predication.net

Surely, you know many people in your neighborhood who often grumble about their lives. You know about their afflictions that weigh them down. And actually, we don’t even have to go far because each has our cross to bear. The crosses are different, just as people’s attitudes toward their afflictions are different. We often hear from our unbelieving brethren, “How can you believe today, in a time of such progress?” And some will even say, “If God shows me a miracle, I will believe.”

And just today, we hear these words in God’s Gospel, which invites us to think a little differently when it says that the Jews will not receive a sign from God. For God offers a miracle or a character `to him who believes in him.’
As St. Luke offers it to us, the Word of God presents Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. This journey takes him long, stretching almost the entire Gospel. This is not because Jesus could not find his way, but because of his love for people, especially when he saw all the people’s misery. One of the events during this journey is the dispute between the listeners and the Teacher himself. When the crowd began to gather, Jesus pronounced this generation evil. Why? Because he asks for a sign. What that sign was is clear from the events before and the character of the whole gospel. The crowds wanted to see a miracle as proof of Jesus’ divinity. But Jesus gives an answer that does not lose its authenticity even today. He offers them a sign through the figure of the prophet Jonah. This `man of repentance’ was cast into the underworld through the great fish. But God left him there for three days. And He delivered him again. Christ suffered for us on the cross, died, was buried in the tomb. But God raised him after three days to live and conquer death.
Doesn’t the message of faith from God Himself ring out to us today? “Believe, and you will see miracles,” not, “here is a miracle and believe.” Consider Jesus’ contemporaries. Weren’t all who saw signs and wonders converted? Didn’t God win all his hearers? Not at all.

There is a view today that evil is winning in the world. Let us look at those parts of the world where Muslims persecute Christians. Inhuman treatment, abuse, cruel humiliation, even killing. What miracle do these Christians see that they continue to be Christians? They believe that Jesus is the one who has the last word in the world. Their hope is the cross, this hint of hope even in such a sea of pain.
We today do not have to face such a threat. But let us note the example of a trust that in itself – if it is sincere – is a miracle. “Whoever wants to experience miracles in his life, let him not be afraid to open himself to Christ. He takes nothing away, but perfects everything in us”, as Pope Benedict XVI said.

Almighty God, we thank you for creating us. Teach us to trust in you. In times of trial, it significantly helps us believe and receive a sign. For you have already given us the most significant warning: yourself for us

In my opinion, it is harmful and disorienting for Christians to claim that praying is easy, as easy as talking to a father or a mother, or a friend. I understand that it might be easy to pray some oral prayer, some communal prayers, a shotgun prayer, or make a superficial connection with God. But go deep into the unfathomable mysteries of God, to acquire and use psychological skills to grow in grace, to adapt this growth to the variability of the human personality, to climb ever higher up the dark and steep slope of God’s of demands to a transforming union with God… complete this process is hopelessly long and challenging. Coming to the depths of life with God is the most complex and challenging workman can do. Praying is not easy.

Grace offers an unlimited range of possibilities, from zero to infinity. Not all men have been given the same development ability; not all will be provided the exact requirements, each according to the measure of the gifts they have been given. The problem is, of course. No one can say I was given these abilities, so that I will produce that result. Only God is the giver; only He has His standards. We must be utterly faithful without thinking hard about how much we have been given and what we have to pay back. Be that as it may if we pray little and without perseverance and discipline, we cannot expect any strong experience of God; we can expect neither life-changing nor dazzling advances.

Prayer is a skill while prayer is a work of grace, it is also a skill and, as
such is subject on a psychological level to the norms of any teaching in any human endeavor. Prayer, therefore, requires a method, order, and discipline. In a word, a professional procedure. I understand that God can reveal even to a simple country woman through special inspired graces, inscrutable insights of the mysteries of his being, and his love without the need for any special procedures. But these graces, we do not earn or receive these graces. “They are given.” beyond all calculation and logic because they are free. Without grace, no amount of action will accomplish anything. On the contrary, however, I have been able to observe many times and first hand, that even vital professionals, people gifted with extraordinary abilities, had remained
in the first stages of life with God, lacking effort and discipline, when in fact they “got” the wings and the fuel with which they could reach extraordinary heights.

Think of how many years, how much energy, methods, and pedagogies are required in any human formation: painter, composer, professional and technical worker. If prayer is, among other things, a skill, let us not imagine illusions that a high level of life with God can be achieved without energy, order, and method. However, we are certainly counting on teacher number one, who can throw all forms overboard, introduce us to the most amazing truths, and skip all the laws of psychology and pedagogy. But usually, God respects the developmental laws of life, just as he does in the case of the mustard seed: it is a tiny seed, almost invisible. It is sown. It flows days, weeks pass, and seemingly nothing happens. But after a while, it begins. Something like the germ of a plant that can’t be seen, months go by, the plant grows and grows until it’s a thick bush that sprouts branches so large that birds can nest in its shade (cf. Mark 4:30-33).
This long developmental process is valid for all life, for growth in prayer, in fraternal life, so that in our lives to model the image of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The prophet Elijah shows us very well what our prayer should look like. In his day, the people fell away from the true God and worshiped Baal. Elijah made such an agreement with the prophets of Baal. Everyone was to prepare a sacrifice, and here the sacrifice would be burned; the one’s God is faithful. First, the prophets of Baal prepared the gift; then, they prayed to him to light the sacrifice. They cried all day, and nothing happened. They started shouting and making cuts on their bodies so that Baal would hear them, but nothing happened. Then Elijah prepared the sacrifice and poured water on it three more times. Then he prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, to hear him so that all the people would know that he is the only God. Then the Lord lit the whole sacrifice on fire and thus answered Elijah’s prayer (cf. 1 Chr. 18:20-40).

We can see what our prayer is to be. Not a lengthy, much-needed prayer, but we are to pray humbly and to the glory of our Heavenly Father. This is the kind of prayer God likes best and will accept first.

Let us pray: Lord, Jesus Christ. You taught your apostles how to pray correctly – we ask you to do the same. Teach us to pray to our Heavenly Father with humility, for He knows very well what we need; teach us to glorify our Father and your Father with our prayers.

We now live in a very different world from when the Gospels were written down. It is difficult for us to understand who the King is – the picture loses its clarity and transparency. We have heard many times that we too will reign in Christ. So today, we need to remember the original meaning of the word `king.’ In this way, we will understand the true worth of Christ and, through Him, our wealth.
We will be greatly mistaken if we compare the kingly worth of Christ with the power of earthly rulers. We know from history that the absolute power of earthly kings was based on suppressing subjects and taking away their freedom to make them subject to the ruler’s will and the law devised by him. The statement, “The law is the king, and the king is the law,” was then the prevailing one. All power belonged to the king, but he was outside the law. But God is not such a king, and his kingdom is not such a king. He has handed over his kingdom through his Son Jesus Christ here on earth. God’s absolute power comes from His omnipotence and His nature.
No creature in all the universe is not filled with God. And there is no being that does not exist in God. God supplies all beings and with that surpasses them in all things. A more straightforward way to put it is this: “There is a kingdom because there is a King” or “there is no kingdom without a King.”

In the history of humanity, absolute power has been called `tyranny’ and has taken various forms and has always ended tragically. The total capacity of God, which has been revealed to us in Christ, will never lead us to turmoil and revolution. For the man who goes against the will of God is making a rebellion against himself, and this ends in folly – which is even worse than the tyranny of the state. We have tried similar experiments that were intended to liberate humanity from God. We know well what fascism and communism led to; we will not even mention it…
In our consciousness, the word `king’ means: asking subjects to do the ruler’s will. God’s government is quite different – it is existential power. The world cannot exist without God the King, which is why there are so many comparisons of God to kingship in the Old Testament. But always in the context of His wondrous works beginning from the moment of creation. “How manifold are your works, O Lord! You have wisely done everything. The earth is full of your creation” (Ps. 104:24). Any comparison of the Creator with earthly kings cannot be on one plane. Our temporal agents are but a poor caricature of the power that God the King has over the entire universe.
One of the essential attributes of rulers is the ability to set laws and control their implementation. We call it legislative and executive power. Again, I will tell you that earthly power is an unserious imitation of the true Kingdom. We accept human law voluntarily but under the compulsion of the power of authority. How do we know what is harmful and what is positive in this, from the standpoint of society? This is why people compare specific life situations with the laws of society.
Does God also do this? Before God, all existence is good, and we can only choose evil by a free act of will. Only a being who is given a free choice can do evil. And when such a being chooses anything but God, it does wrong. And that is in – the attempt to find something more worthy outside of God. And that is where God’s judgment lies: in separating those who are with the Creator from those who have fallen away from Him. And this is not the preservation of a particular principle. There is only one absolute and final Principle and Law for everyone and everything – the one God. And that is why the Holy Church today presents us with the image of Christ the King. He does not judge. He alone is the sufficient Measure. With Christ, every man must compare himself, and we must place ourselves on the right or the left side of Him. Everyone who has sought God will find Him and prepare for him. Even those who have sought everything outside the kingdom of God will also meet the Lord and will be greatly surprised and saddened. Christ’s judicial power is the power to separate the good from the bad.

“Ye are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people appointed for a possession, that ye should shew forth the glorious deeds of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). These are the words with which the holy Apostle Peter addresses us in his First Letter. Today’s feast is our triumph in Christ. He has called us “out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). He has given us the same power which he received from the Father. We also reign in Christ.

“Strong moments” is what we call the relatively long time we have set aside to meet with God. For example, can we set aside about thirty or forty minutes? If we set aside a whole day once a month for God, then we call it a “desert.”
The experience of “desert” has a unique character. It is most appropriate, almost necessary, for us to leave our everyday environment, where we live and work and go to some remote place, in the countryside, in the mountains, or a retreat house. For mutual encouragement, it is advisable to go to “wilderness” should be made in a group of three or four persons. Still, when, please arrive at the place where these people are to spend the day, it is essential that the group be separated and that one should be in complete solitude. It is also advisable that this “wilderness.” should be of a fasting nature as far as food is concerned. All in all, the “desert.” is a powerful time dedicated to God in silence, solitude, and repentance?

Lest the “desert” become some dreaded day (in that no one would repeat it), one must have some orientation program to spend the day productively. In advance, he needs to know what he will need: certain psalms, biblical texts, exercises for concentration, a notebook for notes, verbal prayers, meditation readings, etc. A few suggestions. After arriving at where we want to spend the day, it is advisable to pray a few psalms to tune into a sense of faith and create a suitable inner climate. When we are unfocused, we should do some exercises to calm down, focus, self-control. This most important in the desert is a personal conversation with the Lord, an exchange of words, and a merging of souls. We should spend as much time as possible on the dialogue between you and me.
We should be face to face with God. During this day, we can meditate on reading, reflecting on our own lives, on unresolved problems of the brotherhood, or something else. On this day, we should accept the things we reject, heal by practicing forgiveness, and surrender from life’s wounds so that we leave the mountain completely healed and strengthened in our faith.
We should realize that we can experience different spiritual states within a day or afternoon, even contradictory. Do not be alarmed. Do not even give in to euphoria, …when you find comfort, nor lose heart when you find yourself in a state… of aridity. Impatience is the subtle daughter of the self. There, where there is peace, there is God. Remember this: God is with you if you have peace, even amid utter aridity. Never be carried away by an illusion. For it masquerades as
hope, but it is the opposite. Yes, you must be able to recognize the effort from compulsion, illusion from hope. Never imagine that to achieve strong emotions. If you fail to do so, you will worry impatience will cause resistance, and you will attempt to reach an impression by force. This violence will cause fatigue, and this fatigue will turn into frustration. It would be a pity for a man to return from the “desert” to life frustrated and not strengthened and encouraged. Once again, I must say that the guardian angels of the desert are patience, perseverance, and hope. Remember that Jesus went through many “deserts”; arrange your life so that you can reserve God a few days a year. This will show that God is in your essential in your life. What has been said so far applies to the first steps. Later, the same means will only be useless crutches. When one is already accustomed to prayer and lives in the spirit of worship, then to begin to pray and “abide” with God means the same thing, but except for a period of aridity. And as one goes forward, God Himself takes the initiative. He then begins to work from the very depths and conquers the castle.  One unifies and concentrates everything in Himself. There is no need for any mental exercises or psychological procedures even here. The castle is ultimately conquered, and his armies surrender to the new Lord. But all this will only take place after a lengthy purification process.

In the last week, many people’s lives have changed radically. The reason is the war in Ukraine. President Putin gave the order for battle. Why did he start the war against Ukraine? Because he needs to bring Ukraine under his power. Putin wants and is doing everything he can to make Russia a superpower. However, this will not happen without Ukraine. However, he will not stop there. He will want to bring the former socialist countries under his influence. However, they are in NATO, and so if Russia were to attack a nation in NATO, it would come into conflict with NATO. And that could lead to nuclear war. Putin has made no secret that he will use atomic weapons if necessary. He said. Those who stand in our way will see what they have not seen. There are two possible solutions to this situation. Either the world accepts Putin’s terms and comes to an agreement, which I, personally, do not believe in, or tensions increase, and there is a military conflict in which nuclear weapons are used. Nothing will stop Putin from pushing ahead with his plans. He is committed to everything. That is why war seems almost inevitable. It may seem that I am exaggerating, but this is not the case. It’s terrible that one man can destroy the lives of so many. It has happened many times in history.

We can say that more and most experienced in the spirit of faith. Scatter ashes at Easter ceremonies; even the less practicing faith is more vulnerable, at least some faith practices. More attention is devoted to churches in mass media, conversations, and the idea of confusion or sin. Who feels more Christians find time, the sacrament of reconciliation, whether to share the deeds of fun Friday without meat, to refuse something, something allowed and pleasant to despise and friendly to think of their salvation. These are some experiences.

Jesus, when he says, “The patient does not need a doctor.  Faith also means to meet God and put it at your disposal. Therefore, meeting God has a power that a person can change. In a short time, we feel special, and we realize that life changes life and lets the way of sin be fixed. Therefore, the change of Lord Jesus at the forefront in the fasting help, inspiration, inspired to give God what belongs to God. The transformation of the Lord is the challenge to return to God. We get the opportunity to prove that we want to live and live in eternity with God.

Ernest Psichari, grandson of the famous Renana, as commander of the French Alien Legion, survived the desert storm. Shaken with this experience, when the hail stopped, and he fell on his knees surrounded by his soldiers, and a strong voice called: “Lords, God goes! I believe in him Interior, the life he changed in his life. Not only a return but other later things that speak about his true Rye Christianity. He healed himself of sin illnesses. He became, as he says, happy.

The sounding time asks us to think about ourselves. Perhaps let God touch our inner space. If you have eyes, ears, heart open, it is also essential to be sensitive to inspiration, meetings, things, events. Maybe you have time for a severe study about God, man, mission, and purpose or meaning of life. If a person wants to extinguish the longing for happiness that burns him, the heart must direct its steps to Christ. Jesus is always near. Our life is a meeting with Jesus. Therefore, it is essential to realize the importance of the transformation event.

Fasting is time to analyze your Christian life and give you an answer to such content questions:
How far away from God?
How do I live my faith?
Am I Christian only in the church?

Recently, it came to my ears that a sort of `Dictionary of Political Correctness’ has been published in America. It was not technical literature, but rather a satirical demonstration of how one can find alternatives to vulgarisms or words that might otherwise cause tension when one is concerned with prestige. Thus, for example, he calls the homeless alternatively `housed,’ fools `emotionally different people,’ he found a synonym for a drunk as `chemically insecure,’ he refers to a civilian unluckily shot in war as `second-hand damage,’ and so on.

Why am I mentioning this! Even the Lord Jesus in today’s Gospel seems to make light of the reality. When asked about His disciples’ non-observance of fasting, He defends them, `Can the wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast.” (Mt. 9:15).

It is probably not difficult to explain the meaning of Jesus’ words. The essence of fasting, that is, abstaining from food, was to prepare the Jew for the coming of the Messiah. If therefore, the Messiah had come in Jesus, there was no further reason to fast. On the contrary. It was a joy that was to characterize the presence of the Messiah. At the same time, however, it reveals that the fast was not over. His time would yet come in the moments of his suffering and death.
Today, almost 2000 years after the redemptive death of Jesus Christ, we ask: why fast today? The Church identifies the second coming of Christ as the reason, so it is an eschatological fast. Christ will come again in glory.
The discipline of Lent has been in the Church since its beginning. Even the early Christians fasted three in a week. They were aware of the importance of fasting. It is not only for physical health when the body regenerates. It is much more beneficial for the inner life. For fasting intensifies prayer, is itself a prayer of body and soul, and increases alertness and openness to God. Fasting – physical fasting – keeps open, as it were, the wound that keeps us moving towards God. We do not seek immediate satisfaction from men’s desires or worldly beauty. It makes us feel our most bottomless determination that we belong to God and that he alone can perfectly fulfill our expectations and desires. That is why it is also essential for us to revive the desire to belong to God precisely through fasting.
But there is one more question: what are the motives for our fasting? Certainly, the purest ones. Not for external recognition and glory. Jesus himself condemned that. But what about fasting, which I take to be a cosmetic adjustment? I mean, I want to fast for the love of God, but something whispers to me that it’s also appropriate to use it for a good line, etc.? Don’t let that discourage you. Fast anyway.

A sure brother said to the hermit Poimen: “Father, if I give my brother a little bread or something else, the demons will devalue it: I give it to please the people.” “In a certain town, there were two peasants. One sowed little seed – even unclean seed; the other saved and sowed nothing. Which of the two will survive when hunger strikes?” His brother told him that the one who sowed the tiny and unclean seed. The old man said to this: “Let us sow a little seed, though unclean, lest we die of hunger.”

We can hardly get all our actions – all our self-denials, to be pure. We humbly acknowledge that the seed we sow is unclean because of our selfish motives; it will nevertheless bring forth a harvest. Those who think they can love quite selflessly are often more likely to control and appropriate the other.

So let us be encouraged by this example, let us reflect on fasting in our lives, let us attempt to bring the appropriate intentions into it, and God will indeed bless our efforts generously.

The struggle against every temptation must not be underestimated. Let us not compromise with sin!

The Lenten season – which we are beginning – is a time to be used properly. It will help us in many ways in our life. What, for example, can we realize right at the beginning of it?
The professor finished his lecture and, as usual, asked: “Does anyone have a question?” One of the students spoke up: “Professor, what is the meaning of life?” One of the students, who was about to leave, laughed. The professor looked at the student who had asked him to see if he was serious. It was true. “I’ll answer it for you.” He pulled a wallet from his pants pocket, and it was a small mirror, no bigger than a coin. Then he said: “I was a little boy during the war. One day in the street, I found a broken mirror. I hid the biggest part of it. This is it. I began to play with it, and it bewitched me that I could direct a beam of light into dark corners where the sun never reached, into deep holes, cracks, and hiding places. I kept the mirror. When I became an adult, I discovered that it wasn’t just child’s play but a metaphor for what I could do in life. I am also a piece of the mirror that I don’t know as a whole. But with what I have, I can send light – truth, understanding, knowledge, goodness, and tenderness – into the dark corners of the human heart, and I can make a difference. Other people can see it and do it too. That’s the meaning of life for me.” We can realize that our struggle against temptation can also become a souvenir for the victory of others.

We find an example in Jesus’ response to the tempter: “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone.'” But also from the words, “It is written, ‘To the Lord your God you shall worship, and Him only you shall serve.'” And at the third temptation, Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'” (Luke 4:4, 8, 12)!

The Gospel event occurred at the beginning of the Lord Jesus’ public ministry when He spent forty days in the wilderness. We may speak of an allusion to the forty years’ journey of the Jews through the jungle. It was a time of severe trials for the Jews when the nation succumbed to temptations on several occasions. It was also when the Jews had to mature their relationship with God. Similarly, in the history of the Church, the apostles, the saints, the confessors had to develop when, amid the people with whom they lived, they had to prove that they belonged wholly and entirely to God. That those years of testing brought them confirmation in their faith means that they are faithful followers of the Lord Jesus, who fasted in the wilderness and was tempted in connection with his messianic vocation. In no way do we doubt the authenticity of the events Jesus went through, nor do we want to diminish their value. He, who took upon Himself our sins, longed to know the power of temptation, so He underwent them to show us that we too are to overcome the seductive power. Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, and beautiful to look upon, and enticing to know; so she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…” (Gen. 3:6). Jesus took on the nature of man. He, too, starved in the wilderness. He chose to save man, and therefore He wants to show every man victory over temptation. St. John points this out by saying, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For nothing in the world, neither the lust of the flesh, the eyes, nor the boasting of riches, is of the Father but the world. And the world shall pass away, even the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abides forever.” (1 Jn. 2:16-17). Jesus answers the devil with three quotations from Scripture, but this is not a babble of learned formulas but a precise redemptive delivery of the answer. It is a kind of existential confession taken to a higher plane.

Though contemporary man laughs at the devil’s existence, the believer realizes more and more that the devil is not to be underestimated. The devil exists and has some power with the consent of God. As a being endowed with reason and free will, man must prove himself faithful to God. We are weak and tainted by egoism, and this also plays its part with the devil because he does not act on every person in the same way. The devil is a tactician.
Therefore, we must be aware of what temptation is. Temptation is a trap, a snare that leads us to sin. St. Paul writes to Timothy about the temptation of riches: “For those who desire to become rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge men into destruction and perdition” (1 Tim. 6:9). Temptation is often an attractive, hypnotic Fata Morgana, an illusion of gain, benefit, pleasure. And only then does it become apparent that lying has short legs, that one does not grow rich on a man’s iniquity, that laziness ruins a man’s plans, that laying the blame on another man does not save one from it. But all this afterward. Now temptation looks ghostly, wittily inviting, presents itself in bright colors, assuring that it is a quality, that nothing will happen by it, that no one will know, that nothing is done, that others are likewise proceeding, it has the various colors of the rainbow, it incites, it charms, it offers perspectives. True, only then follows disaster, tragedy, mud, sorrow, grief, loss of a clear path, hopelessness. Human injustice often follows; injustice causes misfortune. And that “then” maybe tomorrow, days, years from now, but it will always follow like a returning wave, a wave bringing evil.
What is the crucible of temptation?
The devil works on the senses, imagination, and memory to control our will. He knows very well our weak points and therefore knows where, how, and when he can attack effectively. He also uses other people who have already succumbed to the devil and now as a tool to persuade, to interpret, to plead, to beg, to threaten, to not be reconciled, to back down, to tell, to oppress, to drink, to take, to watch, to deceive, to counterfeit, to blackmail, to extort, to wriggle, to describe, to get rid of, because it will benefit you, it will help you, it will remove, it will enable you because you will get it without work. You will get it as much as you want it to be without work, and as much of it you want it to be without work as you want it. Sensuality cries out and clamors for satisfaction. It does all it cannot lose its victims. What to do then? Remove the falsehood by which it masquerades, and then it loses its fascinating power. Truth liberates from lies and fatal organs; it restores importance to their values. One thing is sure: it must not flirt with temptation.

It tells the story of a hermit who was so perfect that he already had one foot in paradise. He needed almost nothing to live. He lived in a cave and subsisted on berries. The devil wondered how he could seduce the hermit to sin. He watched him for a long time, studying his reactions, but found nothing he could attack directly. He came to him just as he was dipping the last bit of bread in the well to soften it.
“I salute you,” the devil greeted. “Do you know who I am?” “The devil,” the hermit replied calmly. “God has allowed me to tempt you. I want you to sin.” “Just talk,” replied the hermit. “I hear you.” “Kill someone.” “No. We won’t talk about that.” “Then ambush some woman.” “That’s beastly and disgusting. I’ll never do that. Go away, devil! You have no imagination.” “Then, at least take a sip of wine. It’s not even a sin. There’s nothing wrong with one gulp.” At that moment, a jug of chilled and sparkling wine appeared in the devil’s hands. “Just take a little sip.” The hermit takes a deep breath and takes a sip of wine. “Hmph,” the hermit smiled. “It’s good,” and he took a second sip of wine. “It’s strong… it’s devilish!” The hermit was already smiling stupidly. And then he took another sip. He was barely on his feet anymore. A young woman was walking across the meadow towards the hermit. “Greetings to you, holy man,” she addressed the hermit. “I have brought you some apples and some bread.” The hermit rushed at the woman with a wild cry and clouded eyes. He grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground. The woman began to cry for help. Her father, working in the fields nearby, heard her and ran to the cave. The hermit took a large stone and hit the father with all his strength. When the hermit recovered, a dead man lay at his feet in a pool of blood. “I think he’s dead,” said the devil with a smile. (B. Ferrero, Other Stories for the Delight of the Soul, Portal, Prague, 1997 p. 37)
Where did the hermit make the biggest mistake? When he engaged the devil in conversation. To flirt with sin is the beginning of the fall.

The Lord Jesus gave us the opposite example. In His words to the tempter, there is a clear answer, “It is written: Man does not live by bread alone.” But also from the terms, “It is written: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” And at the third temptation, Jesus answered him, “It is said: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Luke 4:4, 8, 12). This needs to be understood. We understand that any compromise is to our detriment. We know that whoever gives the devil an inch already has his whole hand and will draw him to himself. It is necessary to be cautious, cultivate principles, and avoid the senses, such as taste sight, but beware especially of touch, which acts especially powerfully, knowing pleasantries, and therefore are just as quick to trap a person. Such a condition destroys the personality, dulls the sensitivity to spiritual values, weakens one’s sense of moral values, and incites more trivial and shallow pleasures. And this every religious person rejects, does not accept, rejects.

The professor from childhood learned to understand and approach the meaning of life correctly. The little mirror reminds him of this. May our good and bad experiences serve us for good, for the salvation of our souls. At the beginning of Lent, let us take before us that even by limiting ourselves, renouncing, controlling ourselves, self-controlling ourselves in the permitted, pleasant and good things, we want to be more faithful to God.