predication.net

Now we will be dealing with virtues for some meetings. Basically, we have two ways to grow in faith. The first is the way of keeping the commandments – the morality of commandments and the second is the way of virtues – the morality of virtues. It should be pointed out initially that these are not two ways that contradict each other, but rather two ways to follow the same road.

We know the morals of the commandments. Again, in simple terms: “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” This way is sure and simple. That is, it does not require much speculation, just decide to walk and the set boundaries will lead me to the goal. But there are some serious problems. Life brings different situations and not every legislator can anticipate and give guidance on how to act in it. Furthermore, there may be situations where the two commandments contradict each other – for example, tell the truth to a severely ill person. Can I lie if it helps the other person? Then there is the risk of external observance of the law without knowing what we are actually heading for. The result is then a hard faith, full of commands and prohibitions, but without a relationship with the Heavenly Father.

But the biggest problem of the law is that he gives an ideal – a goal, as it should be. But we are on our way, and we are no longer able to live the ideal. So what? The law has only two criteria – you did or did not. There is no room for growth. Therefore, many are trying to introduce the so-called sequence of the law. That means I’ll dilute the truth and say that if you can’t do something, you don’t have to do it because it’s not yet for you. But in this way we can adapt our whole life with God to our vision and abilities. I do not like something, so I will not even try and say that I do not manage and therefore it does not apply to me. And we are at one of the greatest mistakes of our time – subjectivity. Here, morality adapts to the measure of man, to his ideas and feelings, and not to man to the measure of God.

But it is not enough to condemn this phenomenon, but we need to solve the problem from which it originates. The law gives an ideal, and we are somewhere far below it, and we have no idea how to fulfill it. We thought that the sequence of the law does not exist. But there is a law of succession. So, we need to take into account the condition of a person, where he is, and gradually help him grow to fulfill the law.

The morality of virtues is very helpful in this journey. Namely, virtue is something that can always grow. Everyone owns it to some extent, and everyone can undermine it. Virtue can be defined as the ability to do good with ease. Or as a lasting and permanent disposition to do good. It is something that is our own and which directs our actions. For example, someone did something that made me angry. Everything in me tends to scold him, but I control myself, cut into ten, suppress the initial anger within me, and then look for a solution other than what my emotions dictate. In this case, I have kept the law, I have not acted in anger, but we cannot yet speak of virtue. Because it is something that I fought hard – hard. I will have the virtue of mildness when my reaction to the situation is no longer aggressiveness, but love, for example: how to help him to realize the inaccuracy of action and how to help him change it?

Of course, we all would like it to be. It would be wonderful! But how to do that? Well, it’s not easy to answer. It is easier to say what growth in virtues is not. Growth in virtues is certainly not drill. And this is extremely important to emphasize. In fact, most believers think that virtue is achieved as it is achieved in sport – by repeating, training, overcoming to push my limits. If we are not doing well, then we are angry at ourselves that we did not manage the training process, because if we prayed more, we had more time to silence, less devoted to it and surely the result would be better.

But growth in virtues is not drill. Which of course does not mean that there is no dimension of human effort, repetition, testing. Virtue is a gift. But again, not a gift that will fall like roast goose from heaven, just because I’m here. Here we are touching the mysterious cooperation between God and man. Here we will never know exactly how this is going on, but that is not essentially either. What matters is that God gives His gifts to those who desire them. And God gives His gifts to the extent that man is able to receive them. So, for growth in the virtues, it is important to long for them and prepare the heart of their heart for their acceptance.

More specifically, we will see this when taking over the individual virtues. I will start from Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan’s book – Priests for the Third Millennium, which gives practical guidance on how to grow in virtues. The book was written for seminarians, priests, but it is excellent for all who want to take their Christian life seriously. Therefore, I recommend reading this book.

Where did I get stuck in my spiritual life? What I find unmanageable?

  In the past catechesis, we considered faith. Faith is a virtue through which we believe that God is. Hope is a virtue in which we trust God to fulfill His promises. “I am a man of hope,” writes Cardinal Suenens, “not for human reasons, nor for natural optimism, but because I believed that the Lord was acting in my life, in the Church and in the world, although his name remains unnoticed.”

                Hope leads us to believe that the God we believe in will always love us, take care of us, and keep his promise. Not to provide us with well-being, comfort, perfection, fulfillment, but love, care, mercy, and life.

Often people ask us to pray. In fact, they say, “I need hope, I don’t know if I can do it!” But I can’t give what I don’t have. Hope cannot be obtained, she must be given us. We get it poured at baptism, it is strengthened by other sacraments, it is developed and protected by an intense inner life, stemming from living faith, enhanced by daily endurance in trials. Supernatural hope can be enhanced by natural inclinations such as good humor, optimistic nature, a joyful worldview and the like.

We know well that even though a hurricane causes enormous destruction, there is an island, a calm and calm in the “hurricane eye”. The same is true in spiritual life. The intense connection to the Lord means that, despite the huge turbulence in life, tragedies and struggles on the surface, we can have peace inside. Reliable spiritual life creates the “eye of the hurricane” – the child’s confidence that everything is in the hands of God’s providence that everything is possible to God, and although there are many who do not care for God’s will, the growth of the Kingdom of God cannot be stopped.

Such hope gave the power of st. John XXIII. Every night he knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and went through all the problems he had encountered on that day – butchered priests, raped sisters, suffering behind the iron curtain, financial problems, refugees … not responded appropriately. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “I have done what I could … It is your Church, Lord. I am going to sleep. Good night.”

I, too, vividly remember one situation where many problems were kicked in the parish and I felt completely lost under the pressure of a number of unsolvable situations. I came to church at that time, and I angrily told God why he did nothing. Why is he leaving me alone, because it’s his parish, not mine! After this “my prayer” things suddenly moved. Then I realized that I needed to hear the words. I needed to realize that the parish belongs to the Lord, and he would move things when I let him do it.

It is not such a problem to have that human hope in our profession. There, sooner or later, some result will be shown and a sense of well done work will appear. We will manage the project, the construction will be completed, the patient will recover, approve our proposal. But in the field of education, growth in faith, the pursuit of a harmonious relationship, the success is often invisible or changeable. One day it seems like we have finally moved somewhere, but there is something going on next, and we see that we are back to where we were before. That breaks our knees, it deprives us of the inner strength to fight.

Again, I offer some practical tips on how to create space for receiving a gift of hope:

Let us learn our hope not to build on immediately tangible success. Yes, we are pleased to see the results of our work, but God teaches us to be free from the outcome of our actions. Saint Ignatius encourages us not to be pleased with anything but the knowledge that we have fulfilled God’s will. I did what I should do. That is enough. The rest is up to him.
Need for recognition. It is a beautiful gift when we can encourage each other by acknowledging another, showing gratitude, praise. But beware of the addiction to this gift. It is a crutch that we are given to intensify. But over time, the Lord will take away this crutch because he wants to teach us to walk alone, without it.
There are many good things in which we put our hope. To friends, marriage, children, bishop, the Church, our reputation, well done work … But we know that there may be times when even these legitimate hopes can disappoint us. And if we put all our hope into them, then it will be a great tragedy. Jesus alone is the same yesterday, today.
Hope stems from one of the most important virtues – perseverance. To be faithful, always to be faithful – to prayer, to our vocation, to the road we have set out on. When one says yes to God, it is forever. The Church prays at the ordination: “God, who has begun a good work in you, let him finish it himself.” He often does not look at whether we make the right choice, but whether we are faithful to the decision. Everything else is able to change Him.
Hope is strange

Let us now look at love as a unifying principle that unites everything we do. We often have many demands and expectations on us, from spiritual life, starting with the needs of our family, duties at work, raising children, commitments to parents, friends, parishes, etc. The danger lies in the fact that our lives can become a ragged move in different directions, where we need to manage different battlefields without something that connects us. Here I have to be a father, a boss, a counselor somewhere, then a patient patient, a manager who has the move, then a team player and somewhere else … That’s why we are looking for something the goal to which everything is heading. Such a principle is love. So I do not have to be a completely different person everywhere, because once I am asked for ferocity and determination, sometimes tenderness and attention. I can still be the same person who wants to love in every situation.

                When we talk about love, we mean our love for God and our neighbors. But in the first place there is something else. The basis of spiritual life is God’s love for us and our deep gratitude for it. “Love is that we were not loved by God, but that he loved us” (1Jn 4: 10).

                The basis of the good news is to understand and accept that God loves me. It is also true that the basis of our frequent frustrations is the inability to understand and accept this deep truth. It seems so beautiful and attractive to us that we do not believe it to be true. One psychiatrist once said to the priest, “Father, keep telling people that God loves them. Most of the problems that I deal with are people who think that no one loves them, that no one can love them and that is why they do not love and respect themselves. ”

                Every human being is loved by God and invited to respond to this love. Especially those who believe in God’s revelation. Finding a way to receive, re-emanate and radiate this love is our lifelong program. Let’s say again a few tips that help us on this journey.

To love someone, I need to spend time. We talk, listen, and look forward to being together. The secret of spouses’ love is a stolen time for themselves every day. Over time, children see that when parents are together, they are fine and can approach them with greater love. In this way, the stolen time will return hundreds of times. And this is precisely prayer. With God, time spent alone enriches our entire lives.
Another way to enrich our relationship of love is by one and the other. When there is someone in our company who likes us and wants to get to know him better, we invite him to some common meal. Similarly, we grow in love when we attend the Eucharistic Banquet.
When we love somebody, we get to know sarodin and that man’s friends. The fact that a young couple is serious about their relationship is to introduce each other to their family. We want Jesus and His Church to be the love of our lives. So, we need to know his family and his friends. This is especially true of his Mother. We are so close to Jesus that His Mother becomes our Mother. But let’s not forget about St. Joseph, the apostles and other saints. When Jesus could love, for example, Peter, who was unstable and weak, I more easily believe he can also love me.
If we want to bring the sledge closer, it is quite natural that we want to know everything we can about it. The same is true of the Lord. That is why we need to study, ask to seek. Read especially the Holy Scripture, where we can learn the most about the Lord and his love for us.
If I love someone, I desire to purify my life of everything that could hurt a loved one. Before the basic characteristic of our relationship, the Lord will be the daily dying of sin and growth in virtues. Thomas Merton describes God’s love as a sunbeam passing through a window. Light on the window reveals streaks. The more light we release, the more cleansing awaits us. On every page of Scripture, we find an urge to convert, to repentance. It is an invitation to a daily struggle with our dark side, which prevents us from becoming free.
If we love someone, we would die for him. If we want to come closer to Christ, we must not only be willing to die for him, but also to die. The cross will be part of our lives. Why are we then surprised when he comes? Why are we taken aback when we feel lonely, misunderstood, lonely when we see that it doesn’t work in our family? Why do we think something bad happened, that we messed up, didn’t manage when problems and difficulties came? We are likened to a man on the cross, invited to give up everything, possibly life for the love of the Crucified and his Bride of the Church. There are situations in life that come to us, and we long for freedom. This is the burden of the cross that will always appear in our lives.
Finally, when we love someone, we learn to have people and activities

Humility as the truth about yourself

                Today we will deal with the virtue of humility. Humility is a virtue considered by all saints and also by ascetic theologians to be a virtue without which growth in perfection is impossible. This virtue was most appreciated by the Lord Jesus. And not in vain, indeed, the original sin, the sin of pride (I will not serve!) Is overwhelmed by its opposite – humility.

                Humility means seeing ourselves as God sees me. Knowing that all the good I have comes from him as a gift and that I am completely dependent on him.

Today, it is sufficient to remain in this definition of humility from St. Tomáš Aquinas, recognizing its content.

                Seeing yourself as God sees me. Let’s talk about it in two ways – to give up judgment. Do not judge you not to be judged (Mt 7: 1). We often see this statement of Christ only as a prohibition to judge others. But much more often we judge ourselves. Either by apologizing – not otherwise, or by damning – I failed again … Both of these attitudes have the same problem – on what basis do I judge? Where do I know what I know? What did I compare to? It was my idea what I should be? Was it the expectation of others? Was it my idea what God was expecting from me? And it can be a number of other criteria. Of course, we can work on improving them, but it will still be the wrong way. That is, it is not our job to improve the criteria on which we judge, it is our job not to judge. That belongs to God.

How then can I know the truth about myself if I don’t have to judge? This is the second aspect – allowing God to reveal me. Being exposed, caught, is unpleasant. But we do not have to worry, God does not want to humiliate us and therefore reveals us discreetly. Most often in prayer. Let’s try to postpone the whip of anger for our conscience, because we have failed, try not to fall into ourselves and analyze, or to give immediate solutions to what we should. Let’s just show up to God. Without justification, without blame (which is also just a hidden form of justification). If we stay ahead of him, he will show us the direction, help us understand what to do with it.

We often talk about God’s mercy, and sometimes we seem to be exaggerating. After all, people will start to abuse it, rely on it and therefore we must compensate by pointing out God’s righteousness and His judgment. But God’s mercy can only be received by a person who is aware of his own sinfulness, and God will only show us our sinfulness to the extent that we are able to receive it. Therefore, we must know about God’s mercy and be humble to accept the truth about ourselves. Otherwise, we cannot embark on the path of spiritual life. Indeed, the first thing we will learn on this journey is the truth about ourselves when we are confronted with our shadowy side.

So seeing ourselves as God sees us means accepting the truth about ourselves, about our own sinfulness, and at the same time accepting God’s mercy – the truth that God loves me despite everything. In other words, accept that love is free. And it is not without humility. More precisely – this acceptance is humility.

Many therapeutic methods also discover this truth. An extremely successful program of anonymous alcoholics claims that no one can give up alcoholism unless he honestly and humbly acknowledges that he is completely helpless to drink and unless he enters into the hands of a Force Majeure. We can peacefully apply this principle to all our sin, darkness, addiction, struggles, vices, evil and weakness … and we can start to grow.

To know that all the good I have comes from him as a gift and we are totally dependent on him. Recognizing your own addiction, even accepting it, or even longing for it at a time when nothing weighs more than independence? It is not an easy task. We see freedom in independence and enslavement in dependence. This is exactly so in relation to the created things that are subordinate to us. Dependence on something to serve me is truly slavery. But to depend on someone who is above me, who is my Creator, is not slavery, but acceptance of the truth. Without Him we cannot do anything, without Him we are nothing, without Him we do not exist.

Of course, such an addiction to a higher being is also intimidating. He can play with us like puppets. Satisfy your whims on us, play around, wind, promise and then discard. So there is exactly the same risk as those entering into marriage. Not dangerous? What if it changes? What if he doesn’t mean honestly? Such a picture of God was created by Greek mythology, where all human vices were ascribed to gods, and therefore the sense of human life became free from the gods. Is it even possible? Isn’t this just leading to the endless suffering of Prometheus on the rock? But God loves us, He created us because He wanted to give us and call us into communion with him. He knows everything about us and still loves us. Being able to do all that evil to someone in my pride does not really mean that it is God. Accepting the truth about yourself also means accepting that I am not God. God is different. There is no sin in it. He cannot sin

Humility and its pitfalls

Let us now highlight some of the manifestations of pride. Right from the start I would like to point out that everything I write is already a theoretical one, but in practical life we ​​have a constant tendency to slip into it. Therefore, it does not hurt to question your conscience from time to time.

One of the great temptations that is still widespread among Christians today is the ancient delusion of Pelagianism – the belief that we ourselves can attain or deserve redemption. The belief that salvation depends on us. I have already mentioned that it is not easy to distinguish between my efforts and God’s initiative. But it is true that we are often tempted to look for more to do or to save someone – preferably the Church. But we forget that the Church already has a savior and that is not me, but Christ. Growing in spiritual life is not about doing something to grow, but how to open up to God so that He can transform us. The primary goal of our prayers, sacrifices and conquest can never be to achieve our perfection, but to be more open to the action of God’s grace that transforms us. This is a huge difference. Christ on the question of the Apostles – who can be saved? – he responds unequivocally: “It is impossible for people, but not for God. For God, everything is possible.” (Mk 10,27)

Another temptation may be pragmatism. On the one hand, we are proud to complete, tighten, manage. We are purposeful and think that everything is possible thanks to sweat, work and our own efforts. We define what we do, what we achieve, how much we produce. But God does not look at us through this lens. He defines us according to who we are. We are his children and most of us are closest to him when we are the weakest, emptied, at the bottom. To admit it, it requires humility, and that pragmatic is driving madness. Is there any better example than our Teacher? Thirty years of hidden preparation life and three years of active engagement. Our life situation – family, children, work, loneliness … may seem like a monotonous drudgery that frustrates at its slow pace where nothing changes, grows, develops. And this is where the contemplation of Jesus’ hidden life is recommended. This patient humility, as opposed to aggressive pragmatism, is evident in the lives of those people who are happy and happy where they are. They said yes to what they had to do.

The third pitfall on the road to humility is our uncontrolled emphasis on our rights. Of course, it is right to fight for our rights, and we must not be overruled, but here we are thinking of an attitude where we are convinced of our own uniqueness, and we demand special treatment and advantages. Then we are sad because no one noticed us, thanked us for our exertion, showed us no compassion and the like. Here we can fall into enormous self-pity – no one likes me, no one listens to me, no one takes me seriously … The saddest people are the ones who feel they have been overlooked. If one begins to lick his wounds self-reliantly and continually wonders how he is underestimated, overlooked, misunderstood, he is caroling about a fall in the field of sexuality, alcohol, harmful association with those who only spread a negative mood, grumbling, anger. Yes, self-pity opens the way to various replacements of happiness and ends in addiction or in a bad game.

The fourth obstacle to humility is “racism”. The “right” guy doesn’t cry, he doesn’t ask for help, he is hard, he can do everything, and in any case he won’t admit to weakness. But a humble guy – yes. Humility reminds us of our weakness, of our fragility, of our mistakes, to remember that we need all the help we can get from God and from others. Therefore, we are not afraid to kneel and pray. Give your friends and family to the Lord, ask the spiritual father for help and advice, seek help from others, see a doctor. Of course, being humble doesn’t mean being crying. I can be, and even are, situations where I have to be strong, principled, clear and firm in my opinions and decisions. It is only important that these are not based on me, but on the Lord. Sv. Paul clearly says, “I can do everything in him that strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).

The fifth (but not the last) pitfall of humility is the belief that I have to understand everything. We know when someone asks us, “please don’t do this”. I don’t know why I shouldn’t do it, I see no obstacle. It is not a sin, I will not harm anyone, so I will. But the one who asked me is hurt by my deed. But I don’t know why. After all, what bad did I do? When the other man reveals himself and tells him why it hindered him, I am extremely sorry that I hurt him, but I add immediately, “Why didn’t you say it, I wouldn’t have done it if I knew it!” But he said -Do not do it. Why wasn’t that enough? So if someone asks me for something that I don’t quite understand, what do I do? Will I find out the cause, or accept it out of love for him to grant the request? Of course,

Humility how to approach itIn this catechesis, let us look at what helps us to grow in humility.

No surprise – first aid is prayer. Fulton Sheen said that only the humble can pray because prayer assumes that we need someone and something. There are two great truths to know in life. The first is God and the second is that I am not Him. We thought humility means seeing ourselves as God sees me. Therefore, let us try to contemplate Christ’s view, which is fixed on me. Let’s see him look at the rich young man, the woman at the well, Peter, who denied. No thought, no word, nothing hidden. His gaze penetrates everything. He knows us better than ourselves. Before that look we are empty, revealed, broken. And yet it is a loving, receiving, inviting look. Such meditation helps our humility. The Lord sees me without tinsel, without makeup. He sees me dying, weak, sick, helpless, worried. There’s no point in trying to impress him. He sees his gaze directly through us. Isn’t a parent happy when a child comes to him truthfully, in his nakedness, in sincerity and without pretense? And how does a parent look at him then?

Another help is regular honest confession. Accepting the state of our sinfulness without embellishment, without excuses and relinquishing responsibility is in itself an act of humility. And if we accept that our sins are constantly repeating and there are some that we will not get rid of in life …

Open to criticism. A sign of good friendship is when we are able to hear things from a friend that we need to hear, but we would prefer not to hear. This is probably a bold idea, but let us ask someone to criticize us regularly. I admit, it is an idea taken from the book I draw from. I’ve never tried it myself, and I’m not even sure I can handle it. Probably some heroism in this respect is meaningless. Rather slow to start. First, accept that someone is angry with me and I have no idea why. Not having a tendency to get involved right away, solve it right away, because I have to know what I failed to do to fix it. Because in this case I deal with myself and do not help others, I just make him more aggravated. So let’s take the first step of criticism – I don’t have to like everyone. Then let’s continue to question conscience – did I give a reason for this? What did I contribute to it? But the questioning of conscience should be humble, that is true. Not drilling in yourself and self-blame, or self-justification, but searching for the truth. So, we are not looking for the culprit (in which you are to blame and in me), but in search of the truth. Perhaps after this attunement, we will have the humility to stand before another and receive what he wants to tell us.

Learn to accept the place we are. A person is usually satisfied with his salary, his position until he begins to compare himself. But as soon as I realize that the other person, who is not even half as good as myself, who is not as bothered as half and is not as loyal as me … . Humility in this area means accepting that for all my life I will have the status I have, the housing I have, the wife I have. what I have, where I am.

Attention, I do not want to say that we cannot crave change. Of course, there is no problem if one wants to grow, have something new and better. He just must not tie his luck to it. I will be happy to achieve this. It would be good to have, but even if it fails, nothing happens because I can live like this.

This is related to the willingness to accept the truth that I do not have something. I cannot solve the problem, I have no answer to the question, I cannot satisfy the wishes of my neighbors, I cannot accept the task, I am not on time to come. Learning to say no is also a school of humility. For I accept my limits and give space to others, and especially give space to God to do.

Finally, there is another advice: Be honest. We often try to look better than we really are through subtle tricks. “The morning was a terrible constipation” – it is a good excuse that we did not want to get up, or we do not see the purpose of the meeting and therefore we prefer to come late. Of course we do not have to repent and hang everything on everyone’s nose. But sometimes it’s really enough to say, “I’m sorry I’m late.”

Am I sincere in my prayer to God? Will I allow him to look at my shadows too?
Can I live with the knowledge that he always sees me in every situation?
What does my holy confession look like? How often do I access it?
What could help me handle criticism better?
To whom do I trust that I can accept criticism from him? Do I have the courage to ask him to?
Am I happy where I am? Do I not tie my luck to any future success?
How do I feel to say no?
I use subtle tricks to embellish myself

During his travels, Jesus met many interesting people. Some of them were really serious about their salvation and therefore asked him about the essence. Such was the rich young man.

As he set out on the road, someone came to him, knelt before him and asked him, “Good teacher, what shall I do to contain eternal life? Jesus answered him,” Why do you call me good? Nobody is good, only God. You know the commandments: You will not kill! You shall not commit adultery! You shall not steal! You will not testify wrongly! You won’t cheat! Honor your father and mother! But he said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all this from my youth.” Jesus looked at him with love and said to him, “You are still missing. Go, sell everything you have, give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!” He grieved at this word and went away grieved because he had great possessions. (Mk 10: 17-22)

Let’s note some interesting points in this story. The young man wants to be saved. He wants to do something about it. He realizes that he doesn’t do enough. That’s why he is looking. He asks Jesus. Jesus first responds to him in the spirit of Jewish morality – keep the law. He asks which – for hundreds of orders and bans have been added to the Ten Commandments over the course of history, explaining what can and cannot be done. Jesus returns to the essence, to the Ten Commandments. The young man just states that he keeps this from his youth.

So there is a young man in front of us who observes the ten commandments. He has no great sin and lives virtually. Yet he sees that this is not enough. He doesn’t know what to bring. He may live in a situation similar to most of us. We have things right, maybe we fall down regularly in some, but otherwise we walk overall in our faith. And we also hear: something else you miss! The young man followed the commandments, but these did not alter his basic relationships with himself, with others, and with God. He remained the same as before. He asks for a new deed to be kept, but for another dead deed that leads nowhere does not solve anything because it does not touch the substance. Here we are at the fundamental difficulty of our lives, which is to understand the difference between keeping the rules of a religion and converting. We often see salvation as a necessity to keep some commandments and not as a follower of Christ. We are now talking about virtues and each time we have some tasks to do. If we remember all of them and do them, we may already have quite a large package of resolutions, and if we did not write them down, it can make us very difficult to remember everything. But even though we remember them all and try to bring them to life, we can still be totally out. They would not be true and useful. But if we have a rich youth mentality, they are useless, even harmful.

I mean, there is nothing more difficult than preaching about conversion. Most people begin to question their conscience about what they have neglected and what they should do. If I pray more, read Scripture more, go to adoration more … And it is only through the multiplication of dead works that do not transform me or bring me to God at all. The rich young man was tied to his property. It prevented him from approaching his neighbor and God. Although he was willing to do any religious deed, he was not willing to remove the obstacle that prevented him from meeting God. And this is the essence of the tragedy of non-conversion. The purpose of religion is not to do religious works, but to come to God through religious works.

What does “not pray enough” mean? How much is it – enough? Does God want us to spend more time repeating our supplications? Sv. Augustine responds to this question as follows: “May prayer be saved from multitude, but it should not lack the richness of supplications if it is focused. Because speaking a lot in prayer means giving the necessary thing unnecessary words. While much praying means long and with a religious trembling of the heart, knocking at the one we pray to ”.

Therefore, we should always pray, but this is not achieved by the multiplication of religious acts but by patient learning to focus our attention on the Lord. Again, this is not done by some mind training, but by removing what prevents us from following Christ, by purifying our desires, by elevating our mind to God, by contemplating who He is and what He has prepared for us. The more I care about the beloved person’s affairs, the more I tune in, and the longer I can stay in her presence. So we are constantly, often unprecedentedly, born of constant prayer.deeper awareness of these facts can also help us to meditate on the mystery of life. When a new life begins in the womb of the mother, it creates the conditions in which the child develops in its way of life. The mother in itself cannot cause conception, nor can she influence either sex or hair color or other things that are given. But in her way of life, she can help the child to develop healthily and fully develop all its powers. It does this by being sensitive to, accepting and conforming to life. Not by doing many things he thinks are good.
That is why we are now invited, during Advent, to let the old man die and be born of the Spirit. We are invited to remove what prevents us from meeting God and doing what makes meeting him easier. So let’s be quiet and listen to him. He shows us what our wealth is, where we revolve around ourselves, about our perfection, and where we do only dead deeds.

What do I hope for salvation?
Why do I actually pray, go to church, go to cells?
What is my obstacle on my way to God?
Which actions help me tune in to God?
Which religious act could I omit because it does not bring me to God?
Do I experience joyful moments in my life meeting God?
Can I draw on these moments in the “Dark Ages”?
I know the encouragement-

Cardinal M. Dolan begins his reflection on faith by remembering Bishop Gottwald, who became bishop after the Second Vatican Council, when it was glowing in the church. He was a very hardworking, but at the same time simple parish priest, who received the bishop’s office only by obedience. He had to deal with the difficult situation of the seminar right from the beginning. A quarter of the professors left, theologians remained puzzled, and theology taught there was all possible, but not the Church’s teaching. Representatives of the theological faculty came to him, accompanied by cameras and microphones, and asked him to close the seminar, because the way of education and teaching there was after the council already “pasé”. The Bishop replied that even though the Council had asked legitimate questions and sought answers, there were still clear and firm truths to be taught to all future priests.

                The spokesman replied, “I ask you to say what else we can teach them, what has not changed or will not change.” responds to the challenge. And he said,

               “I believe in God, the Father of the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, conceived from the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered during the reign of Ponce Pilate . He ascended to the dead, rose on the third day, ascended to heaven, sitting on the right hand of God the Almighty, from where he comes to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, in the Holy Catholic Church, in the communion of the saints, in the forgiveness of sins, in the resurrection of the flesh, and in eternal life. Amen. “

                How important it is to realize the individual truths of our faith! God is the Father, the Creator, the Redeemer … In all the chaos and uncertainty of our lives, there is a solid and certain point on which we can always rely, for it is based on God, not man. The Hebrews say that “faith is the foundation of what we hope, proof of what we do not see” (Heb 11: 1). Therefore, despite aimlessness, nonsense, skepticism, the surrounding chaos, it allows us to hold on to certainty. God exists! Faith assures us that all these statements are true, based not on cold scientific evidence, but on child’s humble trust in the Father who will never mislead us. For the object of our faith is not the statements and teachings, but the person of Jesus Christ. Everything he did, teaching how he approached us, is the image of God the Father who loves us.

                But faith is not a matter of course. When a priest leaves the priesthood, it is not a loss of vocation, but a loss of faith. Do we believe in God? I hope so. But do we believe in a God who internally touches our life, who revealed himself, the truth about himself and how we should live? Who took the flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was really born, lived, suffered, died, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit?

                Do we believe in God who created us in His own image and form? Who predestined us to eternity, to eternity with or without him? Do we believe in God who has given us an immortal soul that gives us identity, personality and is able to preserve God’s life?

                Do we truly believe that God is alive, mighty, that He answers our prayers, and that in the Church which was born from His Son, He continues to work through the seven sacraments that truly achieve what they imply? We believe that in baptism we become God’s children and the temple of the Holy Spirit; that the Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, with body and blood, soul and deity; that in our sacrament of Atonement we are truly forgiven of sins?

Do I believe that God personally loves me and has chosen me from the moment of conception, that he has a plan with me to call me to follow his Son, my Lord and Savior? Do I believe that God knows me better than myself and still loves me and calls me to serve him?

Do I also believe in doubts, tests? Either we are people of faith or we are nothing. When we have faith, we long for prayer, fellowship, spiritual growth. We faithfully respond to offers of grace, we live a virtuous and moral life. With faith, we are keen and generous towards people. With faith everything makes sense, we have peace and joy.

In previous catechesis, we have said that virtues are a gift. They are the result of mysterious cooperation between God and man. By his efforts, man opens the gift that the Lord wants to give him. So how can we open ourselves to receiving the gift of faith?
Prayer deepens our faith, which is essentially a gift God will give us if we ask for it. “Sir, I believe, help my unbelief; Lord, give us more faith! ”We cannot treat faith as a discipline, knowledge to be spent. Faith is a gift.
Contemplating, contemplating the truths of faith. It is not enough to say that I believe it is necessary to consider the specific truths of our faith.
Through the study of theology, intensive study, listening, critical and reflective research comes a belief that we can express simply, poetically, confidently and personally.
Be cautious on different acquaintances.