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Reflection on Psalm 1:1
Post date: 2020-08-22Autor: BCP
The Book of Psalms begins with these words. It points to a blessed man who has taken an attitude of three “noes” towards unwise and wicked people. 1) ... does not follow the advice of the wicked Wicked or ungodly people respect neither conscience nor justice towards others. They do not submit to God, and therefore their god is their ego and the things that suit them alone. They do not care about seeking and doing God’s will in their lives, and so it will do no good to follow their advice. 2) … does not take the path of sinners A sinner can perhaps have a sort of weak faith, but this faith plays no crucial role in his life. He has become a slave to a particular sin, and sinful dependence takes priority in his way of thinking and way of life.
Reflection on Rom 6:6
Post date: 2018-09-24Autor: BCP
The Word of God says that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin (soma hamartiás) might be done away with (katargéthé) or paralysed, or, in other words, so that the source of evil in us or our old self might be inactive – crucified. And the Scripture says that as a result we should no longer be slaves (dúleuzin) to sin. We are not even aware that we are slaves to sin, that we serve a master who is called sin and who holds us in bondage. We think we are free but we are not; we are slaves to sin. Only the one who is in unity with Christ is free. Jesus won true freedom for us through His death on the cross. And we can taste this freedom at the very moment when we are united to Christ.
Reflection on Rom 6:4
Post date: 2018-09-08Autor: BCP
In this verse, the word of life emphasizes the word “buried”. When someone is buried, it means that it was preceded by an absolute death. So if we are united to Christ’s death by faith at the present moment, sin in us, our old self, i.e. the source of evil, is dead, inactive. And right here the second mystery reveals itself to us concerning baptism – a new life begins to work in us. It is not the life of angels or something like our past life but it is the life of God, the life of Jesus Christ in us! Through faith and unity with Christ’s death, we allow God, Jesus Christ, to live in us. And this is our greatest dignity!
Reflection on Rom 6:3
Post date: 2018-08-25Autor: BCP
It is said that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized – immersed – into His death. Let us realize that by dying on the cross, Jesus overcame sin which is in us, i.e. the source of evil and lies, as well as the devil. At the moment when He said, It is finished, the devil and sin was overcome, and the narrow way to eternal glory was opened for us. Finally, He added, Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit, and died. So we need to realize the essence of baptism as well as the essence of Christianity – through baptism we are united to Christ, to His supreme sacrifice on the cross – i.e. death. Let us live this mystery by faith.
Forsake everything! (+german version)
Post date: 2018-08-20Autor: BCP
Our programme is the words of Jesus: “Launch out into the deep!” “Forsake everything!” “Follow Me!” We should put the word “forsake” into practice every day. Forsake your pleasure or your plan and accept My (Jesus’) plan and will.
Christian Prayer – the Opposite of Mantras and Meditations (+video)
Post date: 2018-07-21Autor: BCP
When you will be dying, the most important thing will be to make an act of perfect contrition. This means to admit your sin and sinfulness and to call on the name of God. “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(Rom 10:13). In the hour of your death, your eternity will be decided. Therefore, prepare for it in interior prayer. True life wisdom is to be mindful of death and eternity!
The fight for truth and salvation (+video)
Post date: 2018-07-21Autor: BCP
We can say about the present time: “The dragon declared war… He gave power to the beast… over every nation…” (Apocalypse 12-13) If we want to be saved, we have to fight against evil and “the spiritual forces of evil under heaven” (Eph 6:12). Jesus says even to you: “O man, what will you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” (Mk 8:36) The devil is a liar and a murderer, and the apocalyptic beast is a system whose aim is to cast entire nations into temporal death and eternal damnation.
The obedience of faith (video)
Post date: 2017-11-23Autor: BCP
The obedience of faith. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Reflection on Eph 5:15-16
Post date: 2017-06-17Autor: BCP
We must be careful, every one of us. Careful about whom? About ourselves. And about what? About how we live. And why? Because we should live not as unwise but as wise. So what should we do? Redeem the time, because the days are evil. What does it mean to redeem the time? Not to walk after vanities which pass away but to do our best in time to store spiritual treasures which thieves will not steal and rust will not destroy.
Easter pastoral letter – 2017
Post date: 2017-04-16Autor: BCP
Today we celebrate the day of the glorious Resurrection of Christ! This day Jesus encountered women and the apostles several times. Even you can encounter the Risen Christ today! At the moment of our death, we will see Jesus in all His glory. Maybe some of us very soon. But how shall we encounter the living Jesus today? Jesus is in our midst, even though we cannot see Him with our physical eyes. He is present not only in the sacraments but He is also in us when we show true repentance. We experience His powerful presence especially in the hard trials of life, such as the death of our loved ones. If we abide and believe in His Word, we experience His closeness and comfort. Like a blind person who feels the closeness of the one who loves him, hears his voice and feels his presence, even though he does not see him. In such moments, Jesus speaks to our heart.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:15). Part 4: Conversion, personal relationship to Jesus Christ
Post date: 2017-03-03Autor: BCP
Deep in his soul, man has a desire for happiness, true happiness, which no one can take from him. Only the very thought of happiness ending one day makes us sad. People search for happiness in human relationships, wealth, money, career, fame, success or in pleasures, alcohol, drugs. But they cannot find it there. They experience disillusionment, an even deeper emptiness, loneliness and pain in their soul. St Augustine expressed this desire for happiness with the words: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
Repent, and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:15). Part 3: Original sin (in Adam) and deliverance (in Christ)
Post date: 2017-03-01Autor: BCP
Christ paid for our sins with His blood on the cross. Our old man (Adam) was crucified together with Him. Christ became the satisfaction for our sins as well as for our Adam-nature. On that day on the cross, there were not only our sins but also our nature. When Christ was crucified, we (our Adam-nature) were crucified too. Provided that we understand this single point, the rest will be clear: “I (Adam’s nature) have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I (ego) who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)
Part 4: Spiritual mobilization for Trump
Post date: 2017-02-28Autor: BCP
Repeat the name of God with gratitude for a while, and then invoke it in faith for the salvation of the whole American nation and for the protection of the President. If you call on the name of God with a heart purified by repentance, God hears you. Your true prayer paralyzes even the forces of darkness represented by witches, magicians and other dark powers who seek to bring both temporal and eternal disaster to the US people.
Reflection on 2Cor 4:10-11
Post date: 2017-02-25Autor: BCP
What does it mean to be delivered to the death of Christ? Example: If you are to bear witness to Christ in a particular situation, and you know that it is the will of God for you to do so, you have to be innerly prepared beforehand for being ridiculed or persecuted, which is like being spiritually killed for the sake of Christ. Or a similar situation: You act according to conscience and it is disadvantageous to you. It would be easier to commit fraud or betrayal. However, you refuse to do so. Aware that God sees you, you want to keep Christ’s commandment in this situation and make this sacrifice for His sake. When you are to overcome fear and to resolve to accept suffering, it is like being united to the death of Christ on the cross.
Reflection on 1Cor 15:45
Post date: 2017-02-12Autor: BCP
The first man was a living soul and committing sin he lost this life given to him by God. The last Adam, i.e. Christ, however, is a life-giving spirit. A dead soul cannot enter the kingdom of God unless and until given life by the Spirit of Jesus. He Himself said: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” So through the faith in Christ and through Baptism we are born into the kingdom of God. At that moment, Jesus gives us life through His Spirit. Of course, it is our task to keep this life even in the moment of our physical death and thus to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Reflection on 1Cor 10:20-21
Post date: 2017-01-14Autor: BCP
True Christianity built on a true relationship to Christ, when we trust in Him and make sacrifices for His sake, cannot be associated with various occult practices or superstitions which are false beliefs and lead us away from Christ and salvation. A true Christian who has received Jesus as his personal Saviour and Lord must renounce these practices which influence him from all sides in order to bring him under their control. One must know clearly that the Church has always taught that pagan cults do not lead to the true God but to the worship of demons.
Christmas in Moravian Bethlehem (video)
Post date: 2017-01-04Autor: BCP
Christmas in Moravian Bethlehem
Reflection on 1Cor 6:19-20
Post date: 2016-12-31Autor: BCP
The Word of God expresses three truths: 1) our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, 2) the Spirit of God lives in us, 3) we are not our own. And it adds that we were bought at a price. This price was the death of Christ on the cross! Therefore we are called to glorify God in our body. The Scripture says in another place: “The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord.” (v.13) Life is short, and what is more, we know neither the day nor the hour, so we must be ready at all times for departure from this life, God’s judgment and eternity.
Reflection on 1Cor 6:9-10
Post date: 2016-12-17Autor: BCP
The Word of God says that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. The opposite of unrighteousness is righteousness. He is righteous who gives God what is due to God and man what is due to man. It is written about Saint Joseph that he was a righteous man. The Holy Scripture, however, speaks above all about the righteousness of God which consists in the fact that sin was justly punished. Dying on the cross, Jesus suffered the punishment for all our sins and all our unrighteousness. Only if we have believed in Christ, i.e. put on His righteousness, we can be saved. We cannot make amends for sins or the root of sin in us by our own efforts.