predication.net

In the past catechesis, we had the opportunity to observe the apostles Peter and John and reflect on their way of action – they do not build an ideal, but live a daily life and take advantage of the opportunities that are available to them. This idea can also be applied to other areas. Especially the area of ​​its own worry. That is also an area where it is not easy to distinguish between true and false carelessness. Even in Scripture we find encouragement to both. In some situations Christ tells us not to be worried, in others to pay attention.

It is known that we are troubled by many things. We are more troubled by the inner ones than the outer ones. Sv. In this context, František Saleský writes in the Filothy: “People think so much about themselves, about their affairs and their meaning, and they are so confused that they do not know what they should actually want.” , in its own sin, truly kills man. Similarly, too much analysis of whether we are on the right track. The problem is that we can never objectively judge ourselves. We always evaluate ourselves according to how we feel about ourselves. It kills us with failure, we enjoy success, criticism takes our appetite for work, empty praise unreasonably encourages us to do nothing.

So how do we act? Should we care and watch over our lives, or should we totally rely on the Lord to be guided by life and not to solve some questions? Should we worry about the future of our children, our fellow men and control their every step, or should we rely on the Lord that He will take care of and trust that it will be good? Are we to press for the Christian upbringing of children and grandsons and still remind them of their duties, or can we rely on them to mature? Are we supposed to be worried about tomorrow and secure ourselves, or can we rely and live only for today? Should we analyze, drill in ourselves and discover the roots of our sins, or can we rely on them to rise to the surface without tackling it? Everyone would be able to give a number of examples of when worrying helped and when it did harm, as well as when reliance helped and when it did harm. There is no unequivocal answer in this respect, and even in the history of the Church we see different deviations from either one direction or the other. For example, the emergence of mendicant orders was inspired by the gospel radically of the founders, but everywhere later circumstances forced the founders’ enthusiasm to diminish.

Psychology clearly distinguishes between care and admission of worries. We should care, but not worry. Admitting worries leads to depression, anxiety, loss of freedom, restriction of the freedom of others, distrust, desire to control everything, to know about everything and the like. False carelessness leads to indifference, lounging, losing the desire to grow, crippling the initiative for the good.

Like everything, we all have a natural tendency towards one or the other. This is our tendency to discover and balance the opposite. If I tend to exaggerate in worry, it is important to grow in the virtues of trust. If I have a natural tendency not to deal with things, then we need to grow in virtues that lead to responsible cooperation. In this respect, we again come to the difference and complementarity between man and woman. Men tend to exaggerate carefree, women tend to be overwhelmed. Learning to trust and listen to each other can heal both. Well, again, be careful. Fear of one extreme, or disgust at being exaggerated in one direction, can very easily confirm that my extreme is better.

Further guidance could be found in the following example: It is good if the driver is not afraid of collisions, does not worry about what may happen to him. Let him sit behind the wheel carefree. But simultaneously, make sure that the machine is in order and that he maintains all the rules of safety and traffic flow. A similar attitude advises St. Francisco Sales: “I know that God wants me to care about illness and health, but I also know that it is expressly God’s will to call a doctor and take medication when necessary.”

A nice sigh is, “Let us do the Lord.” But, to be in the right place, let us not forget P. Surin’s remark: “It is good to let the Lord do it alone. But it is not right to leave everything to the Lord God when He wants us to do something. ”

What do I tend to do? The indifference or drilling in things?
How do I try to compensate for my natural tendency?
Do I have the courage to admit an opposite solution to that dictated by my beliefs? Can I count on God? Can I seek cooperation with God and His will?

Not having an answer to everything

23rd catechesis, January 2019

            So that we can penetrate deeper into the mystery of Christmas, the mystery of God’s presence with us, let us take today one passage from Mark’s Gospel, which we read during the Christmas season:

When Jesus had fed the five thousand men, he immediately forced his disciples to board the ship and go to the other bank of Beth said before he dissolved the people. When he dissolved them, he went to the top to pray. And when it was evening, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the earth. He saw them struggling in rowing, for the wind was blowing against them. And in the morning, walking by the sea, he came near to them, and wanted to bypass them. When they saw him walking across the sea, they thought it was a fool and shouted; for they all saw him and were afraid. But he immediately said to them, “Take hold of yourself! It is me, do not be afraid! ”He entered the boat and the wind died. And they were all amazed, for they did not understand how it was with the loaves; their heart was blunted. (Mk 6: 45-52)

The apostles have already experienced everything with Jesus. They saw his miracles. Now they were in a desolate place with him, along with about 5,000 men, not counting women and children. The apostles want to deal with the situation and warn their Master, who has probably forgotten a little, and for a long time to order the release of the people, to buy something to eat. Jesus puts them in a difficult task – let them eat! It’s your problem, solve it! In this challenge they have the opportunity to personally experience the challenge. It is not just a theory, a story they hear about and discuss in the comfort of home. It is a task that touches them and transcends them.

In this way, Jesus wants to make them the center of their actions to make them more aware of their power. The experience of bread multiplication will further enhance their trust in Jesus. Maybe that’s why they have no problem to listen and put on a boat. As fishermen, they had to know the dangers of an evening voyage, when after sunset the chilled air from the mainland began to push over the water. Perhaps they were not even aware of the risk at the moment, but just put on and fully surrender to Master’s instructions.

But the wind came. Difficulties have emerged and they are now struggling for life. What went through their heads? Many of them might have said— “But I knew it was unreasonable, impossible, risky. But when Jesus said, I obeyed. After all, the others went. The Master must always be right in everything! Can’t tell! Yes, he’s right, he’s a wonderful preacher, and he’s beautiful what he says, but he doesn’t know the real life! I should only go to what I know and know! ”This is a typical temptation that occurs every time we decide to go to the Lord when we leave the certainty of our experience and risk. The Lord has one such interesting feature – he will never be satisfied. He always wants more. He always wants to attract us more. When he finally winds us up, he won’t be satisfied, but he wants to take our experience with him to an even higher level. Therefore, it will allow things to be complicated.

The apostles will experience a strong wind. They could have been angry at their Master who had put them in this situation. And suddenly Jesus is passing by. He’s on the water. Rather, in such situations, the presence of God irritates us. When you are here, you solve our problem, why do you go there for the water! Either do something to save me, or go away! Don’t be like a fool! I’ve listened to you once and what do I get out of it ?!

Indeed, in such situations, the Bear Service can give us well-meaning advice: “You can’t think this way, for God is good, he didn’t want you wrong. If you are in such a situation, it is only because you have misunderstood it. ” Such advice will not help. Only all the anger of God will divert against myself – I am incapable of praying more, of trusting, of discerning … If we do not turn anger against ourselves, we will show ourselves as masters of cheap answers to life situations: and this…”

But we never know what the Lord is doing. Often we will learn about this with the passage of time. It is obvious what the Lord wants to achieve. He wants to board the ship of our life and calm her down. He wants to get closer to us, he wants to put on our shoes and walk in them. This is the secret of incarnation and birth. The apostles experienced the multiplication of bread, realizing that they had nothing to fear with Jesus. But they haven’t won it yet. Jesus decided to give them more. He invites them to a new experience. And this is how God leads us to complete union with Him, with His will. So the goal is clear. But we do not have an immediate answer to what it is doing with this particular situation. A material master does not always reveal what he is doing …

Let us now consider this text without immediately interpreting it for our life (what it wants to tell me by my restless children, other children, job loss, disease, marriage conflict, tensions at work …). Let us try to perceive the principle of Jesus’ work without being in.

In the past catechesis we had the opportunity to follow the apostles who were lost at sea. They trusted God and he sent them to the stormy sea. I do not know, I do not understand, I do not succeed, these are often our experiences. Now let’s see how this feeling of loss is being considered by the trapped monk Father Hieronym:

«Let us note what our Lord reproaches to all those who consider themselves faithful friends:“ Your love is like the morning cloud and like the dew that passes in the morning ”(Oz 6: 4). We could also interpret this verse in the following way: you begin but do not persist; you come, but then you leave. Your stamina will last no more than one morning, at most one day! It’s not hard to say: I love you! The difficulty arises when we add this word: forever, but even more when it comes to turning our confession into concrete deeds. Because “forever” takes a long, very long time. As long as the enchantment of a loved one is still alive, maintaining faithfulness is not laborious or painful. However, so that this enchantment does not fade with the passage of time that “reveals the reality of life,” one who loves should be able to awaken his enchantment in order to keep it in its original freshness. Could it be the implications of love against itself? Not at all. The truth is just that. Because what attracted you yesterday, it deserves to attract you today, as long as you have the strength to rise from mere emotional desire to loyalty, from complaints and whining to melodies. No one wants to say: I can’t love. But everyone is threatened to find himself one day when he is forced by circumstances to say: I am in the end, I can no longer love. For if one is to love the same object at all times, a source must spring out in the depths of his soul. On the one hand, he must not forget the past, on the other he must be able to create. Every day it is necessary to discover something that is supposed to form the content of this very day. Love can sometimes be a weakness, but staying in love or friendship is always a manifestation of generosity and victory.

You will love the Lord of your God: this commandment does not place a burden on us that we cannot bear. But how much strength does it require us to fulfill every day, unchanged and throughout our lives! Yet it may not be enough to achieve this goal. Just as little is enough to keep a fire in the middle of a forest where there is no need for wood. And yet this minimum is often beyond our power. As soon as God’s friendship ceases to be attractive to us, as soon as the harsh grayness of everyday monotony begins to take hold of us, there remains only one way to break away from the lowland world and start to rise again: it is prayer. So whoever wants to remain in friendship with God must persevere in prayer.

For it is no small thing to persevere in the love of an object that is beyond our sensory perception, relying only on one means that also cannot feed our senses with the food to which they are adapted. Only theological love, the gift of God’s grace, binds us to God. After all, it is not easy for us to maintain vigilance, to ask this grace every day and to be able to receive it.

A truly wonderful effort is prayer, in which one continues, even when the source of his feelings and desires is drying up. Human patience is also amazing in the face of God’s silence. Amazing is the persistent effort with which one can seek love, which remains hidden and which as if not even want to manifest. Amazing is a crooked poor man who does not leave the Almighty and tries to keep up with him ». (Father Hieronymus, Hot Coals, Ray, 2017, pp. 23-25)

Father Hieronymus further emphasized in his reflections that faith should result in an effort to persevere on the path. He says perseverance must be seen as a fundamental value. For every time the world is moving in a certain direction, we can bet that the spirit of God blows in the opposite direction. The world today is more than ever eager for change and adventure. From this we can conclude that God does not want change or adventure for his friends. It therefore invites us to build on security and perseverance. It invites us to rule out any doubt about the meaning of what we do. He compares all perseverance to the work of a forester, who is planting today and cutting down the first trees will be his great-grandson by a hundred years.

What can this perseverance mean to us? Constant return to basics. The first step on the path of evangelization is our oiks. A group of people we have a relationship with. That is why the source of love and emotions may dry out there slowly. So if we can no longer, pray for anything and no one, we can still give it for them. We should pray for our oiks. What does it mean? We should long for their salvation. So we ask God’s blessing for them. We can always tell them about God, talk to them about God, even when we are completely arid. So let us not leave this certain point, we can always come back here.

What helps me to awaken enchantment?

Every time we hear a beautiful idea we tend to share it. It is a beautiful property, if we first internalize it, live with it, in a sense we live and spend it. Because she sounded first for me, I have to make her a treasure. For we are at risk of listening to the Word of God not for ourselves but for others: “It is a pity that there is not one and the same person that would help him!” Or worse: “a pity he didn’t hear it, He certainly opened his eyes! ”But let’s not talk about the negatives now. Let us now talk about those cases where something beautiful we experience is immediately exposed to the wind, which can destroy something fragile. Let us now talk about those cases where we tend to advise others, but we are not trying to do the same in our own lives. We are all subject to this temptation. Especially we priests, when we hear something, say immediately – what a beautiful thought, I will use it in the sermon, instead of saying: what a beautiful thought, I will carry it in my heart and live it.

Let us now read another excerpt from Father Hieronymus’s book – Glowing Coals, in which he describes this phenomenon in one parable (a fictional story). He writes about a doctor who has been treating trappers for free for years. He wanted to thank him again, just didn’t know how, so he asked what would please him. The old doctor wished to spend one day in the monastery, to have free movement there and the opportunity to talk to every monk. He wanted to learn something about contemplative prayer:

«The next day the old doctor came as agreed. The whole community knew in advance about his visit, so everyone prepared thanks for what he had done for us. The guest began his visit from the monastery gate. He said with his brother the doorman, “Hello, dear brother.”

“Good afternoon, Doctor.”

“Reverend brother, I would like to ask you something. I hope you will forgive my indiscretion. ”

“Please, Doctor.”

“Do you practice contemplative life here in the monastery?” (With a look of surprise …) “What, please? What do you mean?

“I wonder if you live as a monk’s contemplative life.”

The brother of the doorman immediately recovered and said, “Oh, yes, of course. For we are one of the main contemplative orders, much like the Carthusians and some others. ”

“Sorry, dear brother, don’t blame me, but you didn’t understand me. I wanted to hear something else from you. I mean, whether you personally, that is, as a natural person standing in front of me at the moment, are contemplating. ”

“Ah, well, then! Pf …! If that’s what I know, Doctor. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know either. You know, this job I do here doesn’t really work. I am in constant contact with people, I learn everything from them, I have to keep communicating … I do essentially the important work that someone has to do here! Remember, Doctor, that in such a large monastery as ours, one must sacrifice himself for the good of his confrères. So, unfortunately, I must say to you, no: I am not living here as a contemplative monk. But how could I do my job? But I sacrifice myself to be other members of our community. ”»

This good old doctor passed almost all the monks and received a similar answer everywhere. Finally, he asked himself, “Where is this contemplative community, benefiting which everyone is so willing to sacrifice? Let’s just count: in this monastery there are about a hundred of them skillfully, and among them I asked the same question gradually by ninety-five. Each of them told me that he had sacrificed his own ideal of contemplative life so that the “others” could fully commit themselves to it. Where are you, then, true meditating monks? »(Hot Coals, pp. 33-43)

The story is fictional, but it reveals the deep truth about man. The temptation not to live one’s own life, but at least to sacrifice itself and create the conditions for others to live. Anything else can be used under the word “life”: faith, interpersonal relationships, marriage, spiritual life, sacrifice, patience, forgiveness, perseverance, beauty – let everyone continue this list himself.

Of course, in certain situations it can be good – if I couldn’t do it anymore and I failed, I would create conditions for at least others. But is it really too late in my case? Do I really no longer have a chance to change? Did I really miss the train? Is there really nothing that can be pushed forward?

Let us now consider the causes of this experience. It can be a laziness – it is always easier to advise than to do it yourself. It can also be self-justification – if I don’t do it myself, at least I teach others. It can be a small-minded thing – I don’t have it, I can’t do it. It can be hopeless – I don’t believe anymore. It may be a lack of trust in God – I don’t believe he is able to turn me. It may be because he doesn’t know.

Analogous knowledge of God

What could be the cause of this condition? One of them may be our fear of analogous knowledge of God. God is infinite, He is great, He is Almighty. It is difficult to say something about him because we are not theologians, and to avoid saying any delusion, we prefer to keep silent about him. Alternatively, we will say a phrase we know well, and we are sure it is true. But I can’t have any intellectual concept in my mind. Nor can I have a relationship with God, which is for me only infinite, immense, exceeding everything. I can have a relationship with something I can grasp, what I can try. One recognizes through experience.

God knows it very well and therefore takes the body. It appears to us, adapts to our possibilities. It becomes understandable to us. Therefore, we can know him in everything that is good, powerful, beautiful, true around us. So we do not know God directly, but through analogy. We perceive beauty and say: God is absolute beauty. We see good and say: God is absolute good. We see the Lord and say: God is the absolute Lord of everything. Therefore, Scripture gives God attributes as Lord of Heaven and Earth, Creator, Father, our King, our fortress, our security, and the like. This analogous knowledge offers us various forms of similarity, parallels applicable to God, which tell us about God and its properties. We are invited to discover and marvel at them.

The most basic analogies that can help us know God are: God is life. He is an extremely active being, the originator of everything. She appears to be infinitely creative in expressing her savings activity. There is no boredom or monotony in it. It is an adventure in itself, with which one never gets bored. He can always surprise, charm, give. It is beyond nature, history, and all the emotional motives of every person – of course, the good ones. He lives absolutely sovereign, does not depend on anyone, but everything depends on him. He is attentive to all of his creation and embraces everything with love. It is constant and therefore the whole creation has certainty in it.

God is close to us. He is actively involved in every happening. Above all, he is interested in man, in his good, in his salvation. He urges him to go on the road. He constantly speaks to him through the voice of conscience. It gives him protection and help.

God loves the whole creation, but especially man. God is love. His relentless activity around man is a manifestation of his love. If God had not loved man, He would surely not have created him. His love is present to such an extent that the most apt expression of God is the Father.

Reciprocity requirement. God is interested in man, and the same is waiting for man to do. It is therefore the task of man to be interested in God.

God promised. These are mentioned very often in Scripture. Once they refer to the earthly good, sometimes they relate to the salvation of man, to his eternal bliss. God proves to be the originator of all adventures and concurrently an object of human hope.

God is a synthesis of truth and beauty. He is not a pure intellect, nor an emotional relationship. It is fullness of both.

If we notice well, all these qualities of God respond to man’s innermost desires. The desire for life, for adventure, for change, for security, for proximity, for love, for the opportunity to give what we have received, for the future and for hope of fulfillment, for beauty. So God is the best good for man.

So let us not seek God in the first place in some intellectual constructions, nor in any performance of our spirit – if I pray more, if I read Scripture more, if I could meditate more and not just superficially … the commandments of a religion. Let us seek God in what speaks to our heart. Let us seek God in life, looking at the born child, in the beauty of nature, in the vicinity of man, in the paternal and maternal manifestation of love that we can experience from others, in the acceptance of my husband / wife. Serving a neighbor. Here God reveals Himself to us. Here we can get to know something about him.

So we are faced with a dual task. Ask God to show us as He is. Ask for mercy so that we can recognize him as truly alive and present in our lives. After this meeting, we will be able to be the ones who can testify of God with our life, closeness, love.questions: How would I bring someone closer to God without using a learned phrase?
What tells me most about God? What prevents me most from seeing God’s manifestations in everyday life?

Today we will take the next step on the path of seeking God and our relationship with Him. In recent catecheses, we have had the opportunity to realize that spiritual life is for us. It is not enough to have a distant ideal and at least try to create conditions for others when I can no longer live. We have also said that God can be known by analogy, from everyday facts such as good, beauty, truth and the like. Today we would continue this analogous knowledge and try to get closer to God through relationships.

Religion is said to be religio in Latin. This word is derived from re (again) ligare (tie, tie, tie). Thus, etymologically, the word religion means to be restrained again. It means that the person who is attached to God is religious. This attachment in spiritual literature used to be compared to attaching a servant to his master. Of course, the master enslaved his servant, who did not serve him voluntarily, but out of compulsion. But the slave was essentially dependent on the will of the master. Without him he was nothing, without him he had nothing. A religious man voluntarily becomes such a slave to the Lord. Actually, this statement is not entirely accurate. We are such slaves. There is nothing to change whether we believe God or not. A religious person is one who accepts this essential addiction. A religious man draws on this truth and voluntarily chooses to live in the service of God, expressing his subordination by adoration, invocation, prayer …

Adoration is the recognition of God as one and the highest. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of adoration: “Adoration is the fundamental attitude of a person who recognizes himself as a creature before his Creator. It glorifies the greatness of the Lord who created us and the omnipotence of the Savior who liberates us from evil. Adoration is a deep bow to the spirit before the “King of Glory” and a respectful silence before God, who “is always … greater than we are.” The adoration of the Holy and Most Loving God fills us with humility and trust in our pleas. ” KKC 2628

By accepting our dependence on God, it is not enough to choose from time to time somewhere in the hidden corner of our conscience, it must be a total and lasting decision.
Let us now consider an analogy other than the Lord and the slave who can better explain our relationship with God. Scripture brings us the image of marriage. Marriage is also a permanent attachment to another person. How does this attachment work? What pitfalls can it have? What can it fail? What feeds this attachment? When considering these questions, we can find a number of beautiful analogies related to God. Either I decide to have a lasting and unique relationship, or it doesn’t matter. Either I decide to pay attention to the relationship every day, or it will only be coexistence without a deeper relationship. Either we communicate regularly, or we don’t understand. The more we choose one another, the stronger the bond. The more we give up things that are beyond us, the closer we are to each other.

This analogy also helps us to understand the tragic nature of divorces or cohabitation, without obligations. Since marriage expresses the relationship of fidelity between God and man, the unbelief of the marital side draws a cartoon of God. But God remains faithful despite man’s unfaithfulness. That is why the page that has been abandoned is also invited to remain faithful. This becomes an even deeper image of God who gives everything and asks nothing for it, who is faithful even if man is unfaithful. Humanly, it is impossible to remain faithful in this way. Let’s just imagine a 35-year-old who has not volunteered for solitude but is forced to live because her partner has left her. Being lonely and faithful to someone enjoying with another person and throwing me away because I was not good enough for him / her. Such a person has the opportunity to experience some of the pain that God is experiencing by looking at the unfaithfulness of man. But it can only survive if it is deeply attached to God and his eyes see that this nonsensical situation makes sense.

Let us now look at the link to created things. We know it well from our own experience. We are tied to many things that are not God. From them we promise certainty, realization of our dreams, security, independence and the like. Sometimes we try to stop and think about what we put our trust in. When I’m down, when I have a lot, when I can’t do things, what do I see the light at the end of the tunnel? What am I catching up with? Let us now pass this trust to God. Could he be the anchor? Could he be the encouragement? Could he be the relaxation? Could he be that close person in time?

Let’s try a little more specifically: We have a car. We depend on it, without it we cannot imagine how it works. But could God be the one who gets me where I should be? We have money. Could God be the one who pays for me? Of course, God again tell us these things.

Representative Prayer – Community

 Today we will continue the topic of surrogate prayer and again draw from Father Hieronymus’s book Glowing Coals. I want to focus on two dimensions of surrogate prayer – opening up horizons and building community.

                We are often subject to a narrowing of our living space. We are not pursuing, and therefore we concentrate only on the most essential ones to at least manage it. We solve our children, our parents, our work, our living, our solitude, our sinfulness and the like. If we have only been in this circle for a long time, and we have no impulse to pull us out of it, over time our whole life will shrink only to our immediate micro world. We are losing contact with reality, and our problems are starting to appear to be the biggest and most difficult. Our prayer also narrows down only to our problems, to our closest ones. If we also pray for something else – peace, for example, it is only because we want to provide peace for our loved ones.

                Proxy prayer can be an effective aid before closing into this world. It can help me to realize that prayer has power and therefore can open new horizons. For Jesus has sent us all over the world, so I can include everyone in my prayers. Father Hieronymus writes about statistics that show that the number of atheists is growing four times faster than the number of Christians. This means that every day the number of Christians worldwide is smaller. But according to him, these statistics do not say anything about people who are officially unbelievers, but they are in fact already part of a genuine Church because “under the influence of supernatural sincerity, they have decided to change their way of life”. This transformation, though invisible, is the result of surrogate prayer. We can also accept the invitation to this surrogate prayer and ask that the mysterious grace, which has already been born in our hearts, be elevated to conversion, to full membership of the visible Church of Christ.

                When I think about it, I see that my profession was also born through proxy prayer. I did not intend to be a priest, and I did enough not to be him. But the grannies in our village had a different idea. I know many people have prayed for my profession. Well their prayer was answered. God has led me so mysteriously that I have gradually, although very reluctant at first, determined to change the direction of my life. Not being them, I am not a priest.

                We also see a substitute prayer in the life of the great saints. Saint John Mary Vianney, patron of the pastors and a great confessor who spent 14 to 16 hours a day confessing, gave some of the greatest sinners a penance. He knew they couldn’t handle it anymore. So he gave them as much as they could carry in their fragility. He repented himself in their place. He decided to do satisfaction for the sins committed. So we can also pray and sacrifice for someone, and even the place of someone, to make it easier for him to convert. Of course, we need to be true to ourselves in this area and not to load ourselves more than we are prepared to handle. Beware of heroism. It happens that when we are moved by the misery of a loved one, we tend to promise mountains-mines and then, when the Lord takes our promises seriously, we will rapidly begin to rebel against the cross that has been burdened upon us. Therefore, it is necessary to start modestly and rather to show God’s willingness – Lord, I am here, I am available. Show how and what I can do. He’ll lead me after that.

                If substitute prayer is effective in such a case, the more effective it is when people voluntarily join it. There have always been different fraternities and communities in the Church, and most of the time there are people around the contemplative order who take on a commitment to pray and thus integrate into the monastery’s family and thus merit the prayers of the whole family. Father Hieronymus says: “From this point of view, it can be assumed that prayer of intercession is fully effective even when the monk is praying for related souls who belong to the same family outside and inside the monastery. For these souls are constantly in deep unity with us, not only regarding the content of our intercession for them, but also regarding our desire to discover God. These souls, who already belong internally to our community, not only do not reject our surrogate prayer for them, but they also continually speak for us. ” This surrogate prayer stems from the following: “The prayer loves the absolute good of God. At the same time, however, he desires that every person in the world personally attain this good once … ” unrepeatable soul ”. So the Church through the Rosary Brains

Place of prayer – motivation

31. Catechesis April 2019

                Today I invite you to reflect on the motivation for proxy prayer. Our injured sinful nature brings us more to comfort. Why, no need, just enough, I don’t want to … and such temptations often take us away from strength. Maybe when we are still interested in something, we are willing to conquer. But how difficult it is to overcome something that we know is in our favor, but it takes effort or is unpleasant – to go to confession, to adoration, to go to a preventive examination, to do sports, to learn a language. These are all things that would please us if we had already done it. Just to force it … And suddenly, there is the issue of representation? Why should I sacrifice myself for someone?

                Father Hieronymus in his book Hot Coals describes this dilemma as follows:

“The way to paradise is made by the heavenly buses of the good Lord God, without them we would never have reached our destination. Several buses are reserved for God’s friends, but the long-haul column is made up of wagons carrying others. The seats in these other buses are free, but you have to pay for tickets on the buses of God’s friends at a high price. The worst thing about the whole thing is that God’s friends do not pay for their place only once, but ten or even twenty times. Now and then, the Lord goes on a bus to ask for more and more charges from passengers. Finally, God’s friends will understand that increased fare must also be paid for others, that is, those who ride a long column for free. But when they have to pay for the twentieth time, they begin to complain to the Lord, but their protest is just as open as they are aware that they are not paying for the last time. Those who take on the role of substitution are in the same position ‘.

This text is magnanimous and well captures the dilemma of each one who has chosen to live for others. Is my suffering a tax for loyalty to God? But then it is better to be the only one to carry! After all, they could do the same thing as me, why should I bear the fare of others, and they still have fun with me? With these questions, the bad man can really erode us. These are the poisonous snakes that attacked the Israelites and killed many. They are also attacking us, and they can kill the desire to follow God. We often need to go through this test. Accepting a sacrifice for your children is no problem. Naturally, we perceive that the parent is responsible for them and that is why they try to give them the best. But what if I get hurt from getting away from the other side of my marriage that I long for? What if he left me? He enjoys it and I worry about loneliness? What if a colleague or subordinate who should help to facilitate my work “drinks blood”? What if the priest, who should be a supportive, encouraging, pointed to the merciful Father, is immature and his sermons rather kill me? Ideally – when we are relaxed in spiritual well-being and full of the Spirit – we have no problem in overcoming ourselves. But what about the hustle and bustle of everyday life, when we are flushed, and we expect help, are we still supposed to pay for who should help us?

The answer to this question cannot be given once and for all. The answer must be given every day. Because the answer I gave yesterday is not enough today. Today I need to decide again, to motivate. Sometimes it is a harder decision, sometimes easier. What helps us do that? Two things. Meditation on death and sight of the cross.

We know that everyone dies once, but we don’t always take it seriously. But once we think about the horror of damnation, we realize that the evil we have suffered from that person is totally negligible compared to the evil that awaits him if he does not repent. Let’s imagine that we would live in a time of World War II. The tavern, a Jew whose father drank every night, is threatened to be taken to a gas concentration camp. As long as we don’t know where they’re taking it, we may even be relieved to say they’ll take it, at least my father won’t drink anymore. (Although the reality is that he will find his way to alcohol anyway) Well as soon as I know what his destiny will be, I realize immediately – this is not! And I’ll try to save him. In the immediate danger of life, we are willing to rise above our injuries and save. That is exactly how sinners are in danger to life. They, too, are God’s children, and Christ died for them, too, they could be encouraged and empowered, and they could also get on the bus where there are God’s friends who pay tickets for others. There is hope, only to help them.

The second aid is the view of the cross. Just as the Israelites saved the sight of the copper snake, so does the sight of the cross. Why did He decide to pay my travel expenses? Why didn’t He ask if I deserved it? Why did He not consider being or not? Sir, what do you deserve to have died for me? So, why don’t I have the courage to follow you? Why do I think, as a man for whom the king has forgiven 10,000 talents, that I only need time and will give you everything back? I realize what would have been with me without you?

I ended the past catechesis by saying that silence is not empty, but that it is filled with something other than the noise of the world. Let’s look at this aspect of silence. We are in a hurry, and we still have the urge to do something. Going weekend, free time, how to make the most of this time? I need to visit my parents, make things around the house, go with the kids for a match, go to the parish job, I want to help a friend, there is a barbecue, I would like to shut down and go on a bike myself. What else? And this will also become a slave day.

Therefore, it is necessary to learn not to do anything. We know the classic story about a man who came to the wise man and asked him what to do to make him happy. He said to him, “When you sit, sit, when you walk so walk and when you run, so run.” “No, when you sit, you want to walk, when you walk, you want to run, and if you run, you would sit.”

We still have the urge to do something; Therefore, it is necessary to learn to stop and sometimes do nothing. Indulge yourself in the luxury of not having to do anything now. But beware! We have no problem doing nothing. We can sit passively in front of the TV and switch TV channels. We can sit down to wine and have a debate on the immortality of a cornflower, we can go sports and constantly rush to have to overcome this mortgage, we can go for a coffee and discuss other people. This is not yet a silence. This is a time-consuming activity. Most people live in these extremes – performance and then fun as a reset. Of course, I do not want to say that these things are bad. It is possible to spend full time and build relationships with football, wine or coffee. But now our topic is silence, and this is more than a rest in these activities.

Someone once told me that it was important to learn to be bored before God. I don’t know what he meant exactly, but I like the statement. To be just not thinking about anything, just being carried away by the presence of God. To realize the beauty that surrounds me, to enjoy the good that I experience, to long for bliss, which it prepares for me. It is a state where I elevate myself, my being above all earthly problems, and marvel at the omnipotence of God. It is a time when I let something beautiful to come to pass – the touch of God in His Word, in the sacraments, in the celebration of the liturgy, in the goodness of others. It is perhaps a return to childhood, when we played with something and experienced something during the game. It is what the catechesis of a good shepherd seeks. The story is told to the children – some truth about God, it shows up in the characters, and then the children have time to play with the characters. During that game they can reflect, reflect, marvel, live. They have time to digest that truth so that it can be firmly held in their hearts.

That is exactly the essence. They have time to spend a given impulse, a given truth. Then it can touch them, reach out, take root in them. We are often in a hurry and drive our children to perform. As much as possible to employ a child to develop, but especially to have time to do wrong. Because when he is bored, he just makes up. But this is how the child becomes just a consumer of entertainment – here I am, program me, entertain me. And it also becomes just a hurried slave who runs from one activity to another and has no time to work things out.

We don’t even have to worry if we find ourselves playing something. Often fathers feel ashamed when their wife finds themselves playing with children and the children are not even playing anymore, only they are still there. But is it not a manifestation of our desire to let things fade in us?

So we are invited to create time in our lives for them to be able to ripen things in us as well as allow others to ripen things in them.

How to achieve it? The first step is desire. When we really want something, we can find the space.

The second step is to take advantage of the opportunities that come to us – a trip to a traffic jam or a business trip can be accomplished by getting angry with drivers, watching time nervously, listening to the radio, or thinking about something. Waiting time at the doctor, the connections can also be used. In sports – running, cycling, uphill – I can concentrate on performance, listen to music, or get carried away to the Lord. A time of rocking children, when we would like to run away and do what … What is extremely valuable is the time of sleeping and waking up. At that time we are usually quiet. Then it is probably easiest to be carried away by pleasant thoughts. Then there is an opportunity to pursue your dreams, desires. Unfortunately, we are also tempted to sin at the moment. That is, evil gives us thoughts of sinful enjoyment in the purity of purity. But this time can also be used to elevate the mind to God. By this time, the defensive mechanisms are already falling, the person ceases to control and here comes what he carries in his mind. If there is a God in my mind, then naturally my thoughts are directed towards him at the moment. So here is about it

Paul, Sivan and Timothy of the Thessaloniki Church in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

We continually give thanks to God for all of you when we remember you in our prayers. We continually think before God and our Father of the work of your faith, the effort of love and the endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We know, brothers and beloved of God, about your election, for our gospel came not only to you in words, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in all fullness; you know how we were among you for you.

Because from you the word of the Lord has spread not only to Macedonia and Achier, but your faith in God has become known everywhere, so we don’t have to say anything anymore. For they themselves speak of us, how we have come to you, and how you have turned from idols to God to serve the living and true God and to expect from heaven his Son, whom he raised from the dead; Jesus who saves us from future anger. (1Sol 1,1-5.8-10)

            You meet again after the summer holidays. It is a time of new beginning, when from the summer regime, which is nevertheless more carefree, calmer, when we think more about rest and relaxation, we start again everyday carousel of duties – children start school, learning, work at higher speed, We will lose our time in constipation and enjoy less long summer evenings less. So we are experiencing a shock of return, so we need encouragement.

                This is what I found in the introduction to the Thessalonians. I chose it for you because Paul is beautifully expressing what I experience towards you. “We continually give thanks to God for all of you when we remember you in our prayers.” We live a depressing time, we are still talking about the loss of Christian roots and so on. Sometimes I also have doubts: “Can this belief live in any other way than just the external burden to be borne? Can faith be a personal decision to follow the Lord, or is it just folklore? Can God’s Word really transform us? ” When I look at you, your perseverance, your sincere desire to do something about yourself, your determination to move forward, you are encouraging for me.

                Yes, I know most of you, when looking at your daily and repeated failures, do not feel that you might be encouraging for someone. And somewhere it’s so good. It keeps us on the ground and doesn’t let us succumb to pride. But on the other hand, it is important to realize that what encourages not only the result, but also the way and perseverance as it strides, regardless of the daily and repeated crashes. God acts in secret, often unprecedented for us – neither the parent sees the progress of his child when he is with him every day. Only the one who sees them from time to time can tell how they have changed.

                So do I think “the work of your faith, the effort of your love, and the perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” These things are often invisible to us and so it is good. But others can see it and don’t hurt if they remind us from time to time. So: you are encouraging for me! And now don’t think I told your neighbor. No, I’m telling you personally!

                And also “I know of your election.” Do you realize that you are loved by God? Do you realize you’re now in his arms? That he absolutely likes you? I am constantly amazed at the trust that God has in us. He allowed us to be his witnesses. He believes we can bear true testimony about him. We testify with our lives, but we are often disgusted with our own lives, so how can we be witnesses? I have no answer because I ask the same. But the Word of God assures us that it is so. And God cannot deceive or mislead. So, He is able to transform us into his image. He can make us a testimony and encouragement for others. He can cause others to give hope. Isn’t it amazing how the Lord is able to serve with unworthy instruments? And this is how brilliantly our weaknesses turn to encouragement. Indeed, the more we perceive our unworthiness, the more we can marvel at its power as unworthy tools transform and empower us.

                “So you don’t have to say anything.” What a relief! Relief from the huge burden we carry within us – I must testify, I must evangelize, I must summon … But how ??? The Lord frees me from this pressure. Do not have to! Just be. It is enough to marvel at the great works of God and to allow him to reshape me. And his work speaks for itself.

I was on vacation in the mountains now. We went to a mountain hut and stayed there overnight. There were many people there. Among them is one family with 4 children. Little children. I didn’t talk to them, I just watched them. He watched and marveled. He marveled at how they got there, convinced