Truly we know neither the day nor the hour, and nothing is more certain than death. Therefore, we have to redeem the time. How? By a living faith, by daily practising humility, that is, constantly renouncing our own wishes, good plans or intentions. Let us not stick to our own opinion, but bring everything to light, and humble ourselves every time we act spontaneously on our own. However, when others do something wrong, we should not condemn them but, again, humble ourselves in spirit: “Lord, I am twice as bad. I’ve made the same or even greater mistake so many times. And mine was a banal one that this person would never make.” Let us accept the concrete hardships as a cross to carry.

We need to talk about hell. It is hard to talk about this truth separately though. However, if we highlight the beauty of the Saviour as a contrast against this dark background, this is truly evangelization. Yes, hell is a real threat looming over everyone. But there is Jesus who came to save us from hell. Therefore, the fear of hell should be a strong impetus for us to sincerely repent and be saved.

A certain devout priest full of apostolic zeal carried out a mission in France for 40 years. In an audience with the Holy Father Pius IX in Rome, he gave a frank account of his missionary work. On this occasion, the Pope gave him an extremely useful advice: “Teach the great truths of salvation. Speak especially about hell. Do not conceal anything – and especially not about hell. Nothing so helps to awaken poor sinners and bring them to God as the truth about hell.”

Those who rejected Jesus will face Him as a Judge at the hour of death. In a single gaze they will see that He is not their friend, that He is not their Saviour, because they rejected Him again and again, stifled their conscience, believed in lies, systematically resisted the truth, Christ and good, all connected with salvation and the Gospel that was distorted by them. In that single moment they will see the fruit. St Bernard says that the very sins they committed will cry out saying: “We are your work; we shall not desert you.” And St John Chrysostom: “The wounds of Jesus will accuse you. Your sins will reproach you. The cross of Christ, which was the means of bringing salvation to you, will rise up against you.”

So the principal cause of damnation lies in man’s refusal to believe, to receive God’s truth, and in his choice to believe the devil’s lies. As Jesus says in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: “They will not believe, though one should rise from the dead!” Why not? Because they do not want to believe, do not want to receive the truth.

The truth about hell is indeed very serious and is linked with our salvation. If we take seriously the eternity of hell, we are also aware of the seriousness of the entire teaching of Christ about salvation based on this fact – Christ came into the world, God became man to deliver us from the bondage of the devil, to deliver us from hell and to give us a new life – eternal life. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish – in hell – but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1Jn 5:11-12) You either have Jesus or you do not. The greatest suffering in hell is the punishment of separation.

The power of God is manifested in our powerlessness. If we give rein to our ego, Christ – the almighty power of God – cannot work. We take everything into our own hands. We are guided by our perception, by our feelings. Admittedly, we can do something, but we are like a steam locomotive, puffing, sparks flying in all directions… Yet it keeps running, though the efficiency is only 5%. We run on the same principle. What shall God do with us? He takes us as we are. However, in order to use us, God must first purify us so that we may become His effective instruments. We must be dependent on God; therefore we freely choose to become slaves of God. This is true freedom. We are free to decide at every moment, but we want to renounce this freedom time and again through a living faith for the sake of Jesus. Certainly, even the smallest act of renunciation causes us pain because it usually goes against our feelings, our logic.

The Gospel is for our everyday life. We must put it into practice. To be able to do it we need the Holy Spirit, because it is not possible without Him. Without Him, it is a mere letter that kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Holy Spirit leads us to the living Jesus through the death of our old self and through our entering into Christ’s death (2Cor 4:10f). All this is not possible without the personal contact of faith with Him in prayer. Without it we are like a fish out of water.

We must learn to accept helplessness, immediately give thanks for everything, and take God’s word as the sword of the Spirit against bitterness or complaining – in other words, put our trust in it. God’s word – the Spirit behind it – will give us strength. We only need to stop and confront our situation in a living faith: “Lord, You see it! I trust in You!” And then try to stand firm in that faith and return to it again whenever all kinds of invisible, cunning pressures or seemingly innocent or good thoughts seek to divert us from our union to Christ.

The first form of love is constant self-humiliation. But you need not fabricate anything. You only need to accept the truth! If you feel bitterness towards your neighbour, remember his good qualities and his good deeds, and on the other hand your bad qualities and evil done in the past, and humble yourself before him in spirit and see Jesus in him. And God will then give you the light and fill your heart with love for this person.

The second form of love is sacrifice! It means to offer little sacrifices, self-denials for your neighbour. But do not do so from the “I-am-the-saviour” position but only after you have humbled yourself before him and regarded him as better than yourself.

We can do nothing more for thousands of thirsty, seeking, helpless souls than resolve again and again to surrender ourselves in meekness and humility to Our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may have His Spirit. We see the exact opposite in the history of philosophy. The founders of various philosophical trends, obsessed with a false thought, subtly grew in pride and their rise in pride opened the power of spirit, but not the Spirit of Christ. Unlike them, we need to allow the Spirit of God to work in power. Our hidden and invisible struggle is a struggle for the salvation of thousands of immortal souls! It is faith that overcomes the world. We have to remain faithful to Jesus and His word – the Gospel! His word is to be lived out, and not philosophized about! We need to put God’s word into practice! May we live our days with Christ, so that Jesus may really be in our midst and it may be true that if two of us agree concerning anything we ask, He will give us! Jesus wants us to have this unity, and in order to have it we must each die to self on the cross, enter into Christ’s death.

Heaven is at hand, for I will die soon. Just a few more years and I shall stand before the gates of heaven. And should I even live a hundred more years, they will pass in no time. How powerfully the thought of heaven should motivate me! This thought moved so many boys and girls to despise the joys and goods of this world, which will pass, so as to attain eternal heaven.

St Bernard had seven brothers. All of them resolved to forsake everything, to join a monastery and to serve God wholly. They had great wealth and wondered what to do with it. They said to each other: “Let us give everything to our youngest brother.” They came to him and told him: “Dear brother, we decided to give all our heritage to you.” He looked at them and said: “How clever you are! You want eternal heaven for yourselves and earthly kingdom for me? I want the kingdom of heaven too! What is the good of wealth?” Finally, after their mother’s death, their father likewise joined a monastery. They really burned with zeal for Christ. They experienced a true spiritual renewal.

Let us stand firm in the faith, a living faith, even in little things. Therein lies holiness. Let us open our eyes to these little things, let us accept them with faith and stand firm in the faith without complaining about the circumstances, enemies etc. We have to live by faith today, not tomorrow, though everything is seemingly calm today! We may not live to see tomorrow. There is no true humility without a living faith. Humility is the inward sacrifice, but it must also be shown outwardly after the example of Our Lord Jesus Christ, meek and humble of heart, and after the example of His Mother, the bondslave of the Lord who always says “Fiat” and “Magnificat” – “Let it be to me!” “Praised be the Lord!” God’s will be done, not mine!

The Word of God emphasizes: those who have faith in Jesus. This is the condition. Surely, Jesus died for all people and we are obliged to preach to them the Gospel, salvation. Without Him no one can be saved. But today we hear another gospel: to let pagans dwell in darkness and perish in darkness. Certainly, some of them will be saved, but perhaps only those who are not under the sway of pagan religious systems. Or those who have at least not opened up to them. Abraham was a pagan, too, but he had a conscience. Pagans also have a conscience and Christ died for them too. But how can they achieve salvation if no one can be saved without Christ? If they live a righteous life, God will give them a chance to believe in Christ at least in the hour of death. They will either receive Him or reject Him. We will likewise either receive Jesus at the hour of death for the last time or reject Him. That is why the Apostle says that we must be rooted in Him, grounded in Him, so that at the hour of death we may cast away all doubts, all intrusive thoughts, all vanity. It is a hard struggle. You will understand that once you resolve to devote one hour to interior prayer, to spend one hour with Christ.

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.” (Jn 14:19) Jesus speaks here about His death, saying that He will be buried in a tomb but then rise again and His dead body will be seen in the tomb no more. He will be raised from the dead with a glorified body. The world, however, will not see Him risen. In the Gospel of John we read: “The world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.” When does Jesus say these words? On Thursday evening at the Last Supper, probably between eight and ten o’clock. On the next day, Friday, He dies. And then, on Saturday night, Christ comes out of the tomb. He rises from the dead by His own divine power. The whole Trinity takes part in Christ’s resurrection. Indeed, God raised Him from the dead.

The old self is governed by precise principles that are very subtle. They are best recognized and unmasked in ourselves, but even more intensely when two or three truly strive to put the old self to death on the cross, so that we can say: “We died with Him, and we were buried with Him.” And then it is also true that “we were raised with Him”. It is not about physical death, physical burial or physical resurrection. It is a matter of faith and the life of faith, especially the basic steps that we are to take daily again and again: 1) deny yourself, 2) take up your daily cross. Sometimes this cross is the same for a certain period of time. Sometimes it takes a variety of forms during the day. It is mainly about giving up our views, opinions or habits, even in small matters, and it hurts!

The nation can be raised to life by God alone. But He wants each of us to contribute a drop of our faith! This is our great task, which we are to accept in faith. God puts His trust in every one of us. And He wants us to trust in Him. That is why this spiritual battle for resurrection needs praying people who are united and adhere to the clear teachings of the Gospel along with the tradition of the Church and the saints. This battle requires launching out into the deep. This means living the Gospel by faith.

God’s Word says that we were raised together with Christ. It is a certain mystery to us. Jesus was raised two thousand years ago in Jerusalem. I am not in Jerusalem, but in another place and in another time. I was not in the tomb with Jesus to be raised with Him. I was not even born yet. So what does it mean that “we were raised together with Him”? Let us think what happened at Christ’s resurrection: Christ’s dead body, which was lying in the tomb, was not only raised to life but also transformed. Christ was raised from the dead with a glorified body. He passed through the stone tomb in spite of a large stone rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb. After that, He appeared to the apostles in different places during forty days. Through the resurrection, new life entered the physical body of Jesus, and His body was glorified.

The mystery of Christ’s resurrection has a double dimension. Physical dimension – it means that Christ rose from the dead really and historically, the tomb is empty, He is risen indeed, His body was not taken away by anyone. And then there is also the spiritual dimension – the transformation of Christ’s body, interference with Christ’s physical nature, i.e. human nature which He took on Himself. We have the same genetic code as Adam: we have two hands, two feet, eyes, etc. It is similar in spiritual terms: Christ is the second Adam, and we receive His life, eternal life, which has been given to us.