First Sunday of Advent - Year C

What is the meaning of Advent?

Can we say that today for many, Advent is limited only to the colorful streets, lampions and preparation of Christmas decorations, sumptuous displays in the shops and promotions in supermarkets and molls? For many contemporary, Advent means rather hours spend in hunting the Christmas gifts and presents. Will I be far away from the truth if I dare to say that although the season of Christmas is the season of light (what we can see on our streets and in our supermarkets) indeed internally for many among us it's the time of darkness or spiritual darkness, religious emptiness?

What is the deepest sense of all this?

Do you remember the Advent last year? Did it not look like this year in more or less the same way? Despite of the fact that since last Advent we became certainly wiser and more skilled, more involved in a different aspects of our daily life, can we say that also in our relationship with God we are better, deeper, more sincere and more honest? Or should we rather say that we did not progress, that for many years now we are living rather a kind of stagnation? And after Christmas with our faith will share the lot of the Christmas decorations, it will go to the storage room till next year?

At the beginning of this Advent we have to find a serious answer for a question: "what am I waiting for?" Because if this Advent will be for me once again (or once more) the time only for gifts and presents and external colorful lampions it is true that I will be afraid and frustrated when Jesus is talking about the inevitability of His final coming, I will be frustrated and scared, I will be afraid. And if I am afraid I will run away from Him, I will despise Him, I will run into the superficiality of colorful decorations. They are beautiful and cheering but if this is only the meaning of Advent and Christmas … let us be frank it is empty and superficial.

We have to know that the one of the most dangerous words for our spiritual life is the word "tomorrow". This word tries to convince me that I still have a time, plenty of time for confession, for prayer, for liberating my busy life for God. But in reality with "tomorrow" mentality I will never be able to say to God COME LORD JESUS. This is why today at the beginning of Advent we are receiving from God one more chance, one more opportunity to deepen our personal relationship with Emmanuel, with GOD WHO IS WITH US. It is the time when I suppose to prepare not only my house, to ornate and decorate not only the front doors of my apartment, to cleanse not only my flat but first at all to prepare my heart to accept God whenever He comes.

It will certainly cost me more than only external preparations but it will be certainly more successful and more rewarding if I have the courage to do it.

Advent is the time of preparation but first and foremost the internal preparation to meet God in so many different ways. He is coming in the manger; he is coming in His Word, Body and Blood during the Mass, He is coming also in my neighbour, in a poor, the needy, and starving. He is coming in so many ways. Am I ready to meet Him, do I wait for Him, or simply I DON’T HAVE TIME? 

Christ the King

Today's Sunday we are celebrating solemnity of Christ the King. In His constant teaching He tried to convince people that His Father prepared the place for everybody in the Kingdom of God. We did certainly have an opportunity to hear Jesus's words that His Kingdom is not from this World. (J18,36) But apparently we do not understand the meaning of the Kingdom of God. We know that in Gods Kingdom the eternity consist in worship of our Creator.. But do we really think that throughout the whole eternity will be doing nothing else then singing Hosanna and Alleluia. Our imagination (representation) of the kingdom of God is strongly influenced by the images of our contemporary, earthly empires, where the abundance, wealth and luxury are reigning together with autocracy and arrogance of the rulers.

Very often we try to understand the reality of heaven using our human limited capacities. Very often also, in trying this we finish with contradiction or false images.

Let us see for example the cross of Christ - The throne of God's love. It is immediately visible that our logic is not the logic of God, our understanding of love is not Gods understanding, our understanding of Gods Kingdom is too short, inadequate to describe to reality of God's Kingdom. This reality is certainly not the reality of luxury, splendor, arrogance but the reality of infinite of love.

Opened arms of Christ on the cross -during His crucifixion- are nothing else that the gesture of invitation. By this gesture God is inviting us to participate in His Kingdom of love. He is proposing that we accept this kingdom of love in our daily life. Let us not waste the time for useless imaginations but let us try to implement His Kingdom on earth. This is what we pray for in OUR Father - your Kingdom come your will be done.

The story of one Image

The Association of Apostles of Divine Mercy „Faustinum”

Father Francis Jordan the Founder of Salvatorians

The Vortex—Failed Papacy?

The Vortex—Failed Papacy?

No, Christianity Should Not ‘Welcome’ or ‘Include’ Your Sinful Lifestyle

"Frankly, the church has not failed if it makes open homosexuals or anyone else feel uncomfortable in their sin. That is a success. That is the church doing what it’s supposed to do.  But it has failed if it makes the faithful and the sincere feel unwelcome. This is the real problem, the real crisis.

It’s difficult to have grown-up conversations these days, because people like yourself see every mention of moral truth as either a personal attack or a statement of superiority. This is the real damage you cause in the Faith. It’s not that you’re sinful — we all are, to be sure — it’s that you want to be coddled. You want to shut down professions of Truth that are inconvenient or uncomfortable. You want to modify Christian teachings not because you tried them and found them wrong, but because, to paraphrase Chesterton, you found them difficult and don’t want to try them."

Matt Walsh

More here

28 Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

Mk 10:17-30

HOMILY 

The teaching against our selfish culture

It's interesting:

The question asked by young men: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus does not answer: "Be free. Follow your conscience. If you feel good do whatever you wish" – like some of our contemporary liberalistic theologians.

Jesus' answer is precise and sharp:

"You know the commandments:

you shall not kill;

you shall not commit adultery;

you shall not steal;

you shall not bear false witness;

you shall not defraud;

honour your father and your mother."

We prefer to have the watered, nice and polite answers. But Jesus answers directly and sharply: Keep commandments! God gave us the commandments as an objective and reliable point of reference. We shall not dissolve them in the subjective and relativistic ideologies and politically correct theories. Like to the young men, He tells me also: "If you would like to inherit eternal life there is only one way; KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!!!!"

So, do I realize that unless I keep the God's commandments I will NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

I certainly know the commandments and I don't need to smooth and flatten them, make them easy and more human. There are the objective and the most reliable means of entering the eternal life.

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But this is not the end of Christ's challenging teaching in today's Gospel.

Many or most of us, sitting in the pews are not killers, adulterers, thieves, chronic liars, sinister schemers of fraud, or parent abusers. Rather, we are observing the commandments with faithfulness. Perhaps there are many people in our congregation who might be able to say to Jesus with the young man from the Gospel – “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth”. Nevertheless, like the young, rich man, Jesus can most likely address each one of us with the words – "You are lacking one thing … sell what you have, and give to the poor".

And this is the climax of His teaching. This is the most difficult point of His Gospel, because we –in the individualistic society- we are convinced that it is my right to posses, to defend and to multiply my possessions. The whole world around me is telling me that I am the most important, the most precious person and my needs, my requirements and desires are on top and should be satisfied by all means. If there are not satisfied, I am disappointed; I am upset and even frustrated.

And Jesus in His teaching is going against this mentality. He says openly: "Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me."

Very sturdy and very difficult teaching ...

My rights to posses against the teaching of Christ  …

The teaching, which is not at all smooth and nice. The teaching which openly states: "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"

Why is it difficult for rich men to enter the Kingdom of God? Is it the richness a kind of curse? Is richness a sin? Or maybe it is rather because the richness makes me blind and so I cannot see anymore nor God neither my neighbour?

"How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"

It is hard not because the richness as such is a sin but because being rich very often I become blind and selfish, self-centered …

It's my choice to listen to - or not.

The Great Ark

The Great Ark



"Thus, at last, the “father of lies” spewed a torrent of lies “out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current.” 

The Vortex—Cardinal Burke’s Warning | The Vortex

danerous attitude of false mercy ...

There is too great a reluctance to declare openly and boldly the truth in all its fullness and glory. To meet the protagonists of the culture without telling them the truth would be a severe lack of charity.

The current climate tends too close to sentimentalism — a false compassion masked as something good and caring. This attitude is very harmful because it introduces a severe lack of respect for the objective truth of the situation. You cannot simply give the impression to someone in sin that their sin is okay because your love is all that matters — absolutely incorrect, false and very potentially damning.

Cardinal Raymond Burke


The Vortex—Cardinal Burke’s Warning | The Vortex

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

"… the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For when we do not know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for human words." (Romans 8:26)

Holy Spirit, I recognize my total inabilities, weakness and deep sinfulness. From the depths of that nothingness and misery, I beg you: Come with Your grace to help me in my weaknesses.

Because I cannot express in my words:

- my Love to You, my Lord,

- my prayer for those whom I love,

- my sorrows for sins committed and harm I caused,

Therefore, I ask you, Holy Spirit, come to my aid, because

- Your majesty and holiness intimidates me,

- my helplessness overwhelms me,

- the wickedness of my sins scares me the.

You who penetrate the depths of God, express my prayer with sighs I cannot express in my human words. Mine is misery and nothingness, Yours is power and love. Mine is pride and arrogance, Yours is power and Peace. Give me your gifts: of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and fortitude, of knowledge, piety and fear of God.

Cleanse me of all evil. Teach me humility, patience and forgiveness. I beg these gifts, Holy Spirit, Who, with God the Father and the Son of God, lives and reigns Forever and ever. Amen.