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To many, Thomas Aquinas is a symbol of cold intelligence. It is a paradox, because in reality it is the complete opposite: at the time when St. Thus, Tomáš was dealing precisely with the condemnation of rationalism. In the middle of the 13th century, there was a return to Greek philosophy, partly to Aristotle, and there was a temptation to exaggerate human intellectual abilities, to present man as the creator of the universe. Since st. Tomáš was a realist, he resisted the challenges of rationalism and opposed this direction. Realism – one could say it is a submission to reality. We are able to perceive the world and God only through the reality that bears the imprint of God. Tomáš’ entire ideology is rooted in the words of St. the apostle Paul: “For what is invisible in him – his eternal power and divinity – can be known by reason from the creation of the world from created things…” (cf. Rom 1:20).

Unfortunately, as we know, the ideology of medieval rationalism gave rise to the ideas of the Enlightenment. For idealist philosophers, for example Kant, the real reality is only the reason of the knower, and the present reality is only the work of this reason. Today’s rationalism is manifested in the belief in the unlimited technical abilities of man. For St. Tomas, as it can be seen in his main work “Summa theological”, man comes from God and returns to God. At the end of his life, St. Tomáš said that everything he wrote was just a straw. Therefore, our first request to St. For Thomas, it may look like this: may his example and prayer help us understand that human reason is not omnipotent, that our words are always insufficient to express the mystery of God.   

IN the time of Thomas Aquinas, there was also another way of thinking, with which he certainly fought, and that was Augustine’s pessimism. Many medieval theologians viewed man as a fallen creature that is very imperfect, fragile, and unworthy. In particular, they claimed that man is not capable of knowing the world or God, because his mind is darkened by sin. St. Despite this, Thomas was convinced of the dignity of human reason, he claimed that despite sin, our reason is inherently good because God created it that way. That is why man is able to know the universe. According to St. Thomas, man is able to know the universe and through it to get closer to God. Unfortunately, pessimism won then: we can say that starting with Descartes, almost all philosophers claimed that the human mind is incapable of knowing reality and therefore incapable of knowing God.

We can still find such pessimism among Christians today. How many “spiritual” teachers teach that the mind of God cannot be understood, that the human mind of sinful man is incapable of anything, that reason only leads to pride. Thomas Aquinas, like the other church fathers, was not afraid to use and highlight reason, which is created by God. For him, using reason was not only a possibility, but the duty of every person. Therefore, our second request to St. Thomas says: may he help us to use our reason so that our faith is strengthened.

Abut what is most important is the method used by St. Thomas Aquinas. It has already been submitted that St. Thomas opposed two that we can still encounter today: philosophical rationalism and Augustine’s pessimism. But to tell the truth, he never directly opposed this direction and did not condemn anything. He tried to find the truth wherever it could be found. For example, when St. Thomas did not report with St. Augustine, he did not say that St. Augustine is wrong, he only pointed out that the given question is much broader. The same with philosophers: St. Thomas, unlike the rationalists, used Aristotle’s philosophy in such a way that it helps to better understand the mysteries of our faith. The method used by St. Thomas Aquinas is a dialogue.

About was very curious and interested in various teachings: Greek, Arabic, pagan. He compiled his works, especially the “Theological Summa”, in the form of questions and answers, which still included questions from opponents and tried to give answers from different angles. That is why we also have a third request: let St. Tomáš will help us see the truth always where it is. According to legend, God asked St. Tomáš, at the end of his life, what he would like to receive for his life’s effort. Thomas answered: “Only You Lord!” When God also asks us such a question, let our answer be: “Non aliam nisi Te, Domine!”.

Can we say that we are good or bad people? Some talk about a person as good and others as bad – and it is the same person. Why? What is it in? St. Mark represents “…the seed that a person throws into the ground…” (Mk 4:26).

Jesus points to the Old Testament psalm (cf. 78:2) “I will open my mouth in parables, I will tell what has been hidden since the creation of the world” (Mt 13:35). Our life is too short to waste it, and we only have one life that will not be repeated, and therefore Jesus’ words are a lesson for us to correctly accept the reality of good and evil that exists in the world and that a person, gifted with reason and free will, cannot avoid.

Jesus says: “The sower of the good seed is the Son of man” – that is, himself. The role is the world. The good seed are the sons of the kingdom, the tares are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed it is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are angels” ( Mt 13,37-39).

Jesus reminds us that we should always be on our guard, we should watch so that evil does not surprise us. Evil, the Devil, is by God’s permission. It may seem to a person that evil triumphs over good, that the tares destroy the wheat. The opposite is true. Jesus does not teach us resignation. God has prepared a reward for faithfulness to God in the battles and struggles that a person must overcome in life. In the parables, Jesus clearly teaches that the battle between good and evil, if we persevere in doing good, no one will be harmed, on the contrary, let’s remember the “beatitudes”.

More and more young people are looking for a way to spiritual values ​​in their lives. And precisely during the summer months, first for three days, then for a week, and then for a whole month, they are invited to various meetings – supposedly with a spiritual focus. Members of these sects, such as the Unification Church founded by San Myung Mun, whose wife travels the world and under various names, with the help of her followers, organizes the Federation of Families for World Peace, mislead and mislead especially the young. It ends not only with a joint marriage in the stadiums. In the same way, the followers of Sri Chinmoy work here in connection with integral yoga, i.e. the combination of spiritual exercises with artistic creativity and sports performances. A beautiful new world is offered by Oberto Airaudi and esoteric. With the help of music, singing, he gains followers.

Even though Jesus says that it is necessary to wait to pull out the tares, we must not be silent, passively waiting, when we see how sects destroy young lives. Let’s distinguish good from evil.

What is my relationship to the Church? Do I know my duties, obligations and tasks towards the Church?

Co-worker John asked Josef: “Please, how much does the parish priest pay you for doing church maintenance?” And how much does it give you that I can see you running errands for him around the church or the parish office?” Josef replies to John: “I’m sorry, I’ll probably surprise you with my answer. I’m not doing it for the priest and for money, I’m doing it for my Church.” We will meet such people.

The parables of the Lord Jesus about the “germination of the sown seed” and the “mustard grain” really point to the “Kingdom of God” (Mk 4:26, 30).
The Lord Jesus takes the parables from the peasant environment, which are easy to understand even for today’s people. With the parables, he points to the growth of God’s kingdom. The farmer prepares the ground and sows the grain. However, he does not do the main work himself, and this is pointed out by the parable. God, regardless of whether a person “sleeps or gets up, night or day, the seed germinates and grows, and he does not know about it.” (Mk 4:27). Jesus thus points to the kingdom of God, which is guided by its own truths, which is not the fruit of technology. The Kingdom of God thus has a period of germination, growth, ripening, and harvest in society, and also in every person. Often, people and even society are not aware of it.. With the second parable about the “mustard seed”, Jesus wants to emphasize that what seems small, insignificant to a person, when it grows up, outgrows everything that a person himself wanted to do.

The truth that is hidden in these parables is a proof of faith for us. After two millennia, we have evidence of Jesus’ care for the Church. Our faith should be greater than that of the first Christians. Jesus turns to us with parables. We have to give an answer to the words of the Lord Jesus with our lives. Jesus desires from each of us a response to his words. The answer is yes and no. Acceptance of his teachings and rejection of his teachings. God never resigns from a person’s behavior, even if a person stands above his abyss. God does not abandon man. God is waiting for man to accept him as his Lord and God. Freedom and reason – with what God gifted man when he created him in his image, as long as man lives, they can win man the kingdom of God. That binds us.

It is necessary to realize that the Church conveys to us the truths that we have to fulfill in our lives. Our duty is to do what God asks of us. We have to accept the grain of faith. This means – to allow God’s word to grow in us in our lives. God himself will take care of the growth of our faith. We are obliged to observe everything that we are commanded. We do not know the day or the hour of our death. We should always be ready because we do not know our day of harvest. Each grain has a different length of its vegetation. God does not want anything from us beyond our strength. We are obliged to renounce every evil, sin. God has a plan for each of us on earth. It is our duty to implement this plan. God gave us the Church, which teaches us, leads us to the goal, to the kingdom of God. We know that there are many difficulties and obstacles on this path.

And God created man. In his image, he created him. God’s image is found in man. And that is something extraordinary. We read that at the end of creation on the sixth day, God created man. It is interesting that in the creation of man, God goes into the plural. So not I will make man, but let us make the man. Some already see a hint of the holy trinity there. Why does God do all this? You know, love has the quality of wanting to give it away. The benevolent God in three persons wants to spread the love further. And he wants to extend it to other beings. That’s why he created angels and man, to whom he gave the ability to give something of himself. In our image. With what? It is the reason, free will, and the ability to love. What is man? Man has a body, a soul, and a spirit. We generally say that man is a material-spiritual being. We, humans, have all been in the mind of God for eternity. This is a very positive thing for us because God wanted us to be. When do we become most like God? When we use our reason for something good, our will, and our love. That’s when we work on the image of God in us. What is certain is that the harmony that the first humans had was destroyed by the Evil One. He gave people a new vision. As if to say to them. God didn’t mean you so well. You can still have better. You can be gods. It was a temptation. We will decide what is good and bad. What is right and wrong? And that challenge is also in today’s world. The first humans lost their inner balance. And because we come from those people, we inherited that, and we are broken, and we produce chaos. Jesus comes to bring that harmony back to us. He has also given us the instructions to do so. Jesus came to recreate the image of the child of God in us. Because of Jesus, we are made for a new heaven and a new earth. Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. In their way, pride. And on Easter, God fulfilled that desire for us. Well, if you want to be like God, I’ll give you that gift. But not through pride, but through humility, by accepting this gift from the Lord Jesus, by obeying his word. And you will become adoptive children of God. Something wonderful. Something to look forward to, because thanks to Jesus we will live in heaven. He will adore us. So he makes us able to live in heaven. And we will yet inherit. What? Money. No, but glory, power, strength, and wisdom. A new experience of reality. That’s why the soul is worth so much. The beginning of it all is in baptism. In baptism, we receive divine life. The soul is immortal. Once, to Catherine of Sienna, the Lord revealed a beautiful being. When Catherine saw it, she thought it was God, and she threw herself on her knees and wanted to worship this being. And the Lord Jesus said to her. Catherine, what are you doing? Well, such beauty is here, It’s not God, And what is it? It’s a pure, beautiful soul. This is what she looks like. For such a soul, I have sacrificed my life. Catherine was ready to give her life for a soul. The great truth is that man knows his greatness and splendor only when he knows Jesus Christ, for only then does he know his destination. He gives us the purpose of our life. He shows us how we are to develop. Where we are to get to. Hence, through Jesus, we get to God, and He gives us eternal life. The world may give us many gifts, but they are fleeting. Sooner or later they will be lost. That is why the Church challenges us. Do not seek what is fleeting, but what is eternal.

What is the most powerful driving force in the life of a person today?” 98% of those questioned answered that it is fear. 
Jesus says: “Be careful what you listen to” (Mk 4:24)!

The New Testament encourages everyone not to be afraid. Zacharias, who is making a sacrifice in the temple, is addressed by an angel: “Do not be afraid” (Lk 1:13). The Virgin Mary behaved differently from Zacharias when the angel announced to her that she would be the mother of the Son of God. The angel also said to her:” Do not be afraid, Mary” (Luke 1:30)! When an angel announces to Joseph in a dream that the child conceived by his fiancée is the Son of God, the angel reminds: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid!” (Mt 1:20). And did not the angels say to the shepherds on the fields of Bethlehem: “Do not be afraid “ (Luke 2:10)!?

Fear is in a person’s blood from birth to death, as a result of original sin. Which is all a motive of fear. Why is there so much fear in our life when we believe in God? How many words express this state of ours: fear, timidity, apprehension, horror, alarm, dread, panic, terror, uncertainty, restlessness, threat, dismay, trembling, shaking, and how many other names are there for the state of mind and body when we approach the wrong to your God.

“Do not be afraid!”, these words of Christ should be realized by all of us who have believed in Christ. We must not be intimidated so quickly, because fear makes our life unpleasant and difficult. It destroys and makes slaves of us – fear, when we rely on it, what people think about us, what they say about us, write about us, how they treat us. We must not be ashamed of our Christianity. When we faithfully stand by Christ, He will take care of us. To be faithful to Christ even in difficulties, and unpleasant things, confessing Christ even to those who do not have the best relationship with God, faith, the Church, Christianity, or the Pope, quickly brings peace, joy, satisfaction…

It is beautiful, useful, and right for us to put God first. What does God ask of us? When we make God happy with our behavior. Our faithfulness to God’s word is the guarantee of our eternity. We must not hide our Christianity from someone, that someone has power, position, education, etc., and does not believe in God. Is it right for someone to say, and possibly even live by it, that he is a Christian in his soul, but on the outside, in his behavior, he behaves in such a way that he does not show it? Many are satisfied with the fact that it is enough to live their faith in private, in the church, but no longer where we fulfill our duties. Whoever behaves in such a way that he hides his God in private, does not have his God in his heart, he is not a true witness of Christ. A true Christian does not have two faces, two hearts, and two tongues and does not live two lives, public and private, but has one God, one Truth and that is Jesus Christ.

Christ’s words are also binding today: “Everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.” But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 10:32-33). Do these words need comment? No.

The event of the conversion of Saul to Paul is known to us. Saul, an ardent Pharisee, persecutes Christians not out of cruelty, but out of ignorance and blindness. Then it is a common case that repeats itself at every age. Great Teacher, Jesus Christ, it is also common for you to tear down those Sauls, in various events you throw them off their saddles and call out with a thousand mouths: «Saul, Mary, George… why are you persecuting me?» While Saul of Tarsus, thrown from his saddle and blinded by a strange experience, manages to answer the question: «Lord, what do you ask?» – today’s Saul starts searching like detectives: Who caused it? Who cared? – They act accordingly. If they discover a higher “unknown” power behind the scenes, they can turn themselves and their surroundings into a complete storm. If they had power, which they don’t have, they would scatter the clouds. But let’s be honest and admit to ourselves: God’s love will take care of the blinded Saul’s, and God’s justice for the wicked. Let’s not point fingers that Saul is such and such an atheist brother, sister, boss, and neighbor… 

In meditative silence, let’s confess and answer the questions: Am I not Saul too, we, the baptized souls, the chosen souls, and I, the priest? Let’s fervently ask the Holy Spirit for gentle hearing and listening! Parents have been saying loudly for a long time: «Son, daughter, why do you persecute us with such a life? We, parents, have not slept for you for a long time… Get up from the earth, mud, and humiliation of sinful society! Cling to Christ, start it differently…” The husband repeats to his wife and vice versa in countless questions: “Why do you persecute me with infidelity? Get up and come, we’ll start it differently…» Friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor, co-worker to co-worker repeats: «Why are you persecuting me…?» The sister reproaches the sister: «Why are you persecuting me? Why do you harbor that tyrannical way of capriciousness… of resentment… of selfishness…?!” 

And who are you, XY, to reproach me like this? What right do you have to say that? If we end with just this question, we will continue to be what we were – Sabers! We will continue to persecute our near and far surroundings, and we will intensify the persecution. Unfortunately, only the last, and a very small group, also follows Saul of Tarsus with this question: «Lord, what do you want me to do? » This issue requires a true conversion, a turning to the Truth, which we mistakenly sought in the persecution of others. If we have the strength to ask Christ like this in the depths of our soul, He Himself will answer us: – I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life! (John 14:6). – The truth will set you free! (John 8:32). 

Go, show yourself to my representatives; you, maiden, youth, to your parents; you, priest, to your bishop; thou consecrated soul to thy superiors; you, Christian, to your confessor! Go and they will tell you what to do. If we have the strength to honestly question our conscience, to simply and openly ask Christ face to face what we must do to change our lives, the grace of God will complete the work of perfect conversion in us. Then: – frivolous maidens and young men will develop into the Roman Priskas, Agnes, Alojz, and the martyr-strong Pavlov Miki and Sebastián; – from frivolous married couples, parents become pillars of society, a guarantee of a healthy future; – from the tepid consecrated souls, the continuation of the Carmelite saints, the paraylemonial Margaret’s, the modern Ledochowskis, Demjanovičs, and the university-educated Edit Steins; – from average priests to new parish priests from Ar’s… 

Beloved Jesus, I am sure that the greatness of the apostle to the nations began here! Here, in this question: «Lord, what do you ask me to do? » We are afraid to ask because then we would have to continue in the Pavlovian line. She was required: – To carry the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus would be evident in our bodies. – To remain alive, but still to put ourselves to death for Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal body. This is what Paul writes about himself in the Second Letter to the Corinthians. It did not break the converted Saul. Love for Jesus began to motivate him more powerfully than hatred before. Optimistically, he continues in the same letter: – I am not weakening. Even as our inner man is destroyed, our inner man is renewed day by day. After all, the present temporary and light burden of tribulation will gain us an exceedingly great eternal glory above all (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). 

We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ, our Lord; however, we consider ourselves your servants (2 Cor 4,5). Lord Jesus, there is little or no malice in me. But there is a lot of fear in me that keeps me from calling out to Saul: «Lord, what do you want me to do? » Do not look at this weakness. Call, scream, stir up my insides: «I am Jesus, whom you have persecuted so far – she persecuted. Well, it will be difficult for you to kick against the thorn!» Beloved Jesus, take possession of me! I give you freedom against my freedom. I give you – if I may be honest – I give you a pleading command: «Seize me! Don’t look at the moans and groans! One day the scales will fall from my blinded eyes and I will see that in this and that event, humiliated, when you knocked me off the saddle of soaring pride, you stood – Jesus, Friend, Love, Mercy, Truth!» 

The decision» I will ask the Blessed Christ where to start my own conversion. By which faults do I persecute my fellow man? I’ll start from there

Lord Jesus leaves his mother standing outside and instead of going to her, he says to those present: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” He looked around at those sitting around him and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers. For whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mk 3:33-35).

We know that blood ties play an important role in society. Jesus distances himself from his blood relatives…(?) Really? Not! With his attitude, Jesus wants to say that a different time of community is coming, where blood and family ties lose their value. And in this new family, new principles apply, and he declares them right away: “For whoever does God’s will is my brother and my sister and mother” (Mk 3:35). That is: whoever accepts God’s word and fulfills it.

We know about the Virgin Mary that she not only knew this word of God but also fulfilled it; thus, she continues to be the mother of Jesus. With these words, the Lord Jesus did not take anything away from the greatness of his mother, on the contrary, he gives us her as a model, after all, he takes her body and soul to heaven. These words teach us that when we do the will of God, we will all become his brothers and sisters, and we will be able to call the heavenly Father truly “Our Father”.

But this is such a serious matter that even in the prayer that Jesus taught us, he includes one of the seven requests that we should remind ourselves of daily during prayer: Not our will, my will is to be done in my life, but: Your will be done, Sir What does it mean? We must realize that the strength of our connection with God, our closeness to God, that is, our kinship with God, depends on how we fulfill his holy will.

And what is the will of God?
This is all that God has revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures, which the Church has the authority to interpret and explain to us, so we can say that God’s will is for us to fulfill God’s and the Church’s commandments. Therefore, if we fulfill and keep them, we fulfill the will of God. On the other hand, let’s remember that if we transgress them, whether they are God’s or church commandments, we rebel against God and the Church. Let’s realize that our salvation also depends on how we fulfill these commandments. Therefore, it is necessary to stop often and think about how we fulfill the will of God.

The Church also invites us to think more regularly, not only before the Sacrament of Reconciliation but every day, at least for a few seconds, about this fulfillment of God’s will. We call it: the examination of conscience. Practice will guide us so that we can leave that short meeting with a concrete conviction for the next day that can enrich our lives. 

Have you seen a person with an inverted cross around his neck? Maybe you saw a little black person in the form of a cross on someone’s neck, or an isosceles cross in a circle. Have you seen the number 666 or 777 spray-painted anywhere? If so, what did you think of it? To the Devil, Satan, Beelzebub? If so, you weren’t wrong.

Today, it is not a problem to borrow a CD with Satanism content. There are musical groups that make no secret of the fact that they glorify the devil, invoke Satan, and worship the powers of evil. The cult of Satan has brazenly invaded the music scene. On one of the records is written: “And you, poor fool, who holds this record in your hands, know that you have sold your soul with it because it will quickly be captivated by the infernal rhythm and diabolical power of this music” (Hope and Risks of Sects and New of religious movements).

The boy tells the catechist that he is a Satanist. When she asks him what it is, he can only say that he hates God and must do at least one evil deed every day. We should not laugh at the word devil, devil, and similar names. These are not fairy creatures. The devil is real. Even today, the devil has his slaves, and servants. Jesus is suspected in today’s Gospel: “He is possessed by Beelzebub, and by the power of the prince of evil spirits he casts out evil spirits” (Mk 3:22).

The Gospel tells about the heavy collision of the Lord Jesus with his real opponents. These are turning his calcific teaching into the exact opposite. Their reproach is focused on the fact that Jesus is with the devil, that he is possessed and works from the devil’s power. The reproach of the enemies against Jesus could not have been more terrible and terrible. Jesus came into contact with the tempter several times. When he was preparing for the performance, the devil tempted him in the desert (cf. Mt 4:1-11). When the Lord Jesus tells the parable about the tares, he says: “The tares are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed it is the devil” (Mt 13:38-39). And other places. In the parable of the house of the “strong man,” the answer is expressed in an understandable form. The power of Jesus is manifested by doing good and not evil. The power of Jesus is visible,e, especially in healing the possessed. Thus, Jesus proves that his power is disproportionately greater, like the power of Beelzebub, the lord of all evil spirits. It is unthinkable that Satan himself would invade his kingdom as a ravager. Jesus’ logic is convincing. Our times are truly mistaken. 

Apostle St. Peter teaches us: “Be sober and watch! Your adversary, the devil, goes around…” (1 Pt 5:8)