predication.net

Let’s continue yesterday’s reflection. A well-known European institute conducted a psychological survey. To the question: “What is the most powerful driving force in a person’s life today?” 98% of the respondents answered that it is fear. Jesus tells us: “Do not be afraid” (Lk 12:4), and today, “Everyone who confesses me… even the Son of Man will confess…”(Lk 12:8).

Whoever believes in Christ and acts in the spirit of Christ should broadcast from the “rooftops” what he heard “into the ear” so that the words of Jesus become known to the whole world and nothing prevents everyone from becoming aware of them. Indeed, the one who will fulfill the will of the Teacher Jesus and proclaim his words will encounter many difficulties and dangers. He will find himself like a sheep among wolves and must reckon that his action may bring him martyrdom, if not bloody, then at least bloodless. Even in such a case, the witness need not be afraid because the murderer can kill the body, but he cannot kill the soul. If we faithfully stand by Christ, He will take care of us.

It is up to us what attitude we realize in life, whether festive or every day. We noticed in Jesus’ words how he emphasizes that we confess to him clearly and comprehensibly in our lives. Jesus demands that we defend his teachings clearly and effectively. There is enough opportunity around us not to be afraid to profess our faith. There are many people around who spread lies half-truths, who deliberately lie, and who are not interested in the truth. A Christian has someone to lean on. Christ also asks us to live in truth, love, and justice. Otherwise, it would be true of us that it would be better if we were not baptized. St. Bernardino says: “I saw blackmailers, prostitutes, cruel soldiers converted… They became brave people. But I haven’t seen a single lukewarm convert.” They are considered good. I didn’t steal, I didn’t hurt…

Jesus is with us even in the most challenging moments. Jesus does not disappoint. An example from life says it well: A boy in a hospital was to be operated on. His father brought him to the hospital and tried to give him courage. “Daddy,” said the boy, “if you stay with me, I won’t be afraid.” The father said, “Okay, I’ll stay with you.” The doctor allowed it, so the father sat beside his child, lying on the operating table. When the boy was about to be put to sleep, he looked at the father again and said, “Dad, are you here? ” Then the anesthesia started to work. “You can leave now,” said the doctor when the little one fell asleep, and the operation was about to begin. “No,” replied the father. “I promised my son I would stay with him and would like to stay.” “Okay, then stay.” The operation was successful. When the boy woke up, his father was still holding his hand. The boy smiled and softly whispered, “Daddy, are you here?” and fell asleep again. He knew that his father was with him.

Thank God that quite a few among us do not want to disappoint Christ by sin. “Fear not!”

The right attitude to fear. A Christian finds an answer to fear in his faith. Is there anyone among us who has not encountered fear in his life? How many reassurances do we receive during our life? And yet the assurance of Jesus – until the end of time, is still temporal: “Do not be afraid” (Lk 12:4). We do not need to be afraid of what we do with the intentions of Christ. Whoever believes in Christ and acts in the spirit of Christ should broadcast from the ” roof” what he heard “in his ear” so that the words of Jesus become known to the whole world and nothing will prevent everyone from realizing them. Indeed, the one who will fulfill the will of the Teacher – Jesus, and proclaim his words will encounter many difficulties and dangers. He finds himself like a sheep among wolves, and he has to reckon that his action may also bring him martyrdom, if not bloody, then at least bloodless.
Even in such a case, the witness need not be afraid because the murderer can kill the body, but the soul he cannot kill. We must fear the One “who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28). The Creator cares for all His creation. If a sparrow does not perish without his will, no hair will be lost on the head of a man dear to God. Throughout the text, one can see God’s great concern for man. Fear is in a person’s blood from birth to death due to original sin, which is all a motive of fear. Why is there so much fear 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 are to be realized by all of us who have believed in Christ. We must not be intimidated so quickly because fear makes our lives unpleasant and difficult. It destroys and enslaves us to fear when we base ourselves on what people think about us, what they say about us, what they write about us, and 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, to confess Christ, even in front of those who do not have the best relationship with God, faith, the Church, Christianity, the Pope, quickly brings peace, joy, satisfaction… When we put God first, it is beautiful, functional, and suitable for us. What God from us asks. 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 who has power, position, education, etc. and does not believe in God. It is suitable when someone says, and possibly according to whom he lives, that he is a Christian in his soul, but outwardly, in his behavior, he behaves in such a way that he does not show it. The Pope is not afraid! He accepted the words of Jesus and lived in their intentions. Jesus commanded us all: “Do not be afraid” (Luke 12:4). Let us pray: “Lord, we do not want to be afraid anymore. Lord, we are not afraid anymore. Lord, you are our security.”

However, it is not enough to distinguish it only academically.

One example on which Pope Benedict XVI wanted. to explain the subjective dimension of sin, was widely publicized. It was when he was talking about a homosexual prostitute who is infected with HIV. The Pope said that when the person starts using a condom, it is a moral step forward for him. Here we are talking about a morally perverted act on all levels. For that person to choose to protect their “client” is a moral step forward.

It seems to me that these positions of Pope Francis – drawing attention to the subjective side of sin – have been consistent for a long time in his pontificate. He also speaks very similarly about the giving of the Eucharist for the divorced and remarried. Is that so?

Yes. And it is not only consistent with his previous statements, it is also consistent with the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church signed by Pope John Paul II. and was developed under the leadership of Cardinal Ratzinger.

However, we cannot categorically say that something is not a sin. A specific person may be in a situation where he is so conditioned by external factors that objectively he acts disorderly, but subjectively he is not blamed. He may have weakened free will, for example due to psychological or sociological factors.

I also understand the bishops who are worried about this. Because the priests themselves often cannot distinguish much simpler things.

That’s right, this is another huge problem. Priests and bishops ask who and how should distinguish the situation of the given people, whether there should be any minimum written rules and the like. A bishop in Poland looks at some practice in Germany, and even if, of course, he cannot know all the specifics of individual cases, he says to himself that he would not sin in his life.

The solution is not to be defensive in order to be comfortable that “we defined what it objectively is”. It is also very comfortable for a priest to say that this is how it is and done, these are the rules and I don’t care that you poor people are in real life with all the conditions. This is not an evangelical attitude.

So what is the solution?

Go deep. Formation. The Pope said that it would be a big mistake if each episcopal conference set a standard. We have to accompany each individual in his unrepeatable, unique situations.

At most, I can create such a norm that the bishop would say that there are quite specific moral questions that ordinary priests cannot distinguish properly, so he will form priests whom he will trust, and people who struggle with those difficult situations will be sent to trained priests. to accompany them. That’s what’s happening.

Ultimately, and this is the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, there is freedom of conscience. We must remember that my conscience has the last word in assessing my situation and guilt. The conscience is supposed to be formed, and that is why the accompaniment is important there, but it should not be the priest who says what kind of guilt the given person has.

The priest should be wise, educated, well formed in moral questions and principles, as well as in objective truth, and he should help the conscience to judge it correctly.

But in the end, the priest gives or gives absolution, right?

This was the last media-interesting question of the cardinals towards the Pope. Pope Francis says that absolution must always be granted. So the doubt was that for the absolution to be valid, repentance should be present. Don’t need it now?

The Pope answers that, of course, repentance is needed. But in judging what repentance is, we must be careful that we do not have the standards by which we have become accustomed to judging repentance, and that we are not asking too much of a person at a given moment. The Pope asks if going to confession is not an act of repentance. He even says that even the ability to anticipate that the fall will come again does not destroy a person’s ability to repent at that moment.

It happens to me that in confession, where there is a threat of its invalidity or even sacrilege, I will explain moral principles to people and ask them if they want me to give them absolution. I have already encountered that they will say that they understand that it is not yet ripe for this. We pray together, I give them a blessing – not because they are committing a sin, but because they are seeking God – and it often happens to me that after a while it matures in them.

We have to ask ourselves what is troubling the Pope: how hard it is to fight sin with God’s grace. And we want people to struggle with sin without God’s grace and then come? Is confession a help to the sinner or is it, like Holy Communion, a reward for a good life? This is no longer evangelical.

I ask with a little smile. Doesn’t Francis complicate everything? Does he really want to leave the assessment of guilt up to each person? Won’t it be a terrible mess? Shouldn’t the church have order and clear rules?

Does the church run by clever rules or by the Holy Spirit? Do we still have faith that God works in the church and also works in people’s consciences?

We got to the bottom line. This also applies to synodality. People wonder what will come of it, confusion will arise. Do we believe that the church is governed by the Holy Spirit? Do we believe in the pastoral office and in the fact that the synod is also under the authority of Peter and ultimately it is also his charisma and his office that recognizes God’s will in the various promptings of the Holy Spirit?

Let them glorify you, Lord, all your works, and your saints praise you. Let them talk about the glory of your kingdom, and let them talk about your power…» Psalm 145, 10-11.

How did today’s saint glorify God with his life, St. Luke?

St. Luke, the evangelist (+ around 80 AD), was probably born in the Syrian pagan city of Antioch in a wealthy family. Lukáš became a doctor and traveled a lot in Greece and Egypt. He was perhaps touched by preaching the Gospel from the mouth of St. Apostle Paul in Antioch. Luke then accompanied him on his apostolic journeys. In the year 51, he went with him and with other disciples, Timothy and Silas, to Philippi, Thessaloniki, Macedonia, and subsequently also to Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, Syria, and Italy. He was the only one who stayed with him in prison in Rome and was with Paul even before his death, as Paul himself writes: “…only Luke is with me.” Apparently, at Paul’s instigation, Luke wrote a description of the life and activities of the Lord Jesus, that is, the Gospel

. St. told him about many events. Paul, but the fathers write that he was a close friend of the apostle St. John and the Virgin Mary and knew other apostles. So, he had enough sources to capture the performance of Jesus Christ reliably. He dedicated his gospel to the noble Theophilus. He probably wrote it after the fall of Jerusalem, between 80 and 90 in Greek. He addressed it to Christians who had converted from paganism. This is also evidenced by the fact that he always tries to explain Jewish customs in detail in the Gospel. In his gospel, he is the only one of the evangelists to provide a detailed description of the birth of the Messiah. He writes very beautifully about God’s mercy (the parable of the prodigal son, the good shepherd, the good Samaritan, Mary Magdalene, the penitent later). He begins his gospel with Zechariah’s sacrifice in the temple, which is why the bull became his symbol.

The Acts of the Apostles also come from the pen of St. Luke. He also dedicates them to Theophilus, for whom he wrote the Gospel. This second book aimed for him to witness a living Church that did not perish despite the heathen world raging around. It describes the ascension of the Lord and the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the book deals mainly with the work of St. apostles Peter and Paul. According to tradition, after Paul’s death (67), Luke preached the gospel in Dalmatia, Italy and Gaul. There are several reports about his death. One of them claims that he died a martyr’s death in Patras, Greece, at eighty-four. But others say he died of natural causes.

It is common among Christians that he was also a painter and painted a picture of the Virgin Mary. Some paintings in the East are even attributed to him. However, it is not likely. He certainly painted a spiritual picture of the Virgin Mary in his Gospel since he wrote about her the most of all the Evangelists. Although many places claim ownership, it is also uncertain where his grave is located. Scientific research from 1998 says that the place of his grave could be the Basilica of St. Justin in Padua (Italy).

How should we glorify God with our lives? Well, by painting a spiritual image of the Virgin Mary in our hearts by reading and thinking about the Gospel, just like Mary, who kept all these things in her heart and thought about them.

Jesus said: “Woe to you, Pharisees because you tithe mint, rue, and every vegetable, but you bypass justice and God’s love!” This had to be done and addressed there! Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the first chair in the synagogues and greetings in the streets! Woe to you, for you, are like unmarked graves, and people do not even know what they are walking on!” Then, a scribe told him, “Teacher, when you speak like this, you also insult us.” He said to him: “Woe to you, scribes too! For you burden the people with burdens that cannot be borne, but you do not touch those burdens with a single finger.”

How did you react to the harsh reprimand? Did you not recognize your half-brother? Did you attack, too, or did you take it as a gift? Jesus says “woe” to the Pharisees three times, and they reply: “Teacher, when you speak like that, you also insult us” (Lk 11:45). The social class of the Pharisees did not die out. They don’t seem to do anything wrong. They pay tithes to the temple; what they consider good is enough for them. Jesus wants more – they do all this with their hearts directed to God and not themselves. We are tempted to pretend to be better but worse. It is appropriate to remind ourselves that we have to fight against pretense and especially not to be offended when reminded of it. Whoever wants to stand before God is not a friend of pretense. I am thinking about a note from a friend, a confessor, a professor…?

To love God means also to love everything that God created, especially what he endowed with his divine form, what he loves, and for which he gave his human life to an inhuman death. Such love excludes contempt for people who are less religiously aware. When we look at such people, even less morally familiar, perhaps disgusted with the world, we lose faith in man and his possibilities. And yet many people around us, even non-believers, strive with the most significant effort for something better, for some ideals / and everywhere life is entirely of heroism. It must be seen, recognized, and appreciated, and recommend these minds and hearts that sit in darkness and the shadow of death to God’s mercy.

Let’s think about ourselves: Am I satisfied? Am I happy with myself? What does that mean?

* 22 July 1647 Lhautecour, Burgundy, France
† 17 October 1690 Paray-le-Monial, FranceMeaning of the name Margita: pearl (Greek-Latin)Attribute: palm tree

St. Margita Mary Alacoque was born on July 22, 1647, in France in the village of Lauthecour near Verosvres. Her father was the royal notary in the village. Margita was the fifth of seven children. She was given the name Mary during confirmation. Parents lead their children to faith from an early age. When she was eight years old, her father died. Her mother sent her to the monastery of St. Clary in Charolles. Margita was very religious; she prayed a lot. When she was nine years old, she had a severe illness. She couldn’t move at all. She lost weight to the bone and skin. No one could help her. She said that she would recover only when her relatives and friends put her under the protection of the Virgin Mary. She promised herself that when she recovered, she would enter a monastery. She spent two years in bed in a monastery and another two years at home. After she recovered, she began to lead an austere life. She fasted, meditated, wore penitential robes, and slept on the ground. In addition, she had to suffer from her relatives – grandmother, aunt, and maid who ran the household as her mother was weak and sick. They mistreated her. They humiliated her and did not give her food or clothes. They didn’t even want to take care of her mother. Margita endured it all without pride and cared for her mother as best as possible. She even started whipping herself. Her mother cried because of this, forbade her to live in a separate room, and forced her to get married. In the end, however, she gave her freedom, and Margita, at the age of twenty-four, entered the monastery of the Order of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, founded by St. Francis of Sales, in the town of Paray-le-Monial in the Burgundy region. In 1672, she took her first vows. She lived strictly and knelt before the Sacrament of the Altar whenever possible.

On December 27, 1673, the Divine Heart appeared to her in dazzling brilliance. It was then that she knelt before the Sacrament of the Altar. The heart was surrounded by thorns and decorated with a cross. According to her own words, she was filled with unspeakable love. She had her second apparition on Friday in the octave of the Body of God. Then, she saw the five wounds of Christ. At the same time, she heard a voice: “You cannot show me a greater love than to do what I asked of you, to increase your respect for my loving Heart. You can only become perfectly worthy of this grace through humiliation and suffering.” Then the Savior showed her His Divine Heart and continued: “Look, this Heart that loved people so much, spared nothing, even spent itself, just to show its love. However, he receives in return ingratitude instead of gratitude. Therefore, I ask you that the first Friday after the octave of the feast of my Divine Body be established as a special feast, that on that day, my Heart be worshiped with solemn supplications, and that on that day, people approach St. communion intending to make amends for the innumerable indignities it had received during the time it had been exposed on the altar.’

After this apparition, Margita fell seriously ill. She felt an immense pain in her heart, which did not leave her until her death. No doctor knew what kind of disease it was. Margita dutifully told the superior what was needed. However, the special and the other sisters did not want to believe her and persecuted her for making things up. Margita tried to endure everything in silence and humility. On Sunday, June 16, 1675, the Savior appeared to her for the third time. Again, he spoke of how men belittle his love and the sacraments. He asked Margita to attend the first Friday of every month to St. communion so that, according to her strength, she would correct the insults that befall the Most Holy Sacrament in that month. Since then, every night from Thursday to Friday, Margaret experienced the deathly anguish that Jesus had before his Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. All this confused her; she could not understand that Jesus had chosen her for such an important task. However, God sent a wise and pious priest, Claudio de la Comboniér, a Jesuit, who became her spiritual leader, comforter, and adviser. With his help, she could carry out what the Savior had said and preached to spread further through the revelations.

In 1685, she became matron of novices for two years. Then, she became assistant to the matron of the house. In 1690, she started talking about death. She begged the matron to allow her to withdraw for forty days and prepare for death. The matron was surprised because Margita did not suffer from any illness. She got a cold in the fall, but the doctor said the disease was not dangerous. But the humiliated nun smiled and said they would not even notice when God would call her back. She often pressed the cross to her chest when sick and called on God. On the morning of October 17, 1690, she asked for a priest. The priest took care of her, and Margita died the same day. She was only forty-three years old. Her brain was found intact over a hundred years after her grave was opened. She was declared blessed in 1864 and a saint in 1920. Her remains rest under the main altar of the convent church in Paray-le-Monial. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus spread throughout the Church.

From the revelations of St. Margita, which she described in her notes, established over time the twelve promises of the Divine Heart for those who will worship the Divine Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their condition.

I will bring peace to their families and comfort them in their troubles.

I will become their haven in life, especially in the hour of death.

I will shower abundant blessings on all their events.

Sinners will find a source of grace and an endless sea of ​​mercy in my heart. Indifferent souls become zealous.

Ardent souls will attain great perfection.

I will also bless the houses where the image of my Sacred Heart will be displayed and venerated.

I will give priests the gift that they will convert even the most hardened hearts.

The names of those who will spread this respect will be written in my Heart and will never be erased from it.

To all who approach St. Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months,

I promise the grace of repentance when dying – they will not die in grace nor without the sacraments. My Heart will be a haven for them in the last moments of their lives.

This first stage is also called “contact, contact”. It is the first image coming from the imagination, the first thought, the first impulse. So, for example, a miser sees unguarded money and attacks him: “Could I have …hide it.” In the same way, we can have of the flesh, the idea that I’m better than everybody …the impulse to quit your job, etc. In this case. We’re not deciding anything yet; we’re just finding that the opportunity to do evil presents itself to us, and evil presents itself to us in an attractive form. Newcomers to the spiritual life get scared and confess that they “had bad thoughts,” even in church and during prayer. It is said that the saint  Anthony led one of his pupils, who complained bitterly of his evil thoughts, to the terrace and ordered
him to catch the wind with his hands. And after a while, he said, “If you can’t see the wind with your bare hands, much less control your evil thoughts.

How to purify your heart?
And that there is no guilt in the first incitement and that we will not be able to get rid of it as long as we live. Similar to flies, which bother us the more we become impatient. And what does “conversation” mean? This stage is recalled in Genesis chapter 3 when Eve converses with the serpent. Not heeding the first prompting, she leaves as it comes. But man does not normally do that, but instead allows himself to be provoked and begins …to think. So the miser says to himself, “If I take this money, I will put it in the bank.” But then it occurs to him that this is not honest, and besides, it’s dangerous. What if someone finds out about it? And so he thinks it would be better to keep the whole thing a secret. But he can’t make up his mind, but the money has been on his mind all day. The same thing happens to someone angry with someone. For a long time, he dwells on who made him so angry. He imagines how he would have beaten him up, insulted him, and forgiven him magnanimously; then he thinks again what he could have done to him… he forgets it only after a while. What guilt is in these internal “conversations”? Who decided nothing could not have sinned. But how much time and how much
of life energy is wasted in these meaningless internal “conversations”!

Why is the struggle only in third place?
We are on the third step. After a long conversation with …the thought has taken root in my heart; it’s not quickly banished. A sensual man’s imagination is so soaked with impure …that he can’t get rid of them. He’s still free; he doesn’t have to agree. He can, and he has from this struggle of his… but it costs him a great deal of effort: he must fight. His will must stand firm; he must make himself repeat: “I feel the strong attraction of sin, and yet I don’t want to agree; I freely decide the opposite, and I am willing to resist.”

What is consent?
That is the fourth stage. He who has lost the battle decides …to do what he feels compelled to do at the first opportunity… a lousy idea gives his free consent to the temptation of badness. Sin occurs at this stage in the true and proper sense of the word. And though the sin does not take place outwardly, it remains inwardly. Morality calls this a “sin in thought.” Unfortunately, the uninformed and inexperienced confuse the concepts. They think it is sinful to think of sin. So, such people become scrupulous and confess in confession that  they cannot get rid of the “sins of thought.” How do we come out of this confusion? One must be able to stop and say to oneself.
How do I purify my heart?
Do I feel an attraction to sin? Do I like it? I’m very attracted to it, to do it? Do you know if I do it? No! No! No! No! I choose not to do it.” This last decision must comfort us. The moment we made it, we discovered our freedom. Man is what and not what his senses draw him to. At such times, when he gives free consent to evil, he also experiences sin.