predication.net

 In the previous week, the texts of the readings of the Holy Scriptures directed us to the correct relationship to some values of earthly life, such as career, wealth, or managing pride. This week it will be more about clarifying some spiritual attitudes, such as faith and its consequences: prayer, keeping the commandments… and deepening these attitudes. The first reading talks about the healing of the Syrian general Naaman, based on fulfilling the prophet Elizaeus’ request. In the Gospel, Jesus complains that his contemporaries do not accept him as a prophet.

Who is the prophet anyway? Usually, by this word, we imagine someone who predicts the future. A person is curious about his future, and those who claim to be able to predict the future are very sought after – various fortune-tellers, astrologers, and creators of horoscopes. Although the prophets sometimes predicted future events, this is not the essence of their mission. A prophet is above all a person sent by God, he is in the service of God – he receives, listens, knows what God announces, not only to him, but also to many people, and he is looking for ways and ways to familiarize people with the content of this message. And what God tells us is the most important and valuable thing.

Such a prophet in the fullest sense of the word was Jesus Christ. After all, he came from God, communicated directly with God, and translated God’s truth and will into the understandable language of his contemporaries. He did it with words, deeds – even miraculous ones – and his whole life. However, Jesus complains about the reluctance of his contemporaries to accept his words with the belief that God himself speaks to them through him and about the proof of faith to act according to those words. For example, he cites a widow from pagan Sidon during the famine. When the prophet Elijah met her and approached her to give him the last swing of bread, he informed her that if she did, God would provide her with enough flour and oil. This woman staked her life on this assurance, renounced her last assurance, and God miraculously rewarded this trust of hers that saved her life. It was the same with the leper Syrian Naaman and the guidance of the prophet Elizaeus.

Jesus rightly expects us to accept what he tells us with faith and act courageously accordingly – so that God’s saving power can be manifested in us. Do we trust him that God himself speaks to us through him? It is not enough for him that we come to meet him in church, like his teachings, and have a pleasant experience of liturgy or singing. The goal of his prophetic mission is to pass on to us the decisions of the heavenly Father, the acceptance of which is a prerequisite for God’s saving power to work in us.

We prove by whether and how we act according to what he tells us that we believe him and accept his word. ” Faith without works is dead.” Without such a believer receiving the word of Jesus, we would actually let him know that we do not take him as a savior sent by God, thereby degrading him to only one of the religious dreamers, for some good guy to diversify the festive days. Such a relationship with Christ would insult him and would not help us.

Practical instruction: I will ask Christ for the gift of firm faith in him for myself and the people of our time, and I will show faith in the divine truth of his words by applying them in concrete action.

Prayer: Holy God, graciously purify and protect your Church, and because we cannot do without your help, constantly accompany us with your grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who is God and lives and reigns with you in union with the Holy Spirit for all ages.

The fact that meekness does not have a good reputation in public opinion. It is often presented as a weakness, which is not attractive for today’s man.

“We do not want to be weak. We want to be strong, fast, efficient, as society expects us to be. But we should strive to improve our reputation for moderation. After all, moderation is beautiful, it is happiness, it is freedom, it is the self-realization of one’s own life,” the Archbishop states.

Although temperance most obviously affects our basic needs—food, drink, and the senses—we need it in other areas as well. It relates to curiosity, for example.

“We are constantly looking for something new and in the process we lose our concentration, our attention, we get distracted by many things. How many times during the day do we look on the Internet to see what’s new?” reflects Archbishop Zvolenský.

However, not every moderate attitude must also involve moderation. The Archbishop points out that even in passivity, great intemperance can manifest itself, and it is necessary to beware of its hidden manifestations.

“It is not an offensive attitude, it is just that even passivity created from intemperate indulgence in negative thoughts is a transgression, it is a distortion of the potential that man has within himself.”

In the interview, he also discusses why a life of moderation is not boring, how to enjoy it to the fullest even if you have to guard the peace, and how moderation affects our different moods and temperaments.

If we could list virtues right now, we might not even include temperance. Some might even consider it a weakness. Why is gentleness among the cardinal virtues?

We have four cardinal virtues—wisdom, justice, fortitude, and meekness—which we also call cardinal virtues. The term cardinal comes from a word that we translate into English as a hinge on which a door turns. We can say that all four virtues are hinges on the door that leads to life, to man’s realization.

Moderation is a virtue that is – surprisingly – focused on ourselves. Any man who dares to focus on himself should, in the right measure, use all the dimensions of his existence that belong to him. Moderation should lead us to be able to use everything in measure in the right way.

This may not be to everyone’s liking. At present, there are many possibilities and opinions that influence us. And, let’s be honest, moderation does not have a good reputation in public opinion. Very often, we see it presented as a weakness. I understand that this then discourages us. We do not want to be weak. We want to be strong, fast, and efficient, as society expects us to be.

And isn’t a life of moderation a boring life?

A life of moderation cannot be boring if we learn to understand it well. It should be fascinating to say that using my endowments makes me a noble person, practical, truthful, helpful, rightly kind, passionate, and loving.

Simply because of gentleness, we use all our endowments in a balanced way. We should strive to improve the reputation of temperance in society. For temperance is beautiful, it is happiness, it is freedom, and it is self-realization of one’s own life.

You are talking about givenness. But we first associate moderation with the enjoyment of food and drink. So, what does moderation refer to?

It most obviously touches on the basic needs that belong to our existence—drink, food, sensuality, and sexuality. All these areas belong to our daily lives, and so we are confronted every day with finding the right moderation.

But then there is, for example, our capacity for imagination. This is an area where we need to be very moderate and careful. I read somewhere that many expressions of intemperance often begin in the imagination. So, not even in the primary sensibility, but in the imagination. On the one hand, it is our givenness because we can dream of beautiful, great things, but we can also dream of harmful things.

Or curiosity. There, too, we need moderation. We are constantly looking for something new, and in the process, we lose our focus and attention, getting distracted by many things. How many times during the day do we look on the internet to see what’s new? Here, too, another space opens up for each of us to question the degree to which we give our activities.

What role does one’s nature and temperament play in practicing moderation?

All kinds of temperaments, as we know them in that classical simplistic distinction, are on an equal footing. It is only outwardly, for example, that intemperance is more evident in choleric or sanguine, while it is more hidden in phlegmatic or melancholics. Although in the more introverted moods their attitude may appear to be mildness, it may not be the virtue of mildness.

Wallowing in one’s pessimistic fantasies may represent great intemperance. One weighs one’s insides down and complicates one’s existence. Perhaps those around him see the consequence of his passivity, which is not so disturbing. It is not an offensive attitude, only that even passivity created from immoderate indulgence in negative thoughts is a transgression, a distortion of the potential that one has within oneself.

And is it possible to enjoy life to the fullest if we are always to keep our peace?

The answer is hidden in St. Thomas Aquinas’ formulation that moderation is more than anything else a manifestation of one’s own self. This is a wonderful statement and a very modern one, valorizing man’s existence and individuality. Is it not a great value to own oneself? The further we advance in this realization, the more we can give of ourselves and the more sublime and profound our giving.

Because of the high pace of life and the inevitable superficiality of wanting to participate in everything in some way, we often cannot go within and glide only on the surface. This is how we lose ourselves because we live only on the outside and feel as if the world carried us away. We must come down to ourselves as if to take hold of everything we experience, with its joys and transgressions. Sometimes, that can be a deterrent that one cannot bear. It is hard to think of your sins if you have no sure way out. This is owning oneself, accepting one’s existence, and the realization that moderate enjoyment is the greatest happiness.

If I were to illustrate this, I would use the example of dieting. One person told me he had cut out everything sweet from his diet. When he had an apple after some time, he thought it was very sweet. It is interesting. Because of his moderation and abstinence from sweet things, even an apple that would have been sour to another seemed very sweet to him.

This example also shows what renunciation does. We have so many impulses that sometimes we cannot enjoy even one thing. When one becomes moderate in enjoyment, one can then enjoy life better.

We pay so much attention in our time to acting according to reason, how we look in front of others, how we are in the eyes of the world, and what we should be according to it. Others, better, more perfect. So often, these thoughts settle within us. And with them also restlessness. We chase after things, go from one activity to another, and still do not find peace. However, there is something, a part of us that inseparably belongs to us and suffers incredibly from this approach: our heart, our insides, our SELF. So often, the silent voice of our heart is drowned out by all other voices from the outside and receives no attention.

However, there is Someone who is looking for this hidden treasure in us and is eager to find it. It is Jesus who wants our hearts to be given freedom so that they can breathe in peace and receive the spark of joy that we lack. God, although he gave us our physical bodies, however, they look and reason, however bright they are, gave us, above all, a heart that longs for fulfillment in love during life. 

It is such a paradox of God, utterly different from how we look at and evaluate people. We can also find proof of this in Scripture. In the first book of Samuel, God tells Samuel, as he seeks a new king and does not like him, that he should be the young and frail David and not his older and more powerful brothers: „ Do not look at his appearance and the height of his figure, because I do not consider him present. After all, (The Lord does not look), as a person looks. Because a person looks at the appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.“ And we all know that David became a mighty king, the Lord was with him, and God rewarded him for his faithfulness by promising his offspring would be the Messiah. 

Prayer: My Lord, thank You for creating me exactly as I am. After all, You are omnipotent and omniscient, and you could not be wrong, no matter how much we doubt your appearance, qualities, or abilities. Come to me now and free my heart, which longs for your freedom, and give me the courage to do new things. 

Questions to ponder: Are you easily deafened by outside voices telling you what you should be like? ● Do you listen to what is hidden in your heart? ● Do you give God space to free your heart from all the lies about yourself that you have believed in your lifetime? 

Activity: You are fasting. Find a quiet place and time to rest with the Lord. Say nothing, but listen to what the Lord tells you about yourself and what desires He has put in your heart.

Today, the whole Church rejoices because, in the very heart of the Lenten season, we celebrate a great holiday – the celebration of St. Joseph, groom of the Virgin Mary, protector of the Redeemer, and patron of the entire Church. „ I can’t imagine anything more beautiful than the boy Jesus in the arms of St. Josef, as he repeats „father “ several times in a row with a soft child’s voice and hugs him as a child.“ These words of St. Francis from Sales, a great admirer of St. Josef, today they direct our gaze to the image that emerges in our minds when we remember St. Josef – a man who holds the Child in his arms and hugs him with love. And we today, when the whole Church rejoices in the celebration of this great man of faith, hope, and love, can ask why, right now, when we meet Jesus on the Way of the Cross, in this season of Lent, hear the joyful „ Glory to God in the highest?“ Why, right now, when we cross the streets of Jerusalem more often, we go back again, where it all began, to the little Child, to Bethlehem or Nazareth – to the house of Joseph and Mary?

First, it’s probably because although we were redeemed primarily by the bloodshed on the cross, our redemption began much earlier with the incarnation of the Son of God and his hidden life… (KKC 517). Indeed, we can say that our redemption begins to take place when God has chosen two holy souls, the two purest souls: Mary and Joseph. That’s when Joseph meets the most holy Virgin, and that’s when they decide that they want to step into life together. However, when they got engaged, their engagement was focused on God. If Mary had been the first to value Joseph’s qualities and had preceded us in the respect that the Church would show him later, Joseph would have been the first to thank God for an immense gift for Mary. He was very grateful because he saw how her beauty of holiness shines not only in itself but also in how it illuminates his life. Yes, it is today when the Church invites us to visit the Nazarene house of Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.

And so, although we do not see Joseph on the Way of the Cross, we do not see him under the cross on Calvary; his work and sacrifice were already here in Nazareth that participated in Jesus’ way of the Cross. And it is at the beginning of this journey, Joseph faces a difficult decision: to give priority to a heart that loves his Mary, who remained in a blessed state, or to a law that spoke the clear language of death. However, even here, Joseph appears to be the one who humbly and quietly first solves his difficulties with God, and that is precisely why he is the first to recognize Christ in Mary, as we read in today’s Gospel: „Don’t be afraid to accept Mary, your wife… she will give birth to a Son, and you will name him Jesus because he will deliver his people from their sins.“ Joseph receives a great privilege. Above all, he was called to give the Child a name, and at the same time, God entrusts him alone with his meaning – he will deliver the people from their sins.

Like Elizabeth said to Mary: „ Blessed is she who believed“, in a certain sense of the word, this beatitude can also refer to St. Joseph: Blessed are you, Joseph, because you believed, because you answered God’s word in the affirmative. He does not think or debate unnecessarily but awakens and takes place. He did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and received his wife. What he did is the purest obedience of faith, writes the Holy Father John Paul II. (RC 4) And paraphrasing the very words of the angel that he said to Joseph: „Don’t be afraid to accept Mary”, I think even today God seems to want to tell us: Dear brother, dear sister, don’t be scared to accept Joseph! Don’t be afraid to take this great saint into your life. Do not be scared of him; with his powerful help, solve the sometimes unsolvable situations that life brings.

Yes, today the Church encourages us not to be afraid to accept Joseph as the model and protector of our lives. He is in present and future uncertainties when our faith weakens, hope fails, our weaknesses lead us into doubt, and we lose faith in God, help, and example to start over. Whenever we invoke him, we can count on his help. After all, St. Augustine writes: „ In the heavens, not everyone is a saint in the same way, not everyone shines with the same light. Among all the stars of heaven, among all the saints of paradise, no one can be closer to Jesus and Mary than St. Joseph.“  And our Holy Father Benedict XVI. Adds: „ The figure of this great saint occupies an essential importance in the salvation history. Above all, because he came from the family of David. Jesus thus became a member of David’s descendants, and this is how the promises about the Messiah could be made, namely that we can really call him the Son of David. Its size, similar to that achieved by Mary, comes even more to the fore because its mission was carried out in the humility and secrecy of the house of Nazareth.“

This Nazareth house is a school. The school in which we begin to get to know the life of Christ. It’s a gospel school. In our minds, we see Joseph beginning to teach Jesus work and prayer. Joseph’s workshop was the only one in the world where God himself worked conscientiously and out of love. And he, the father of the family, also teaches Jesus prayer. It is he who walks to the temple together with Jesus. Whenever I open a breviary (priests, daikon) or even when St. mass, we sing a psalm as if entering a house in Nazareth, where we see Joseph praying with Jesus, imagine now in your mind when they prayed together: „… I swore to my servant David: I will forever secure the family creature and build your throne, which will last for all generations.“ As if we heard the words of the Lord Jesus, which he said later in the synagogue: „ Today this Scripture was fulfilled “Lk 4,21(. And they are the same psalms whose words can also be heard from the mouth of Jesus hanging on the wood of the cross on Calvary.  Joseph had a unique position. He was here on earth, the father of Jesus, the Son of God. Yes, God gave St. Joseph a vast heart that, like no other, carried the love of God the Father. Holy Father John Paul II. very often in his works, he mentions the heart of St. Joseph. My heart is kind and loving, but my heart is troubled but also joyful.

Indeed, when we take a closer look at the life of the Nazareth family, many will remember the familiar facts of their lives: the painful journey in search of shelter in Bethlehem, the flight to Egypt, the agonizing words of old Simeon during the sacrifice, or the loss of baby Jesus in the Jerusalem temple—all painful events. However, not only was pain represented in this family, but St. also speaks very nicely about it. The interesting thing is that shortly after her baptism, she was so sick that the doctors no longer gave her any hope. Then, her mother knelt at the feet of St. Josef and begged him for mercy to heal little Teresa. As we know, God heard this request and, at the intercession of St. Josepha, gave us this great saint who spoke to her intercessor like this: „ As I like to think about your simple, humiliated life! How I like to believe that you also lived by faith. I see you in a Nazareth house with Jesus and Mary, quite engaged in working for them. I seem to see you planning, occasionally wiping your forehead and rushing to finish your work on time …“

This work started is still ongoing. Joseph’s role in the historical life of Jesus extends to another level of the mystical life of Christ, which continues in the Church. The year was 1870 when Pope Pius IX confirmed St. Joseph as the Church’s patron saint. Leo XIII. Later, in 1889, in his encyclical Quantum Pluries, he writes: „In Joseph, the fathers of families have a model of vigilance and paternal care, the spouses a perfect model of love, unanimity and marital fidelity, virgin pattern and protector of intact virginity. Noble by birth, rich, poor, workers, we can all learn from St. Josef and run to him.“ One could still talk a lot about this saint. However, I encourage you today to marry St. Josef as the model of your work, duties, and studies for your entire life.

St. Teresa of Avila says: „ I don’t know how to think about the Queen of Angels and all the efforts she endured for Jesus, and at the same time not think about you, the famous St. Joseph, and don’t thank you for helping them so much. Since I have tried very hard to see how many hearings you receive from God, I encourage everyone to worship you. I know no one who is truly devoted to you and does any devotion to your honor that would not make remarkable progress on the path of virtue. The souls entrusted to you will extraordinarily achieve help. I have tried to say that your help is always beyond expectations. I don’t remember begging you for grace and not getting it immediately. The Lord Jesus makes us understand that as he was your subject on earth, where you could command as a father and guardian, so he still does what you ask of him in heaven.

Indeed, let us not be afraid to accept Joseph into our lives; let us choose him as a model and protector. Let’s hide under his protective cloak, with which you also have a rare relic. His example invites us all to faithfully carry out the task entrusted to us by God’s providence in simplicity and humility. May St. Joseph ask for the ability to love the Church with complete devotion and his neighbors according to his example so that, in this way, we can carry out God’s will with trust and love and thus cooperate in the work of salvation. St. Alfons Maria de’ Liquory once wrote: „Thank God, now there is hardly a Catholic in the world who does not honor St. Joseph.“ I wish these words were still valid today. 

Yesterday , God’s word taught us to recognize our sins and confess them, not only with our minds, but with our hearts, with a spirit of shame. With shame as the noblest attitude before God regarding our sins. And today, the Lord calls all sinners to dialogue with him because sin closes us in and leads us to hide the truth about us within. This happened to Adam and Eve: after sin they hid because they felt shame, they were naked. When he feels shame, the sinner has the temptation to hide. And the Lord calls:« Come, we will be right» – let’s talk about your sin, let’s talk about your situation, don’t worry. And he continues: «If your sins were like scarlet, they would turn white like snow, and if they were red like purple, they would be like wool.» Come, because I can change everything, says the Lord to us, do not be afraid to come and speak, be brave even in your miseries.

I can think of that saint who was a great penitent and prayed a lot. And he kept trying to give the Lord what the Lord asked of him. But the Lord was not satisfied. One day, he became angry with the Lord because this saint was peculiar. And he says to the Lord: „But Lord, I do not understand you. I give you everything completely, and you are still dissatisfied, as if something is missing. What’s missing?“ – „Give me your sins, that’s what’s missing.“ Be courageous to go with our miseries to talk to the Lord:« Come, we will be right!» Don’t worry, even if your sins are like scarlet, they will turn white like snow, and if they are red like purple, they will be like wool«.

This is the Lord’s invitation. But there is always one trap: pretend that we are not sinners instead of talking to the Lord. This is what the Lord rebuked the scribes for. These people « everything they do, they act only to be seen by people: they expand their prayer straps and enlarge the tassels on their clothes, they like to have leading places at feasts, the first chairs in synagogues, greetings in the streets and when people call them Rabbi». Externality, empty glory. To cover the truth of our hearts with empty glory. Empty glory never heals! Empty glory never heals! It is also poisonous, spreading disease into your heart, bringing you to the hardness of your heart, which tells you: „ But no, do not follow the Lord. Don’t go, stay yourself.“

Vigorous glory is where we close ourselves off from the Lord’s call. However, the Lord’s invitation is paternal, fraternal: „ Come! Let’s talk, let’s talk. After all, I can change your life from red to white.“ May this word of the Lord give us courage. May our prayer become a true prayer about our affairs, about our sins, about our miseries. Let’s talk to the Lord. He knows what we are. We know it, but empty glory tempts us to cover it up every time. May the Lord help us.“

17 March, non-binding monument

Position: bishop, missionary

Deaths: 461

Patron: Ireland, coopers, miners, hairdressers, blacksmiths, peasants; intercessor for the protection of cattle.

Attributes: bishop, snakes, clover trefoil, fire, sheep

BIOGRAPHY

He was of Romano-British descent, was captured at the age of 16, and taken to Ireland, where he grazed sheep in slavery for 6 years. When he got free, he decided to become a priest. He was also ordained a bishop, and in Rome, he received the power of attorney from Pope Celestine for Ireland, where he returned to preach the Christian faith. He taught the baptized to read and write and ordained the most capable of them, priests. Furthermore, he did not try to break down pagan customs violently but introduced Christian ones. He was responsible for the fact that bards and druids became monks, and pagan priestesses began to live in the manner of nuns. The Irish clung to him like a father, and the wealthy brought gifts he refused because poverty was the surest way to heaven.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MEDITATION

GREEN ISLAND SHEPHERD

He is said to have come from the territory of the Roman province of Britannia, but there are unclear thoughts about his place of birth. Banna Venta Berniae, perhaps near present-day Carlisle, England, near the Scottish border, is mentioned, but elsewhere, this place is identified with Bannaventa in central England. There is also an indication that he came from a Welsh family. His father, Calpurnius, is said to have been involved in politics as a “decurio” – interpretations of this function vary (interpretations include the official and commander of the cavalry division). According to some, he was also a deacon. His property and social status led his son Patrick to a carefree and reckless life. He was not interested in studying religion. There was a turning point in Patrick’s life when he was kidnapped by pirates at the age of 16, taken to Ireland, and sold there as an enslaved person. His master put him in charge of herding the sheep. At this occupation and poor living conditions, Patrick began with fervent prayer and repentance for his earlier disorderly life. He changed internally and learned a lot. He also knew that paganism and blindness were associated with barbarism.

After six brutal years, he managed to escape and get to his homeland. After three months, he was ambushed and imprisoned again. He managed a second escape but was captured a third time and found himself in an even worse prison. It is said that the Christians bought him from there, and he managed to return home. He already had unwavering trust in God and cultivated love. The Irish called him to them in one dream, and then he began to suspect his calling. For this reason, he traveled to Gaul, studied in Auxerre under the guidance of St. German, and became a deacon. At first, they did not want to let him go to Ireland, but in the end, he received an episcopal ordination and the mandate to preach the gospel and organize the church there.

The community created by his predecessor, Bishop Palladio, did not impress the Irish. Patrick returned in 432 and began in the Irish north and northwest. The island was then divided into many tribal kingdoms, and Patrick won over the local rulers with a friendly demeanor, kindness, and zeal. He began with King Laognairo, with whom he lit the Easter fire on Slane Hill on White Saturday. Everyone allowed him to preach the gospel and establish local church communities. His enemies were Celtic priests, druids, and bards, but he appeased and won many of them over. In 444, he established his seat in Armagh. He created a network of bishoprics, and the development of religious life was in his interest. On these foundations, he transformed life in the country. He knew how to adapt to local social conditions; he knew the customs and mentality of the people from a young age, and he was a good organizer of church life. He was persistent, patient, and full of love. Furthermore, he is said to have devoted two-thirds of the night to prayer. Moreover, he started with Gallic and British missionaries but soon gained a lot of clergy from the local population.

Towards the end of his life, he wrote “Confessions,” describing his destinies and the graces he received, thanking God for them. Many of his correspondences have also survived.

One of the legends concerns the trefoil, which became his attribute and with which he helped himself interpret the Holy Trinity, pointing to the unity and the hint of the cross. Another legend concerning another attribute speaks of the expulsion of all snakes from Ireland. It is believed to be a symbolic image of the expulsion of paganism and evil.

Patrick died in Saul, County Down, and his grave immediately became a place of pilgrimage.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER

Today, the evangelization of love is recommended as a resolution. Do something for others in that direction and support it with prayer.

God, You have called St. Patrick to bring the truths of the gospel to the Irish people; for his merits and at his intercession, grant that all who profess the Christian faith bear witness with their lives to Your love, bringing salvation to all people.

BIOGRAPHY

He came from Tasovice from Znojmo. He originally trained as a baker. Due to poverty and the desire to study, he went abroad. After various trips, he received the sacrament of priesthood in Rome and joined the Redemptorist order, which he then introduced to Warsaw. After a blessed tenure, he was expelled and continued his apostolic tenure in Vienna. Watched by the police as an opponent of the declining Enlightenment and Jansenism, he became famous as a great apostle in all walks of life.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MEDITATION

FROM THE MORAVIAN BAKER, THE APOSTLES OF WARSAW AND VIENNA

He was born on the 26th. 12.1751 in Tasovice near Znojmo as the ninth of twelve children, and Jan was baptized. Father Petr Pavel Dvořák came from Mor. Budějovice and took over the farm and butcher shop in Tasovice. Mother Mary B. Steerova was widowed when Jan was six and a half years old. As a child, Jan began to desire a priestly vocation, but he was not up for studies, and at the age of 15, his poor mother taught him to František Dobš, a baker from Znojmo. After his apprenticeship, he worked in a monastery in Louka and, at the same time, attended a gymnasium for 4 years, which he finished at the age of 26. Then, from 1779, he worked in Vienna as a journeyman baker. They are already under the name Hofbauer. His master wanted to marry him to his daughter and give him a trade.

But John went to Italy with his friend, and they visited Rome. In Tivoli, he asked to be accepted into the hermitage there. Bishop Barnabas Chiarmonti (later Pius VII.) handed them a hermit’s robe on the feast of Clement of Ancyra on the 23rd. 1.1783, Jan Hofbauer took the new name, Clement Maria. The name reminded him of the day and his faithfulness to the Mother of God, whom he often invoked.

The desire for the priesthood led him to Vienna again. He started working in a bakery again while attending a catechetical course. Then, he did some service to three wealthy noblewomen, and they helped him financially so that he could begin his studies to prepare for the priesthood. However, the professors of the theological faculty were enlightened, and Clement Maria soon recognized that they were breaking with pure church doctrine. Therefore, he and his classmate Tadeáš Hýble interrupted their studies and went to Rome to find the source of pure doctrine. They met the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer – Redemptorists and became its members there. They took religious vows on the 19th. 3rd and 9 days later 28. On 3 1785, they were ordained priests. After their education, they were sent from the Frosinone monastery to Central Europe to expand their religious family.

Klement Maria chose Warsaw as his place of work, where, after meeting Bishop Saluzzo, he was entrusted with the administration of the church of St. Benoni. He worked there with great zeal for 21 years and 1787 founded a Redemptorist monastery, which was the first outside the territory of Italy. Then followed the monasteries of others, and Clement Maria watched over them as vicar general of the religious society. In addition to founding and leading religious houses, he devoted his primary interest to pastoral care, and his stay in Warsaw can be described as a continuous people’s mission. With young people of different nationalities, he developed spiritual and social charitable activities, so to many, he was called an apostle of Warsaw. A particular picture of his work shows the increase in St. Communion in the church of St. Benon from two thousand to more than a hundred thousand a year.

Clement Maria Hofbauer achieved the conversion of many through the rosary. He carried in his hands the small rosary he had from Pope Pius VII, and when he once lost it, he was very sad. But a sister found him, and he gladly said, “You have helped me in the conversion of sinners, for every time I have prayed the Rosary for a sinner, I have attained his conversion.” He also begged penitents to help him convert sinners by praying many rosaries. He assured that he had always achieved the desired conversion with the rosary, even if they were sinners who had avoided the sacraments for thirty or forty years. And his face always shone when he could say that the Lord had given him another soul through the Rosary.

He also exhorted perseverance, adding, “I have seen many wicked men die holy, and I have seen many who seemed holy and died like wicked men.” He also recommended talking to God more about the sinner than to him about God.

In May. 1808 Napoleon, having occupation troops in Poland, ordered the liquidation of the Redemptorist monasteries and the expulsion of the religious. As a result of this order, Clement Maria and other religions were 17. 6th imprisoned and later expelled from Poland.

He came to Vienna again and immediately began a similar apostolate as in Warsaw. However, the police kept a close eye on him, but Archbishop Hohenwart held a protective hand over him. Clement’s first place of work was in the Minorite church, and 1813, the archbishop entrusted him with the church of St. Voršila with the leadership of nuns. Clement zealously developed his apostolate and greatly influenced ordinary people, students, and intellectuals. He became an advisor to some bishops, writers, artists and converts. He led many to spiritual vocations, especially among Redemptorists. Despite his essential personality, he also influenced the solution of church issues at the Congress of Vienna (1814-15). When he died, his funeral was a great manifestation of the respect of the people of Vienna. He was buried in the Maria-Enzersdorf cemetery, from where, in 1862, his remains were transferred to the redemptorist church of Maria Stiegen. He was beatified by Leo XIII in 1888 and canonized by Pius X in 1909.

RESOLUTION, PRAYER

I will ask for a perfect heart and turn my tithe to the Holy Spirit for help. Rosary, I will also pray for the conversion of sinners with a supplementary request to St. Clement.

God, You have given St. Clement firm faith and indomitable perseverance; hear our pleas and for his merits, help us to follow him with constancy in faith and perfection in love. Through Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, He lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit throughout all ages. Amen

(final prayer breviary)

Prayer St. Clement M. Hofbauer for perfection:

Jesus, Your kindest heart does not reject even the greatest sinner when it turns to them. Therefore, I beseech Thee, give me and all repentant sinners a quiet heart, which loves a hidden life and does not seek favor with men and does not want revenge; a patient heart that can endure even the most significant difficulties of life; a peaceful heart that lives in peace with its neighbor and with itself, a selfless heart, satisfied with what it has.

Give me a heart that loves prayer, a heart that longs only for God to be known and loved by all creatures, a heart that grieves only over sin and has no other wish rather than supporting the honor of God and the salvation of one’s neighbor.

Give me a pure heart that seeks God in everything and only wants to please him; a grateful heart that is not afraid of anything but endures all adversities out of love for God; a heart generous to the poor and suffering to souls in Purgatory.

Give me a balanced heart whose joy and sadness, affection and difficulties with neighbors, and in general, the will of God governs all movements. Amen.

God told the prophet Ezekiel: „ But if a sinner turns from all the sins he has committed, and keeps all my commandments and acts according to law and justice, he will surely live: he will not die. I will not remember his sins that he committed, because of the righteousness that he has done, he will live. Can I rejoice in the death of a sinner? – says the Lord God – or not in turning from his ways and living?“ (Ez 18,21-23). From these words, we know that the Lord does not want to lose any of us. He says that He wants everyone to turn from their evil ways – to repent.

However, we often confuse repentance with fasting and the Sacrament of Penance. Repentance – metanoia – means a change of mind. True repentance begins within us – when we accept that the Lord wants to give His forgiveness and healing. He wants it first. He wants to provide us with His mercy – and not just once – but all the time, every day. …for his mercy does not pass away; it is renewed every morning; great is your faithfulness. God also promises Ezekiel that he will remember his sins. He will not remind him of them and return to the past. The Lord even warns us against turning back.

Let’s remember Lot’s wife who disobeyed. However, we cannot always recognize our mistakes and failures. We cannot always forgive ourselves – but the Lord says that if you do not forgive, I cannot. But, a change of mind changes our hearts, leading us to the Supreme more and more.  I will give you a new heart and put a new one within you; I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ez 18,31).

True repentance also involves a willingness to change our lives – to turn from our ways and walk according to God’s will. Listen to my voice; I will be your God, but you will be my people. Also, walk in every way I command you so you may be well guided. (Jer 7,23) The apostle Paul also invites us to this -, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God, which is good, and pleasing and  perfect.“ (Rim 12.2).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I come to you today as I am. You examine me and know all about me. I place my sins, falls, and failures in Your hands. You know them better than I do. Thank you for dying for them. Thank You for reconciling me with the Father. Thank you, God, for forgiving me through your Son. Thank you, God, for always giving me a new and new chance. From now on, I want to walk according to Your will. I give myself entirely to it.

Questions to ponder: Do you feel like you need a heart change? • Do you accept the Lord’s forgiveness? • Can you forgive yourself too? • Do you want to submit to His will?