Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from Your presence,

and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

These two verses are part of a penitential psalm prayed by King David after his fall. The psalm begins with: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”

In this penitent prayer, which was certainly accompanied by abundant tears, King David pleaded for a pure heart and a renewal of the spirit. But this prayer also expresses a deep mystery concerning the creation of a new heart. God later promised through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and … a new spirit.”

On this mountain the Lord will destroy the veil

that shrouds all the peoples,

the sheet spread over all the nations.

What is the shroud? What is that veil, which in some way shrouds or covers all people without distinction? The spiritual shroud is a hereditary sin, or a deposit of evil in us, which in Scripture is called the old man. The fruit of this destructive shroud are all the crimes, murders, atrocities, which the mankind has committed and is committing. All this crawls from under that cover of the spiritual darkness, full of lies and evil, which darkens our mind and blinds our will. In order to remove this veil, God became man. Man’s free will, however, is still a deep secret. Many people fell in love with lies and evil and they do not want this cover to be removed from their soul so that their mind recognizes the truth and conscience convicts them of their evil deeds. Jesus said: “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness because their deeds were evil.” We can see the proof of this being a reality daily, be it through the global events as well as in our private life. A little flock plays a significant role here. It is understood that this biblical name designates “the remnant of Israel”. Jesus says: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven,

and the kings of the earth, on the earth.

This statement of the prophet Isaiah is topical or will be topical during the upcoming days. What is the host of heaven in heaven? Apostle Paul explains that our fight is not against the flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness (cosmocratores), which govern the world in the heavenly realm (Eph 6:10f), which is the so-called host of heaven. The above mentioned powers of darkness endeavor to bring the Earth to self-destruction by means of this world rule. They do this through people who serve them, namely through their mediums. We know who these earthly kings are. In the present day, they have been replaced with a so-called democratic system and various ideologies, such as communism, fascism, etc. Behind this system of ideas is also a spirit, which influences people’s thinking and acting through certain structures. The Lord promises that He will punish those dark powers on that day. There is no doubt that that day will definitely be the day of the last judgment, but it can come even before God’s judgment. Similarly, as the fascism had been punished, albeit at the expense of great sacrifices, any other “ism”, which opposes God, will be punished and destructed sooner or later.

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth

will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth

will be loosed in heaven.

This promise applies on several levels. It applies to religious leaders, who are allowed to specify – in line with the teaching of the Church – some of the requirements of the Gospel and bind our conscience by a church regulation; for instance, they can lay down that eating meat on Friday is a sin. They can also loose it and say that the Friday fast may be replaced, for example, by prayer or an act of penance. This is an area that concerns those who are responsible before God for the Church in a particular territory.

Of course, church authority can be grossly abused against the essence, and this is already happening. In that case, however, the prelates concerned incur the most severe penalties, up to excommunication, in proportion to the gravity of their offence. This applies to those who nowadays promote sodomy and other similar immoralities through an abuse of episcopal or papal power.

They know nothing, they understand nothing.

They walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

This verse of the Psalm is very relevant for today. It applies primarily to men of political power and men of the Church, but to some extent it applies to all of us.

What to do to be able to know and understand and not walk about in darkness but in the light? We must be serious about Jesus in our lives, because He is the Light of the world. In Him is the fullness of wisdom and knowledge. If we are just influenced by so-called mainstream or smartphone wisdom, we know absolutely nothing about the essential things, namely the salvation of the soul, and we do not understand what we should do for its sake or how to overcome lies and deceit. In this blindness, then, all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

But everyone who hears these words of Mine

and does not put them into practice is like

a foolish man who built his house on sand.

And Jesus adds: “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” This is Christ’s warning. It is said briefly: the house fell with a great crash. Why did this house of human life fall? It was built on the sand of one’s dreams, plans, demands… It was not built on the rock, that is, on Christ and His Gospel demands. However, it is not enough to hear them; we need to put them into practice.

Jesus pointed out the need to put God’s word into practice when a woman in the crowd called out: “Blessed is the womb that bore You…” He said: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Lk 11:27f)

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine

and puts them into practice  is like

a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Jesus continues: “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (v.25) At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this parable of two builders. One built a house on the rock, the other on the sand. It is said that the one who built on the rock not only heard God’s word but also put it into practice. That is why in life’s trials, likened in the parable to wind, storm or sea waves, the house did not fall because it was built on the rock.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’

shall enter the kingdom of heaven,

but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

After these words, Jesus continues in the Gospel: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness!’”

Jesus speaks here about a false disciple, saying that such disciples will not be saved because although they use religious phrases and hide behind the name of Jesus they do the exact opposite. Moreover, even if they prophesied, cast out demons or did many wonders, it would not help them to be saved.

“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down

and thrown into the fire.”

Jesus does not speak here about a physical tree, but rather about man and his evil works. He says it at the end of the statement about false prophets, who come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Jesus continues: “You will know them by their fruits.” And then He adds: “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” And then: “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” With a nature corrupted by original sin, we can’t really bear fruit that lasts for eternity. The root of original sin is the seed of the devil. This is the pride of self-deification and rebellion against God, either overbearing pride and arrogance or subtle spiritual pride of pharisees, which is even worse. All this grows from a poisoned root, and that is why Jesus says: Deny yourself, i.e. the source of evil within you.

Beware of false prophets,

who come to you in sheep’s clothing,

but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

This warning of Christ is highly topical too. Today many shepherds of the Church are no longer servants of Christ, but servants of the antichrist. Naturally, this is not outwardly recognized. They really wear sheep’s clothing and use psychological methods to manipulate people. They speak of love, compassion, listening, discerning, welcoming, accompanying, and all this is actually a trap of ravenous wolves baring their fangs and tearing up naïve and often sincere deluded souls. These shepherds only talk about love, but they avoid true love – the cross of Christ.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate

and broad is the way that leads to destruction,

and there are many who go in by it.

Jesus’ advice is very serious. It concerns each of us. Heeding this earnest counsel brings forth the fruit of eternal life and eternal happiness in the kingdom of heaven. The gate which leads to life, however, is narrow, and unfortunately many do not know it, do not want to seek it, and if it is pointed out to them, they boycott it to their temporal and eternal detriment. On the other hand, Jesus warns of the wide gate and the broad way that leads to eternal destruction. It is a tragedy and a painful reality that there are many who have chosen this broad path of life that ends in destruction. This broad way does not bring true happiness and true peace in this life, but unrest of the soul and uncertainty. Then at the hour of death comes despair which is followed by eternal damnation. This is not an exaggeration or just some scaremongering; this is a serious warning from our Saviour to walk the narrow way of which He said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

These words remind us of a very important rule for our personal life, for our relationships with those closest to us as well as for our relationships with other people. We usually want others to do something and we are sad when they do not do what we would like them to do or we reproach them for it. Or we even make a gloomy face because they are unable to guess our wishes. This is the picture of the old self. We should learn our lessons from this unsound thinking, and learn true self-criticism instead. We have to assume that the other person is just as unsound in his thinking. If our thinking was vertical, in other words if we sought first the kingdom of God and the salvation of our soul and communicated with God in prayer, we would also seek the kingdom of God within us first and prefer it to temporal and passing values such as human glory, recognition, excessive wealth, vanities, etc.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Jesus lays down principles even for the mundane matters of our daily life. These are common worries, worries about the future, about food, about finances, about health, about yourself and your family, worries about your house, etc. Jesus gives a simple instruction that we should not worry about tomorrow, because each day has enough trouble of its own. So we should focus on the day that is given to us and live it according to the will of God. Jesus says, “Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” In another place, Jesus says that we should watch because we do not know when death will come. Death will relieve us of all worries. Scripture tells us to redeem the time. Worries rob us of peace. If we are overwhelmed by worries, we need to set proper priorities and distinguish what needs to be done first in a given situation, and then do it, and put aside what is not so relevant or even what is unnecessary.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

If you have bad eyes, or your eyesight is failing, you suffer. If you lose your sight, you are in complete darkness and see nothing of the material world.

A particular kind of look or facial expression may reflect an inner harmony or disharmony. A gloomy face, an evil look, an envious or lustful eye conveys sin and disharmony or spiritual bondage that enslaves man.

Nowadays, with the help of so-called modern psychologies, even the greatest criminal can easily create an artificial smile or pretend kindness, but it is unnatural and fake. Sooner or later it will be unmasked.

We have three kinds of sight or eyes – physical, mental and spiritual. With our physical eyes we see the material world. Mental sight is our reason and we can use it to discover the invisible realities, such as abstract, mathematical or even logical truths. In the light of reason, we can also recognize moral laws, which are reflected in the sphere of mutual relationships.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

Our nature corrupted by original sin is not concerned with treasures in heaven, where rust does not destroy and where thieves do not steal, but rather is inclined to materialism. It believes material things will provide for our future, and it even indulges the pride of life and looks down on the “have-nots”. Jesus says in the parable of the rich fool who wanted to pull down his barns and build greater: “You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” Naturally, such people are not mindful of death or the end. Finally, in time of serious illness, and especially in the hour of death, they receive quite a shock. They may even keep the Christian faith, but if their heart clings to possessions, they will hardly get rid of the demon of mammon at the hour of death. Jesus says clearly: “You cannot serve God and mammon.”

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

This is the only Jesus’ comment on the Our Father, where we pray: “Father,… forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” To be forgiven by God, I have to forgive far lesser trespasses that my neighbours have committed against me. A person who is aware of his guilt before God as well as of the punishment for his guilt takes God’s demand for granted. Jesus then adds: “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” So it is perfectly clear.

There are people who say: “I can’t get rid of the feeling of guilt. I just can’t believe that God has really forgiven me. I’ve confessed my sins, but the feeling of guilt persists.” The reason why the soul is restless and unsure of forgiveness is that a person does not forgive others their minor trespasses and is left with a feeling of bitterness.