12 Sunday in Ordinary Time Mt 10,26-33

Many, especially the elderly, claim that today’s people do not trust their problems as quickly as they did in the past. At that time, people, especially in smaller communities, were “familyed” with each other and knew almost everything about each other. However, this statement is not entirely true, because a random and brief conversation with a stranger is enough to know what values ​​he professes, what he claims, what his views are. They have adopted the view that religion is a private matter of man, so it should not be talked about so as not to offend anyone, especially if he is concerned with unbelievers. Today’s gospel, however, makes it clear that public confession of Christ is a prerequisite for eternal life. It is as binding as loving one’s neighbor and showing him mercy. He who is ashamed of Christ must reckon with the fact that he too will be ashamed of the Father from heaven.

But how do we compare these strict words of confession with other statements of Jesus in which religion refers to the chamber of the heart and fights against the Pharisees who used religion for their admiration? But when you go to pray, go to your room, close the door behind you and pray to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father will reward you, for he also sees in secret. And when we add to these words this day, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, even I will deny before my Father which is in heaven, we ask ourselves how we understand it.

Religion has two sides. The first is internal — private, to which Jesus’ words of religious privacy apply. After all, when a person decides to meet God, to speak to him in prayer, it must take place in the depths of his heart, which, of course, he hates publicity. The second is external – public, in which we assume that God is the master of the world, humanity, states, nations… Therefore, the relationship with him can not only be a private matter, it can not be handled only in the chamber of the heart, pushed only into churches or hang his picture in an always closed bedroom. God also has a firm place in public life, he should also be publicly worshiped and respected. After all, even Christ was not ashamed to sacrifice his life in front of the whole public, and therefore we must care about him more than on the opinion of the people. There are situations in life where we have to say straightforwardly, clearly and clearly, that we are believers and stand by our faith.

However, there are situations where our religious feeling prevents us from showing our convictions, and we will say to ourselves: What is it for who I am, what religion I believe in, whether I go to church and approach the sacraments… I will not talk about it with people who they do not understand or do not want to understand it. Didn’t Christ himself tell us not to throw pearls to pigs? Surely each of us has come to such conclusions before, because we have found that it is better to remain silent than to argue about religion, or to act as sectarians who force our views even fanatically and sometimes by force.

Today is different than in the time of Christ or in the Christian Middle Ages. Therefore, we should also understand the words of the Lord in the spirit of our present. Today, it is not necessary to confess Jesus to rulers and kings as he did 2,000 years ago. But we must also not make religion a protest, a demonstration, an opposition… Today’s faith must be an expression of lived, sincere Christianity. The world does not expect great words from us, but a different life, completely different from what people without God lead. According to our behavior, modesty, dedication, willingness to help everyone, people must know that we are in this world, but we do not belong to this world. As people serving this world do not hide from what is their ideal, so it must be clear to everyone from our way of life what our interests and desires are.

Leslie Strobel became a Christian in 1979. An example based on her life also affected her unbelieving husband. He set out on a journey in search of God and finally found him. In his book The Case for Christ, he talks about two years of intense search that led him to Christ. This journalist, who has received several awards in the field of journalism, is now largely dedicated to writing answers to questions asked by unbelievers and often cynical readers of the newspapers for which he works. The change he went through also affected their five-year-old daughter, who once said: Mom, I would like God to do for me what He did for my father. Leslie Strobel’s faith affected the lives of her entire family. This is exactly what the mission of each of us should be. The life of our faith is to affect the life of the environment in which we move.

Lord, give us the strength to profess our faith without fear, not to be ashamed of you.