Solemnity of Body and Blood of Christ /Corpus Christi/

Posted on 29. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

Reflecting on my childhood, I recall when Latin was used in our Catholic churches. Every part of the service, from the sermon to the hymns, was in this ancient tongue. This tradition continued until the Second Vatican Council, which introduced the use of national languages. However, for some, the shift was met with resistance. Latin has created a sense of exclusivity, making one feel part of a secret society with its unique language.

While praying for today’s holiday, we noticed the lingering mysterious language in our churches, even in Slovak services. The prayer directly addresses Lord Jesus: “In the Sacrament of the Altar, you left us the memory of your passion and resurrection.” It then asks: “Help us to honor the mystery of your body and blood.” Three themes emerge here, puzzling the uninitiated:

– The Sacrament of the Altar
– The memory of the Passion and Resurrection
– The Mystery of the Body and Blood

Who among us can claim full initiation? To what, when, or to whom have we devoted ourselves? The first unique concept, the Sacrament of the Altar, has been a cornerstone of our faith since the 16th century. It refers to the consecrated bread, a symbol of our devotion, during Mass. The Latin word ‘consecrate’ means to sanctify, bless, or dedicate to God. These consecrated breads were not merely stored but revered in a unique cabinet on the Altar. Initially, they were kept in a wall cabinet in the church, ready to be taken to the sick when needed.

The memorial of martyrdom and resurrection’s second term signifies an event or action related to Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection as the exalted Christ. Internally, it reflects Jesus’ covenant with God, inviting others into it.

The third concept, the mystery of flesh and blood, emphasizes a deeper connection with Jesus beyond the spiritual and physical. This connection extends to actions and sacrifices for others, similar to familial bonds and shared meals.

Jesus exemplified such relationships, emphasizing selflessness. In religious faith, this selflessness extends to dedicating our lives to God. Some see the Sacrament of the Altar as honoring a loved one, akin to a cherished activity rather than a static image.

The disciples’ transformation after Jesus’ resurrection exemplifies this shift from sorrow to beauty. By following Jesus’ ways, sharing meals, and living out their faith, they became initiates, companions who share bread and life.

We are initiated into something greater than an obscure language. When we see the consecrated bread, hear the priest’s words, and revere the holy bread, let us not just see a sacred image but Jesus’ life. The sacrament symbolizes this, guiding us to live in a way that reflects Jesus’ life.

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Paul VI. Pope

Posted on 28. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

* 26 September 1897 Concesio, Brescia, Kingdom of Italy

† 6 August 1978 Castel Gandolfo, Italy

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Pope Paul VI. Real name Giovanni Batista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini

Paul VI. He was a mystic who said: “as if irradiated by the sun, I close my eyes to the infinite mystery of the Holy Trinity and in my heart I keep only the feeling of the ocean of bliss”. These words of his were brought by an article of the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the death of Pope Paul VI. His coronation (June 30, 1963) was the last in the history of the Catholic Church. Paul VI, elected on June 21, received a tiara presented to him by the faithful of Milan. According to Osservatore Romano, the key to reading Montini’s pontificate must also be found in his sense of mysticism. Montini spent 30 years in the Roman Curia and led the world’s largest Catholic diocese, Milan, for nine years.

  • The love for the Church, which was the unifying factor of his life – as he himself admitted when he said: “it seems to me that I lived for her and only for her” – is connected with two conditions: with the renewal or reform of the Church and with her personal conversion of members. The first condition depends on the second. The ability of the Church to be as “Christ wanted her to be: one, holy, completely focused on the perfection to which he calls her” depends on the personal effort of the faithful to follow Christ and on the spiritual and moral strength that this following requires.

The two main lines of the pontificate of Paul VI. They are based on the authenticity of the conversion process, which he explained in more detail in his program encyclical Ecclesial Sum. They are  dialogue with the world and the effort to restore complete Christian unity.

  • According to Paul VI. The Church, if she deeply lives her mystery in the power of love that unites her with the Lord, can give it to the world in order to bring it into contact with the Gospel. “The Church must enter into a dialogue with the world in which it lives. Let the Church become a word, let it become a message; The Church should become a conversation”. In this union of trust and evangelization, animated by fidelity to Christ, the Church can be accessible even to the mind of the contemporary world. After all, “there is no stranger in the heart of the Church. No one is indifferent to her service”.

As part of this movement of internal renewal, which makes the Church a clearer sign of God’s presence and God’s action, Paul VI. Perceives the necessity of the unity of all Christ’s disciples. His pontificate was particularly focused on seeking full communion with the Eastern Churches. The purification of the Church and its members, the spiritual power of evangelization, humility, dialogue with the world, a new ecclesiological approach based on the principle of sister churches, which makes it possible to hope for the unification of East and West: these are not exactly the main pillars of Montini’s pontificate, which also echo in words and deeds Pope Francis. Intuitions of Paul VI. They are constantly up-to-date.

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A failed distraction attempt.

Posted on 27. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

The Trinity is incomprehensible, and this remains true whether Augustine walked on the beach.

A failed attempt to distract
Illustration photo

Help us protect the church from attacks

We live in a time when the church finds itself between the millstones of progressivism, fruitless traditionalism, and misinformation. Today, therefore, we are even more aware of the important mission of the World of Christianity and our responsibility.

The Christian world always stands firmly on the side of the church. We openly name challenges, respond to nonsense and half-truths, and at the same time do not avoid criticism of the internal church environment when it turns out to be necessary.

Today is the day. The day when St. Augustine will be immersed in walking on the beach at Civitavecchia or Ostia and will see an angel or a child pouring the sea into a hole in the sand with a bucket or a shell. 

Today, with great probability, in many places around the world, different versions of the story will be heard from the pulpits about how Augustine, trying to understand the mystery of the divine Trinity, was chilled by a heavenly revelation on the shore of the sea.

Attempts to explain the Trinity are doomed to failure in advance, but since at least something needs to be said, many a preacher at the feast of the Holy Trinity reaches out in embarrassment for a story, the point of which is that we will not understand the Trinity anyway.

And although this notorious narrative is usually presented as a guaranteed event from the biography of St. Augustine, it never actually happened. The episode with a slightly sarcastic tone was created in the Middle Ages and did not even talk about Augustine. Beginning medieval preachers could find it in collections of stories that were supposed to help with the preparation of sermons, and even then the story wanted to express the same message as it is expressed today: We cannot understand the Trinity with reason.

In our story, Augustine started walking by the sea only in the 13th century, and that’s because when you want to express rhetorically interestingly that no one will understand the Trinity, replace an anonymous theologian and let Augustine, the understanding of an important text about the Trinity, stand with his mouth open. , that is even more effective and will fulfill your purpose even better.

From this we can see that not everything has to be exactly as it has been repeated for centuries: the story is not a real event from the life of St. Augustine but remains true. Yes, the narrative does not describe historical facts, nor is it intended to, but it conveys another piece of information: the divine Trinity is incomprehensible. And that remains true, regardless of whether Augustine walked the beach and saw or did not see a child engaged in strange leisure activities.

Otherwise, when we are with Augustin, there is more that has been attributed to him for a long time, and it is not about true things.

Let’s mention, for example, the famous quote “Whoever sings, prays twice” or “Whoever sings in church, prays twice”. You won’t find it in the texts that Augustin wrote (and indeed there are places to look for it). On the other hand, you can register the statement with the name of the “author” placed in various parish hymnals, where it fulfills a motivational function, so that you open your mouth nicely and join in the singing.

“God, you are quite unlike any of us, and yet one of you became one of us and called me brother.”

At this point, my doomed attempt to avoid explaining anything about the Trinity comes to an end, and I am left embarrassed after all the twists and turns with Augustine. I don’t know what to say about the Trinity, but I know that at least something needs to be said. And since we know other than through factual information, we know through relationships, I will turn directly to the Trinity:

My God, I believe that you are three, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, but one God. I believe that each of you has the whole divinity, but together you do not have more of it, I believe that you have everything in common, but that you are different in your relationships to each other, because the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, and I know that I speak in human categories and that my speech does not capture the divine.

God, from eternity you are still the same and yet you are not lifeless, you do not change and yet no one is more creative than you. Ah, I say you are unchanging from eternity, but I don’t even know what eternity is. I can’t imagine her. I am human, and I only know my earthly days, the rhythm of which is determined by a gelid moving around a single star, and my days pass quickly.

It still amazes me that you, Lord, still know the answer to the question that we puzzle over, asking why a photon behaves like a wave, but we observe it as a particle.

I am glad that you know the secret of black holes, the nature of matter and the theory of everything, because that is also why I firmly believe that you are not small, but that you are bigger than everything, you understand and have compassion. And I’m glad that despite this, you are not indifferent when I pray;

God, you are quite different from any of us, and yet one of you became one of us and called me brother.

Give me your grace, though I don’t even understand it – I can’t say what grace is, or what I’m supposed to imagine – but, please, make me be like you: give, let me be constant, but full of life at the same time, let I understand a lot and see further, but may I have understanding with those who cannot see beyond narrow horizons now or later, and let me have compassion for myself, because you have it with me.

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Augustinus from Canterbury.

Posted on 26. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

Augustinus von Canterbury
Augustinus von Canterbury 

Augustine was a Benedictine monk before the monastery in Rome, which was then dedicated to Andrew, on the site of the present-day monastery of San Gregorio Magno al  Celio  in Rome, which had been founded by Pope Gregory the Great on the family property. In 596, he was sent to England on a mission together with forty monks.

When Augustine and his monks reached Aix-en-Provence , they were so horrified by the reports about the wild islanders in Britain that Augustine wanted to abandon the venture and return to Rome . But the Pope insisted on his orders, made Augustine abbot and gave him letters of recommendation to the Frankish princes and bishops, in which he asked them to take part in and support the mission. With that, Augustine and around 40 companions set out for the second time in the spring of 597. Their route took them – probably from the Roman port of Ostia across the sea – to the port of Marseille, then they went ashore along the Rhône via Vienne to Tours , where they wanted to ask Martin ‘s blessing for their mission at his grave. After Easter 597 they reached the English Channel coast and sailed across the North Sea.

Vincenzo Camuccini: Augustine is sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great, altarpiece, around 1820, in the church of San Niccolò l'Arena in Catania

The landing site was the then island of Thant – today the area around Rams gate and part of the mainland – in the Kingdom of Kent . Contrary to reports, Augustine and his companions found a flourishing peasant civilization in southern England. The Anglo-Saxons formed a warrior society under their chiefs or petty kings, lived in large wooden houses in which they ate and drank in abundance, were armed with magnificent knives and swords – from which they derived their name Saxons, Saxon Bertha, a granddaughter of King Clovis in France, the wife of King Ethelbert of Kent, was already a Christian. The Roman monks were warmly received by Ethelbert, the King of Kent liked Augustine, he was allowed to teach and preach in southern England and was assigned what is now Canterbury as a bishop’s seat. On June 2, 597, the king was baptized himself. The queen made her court chapel available to the missionaries: St. Martin’s Church, located in the east of Canterbury, of whose foundations there are still remains. On Christmas Day 597, the mass baptism of ten thousand new Christians took place in Canterbury.

Illustrated Gospel, according to tradition brought to England by Augustine in 597, originated in Italy or France in the 6th century

Illustrated Gospel, according to tradition brought to England by Augustine in 597, created in the 6th century in Italy or France. The sheet shows the Passion story: the entry into Jerusalem , the Last Supper, Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane, the raising of Lazarus , the washing of feet, the betrayal of Judas through the brotherly kiss, the arrest of Jesus, the trial before the High Council, Jesus before Pilate , Pilate washing his hands in innocence, the mockery of Jesus and Jesus carrying the cross.

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Symbol of the Holy Trinity.

Posted on 24. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

Holy Trinity by angelofsweetbitter2009, via Flickr

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Catechesis on the Most Holy Trinity.

Posted on 24. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

Bob: She just found something in the hallway that she’s taking a closer look at.

Grandpa: Well, then let’s go to her.

Lilly: Hi Grandpa, what’s this beautiful golden picture here?

Grandpa: That’s an exceptional piece, it’s called an icon. I don’t know where I should hang it up.

Bob: Can I choose a spot for it in your apartment?

Lilly: What makes it so special?

“The important thing is that the image itself is not worshiped, The villagers believed that the ancient deity they worshiped would protect them from harm and bring blessings to their community. They gathered regularly at the sacred altar, offering fruits, flowers, and incense as a sign of their devotion. The air was filled with the sound of prayers and chants, echoing through the lush forest surrounding the temple. It was a place of peace and reverence, where the divine presence could be felt by all who set foot within its hallowed grounds. But that, through its contemplation, the presence of God becomes tangible.”

Grandpa: Both of you can suggest a place where we can hang it up. The word “icon” comes from Ancient Greek and means “image”. We use it to refer to holy images in the Eastern Church. The painter is not called an artist, but an “icon writer”. These images “written” on wood are created according to very specific criteria. For example, there is a special painting technique where shapes and colors are applied layer by layer in the finest glazes until the final image is complete.

Every icon must also have an inscription, usually in Greek, Russian, Latin, or Old Slavonic, explaining who or what is depicted. Each color — gold is particularly popular and symbolizes the radiance of the Divine into our world — has its specific theological significance. What is important is that the image itself is not worshiped but that through its contemplation, the presence of God becomes tangible. Therefore, each image is also consecrated in a specific church ritual.

Lilly: That sounds complicated!

Grandpa: Lilly, please take the icon carefully, then we’ll place it on the living room table, and I’ll tell you more about it.

Bob: Oh, great!

Grandpa: The original image of this so-called Trinity icon was created in the 15th century by the Russian painter Andrei Rublev and is one of the greatest masterpieces of Russian painting. Do you remember what the Trinity is?

Bob: Well, it’s God. But somehow in three persons.

Grandpa: Exactly. It is through Jesus that we know that God is not alone, but in communion within himself. It is one God, but in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This mystery is called the Trinity—where the first term emphasizes unity, and the second differentiation within God. Even in the Old Testament, in the first part of the Bible where Jesus had not yet come as a human into our world, there are already hints of this unfathomable mystery. For example, the biblical scene depicted on my icon: God visits Abraham and his wife Sarah in the form of three travelers or three angels who had set up their tents near the Oaks of Mamre. (Cf. Gen 18:1-33)

Lilly: Why then are Abraham and Sarah not seen on your icon?

Grandpa: Good observation. In even older depictions of the same scene, Abraham and Sarah are also depicted. Rublev must have decided against it, for whatever reason. Perhaps he wanted to focus more on the three depicted persons. But let’s first take a look at the icon together. The three winged figures with halos — also known as a nimbus — are seated around a table, each holding a thin red staff, likely a staff of a traveler or messenger, in their right hand. It’s hard to say if they are men or women. Their body shape, size, age, and sitting posture are very similar. Only the colors of their clothing, their gaze direction, and the position of their left hand are different.

Bob: There’s a building and a tree in the background!

Lilly: And there’s a kind of rectangle on the table with a golden chalice on it.

Bob: And the two front angels have their feet on a footrest.

Grandpa: You have sharp eyes! First of all: The inconspicuous rectangular box on the front side of the table indicates the storage place for relics. It shows that the depicted table is an altar: The chalice — a symbol of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, which is made present in every Eucharistic celebration — confirms this assumption. The gazes of the three figures are also significant: The central figure is looking at the one on the left, who in turn has her gaze on the figure on the right. The figure on the right has tilted her head slightly, and it seems as though she is looking at the chalice in the center of the altar. Personally, I think: the longer one looks at the image, the more one is drawn into this closed yet open circular movement for the viewer. By the way, as a geometric shape, the circle, which has no beginning and no end, is also a hint at the eternal God.

“Hosts for the Holy Trinity”

Lilly: Perhaps the third person is also looking at Abraham and Sarah, who are standing outside the image?

Grandpa: A good idea. This would also mean that we could take on the role of hosts for the Holy Trinity. Hosts for the Holy Trinity, just imagine! Isn’t that amazing? You have seen the house and the tree. Have you noticed the rock at the top right of the image? One possible interpretation of these objects would be: the house represents Abraham’s tent, the tree the oaks of Mamre, and the rock Mount Moriah, which alludes to the sacrifice of Isaac. But I’ll tell you that story another time.

Bob: And what’s the deal with the footrest?

Grandpa: The feet of the two figures depicted on the sides are on two planks. These converge and form an open triangle under the table. Through this opening, we as viewers are drawn into the scene, so we are brought to the table as well.

Lilly: And why doesn’t your icon have an inscription explaining who or what is depicted here?

Grandpa: You are very observant. My guess is: perhaps the icon writer did not intend a clear assignment of the persons but rather wanted to portray their unity.

There is so much more one could say about this image, such as its colors. But maybe one important thing: The artist used what is called reverse perspective here. This means that things that are farther away are not depicted as smaller but larger, and things that are closer are not larger but smaller. This expresses the spiritual language of the icon, which aims to make God’s presence tangible: It’s not the viewer who looks at the icon, but the icon, or rather God, looks at them.

Bob: Grandpa, I have a good idea now where we could hang your new picture! Come with me, please.

Grandpa: Well, I’m curious to see!

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The call to love forever.

Posted on 23. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

 “What God has joined together, let no one separate.” Love is a decision affirmed every day, every moment, choosing the best of the other as the most valuable treasure. Jesus is not a distant figure but one among people. He listens, accompanies, teaches, and heals, even those who resist. In this instance, when the Pharisees test him, he responds not with evasion, but by addressing the heart of the matter: the intimate status of every loving relationship.
Jesus does not stop at casuistry but goes to the heart of the problem: the intimate status of every loving relationship. When a man and a woman love each other, can this love be considered transitory, fleeting, while it suits? On the contrary, if true, every relationship, not only marital, is indissoluble. Friendship, if trustworthy, is inseparable. A father does not stop being a father. If the father denies the child, he desecrates this relationship, which is the truth of this relationship. If the father does not recognize the song, this person has lost his heart. Relationships between people are not bland; they are not reduced to what is advantageous or disadvantageous. Love does not enter into this logic.
God brings about something Moses could not do through redemption and breaking the yoke of lies. Moses eventually bows down to the hardness of the heart. He can do no more. By dying on the cross, Jesus Christ inaugurated the ability to love deeply, to death, to accept the limitations of another. He gives us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, his strength, his Love, and his divine Life, thanks to which we live our truth: we are created to love, to love, and to be loved infidelity. Thus, he allowed us to be inseparably connected with people and love faithful. We are called to love forever.
This gospel is not confined to marriages, but encompasses all human relationships. Every relationship is called to experience the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to lose oneself in order to gain another, to give life to another, to give oneself to another in every situation, especially when the other person is not easy to love.
If I love another only when he is pleasant, digestible, and tasty, then in the end, I will use him for my interests. Our greatness begins when we lose ourselves, when in the name of Jesus Christ, we enter the logic of eternity, giving, surrendering. A relationship starts to be destroyed when it subtly kills the love in the heart, kills the decision to choose love, to choose the other, to defend and guard it. The most significant infidelity is the betrayal of our ability to love and be loved.The call to love forever … “What God has joined together, let no one separate”. Love is a decision affirmed every day, every moment, choosing the best of the other as the most valuable treasure. Jesus infidelity, a distant figure but one among people. He listens, accompanies, teaches, and heals, even those who resist. In this instance, when the Pharisees test him, he responds not with evasion, but by addressing the heart of the matter: the intimate status of every loving relationship.

Jesus does not stop at casuistry but goes to the heart of the problem: the intimate status of every loving relationship. When a man and a woman love each other, can this love be considered transitory, fleeting, while it suits? On the contrary, if true, every relationship, not only marital, is indissoluble. Friendship, if trustworthy, is inseparable. A father does not stop being a father. If the father denies the child, he desecrates this relationship, which is the truth of this relationship. If the father does not recognize the song, this person has lost his heart. Relationships between people are not bland; they are not reduced to what is advantageous or disadvantageous. Love does not enter into this logic.

God brings about something that Moses could not do, through redemption and breaking the yoke of lies. Moses eventually bows down to the hardness of the heart. He can do no more. By dying on the cross, Jesus Christ inaugurated the ability to love deeply, to death, to accept the limitations of another. He gives us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, his strength, his Love, and his divine Life, thanks to which we live our truth: we are created to love, love, and be loved infidelity. Thus, he allowed us to be inseparably connected with people and love faithful. We are called to love forever.

This gospel is not confined to marriages, but encompasses all human relationships. Every relationship is called to experience the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to lose oneself in order to gain another, to give life to another, to give oneself to another in every situation, especially when the other person is not easy to love.

If I love another only when he is pleasant, digestible, and tasty, then in the end, I will use him for my interests. Our greatness begins when we lose ourselves, when in the name of Jesus Christ, we enter the logic of eternity, giving, surrendering. A relationship starts to be destroyed when it subtly kills the love in the heart, kills the decision to choose love, to choose the other, to defend and guard it. The most significant infidelity is the betrayal of our ability to love and be loved.

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Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Matt 28,16-20

Posted on 21. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

Some events will happen in life that will affect him ultimately. For example, someone does some evil deed for which they go to jail, and we say they will be stuck with it for the rest of their lives. But even if someone is selfless from a young age, helps others, and is honest and fair, this will also be with him throughout his life. It is the same in the religious field because how a person was raised in faith also manifests in his life. Today, on the Feast of the Holy Trinity, we remember the greatest secret of our faith, which Jesus Christ also spoke about. Today’s Gospel confirms this: Go, therefore, teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The core of this mystery is that there is only one God but in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Mainly, you elders, during the long years that you have been going to Church, you must have heard many speeches about the Trinity, but today, we would like to draw back the veil of this mystery at least a little. However, we must immediately state that we cannot do this for our poor reason, so we have no choice but to exclaim with St. Paul: What a depth of God’s wealth, wisdom, and knowledge! How incomprehensible are his judgments and unsearchable are his ways! However, the Holy Trinity accompanies us all our lives, despite our weak minds, which we are often not even fully aware of, and at each such meeting, we promise her something.

The first meeting with the Triune God was at our in the faith, The sacrament of baptism is a significant event in the life of a Christian. It symbolizes the washing away of sin and the rebirth into a new life in Christ. Many churches perform baptisms by immersing the individual in water, while others may use sprinkling or pouring. Regardless of the method, the act itself is a powerful symbol of spiritual cleansing and the start of a journey of faith., when the priest poured water on our heads and said: I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… At this moment God – the Father accepted us as his children, God – the Son made us our brothers and sisters, and God – the Holy Spirit enlightened our souls. This is how our life began in the name of the Triune God, and although we could not speak yet, we promised through the mouths of our parents and godparents that we would grow up in faith and love for God. This promise was to be implemented by those who made it for us. Therefore, the question for parents and godparents is now appropriate: Have you fulfilled this promise? Have you passed on the faith to your children and godchildren? Have you taught them to love God? Do you yourself live as believers, baptized people, as God’s children?

Our next meeting with the Holy Trinity occurred in the confessional, where we heard the words: And I absolve you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… The Triune God has forgiven us for all the evil we have committed and is constantly waiting for us to fall before him in knees, confessed and rose again for their sins. But let’s be honest: Do I use confession for purification and resurrection from sins? How often do I receive this sacrament? We could list many such meetings, but let’s try to focus on at least one more. One day, you stood in front of the altar and promised to be faithful to each other for the rest of your life. Then the priest placed a stole on your hands and said: And I, in the name of the holy Church, confirm that you have concluded a sacramental marriage, and I bless it in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… Thank you, dear husband and wife, swore that you would stand by each other in happiness and unhappiness, good and bad, health and sickness. Did you comply? Promises must be fulfilled, especially those we make to God, because the word makes us honest people.

In the Church of the Virgin Mary in San Francisco, a statuette of the baby Jesus was lost from the Nativity scene over Christmas. They immediately started looking for her, but without success. When it seemed they would not find her, a certain policeman noticed how a little boy, barely 7 years old, was pulling a red cart with a statuette. He began to scold the boy and reproach him for stealing. But the boy jumped into his speech, looked at him intently and joyfully announced to him: You know, sir, I wrote to Jesus to bring me a red card and I promised him that when I got it, I would be the first to drive it. So I’m fulfilling my promise, and I’ve driven it through the streets since morning. This nice and funny story tells us that God fulfills his promises and that we should also imitate him. Let’s remember that we want to do everything for the greater honor and glory of the Holy Trinity and to be faithful to her all our lives.

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How modern society has affected the self-understanding of the church?

Posted on 21. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

If we avoid the two extremes of uncritical acceptance of “the world” or outright rejection of it, we can embark on a path of differentiation and integration that can be mutually beneficial.

Help us protect the church from attacks.

We live in a time when the church finds itself between the millstones of progressivism, fruitless traditionalism and misinformation. Today, therefore, we are even more aware of the important mission of the World Christianity and our responsibility.

The Christian world always stands firmly on the side of the church. We openly name challenges, respond to nonsense and half-truths, and at the same time do not avoid criticism towards the internal church environment when it turns out to be necessary.

Journalistic freedom hand in hand with Christian responsibility – these are the key principles of our daily journalistic works. From time to time, questions arise in the public debate as to whether the topics of faith and morals are really completely inviolable and whether they are not subject to some kind of development after all. Some ask whether the dominant Christian church should adapt its opinion on some anthropological questions according to the general opinion, which is supposedly based on a scientific worldview.

Behind this reasoning is the belief that the interpretation of basic Christian themes is subject to certain developments and should be adapted to life in the modern world.

It is a serious and legitimate question, which is based on the observation that the Christian faith with its content and interpretations is constantly confronted with the worldly way of life and somehow reacts to it. When I talk about the secular way of life, I do not mean it pejoratively, but I understand by it any human activity that is not explicitly sacred.

At this moment, it is not important to deal with the development of a view on specific topics that are lively debates in the public space. Rather, it is important to understand the fundamental relationship between the church and the world that frames any further reasoning. It offers principles from which answers to contemporary controversial questions can later be derived.

The relationship of the church with the world

In general, the gospel is not a doctrine of the elect. In Scripture itself, we find a clear message that God wants everyone to be saved. The Gospel was not announced with the aim of keeping it in a narrow group of experts as some philosophical theory, but by the commission of Jesus, the disciples were to spread it wherever possible.

With this task and the dispersion of the apostles to different countries, the question arose of how to interpret the message of Jesus delivered in a specific language, in a specific time and space to people of a different nationality and culture.

Entering a different cultural environment with any thesis means knowing it well and choosing the means of communication that will be a bridge between the already known and new content with the potential to integrate all of this.

From a human point of view, the apostles could not rely only on the realities of the Palestinian environment and the Law of Moses when testifying about the resurrected Christ, because it was largely unknown to the majority of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire and adjacent territories.

From the beginning, Christianity appeared as a reasonable faith, the basic stimulus which is God’s revelation, but it does not contradict the requirements of human thinking.

In principle, there are only two options in such a situation. Either you will convince the listener to discard his previous way of life and culture and start from scratch, or you will come to the conviction that in every lifestyle there is a difference; which means accepting the good and building on it and rejecting the bad.

It is true that in some cases missionaries in past centuries resorted to the first solution, causing cultural damage and human suffering to the inhabitants. Fortunately, most have gone about it the other way from the start. It seems that the church, as not only a divine but also a human institution, was prone to distinguish more in a situation where it was in a minority position in society.

Ancient times are filled with the writings of many experts in the word of God, who are called church fathers. These theologians had lengthy polemics with the humanists of their time. Greek philosophy influenced the formation of Christian theology. Church fathers reacted to the stimuli that appeared as counter-arguments for the acceptance of Christianity.

Thanks to these apologies and polemics, we can state two things. From the beginning, Christianity appeared as a reasonable faith, the basic stimulus which is God’s revelation, but it does not contradict the requirements of human thinking.

The Church and the world influence each other.

At the same time, it became clear that Christianity and the world influence each other. In this case, modern philosophy speaks of the hermeneutic circle. This influence results from the basic experience of the presence of Christianity in the world, which, as a universal interpretation for understanding the origin, meaning and ultimate goal of man, is always embedded in the person of the individual in a concrete life situation, where it is to be realized and proven in cooperation with man and God’s grace.

How religious life is changing in our time
How religious life is changing in our time.

The mutual interaction between the Christian faith and the world carries a certain dialectic. On the one hand, it is a necessity, because a Christian lives in this world, he cannot isolate himself or forcibly force others to accept the Christian faith; therefore, we expose the reflection of faith to constant confrontation and questioning, which someone can understand as confusion and threat.

On the other hand, there is a risk that the wrong integration of the Christian message with contemporary thinking can distort interpretations of the Christian faith. There are believers who believe that the threat of the distortion of the faith is such a great risk that it is not appropriate to expose the faith to confrontation with ideas that appear fundamentally bad or toxic. The inclination towards such an attitude may be more widespread in an environment where Christians are in the majority.

However, a look into the past, especially the first centuries, bears witness to the courage for polemics and confrontations. This approach carries with it certain risks, but in the end it makes the understanding of the Christian faith more mature.If we avoid the two extremes of uncritical acceptance of “the world” or outright rejection of it, we can embark on a path of differentiation and integration that can be mutually beneficial.

The meaning of the topic “church”

It is interesting that when Christianity ceased to be a unifying element of society, the importance of churches began to grow, because these communities are the de facto face of Christianity in front of secular society. Therefore, it does not matter what image the church gives of itself and how it understands itself.

For this reason, debates about the church and its meaning are increasingly coming to the fore. The Church becomes the main theme of the First and Second Vatican Councils. At the same time, a debate is taking place in various forms in the church environment, in which the place of the church in society, its approach to this topic so far and possible starting points for further thinking are being critically re-evaluated.

This discussion is of crucial importance, because the ability of the church to fulfill its mission, i.e. its missionary character, depends on the answers to these basic questions, because God wants all people to be saved.

Church and world - two incompatible realities? The answer is offered by Gaudium et spes
The Second Vatican Council. The Church and the World two incompatible realites?

There were several attempts to find a new perspective. From authors who asked themselves questions, sometimes offered cautious, sometimes extreme solutions, and scared the leadership of the Catholic Church so much that it called them modernists and sometimes unnecessarily cracked down on them, through gifted individuals like Cardinal Newman or Pierre Rousellot to the Dominican and Jesuit schools , whose main protagonists, especially from the French environment, tend to be referred to by the term “new theology”.

We are once again witnessing a paradox. The environment of France, which was a real laboratory of secularization within Europe, with formally the strictest approach to the Catholic Church, generated a number of theologians and scholars who significantly contributed to the renewal of Catholic theology and the formation of a new line for defining the relationship between the Christian faith and society in the aforementioned hermeneutic circle.

This whole renewal is marked by a return to the sources, which in practice means new translations of the Holy Scriptures from the original languages ​​and a rereading of the works of the church fathers, which in the end will prove to be crucial. Thus, the issue of dialogue, which Pope Paul VI raised for the first time in modern times, comes to the fore. in the middle of the Second Vatican Council in the famous encyclical Ecclesiam suam . Its revolutionary nature lies not only in raising the topic and establishing dialogue as the main pastoral tool, but in defining the circles where it should be applied: Christian churches, other religions, secular culture and within the Catholic Church itself.

The Holy Spirit will teach us everything.

If we ask whether the church does not go too far in reflecting on the mentioned topics and risks losing a correct understanding of the true faith, the history of the first millennium testifies that dialogue with confrontation is possible and that the benefits outweigh the losses. It is not only this practical experience of the past, but also God’s word that provides reason for courage.

The Son of God himself says that he remains with us until the end of the world in the Holy Spirit, who is supposed to teach us and remind us of everything that Jesus gave us. The Church is a divine institution, so the Holy Spirit is the guarantor of the preservation of the true faith.

From his presence is derived the pneumatological principle “sensus fidei”, which says that the church as a whole cannot err in its faith precisely because of the presence of God’s Spirit, which gives believers, through the universal priesthood received in the sacrament of baptism, the ability to distinguish true from false faith.

All these considerations lead to the conclusion that the thesis “modern society has affected the church’s self-understanding” is not an admission to the liberalization of the Christian faith or an argument for rejecting the Second Vatican Council due to the subsequent decline of faith in the Euro-Atlantic area, but a fact that follows from the very message of Jesus and of his requirements for future disciples. Rather, this thesis affirms that the mutual interaction between the Christian faith and the world has made the Christian faith more intelligible thanks to the church’s renewed self-understanding.

Mosaic of images of the church.

The basic self-understanding of the church is based on the Holy Scriptures and Tradition, especially from the New Testament. When reading the Old Testament texts, the church fathers find foreshadows of this community founded by Jesus. God’s revelation in Scripture and Tradition offers many images of the church, which together help to understand what the church really is. Throughout history, some have become more important than others depending on their interaction with society. However, none of them are exclusive.

Rather, it seems that their multiplicity is advantageous, because it allows highlighting those characteristics of the church community that appear to be the most important at the given historical moment. It is not unusual for one model to be outdone by another. It is not his denial, rather the image of the church comes to the fore, which makes it more comprehensible with regard to its historical tasks and especially the task of conveying the gospel message to each individual.

The ability of the church to create a community of people as a network of informal personal relationships is a strong benefit for the contemporary person, for which he gets into a closer relationship with the church.

In modern ecclesiology, it is possible to see the development from the so-called from the pyramidal model after the Council of Trent to the emphasis on the church as Christ’s mysterious body to the model of the People of God preferred by the Second Vatican Council to the current dominant ecclesiology of communion. The tendency to emphasize communion as a community in the self-understanding of the church today is not accidental. Rather, it appears as an intuitive response to the individual’s current requirements.

Postmodern philosophers often characterize our epoch as individualistic and see a person who lacks roots in the form of a stable family or other community in which he would feel secure. As we are social creatures, excessive individualization does not suit us and we are looking for a network of informal, more personal relationships. That is why today the church is often referred to as a community of communities, and the ability of the church to create a community of people as a network of informal personal relationships is a strong benefit for contemporary people, for which they come into closer contact and a relationship with the church.

We live in a modern society. My modern way of life, which includes everything possible, affects the experience of my faith. The reverse is also true. The power of my faith corrects and regulates my life in modern society so that it does not prevent me from growing in faith and at the same time does not isolate me from contemporary life. This applies to the individual as well as to the church. Modern society has influenced the church, not in the sense of reformatting its core or goals, but in helping it to inculcate itself into every environment in order to effectively proclaim the gospel while remaining faithful to its Founder.

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The pride, ambition.

Posted on 21. May 2024 by Peter Prochac

Jacob traditionally cuts to the living and pillages the shortcomings of the first Christians and, of course, ours as well. Today, he is aiming for strife. Likewise, the Gospel also portrays to us this ailment among the apostles. What is its leading cause? James points out pride with the words: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The proud resists God and sets himself above others. Even the apostles argued among themselves on the way, which of them was more remarkable. All spiritual authors agree that pride is the summit and, as it were, the sum of all vices and sins. Despite this, we are aware that we often have «proud» thoughts that we do not consider to be so bad. So, subconsciously, we distinguish, as it were, two types of pride: serious and less severe.

Eastern authors talk about two similar but fundamentally different vices: vanity and pride. In the West, we have seven cardinal sins; in the East, we have eight (including vanity). In both cases, we take credit for the good and expose for admiration something that is not our merit. We seek glory in it. However, it can be true glory or “vain glory,” i.e., we brag about something admirable in itself, except that it is not our merit, or we allow ourselves to be praised for small, insignificant, vain advantages. Can we brag? In the eyes of ascetics, the only genuine praise should be virtuous, a share in God’s life.

Christians further enrich our understanding of the pride, which they view as an undeserved gift of grace. The classic image of pride is the Pharisee who prays: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector (Lk 18, 2).” The proud demand admiration and respect from people for what they undeservedly received from God, thus considering themselves superior to others. It is rightly pointed out that those who lead a spiritual life are particularly susceptible to the danger of pride. It is the ‘last demon’ that attacks those who have freed themselves ‘from the others’. However, it is not limited to them. It instills a sense of superiority over others for good deeds, theological knowledge, or calling to a spiritual state… It is said that pride precedes a fall, a stark reminder of its consequences.

The proud easily fall into base sins; a theologian proud of his knowledge ends up espousing delusions. “Self-sufficiency of one’s judgment” is, according to Theodore of Cyrus, the most severe disease of intelligent people who have lost their humility. “Own will” and “self-will” are the pride of people capable of practical life. Vanity, «vain glory,» is understandably a much less harmful vice. What can a person be proud of? If someone can be admired for his curly hair, beautiful voice, and origin of a wealthy family, he seeks fame in the things that are “vain” and insignificant compared to the great values ​​of life.

Within. Francis of Sales says that sometimes it is a “passion” that is quite ridiculous (what people can brag about!), but that has a hard life; it is said to die «up to half an hour after the death of a person.» Even at the last breath, human considerations bind us. In a more developed stage, vanity leads to insincerity, lies, strife, and scattering of properties. It is also called “human considerations,” understandably in a pejorative sense, if someone can be diverted from the good out of fear of losing unnecessary admiration. We are also talking about ambition and unreasonable desire for human praise.

Let’s consider ambition for a moment. Ambition, as we see in the case of the apostles described in today’s Gospel, is often compared by spiritual authors to a thief who accompanies the traveler to the end of the road and robs him there. An ambitious person may diligently work, keep the commandments, and attend church. The stronger his desire for honor, the more fervent his efforts. But in the end, he will lose the credit for his good deeds, because he did them not for God, but only for vain praise. So we can associate excessive ambition with vanity. Perhaps this would have been a reality for the apostles if they had not been cleansed by the Holy Spirit and remained in the desires described in today’s Gospel. They strove for perfection in order to have leading positions.  

Therefore, it is typically carried out, as St. Writes. Paul, that God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world God decides to shame the strong; God has chosen what is not born of the world and what it despises, even what does not exist, to bring to nothing, that is, so that no one can stand before God (1 Cor 1, 27-29). And so people experiencing poverty become great people.

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