But what does this following of Christ mean? We often imagine Christ as a perfect person who fulfills the will of the Father and therefore is a model for us in keeping the law. In this way, anyone can accept Christ without a problem. As a model of the perfect man. But this view is insufficient and leads to an unsolvable situation. For Christ is not just a model, He is the way. And that is an essential difference. Ideals are necessary because they motivate us, but they are also dangerous because they lead to despair if we cannot fulfill them. Therefore, following Christ as a model of perfection leads to despair. We cannot do it. We are not up to it. And so, even though at first glance Jesus as a perfect man seems acceptable to everyone, worthy of being followed, it is a desperate path into hopelessness.

Following Christ, fortunately, is not copying a model of perfection, but living from His grace. He is the way, He is the strength, He is the one who enables us to come to the Father. Therefore, following Christ means the art of entering into His way of thinking and making His spirit our own. It is the art of asking questions and solving the problems of everyday life in this light: “What would Christ do?” or: “What would Christ advise me to do?”

Lest there be any misunderstanding, it must be emphasized right away that this is not a mechanical application of the Gospel – Jesus drives the merchants out of the temple, so I too will throw out people who offer pilgrimage tours in the church. Jesus praised Mary for sitting at His feet and warned Martha that she was attending to everything except what is essential, and so I too will stop taking care of the household and only read Scripture. That would be a misunderstanding. To follow Christ does not mean to copy what He does. To follow Christ means to understand the logic of Jesus’ thinking, what attitudes He takes, what is a value for Him, how He motivates people, how He admonishes them, then to observe the present age, which is different from Christ’s time, and to try to apply Christ’s attitudes even in today’s world.

It is not enough to look at Christ as a historical person, but we must see and accept Him in the history of the whole world. Among the Jews, those who could recognize Jesus as the Messiah were those who saw in Him the fulfillment of everything toward which the historical development of the Old Testament was heading. Those who understood that the history of the Old Testament is a history of God’s faithfulness and the people’s unfaithfulness, those who understood that history was heading toward the coming of the Messiah who would remove the burden of original sin and remove the heart of stone from our body and give us a heart of flesh. It was precisely these people who were able to accept Christ. Whoever did not understand these historical connections and saw only social injustice, the loss of authentic religiosity, political oppression by the Romans, was disappointed by Jesus, because He did not solve these situations according to his idea. A wrong understanding of Jerusalem, its Temple, the Kingdom, the prophets, led to the condemnation of Christ and His being handed over to death. It is precisely this that the apostles point to, and that is why they so gladly explain and summarize the history of the chosen nation in their sermons.

Similarly, we too can accept Christ only in the context of our own lives. Where is my life heading? What is its meaning and goal? Why do certain things happen? What is the Lord educating me for through them? We are invited to live our everyday life from the perspective of the goal toward which we are heading. And not from the perspective of the happiness and trouble-free life that we would like to have. Our everyday life is connected with our eternity and not only with our earthly happiness. Following Christ, therefore, is not detached from everyday reality. It is not valid to say: I go to work, I earn money there to survive, and then I can devote myself to my family and my salvation. I will build a pastoral center so that there is finally a suitable space for pastoral work and then evangelization will finally be possible. Perhaps I have said nothing new by this. It is completely natural and clear, and yet how often we forget it in concrete life. To follow Christ means to live one’s salvation here and now. To perceive every event of life as one that influences my salvation. And then to ask how Christ would act.

 Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo

Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) was a highly influential Christian theologian, philosopher, and bishop. He is considered one of the great Fathers of the Church and a key figure in the development of Western Christianity.

Augustine was born in the town of Thagaste in North Africa (modern-day Algeria). He led a restless early life, deeply interested in philosophy and rhetoric, and initially followed the Manichaean religion before converting to Christianity.

His famous conversion to Christianity occurred in 386 AD, inspired in part by the preaching of Saint Ambrose in Milan and the prayers of his devout mother, Saint Monica. After his conversion, Augustine was baptized by Ambrose.

Augustine became the Bishop of Hippo Regius (in present-day Annaba, Algeria) around 395 AD and served there until his death in 430 AD. His leadership was marked by tireless pastoral care, theological teaching, and writing.

Theological Works: Augustine authored influential works such as *Confessions* (a spiritual autobiography) and *The City of God* (addressing the relationship between Christianity and the Roman Empire).

He developed key Christian doctrines regarding original sin, grace, free will, and the nature of the Church.

Augustine integrated classical philosophy with Christian teachings, greatly shaping medieval Christian thought.

Saint Augustine’s writings deeply influenced Christian theology, philosophy, and Western culture. He is recognized as a Doctor of the Church and is honored on August 28th in the Catholic calendar.

—

Whenever we come to the Lord, whether in prayer or at Holy Mass, we must realize that it is different from material things. When I am thirsty, I take a glass of water and drink. But when I want to drink spiritually, it is not that simple. I make the sign of the cross, say, “God, help me,” and think it is all settled.

Spiritual things are not easily accessible to our perception because we are bodily beings. This leads us to try to satisfy bodily needs, because it is easier. The body is made for that; it is natural to it. If a person wants to live spiritually, he must experience a kind of violence against himself. This violence is called being born again.

In one place Jesus says: “The violent take possession of the Kingdom of God.” There is a difference between the life of faith and a religious life. A religious life consists of many things that can be done in a bodily way: I make the sign of the cross, I go to Holy Mass, I receive Holy Communion. But the life of faith is the search for the Kingdom of God, believing that God will fulfill all His promises — but not immediately, as we often wish.

People often have wrong attitudes. They want God to act just because they have prayed or gone to Holy Mass. We cannot approach spiritual things as if they were a vending machine. Many times it may seem to us that we see no result.

Several figures from the Old Testament can serve as examples for us: Abraham, Simeon, Zechariah. Believing is not easy. Modern man wants to have light immediately. This applies both to bodily things and to spiritual things.

And let us realize one more thing: man tries to make his bodily life easier, and that is why he is constantly inventing something. He would like the same in spiritual matters. He wants to see results immediately. If he does not see them, he loses interest in spiritual things.In conclusion, I would like to say: God will not change the conditions of spiritual life just because they are demanding and unacceptable to many people. He forces no one. Those who think they can adapt the Gospel to their own image are mistaken.

Sermon on Matthew 23:27–32

“You are like whitewashed tombs.

Dear brothers and sisters,

The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel are among the strongest words we hear from his lips

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.”

At first hearing, these words may seem unusually harsh. We are accustomed to seeing Jesus as gentle and merciful. He welcomes sinners, touches lepers, forgives the adulterous woman, eats with tax collectors, and searches for those who are lost. Why, then, does he speak so severely here?

Precisely because he loves.

There are moments when love must comfort, but there are also moments when love must tell the truth. A doctor who discovers a serious illness does not help the patient by pretending that everything is fine. Jesus sees a spiritual sickness in the religious leaders of his time, and he names it: hypocrisy.

1. The whitewashed tomb

The image Jesus uses was immediately understandable to his listeners. Tombs could be whitewashed so that people would recognize and avoid them. From a distance they could look clean, bright, even beautiful. But their appearance did not change what was inside.

Jesus uses this image to describe a dangerous contradiction: a beautiful exterior and a corrupted interior

And here we should be careful. It would be easy to listen to this Gospel and think: “Yes, Jesus is talking about the Pharisees. They were hypocrites.”

But the Gospel was not preserved merely so that we could judge people who lived two thousand years ago. Jesus’ words are addressed to us as well.

There can be a little Pharisee hidden in every human heart.

We can appear patient while being full of anger. We can speak about forgiveness while secretly nourishing resentment. We can appear generous while wanting admiration. We can pray publicly while neglecting our personal relationship with God. We can know the commandments very well and nevertheless fail to love the person standing beside us.

There is always the danger of becoming more concerned about appearing good than actually becoming good.

2. God sees what others cannot see

People usually see the exterior. They see our face, clothing, behavior, achievements, words and reputation.

God sees deeper.

He sees what happens when nobody is watching. He sees our motives. He sees the thoughts we would never say aloud. He sees our secret struggles, but also our hidden acts of goodness. He knows whether our prayer comes from the heart or merely from our lips.

This can sound frightening, but it is actually good news.

We do not need to pretend before God.

When we come before him, we can say:

“Lord, this is who I am. Here is my faith, but also my doubt. Here is my love, but also my selfishness. Here are my good intentions, but also my failures. Here are the wounds I show to others, and here are those that nobody knows about.”

God does not ask us to come to him already perfect. He asks us to come truthfully.

The greatest obstacle to God’s grace is not necessarily weakness. Often it is the refusal to admit our weakness.

Peter denied Jesus three times, yet became the rock of the Church. Paul persecuted Christians, yet became an apostle. Augustine lived far from God, yet became a great saint.

Their past did not prevent holiness because they allowed God to change them.

3. “We would not have joined them”

Jesus then points to another form of hypocrisy. The scribes and Pharisees built tombs for the prophets and said:

If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.”

How easy it is to condemn the sins of previous generations!

We say: “If I had been there, I would never have done that.”

But the more important question is not what I would have done then. The important question is: What am I doing now?

We honor the prophets of the past, but do we listen to the prophetic voices God sends us today?

We honor the saints, but do we imitate them?

We place flowers before statues of saints, but are we prepared to live according to the Gospel for which they sacrificed everything?

We honor Christ on the crucifix, but do we recognize him in the poor, the lonely, the elderly, the sick, the stranger, or the person whom we find difficult to love?

It is possible to honor yesterday’s prophets while rejecting today’s call to conversion.

4. Christianity is not a façade

Jesus is warning us against reducing religion to appearances.

We can attend Mass and remain unforgiving.

We can receive Holy Communion and refuse reconciliation.

We can know the Bible and still destroy another person through gossip.

We can kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and then look down upon our neighbor.

None of this means that prayer, Mass, confession, devotions or religious practices are unimportant. Quite the opposite. They are precious gifts. But their purpose is to transform the heart.

The Eucharist should gradually make us more Eucharistic—more grateful, more self-giving, more willing to become bread for others.Confession should make us more humble and merciful.

Prayer should change the way we look at people.

If our religious practices never touch our relationships, attitudes, words and decisions, something is missing.

5. Let Christ clean the inside

Imagine a beautiful cup. On the outside it shines, but inside it is dirty. Polishing the outside again and again will never solve the problem. The inside must be washed.

This is what Christ wants to do with us.

And this is why examination of conscience is so important. Before asking, “What do people think about me?” we should sometimes ask:

What does God see in me?

Is there someone I refuse to forgive?

Is there jealousy in my heart?

Do I enjoy hearing something bad about another person?Do I present myself as better than I really am?

Is there a hidden habit that is slowly separating me from God?

Do my words about faith correspond to the way I actually live?

These questions are not meant to drive us into despair. They are meant to open the door to healing.

When we discover dirt in a house, we do not burn the house down. We clean it.

When Christ shows us sin in our hearts, he does not say, “You are hopeless.” He says, “Give this to me. Let me heal it.”

That is the grace of conversion.

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters, today’s Gospel gives us a simple but demanding invitation: Do not merely look holy. Become holy.

Let there be less distance between what we profess and what we live, between our Sunday faith and our weekday behavior, between our words and our hearts.

We will never achieve perfect consistency in this life. We remain weak human beings who need God’s mercy every day. But we can refuse to live behind a mask.

Perhaps our prayer today could be very simple:

Lord Jesus, remove from me everything that is false.
Clean not only the outside, but especially the inside.
Give me a sincere heart.
Let my words correspond to my actions,
my faith to my life,
and my love for you to my love for others.
Do not let me merely appear good before people.
Make me good in your sight.

For in the end, holiness is not about maintaining a beautiful façade.

Holiness is allowing Christ to enter the hidden rooms of our heart, open the windows, bring in his light, and make us beautiful from the inside out.

**Joseph of Calasanza – the saint who invented free school for everyone.

His name is usually written as **St. Joseph Calasanz** or **José de Calasanz** – He lived 1557-1648, and if you went to a Piarist school anywhere in Central Europe, including here in Bratislava, you were educated in the system he created.

1. Who he was?

He was a Spanish priest who became the founder of the first free public school in modern Europe, and founder of the religious order that runs it: the **Order of the Pious Schools – the Piarists** (Ordo Scholarum Piarum).

The Catholic Church calls him the Universal Patron of Christian Schools.

 2. From Aragon to Rome

Born September 11, 1557 in Peralta de la Sal, Aragon, Spain, into a noble family. He studied philosophy, law and theology in Lleida, Valencia and Alcalá de Henares.

He was ordained a priest in 1583 and worked as a vicar and reformer in his region. But he felt his mission was elsewhere. At 35, he gave up a promising career in Spain and walked to Rome in 1592, then the center of the Counter-Reformation.

In Rome he saw something that shocked him: thousands of children of the poor living on the streets – orphans, illiterate, with no school to take them because existing schools charged money.

3. The idea that changed education

In 1597 he opened a small free school in the sacristy of the parish of Santa Dorotea in Trastevere. It was revolutionary for three reasons:

It was free.** *Gratis* – for everyone, especially the poorest.
**It was for all classes.** He mixed nobles and street kids in the same classroom.
**It was systematic.** He divided pupils into grades/classes, with a fixed curriculum: reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, and religion. That grading system is the basis of how we still organize schools today.

The school grew from a few dozen to hundreds of pupils. In 1617 Pope Paul V made his group of teachers a congregation, and in 1621 Pope Gregory XV made it a full religious order – the Piarists. The first of its kind dedicated entirely to education.

His motto was: *Pietas et Litterae* – Piety and Learning. He believed education without moral formation was useless, and faith without reason was empty.

 4. Troubles and vindication

Calasanza was also a friend and defender of Galileo Galilei. When Galileo was in trouble with the Inquisition, Calasanz’s order supported him – which made powerful enemies.

He also faced internal rebellion. One of his own priests, Mario Sozzi, accused him of mismanagement, and in 1642 the Inquisition investigated the order. Calasanza was briefly arrested, his order was reduced and placed under another order’s control. He endured it all in his 80s.

He died in Rome on August 25, 1648, at age 90, almost blind and completely stripped of authority. Just eight years later, Pope Alexander VII fully restored the order.

 5. Legacy

He was beatified in 1748 and canonized in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII.

He left behind one simple idea that we now take for granted: that education is not a privilege for the rich, but a right for every child.

Although we know relatively little about the Apostle Bartholomew, we can learn a great deal from him. We know that he came from Cana (Jn 21), and it is quite possible that he witnessed Jesus’ first public miracle there during the wedding feast (Jn 2:1–11). He preached the faith in Arabia and later in Armenia, where he was martyred. Tradition holds that his death was particularly cruel and painful: he was flayed alive. Bartholomew may not have been his actual given name, because the name is a patronymic referring to his father, whose name was probably Talmai or Tolmai. Thus, Bar-Talmai or Bar-Tolmai means “son of Talmai/Tolmai.”

In the lists of the apostles recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Lk 6:14–16; Mt 10:2–4; Mk 3:16–19), Bartholomew is always mentioned together with, or next to, Philip. Perhaps this is because it was Philip who joyfully brought him the news about the Messiah and later introduced him to Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Philip’s friend is called Nathanael, a name meaning “God has given.” Traditionally, Bartholomew has been identified with Nathanael.

The Gospel account that we hear on today’s feast tells us about Nathanael’s first encounter with Jesus. We can draw several lessons from this event. When Philip tells him that the Messiah is from Nazareth, Nathanael finds this unacceptable for two reasons. From Scripture, Nathanael knows that the Messiah is to come from Bethlehem, the city of David. Secondly, he cannot imagine that the Messiah could come from Nazareth, because it is only a small and obscure village, so insignificant that it is not even mentioned in the Old Testament, nor can any prophecy about it be found there. His remark is therefore somewhat sarcastic: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

The first lesson is that God’s ways are not our ways. He works in mysterious and unexpected ways. His decisions and actions cannot be limited by our expectations or reactions. Many times, we want God to conform to our own expectations and prejudices. Nathanael is no different. He is convinced that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because he comes from Nazareth, not realizing that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

Secondly, God generally prefers to use human instruments rather than doing everything directly by himself. Jesus calls Nathanael through his friend Philip, Simon Peter through his brother Andrew, and there are many other similar examples. We often judge and criticize these human instruments. We may even go so far as to question the wisdom of God’s choices. But Saint Paul reminds us that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:27).

Jesus praised Nathanael: “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Jesus praised Nathanael for his honesty in expressing what he thought. However, there is another possible interpretation of this remark. Jesus may very well be making a friendly joke and teasing Nathanael in response to his sarcastic comment about Nazareth. In this way, he makes Nathanael realize his mistake in judging a person on the basis of cultural or historical background.

Finally, we must not be satisfied merely with what others tell us. That is why Philip’s answer to Nathanael’s question is an invitation: “Come and see!” The testimony of others is important because our Christian faith is, in fact, the fruit of the proclamation and preaching of countless witnesses. Yet our knowledge of Jesus should ultimately come from our personal relationship with him.

The Samaritan woman at the well is a good example. After speaking with Jesus, she went and told the people of her town about him. But when they themselves had seen and heard Jesus, they said to the woman: “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world” (Jn 4:42).

This is exactly what happened to Nathanael. After his personal encounter with Jesus, he makes a profound profession of faith: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

And Jesus rewards him with a solemn promise: “You will see greater things than these.” Then, using imagery that recalls Daniel 7:13, he says: “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

In today’s Gospel Jesus brings His disciples a question that still echoes through every church, every home,and every human heart.Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

Sermon

The disciples answer by reporting what others are saying . Some say John the Baptist.Others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.People respected Jesus.They recognized that there was something extraordinary about him.Yet their answer were not enough.Jesus does not conduct an opion poll.Therefore,he makes the question personal.

But who do you say that I am? Peter gives a completely different answer.You are Christ,the Son of the living God.He confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.Jesus responded.Blessed are you Simon son of John.For flesh and blood has not revaled this you,but my heavenly Father.

Faith is more than human knowledge.We can read books about Jesus.We can study theology.We can know the Bible and the history of Christianity.All this is valuable.But there is different between knowing something about Jesus and knowing Jesus.

Imagine that Jesus stands before each one of us today and ask;And you who do you say that I am? We cannot hide the faith of other people.We cannot answer:My parents believed in you.My grandparents were good Catholics.The Church teaches that you are the Son of God.

Jesus ask me:Who am I for you? And our true answer is not given only by our lips. It is given by the way we live.If If  Jesus is truly my Lord,does he have a place in my decision? If Jesus is the Son of God,do listen to his words even when they are difficult? If Jesus is my Savior,do I trust him when suffering entters my life? If Jesus is present in my neighbor,how do I treat the person who annoys me,disappoints me,or needs my help?

After Peter’s confession, Jesus gives him a new mission.You are Peter and upon  this rock I will build my Church.Peter is certainly not perfect.During the Passion,he will even deny three times that he knows Jesus.And yet Jesus entrust him with an extraordinary responsibility.

onal 

Today we reflect  on Mary the mother of Jesus and the Queen of Heaven.When Christians call Mary “Queen,,”we do not place her above Christ.Rather,we honor her because she is the mother of our King. Her greatness comes entirely from God,and her life points us always toward Jesus.

In Catholic tradition,Mary is honored as Queen.This title comes from her relationship to Jesus.Since Jesus is King,Mary is honored as the Queen Mother.This idea is connected to the ancient biblical tradition in which the mother of the king held a special  place of honor in the kingdom.

Mary queenship does not mean she is equal to God Rather,it means she is highly honored because of God’s grace and because of her role in salvation history She points people to Jesus,never away from Him.Many Christians look to Mary as a model of faith, humility,purity and motherly love.As a Queen,she represents dignity,holiness,and faithful service to God.

Mary,Mother of Jesus and Queen,remains a powerful example of trust, obedience and love.Her life reminds believers that true greatness comes from saying yes to God with a humble and faithful heart.