predication.net

Listen! Someone is calling: Prepare the way for the Lord in the desert. Even the blind man cries out: “Son of David” Make a path for our God in the desert! Prepare a way for the Lord in the desert, where nothing is yet to be seen, where there is not even a hint that anything could be there. The prophet is, above all,l an interpreter of God’s will of what God is doing or wants to do. It does not necessarily have to be about things in the future, although we see here that this is precisely what the prophet Isaiah is announcing. Moreover, the way he speaks is also characterized by the fact that he declares future things such as ady taking place: He says, now his slavery is ended, now his guilt is atoned for,… for in the mind of God these things are already taking place, although we do not yet see them. He goes on to describe how this preparation to appearappearsiliation and humility, to bow down before your God: Let every valley be lifted and every hill and hill made low; what is hilly, let it be plain, and what is bumpy, lowland. And the glory of the Lord will appear, and suddenly every creature will see it because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. The prophet calls: Go up to the high mountain, the good news of Zion, l up your voice might the ly, the excellent information of Jerusalem! Lift up, do not be afraid, say to the cities of Judah: “Behold your God!” How powerful this word must have been for those who listened to it then. To those immersed in hopelessness, despair, and disappointment, it sounds: “Behold your God!” As if the prophet wanted to say to them: “Lift your heads, for your redemption is drawing near!” lift your voice mightily, glad tidings of Jerusalem! Lift up, do not be afraid, say to the cities of Judah: “Behold your God!” How powerful this word must have been for those who listened to it then. To those immersed in hopelessness, despair and disappointment, it sounds: “Behold your God!” As if the prophet wanted to say to them: “Lift your heads, for your redemption is drawing near!” lift your voice mightily, glad tidings of Jerusalem! Lift up, do not be afraid, say to the cities of Judah: “Behold your God!” How powerful this word must have been for those who listened to it then. To those immersed in hopelessness, despair and disappointment, it sounds: “Behold your God!” As if the prophet wanted to say to them: “Lift your heads, for your redemption, is drawing near!”

But what does that have to do with us? Like the people of those times, we, too, are immersed in the captivity of various forms of slavery, whether they are external or internal slavery. I often meet people who are often beaten by life, overwhelmed by work and obligations, or disgusted by failure and disappointments. Not to mention the sins that deprive us of joy and friendship with God. All these things put us in the position of enslaved people to those in need of redemption. Even more surprising is that it does not have to be only adverse facts that need saving often; seemingly good things, pastoral activities, help, or service in the parish put us in the position of slaves. In the rush of work and under pressure to meet deadlines, we may push God aside and live in our worries, and the only thing that can help us is Isaiah’s exclamation: “Behold, your God!” The gospel of Advent, however, goes even further because while in the Old Testament, the prophets announced the intervention of God, it was often done through someone else – specifically today, King Cyrus. John the Baptist announces the coming of God himself in the gospel. And so it is no longer just about the announcer but about the one who has the power to make our liberation happen.

A close friend of mine was recently telling me about a former classmate of his. At the first meeting after finishing high school, the topic of faith and relationship with God came up. This young man began to seek God because he fell in love with a sincerely believing girl. He did not just respect her confession of faith but undertook to search for God in his life. He read books, talked to people, and asked about God. During their conversation together, he told his friend about all his efforts. But at the same time, he confided in him: “With everything I’ve read and heard about God, I still don’t know why I should need God. Everything I do works without him. Even charity and love of neighbor can work without him.” And indeed, as my friend told me, this man lives a decent life. But the problem with his search for God is what he said,

The Christian faith is not about whether we need God to be benevolent and kind or to know how to sacrifice. We need God for our salvation. Even the best person cannot achieve salvation without Jesus Christ, who brings it to us.

The subject of Mark’s Gospel is the person of Jesus Christ – Jesus Christ himself. Mark presents it to us as a new beginning of the history of the salvation of each of us. Our whole life and everything we do in it find meaning in it. However, to receive him, we must first know and expect him and prepare our hearts for his arrithroughl by sincere repentance. Let’s try to pick up Mark’s Gospel more often in the coming days and learn to recognize Jesus in it. Let’s do it very concretely: set a time, for example, ten minutes every day, during which we will read a short part of the Gospel and listen to what God wants to tell us through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Actively waiting for the birth of the Savior means preparing the way for him in your heart. To believe in him as the Son of God and start building a road in the desert, hoping that he will come… In the belief that he is already coming.

With the words that sound in the Gospel: “Take care that your hearts are not weighed down by intemperance, drunkenness and worldly cares,” the Lord Jesus shows us how important it is to protect your heart and spirit. God created our hearts out of love and for love, and nothing else can fully satisfy our hearts but God. Augustine’s statement from almost seventeen hundred years ago – “for yourself, God, you created us, and our heart is dissatisfied until it rests in you” – remains valid even for today’s people.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that the desire for God is inscribed in the human heart because man is created by God and for God. Only in God can man find the truth and happiness he seeks. Since man comes from God and goes to God, he lives a fully human life only if he lives freely in union with him. But a person can forget about it, ignore it, or even explicitly refuse it. Such an attitude can have various causes, for example, rebellion against the evil that is in the world; religious ignorance and indifference; concern for worldly things and wealth; the lousy example of believers, anti-religious currents of thought, and, finally from the attitude of a sinner who hides from God out of fear and runs away from his call. (Cf. KCC No. 27-29)

Our heart is in all of this. That is why the Lord Jesus warns us and says: “Take care of your heart and your spirit.” The danger for us is that we do not listen to the deepest and most beautiful desires of our hearts and let ourselves be deceived, thinking that our hearts can be filled with the joy of enjoyment – as it is often offered to us by the media. But we are not created to enjoy, but for the love of God, who loves us and calls us to love.

Our misfortune is that we allow ourselves to be seduced by the narcotic happiness of alcohol, money, drugs, and passions… that seems so easily accessible. But it just as quickly leads us to catastrophic consequences; it eats away our sense of everything beautiful, accurate, valuable, honest, reasonable, and fair; it empties us and robs us of the true meaning of life. Lost lives, disrupted, even destroyed health and relationships, marriages and families; fraud and corruption, disrespect and lawlessness… all these are the fruits of letting our hearts and spirits be filled with anything but the love of our God. This is also why the liturgical season of Advent invites us to pray and watch. We know what is knocking on the door of our senses, hearts, and spirit – from the media, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, and the internet. Therefore, not letting anyone or anything enter your heart is essential.

The Lord Jesus will say it in a parable: “If the householder had known at what hour of the night a thief would come, he would surely have been on the watch and would not have allowed him to break into his house.” How many thieves do we allow ourselves to be robbed of today? Whether he is a thief of time and reputation, thief of good relationships, understanding, forgiveness, respect, faith, hope, or love; the thief of peace, marital fidelity and inseparable love; a thief of purity of heart, spirit, and body; a thief of legal certainty and justice, of mutual love in families; a thief of prayer, obedience, and respect for Christ’s Church, etc. Let us remember that vigilance in our lives is nourished by constant supplicating prayer, so we do not fall into temptation and lose faith in the Lord’s faithfulness. For all things pass away, but his word endures forever.

“Take care of your heart and your spirit,” reads today’s Gospel. God always cares about our hearts. Jesus knows that where our treasure is, there our hearts will also be. He knows that good and evil come from the heart. He does not want us to harden our hearts but to obey his voice. He wants us to be close to him with our hearts and not with our mouths; he wants to create a new heart for us. During Advent, it is often said: “Prepare the way for the Lord.” We could also understand it as a challenge: “Create the necessary silence in your life.” Not as emptiness, but as a condition to hear our God, the other person,d ourselves. Silence serves to help us learn to understand ourselves, others, and our God. Why do we often not understand each other? Why don’t spouses, parents, children, or politicians understand each other? Because they don’t know how to listen to each other, or to be quiet. How do we want to experience this year’s Advent?

I want to quote the encouraging words of Pope Benedict XVI, which he addressed to parents: “Dear parents, always try to teach your children to pray and pray with them, lead them to the sacraments, especially to the Eucharist; introduce them to the life of the Church, do not be afraid to read the Holy Scriptures to them in the family, illuminate family life with the light of faith and praise God as Father. Be like a small supper table, similar to the one created by Mary and the disciples, in which one lives in unity, community, and prayer!”

If we want to prepare the way for Jesus into our hearts and lives, we must find and create the necessary silence in which we let God enter our heart’s aheartsirit. It can be the silence of prayer, the silence lived in the Eucharist and before the Eucharist, in reading or listening to the word of God. It may be silence from the received sacrament of penance, the silence we give to another when he needs someone to listen to him. It can be the silence of our little acts of love.

The writer Ivan Kadlečík wrote before Christmas: “It seems that everything is moving towards manipulation as if this is the primary interest of our social establishment. The media, authorities, business chains, political parties, insurance companies, banks, energy companies, transport, and telecommunications manipulate us. All of them are narrowing the space of our freedom for their benefit and the interest of profit and power. We become their hostages, subjects, and serfs. For a serf, even Christmas becomes almost a natural disaster. The Bolsheviks suffered these holidays as a kind of folklore appendix; today, the inner essence of the holiday is massively destroyed, liquidated by all possible means. The time of joy and cheer for the world had come now, when Money was born for our eternal salvation. And that’s why let’s celebrate…

Save Christmas Eve, you save your soul when a thieving hand reaches for your freedom. Otherwise, we would slavishly plod along here senselessly, floundering and stumbling along like salaried employees of a monstrous machine that takes everything from us. Heroism today is not to acquire and subjugate the world – heroism is not to let your tiny territory be taken, defend it, or let in a degenerate large pile of thoughts, feelings, things and pe, and people. Perhaps it is the last human asylum. At least one day or evening a year. Day of mystery, silence, birth, life, light, tenderness, word, inner freedom, respect, humility, and future. With an unused morse code, I am sending an SOS signal. Let’s save our souls!” But we need silence, which conveys the most beautiful thing about ourselves.

Good God, protect our hearts and our spirits. Do not let our hearts become corrupted and fall away from you, living God. Fill him with living desire and love for you. Please help us find time for silence, in which we will meet you, listen, and thus find the way to you, the other person, ourselves, and the depths and beauty of life.

Brothers and sisters, the English writer Cronin worked as a doctor in a region with no hospital. A 50-year-old nurse helped him with his work. In one article, he writes these words about her: She was a soul that radiated light and a smile. She was selfless to the extreme. Day and night, she stayed with the sick for a small salary. I once told her: “It’s ridiculous to work for so little.” But she replied with a bright smile: “It’s enough for me to live on.” I contradicted her: “They should give you at least a little extra because only God knows how much you deserve for your work.” She replied: “Doctor, if God knows how much I deserve, then I don’t need anything else.” After these words, I was stunned. Later I confessed to myself: Then a ray of light penetrated me, in which I saw the extraordinary life of a nurse and the miserable emptiness of my life.

Brothers and sisters, in the Gospel, we heard the words: “The people living in darkness saw a great light . The light shone on those sitting in the dark region of death” (Mt 4, 16). The evangelist Matthew gives us light in today’s text. Many readers speak of God as light and sin as darkness in the holy scriptures. From the first chapter of the Bible, where we read how God first created light (cf. Gn 1, 3), to its last chapter, where Jesus himself becomes the source of light for the new Jerusalem (cf. Rev 21, 23-26 ). Ray also played a bi-significant role in the Christmas holidays we experienced. And also, at the Epiphany – even the wise men were brought to Bethlehem by the light of a star (cf. Mt 2:2; Mt 2:9).

The good Gospel message we heard advises us today to accept light into our lives and, simultaneously, be a light for others, just as the nurse in the opening story was. The Evangelist Matthew wants to tell us that the true Light also wants to shine in our lives. And the light that wants to come to us is Jesus Christ.

And when we look at today’s modern society, we see that darkness in the form of envy, hatred, malice, slander, negative thoughts, and evil practices works everywhere. And only people who receive Jesus – the “Light” into their lives can shed light on this darkness. The more Light, that is, good deeds, benevolent thoughts, justice, love… we can give, the better our society will be.

We tend to criticize life and say how terrible everything is. Yes, it is true, but we create that evil through our decisions. When perceiving the events that are currently happening, we, too, are often seized by the desire to somehow contribute to saving the world. Sometimes the idea of ​​ourselves in the role of Superman flashes through our heads. However, we often suppress such an idea in ourselves, thinking that we would not be able to do it. But do we not have enough strength for it? Do we not have enough options for that? The truth is that there are many people around us who we can help. You need to want and keep your eyes open. After all, we have some abilities, knowledge, and skills. Each of us can give something to the other. Everyone can be “Superman” in their little world at times.

Sometimes a smile, good advice, help, comfort, and a little interest are enough. However, it is essential to open the heart. The biggest problem of our time is not wars and weapons but the nature of man, which is bitter. As Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: Hunger is not only about bread. There is also a hunger for love. Nudity is not only about clothes but also about a lack of respect for one another.

At least in the corner of his soul, every person desires to devote his life to something good and wise. It’s everyone’s personal choice, and it’s good to sometimes think about what it could be for each of us. It doesn’t have to be big things; maybe little things are enough. It’s good to have something to focus on that has meaning for us. And basically, we don’t even have to tell anyone about it; we can keep it to ourselves; we; wet even have to think about it in detail,’; it’s if we just set our mon. Sometimes a sincere interest in people is enough. Love in the heart is the most excellent resource that can capture the light in another person. If we open our hearts to love, we will spread light everywhere. And Light – Christ in the heart and soul- is the best protection against darkness.

No more Light we can receive, the more we will give it in the form of love, joy, compassion… It has already been said and written many times: What we radiate, we attract. We are all creators of a new reality in our environment. Therefore, do not forget that we came from the Light and are returning to the Light. Light is our true essence.

Brothers and sisters, the doctor was struck by the words of a simple nurse in the opening speech. She became the bearer of light in his life. Christ’s Light also hides in our hearts. Let’s meet him with others on the road. The more we shine, the less darkness there will be in our society.

It is natural that as soon as we open our eyes, we begin to discover the beauty of the world, people, and events. The brightness of the sun’s rays and the darkness of the moving shadows will lead us to amazement and gratitude for the unusual images. It is not practical praise that we give to “necessary” people. This is a spontaneous step of previous revelations—something we greatly neglect in our communities.

In today’s Gospel, we hear how Jesus lets himself be carried away by an attitude of joy. The evangelist brings us the image of the praiser: “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, it pleased you so.” They are the words of a person who realizes that he has received everything from the Father. It expresses the typical joy of a person who lives in an open relationship and true freedom. Jesus’ praise is an expression of the heart’s response to what the eyes see. In the background is humility and the ability to recognize God’s presence and goodness in the dark history of the world. This attitude of praise springs from the ability to discern things.

And so the next step of every Christian on the Advent journey is a prayer of praise. Such an attitude educates us to look at human history with lively hope. Thus, maintaining a view based on optimism in the spirit of the words of the prophet Isaiah: “A branch will come out of the tribe of Jesse and a shoot will grow from his roots. And the spirit of the Lord will rest on him…” Walking in Advent means emptying your heart of unnecessary worries and thanking the Lord for the signs that we, through his providence, remind him of his presence in the world.

St. Bernard worked zealously to convert sinners. He was also not afraid to visit various inns and other places where sinful people gathered. Once, he played billiards with his friends in a restaurant. One of them asked, “What would you do if God revealed to you now that you will die in one hour?” They answered differently. One would go to confess quickly, another to return what he had stolen, another to reconcile and say goodbye to his family… When everyone had answered, they curiously turned to Bernard. “What would you do?” Bernard replied: “I’d be happy to keep playing pool.”

Soon we are starting Advent – the coming of Jesus Christ. This period should not only remind us that Jesus came to Bethlehem but, above all, our expectation: the second coming of Jesus, the appearance of Christ the King. He urges us today:  “Therefore, watch all the time and pray that you may escape all that is to come and stand before the Son of Man” (Lk 21, 36). Expecting a meeting with the Lord is not something rigid, something which would kill us. This does not mean living in fear. On the contrary. Who lives in such a way that he is ready to meet God, lives a peaceful and joyful life. Because he has what is necessary for a quiet life – a clear conscience. A person with a clear conscience lives in harmony and friendship with God and the people around him. He who does not steal, does not slander, does not lie, who knows how to share, keeps Sundays and holidays holy, approaches the sacraments … in short, who gives to God what is God’s, to man, what belongs to man and to himself, which requires health of body and soul, he is ready to meet God. He is holding a lamp, that is – in his heart is the light of God’s grace.

Our life is full of meetings. From ordinary life, death appears to us as loneliness, as the severing of all bonds, friendships, and acquaintances. But the Gospel says otherwise. In it, we read about a big – new meeting with the Lord, which has a festive atmosphere. Therefore, a “new” forum because it is a meeting with Jesus, a person who has not yet seen with our own eyes but with whom we have been in contact for a long time with the help of our faith. Thus, a person living according to the Gospel, a person living with a clear conscience, has and can enjoy the fact that in death, he will not be thrown into solitary confinement because then he will leave everyone to meet Jesus in whom he will find the fullness of peace and happiness.

To enter the encounter with Jesus, we must have a wedding dress. Otherwise, we will be thrown out the door, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sign of this dress is our christening shirt, which we received at baptism. We were then cleansed from all sins and became God’s children. Let’s remember this day. It is our birthday when we are born into heaven. Brother, sister, when you received this robe, the baptist said: “…you have become a new creation, and you have put on Christ. Let this white robe be your sign of this rank. Your parents and relatives will help you by word and example so that you may bring him undefiled into eternal life.”

However, in life, we ​​often fall into a puddle as children; that’s why we have the sacrament of reconciliation. Don’t we sometimes delay repentance? Therefore, let’s prepare for the reception in the wedding hall now. Are we ready for a class we have no idea about?

If God revealed to us the hour of our death, would we remain calm like St. Bernard? If we are ready, then yes. If not, let’s consider our approach to reconciliation with God. Let’s resolve today that whenever we feel in our souls that we are heavy, we will surrender everything to God, as he wishes, and thus be ready with our hearts and our life to meet Jesus in full glory.

Some thinkers speak succinctly about the need for dynamism in people’s lives. A person needs movement so his muscles don’t start to stiffen, and his joints squeak. And it also requires constant change in the psychological or spiritual sphere. With long-term passivity at one level of his thinking and behavior, he will get so used to this way of life that he will not feel any stiffness or creaking of his joints. He’ll be fine, and he’dinsteadr not even expresses his opinion so that he doesn’t have to change it. And therein lies the danger of everyday life. We will find our suitable tracks and go where they take us. “Follow me…” They immediately left their nets and followed him. Jesus’ words often cut into uncomprehending or hard souls. It seems that time has not dulled the edge of his words. Even now, we do not want to see the need for his challenge. Jesus did not come to force his teaching or philosophy of love on the people around him and their generations. Among other things, he wants to show us only thatjoy and truth can only be achieved through constant internal changes. He does not want to leave us standing in one place or walking only one way.

For example, it abolishes the laws of blood sacrifices enacted by Moses and points to a new way of building a relationship with God. It seems that he saw very well the need for a person to constantly review his previous way of life, the level of relationships and friendships, and the methods of creating them. Our beaten path of life with different profiled wheel tracks. It is essential to change it. But how do we find an effective way to help us make the correct change and not fall back into the usual “drive”? They say that as many people, as many original heads, and as many heads, as many views. Each one is interesting and more or less accurate. Therefore, they can be an enrichment for us.

Let us open our hearts and discover how the horizon of beauty begins to expand for us – like when we climb up to the top of a hill, and a pa, panorama of nature opens before our view, which we could not see from below. Lord, open our spiritual sight and hearing so that we can see and hear how you individually lead us to yourself in the mundanity of our days.