Keep your lives free from the love of money and

be content with what you have, because God has said,

‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’

Before this statement from the Letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle writes: “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honoured by all, and marriages should be kept undefiled, for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.” Then follows this statement: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”

The Apostle continues: “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.” (v. 3-9a)

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ,

not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

This verse is preceded by the Apostle’s words: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.” (v.27-28) The Apostle continues: “You are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.” And next: “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition of conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” (2:1-3)

For here we have no continuing city,

but we seek the one to come.

The Apostle Paul reminds the believers of his day, and us, of a profound truth that we often forget. We have no permanent home here on earth. On the other hand, we need to have and make a home here. Unfortunately, the current decadent culture, which is also massively promoted by the supranational political system with its gender ideology, seeks to break up the basic unit of society, which is the family. The family is made up of father, mother and children; they share a home. The mother has always created the atmosphere of the home. Even the grown-up children, who had their own families, would come home in times of hardship, seeking encouragement and comfort from their aged mother while she was alive. In recent years, sadly, elderly parents are being placed in retirement homes or there is even a growing tendency in Western Europe to terminate their lives as soon as possible through euthanasia, or assisted suicide. All this is brought about by this deadly, decadent ideology, which is spreading en masse and affecting Eastern Europe as well.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us exhort one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This verse is preceded by the words: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.” The groups meeting together at the time when the Apostle was writing this letter were probably as small as ours. However, these words applied and still apply above all to small prayer groups, which have carried the burden of the Church and called on God for light, strength and salvation.

We perceive that the biblical demand for koinonia, the formation of brotherly fellowship, is very relevant today. A group of Christian men meet together for prayer and pray to God for themselves and for the souls entrusted to them. At the same time, they seek to encourage one another to remain faithful to Christ and to the commandments He has given us in the midst of this world, despite the various pressures. Christ’s commands are not burdensome, though in certain circumstances they may require great sacrifice. But then the reward in heaven is all the greater if we persevere.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”

This Scripture verse truly is preceded by an example of a whole multitude of witnesses throughout chapter 11. And this chapter ends as follows: “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

Then follows the verse which we are going to recite for two weeks. It begins with the words: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” And then it continues: “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The next verse is a continuation of the previous one: “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” And we read further: “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Before Jesus raised Lazarus, who had been dead four days, Martha said to Jesus: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise again.” She said to Him: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So He has the same power and can raise the dead even today, especially the spiritually dead. He can do the same things He did when He was here on earth. When we read the lives of the saints and martyrs, we see that through many the Lord worked great miracles before they died, that is, while they were being tortured. For example, miracles with wild beasts, when the hungry lions in the arena did not tear the martyrs apart, but instead licked them and sat at their feet like sheep. Other times, when they were thrown into prison after cruel torture, their bodies were completely recovered the next day.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him
must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

This verse is part of the well-known chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews. It is preceded by the following five verses: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.” (Heb 11:1-5) Next, this chapter presents models of faith, such as Abraham, Moses, the prophets, and points out that not only are we saved through faith, but through faith God also works extraordinary miracles.

People are destined to die once and then face judgment.

The next verse 28 reads: “So also Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”

The proverb says: A wise person thinks about the end, that is, death. But it is not enough to think about death, we must also think about eternity, which can be either happy or unhappy. The condition for a happy eternity is to keep our faith in Jesus Christ, because the Scripture says: Whoever believes in Him will be saved. The best preparation for death and eternity is through an act of perfect contrition. This consists in admitting your sinfulness to yourself and to God, looking with faith at the cross of Jesus, and calling on His name.

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

In this chapter, the Apostle Paul addresses the question of human and divine wisdom. He writes: “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the word preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Cor 1:20-25)

For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord,

that we may not be condemned with the world.

These words in Scripture are related to receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion, but they also have a deep meaning as such. We need true self-criticism not only when eating of the table of the Lord, but during the day we also need to stand in God’s light and truly call our sin sin, laziness laziness, envy envy and touchiness touchiness. The essential thing in the relationship to God is truthfulness, and truthfulness is connected with the humility and courage to admit our sin, to admit that we were deceived or not vigilant. Our ego will always find an excuse, a priori rejecting the objective truth that convicts us. True self-criticism convicts our blind selfishness of an unwillingness to accept the truth and shows our limitations, namely that we are not gods but mere creatures.

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem,

and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This promise was made by Jesus to His apostles on the day of His ascension. On the tenth day afterwards, on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the apostles received the Holy Spirit. It was also here that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with the apostles the evening before His death and then appeared to them after His resurrection.

The apostles witnessed many miracles during the time they walked with Jesus. They saw the resurrection of the young man of Naim, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus, who had been in the grave for four days. Although they had good will, they failed in the moment of trial. Judas became a traitor and met a tragic end. Peter denied Jesus three times, but then repented sincerely. The other apostles, except John, dispersed. He and the Mother of Jesus were the only ones who stood by the cross.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy,

and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what

is written in it, because the time is near.

These words are from the Book of Revelation. The Apostle John was shown the future of the Church in various pictures on the island of Patmos. Some of them relate specifically to our time, but they have been and continue to be veiled to many. Only the Holy Spirit can gradually reveal the mysteries contained in the Book of Revelation.

But the important lesson for us is, “… blessed are those who hear and take to heart what is written in it.”

The Book of Revelation actually encourages us to be faithful to our Lord and Saviour, even to death. Many martyrs also gained strength from this book. It tells of the persecution of the Church, of the persecution of those who are faithful to Jesus and His Word.

A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, 

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

The leper came to Jesus. Leprosy is a disease in which the parts of the body gradually rot away until death finally comes. In Jesus’ time, leprosy was an incurable disease. Leprosy is infectious, so lepers were separated from the community of other people, lived in deserted places, and had to call out when a person approached them: “Leper!”, or ring a bell to keep people away from them and not infect them.

Saint Damien de Veuster, who lived in the 19th century, voluntarily went to the island of Molokai, where lepers lived. He served them and fought for the salvation of their souls. Eventually he was infected and became a willing sacrifice for their salvation.

Shake yourself from the dust and arise;

be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck,

O captive daughter of Zion.

This verse that is to be reflected on for the next two weeks is preceded by the following one: “Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.” Then follows our word of life that we are going to repeat: “Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”

The next verse reads: “For thus says the Lord: ‘You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. … Therefore My people shall know My name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.’”

“I, I am He who comforts you;

why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die,

a human being who fades like grass?”

The previous verse 11 reads: “And now they that are redeemed by the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion (into the true Church) singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” It is followed by this verse 12: “I, I am He who comforts you; why then are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die, a human being who fades like grass?” And the next verse 13 rebukes: “Have you forgotten the LORD who made you, who stretched out the heavens and laid the earth’s foundations? Why should you live in constant fear of the fury of those who oppress you, of those who are ready to destroy you? Their fury can no longer touch you.”

“Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel,

for I Myself will help you,”  declares the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Compared to the almighty God, who created billions of stars, to which we would have to fly at the speed of light for millions of years, our Earth is only a little dust and man is really less than a worm. The Lord takes care not only of real worms, but also of the human ones that He not only created, but also became man for them. Jesus won new, God’s life for us, which is not subject to death or suffering, but lasts forever in endless happiness and glory. The Son of God redeemed us from the slavery of darkness and sin, and the only condition for salvation on our part is that we accept Jesus by faith and remain faithful to Him on this journey of life.