predication.net

Until a few decades ago, we might have felt that the world was more or less understandable, and we could lean on the unquestioned certainties of three-dimensional space, solid matter, and fixed time. Twentieth-century physics, however, has led us astray and looking at an open book, the reader is not sure whether he is reading from a science fiction story. At the end of the twentieth century, it was clear that the universe was a far more remarkable place than we could ever have suspected, that things were far more complex than our everyday experience suggested.
With the development of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity, it became apparent that only a tiny fraction of dimensions behave reasonably and customarily: the world at minimal and vast distances is very different. It acts very differently from the world we grew up in, the world of our spaces. The certainties have broken down for us: the masses are full of empty places, the room has all kinds of strange twists and turns, and the clocks always point differently in different areas. Everything is different! A solid mass and, at small distances, boils, and bubbles; most of all, it resembles a stormy sea or boiling foam. The black holes are somehow encapsulated in space, space can be torn like a sponge for washing, and there are many more dimensions than our usual four. My hands, which are now writing this text, are not material but bundles of dancing strings. Man on Earth suddenly seems like a settler who emerges from his comfortable cottage, where he is warm and light, and finds a storm raging outside and angels flying and dancing fairies. The world is very different from what we imagined! We live in a quiet bubble of space-time: at high speeds, great masses, and distances large or small, everything is different.
I think contemporary physics has vastly outstripped the imagination of science fiction writers: reality is more interesting than the best science fiction story. The more physicists investigate the Big Bang Theory and the initial parameters of the universe, the more unexpected they come to. If just one of the many constants had a slightly different value than it does, neither galaxies, stars, nor we would ever have come into existence. The probability of the initial parameters being “correctly” set is so tiny as almost zero. Except that’s precisely what happened. To somehow avoid the problem, astrophysicists define the so-called anthropic principle. One and its form says that the universe must be so we can live in it. Maybe there are many universes where the constants are set. Nobody will ever know because life cannot exist in them (at least in that form as we know it). Because we are here, the universe must look like this. It’s strange: because of people on a tiny planet, a small galaxy, the universe looks the way it does. Since the Middle Ages, our cosmic self-consciousness has somehow faded.
It was generally assumed that the center of the universe was the Earth, around which everything revolves, figuratively and literally. Galileo Galilei and Nicholas Copernicus made it clear that the center of the universe is the sun. In 1750 Tom Wright discovered that the Milky Way in the night sky is our view inside the galaxy of which we are a part. Today, we know that we and our solar system are stumbling somewhere on the edge of this galaxy. It was probably the philosopher Immanuel Kant who first, in 1755, wrote that at least some of the nebulae we see in the sky are circular disks about the same size as our galaxy. Today, we know that there are millions of galaxies like ours in the universe, that galaxies form clusters and superclusters of galaxies that are also in the universe very irregularly distributed as if they were imaginary walls of some unimaginably large spatial cell. We know the universe is not infinite, but we can hardly imagine its size.
To Immanuel Kant, who marveled at the starry sky above him, with whom he recalled one clear night at the opposite end of the planet, in Antar …on the other side of Antarctica. I wish you could experience the feeling of the limitless depth of space when, on a solitary walk, I suddenly had the impression that I was standing upside down and seeing the starry sky below me, looking into the endless depths of a universe that had no bottom. For our healthy humility, it is sometimes a helpful warm-up to try to look at our galaxy from somewhere very far away until it looks like a blurry speck in space: then, we can more easily grasp the comicality of all dictators and our lust for power. Karel Capek in his play. In the Life of Insects, he develops a battle of ants in a poisonous scene: they fly through the air with orders and big words about glory as we are used to them from our human wars. Only later does the viewer realize that the whole war is being fought over a piece of forest land, over a single blade of grass. Too bad Capek didn’t live to see the Hubble telescope.

One of the greatest painters of the century – Picasso – painted images that mainly affected us. The figures in his paintings are often human caricatures with multiple faces, according to which the outward poses are more severe than the man himself. Many people do not know how to take the right attitude to his works and judge them as not being to their liking, not knowing what the painter meant to say.
Similarly, with the evaluation of the life connected with God. Many evaluate this connection by church attendance or willingness to help the parish. Many consider cursing a great sin, but gossiping, slandering, persisting in anger or hatred, or breaking up a marriage is nothing. They see only one side, and they form a kind of caricature. Two-facades. Uncritical of themselves – but also not knowing themselves. Today’s Gospel speaks to this theme as well.

Before a people of fear and turmoil, the Lord Jesus stands and asks, “Who do the crowds think I am?…? Who do you think I am?” (Lk 9:18-20). It is not difficult for a person of the 21st century who knows history to answer with Peter, “For God’s Messiah” (Lk 9:20).

But it is not enough to know Christ. The Christian must want more. The Lord Jesus proclaimed his kingdom. Many people listened to His sermons. The miracles He performed drew crowds. Up to this point, the Lord Jesus had not said much about Himself. Later, He wants to know who the groups consider Him to be. Answers are pouring in from all sides. Then Peter answers on behalf of all, “For the Messiah of God” (Luke 9:20).

What tremendous courage on Peter’s part! The Jews want to see in the Lord Jesus a bland figure from the prophets of old who inspires in their recognition and human hope, and here Peter says something entirely new, yet improbable. In these words, he portrays that the Lord Jesus is the one for whom the generations are eagerly waiting, that he is the messenger of God who is to bring to men the glory foretold by Abraham.

Peter regards him as such. The Lord Jesus does not reply to these words of Peter, does not confirm them, but tells them not to tell anyone about it. Why such an emphasis on silence? Isn’t it strange? After all, for centuries, Israel has been expecting and longing for the Messiah. He was to deliver the nation through the favor of the highest God. The country longed for him and now must remain silent, hiding the news from everyone. Why? Many answers could be given. The most common explanation is that the nation of Israel was bent on a temporary messianic mission. We need not look for a particular answer, for Jesus himself gives it to us in the following words.

The Lord Jesus does not contradict Peter’s words but expands on them and explains, “The Son of Man must suffer many things; the elders, chief priests, and scribes will reject him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise from the dead” (Luke 9:22).
After Peter’s confession, the Lord Jesus explains to the apostles the further course of events concerning his person. The prophets have long foretold this, but the point here is to remind us that the Lord Jesus is indeed the messenger of the highest God. The Lord Jesus is the Messiah from His birth, but He will only reveal Himself as the Messiah when He rises from the dead. He must first accomplish His mission. Let’s help ourselves with an analogy: We do not know a butterfly until after it has left its larva.
He also asks us and gives us the last demand: the price we must pay to know him and become his friends: “Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23).

A person who wants to belong to Jesus does not have to have heroic strength to do so; nor does he have to pride himself on the approval of men and lofty morals, nor does he have to do extraordinary things, nor does he have to belong to a certain elite. But one must deny oneself and decide to follow Jesus, to carry one’s cross daily – a symbol of one’s consent to death.

Whoever wants to save his own life must lose it. This is true, even if it sounds strange. To keep one’s life is to renounce life here on earth and take up the cause of salvation. The Lord Jesus points out the other side: “… but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Lk 9:24). This assurance is solemn because it is not enough to renounce one’s life, for not every form of renunciation of life is essentially good.

We know that suicide has nothing to do with the Gospel. It means that we are to renounce our lives for the Lord Jesus through our faith and give ourselves wholly to the plan of Christ. Into the program, we know because of His resurrection.
In the moment of baptism, we are reborn in Christ and become one with him. This is the beginning of when we forget ourselves and learn to see others; that is, we are to open our hearts to doing good and loving the other person. Only love can be the enrichment of others. Whoever gives love to another becomes a gift to Jesus.
“Whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). He who lovingly gives his hands fulfills Christ’s words and takes up his cross daily. But how our hands tremble when the cross is heavy…

Cardinal Salier was beaten-paralyzed a few years before his death. In his diary, we read: ‘Lord, I loved to walk so much, and you took away my legs! I enjoyed talking, and you took away my speech! Thou canst take it away, for Thou hast given it all to me. Give me also Your love. Without it, neither my life nor my suffering has any meaning.”
Behold, an extraordinary plea for the true face.

An enslaved person came to Socrates and said he was giving himself to him with all he possessed. He asked nothing in return.

We stand before Christ, and he now asks us who we think he is. What shall we answer him? Can we act like slaves in Socrates?
Can we say: “You are our God, our Lord?” Or we can say with Paul, “In Christ Jesus, we are all one!”
As we know, Jesus expects nothing of us except that we can renounce our “I” and do so out of the conviction of our faith and love.

Because there,
where our love is, so will he be;
where there is peace, there will he be also;
where it is good, there will he be also;
where man is, there will he be;
where the cross is, there he will also be;
where he is, there will be no humiliation and contempt of man.

We have realized that our life is the only Bible that the world around us reads. Therefore, we must not have two faces of our faith. One for the church and our private life, and the other for our public and social life.

Many don’t understand Picasso’s paintings; they don’t understand them and don’t know how to appreciate them. But those who are experts, connoisseurs of Picasso, understand what others do not know. And this is also true of our faith. We must convince the world of the beauty of Christ’s teachings with one face.

When man began to use his reason, he always wanted to know, hear, and experience. Our time has reached such a stage of technology that we can have news from the opposite corner of the earth in a few minutes. In one area, however, we can see contrasts. We can see, hear, and experience something extraordinary in it, and we are not interested, although we are free and no obstacle stands in our way. It is an encounter with Jesus.

We often speak of Herod with contempt, yet in the Gospel, we are put to shame when the evangelist Luke writes that he wanted to see the Lord Jesus.

Herod, as ruler, learned about Jesus from several sources. Some informers and people surrounded him, so the reports about Jesus varied. Some considered the Lord Jesus to be John the Baptist, whom Herod had beheaded in prison when John’s head was demanded as a gift by the daughter of his illegitimate wife, Herodias.
Others believed that John the Baptist had risen from the dead. They also regarded Christ as Elijah, who likewise taught the nation and astonished them by the works of God done by his hands. Remember the sacrifice on the mountain when he struck down the priests of the god Baal, who numbered 450, and their sacrifice was not burnt, but his.
Others have said that Jesus is undoubtedly a prophet. He acted prudently; his deeds were extraordinary. He often pointed to repentance.
When Herod hears all this, he doesn’t know what to make of it. That John rose from the dead, he does not believe, but when he hears of Christ as a miracle worker when more than one report of his teachings reaches his ears, he wonders: Who then is he that I hear such things spoken of him?

We say of ourselves that we are believers. We have a reason; we have free will. But can we say of ourselves that we know who Jesus Christ is? Do we want to meet him? Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is God. He is the Redeemer and Savior of the world. The second divine person. Philosopher, sage, scholar, politician, revolutionary, humanitarian, etc. But neither answer quite captures the question: Who is Jesus Christ?

That is why we should try to know better the teachings of the Lord Jesus, to keep his commands, to take the time to encounter him when we read the Holy Scriptures, and when we celebrate Mass when we approach the sacraments.

It is a good sign when you feel, sister, brother, that Jesus is not a stranger in your life, but that you seek him, that you want to meet him often, that you have something to say to him in prayer, in contemplation, in meditation, in communion, in the family… Your attitude says that Christ is not only genuinely alive but that he is also alive in your life. It is lovely to feel that God is in my life!

St. Vincent de Paul speaks about his experience in an incident: he was already a priest when he arrived as an enslaved person in Tunis. Pirates captured the ship on which they were sailing. In the August heat, he was digging irrigation canals. He never made any secret of the fact that he was a priest. The master enslaved person hated him for that very reason. Vincent was once told by his fellow slave, a Frenchman, “This is hell!” And Vincent answered him: “No! Wherever God is, there is no hell. And God is here. God knows about us.” Vincent did not know why the Lord God had allowed this to happen to him, but he did not despair. He hadn’t lost his trust in the presence of God, not even when he had been wracked with fever-malaria for three months. Even then, he felt God within him. The bondage ends with the escape. He does not escape alone but with his enslaver, in whom, with the help of his wife, the Mohammedan Fatma, he awakens his conscience and confesses to Vincent that he, too, was a priest and also fell into slavery. Unlike Vincent, however, he could not bear slavery and betrayed God. After the death of his master, he confessed to Allah and became the owner of his estate. Vincent had his conscience reawakened, and he was accepted back into the Church in Avion.

Let us seek God! Let us not silence his voice within us! Even though we know that life with God is often nothing easy or pleasant, it is a fantastic prize, looking at eternal life.

And that is why it pays to take time typically to encounter Christ in the celebration of Mass, approach the sacraments, and pray.

Meaning of the name: a man of God (from Hebrew)

Attributes: book of the gospels, man, angel, sword, purse

Patron of bankers, taxi drivers

Matthew, a Greek icon
St. Matthew is one of the twelve apostles. His original name was Levi. He was a toll collector, that is, a tax collector or tax collector in the time of Jesus. He belonged to a group of people despised by the Jews, called public sinners (publicans). In addition to collecting customs duties, they “made a living” by stealing. Levi had his tax collector in Capernaum, where Jesus often made public appearances. It is likely, therefore, that he heard many of his discourses. On one occasion, just after Jesus had healed a sick man who had been lowered through the roof, Jesus saw him sitting at the toll booth, then He called him, and Levi immediately followed. When he was then criticized for eating and walking with sinners, he said: “It is not healthy who need a physician, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” And so Levi stayed with Jesus, never to leave him again. He became the Apostle Matthew and wrote the first of the four Gospels. This shows that he had a sense of higher things and was not totally immersed in money and matter.

What Matthew did and where he was after the death and resurrection of Jesus is not recorded in any authoritative source. Tradition has it that he preached the gospel in Persia, Parthia, Arabia, and Ethiopia. The date and place of his death are also unknown. Most writers say he died in Ethiopia and had him assassinated by the Ethiopian king Hyrtakus. This happened because Iphigenia, the king’s niece, had converted to Christianity due to Matthew’s preaching. She did not want to become the king’s wife because she had taken a vow of virginity. Thus, the king’s fury was turned against Matthew. Matthew’s remains were discovered in 1080 in Salerno in southern Italy. It is not known how they got there. They were placed in the temple that Pope Gregory VII had built there. The symbol of Matthew the Evangelist is the Book of the Gospels and the figure of a man because he begins his Gospel with the genealogy of Jesus Christ.

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Recently I had the opportunity to speak with a man who, among other incorrect remarks about the Church, said this: “The Church can give me nothing anymore. I have read the Holy Scriptures. When I was younger, I did mini-ministry, and they’ll bury me when I’m old and die.”

The Gospel tells how the Lord Jesus responded when his mother and close relatives sought him out.

Why have you come to Mass today? It is a working day. Do you not say similar to the man who, when he has time, wants to be near Jesus and seeks him out even on a weekday?
The Church is not just baptized brothers and sisters – that would be an understatement. The Church is a community that is constantly seeking Christ. And this even on an uncommented feast day.
The Gospel emphasizes this point to us in the words of the Lord Jesus, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice” (Lk 8:21).
With these words, Jesus points out that he not only does not send anyone away into himself, he does not despise anyone, but on the contrary – those who hear his word and keep it he exalts as his brothers and sisters and mothers. Thus we witness that a new spiritual family is to be born again and again—… not of flesh and blood, nor the will of man, but God. So we must realize that we Christians are united by something more than family obligations, friendship. The church is a community that receives the word of God and carries it out in love. In this way, it creates a spiritual framework in which all are connected or linked to Christ.

Many people often cannot find their place in the Church when they change residence. Some, therefore, fall away from God altogether. It is not because they have stopped believing, but it is a kind of internal affair. Conversely, others can walk several miles to their church.
After all, God is in every church where Mass is celebrated; the sacraments are administered, the Scriptures are read, and the sermon is read. The teachings of Christ unite us from Baptism, and we form a community of brothers and sisters – no matter if a stranger whom we do not know is standing next to us. Christ unites and unites us. We are, therefore, to have sincere joy. It is therefore necessary that, as far as possible, we create a genuine communion among ourselves so that we may feel good and, if feasible, transmit this atmosphere to those who stand around us. We can show this by our posture, our dignity, our handshakes, and last but not least, our singing.

We know the Virgin Mary was not angry with the Lord Jesus when He said these words. She must have felt how much her Son cared for all His listeners. Listening to the Word of God is not just a matter of habit or a remark that the parish priest will preach for a long time, but let that listening be the joy of each of us that we have come even closer to the Lord Jesus. We realize that this very moment is solemn and necessary.

The gentleman in the opening reflection was wrong when he said that the Holy Scriptures could give him nothing more. In so doing, he excludes himself from the fellowship of the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, when he dies one day, and even if a priest buries him, will it profit him since, in his lifetime, he has excluded himself from this communion?

Recently I had the opportunity to speak with a man who, among other incorrect remarks about the Church, said this: “The Church can give me nothing anymore. I have read the Holy Scriptures. When I was younger, I did mini-ministry, and they’ll bury me when I’m old and die.”

The Gospel tells how the Lord Jesus responded when his mother and close relatives sought him out.

Why have you come to Mass today? It is a working day. Do you not say similar to the man who, when he has time, wants to be near Jesus and seeks him out even on a weekday?
The Church is not just baptized brothers and sisters – that would be an understatement. The Church is a community that is constantly seeking Christ. And this even on an uncommented feast day.
The Gospel emphasizes this point to us in the words of the Lord Jesus, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice” (Lk 8:21).
With these words, Jesus points out that he not only does not send anyone away into himself, he does not despise anyone, but on the contrary – those who hear his word and keep it he exalts as his brothers and sisters and mothers. Thus, we witness that a new spiritual family is to be born again and again—… not of flesh and blood, nor the will of man, but God. So we must realize that we Christians are united by something more than family obligations, friendship. The church is a community that receives the word of God and carries it out in love. In this way, it creates a spiritual framework in which all are united or connected to Christ.

Many people often cannot find their place in the Church when they change residence. Some, therefore, fall away from God altogether. It is not because they have stopped believing, but it is a kind of internal affair. Conversely, others can walk several miles to their church.
After all, God is in every church where Mass is celebrated; the sacraments are administered, the Scriptures are read, and the sermon is read. The teachings of Christ unite us from Baptism, and we form a community of brothers and sisters – no matter if a stranger we do not know is standing next to us. Christ unites and unites us. We are, therefore, to have sincere joy. It is therefore necessary that, as far as possible, we create a genuine communion among ourselves so that we may feel good and, if feasible, transmit this atmosphere to those who stand around us. We can show this by our posture, our dignity, our handshakes, and last but not least, our singing.

We know the Virgin Mary was not angry with the Lord Jesus when He said these words. She must have felt how much her Son cared for all His listeners. Listening to the Word of God is not just a matter of habit or a remark that the parish priest will preach for a long time, but let that listening be the joy of each of us that we have come even closer to the Lord Jesus. We realize that this very moment is solemn and necessary.

The gentleman in the opening reflection was wrong when he said that the Holy Scriptures could give him nothing more. In so doing, he excludes himself from the fellowship of the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, when he dies one day, and even if a priest buries him, will it profit him since, in his lifetime, he has excluded himself from this communion?

The old folk wisdom could appreciate the small things that are essentially big and essential to life.

Surely you all know the fairy tale Salt over Gold. Only when there was no salt did the king realize it was worth more than gold, and his little daughter wished him well. Even the price of electricity can only be appreciated when we sit in the dark or by candlelight.

In the Gospel, too, the Lord Jesus asks his disciples, and therefore us, to be the world’s light. “No one lights a lamp and covers it with a vessel… but sets it on a lampstand…”(Lk 8:16).

What does this mean? But first, let us ask the question: How is it possible that Christianity, founded on the 12 apostles, which was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles – has triumphed? When elections are held, how many programs, posters, and meetings are made beforehand?
What did the apostles have? Nothing! What did they promise? Deny thyself, if thine eye offends thee – pluck it out if thy hand – put it away! Love your enemies! Be humble and meek of heart.

But one thing they had was faith, for which they went to their death, tough love, and unity of mind. And so a handful of Christians became the salt of the earth and swept others away by their example to follow. This is the whole secret of the Christian victory over the heathen world.

The light of the world. If I were to ask you which Pope started and which finished the building of St. Peter’s, you probably wouldn’t know, and unless you are interested in history, you might not know either. But if I ask who St. Francis of Assisi, St. Don Bosco was, you will undoubtedly know. They and many like them were the world’s light by their life, love, and dedication. They showed what true and lived Christianity is. They led by their example how the world would change… what the world would be like – a world of justice, goodness, without war and hatred, if everyone lived the Gospel.

There is also much talk today about Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She is, and indeed was, a great woman, awarded even the highest honor – the Nobel Peace Prize. With her are hundreds of other girls and women who have dedicated their lives to the poorest of the poor. Thousands of missionaries and hundreds of thousands of sisters in hospitals, orphanages, and various institutions also deserve our mention.
But let us not limit the injunction of an excellent example to spiritual persons, the Church, and Christianity. It is not only priests and nuns. It is all of us. Let us realize that if the world despises us if it looks at us with suspicion, if it ridicules us, it is certainly not because we pray and go to church, but above all, because we do not live as disciples of Christ, that we are often weathered salt and not the light of the world. Our faith and our life, our prayers and our works are diverging.

A young person came into the parish office.
– I would like to join the Church, – he says timidly. – I am without confession; I have never known the faith. However, I have lived with my wife for almost ten years, and she has shown me Christianity in her everyday life. When I was angry, she smiled at me; when unsure or worried, she said she would pray that the Lord God would help me. She can do that beautifully with children! She would tell me so simply:
– Boy, I’m not happy with you, and the Lord Jesus can’t be satisfied with that either.
– But you pray to God, and it always helps.
– This wife of mine is perfect, so I told myself that if she was like that, I could be better and happier through faith.

This is the world’s light that does not agitate but shows the life of faith. In adversity, even the price of salt is known. Our task is to make today’s gluttonous society see the cost of Christianity. To make our neighbors realize that to believe is not just to pray and sit in church all the time but to live joyfully and exceptionally well.

Let us show the world, as the early Christians once did to the Gentiles, the good news of the Gospel by our deeds, love, and goodness. This is our task, and in this will be our merit.