Ordinary Time

Many people think that the meeting with God will be an extremely joyful moment. Today, we are glad to talk about the goodness, grace and mercy of God, forgetting  completely of His holiness. Meanwhile, God’s goodness is a holy goodness, and God’s mercy is a holy mercy. We cannot forget about it. Whoever forgets, will create God on the image and likeness of himself. The prophet Isaiah experiences – first of all – God’s holiness and his sinfulness on its background in meeting with God. Putting together God’s perfection with his imperfection, he sentences death on himself. Isaiah does not see a chance of life after meeting the sanctity of God. He is scared with his sinfulness. Only after cleaning his lips by the archangel – the prophet may continue a further conversation with God and undertakes to perform a specific task. Our meeting with God will be a meeting with the Light penetrating our whole life, from bith to death, showing all its lights and shadows. This light will penetrate our hearts, thoughts, desires and imagination. We will stand in the truth. None of us can hide anything. God will not condemn us. We – like Isaiah – will pass judgment on ourselves: Woe to me. I am lost.

Similar experience was shocking to Peter, when he saw a wonderful fishing. He fell to Jesus’ knees, asking: “Go away from me, Lord, because I’m a sinful man”. He met with the power and goodness of Jesus, and saw his sins immediately. We have to remember that before we see goodness, grace and mercy of God, we will experience His holiness and our sinfulness. This sanctity tells us to make efforts to avoid sin today, so not to make the meeting with God difficult for ourselves. God’s holiness calls us for continuous purification from what diminishes us, makes us miserable, embarrasses. God’s mercy is holy. It never condemn anyone. It reveals the truth. A sinner issues a just judgment on himself at the God’s Court. Just only one our sin is enough that we will not find a place in God in the face of God’s holiness. A Christian cannot forget that God is holy.

The right atmosphere for the maturation of Christian faith is love and that does not measure with a human measure. This measure is Jesus Christ himself, who passed through life quiet, humble, patient, doing good. The Apostle Paul characterizes love: “Love is patient, gracious…” Love cannot coexist with  jealousy, arrogance, anger or desire. Love is the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit. The value of all other virtues is limited compare with love. Only love connects in itself traditional values of Hellenistic culture: nobility,  righteousness, prudence, courage; only a true love, which model was given to us by Jesus Christ – has an everlasting value.

To get love means to gain holiness. It marked out love from others charisms and human abilities, which only “partially,” and only if they go hand in hand with love, help a man to achieve his deepest call, which is the eternal happiness in God.

We can meet more often young people, who – like the deaf man from today’s Gospel – need someone, who will touch their eyes, ears, hearts and mind, and then will say “be open”, with the full force and conviction. They come out from such houses and environments, in which they lose trust in the other. They are living in conviction that they are unnecessary to anyone, they are in a state of resignation. Only, when they see that there is another world and people, who thanks to faith, walk through life with joyful heart, they start to think if their life could be different.

What’s happens to the deaf man, whom Christ restores health, recalls a situation of a man, which after years of life emptiness – suddenly discovers that there is another world and other life, which he knows. His ears start to open, the tongue starts to talk, and – using the words of today’s Gospel – he starts to “speak correctly”.

If the expression “to speak correctly” can be use as a kind of summary of this change within a man, one could say that it affects the essence of human life. As long as we remain in darkness, in the wrong environment, or even in a bad situation, we say and think different than God wants. Only when we may leave and go a little bit behind the current state of affairs, we see that there is another world, where is a completely different life.

Let the Gospel to be read today in our churches leads us in two directions. First of all, let us ask ourselves, if we don’t need a completely new opening on God and the other man. Secondly, let us try to see people, who expect someone who will bring them to Jesus, and they could hear a simple, but firm call “open up”.

It is quite easy to participate in various celebrations or religious events. It is also not difficult to stand together with others to manifest our faith or beliefs, especially among crowds. However, public manifestations of faith do not always go together with everyday life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to the words of the prophet Isaiah and says: “This people honor me with lips, but the heart is far from me.” This words remain actual. What’s more, they can touch people who certainly are not religiously indifferent. Going out from the opinion from the Book of Isaiah, Christ begins to explain the matter quite simple, it would seem to be completely obvious to the Pharisees and scholars in the Scripture.

However, as it turns out, it is not – they are surprised. It is also happening similarly in our lives. Sometimes, it is a need for a daily situation or a simple conversation to discover something that should be obvious, and even natural. It is a need for a man who honestly and definitely will tell us “we cannot do it, the faithful man never don’t do it, even when no one sees”.We are quite easy to participate in various celebrations or religious cereals. It is also not difficult to stand on the shoulder with others to manifest our faith or beliefs, especially when they make crowds. However, public manifestations of faith do not always go hand in hand with everyday life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to the words of the Prophet Isaiah and says: “This people honor me with lips, but the heart is far from me.” These words remain valid. What’s more, they can touch people who certainly not in a very direct way They are religiously indifferent. Going from the opinion from the book of Prophet Isaiah, Christ begins to explain the matter quite simple, it would seem that completely obvious to the Pharisees and scholars in writing. However, as it turns out, it is not – they are surprised and give birth to questions. Similarly, it is also happening in our lives. Sometimes the need for a daily situation or a simple conversation to discover something that should be obvious and even natural. The need for a man who honestly, without any throw, but at the same time will definitely tell us “that’s how it does not do it, it does not be a tolerant man – it never happens, even when no one sees “.

May the Gospel of today’s Sunday will be an encouragement for us to build a faith that will unite us with God, and other person, not only through external signs, but above all – through an internal commitment and honesty. Let’s ask God that the worship we give Him with our lips, will be confirmed in the heart, which will cling to Him totally, and will be faithful to Him in every situation.

As we come to the end of another year in the cycle of life, the Church turns our attention to the end of the world, to the time when the Son of God will come again on the clouds with great power and glory. Jesus describes a time of true resolution, at the very end, when all evil will be wiped away and true justice will be seen on earth. The language used is eloquent. Angels will gather the chosen from the four winds. In earlier prophecy, as we heard in today’s first reading, Daniel uses words of great inspiration. Michael will stand up to guard us. God’s people will be spared. All those names are written in the Book will arise. We will rise to everlasting life. We will shine like bright stars. These powerful words and visions are proclaimed to inspire us now to keep faithful in all we do, to practice true hope in the Lord who goes before us and makes a place for us in His Father’s kingdom.

“Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is the one Lord…” Today’s reading instruct us to let these words be written on our hearts.

This short prayer was part of the daily prayer of Jesus, a faithful Jew, and so it immediately comes to His lips when He is asked which is the first of all commandments of the Law. The genius of Jesus is to link it straight away with the command from Leviticus, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus understood that to love God with all our heart and soul, mind and strength, it is not sufficiently merely be able to recite the formula from the scriptures, even less to touch or even to wear the box containing the words. Love for God has to be expressed in action towards those among whom we live. As Jesus himself is the living sign of God’s love for us, so we are called to be living signs revealing love for God in the mercy and compassion we have towards our neighbors. The scribe who questioned Jesus comments that this understanding of the Law is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice. This links nicely with today’s 2nd reading from the letter to the Hebrews, where we are told that one perfect sacrifice of Jesus does what all the sacrifices of the old Law could do; that is to save us from our sins.

The sacrifice of Jesus is made effective for us through our sharing in the life of the Church and through our participation in the sacraments, which are our most precious souvenirs, our way to heaven. The first commandment of the Law is to love God with all our heart and soul, mind and strength, and the second is to share in the life of the Church, especially in the Eucharist.