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Word of Life – Mt 6:33 (23/11/2025 – 7/12/2025)
Post date: 2025-11-27Autor: BCP
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
Reflection on Mt 6:33
Post date: 2025-11-27Autor: BCP
Jesus tells us that we must seek. Seeking is a painful process. When someone loses something precious, it brings a certain pain, and they search especially in the places where they think they might find it. Jesus says that above all we are to seek the kingdom of God. It is within us like a hidden treasure. What is the kingdom of God? It is God’s reign and God’s presence in the souls of the baptized. This treasure lies somewhere deep within us, yet we must search for it. Sometimes it can be found quickly. What does His righteousness mean? It was fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ through His redemptive sacrifice for us. He offered a just satisfaction for the sins of humanity – and for all my sins. I find that righteousness beneath Christ’s cross; there, through the act of repentance, my sins are forgiven, and the devil has no right to demand justice – that is, the punishment that sin brings. Jesus completed this righteousness on the cross.
Word of Life – Eph. 5:17 (9/11/2025 – 23/11/2025)
Post date: 2025-11-09Autor: BCP
"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
Word of Life – John 15:7 (26/10/2025 – 9/11/2025)
Post date: 2025-10-26Autor: BCP
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you."
Reflection on Jn 15:7
Post date: 2025-10-26Autor: BCP
Jesus, at the Last Supper, speaks about our spiritual unity with Him. Through baptism we share in His redemptive death and in His new life, which is inseparably linked with His glorious resurrection. Yet baptism alone is not enough. For God’s life to remain within us – and even more, to grow in us – faith is needed, faith in the word of Jesus. This faith is accompanied by acts of humility and by trials of fidelity. In this context, we need to recall the essence of the parable of the vine and the branches. From the vine flows the life-giving sap into the branches – that is, the same Spirit who dwells in Jesus Christ also works in us, the baptized, as long as we remain united with Jesus through faith. Jesus repeatedly emphasizes that without Him we can do nothing, and He gives His branches this promise: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” The condition for anything to work for our true good – not only temporal but also eternal – is that we remain united with Jesus through faith.
Give thanks and rely on God
Post date: 2025-10-15Autor: BCP
God causes even negative things to work together for good. But we must learn to give thanks and praise to the Lord in time of suffering: “Yes, Lord, I have suffered a misfortune, but something far worse could have happened. This is the price for evil I had done or the price I had to pay to prevent something worse from happening.” Evil often makes us stop and realize that the devil seeks to attack us and that we need to beware of the danger. Even if the devil puts us to trouble, God can turn it into good if we praise Him. But if we grumble, blaspheme against God, lapse into unbelief or rebellion in trouble, the devil laughs at us and things get worse and worse.
Everything must be built on sound foundation – Jesus Christ (video)
Post date: 2025-10-14Autor: BCP
Everything must be built on sound foundation – Jesus Christ. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Word of Life – 2 Pet. 1:4 (12/10/2025 – 26/10/2025)
Post date: 2025-10-13Autor: BCP
"... by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Reflection on 2Pe 1:4
Post date: 2025-10-13Autor: BCP
Our life is short; in essence, it is only a time of testing, during which our eternity is decided. That eternity will be either happy or unhappy forever. An unhappy future – eternal ruin – awaits those who, in proud unbelief, reject the salvation in Jesus Christ. In Him, God has given us the greatest gift: that through Him we may receive a new nature! We must therefore put aside that nature which is infected by original sin and in which our human spirit is, as it were, clothed. Through this, our inner being has been darkened – our intellect struggles to recognize truth, our will tends toward evil, and our heart is filled with a perverted desire that unites with the spirit of the world, driving humanity toward temporal and eternal destruction. How can we escape this destruction? We must, through faith, accept the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Then the following applies to us: “To those who did accept Him He gave power to become children of God. They were born not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (cf. Jn 1:12)
Pure love is the sign of the will
Post date: 2025-10-12Autor: BCP
Pure love is the sign of the will – I want to love even if I do not feel that I give Jesus the first place in my life. I lose my soul – this is very important; this is a moment when I forsake all vanities for Your sake, Jesus, not for my sake, not for the sake of money or fame, but for Your sake and the Gospel’s. I give You all I have.
We are obliged to know the basic principles of the life of faith (video)
Post date: 2025-10-11Autor: BCP
We are obliged to know the basic principles of the life of faith. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive…
Post date: 2025-10-10Autor: BCP
If I do not forgive, I cannot be forgiven. But stop! When I think of my offences against others, that I do not pray for them, that I am indifferent to their salvation, that I do not set a good example for them, that I speak empty or angry words, etc., I should ask them for forgiveness in my spirit, or sometimes even in words. I feel guilty towards the other person, and when I realize that he, the other person, has also hurt me, it’s like a triumph for me – I have a chance. Something for something!!! If I am able to forgive, I take the credit for it and, in a sense, I triumph over my neighbour. Then I can say in earnest, “Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…” Forgive us both, me and the one who hurt me. And now I forgive, and it is as if I am forgiving those who have hurt him too, and then the Lord hears such a sincere prayer of the Our Father.
The harder the fight, the more humility and self-surrender to Jesus we need
Post date: 2025-10-09Autor: BCP
The Lord shows us that the harder and deeper the fight is, the more humility and self-surrender to Jesus we need. We need to deny ourselves! There is only one rule here: to carry the cross and enter into death with Christ through the Mother of God.
A life of victory (video)
Post date: 2025-10-03Autor: BCP
A life of victory. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
With Mary, in Mary and through Mary
Post date: 2025-09-30Autor: BCP
We need a sound foundation, which is the foundation of humility and faith in relation to God, and this foundation is not stable in the old Eve’s heart. Therefore we should receive a new heart by faith every day, stopping at least once a day for a few seconds. But we should do so more often – e.g. whenever we want to make a decision, we should not do so on our own but we should try to do everything, as Grignion writes: with Mary, in Mary and through Mary.
Word of Life – Mark 11:22-23 (28/9/2025 – 12/10/2025)
Post date: 2025-09-28Autor: BCP
"So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says."
Reflection on Mk 11:22-23
Post date: 2025-09-28Autor: BCP
What is human faith and what is God’s faith? Human faith is necessary in everyday life. We have to believe people’s testimonies about Antarctica, for example, even though we have never been there ourselves. We believe that there is snow there, even though we have never seen it. This is natural faith, which can be proven materially. What is faith in God or God’s faith? It is faith that is bound to the promises God has given us. It is faith in God’s omnipotence. By His almighty power, God created everything that exists; He created this world and cares for it. He created it for a purpose. We believe in God the Creator. We also believe in God the Saviour; we believe that the Son of God became man and died for our sins, and we also believe God’s word. Furthermore, in order to have God’s faith that works miracles, we need to receive grace so that God will show us that He wants to be glorified in this situation and that He requires us to stand in faith and not doubt. Everyone will face a test of faith, so we must overcome the doubt in our hearts. God’s faith is a gift that we must ask for.
Be aware that you will meet Jesus face to face (video)
Post date: 2025-09-27Autor: BCP
Be aware that you will meet Jesus face to face. + Elijah Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate
Unless we abide in Christ, we cannot bear fruit
Post date: 2025-09-25Autor: BCP
Unless we abide in Christ, we cannot bear fruit. Jesus says: “Without Me you can do nothing.” We can only do one thing – we can sin. This is programmed in us. But we are unable to do good. Perhaps we can do good outwardly, but this is full of pride and it bears the fruit of death. If we are to bear fruit which is of worth for eternity, we must be united to Christ and His cross. How? In suffering, let us start to give thanks instead of complaining: “Lord, I do not understand but I thank You.”
Purity is the fruit of God’s grace bestowed upon the humble
Post date: 2025-09-21Autor: BCP
Purity is the fruit of God’s grace bestowed upon the humble