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When was the last time you asked Jesus for something? Maybe when we committed some sin that gnawed at our conscience. Let us not despise the sinner, but let us not love his sin. “Because they thought they were righteous and despised others, he spoke this parable” (Luke 18:9).

This parable is intended precisely for the Pharisees. To each of us. The Pharisees belonged to the higher group of people who had a great influence on the social situation in the country, and thus had a certain position in society. And this could lead them to exalt themselves above others. They often abused this position to their advantage. There are two people in the parable. The first, which represents the Pharisee, thinks he is righteous. Let us notice his prayer. In it, he describes himself, what he will do, and what he can renounce. By doing so, he points out to himself how perfect he is. What he claims is true, but that truth is from his point of view. In the prayer, he begins to point out the publican and his bad qualities. Toll collectors are nowadays employees of the tax office. The parable also features a tax collector who is aware of his sinfulness and regrets what he has done in his heart.

Will you agree that even today there are such Pharisees and publicans among us?! They are. And it may even happen that I am a Pharisee. Let’s try now, each of us inside, to consider which category I would fit into, a tax collector or a Pharisee?! I pray daily, I go to church regularly, and I go to confession every first Friday, maybe even more often, when I go to confession, I say to myself “I don’t have such serious sins, I pray the rosary every day, maybe some devotions, I read the Holy Scriptures I didn’t hurt, I don’t steal, I don’t cheat, I try to get along with everyone on good terms”….etc., simply – I’m not that bad, I live a spiritual life. So I probably won’t be a Pharisee.

How many times do I catch myself talking about others, but not in the good, but in the bad, and especially about his bad qualities? I notice who goes to church, how he dresses, how he behaves, whether he goes to communion, how he lives in a family, whether he argues with his wife, maybe he gets drunk, overpays, cheats on his wife, or a man’s wife, can’t get a job,… ..etc. And right here can be the problem that Jesus points to and that problem is pride. The same as the Pharisees. “I tell you, this one went home justified and not that one.” That is, the publican was justified and not the Pharisee. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands to take heed lest he fall. ” This means if I think that I am managing to lead a spiritual life anyway, and I do not commit as many sins as others, I should thank God for this grace that He gives me. St. Peter and James state in their letters: ” God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” That means pride is an obstacle. 

All of us who have to fight for true love, because we know daily the attacks of the temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil, long to be strengthened to resist and persevere in true love. Jesus’ words are clear: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength… You shall love your neighbor as yourself!” There is no other, greater commandment than these” (Mk 12:30-31).

The Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) noted the importance and need for the commandment of love. Already in the Old Testament in the Book of Deuteronomy (cf. 6:4-5), this command was not understood as something restrictive, but as the greatest wisdom. Whoever knows this command of God, God’s advice, or guideline for life should accept it as the greatest wealth. The lawyer asks Jesus the question: “Which commandment is the first of all” (Mk 12:28), it cannot be understood as a provocation or a bad intention. The lawyer listens to how Jesus correctly answers the questions of the people from the crowd.

The Jews had 365 positive and 248 negative commandments. Such a number can confuse which order is the first, the most important, and the most essential. Jesus answers. Two commands that do not stand next to each other in the Old Testament, Jesus connects, so to speak. It is essential for us that Jesus not only combines these commands but also interprets them: “There is no other, greater commandment than these” (Mk 12:31). Jesus combined two commands, which no one had done before him. He teaches that one commandment without the other cannot be separated. One commandment without the other would be incomplete. To love God and not to love your neighbor is not true love. The truth is that God wants to be loved in a twofold way of love: indirectly through people and directly through devoted gratitude of faith.

The commandment of love leads us to follow God, who is love. The view of the world teaches us the love with which God loved a man before he created him. The whole world is a song about God’s love. Jesus expressed his love with words and confirmed it with his death. Could we have received more from God than we received in the Eucharist, the mystery of love, when we have the living and true God present among us in this sacrament?

The world does not want to hear about God’s love. We need it all the more. What can be expected from the world without love? Murder, not only in wars but also in unborn children, murder of conjugal love, sibling, neighborly, friendly love… Whoever does not love his brother or sister does not even love God. A Christian loves God in another person and himself. Whoever hates himself, his neighbor also hates God. Only man is capable, from created things, of true love. Let us renounce any part of the commandment of love and cease to observe it, we cannot speak of true love.

The fight for love reminds us of St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-13). And it would be beautiful if we used the words from 1 letter of St. John the Apostle (4.7-5.4), which begin with the words: “Let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 Jn 4.7).

Nowadays, we should not laugh at the word devil, the devil, and similar names. These are not fairy tale creatures. They say about Jesus: “With the help of Beelzebub, the prince of devils, he casts out devils” (Luke 11:14).

The Gospel tells about the collision of the Lord Jesus with his real opponents. These are turning his calcific teaching into the exact opposite. Their reproach is focused on the fact that Jesus is the devil, that he is possessed and works from the devil’s power. The reproach of the enemies against Jesus could not have been more terrible and terrible. Jesus’ answer is aimed at removing the absurdity of the accusation. In the parable of the house of the “strong man,” the answer is expressed in an understandable form. The power of Jesus is manifested by doing good and not evil. The power of Jesus is visible, especially in the healing of the possessed. By this, Jesus proves that his power is disproportionately greater than the power of Beelzebub, the lord of all evil spirits. It is unthinkable that Satan himself would invade his kingdom as a ravager. Jesus’ logic is convincing. Turning Jesus’ fight against Satan into its exact opposite, that is, declaring Jesus’ work as Satan’s work, when it happens despite better knowledge to the contrary, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It is the ultimate human possibility.

Our times are indeed often mistaken. Although, Satanism is “legal” in the free world as long as it does not violate state laws. Let us remember that we are children of God. At baptism, we renounced evil. We are not alone in our fight against Satan. Jesus promised us: “And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world” (Mt 28,20). Jesus’ word will protect us. Apostle James says: “Submit yourself to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you” (James 4:7-8). We realize that the devil is real, but Jesus Christ is our strength.

Satanism, as a religion, is as old as sinful human nature. However, no one formulated it into a set of ideas and rituals like LaVey in the sixties of the 20th century. The danger is that Satanism tends to be overrated and underrated. Both attitudes are harmful. Satanism is the opposite of Christianity. In Satanism, it is not only a weakness or a misstep, but a free decision to oppose God. The best weapon against Satanism is loyalty to the Christian community, frequent reception of the sacrament, prayer, and joy of faith. Let’s stand against everything related to Satanism. Apostle St. Peter teaches us: “Be sober and watch! Your adversary, the devil, goes around…” (1 Pt 5:8

God does not change laws. Secular power, on the contrary – often. Which law is more perfect? Lord Jesus says in the Gospel: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them” (Mt 5:17).

Matthew teaches that the Law is an expression of God’s will. In this sense, the Law cannot be abolished, but only implemented. The Law and the Prophets mean that God’s commandments rest on the commandment of love for God and neighbor. Therefore, where love is taught, there the Law is correctly explained, and therefore St. Paul says that love is the fulfillment of the Law. We know from the Gospel that Jesus taught us that all commands and laws, as well as regulations in the field of religion, express only one command: To love God and neighbor. Those commands and regulations that lead to this are good and we cannot cancel them, but on the contrary, regulations that move away from love or make it more difficult must be abandoned.

After the Second Vatican Council, many regulations were canceled and changed, to make love a better way of life. Therefore, the traditionalists who reject the post-Council changes are not right, in other words, they do not want to give the Law a new spirit. Let’s remember Archbishop Lefebvre, who in Elkon ordained new bishops without the permission of Rome and the Pope, who, like him, are against the fact that everyone can celebrate the Holy Mass and the sacraments in their own language. He was of thought the Latin language should remain. After all, we see that the Holy Mass in comprehensible language helps us to love the Lord God more. On the other hand, the progressives, who want to change everything in the name of false freedom, and want to abolish the Law, are not right either.

During the Vatican Council, there was also talk of a church regulation that does not allow married priests to celebrate Holy Mass and administer the sacraments in our Roman Rite. That priests should not marry is not God’s law, but the church’s. These progressives want marriage for priests. For now, the law is that Roman priests do not marry. The law of love, because was established by the Church – not for property disputes, as the enemies of the Church teach and say, but so that the priest and own owned and family do not stand in the way of fulfilling his duties as a priest who is supposed to take care of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ, teachings of love. So neither the strict traditionalists nor the innovators – progressives – are right.

In the Church, Jesus Christ is right, who is represented by the visible head of the Church – the Pope. When the church authority led by the Holy Spirit orders something, we accept it and believe that it will bring the appropriate blessing for us as well. Therefore, let’s all try to fulfill God’s and the church’s commandments so conscientiously and honestly, to spread the love of God in ourselves. We must not cancel even the smallest commandment, or bypass it out of the conviction that it is nothing, because the Lord Jesus tells us: “Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these commandments, even the smallest one, and thus teaches people, he will be the least in the kingdom of heaven.” (Lk 5:19). That is why we want to keep even the smallest commandment to obtain a higher degree of eternal bliss.

Many of you have surely heard or asked yourself the question: Will God forgive me of my sins? Or they uttered the sentence: God will not forgive me, my sins are great and terrible. In today’s Gospel, Lord Jesus talks about forgiveness, about the dependence between God’s forgiveness and human forgiveness. “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not forgive each one of his brothers from the heart” (Mt 18, 35). Today’s Gospel begins with the apostle Peter approaching Jesus and asking him: “How many times must I forgive my brother?” Perhaps seven times” (Mt 18:21)? Peter asks this question not because he doubts that it is necessary to forgive, but he wants to know from Jesus how many times he should forgive, what is the upper limit. He probably asked this question because the rabbinical schools of the time taught that it is possible to forgive only seven times. Peter receives the answer from Jesus: “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Mt 18:22). If the Jews expressed with the number seven the same thing that we express with the word many, then Peter should have known that the number seventy-seven means that there is no limit, he must and must always forgive.

But why should we always forgive? Jesus answers this question of ours and certainly also of Peter with the parable of the unmerciful servant. The parable is about a big and a small debtor. Why about the big and small borrower? The great debtor was to return ten thousand talents to his Lord. One talent was about twenty-six kilograms of silver, then ten thousand talents was two hundred and sixty tons of silver. It was a huge amount. It is certain that such a debt could not be paid by the servant in question. The small debtor owed his fellow servant a hundred denarii, which was a little more than the average of three months’ earnings. Compared to the previous debt, it could not even be considered a debt. In this case, the promise to repay the debt was indeed real. The Lord took pity on the great debtor. He released him and forgave him all his debt, although it was very great. The big debtor behaved differently towards his small debtor: “He threw him into prison until he paid the debt” (Mt 18:30). But it didn’t help him. “When the Lord found out about it, he not only revoked the forgiveness of the debt, but “handed him over to torturers until he paid the whole debt” (Mt 18:34). In conclusion, Lord Jesus points out: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not forgive each one of his brothers from the heart” (Mt 18:35). 158 The Gospel parable is clear and impressive. We are great debtors to the Lord God, just like the servant in the parable is to his Lord. Our debt is our sins, which stem from disobedience to fulfill God’s will, to live according to God’s and church’s commandments. That is why we constantly need God’s forgiveness. Many people today are convinced that their sin is very great and God cannot forgive them. But this opinion is wrong. After all, we know from the Gospels that the Lord Jesus forgave even very serious sins. He forgave the public sinner, who committed sins of sexual immorality. He forgave the woman who was caught in adultery and wanted to stone her. He also forgave the criminal on the cross who committed robbery and murder. All these were great and grievous sins. It follows that the magnitude of the sin is not an obstacle to God’s forgiveness. That’s why we are asked, what is an obstacle to God’s forgiveness? The obstacle that prevents God from forgiving us is when we do not forgive our neighbors, when we do not forgive our small debtors. God’s mercy to us is strictly tied to our mercy to our neighbors. Whoever does not have mercy for his brother or sister will not receive God’s mercy, because sinful man has anger in him, and God does not like any anger. Since it is a very important requirement for our life, so that we do not forget it, Lord Jesus included the request in the daily Our Father prayer: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our trespassers. As we can see, forgiving our neighbor is vital for us, significant for our salvation. That is why the Lord Jesus gave us an example of his forgiveness while he lived here on earth. He lovingly forgave those who wronged him. He experienced the most severe and greatest harm during his crucifixion. He was mocked, spat on, beaten, scourged all over, crowned with thorns, and finally nailed to a cross. Although he suffered in terrible torment, hanging on the cross he prayed for his tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This great forgiveness shines like a great light before the eyes of all people. And indeed many people throughout history have forgiven their neighbors in the light of Jesus’ example. important for our salvation. That is why the Lord Jesus gave us an example of his forgiveness while he lived here on earth. He lovingly forgave those who wronged him. He experienced the most severe and greatest harm during his crucifixion. He was mocked, spat on, beaten, scourged all over, crowned with thorns, and finally nailed to a cross. Although he suffered in terrible torment, hanging on the cross he prayed for his tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This great forgiveness shines like a great light before the eyes of all people. And indeed, many people throughout history have forgiven their neighbors in the light of Jesus’ example. important for our salvation. That is why the Lord Jesus gave us an example of his forgiveness while he lived here on earth. He lovingly forgave those who wronged him. He experienced the most severe and greatest harm during his crucifixion. He was mocked, spat on, beaten, scourged all over, crowned with thorns, and finally nailed to a cross. Although he suffered in terrible torment, hanging on the cross he prayed for his tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This great forgiveness shines like a great light before the eyes of all people. And indeed, many people throughout history have forgiven their neighbors in the light of Jesus’ example. beaten, scourged all over, crowned with thorns and finally nailed to the cross. Although he suffered in terrible torment, hanging on the cross he prayed for his tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This great forgiveness shines like a great light before the eyes of all people. And indeed many people throughout history have forgiven their neighbors in the light of Jesus’ example. beaten, scourged all over, crowned with thorns and finally nailed to the cross. Although he suffered in terrible torment, hanging on the cross he prayed for his tormentors: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This great forgiveness shines like a great light before the eyes of all people. And indeed, many people throughout history have forgiven their neighbors in the light of Jesus’ example.

Yes, only love can forgive. Jesus forgave his tormentors based on his infinite love, love for us humans. He offers this love to us too, so that we too have the strength to forgive our culprits, our little debtors. We must remove all enmity from our lives and love everyone in God, because at the end of life we ​​will be judged by love. Today, the world will not change through various global programs, but through the conversion of hearts to love. We will achieve this conversion when we draw from the inexhaustible source of God’s love, from the Eucharist. Let’s look into our heart at this moment. Do we harbor forgiveness, anger towards relatives, neighbors, superiors, towards our neighbor? If so, let us realize that it is an obstacle placed in the way of God’s mercy towards us. Let us realize that the heavenly Father will not forgive us until we forgive. therefore now at this moment, let’s decide to forgive everyone with whom we are angry, so that we can pray the Our Father prayer before Holy Communion with full sincerity: Forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive our trespassers.

Jesus still sends prophets today. We do not want to position ourselves as natives of Jesus. Everyone has enemies. Today’s gospel warns us believers about this. Addressing his countrymen, who did not accept him as a prophet, Jesus says: “..not even a prophet is welcome in his own country” (Lk 4:24). Jesus is already acting as a prophet in the Nazareth synagogue. He provokes his countrymen with his behavior. When he says, that the words of the prophet Isaiah, which he had just read, were fulfilled in him, the natives will not accept. They will immediately remark, “isn’t this Joseph’s son” (Luke 4:22)? In other words, what new can he tell us?

Jesus answers them by pointing to the well-known event, how the prophet Elijah was not accepted by the nation, only by the Gentiles, the widow of Zarephath, and Naaman the Syrian. Jesus did the right thing. Shouldn’t he have first won his countrymen over with acceptable words and only then, later, gradually explain things to them? Wasn’t it Jesus’ fault that the natives were carried away by anger? We can observe that the preaching of the apostles is carried in the spirit of Jesus. It must be remembered that the people in Nazareth were no worse than elsewhere in the world. When Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah to them, all his countrymen were happy to hear the glad tidings that answered their wish. Let’s be aware of the paradox, Jesus announces a “merciful year” and the natives react by wanting to kill their native who announced this news to them. Jesus God brings forgiveness and love and receives hatred, anger, and finally death from people.

The Church continues what Jesus taught and commanded the Church not only to teach, to baptize, but also to teach to observe all that He commanded. The mission of the Church was, is, and will be to speak the truth, to defend and uphold the rights that the world tramples on, silences in the entire breadth of life, from those who cannot be born, who no longer want them, or who hinder someone, to the old, infirm, or condemned to death. Do we not have a similar relationship with Christ and the Church? When they comply with us, we are satisfied, but when they enter our conscience when they draw our attention to something, and when they rightly demand something from us, we no longer have a kind heart, but a heart full of hatred, malice, and sin.

Jesus in Nazareth was led to “the slope of a mountain…and they wanted to throw him down from there” (Lk 4:29), but he did not change his attitude towards the truth, he did not retract what he said. Only on the slope of another mountain does Jesus allow, because he wanted it, he gives to crucify oneself so that until the end of time people will be aware of the truth of Jesus. Let us not condemn the people of Nazareth. On the contrary, let us learn to follow Christ and radically preserve the words of the Gospel. After all, we believed in Christ, who not only died for his conviction but as the God-man proved one and eternal truth. God pours his Spirit into the prophet and makes him an instrument of his activity. The perspective of such activity is difficult and most prophets, except when directly addressed by God himself, do not want to undertake this mission. The mission of the prophet hinders many sons and daughters of this world .

Moralists understandably excuse wrongdoing of ignorance. But they nevertheless recognize that ignorance itself is often caused by negligence, disinterest, and bad will. No wonder, such ignorance is judged by ascetic authors severely. It almost seems to St. Basil that ignorance of the principal duties is not even possible in a Christian who wants to live as a Christian. After all, the Gospel is easy to understand and is at hand! What would St. Basil say today, when everyone knows how to read, when there is enough and enough spiritual literature, and yet there are so many people who do not know even the most basic of religion?
In addition to this, there is also a kind of sin connected with ignorance. Socrates said that man sins only out of ignorance. The Greek Fathers reversed his sentence. Because man sins, he becomes more and more ignorant. The thought of God disappears more and more from his thinking, his conscience becomes clouded, and moral principles become obscure. Against this ignorance, we must of course
fight against it, as we fight against darkness on the path of light of the headlights. “The way to the knowledge of God,” writes Hesychius, “is to rid oneself of evil inclinations and to be humble; without these qualities, no one will see God.” To the sins of ignorance belong the so-called sins of forgetfulness. The legalistic Pharisaic conception sees perfection as a complete set of prescriptions. Do not transgress what God forbids, is a great thing. But that alone means little if we do not also do what God positively requires of us, namely to fill our lives with love, with work, with sacrifice. To the confession of guilt at the beginning of Mass were added recently words: I confess… that I have not done what I ought to do.” It is good not to lie, not to steal, and not to offend others. Nevertheless, let us not forget the curse of Jesus at the barren fig tree (Mk 11:13). Some say, that they have nothing to confess, they do not know that they have sinned. And yet, the good things they neglect much more seriously than obvious transgressions.
Sins of human weakness.
Modern psychology comes to the aid of those who are indulgent in human sins. How many components are at work in a single act, from heredity to the influences of climate? It almost seems as if a man could not even consider what he does. Even Christ in the Gospel is manifested very much from the faithful to sinners, in whom he sees only weakness and not wickedness. Some moral preachers, e.g., even St. John Chrysostom}, occasionally allow themselves to be carried away to direct judgment, which seems inhuman and Pharisaical. This is partly to be explained by the fervor of eloquence. But there is another reason. This severity stands out in those places where the Fathers wish to emphasize a fundamental Christian truth: the only real cause of sin is man’s free will. For it depends on us, whether we want the good, on anything else. Wrongly, of course, this principle was understood by some of the ancient sectarians who claimed that a perfect man needs no longer fear any environment or temptation. He is said to be strong enough to resist everything. Surely he didn’t want to go that far, as any true preacher would go. Therefore, they correct their first statement about the strength of the human will, they give it the correct value and measure by challenges of the opposite character. They recommend avoiding all as far as possible all temptations. For we are frail. For even the angel in heaven and Adam in paradise sinned, how much more have we humans on earth? We are therefore to know our weaknesses and not to expose ourselves to danger arbitrarily or through carelessness. The point here, moreover, is something similar to the sins of ignorance. Weakness justifies sin, but the reverse is the case, with voluntary sins being the cause of our weakness. It is not possible, therefore, to be completely excused.