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In today’s Gospel, a personal dialogue takes place between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asks Peter if Peter loves Him. This question, asked after the denial, sounds very cruel… But Peter, after looking into his heart, says, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Perhaps if this meeting had not taken place, Peter would have stopped believing in himself and thought his love was not real. But Jesus rose from the dead not only for everyone, but also for each one individually. Peter again sees love and friendship in the Master’s eyes.

His heart immediately responds to this look. He understands his connection with Jesus is something greater than just pleasant memories… Jesus asks a second and a third time, wanting to make Peter look deeper into his heart: “Do you love me?”. “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you,” Peter answers fervently. He looks at Jesus again and cannot say anything else. Yes, regardless of everything, love is alive. Standing before the one who knows everything, he confesses love again. In response, Peter hears the call “Feed my sheep.” With these words, Jesus awakens Peter to a new life. “Feed my sheep.”

Brotherly care not only revives Peter’s love but also makes it life-giving. Then follows the prophecy of martyrdom. These words reveal Jesus’ trust in Peter. This statement means that love destroyed his denial. His request to follow Jesus was even heard. What he was not at all prepared for was fulfilled later. Of course, Peter may be afraid again. But this fear can no longer destroy his happiness. Jesus rose from the dead, and everything was resurrected:dialog possible his love, his desires… Such a dialogue can take place with each of us. It can cleanse each of us from all falls and betrayals. He can renew our love and make it stronger in this world. What is asked of us? To believe we can respond to this call we have heard in our hearts. The joy that we feel in the depths of our hearts responding to Him will be the confirmation: yes, it is truly Him

Position: priest, monk, and mystic OPraem
Death: 1241 or 1252
Patrons: mothers, children, and watchmakers
Attributes: boy, apple, Jesus Christ with Mother, inkwell, chalice, key, Premonstratensian, writing implements, rose
CURRICULUM VITAE

He was born in the 12th century. Redemonstrate in Cologne and from childhood was subject to mystical visions. Originally he was supposed to be a watchmaker, but then he entered the Premonstratensian order, where he became a priest. The abbot entrusted him with the care of the food of his brothers, in which he proved himself patient and obedient. In his spiritual life he is said to have achieved a mystical marriage. Finally, he was a sacristan, composing hymns and an interpretation of the Song of Solomon.
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REWARDED TRUST
He came from a poor family in Cologne. He went to school from the age of seven and hurried to church afterward, where he spent hours in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus. He spoke to them in a childlike, intimate way, as if they were not statues but real beings. He told them what he was thinking and loved to share it. Legend has it that he once gave an apple to the baby Jesus, and the baby Jesus reached out and took it. This reminds us that what we can truly think is truly accepted and rewarded by the loving God.

He called the Virgin Mary his mother and his rose. He often recalled Jesus’ poverty on earth and his humiliation and suffering. Then he rejoiced in his poverty, especially in the possibility of reproach. The world seemed to him like a sea of ​​temptations, and at the age of 12 he decided to enter the Premonstratensian monastery in Steinfeld. Perhaps precisely because St. Norbert had entrusted the order to the protection of the Mother of God and a flame of love for Herman burned in his heart. Around that time or later, he trained as a watchmaker.

After receiving the white robe of the order, he was sent to the monastery of Frisco for further education. There he studied well, but he did not like the writings of pagan orators. They allegedly gave him a musty smell. On the other hand, he felt a sweet delight in the writings of the Church Fathers. After his studies, he returned, took religious vows, and was ordained a priest.

Someone entrusted him with the care of food, shattering his dreams of remaining in contemplative prayer. He willingly and humbly provided it and served at the table. He himself preferred to fast on bread and water, and when he complained to Fr. Mary that he could no longer remain in prayer for long, she reassured him: when he performs the duties assigned to him by serving his brothers as if he were serving Christ and God, he offers the most beloved sacrifice.

After some time, he was appointed sacristan, with responsibility for the temple, sacred vessels, and liturgical vestments. Thus, the desire of his heart was granted so that he could devote himself more to meditation. Occasionally, he spent the whole night before the altar. Perhaps because he excelled in purity, love and reverence for the Mother of God, the brothers began to call him Joseph. His humility and modesty prevented him from accepting the name of the betrothed of St. Mary, until she allegedly appeared to him with an angel, who announced to him that the Most Holy Virgin was betrothed to him, as she was betrothed to Joseph, and that she wished him to accept his name.

Due to frequent mystical experiences with Mother Mary and especially an exaggerated ascetic life, Herman Josef became physically weak and then seriously ill. He blamed himself for being unable to serve his brothers. And the Virgin Mary brought him out of his despondency by begging for his health. One biographer wrote that he was like a grain of wheat ground by two millstones, one by pleasures and the other by sufferings.superiorscompanions

He also belonged to the worshipers of holy friends in heaven. In honor of St. Voršila and her companions, he composed a hymn, including a melody to it based on the singing of the virgins during a mystical experience. At that time, they also found their remainssuperiors, and Heřman Josef begged the superioress Voršila for the skull of St. Gertrude.

Among his remarkable virtues was touching humility. He behaved as the least and most unworthy, contented himself with an older patched monastic habit, and was perfectly obedient to his superiors. He also administered the hours in the monastery and radiated a special charm. In his later years, he began to write a commentary on the Old Testament Song of Solomon. His work had the best qualities, thanks to Father Maria’s encouragement. While working on his writing, he experienced pleasure and distanced himself from everything earthly.

In his last years, he prepared for the death he had predicted, as well as for the grave. He lived out his life in Hoven, near Zülpich, in a monastery where the Cistercian nuns had called him to perform the Easter rites. When they welcomed him there, he pointed with his staff to the place where he would be buried. Eventually, with great pomp, his body was transferred to Steinfeld. Miracles were performed at his grave. Two dates of indistinguishable authenticity have been preserved for the year of his death. He was canonized in 1960.

CURRICULUM VITAE

He came from Siena. The foundation of his spiritual life was worship and veneration of the Virgin Mary. The strength of his love for his neighbor was especially evident during the plague, when he himself treated the sick. He entered a Franciscan monastery and became a priest. He renounced everything and sought only God. With love and zeal, he spread reverence for the name of Jesus throughout Italy. He was accused of heresy, but his innocence was always recognized. He died in L’Aquila at the age of 64.

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HEROLD OF CHRIST

He was born on September 8, 1380, in Massa Maritima near Siena in central Italy. When he was three years old, his mother died, and three years later, his father, who was a mine owner, died. Bernardino was cared for by his father’s relatives in Siena. His grandmother taught him to love God and to be devoted to Mary. His extraordinary talent led him to enter the university very early. He was popular there for his friendly character and generosity. In Siena, he studied literature, law, biblical studies, and theology.

From about age 17, he was in the Virgin Mary brotherhood, which sought to lead its members to perfection through service to the needy, poor, and sick. When the plague broke out, he and his companions cared for the sick and dying, and he himself became severely infected. By the grace of God, he recovered and, for some time, helped his sick aunt. During his illness, he decided to become religious and considered the Augustinian and Franciscan orders, which he ultimately chose. He entered the Franciscans in Siena at the age of 22 and joined the strict branch of the Observants. After a year of novitiate, he took religious vows, and in 1404, he was ordained a priest.

In his early years, he further deepened his knowledge by studying theological, ascetic, and mystical writings, especially those of Franciscan church writers. The superiors allowed him to live for a while on the hill of Capriola, where he turned the hermitage into a small monastery and lived a very mortified life in fervent preparation. From 1417, he began his preaching and missionary work in central and northern Italy. At first, he felt incapable because of his weak voice, so he turned to the Mother of God, who helped him. He then spoke in a clear, resonant voice, which won the hearts of his listeners. He was equally proficient at preaching in the vernacular to quite simple peasants as well as to university listeners. He presented the deepest Christian truths to everyone in an appropriate manner. For many listeners, he often preached in the open air. His sermons sometimes caused a sudden shortage of confessors and dispensers of the Blessed Sacrament.

Contemporary chroniclers said of him that his influence was like the arrival of spring. It was a time full of hatred, marked by hostility between noble families and common neighbors. Italy was divided not only into principalities and city-states but also into political factions, and the sight of this torn world was depressing.her But Bernardine did not speak of disasters but of Jesus and his divine love. He said, “In him is contained everything that God has ordained for human salvation.” He pointed to him as a “burning light” and proclaimed the crucified Jesus, the divine physician of soul and body, as the answer.

He preached the need for forgiveness and reconciliation, and, with that aim, he also preached respect for the name of Jesus. He created an image of a shining sun with the monogram JHS; these are the first three letters of the Greek word “Jesus” (also an abbreviation of “Jesus, the Savior of the people”). Above the middle letter H was a cross, and a new coat of arms was created, drawing attention to the mystery of salvation. During Bernardine’s time, this symbol spread widely throughout Italy, especially to the houses of Christian brotherhoods, and it was also inscribed on the facades of public buildings. Bernardine carried a tablet bearing this symbol with him and placed it on the altar, where he celebrated Holy Mass before preaching. After preaching, he raised the tablet high and was blessed by it.

Finally, Bernardine was arrested and accused of heresy because the spread of such veneration displeased some theologians and humanists. The church court examined his accusations three times, the last time at the Council of Basel in 1438. John of Capistrano is said to have been one of Bernardine’s effective defenders. Bernardine did not take advantage of the emperor’s favor either, and in the end, his orthodoxy, pure intentions, and holiness of life were always recognized. On the other hand, the Pope offered him the episcopal office in Siena, Ferrara, and Urbino three times, but Bernardine always refused, preferring the path of preaching.

He also successfully defended the poor. Some inhabitants were expelled from a village for debts, and he fought relentlessly for each until they could return.

In 1438, Bernardine became the superior general of the Franciscan Observants and helped expand their order. As superior of the order, he participated in the general council in Florence. In the monastery of Monteripido near Perugia, he founded a theological school, where he himself taught, and in Siena, he established a higher theological teaching institution from which the religious professors were drawn. He tried to complement the Franciscan simplicity with intellectual maturity.

In 1442, he felt his strength diminish and resigned from the office of superior. The governor of Siena then asked him for some diplomatic services, which he successfully performed. He then tried to continue his apostolic work, but on the eve of the Ascension, while at San Silvestro near L’Aquila, his strength left him, and he died there in the monastery.

He was canonized by Nicholas V in 1450, and in 1474 his remains were transferred to a new church in L’Aquila, built in his honor.

CURRICULUM VITAE

He came from Tuscany and was the son of Constantius. He became archpriest at St. John Lateran and was elected pope on 13 August 523. In Rome, he restored the church of St. Felix and Adauctus on the Ostia road. He introduced the Christian calendar, dating historical events according to the year of Christ’s birth. The initial year was calculated by the monk Dionysius the Younger, and later calculations revealed that he was probably mistaken by 4-7 years and that the birth of the Lord occurred earlier.

John, I am the first pope to travel to Constantinople. He was forced to do so by the aging Ostrogothic king Theodoric, who ruled over Italy and who wanted the emperor in Constantinople to abandon all anti-Arian actions and even to return those who had become Catholics from Arians. The pope refused the Arians’ demands but was willing to continue negotiations. The king had the pope put on a ship with some bishops, including Ekklesius of Ravenna and the pope’s noble entourage from Rome.

In Constantinople, the people and the clergy welcomed the pope, and Emperor Justin I knelt before him, accepting him as Peter’s successor. The pope presented Theodoric’s demands, except for those concerning the Arians. On Easter 525, he celebrated a glorious Latin mass and crowned the emperor. The pope received significant priority everywhere, even over the patriarch. When the pope returned to Italy after Easter, as soon as he set foot in Ravenna, King Theodoric had him imprisoned and subjected to various tortures, including starvation. The pope was probably already sick from the journey, and mental and physical suffering overcame him so that he died in prison in Ravenna the following year.

He was buried outside the walls of Ravenna. At his funeral, according to the chronicles of Maximian, a man possessed by an evil spirit was healed. After the death of Theodoric, who became an enemy of Rome and all Catholics, the remains of Pope John I were transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica and buried in its portico. The inscription on the tomb read: “High Priest of the Lord, you fall as a sacrifice of Christ. This is the way in which the popes obtain the promises of God.”

Brothers and sisters… when you walk across Charles Bridge in Prague, you will find over 30 statues and groups of saints—and among them the oldest, the iconographically legendary statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, which has stood in its place since 1683. And although it has stood there silently for so long… it still has something to say to everyone who passes by daily.

It is such beautiful symbolism – the saint does not stand in a quiet church but in the midst of the hustle and bustle of this world, on a bridge over which a huge number of people pass daily. He stands in the middle of the world in priestly garb – he has a clear identity, publicly declares his allegiance to the Catholic Church,Whentime, but and hides nothing… and this is precisely in such an atheistic country as our neighbors are. So the first thing this saint inspires us with is courage – the courage to be readable at first glance… the courage to bear witness to Christ… the courage not to merge with this world.

Another thing we can notice is how he is portrayed. Saint John has his finger on his mouth… because he knew how to speak at the right time but also how to remain silent at the right time. In the era of the rise of mass media, where we are bombarded with one piece of information after another from all sides—via the Internet, radio, newspapers, or television… we lose our sense of what to share – what to move forward with, and what to feed our hearts with because of what to develop into topics in conversations. And so, in the place of the greatest tourist traffic, Saint John has his mouth closed but both eyes and ears open, as if he wanted to tell us, “Be quiet! Listen to God’s voice and do not close your eyes to His care; let your words be guided by love for the truth.

However, John’s silence also applies to the mystery of confession, for which he underwent a martyr’s death. And so, with his silence, he clearly speaks of the amazing gift of God’s mercy that God has placed in holy confession.

And finally, the saint is often depicted with a cross in his hands, which he looks at with love and fear… as if he wanted to draw our gaze to it and reveal to us where we can find the source of life and happiness. So let the memory of John of Nepomuk lead us to self-reflection and to the questions we need to askAsAndSomeone. How often do I spend time in silence—the silence that is necessary for hearing the voice of God? Can I keep a secret someone confides in me… and not spread others’ mistakes? Can I be discreet?

God did not intend to create puppets.

Sometimes we meet people who do not believe but are sincerely interested in what we actually believe and why. Talking to them can enrich both parties. We get rid of prejudices against them, and they, on the other hand, can confront our experience of faith with their deepest life questions.

The German priest and theologian Jan Loffeld, in his well-known book “When God is Missing,” states that the gradual extinction of faith in God is (at least in the European environment) a natural consequence of social development. We Christians have proclaimed our faith, even if we do not always act flawlessly. Rather, it is necessary to “take the dignity of man and his freedom seriously. God did not intend to create puppets.

My impetus for this discussion is the consideration that a loving God loves believers and non-believers equally and grants everyone the freedom to turn to him with faith or not to count on him in their lives. And therefore, even nonbelievers can live a fulfilled life. Faith in God is our free choice; if there were no alternative, there would be no choice.” Would it still be a loving God? 

But Jesus says, “Eternal life is defined: that they know you, the only true God, and the one whom you have sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). Even if we admit the possibility of free choice, does this statement not mean that the rejection of faith in God can lead to the loss of eternal life? Let us look for the answer in our experience. We know many who do not believe in God, and yet they are good people: they raise their children with love, work responsibly, actively participate in public life, help those who are discriminated against or marginalized for various reasons, and honestly seek the truth amidst a barrage of misinformation. We meet them at school, at work, participate in joint projects, and share our personal and family concerns.

Sometimes we understand those who have not found their way to God better than some believing Christians. Are we to think that a person must end up in hell just because of their unbelief? Does that God, who loves all people, condemn many of them to eternal punishment even though they have done nothing wrong? Would that still be a loving God? Jesus’ statement does not necessarily mean that eternal life is a reward for people who have believed in God in this life. We can also understand it in this way: it is precisely by entering eternity that a person truly “will know the only true God and the one whom God has sent, Jesus Christ.” Some will know him already here on earth. Others will not know God in this life but will encounter him only in the transition to eternity. This full, intense, complete knowledge of God, meeting him, dissolving in him, is not even possible in this life. However, it This is the essence of eternal life. Support for faith comes only from the experience of faith.

But is it advisable for him to bear witness to faith and ‘preach the gospel’? What if, even without accepting God in this life, we can accept him in the next? You may have had different experiences with good people. Sometimes they simply dismiss our faith, sometimes they like to discuss it as an exotic intellectual topic and sometimes they are genuinely interested in our beliefs. Such a conversation can enrich both parties. We can overcome our prejudices towards them, and they can confront our experience of faith with their deep questions about the meaning of life, good and evil, pain, eternity, and so on. Through these conversations, we learn to delve into the core of our own experiences. As Loffeld says, ‘The support for faith today is neither tradition nor Christian culture, only the experience of faith.’

In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus refers to his disciples — people who have shared his experiences and come to know God on earth through his teachings. He asks his Father to keep them united in love so they may meet him in heaven more profoundly. Jesus is deeply concerned for those who believe in him and want to live with him here on earth. Because it is such a great gift, they must share it with others. They must bear witness to their faith.

Who does Jesus have in mind here?

At the same time, however, we can consider John’s style of expression, which is often figurative and symbolic. When Jesus speaks to the Father in the Gospel about ‘those you have given me,’ does he mean only those who have believed in him? Or does he also mean those who will believe later thanks to them? Or perhaps he means those who will not explicitly believe in him but who will have a desire for truth and love in their hearts, i.e., a desire for God? The Bible does not give us a clear answer to these questions. But it does say one thing clearly: God loves everyone equally, believers and nonbelievers alike.

The Christian’s place is in the world, where he must proclaim Jesus, but his eyes are fixed on heaven, where he will be united with Him. The Scriptures give us three words, three points of reference for the Christian pilgrimage. The first is memory. The risen Jesus tells his disciples to go to Galilee, where they first met him. Each of us has our own Galilee, that is, the place where Jesus first appeared, where we came to know Him and received the joy and enthusiasm of following Him. To be good Christians, it is essential to remember this first and subsequent encounter with Jesus constantly. This is the grace of memory, which gives us certainty in times of trial.

The second point is prayer. When Jesus ascends to heaven, he does not separate himself from us. Physically yes, but he remains constantly united with us to intercede for us. He shows the Father his wounds, the price he paid for us, for our salvation. We must therefore ask for the grace of contemplation of heaven, the grace of prayer, a relationship with Jesus who hears us and is with us. Then there is the third: the world. Before his departure, as we heard yesterday in the Gospel of the Ascension, Jesus says to his disciples: “Go into all the world”. Go. The Christian’s place is the world, to proclaim the Word of Jesus, to announce that we are saved and that Jesus came to give us the grace to take us all with him to the Father.

This is the topography of Christian thought. Three points of support for our life: memory, prayer, andto missionary mission; three words for our journey: Galilee, heaven and world. The Christian must move in these three dimensions, asking for the grace of memory and saying to the Lord: “May I not forget the moment you chose me, may I not forget the moments when we met.” Praying and looking to heaven, because there He intercedes for us. And then the mission. This does not mean that everyone has to go abroad. Going on missions means living and testifying to the Gospel, letting people know what Jesus is like. And this is through testimony and the Word, because if I talk about what Jesus is like and what the Christian life is like, but I live like a pagan, it is useless. Such a mission is useless.

However, if we live with memory, prayer, and missions, the Christian life will be beautiful and joyful. And this is the last sentence of Jesus from today’s Gospel (John 16:20-23): “On the day you live as a Christian, you will know everything, and your joy will not be taken from you. “Noto one, because I have in my memory the encounter with Jesus, the certainty that Jesus is now in heaven, interceding for me and with me. I pray; I dare to go out of myself, to speak to others, and to testify with my life that Jesus is risen from the dead and is alive. Memory, prayer, mission. May the Lord grant us the grace to understand this topography of Christian life and to move forward with a joy that no one can take from us.

Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Today, men in white robes, heavenly messengers, address us with the same words. The Son of God has accomplished the work of salvation for which he took on human nature. Jesus Christ, the God-man, fulfilled the promise that the Creator made in the earthly paradise to the first people after sin: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Christ finally triumphed over Satan; redeemed man from the slavery of sin at the price of his most precious blood; and when he rose from the dead, he opened the gates of heaven for us. Now Jesus Christ, the God-man, takes our human nature to heaven, to the Father’s house, and shows that the ultimate goal and fulfillment of human life is eternal happiness, heaven.

But do we really want to go to Heaven? Are we aware that eternal happiness is worth striving for? How often do we ask the Lord God in our prayers to help us reach heaven? Or are our intentions, efforts and plans more connected to securing happiness in this life? The temporal equivalent of happiness is paradise. The ultimate fulfilment of human life in eternity is heaven. Today, let us ask ourselves whether we desire heaven or paradise more. Are our daily efforts directed towards creating paradise on earth, or are they intended to lead us to heaven? What is the highest value of life for me? ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be’ (Matthew 6:21).

The Creator placed Adam and Eve in an earthly paradise. They were given perfect conditions for life and development. They were given a clear command by the Lord to develop, be fruitful and enrich themselves: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it’ (Genesis 1:28). According to God’s plan, life in paradise was to be one of love and peace, free from disease, suffering, cataclysms and injustice. Humanity was to develop harmoniously and subdue the earth. Unfortunately, the sin of pride and disobedience deprived the first humans of their earthly paradise. ‘Therefore […] through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin’ (Romans 5:12). Man was deprived of paradise, and life forces each of us to work hard for our daily bread and face adversity and human weakness. We all experience the imperfections of human nature through illness, suffering and death. However, through hard work and sacrifice, we conquer the earth and strive to build a replacement for the biblical Garden of Eden here on earth. We are trying to build a paradise on earth. Each of us wants to be happy, fulfilled, and secure in life. We all have different ideas about what makes us happy, but that is what we are all about in our everyday lives..

Although many people do not want to admit it, it must be acknowledged that our lives are getting better and better thanks to hard work and effort. People complain all the time. However, the amazing fact is that the more a person has, the more they invent and demand. The desire to live in an earthly paradise will never be satisfied. Material things will never make a person fully happy. We will always want more. The rush for the lost paradise is happening before our eyes. People have never lived as well as they do now, and I do not know if they have ever been as greedy and demanding as they are today. We want paradise here on earth. Yet we do not fully know what that paradise should be. Yet we push away the truth about spiritual life, human transience and the completion of human life in eternity.

The outstanding film director Andrei Tarkovsky said: ‘If a person lives without knowing the reasons for their existence, without knowing why they came into the world or why they have to live here for several decades, then the world will reach the position in which we are now.’ Since the Enlightenment, humanity has become excessively interested in material things and has allowed the desire for knowledge to dominate it’Therefore,. If, at the same time, humanity had yearned for spiritual values, it would have developed in a more harmonious way, guided by spiritual principles. Today’s civilisation has reached a dead end. People and politicians have become slaves to the system they themselves created. Computers have taken power over people. To stop this process, we need spiritual work and enlightenment from above. Only this can save us.

We live very comfortably and in abundance. We never go hungry. Perhaps most of all, however, we lack gratitude and appreciation for everything we have and have achieved in life, and the joy that should accompany them. However, despite all the beauty in this world, we mustn’t forget that heaven awaits us — eternal happiness after our temporary life ends. Everyone who comes to this world will someday leave it. In death, no one will replace us. We cannot take the earthly paradise with us. So let us enjoy life and not lament, but instead enjoy the fruits of our labour. At the same time, let us work for heaven. Let us not forget eternity. Let us undertake spiritual work with faith in order to achieve eternal salvation. We were called to life and came to this world primarily to achieve this. We will leave the paradise we have laboriously built over time. We will leave everything we have gathered behind. Everyone knows this, yet many people are reluctant to acknowledge this truth. This cannot be done. Even the death of their loved ones will not convince them. Neither will their own fatal illness. It is a drama that the Lord Jesus speaks about in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’ (Luke 16:31).

Therefore, St Paul prays: ‘May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him’ (Ephesians 1:17). Let us strive to be wise in life. Just as we are prudent in temporal matters, so should we be wise in matters of the spirit. ‘May the eyes of your heart be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints (Ephesiansit 1:18). Let us strive to see the hope of our calling to eternal happiness. Jesus Christ atoned for our sins by dying on the cross. When he rose from the dead, he opened the gates of heaven. St Paul says of this: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Cor 2:9).

No earthly paradise, however perfect, will ever satisfy the desires of the human heart. We all experience this truth. We earn, buy, furnish and repair, and then we start thinking about what new things we could introduce into our lives. Material possessions, work achievements, entertainment and pleasures will never make a person truly happy. What each of us needs most is love. Those who have found love no longer search for it but enjoy the stability and fulfillment that it gives. Without love, an earthly paradise becomes hell. Conversely, where there is love, even in modesty, paradise is created.

Heaven is infinite, loving happiness. ‘We who have believed have come to know the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them’ (1 John 4:16). It is good that we conquer the earth. However, we will never build a paradise here that satisfies our desires. We must remember this. Jesus’ ascension to heaven shows us the ultimate purpose of human existence. Heaven is the communion of the saved people with God in the Holy Trinity, one forever and ever. Therefore, let us strive for heaven more than for an earthly paradise. The earthly paradise will pass away, but heaven will be eternal. Amen.