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During the last week of Easter, we will discuss one of the six truths of our religion every day. As an echo of the biggest holiday of the year. 

Let me start with a question. Do you know which athletes are the holiest? …they are said to be cyclists because they constantly take care of their souls (on a bicycle). Yes, it is meant as a joke, but at the same time, it expresses a great truth. It expresses that we too should constantly take care of our souls. Well, not the one we have in the tire of our car or bicycle, but the one that is part of our personality, our self – the immortal soul that animates our mortal body.

Lord Jesus said on a certain occasion: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28). The human soul is immortal; this is the fifth truth from the small Confession of Faith. Biblical speech does not recognize the term “immortality of the soul”. If he mentions immortality, then only about God. There is no expectation of an afterlife in the Old Testament, but the dead exist in Sheol; the book of Wisdom and the book of Sirach’s son tells about the immortality of the whole man. Words that are used in the Old Testament to refer to the soul (nefesh – throat, waist; literally breath, life), to the spirit (ruach – wind, breath, spirit, life force, life), to the body (bass – flesh, body, kinship, family) mean the whole person. There is no contradiction between them: nefesh and ruach = man about God; man does not have a body, but he is a body, he does not have a spirit, but he is a spirit that is open to God. Both mean the whole human person. The body is not the prison of the soul, nor the source of sin, as taught by the ancient philosopher Plato. When the soul and body form a unity, the old idea that death is the separation of the soul from the body falls away. So death is an event that affects the whole person. So what about the immortality of the soul? Philosophers explain the immortality of the soul by its simplicity. It cannot be divided, it cannot disintegrate, and it cannot therefore disappear. Theology explains it better. Man cannot perish because God knows and loves him. And since all love tends to permanence, God’s love not only wants permanence but also causes it. Let’s face it, isn’t it beautiful to know that I will not perish because God knows about me, created me, and loves me? I am God’s property and therefore I will not perish. I can respond to God’s love with my love, I can believe: “Whoever believes in the Son already has eternal life” (John 3:15). Faith in immortality is a joyful certainty for us Christians. Despite the above, faith in immortality remains by faith and not by knowledge. It cannot be proved by scientific experiments. No surgeon will find the soul as an organ in the human body. No one can prove by experiments in the laboratory that the soul cannot be killed, or broken, that it is immortal. It is and will remain a part of our faith in God, a part of our Creed, that I believe in the resurrection of the body and eternal life. It is part of the belief that the God of our beginning – the Creator, is also the God of our end – the Finisher God. God is Alpha and Omega.

We already know that our life does not end with death. On the contrary, it is just beginning. And thanks to God who gifted us with an immortal soul. The question is appropriate: What will our life look like after death? It will look exactly as we design it in this earthly life. At the end of the ages, God will pay everyone a just wage for his earthly stewardship. He will weigh our deeds justly. Which way will the weight of our life lean? To the one where all the good we have done during our journey to the heavenly homeland is located? Or to the one where all the evil that we have committed and at the same time the good that we have not done, are neglected?! What path do we follow to reach our eternal goal? After a wide, which is tempting at first glance, but treacherous? Or along the narrow path recommended by Jesus?! The world we live in offers us many paths. He promises us that he will fulfill all our desires. Even if we reach the goal – the fulfillment of some desire, we will always lack something, because the world offers us only the earthly: wealth, fame, success, career… Can the world give us love or eternal life? Probably hard! “After all, what good would it do a man if he gained the whole world and harmed his soul?! Or what will a man exchange his soul for?!” (Mt 16:26)Let’s embark on the path of holiness, the path to the kingdom of God, which is nothing but following Christ. When we look at any part of his life, we always find a pattern of how Jesus behaves and what he does. And this can be done by each of us; but if we do not know Jesus’ life well, we will not know how to follow him. That is why we need to get to know his life more and more deeply. This is how we learn to fulfill God’s will from Jesus. By fulfilling God’s will, we follow Christ and walk step by step, each with his daily cross, into the kingdom of God.

A young palm tree grew on the edge of the oasis. One day a man walked by who had a mania for destroying everything. He saw a small tree, took a heavy stone, and placed it in the crown of the tree. Then he went on. Palma tried in every possible way to shed this burden but to no avail. The stone sat firmly in her crown. The palm tree did not want to give up so easily: it planted strong roots and went deeper and deeper into the ground to ensure a rm support. So she came across a water vein, from there she drew strength and growth. Only now did she notice that it was growing? It soon became the biggest and most beautiful palm tree in the area. Years later, the evil man passed by again and wanted to see the work of his destruction. He imagined that he would find some small, deformed tree. Suddenly, the most beautiful palm tree approached him, showed him the stone, and said: “Thank you, man. Your burden has made me strong.”

Even on our shoulders, the devil often places a burden that we think we can no longer bear and we often give up. But let’s realize one thing that the Lord God allows, but does not abandon. That is why he sent us his Son, who is the water vein that we should tap into. Let’s draw life-giving power from it, like the palm tree in the story. When we live from Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, then we will find that we are really growing and our life will be a real life; experiencing God’s kingdom already here on earth. Let’s not allow the Evil Spirit to destroy us – destroy us. Let us keep in mind the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid of them; which kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28). An old Latin proverb says: “Quidquid agis, prudent agas et respice finem!” “Whatever you do, do it wisely and with a focus on the goal!” Let’s remember that our goal is a blissful residence in the heavenly kingdom, the salvation of our immortal soul.

What is the good news of today’s word of God? The soul cannot be killed. The human personality is immortalized by God’s love. So what awaits us when we reach the end of this life? Nothing? – Not! Everything – that is: God! God in all his goodness, as revealed to us by his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. So let’s confess together that we believe in God the Creator, that we believe in God the Finisher, and that we believe in eternal life.

During the last week of Easter, we will discuss one of the six truths of our religion every day. As an echo of the biggest holiday of the year.

Let’s imagine that a person who is not “angry” at his brother in quotation marks comes up to us and says: “What did I do to him that he doesn’t call me?” And he adds: “If he speaks first, I am the elder, so I will speak.” This is how he imagines justice. What kind of justice is he talking about? Let’s think about a just judgment to be able to understand the fourth main truth: God is a just judge, he rewards the good and punishes the bad.

The Holy Scriptures tell us about this truth in the Acts of the Apostles, where we read: “But God overlooked the times of ignorance and now proclaims to people that everyone and everywhere should repent because he has appointed a day when he will judge the righteous on earth through a man whom he has appointed for this and testified to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
Let’s talk about justice, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, and let’s think about what justice should be towards God and our neighbor. Justice is a moral virtue that consists of a constant and firm will give God and neighbor what belongs to him. Justice towards God is called the “virtue of religion” (virtue religionis). Justice toward people makes a person capable of respecting the rights of everyone and bringing harmony to human relationships that promote a reasonable attitude (aequitas) toward people and the common good. A righteous person, who is often mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, is characterized by the constant directness of his thinking and the correctness of his behavior towards his neighbor. “Neither favor the poor, nor take sides with the wealthy! When we strive for this righteousness, we will be approaching our goal, and at the end of time, when God’s kingdom reaches its fullness, after the general judgment, we will reign as righteous forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. Then the Church “will be completed… in heavenly glory, when… along with the human race, the whole world will be perfectly restored in Christ, which is closely connected with man and through him achieves its goal.”

“Neither do you favor the poor, nor take sides with the rich!” And now where is justice when we do not have faith properly instilled in us? We are prejudiced against people, we are looking for our truth, which often meets resistance, which is logical. How to open ourselves to justice? first of all, we have to come out of ourselves, by starting to value ourselves, by accepting ourselves as God’s gift that has a mission in this world. We will not mock each other, humiliate, humiliate, disparage , and degrade the human dignity of our neighbors. We as Christians often surpass non-Christians in their approach to their fellow man. Why? Because they realize that they are dependent on each other and one without the other has no chance in this world. Meanwhile, we – Christians mistakenly explain our relationship to God, and our relationship with our neighbors is also derived from this. This relationship to God must be assessed by each one of us. To be able to assess this relationship correctly, let’s try to confront it with the life of Jesus Christ. Only then will we be able to have a proper relationship with God and people, otherwise our life will be empty and it is against both God and people?

Let’s think about the fable about the bear family, which began to interpret justice in its own way. Once upon a time there lived a bear with a bear and cubs. It was indeed a modest family and very popular in its animal community. The little bears were playing with the other animals and were happy. But once there was a turning point in their life because they started to direct their lives according to the public opinion of the animal community. They cared a lot about public opinion and began to manage their lives accordingly. The little bears got into the wrong party, which looked perfect on the outside, but inside was full of envy, malice, slander, intrigue and manipulation, so the little bears learned to live their hypocritical lives. And it grew to such heights that they began to be hypocritical even to themselves. They began to compete with each other until they hated each other. Parents saw the rivalry but they let it go because they benefited from it. Each of the little bears wanted to please them, so they always brought something. They were satisfied. And once, after a good lunch, they said to each other: “How well we are, we have full bellies and little bears (grizzly bears) who take care of us.” And they said to themselves that: “We raised them well.” After some time, small grizzlies became grizzlies – bears. Here the parents already noticed a mistake in the upbringing of the bears. Grizzly – the bears had everything, only one thing they could not do – to be fair. They weren’t brought up to it, and they didn’t want to be brought up to it themselves. They wanted justice but did not know how to get it. They really wanted to get closer and be little bears again, but that was no longer possible. after a good lunch they said to each other: “How well we are, we have full bellies and little bears (grizzlies) who take care of us.” And they said to themselves that: “We raised them well.” After some time, small grizzlies became grizzlies – bears. Here the parents already noticed a mistake in the upbringing of the bears. Grizzly – the bears had everything, only one thing they could not do – to be fair. They weren’t brought up to it, and they didn’t want to be brought up to it themselves. They wanted justice but did not know how to get it. They really wanted to get closer and be little bears again, but that was no longer possible. after a good lunch they said to each other: “How well we are, we have full bellies and little bears (grizzlies) who take care of us.” And they said to themselves that: “We raised them well.” After some time, small grizzlies became grizzlies – bears. Here the parents already noticed a mistake in the upbringing of the bears. Grizzly – the bears had everything, only one thing they could not do – to be fair. They weren’t brought up to it, and they didn’t want to be brought up to it themselves. They wanted justice but did not know how to get it. They really wanted to get closer and be little bears again, but that was no longer possible. Here the parents already noticed a mistake in the upbringing of the bears. Grizzly – the bears had everything, only one thing they could not do – to be fair. They weren’t brought up to it, and they didn’t want to be brought up to it themselves. They wanted justice but did not know how to get it. They really wanted to get closer and be little bears again, but that was no longer possible. Here the parents already noticed a mistake in the upbringing of the bears. Grizzly – the bears had everything, only one thing they could not do – to be fair. They weren’t brought up to it, and they didn’t want to be brought up to it themselves. They wanted justice but did not know how to get it. They really wanted to get closer and be little bears again, but that was no longer possible.They did not know justice in their lives and could not be fair to others.

Aren’t many of our families similar to this bear family? We always try to explain justice according to our disposition, that is, whether someone is sympathetic to us, unsympathetic, whether he showed us love or not, whether he offended us, etc. Let’s try to overcome all this and look towards our eternity about our neighbor. Keep in mind that these frog-mouse wars are nothing compared to eternity. We will not be judged by this but by our relationship with God and our neighbor.

I believe that none of us wants to be like these bears, neither me nor you, even if we are inclined to do so. Let’s try to be little bears and reshape our lives in the light of justice. This light of righteousness is the fear of God, not fear and cowardice. If we always keep the Lord God in mind, we will not deviate from justice either to him or to our neighbors. Let us confront our life with the life of Jesus Christ, let us sanctify ourselves with his Spirit. So that we can say: “I try to be just.” We know that one of God’s truths is: God is a just judge who rewards the good and punishes the bad. Let us always keep this in mind when we receive punishment or rebuke.

During the last week of Easter, we will discuss one of the six truths of our religion every day. As an echo of the biggest holiday of the year.

Do you know how many cardinal truths we have? Do you know what the third one sounds like? I won’t bother you. I’d rather tell you about an incident. Once upon a time, there was a large swing bridge that spanned a river. Most of the day it was turned along the river, allowing ships to pass on either side of it. When a train was coming to the river, that’s when the bridge swung across the river to allow the train to pass. In a small booth on the bank of the river sat an operator who controlled the turning of the bridge and it’s securing with the bolts when a train was about to pass. One evening, he was waiting for the last train. He looked dreamily into the distance until he saw the lights of the locomotive. He walked up to the controller and waited until the train was at the prescribed distance when he was supposed to turn the bridge. He did so at the crucial moment but was horrified to find that the mechanism did not work. If the bridge is not secured, it means that the train will crash into the water. And that was a passenger train full of passengers! So he left the bridge set across and ran across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever that he could use to control the system by hand. But suddenly he heard a voice from the side of the control booth that froze his blood: “Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge looking for his father. At first, he wanted to shout at his son: “Run, run!” but the train was already close. The man wanted to let go of the lever to run out and save his son, but he realized that he would not be able to get back to the lever in time. Either the people on the train or the son will die. He decided in an instant. The train whizzed by on its way, and no one on board had any idea that it had hit a four-year-old. His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge looking for his father. At first, he wanted to shout at his son: “Run, run!” but the train was already close. The man wanted to let go of the lever to run out and save his son, but he realized that he would not be able to get back to the lever in time. Either the people on the train would die or son. He made up his mind in an instant. The train whizzed its way, and no one on board knew that it had run over a four-year-old. His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge looking for his father. At first, he wanted to shout at his son: “Run, run!” but the train was already close. The man wanted to let go of the lever to run out and save his son, but he realized that he would not be able to get back to the lever in time. Either the people on the train would die or son. He made up his mind in an instant. The train whizzed on its way, and no one on board knew that it had run over a four-year-old.

The third main truth is: “The Son of God became a man to redeem us.” Today, God tells us about himself in the Holy Gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave him only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but that had eternal life”(John 3:16). These words speak of God’s love, which God has for us, humans. It is the selfless love of the Father that made him go to extremes. Freely, the Father decided not to leave humanity in the misery of sin, but to help it rise. His intention is obvious – to save humanity. His love is so great that he does not hesitate to sacrifice his only Son. This means that He gives everything in this gift. He keeps nothing. He gives a lot because he gives everything. It’s unheard of. After all, God knows that we will never be able to repay him for it. And that’s exactly what selflessness is. The Father’s gift is freely given. He can’t go back. At least not in the same form. It is a big deal if God, who is almighty, decided to lower himself to the level of man. It was a decision by which the Son of God – the second divine person – became a man. He became quite similar to us people. Absolutely in everything, except sin, as St. Paul. We know that the people of that time saw him primarily as a man. His humiliation went even further, down to the level of man. Death on the cross was considered the most humiliating at that time and was intended for the biggest outcasts of society. God went to the extreme in his Son. And that even though he had to know how we humans will deal with his unique Gift. And yet he underwent it all. He did not hesitate for a moment. Why all this? Wasn’t it pointless? Naive? We must bow in humility before this. It’s a secret for us. It is often difficult for our human reason to understand such greatness of love. We can hardly understand the magnitude of such an undeserved gift to us. God himself decided to give such a great gift to people.

We can see the parallel of the father from the story at the beginning, with our Heavenly Father. If we can at least partially imagine the feelings that filled the heart with the man in the story, we can begin to understand the “feelings” of our Heavenly Father when he gave and sacrificed his only-begotten Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Both gave their sons to save others. It was mutually selfless. They gave a lot, not for themselves, but for the sake of others. Even though they knew that their intention would not be fully appreciated. They gave a great gift and gave it freely. They did not expect a reward, because such a gift cannot be given in any way repay. It was not a loan that could be paid back. It was a selfless gift that only a very loving heart can give. We are in the role of passengers. Whether we want to accept it or not. We are on a journey through life here on Earth. While the passengers on the train were completely unaware of this sacrifice, because they did not even know about it, we cannot claim that we know nothing about redemption. This is where we differ from them. But isn’t it the case that we live as if we know nothing? After all, if we know about such a great gift of love towards ourselves, why doesn’t our life change? Why are we so quarrelsome with each other? Why don’t we also imitate the Father in love? We can accept or reject the value of Jesus’ redemption as something imaginary. Either – or, there is no third way. Either we will believe in this great mystery of God’s love, and accordingly, we too will imitate our Lord in love, or we will reject it all and continue to suffer at home, in families, at the workplace, in schools… We certainly ask what it looks like – imitate the Father in love and conform to Christ. This is what a real event tells us.

The doctor travelled around Africa. Several blacks on the ship were being taken to work. One of them got sick. Our doctor treated him for free. When he was leaving the ship, the doctor asked him to take the letter to the post office in town. “I’ll take it away, but pay!” was the short answer, along with his gratitude. The doctor showed what it means to share his ability and be a gift to another. He served selflessly because he knew that a poor person could not pay for his service in any way. The other behaved as we often do. He would have helped, but for something, calculatedly. His main motive was what I would get out of it. Not for free, selflessly, but for something, for money. This is not how a better world is built, but a world of quarrels and hatred.

Let us show that we believe as Christians, that we live as redeemed people who know what God has done for them. Let us also bring more love to our surroundings. Let’s be a gift to others. Let us sacrifice ourselves freely for others. After all, we are the hope for this world. At this Holy Mass, let us give thanks for the Father’s great, selfless gift, which he gave us in his Son. Let us apologize to him for our inattention to him and others, and promise him that from now on we will selflessly serve our brothers and sisters.

Let’s try to imagine what the Holy Trinity looks like. What does the Father look like, as the Son, and as the Holy Spirit? So what, did it work? Perhaps we had before our eyes an old grandfather sitting on some kind of throne, next to him sits a young man in his prime, and above them flies a bird, like a dove. Or we saw a large triangle from which a large eye looks at us. These are probably the most common images or depictions of the Holy Trinity that we have known since childhood. But let’s think again and try to imagine our image of the Holy Trinity. Something that would be ours and not observed.

I think we’re all on the same page. Somehow we are not succeeding, we are not working. Can’t we do it? St. Augustine was also troubled by this idea that what about the Trinity? What it looks like, how is it possible, that it is one essence and there are three persons in it, and what are the relationships between them? He thought about it a lot. Once, thinking about the Holy Trinity, he was walking along the beach and saw a little boy playing there. When he came closer to him, he saw that the little boy was carrying water from the sea and pouring it into a hole he had dug in the sand. Then he ran to the sea again, scooped up, poured, and ran off again and… “What are you doing?” he asked. And the little boy replied, “I’m pouring the sea into this hole.” Augustine knew that this was impossible, so he said to the boy, “But you will never succeed.” Then he received this answer: “I will sooner pour the sea into this hole than you will comprehend the Holy Trinity.”

The Lord Jesus reminds us that “when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will lead you into all truth” (Jn 16:13), that we will be able to understand the Holy Trinity more. If St. Augustine didn’t succeed, we would hardly have succeeded. Although dogmatics can say at least something about it, talking about how the Father begets the Son and from them, the Holy Spirit proceeds is useless, because it is also quite difficult, and it is not so necessary for the salvation of man. We can therefore ask, “What can the Holy Trinity give us, the people of our time?”

From these dogmas, we know that the Trinity consists of three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We know of the Father that He created the world, and He ever created all that exists. Just as the Father created the world, so we create the world around us. The Father created, that is, created from nothing, something. We can’t do that, but we can create, which means, something that is, transform it into something else. We can say that what happens in our vicinity is also influenced by us. Consider only such a basis of our being – family. We all live in a family environment, everyone has their family members. Whether it is a father, mother, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, uncles, aunts… or those born later – grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. Since we are family members, we have the power to influence the family atmosphere. Thanks to us, it can be more cheerful or nervous at home, also thanks to us, love or hostility, laughter or crying, smile or anger can prevail at home. It takes so little to do what the Father did when He created the world. Every time He did something, He looked at how we read Sacred Scripture “and saw that it was good.” All too often, we may do things we don’t even look after, regret later, and then have to suffer the consequences. “My father is angry with me, my husband doesn’t talk to me, my mother-in-law hates me, my son-in-law doesn’t even come to see me…” And maybe it takes so little to look at our actions before letting them go. And to say, “Yes, it’s good.” Then we don’t have to worry about it creaking in our family.

The Son Jesus said of Himself, “I have not come to be served, but to serve.” As we know, people loved Jesus, Heaven did not look at himself, but he always had his gaze fixed on the one who needed help, and advice. Brothers and sisters, how are we? What is our priority? Your good or the good of your neighbor? So it is clear that we must first take care of ourselves to feel good, only then we can take care of others. This, in turn, no one can say that his neighbor is more important to him than himself. That could perhaps be treated. But are we willing to do something for the one next to me? And this is without distinction of skin color, gender, speech… Jesus doesn’t want much, but he wants willingness. And when there is willingness, everything will be.

What about the Holy Spirit, which has multiple names? Sanctifier or Comforter. We do not have such a power of sanctification, but the power to comfort, which each of us has. A mother comforts her little children when they cry to her that something happened to them. The teacher pleases schoolchildren that the second letter will correct this, or that they can go to answer and thus correct a bad grade, the doctor, pleases patients that his health is not so bad that he has to look at the catalog of tombstones. But very often he knows and can please an ordinary smile, a few warm words in the address of someone who is not doing well. A little attention from a husband to his beloved wife. The willingness of children to help at home with cleaning, washing dishes, vacuuming… a visit to a sick person in the hospital who is there alone, or just a friendly visit from a friend. But everyone knows that you don’t need much for a nicer day. Instead of shouting at subordinates in the morning, the head of the company chooses to wish them a beautiful and cheerful day. Instead of exclaiming in the morning, “Get up and move, go to school,” Mom wishes good morning. When leaving for work, instead of “Have fun,” the husband gives a kiss on the cheek to his wife. And this is how one could talk indefinitely. Everyone knows what pleases those around him.

There is a tremendous indescribable love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is not so often between us, but probably more often it is the opposite of that love. Being kind to your loved ones is easy, anyone can do that, even a little boy likes the one who gives him candy. But there are not only those in the world who suit us, and it is probably the case that there are more of those whom we would send somewhere easier, but this is not what God wants from us. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are each different, yet they are one. We are also different and yet we are one humanity. And not just one, but one humanity. I know, one thing is to say “love yourself” and the other is to do it. And I know that it is not always possible, but there are many ways to prevent conflicts, quarrels and so eternal disagreements between persons. Maybe just bite my tongue at the right time and keep a note to yourself, or not look for what bothers me in a person, but try to find what is positive in him or about him. And there is no such person who does not have something good in himself, because we are all created in the image of God, and God cannot be the embodiment of evil.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, let us try to look at people at least a little differently than before, especially those who get on our nerves, on whom we find it difficult to find kind words. Our surroundings will be free of tension, quarrels, intolerance, and love, joy, and smile will begin to prevail. And that’s what we’re going to live with then. You just need to start first. I wish you to always and everywhere be able to give this smile and joy so that you can enjoy beautiful relationships at home, in families, at work, at school, on the street, city or village, in words everywhere. And so we will all imitate the love lived by the Holy Trinity.

During the last week of Easter, we will discuss one of the six truths of our religion every day – as an echo of the biggest holiday of the year. Some people like small objects for good luck, amulets or talismans, which they expect to help them in life. Then we have people whose goals in life are various things, such as nowadays television, car, and food, and that gradually becomes a god for them. However, let’s admit, dear brothers and sisters, that sometimes this happens in our lives as well. But today’s Gospel reminds us: “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord” (Mk 12:29).

Jesus did not say anything new in today’s Gospel. Already in the book of Deuteronomy, we find that God gives the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai and obliges the nation of Israel to observe them. It is the first and greatest commandment that God gives to people. The Lord is God and we are to love him with all our hearts. In the aforementioned book, it is further written that we should follow this path of commandments to live and prosper (cf. Dt 5:33). And God has mercy on those who love him and keep his commandments. He blesses those who truly love him. In today’s Gospel, Jesus confirms this when he answers the lawgiver: “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mk 12:34). But on the other hand, in the book of Leviticus it is written: “And the person who turns to those who summon spirits and soothsayers and will commit idolatry with them, I will set my face against such a person and will cut him off from her” (Lev 20:6). When the chosen nation arrived in the promised land, they found pagan nations who practised polytheism, occultism, divination, conjuring, witchcraft, and other forms of magic. Moses forbade these practices, even under the threat of death. Let’s remember what Moses did with the people who worshipped the golden calf. All this was against God because it insulted his holiness.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church or religion classes, we were taught that only God should be worshipped. Worshipping God or, in other words, adoration is the main virtue of religion. Other virtues are prayer, sacrifice, promises, and vows. In opposition to these virtues, sins stand against the virtues of religion. They are superstition, idolatry, divination, sorcery, magic, spiritism, atheism, and disrespect for God, such as tempting God, sacrilege, sacrilege. I mention these sins on purpose because they affect us, either directly or indirectly. Even in our personal life, it often happens that we have very good periods and other times when nothing works out, and we are chased by one misfortune after another. Then it’s as if God doesn’t exist, we look for Him and He hides. We are desperate, so we are looking for help. First maybe with a priest, then with loved ones and friends, and when that doesn’t help either, we grab the last straw. We go to healers and card readers, ask spirit summoners, or visit occultists, thinking that they will help us. These are difficult moments in life. Other times we might do it out of curiosity, just like that. And so we come under the power of darkness and often don’t even know it. The devil is the father of lies, full of hatred. He tries to deceive us, deceive us, and thus deprive us of grace and, ultimately, of God’s kingdom (cf. Mk 13:12). When we visit such people because of illness, it often happens that people are relieved and feel healed. But after a certain time, they start to have severe depression, even despair, and further psychological problems, and sometimes it even leads to the urge to commit suicide. It is even worse when we do it out of curiosity, wants to know the future, or have other “honest intentions”. Here the young people are most at risk, and we find that even then the devil is at work. It is like approaching a rabid dog that he is tied in. In vain that we have the best of intentions when we cross the border of his territory, he will bite us.

“A twelve-year-old boy is very seriously ill. He suffers from a severe skin and respiratory disease. The doctors can’t help him, so his parents – on the recommendation of friends, visit a magician who will perform an occult magical ritual on the boy. After a few days, the boy feels very well. He has no health problems. But a few weeks later, an unusual phenomenon occurs. The boy begins to demolish the furniture of the apartment, and when this happens again and the punishment of the parents does not help, the parents again go to the doctors, whose findings are negative. After various attempts, the child’s mother turns to a Catholic priest. He asks the mother to call him when the child’s aggression returns. After a few days, the priest is called because the child is again destroying the flat. The priest finds the child in peace. Nevertheless, she takes him into the next room and begins to pray over him. After a moment of prayer, there is a huge rage in the boy, who this time attacks the priest. He curses the priest vulgarly, kicks him, scratches him, and has such strength that the priest is not enough for him. The boy screams and asks an “unknown person” for help during the priest’s prayer with the words: “…don’t leave me, …stay, …I want you, …let him leave you.” After an hour of prayers, the boy calms down and both the priest and the boy become very exhausted.

A person can only go so far. God appears to man to help him (cf. Dt 18:9-15). He loves us immensely and wants to be with us all the time. He completely revealed himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ and thereby gave us everything. What more could he give us? He gave himself to us. It is up to us whether we give him our whole heart, whether we belong to him entirely, or whether we pursue something else. God gave us a precious gift – and that is freedom. It is up to us how we use it. We know God and his love for us. Let us follow him faithfully, let us walk with him on the path of life, so that he may bless us in everything we do and do. Let it be seen in us that we belong to Christ, so that we may testify to our faithfulness to him.

True happiness is only in God. During these days, let’s consider the fact whether my life belongs only to God, or I have my own “gods” that I hardly give up

We know a lot about prayer. We pray after all. Even today, we can talk about prayer because Jesus himself wants to talk about it. Jesus tells the disciples: “Ask and you shall receive…” (John 16:24).

We know that after one conversation with his Father, Jesus was approached by the apostles to teach them to pray. Then he taught them the prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer and which we consider the most beautiful because the Lord Jesus himself taught it to us. He warns us to take advantage of his friendship with us and pray in his name, his and our heavenly Father. It is something like when our good friend tells us, “Don’t worry, just go and say that I am sending you.” Through his suffering and death, Jesus obtained from the Father a new source of gifts and graces for us. Jesus wants us to address our requests directly to our common Father in his name. This procedure wants us to realize what a prominent position we have been given by his passion and death, that we can directly turn to our Father and we will receive what we ask for, precisely because of the merits of Jesus Christ. We will feel even more joy in such a procedure. Jesus encourages us, even more, to successfully act and hear our needs from our Father when he notes: “On that day you will ask in my name… For the Father himself loves you, because you loved me and believed that I came from of God” (John 16:26-27).

It depends only on each of us how we use this great opportunity to receive graces and love for ourselves and the world. The Lord Jesus, in his love for us, very much wants us to ask in prayer and for our meetings in this conversation to be frequent, as the apostle emphasizes: “Brothers, pray without ceasing !” This is a wonderful confidence for us when we are about to have such an immediate meeting with God, who not only created all this around us and in us, but also directs it. Let’s make the most of it, because it matters a lot even for the most serious meeting in our life, at the hour of death. God has done everything for us to learn to ask, to thank, to apologize, so that in our life here on earth we find time to glorify our God. Our prayers will thus gain value and our meeting with Jesus will turn into a fruitful dialogue, a conversation between two lovers – God and man. We can leave such a meeting happy and enriched, to which none of the wealth and beauty of this world can be compared. Jesus will give us everything that will benefit our salvation when we take the time to meet him in prayer.

He is only waiting for us when we find time. He does not need our prayers. He wants to bless us again and again, strengthen us, and fill us with his peace, love and especially his graces

Jesus already spoke words of encouragement and consolation during meetings on earth: “Truly, truly, I say to you: You will weep and wail, and the world will rejoice.” You will mourn, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20).

The sorrow of the disciples of Jesus over the departure of Jesus will turn into joy through the action of the Holy Spirit, who will let them know through faith that the physical absence of Jesus is replaced by his mysterious presence in the Sacrament of the Altar, in his word, and that means always and everywhere where it will be read and to explain his teaching, “…I will be among them” (Mt 18,20). The sorrow and abandonment of the apostles lasted only a short time. Once Jesus told them that they would not see him for a while. He meant his death. Then they will see him again, and he meant the time after his resurrection to his ascension. Such time data – for a while – can also be understood in relation to the new Church, when the Lord Jesus will be present in it under mysterious ways until his second coming to this world. The apostles did not dare to ask the Lord Jesus what “just a little while longer” means. For many people even today, this is an actual problem. They try to find out, calculate, and speculate about the second coming of the Lord Jesus to the world. After all, the Lord Jesus said that about this day when he will come, not even the angels know.  The issue of whether the Lord Jesus has left for good does not bother us, because we are convinced of the presence of the Lord Jesus among us by the teachings of the Church. Jesus is still present among us. It is enough if we correctly understand the participation in the Holy Mass. The process by which the apostles’ sorrow quickly turns into joy is compared by the Lord Jesus to a woman in labor. When the child is already born, the woman quickly forgets the pains she had to endure. A mother’s love far surpasses all pain. This is also the case with the apostles, who quickly forget their sorrow when they are convinced that Jesus lives and forms one community with them. They are no longer fearful, uncertain apostles, but after receiving the Holy Spirit, they become new people.

We, too, are gripped by sadness when we do not see the Lord Jesus, and it is even more difficult when we are affected by inner turmoil, uncertainty, and dryness, as well as prayers without any joy, Holy Communion without a sense of enrichment. So it is those moments of encounter with Jesus when we do not feel him, and he seems far away. We must have confidence and courage. At such a moment, it is good to have a spiritual leader close to you, preferably a confessor, and to be guided by him, or even we ourselves should realize that even if we do not feel the joy of the presence of the Lord Jesus, he is still here. This means that we do not have to worry after the departure of the Lord Jesus. He is always present among us, even if our eyes cannot see him. He is here. He wants us to remain faithful to him even in difficulties.