.God’s kingdom is the seed that germinates » They told the real case. A young person, a mathematics student, claimed to be an atheist, not to accept any religion. In order to find the goal of life, he said, it is enough for him to do good to everyone. And indeed he followed accordingly. He helped where he could. But development went in its own direction. He also helped believers in difficult times, eventually he believed himself and even became a priest. Faith is not ideology, but life. Life is then unclear in the beginning. The principle of „do ok“ was already at the beginning of faith in God the Father, who is the source of all good things. So the individual person grows in faith, the revelation in the Old Testament grew, the church also grows. So God does not impose a greater burden on anyone than he can bear, and He asks of us nothing but to do at every moment what is our duty and to follow that inspiration, which is inspired by conscience. This is also the living voice of God in the heart of man. There he speaks quietly, slowly, harmoniously. So what is a person? It is no longer what was yesterday, it is not fully what is today, it is not yet what will happen tomorrow. But in reality it is all, because God sees at the same time his entire development.He doesn’t even know how » Country people walk around the fields and like to watch the grain grow. Growth in nature can be observed. Can the development of the human soul also be seen? When it comes to the growth of knowledge, we even check it professionally with exams. Even moral development is observable to a certain extent. That’s why we claim someone has improved or deteriorated. However, the core of spiritual life is how we are penetrated by the Holy Spirit. This is a secret that appears only very imperfectly on the outside. Therefore, we cannot judge anyone infallibly, we cannot say that we know his true value before God. But even we ourselves do not know how high we have grown in our spiritual life. It is certainly not an infallible measure to feel that we are blameless. On the contrary, saints usually felt great sinners. Sacraments, especially St. communion, they multiply grace in us, so they give growth to the inner life, and yet it is not usually manifested in feelings. So the principle of St. Paul that the righteous lives by faith (Rome 1,17) hopes for what he does not yet see. As soon as the grain allows, he immediately starts working with an arrow, because there are harvests

 Previously, the reading of the Gospel in the church began with solemn words: „At that time…“ It was dropped today because it sounds outdated. But we lost something. Everything, that is, what Jesus did or said, happened in a certain, God-ordained time, in the fullness of time. Even in the life of nature, nothing returns. Grain must be harvested from the field at the right time, fruit is torn at maturity.  Even the inner life of a person who develops has its own irreversible rhythm. No really good deed can be put off until tomorrow. We will understand this when we realize that all the good we are capable of is the answer to God’s love. Even among people who like each other, hesitancy in response to the other’s offer disrupts the ratio. If the spiritual life was just a kind of „accumulation of merit“, you could say that one day we will do more and the next day we will take time off. The inspirations of God, on the other hand, do not return, they have their time, that is why the psalm (Ps 95.8) calls us, which we pray at the beginning of the Church Watch: „If you hear his voice today, do not confirm yourself in your heart!“

In today’s Gospel, we heard Jesus’ teaching about happiness. The word “blessed” actually means “happy.” Many people might say that, in Jesus’ teaching on happiness, what Jesus calls happiness seems to be the opposite of what a person would wish. And yet Jesus did not lie and so certainly presents the teaching about true and deep happiness. There are 8 ways to achieve happiness. Just as God gave the law of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, so on another mountain, the Son of God gave the law of the Eight Beatitudes. Both the Ten Commandments and the 8 Beatitudes are intended for all of God’s children – believing Christians. Fulfilling this law of God brings happiness to the soul! And with the appearance of many that something else brings happiness, we can compare the fairy tale Salt over Gold, in which Maruška told her father that she loved him like salt, which was at first unacceptable and offensive to both father and son, but eventually the value of salt over gold was shown.

I recall a statement by a well-known actor that before November 1989 he did not care about human rights, did not sign the Charter, but only wanted to secure a lot of money for his children, and only in November 1989 did he realize that his children did not so much desire material values, but freedom, truth, love, that is, more spiritual values. And he felt very ashamed of his children. This statement of the actor is confirmed by the Lord Jesus himself when he says to adults: “Unless you become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” We know from experience that a child has a humble mind and an uncorrupt, heart, and therefore understands Jesus and his teachings much better and more accurately. This condition also applies to adults, because the more he is, by the grace of God, as a child, the more he will understand Jesus and his teachings, and he will even be a happy person, as it is found in St. Matthew, which is about happiness.

We will truly understand that happy is a humble person, poor in spirit, not proud, but one who does not cling to things, to successes, to beauty, etc. Happy is a gentle, quiet, tolerant, kind person, happy is one who knows how to cry above all over the evil in himself, over the evil of other people, over the evil in the world, happy is a person who strives for justice combined with love that looks at people and not at paragraphs, happy is a person with a pure heart, i.e. one who controls his lower instincts and passions, happy is a peaceful and peace-loving person who always brings God’s peace into his soul and spreads it around him, happy is a merciful person who sees the needs of others and does not think only of himself, but helps others with word and deed, happy is a person who does not always go with the flow and does not change his coat, but faithfully follows Christ always and everywhere, even if he has to suffer for it. Various political parties always announce their programs before elections.

For 2000 years, the program of us Christians has been the teachings of the Lord Jesus and especially the so-called Sermon on the Mount, from which we read part – 8 of the Beatitudes – the teachings about true happiness. We should read this program of the Sermon on the Mount more often as it is written in St. Matthew in chapters 5-7. Even St. Thomas Aquinas, a great scholar, philosopher and theologian, followed this teaching and was therefore very humble and quiet, for example, he was not ashamed to be a simple religious guide around the city and at another time he humbly admitted that he drew the greatest wisdom from the Cross of Jesus.

Even St. Francis de Sales followed the teachings on happiness; despite hisincorrupt irritable nature, he was known as a very quiet and gentle person who brought peace to others. St. John Bosco received a dream from Our Lady that he would win the hearts of children with meekness and love, and in this way he also found happiness for himself. Unfortunately, today’s contemporary world provides many small sources of happiness, such as various prizes, profits, telephone and Internet technologies, and other attractions, while also relying on advertising in television and print media. Without much advertising, Jesus offers his true happiness, which is seemingly difficult to obtain, but he promises everyone that he will help them obtain it. Jesus, may we always try to offer you what I know.

January 28 is dedicated in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church to the memory of Saint Thomas Aquinas – a Dominican friar, philosopher, theologian and doctor of the church. He was born in 1225. He came from a noble family. He studied at the Benedictine school in Monte Cassino, ,later in Naples. He decided to become a mendicant friar, but his own family initially prevented him from doing so.

In 1244, Thomas joined the newly founded Dominican order. He studied theology in Paris and Cologne on the Rhine, and his teacher was the outstanding theologian and polymath Saint Albert the Great. Later, Thomas worked at several universities and Dominican schools in Germany, ItalyAristotle’s work ,  and France. He died on his way to the ecumenical council in Lyon in 1274.  

Saint Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest philosophers and theologians of the Catholic Church, while always remaining pious and modest. He earned the title of doctor angelicus – angelic doctor. Although Thomas’s life was relatively short, he left behind a body of work of admirable scope and content. The work of Aristotle significantly influenced Thomas Aquinas’ thinking.

Thomas’s masterpieces are the Summa contra gentiles (3 vols., 1259 -1264) and the Summa theologiae (22 vols., 1266 – 1273). These works were not always well understood during his lifetime and some of his theses were condemned, but in the following centuries he received well-deserved recognition and honor. In 1567, Pius V declared him a Doctor of the Church.Italy  ,Italy, and France. Aristotle’s work.Italy, Aristotle’sand 

Secularization is mainly referred to as political change. Separation of the throne from the temple, rights from the Ten Commandments, expulsion of religion from the public sphere to the area of personal opinions and hobbies. But this break goes deeper.

The modern world has irreparably split into two parts. One, although it had been on it all public life, became questionable, problematic and a matter of private attitude or philosophical controversy. It was named Supernatural.

The latter has become the seamless reality we all live in. What is material, measurable, clearly describable and uncategorizable is today the basis of our reality, our point of reference, a common and primary experience of reality. The so-called natural world.

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor in his book And Secular Age (Secular age) writes that the great invention of the West is the „imanent fram“: the idea of the world as a closed system that is composed of matter/energy and its laws and as such works self-sufficiently.

It is difficult to emphasize enough how fundamental this change was. For our ancestors, the transcendent was a clear and necessary reality. It was as much a part of the human world as the laws of nature are for us today.

Today, however, we think that our entire reality can be explained even without reference to something that transcends it. In other words, if there is a deity, from a human perspective it is more like the icing on a real world cake. But we like the cake almost the same regardless of its decorations.

It is a concept that today, thanks to general recognition, has such persuasiveness that, from the point of view of human life, it is no longer just our theory about the universe, but directly our universe. At least that’s how we experience it.

Enchanted world

Before the advent of the secular era, God (chi „supernatural“) was not firmly present only in the public life of society and the private actions of individuals. „Enchanted“ ( As sociologist Max Weber) famously described it, the whole world, including nature.

For example, when the Jews of the first century saw the possessed, they did not see in him a person with a tarnished psyche that could be caused by a) unprocessed trauma, b) psychiatric diagnosis such as epilepsy, c) chemical imbalance in the brain, d) – y) any „natural“ explanations for this style, z) if none of this is confirmed, maybe some kind of spiritual power.

They had before them a person tormented by an unclean spirit, and this demon was a similar part of their experience as the tested man.

Perhaps this statement will shed light on the fact that even today’s people in the most basic sense of the word do not see a chemical imbalance of the brain, epilepsy or trauma when looking at a mentally ill person. Like Christ’s contemporary, he did not see an unclean spirit. And yet these concepts, through their (-presumed) action in that person, are a fixed part of the universes of both: secular man lives in a world of the laws of chemistry, physics and modern psychology, pre-secular in the world of spiritual and moral forces.

The guides of the Apostle Paul:

Timothy came from Lystra in Lycaonia (now part of Turkey). His father, who died early, was of Greek origin. His mother, Eunice, was Hebrew, and the family lived together with his grandmother, Lois. Timothy was intelligent and received a good education. He probably met the Apostle Paul when he visited Lystra during his first missionary journey to Asia Minor. They became better acquainted about three years later, in 50–52, when the apostle Paul reached Lystra again, as the Bible tells us: ‘The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of Timothy, and Paul wanted to take him with him. Because of the Jews who were there, he had Timothy circumcised, for they all knew that Timothy’s father was a Gentile” (Acts 16:2–5).

Then he accompanied the Apostle Paul and carried out the tasks assigned to him. Paul names him at the beginning of some of his letters (as if they were written together – 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, Col, Philippians, Philippians). Around the year 55, he was sent by Paul as a deacon to Corinth with the 1st letter. Paul also sent him with Erastus first to Macedonia, but he decided to go there later. Timothy then accompanied Paul to Achaia (in today’s southern Greece). After returning to Jerusalem together, Paul was imprisoned, taken to Caesarea and finally to Rome. Timothy helped Paul there and cared for him when he was sick. After Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, around 61-63, they undertook an apostolic journey together to Ephesus, where Timothy was tasked with leading the local church, where the dangerous spread of heretical teachings was growing.

Paul knew he could rely on him. How close he was to his heart is evident in his calling him his beloved son (see 1 Tim. 1:2). Their relationship is a beautiful example of fatherly guidance and trust that sustains the zeal of God’s servants.

During Paul’s second imprisonment in R,ome, Timothy was called to him again, but after Paul’s death he returned to Ephesus as bishop. According to some biographical accounts, which mention his martyrdom, he was beaten with rods and stoned to death around 97 AD. The reason was the spread of Christian doctrine and from pagan practices in honor of the god Dionysus.

Titus was a Greek born to pagan parents in the Syrian city of Antioch. He was probably baptised by the Apostle Paul, who became a close friend of his. Together with Barnabas, he accompanied Paul to the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem. On his third apostolic journey, Paul sent him from Ephesus to Corinth to restore order. In his second letter to the Corinthians, he wrote: ‘We urged Titus, who had begun this work of love, to complete it among you as well. But thanks be to God, who inspired Titus with the same earnest care for you!” (2 Cor. 8:6; 8:16).
The Apostle Paul appointed Titus as the first bishop of Crete, where morality was in decline and many were holding to the Gnostic heresy. In 65 CE, Paul sent him a letter in which he wrote about the qualities necessary for future priests and bishops, and how to lead the different groups of believers. During Paul’s second imprisonment, Titus worked as the first missionary in Dalmatia. In his letter to Titus, Paul refers to him as his son in the faith. The Greek Fathers praise Titus for his zeal, pure love, efforts to settle everything peacefully and his attitude towards poverty. He returned to Crete, where he died at the age of 94.

The two bishops celebrated together, Timothy and Titus, complete the work of the Apostle Paul as his faithful disciples. Timothy’s remains are kept in Rome and Titus’s in Crete.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER, Timothy and Titus, completed

For educators, the resolution from today’s antiphon (to the West Canticle in Rch) is suitable. According to it, I will: Proclaim the word (of God’s truth) whether it is convenient or inconvenient (if correct guidance is needed). Reprove, forbid and encourage always with all-round patience and knowledge of the matter. Love and the effort for the knowledge necessary for correct orientation must not be lacking.

to Macedonia first,people turning away,,, Timothy and Titus, together celebrate,,

CURRICULUM VITAE

He comes from Savoy (France). He studied in Paris and went through a crisis. He became a doctor of law and then a priest. Then he defended and spread the Catholic faith in the region of Chablais, where the Calvinists hated everything Catholic. For four years, he worked among enemies and, for a long time, without success, but in the end, he converted 72,000 Calvinists. In 1602, he was elected bishop of Geneva, a Calvinist stronghold. His love for God was the tool with which he convinced his opponents and persecutors. He wrote works that are considered essential religious literature.

CV FOR MEDITATION

HE SAW ALL THEOLOGY IN LOVE

He was born at the Sales Castle in Savoy on August 21, 1567, as a descendant of a rural noble family. At the age of six, he began attending school in La Roche, where he began learning Latin in addition to French. At the age of 15, he went to study philosophy and law in Paris. Greek became his other language, and rhetoric his favorite subject. He rode horses and practiced fencing. The Jesuits positively influenced his spiritual formation in Clermont. At 19, during his studies, he went through a crisis of faith influenced by Calvin’s teaching on predestination. He believed that he would not escape damnation and that he would not be able to love God in eternity. He therefore decided to love God with all his might, at least on earth. He remained faithful to his resolution. During the six weeks, the most frequent prayers that helped him out of the crisis were: “God, I offer you my whole heart, and if I am not allowed to love you in heaven, I want to love you at least while I live.” And the second prayer was to the Mother: “Remember, most kind Virgin Mary, that it has never been heard that you abandoned someone who fled to your protection and begged for your intercession…” (- the whole is at the end). Later in Chablais, he learned how God used this path for good. After studying in Paris, he continued in Padua, where he obtained the title of Doctor of Laws at the age of 24. In Chambéry, Savoy, he became a member of the Senate, but a career did not appeal to him; he longed for the priesthood. Because of the theological knowledge he had previously acquired, his preparation for the priesthood progressed so quickly that on December 18, 1593, he was ordained a priest. His journey then led him to the Calvinist region of Chablais, located south of Lake Geneva. It was a place where others had failed, and, as a result of the Protestant Reformation, he initially had only 15 Catholics. The Calvinists refused to discuss with him and threatened to expel him. Francis began writing leaflets in an appealing style and tried to act as conciliatory as possible. He attached the leaflets to houses. Some Calvinists were already determined to kill him, but when they met him, his love disarmed them. Francis gradually began to win over his opponents. A significant change occurred only after seven months, but in 1603, he already reported to Rome that 25,000 non-believers had returned.

In 1599, he was appointed auxiliary bishop by Clement VII, and three years later, he took over the bishopric of Geneva, whose seat was in Annecy due to the intolerance of the Calvinists.

He lived modestly, even as a bishop. He considered his income the property of people with low incomes. He preached everywhere, administered the sacraments, visited the sick, supported the poor, and wherever he went, he spread peace and love. He not only gave valuable advice but also admonished, comforted, and reconciled disputes as needed. He listened to priests and believers and helped them solve their problems. Over the course of three years, he visited his 450 parishes, including those in the mountains that were more difficult to reach. He preached Lenten sermons in various places in his diocese. During one of them, in Dijon, he met Jeanne Françoise de Chantal (her feast day is August 12). The result of the meeting was the joint founding of a new order of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, also called the Salesians after him. They founded it in 1610 in Annecy and received papal approval in 1618. In addition, Bishop Françoise restored some of the dissolved monasteries. He also achieved the return of church property.

He often emphasized the inner striving for perfect love for God and neighbor, which he held to be first. When asked how to learn this love, he said, “It is simple. Just as a child learns to walk slowly, so we learn to love when we try to love.” He wrote instructions for priests regarding the sacrament of penance (reconciliation) and preaching. He issued guidelines for teaching religion. His teaching was simple, clear, and he used many examples. He had a rich correspondence, writing about 6,000 letters, which later served as the basis for the book “Filotea,” also called “Instruction for a Pious Life.” (The book was first published in Czech in 1657, translated by the Jesuits.) His entire literary work consists of 26 volumes.

The personality of St. Francis de Sales is illustrated by his statements on the topic of pious life and relationships with other people: “I do not want any strange, restless, sad, and sullen piety, but a mild, gentle, pleasant and friendly one; simply a free and cheerful piety that is pleasing to God and to people.”

‘It is better to remain silent than to speak the truth without love.’
‘Let the truth be kind.’
He had such a relationship with his enemies that he said, ‘If an enemy were to gouge out one of my eyes, I would look at him with the other in a friendly way.’
We have much to learn from him. He was perfectly kind and considerate to others, but strict with himself because love for God and people always came first for him. He died of exhaustion in Lyon at the age of 55.
He was canonised in 1665 and, in 1877, was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER

I will learn to love in the style of St. Francis de Sales for a whole day. Each day, he began with the sign of the cross, reminding himself of his situation, his possibilities, and his program. Touching his forehead, he said to himself: “Of myself I can do nothing;” when he touched his chest: “With God I can do all things.” And he ended by touching his shoulders: “I want to do everything only for the love of God.” When he clasped his hands again, he added, “Glory to God and contempt for me.”

To cope with his tasks, he had an assistant, as God has given to everyone. He said to him, “My holy angel! You have been my protector since my birth. Today I entrust my heart to you, hand it over to my Savior, to whom alone it should belong. You are the protector of my life. Be also my consolation in death. Strengthen my faith, strengthen my hope, ignite in me divine love! Grant me not to suffer anxiety for the past life, not to be anxious about the present, and not to be afraid of the future. Strengthen me in the mortal struggle, encourage my patience, and grant me peace. Obtain for me the grace that my last food may be the bread of angels; in my last words, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, my last exhalation may be the breath of love, and may your presence be my last consolation. Amen.”

Finally, a prayer when he was at the bottom of his strength:

“Remember, most gracious Virgin Mary, that it has never been heard that you abandoned one who fled to your protection, who invoked your power, who begged for your intercession. In this trust, I also flee to you, Virgin of virgins and Mother. I come to you; I stand before you, I, a repentant sinner. Good Mother of the Word, do not turn away from my words, but hear them and heed them.”

Saint Francis, intercede for us, that we may be good Christians.

Each new sunrise is a reminder of the eternal morning, when the “bright sun of heaven” will rise and health will be in its rays. Then all that was created will be transformed so that it will be good forever. There will be no more pain, no more financial struggles, no more loss, and no more aging. That is precisely how I envision it, and I put my hope in it.

Those who follow Christ must meet specific criteria. That is why Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth. If salt has lost its taste, how can it be salted? You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a puts it on a lampstand.”

In recent years, he has taken several evangelistic trips with teenagers. One thing he has learned from this: Teenagers are not too young to influence those around them. Whether it is I or those who have served them, I have noticed that those who win the most people to Jesus have the qualities that Paul wrote about in his letter to Timothy. Paul tried to convince Timothy that his relative physical youth need not be an obstacle to serving the Kingdom of God, so he called on him to be “an example to the believers” (1 Tim 4:12) in every area of ​​the life of faith. In speech: Young people who influence others to come to Jesus control their language, do not use vulgarity, do not speak negatively, and give honor to God with their words. In behavior: They are prudent, and the whole world sees their light. In love: By paying attention to Jesus’ words (Mt 22:37-39), they make him happy. They love their neighbors; they touch people’s hearts. This is how we can influence others to come to Jesus.