Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see.

Jesus spoke these words when He appeared to the apostles on Sunday evening. They were shocked by the Saviour’s appearance and thought they were seeing a spirit, rather than the real Christ with His glorified body. Jesus urged them to look closely at His hands and feet and to touch Him to convince themselves that it was truly Him. He even asked them to give Him something to eat as further proof that He was in His resurrected body. They gave Him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb, which He ate in front of them. The bones of the fish remained as a testament to His real presence.

Let us remember that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He appears in a special way to certain favoured individuals, through whom He reminds believers of certain truths. He also often calls people to repentance and faith in Him in various ways. However, Jesus has also promised us His spiritual presence, saying: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.” (1Cor 15:20-21) It is written: “The first man Adam became a living soul.” But breaking the commandment, he sinned and became a dead soul. He lost the divine life. All his descendants are born dead souls, deprived of the divine life. “The last Adam – Jesus became a life-giving Spirit.” This is the only solution for a dead soul – to receive a life-giving Spirit. How? By repentance. It means to stand up against the system of lies and pride which manipulates reason and to accept the basic realities and truths concerning earthly and eternal life: the reality of death, the reality of personal sin, the reality of God’s judgment and consequently of just eternal punishment. Another reality is to acknowledge God as the Creator of the whole universe and of all living creatures on earth. To receive the love of God, which is in Christ. He took the just punishment for our sin.

The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in His

name to all the nations.

Who said these words and where? Jesus spoke them on Sunday evening when He appeared to the apostles gathered on Mount Zion. It was here that Jesus had celebrated the Last Supper three days earlier, on Thursday evening.

The risen Jesus reminds the astonished apostles that He had foretold several times that He would suffer, but also rise from the dead on the third day. Only when this prophecy was fulfilled were the apostles’ eyes opened.

Jesus goes on to say that repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations.

We are now more than halfway through Lent. Let us make at least a little act of self-denial every day: let us suppress a negative thought or laziness or fear: “Lord, out of love for You! I turn my eyes to Your cross. How much suffering You have endured for my sake – scourging, crowning with thorns, the way of the cross, crucifixion! You shed all Your blood for me, You paid the price for me, You love me! And what am I doing for You and for the salvation of my soul? Lord, give me true zeal and help me to deny myself in particular situations, to take up my cross and to follow You.

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;

so you will be My disciples.

By what will the Father be glorified? By our bearing much fruit. But we will not bear much fruit by engaging in many activities independently of God’s will. If we are independent of Jesus in our problems — that is, if we do not remain in Him and He in us, but remain only in our own will, our own ideas, and our own emotions — then we can only produce abundant confusion, which is of no benefit to the Kingdom of God.

We can bear fruit only if we abide in Christ and are Christ’s disciples. But Jesus sets a condition for each of His disciples: “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that we must rid ourselves of the material means of life and the like. However, it is necessary that in every situation we renounce our own will, which refuses to submit to God’s will, and this is connected with a certain test of faith. The fruit that we then bear — spiritual fruit — remains for all eternity.

Sometimes the Lenten period is a time similar to the time which Jesus spent in the wilderness. He prayed and fasted, and was tempted by the devil. Facing certain trials, we also are exposed to attacks by God’s enemy. The enemy works through lies. He tries to instil hatred towards our closest relatives and friends and ultimately even towards Jesus and the Heavenly Father. He attacks us with all kinds of blasphemous thoughts and seeks to lay the blame on God for evil which he caused himself. God endowed man with free will and respects it. Evil is either caused by the enemy of God or it may be caused by ourselves when we are deceived by our feelings, reason, lusts or pride. God causes this evil to work for good if we humble ourselves before Him and walk in the truth, humility, discipline and love, if we bear one another’s burdens and show mercy to those who hurt us consciously or unconsciously. God is LOVE. He gave His Son for us (Joh 3:16), and in Him we have eternal life. “Whom the Lord loves He chastens” (Heb 12:6) and lays a cross on him.

St Ephraim’s prayer for Lent reads: “O Lord and Master of my life, a spirit of idleness, of discouragement, of lust for power, and of vain speaking (vain thoughts and daydreams) give not unto me!” So the first problem is spiritual and physical idleness which leads to mental dullness, and the power that should be transformed into love is transformed into self-love, anger, self-pity, daydreams and unchaste thoughts and feelings. An old proverb says: “Idleness is the mother of all vices.” In this prayer, we pray for deliverance from idleness and three more spirits, namely: discouragement, lust for power or self-love, and vain speaking. In fact, our vain speaking just proves that our thoughts are vain, worldly and self-centred. Therefore we must strike at the root and change our way of thinking. But this is not a one-time act. Our worldly, futile and selfish thoughts causing us to be idle and discouraged must be changed time and again in the obedience of faith.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me,

and I in him, bears much fruit.

In the parable of the vine, Jesus explains that those who believe in Him should remember to be united to Him. This is expressed in the words, ‘… abides in Me, and I in him’. The word ‘abide’ also indicates that being united to Jesus and His will is not enough in only a specific case. We must continue abiding in this spiritual union.

Think about the word of life and answer these questions:

Who is the vine? Who are the branches?

What relationship do you see between a branch and a vine?

The saints often encourage us to remember the Last Things especially during Lent: death, judgment, heaven and hell. God knows the day, hour and place of your death. There is nothing more certain than the fact that this earthly pilgrimage will end one day for each of us. And then we shall stand before the judgment seat of God. Jesus says: “There is nothing covered that will not be revealed.” We shall be judged before angels, the whole universe and all mankind. What to do so as not to hear one day the words of Jesus spoken to the foolish virgins: “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you!” What to do to hear the words instead: “Come, you blessed, inherit the kingdom!” What to do? To live by faith, to believe in Jesus and His word, and not to believe the liar and deceiver who leads us away from Jesus and from His programme given to us.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…

He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,

even the death of the cross.”

What mind was in Christ Jesus? And therefore, what mind should be in us? Not the proud mind of the spirit of the world. Rather, Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

In what did His great humiliation consist? In this: Being in very nature God, co-equal with the Father, He made Himself nothing, humbled Himself and took on human nature. Jesus was obedient to the Heavenly Father also in that He accepted the means of our salvation – death on the cross.

Original sin is in every one of us. It is inborn stupidity which deceives us all our life. We must fight against it. That is why Jesus says: “Deny yourself!” Deny that lie in you which wants to harm you, leads you by the nose into self-destruction and finally into hell. That’s our pride. If someone points out our fault or tells us that we are proud, we are mortally offended. How foolish we are! We should be grateful to everyone who tells us: you are such and such. Even if someone spat in our face, we should be thankful: “Really, maybe I do not yet understand what you tell me but I am aware of my sins…” If you are humble, the devil flees. Let us walk in the truth and we will fear nothing. Or else, how shall we stand before the judgment seat of God where eye witnesses will accuse us?

“If you do not forgive others their trespasses,

neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

For two weeks, the word of life will remind us of the necessity of forgiveness. If we forgive others, the Lord enlightens our minds and we understand that we also have hurt others and need forgiveness. Therefore, it is good to know and adopt a life principle expressed in the short prayer: “My God, I forgive this person, and I pray that You also forgive me, for I have hurt and offended many, and I was blind to my own guilt and unwilling to admit it.” Every act of forgiveness marks a spiritual breakthrough. It is no good philosophizing or theologizing about it. You need to make this step. And then you will experience peace and the light of understanding that you have never had before. You will gain the assurance that when you ask for God’s mercy, God forgives your sins because you have fulfilled the condition and forgiven your brother from your heart.

I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet …

I have set you an example.

At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the apostles an example of deep humility. He did not act as one who is to be served, but as one who himself serves. He washed the apostles’ feet. This was a task performed by slaves. We know how much this shocked the apostles. The apostle Peter, in particular, resisted strongly. In the end, however, he obeyed.

Jesus says: “Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” It is also possible, from time to time in small communities – perhaps once a year, to make such a gesture, where brothers wash one another’s feet. Some non-Catholics even practise this more often. Washing another brother’s feet, and also allowing one’s own feet to be washed, is a gesture of humility, especially when a person does it sincerely, with awareness of their own guilt, which they may not have recognized for a long time.

When asked who can actually be saved, Saint Anthony the Hermit answered emphatically: “Only the humble.” That means those who have dethroned their self-confident ego and made Jesus the king of their soul instead.

Jesus loves you; He puts His trust in you. Never say that something is beyond your power. God always gives us the strength. Trust in God’s Word which says: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Do not believe in the words of the devil who says: You can’t stick it any longer! These are the devil’s words, and the old self like a cunning fox full of pride is inclined to believe this nonsense and lies over and over again!

Each day has enough trouble of its own, but I need to give it to the Lord. Don’t let it worry me, and if I must carry it, so let me carry it together with Jesus – Jesus and I. Only one thing is needed: together – Jesus and you!!! Jesus and I, together! Never more alone! We need to try it in practice not just every day but a number of times a day. And not just for one or two days but until death. This is the miraculous remedy for everything: union with Jesus!!!

My brothers, do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

What is true freedom in Christ? It does not mean casting aside God’s laws and commandments, allowing the proud ego to indulge its unrestrained bodily desires and commit evil without remorse. Human freedom does not consist in the inviolability of the ego, which, in its pride, wants to have the final say, even over God’s word. This would be false freedom, leading to destruction. Freedom in Christ means that a person accepts the path of truth – that is, repentance – and denies himself, his own pride. He is aware of the law of the grain of wheat, which must die in order for new life to come. He thus fully recognizes the reality that the pride of our ego – untouchable and easily offended – must be called by its true name. He is conscious of this spiritual poison within the human heart, within himself, from which all wars and crimes arise and which is also the cause of eternal condemnation. On the throne of our soul sits the proud ego. It must be cast down!

“Be very careful, then, how you live, … redeeming the time,

because the days are evil.”

This word of life is highly topical at the present time. Our times are truly apocalyptic. The world is held under Satan’s totalitarian dictatorship. This spirit of lies and death, operating under the name New World Order, in reality conceals depopulation or genocide agenda. The agenda is implemented through earthly demons incarnate, the architects of death, criminals against humanity, members of Masonic lodges, who are owners of the largest banks and control the entire world, holding it in their grip.

What should we do, being seemingly powerless? God’s Word gives the answer: We should be careful, very careful, how we live. Otherwise, we will waste this time which God has given us. We will waste it to our own detriment and to the detriment of those for whom we could have been instruments of the grace of salvation. Let us be fully aware of this!