad things?” (Job 2:10). Every providence requires obedience (Job 1:20).

A sovereign God who values his children always has full power (Matthew 10:31, Psalms 121:3-4). If you know Christ as Savior, the Spirit as Comforter, and God as Father, then you can trust God’s providence. The Holy God will never reject his children. No challenging circumstances can distract you from God’s loving plan for your life (Romans 8:38-39). God sometimes troubles His children “ to raise them to a closer and more constant dependence on Him alone”.

Humility

Young children believe that the doctor is cruel when he gives them an injection. Adult Christians examine God’s providence more closely. Once confident, Job realized his ignorance of God’s ways: “I talked about what I didn’t understand…” (Job 42:3, see also Psalms 77:19). As students of Christ, we should claim to know only what He has revealed to us and admit our lack of understanding in hidden things.

Adoration

Proper grasping of God’s sovereignty breeds worship. God’s wealth, wisdom, and knowledge are deep, His judgments unexplained, and His ways inscrutable. We know little about His thinking except what He revealed to us in His Word. Do we not have to worship Him to whom glory belongs forever (Romans 11:33-36)?

Before the English pilgrims set out on their journey to America, their Calvinist pastor John Robinson uttered this blessing: “The one who created the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rivers of the waters, and whose providence is over all his works, especially all his lovely children for good…, guides and protects you in your ways, as inwardly by his spirit, the, so also on the outside with the hand of your power.” Based on the pilgrims’ challenging first year, a critic could argue that the prayer failed. But those who God’s Spirit inwardly guides understand it better. God’s sovereign providence will never fail to fulfill His good will.

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Marriage- community

Posted on 17. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

Do the spouses realize that they have a unique power that the priest does not have if he is alone in the rectory? To make the living Christ present in the community. Their family, their household, can become a temple of the living dwelling of God. That their mutual relationship becomes a monstrance in which Jesus himself lives. But representing Christ in the family is a reality so complex that many do not even start it. It is not enough to say Lord Jesus, we are gathered here in your name.  To live in the name of Jesus is to live in his spirit. It means a willingness to live for others. And through this willingness, the precious gift of God’s presence among us is established. Of course, then the apostle can say that where there is love, there is God. Thus, the family becomes a temple. But you can also trade with love. They desecrate God’s temple.

When we talk about marriage as the smallest cell of the Church, the Church is a sacrament of unity and salvation. In the diversity of our abilities, God creates us into one organism, despite our sinfulness. See how it is in politics. If they disagree on the party, they will already split. God holds the church together. That is why it is so essential for us to strive for unity. Sin is what divides. Our task is to live in Unity. And we live this unity in that way; we are learning to recognize our gifts and roles. And of course, the gifts and tasks of others. A cooperative environment is created among us.

We are not perfect, we are bound, we need one another. We are  dependent on each other. The life of God comes to me not through revelations, but through the ministry of brothers and sisters. Let us remember the statement of the Lord Jesus. If you bring a gift to the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go first to be reconciled with your brother. But someone may say he has something against me. I have nothing against him. But if you don’t go, there’s an obstacle between you and God’s life coming to you. If we do not resolve our interpersonal relationships, we will not move forward.

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Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Lk 10,38-42

Posted on 16. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

An article was published in one medium entitled „Insomnia is the result of stress, therapy and the right lifestyle are important“.

Today’s Gospel represents a proper Christian lifestyle. Jesus does this on the example of two sisters. One is stressed to the point of anger, the other listens. Jesus addresses with a stressed, shocking sentence: „Mart, Martha! You worry and worry about many things. Little is needed, yes, only one thing. Marie has chosen the best lot, and no one will take it from her.“

At first glance, Jesus appears to reject Martin’s activism and favors a passive approach to listening to Mary. However, a closer look will reveal the truth Jesus has in mind. Is Jesus’ desire only for us to eat well? What does he care about? Marta didn’t ask about it. Already ahead – out of habit, so to speak – he assumes that he knows what the situation requires. Without asking the guest’s wishes, she prescribes what to prioritize and what to happen. Jesus makes it clear to her that he does not want her to be busy first, but that there is something more important.

Mary sits at the Lord’s feet and listens to his speech. According to rabbinic understanding, teaching and instruction were intended for men only. Women were excluded from all learning. Women in the Jewish world had no significance in either the religious-legal sphere or the political-social sphere. According to historian Josef Flavius, a woman is less important than a man in every area of life, and therefore she must obey him.

However, Jesus refutes this Jewish understanding and recognizes women as equals. He pays attention to them and addresses them with his words. In our narrative, Mary is depicted listening to Jesus’ words. It is necessary and always right to obey the Lord. Jesus came to visit Martha and Mary, not to initially heal them, but to listen to them. First, he wants people to listen to him. Marta, with all her goodwill, neglects this wish. Only Mary agrees with what Jesus wants. He wants to give first, then receive. Jesus does not wish for violent activity, who always knows what is right, so what must be done, but first wants discernment and peace with which a person listens, thinks, lets himself be told, what is essential, and what needs to be done.

If we put it into the present, Jesus wants us to listen to him and then act. Saint Benedict understood this beautifully many centuries ago. He put it beautifully and wisely: „Pray and work.“ We have a strong tendency to change this order to work, and when we have time left to pray. And we all know very well what the result is. We work, we are stressed, we don’t sleep, we get sick, and we complain. Sometimes pills don’t help either. Jesus offers us another solution. Every day to find time to listen to God in prayer and then to work. Those who want to are looking for ways to do it. Those who don’t want to look for reasons not to.

Father Leo is a novice master in a Trappist monastery. One day, they asked him a question: „Prayer and everyday life – how can you reconcile them?“ Answers: „I would rather say: for our life to be every day, we must root it in prayer. The primary issue of our time and lives is the erosion of genuine values and identity. We don’t know who we are. We do not know the deep meaning and goal of our lives, nor the means to achieve them. Our hearts are fragmented, and we are lost within ourselves. That’s a pretty abnormal condition. Suppose we want to break free from the captivity of this emptiness and hopelessness, without falling into two very fashionable extremes: overwork or depressed resignation. In that case, we must find our ultimate identity. And only prayer will bring us the answer to these questions, because what most deeply shapes each person is his ability to know and love God. Only when we give time and space to God, that is, simple and persistent prayer, do we find a way to others and to ourselves, and our life becomes truly „normal.“

Let’s try to live properly according to St. Benedict’s motto: „Pray and work.“ This is the right lifestyle for a Christian. 

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This is what you will say to the children of Israel:Ex 3,14

Posted on 16. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

 Moses asks God for His name, and He answers him, “I am who I am.” What does that mean? God’s conversation with Moses becomes more interesting because Moses already knows who he is talking to. God had already told him before: “I am… God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob” (Ex 3, 6). In today’s reading, Moses seriously asks what to say to the Israelites when he tells them that God will save them. He is not so much interested in who God was in the past, but who he is now. Is he powerful enough to overcome the Egyptian gods and do what he promised?

God  answered this question, “Tell them I HAVE sent you.” He is not the God who only “was” the God of the ancestors of the Hebrews. He is their God even today. Likewise, he remains an effective and powerful God whose presence never fades or disappears. Furthermore, he is a God whose love is permanent. He is eternal and omnipotent. He is always and everywhere. This answer is a testament to God’s accessibility, understanding, and humility. The pagan gods demand gifts from their worshipers, and even then, they do not guarantee that their prayers will be answered. Unlike them, the God of the Hebrews finds and meets his people. He goes to meet them and offers them salvation and freedom. His love for them does not depend on what they offer him. He is, and what he is, straightforward and life-giving at the same time: God is love and redemption! Kiss that God? He is the God of Moses, Abraham, and David. He is the God of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. However, he is also your God – your Father, breadwinner, redeemer, and protector. During the day, often remind yourself that God is the One who is. He who created the earth and the vast sky also made you and how you are to follow him. Bow to him. Praise him. Love him and trust him. He is and always will be, I AM!

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So thou shalt say unto the children of Israel

Posted on 16. July 2025 by Peter Prochac

 He that is sending me unto you › Ex 3, 14. Mose asks God for his name, and he answers him: „I am who i’m“ (Ex 3,14). What does that mean? God’s conversation with Moses becomes interesting because Moses already knows who he is talking to. For God had said unto him before, „I am.. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of James“ (Ex 3, 6).  In today’s reading, Moses seriously asks what to say to the Israelites when he tells them that God saved them. He doesn’t care who God was in the past, but who He is now. Is he powerful enough to overcome the Egyptian gods and do what he promised? G answered this question: „Tell them I SENT you“. He is not just God, who was the God of the ancestors of the Hebrews. He is their God even today. Furthermore, he remains an effective and powerful God whose presence never fades or disappears. He is a God whose love is permanent. He is eternal, almighty. It is infinite and is everywhere. This answer is a testament to God’s accessibility, understanding, and humility. The pagan gods demand gifts from their worshipers and, even then, do not guarantee that their prayers will be answered. Unlike them, the God of the Hebrews finds his people and meets them. She goes to meet him and offers him salvation and freedom. His love does not depend on what his people offer him. He IS, and what He is straightforward and life-giving: God is love and redemption! Kiss it, God? He is the God of Moses, Abraham, and David. He is the God of Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. However, he is also your God – your Father, breadwinner, redeemer, and protector. During the day, remind yourself that God is the One who is. He who created the earth and the open sky also made you and the paths to follow him. Adore yourself in front of him. Praise him. Love him and trust him. He is and always will be, I AM!

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