Elija Mission

Liturgically speaking, this is still the time when the risen Lord Jesus is with His disciples to strengthen them in their faith in His resurrection and to prepare them for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We understand Pentecost as the founding day of the Church, which, according to our faith, is the Body of Christ and is built upon the foundation of the prophets and His apostles (cf. Eph 2:20). She is that Israel which recognized Him as the promised Messiah who came to redeem His people. All who recognized the hour of salvation and accepted God’s grace entered into the service of the Redeemer and thus became witnesses of Christ.

We still have thirty days remaining until the Feast of Pentecost, during which it is fitting to offer some reflections on the Church: the one, holy, Catholic Church, which emerged from Jews and Gentiles and has been called throughout the centuries, as the teacher of the nations, to communicate salvation in Christ.

God has set in motion a great work to lead people from all nations to the faith, to gather them in this way, and to call them home to His kingdom. It was His risen Son who gave His disciples in Galilee—as we hear in the Gospel—the following commission:

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Yesterday’s reflection introduced us to the story of Saint George as told in the Legenda Aurea. He rescued the princess, who was to be sacrificed to a dragon, through the power of the Lord. As a result, the people—freed from the dragon—turned to the Christian faith. My reflection ended with the sentence:

This story raises the question of what is happening today in a world that is turning more and more away from Christ. Is this dragon once again exercising his dominion over humanity in various ways?

This is the question we must explore today. Anyone with eyes to see cannot fail to notice that the world is under a strong influence of evil and thus in bondage to the dragon. In the story of Saint George, this dependence of humanity required liberation through Christ.

The dragon, who represents the power of evil, is clearly identified in Holy Scripture. In the Book of Revelation it says:

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There are probably few saints as well known as Saint George, whom we celebrate today, and around whom so many stories and legends have gathered. He is highly venerated throughout Christianity and is often depicted in paintings as the slayer of the dragon. Concerning the slaying of the dragon, the following story is told about him, which I present here in abridged form from the Legenda Aurea by Jacobus de Voragine:

“George, the knight (born of Cappadocian lineage), once came to the land of Libya, to the city of Silena. Near the city was a lake as vast as a sea, in which dwelt a poisonous dragon who had often driven the entire population into flight whenever they marched out armed against him. He would come right up to the city walls and poison everything with his venomous breath. The citizens of the city—still pagans—offered him two sheep every day. As the number of sheep dwindled, they began to sacrifice human beings as well, drawing lots to determine who would be chosen. The lot fell also upon the king’s daughter. Though shaken to his core, the king could not protect her, for the people threatened to burn him and his house if he did not abide by the law he himself had enacted.”

The legend continues, recounting that Saint George witnessed the moment when the king’s daughter was about to be sacrificed to the dragon.

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Yesterday we surely marveled at St. Konrad, whose life became so fruitful and who carried out his undoubtedly demanding service as porter for forty‑one years, until three days before the end of his life. Through him, pilgrims to Altötting were able to experience a profound closeness to God. Brother Konrad himself shared with us something of his “secret of love,” which united him so intimately with God.

It is one thing to gratefully admire such a life and to praise the Lord for it. It is another to thank the saint himself for having listened so well to our heavenly Father and for having served Him and humanity! It is also helpful to ask him to pray for our own path of following Christ. Yet we can take another step.

How can we make the lives of the saints fruitful for ourselves?

Surely it is a matter of finding the source from which Brother Konrad was so richly gifted, so that streams of living water flowed from him into this world. The saint expresses in his gentle and simple way how we should live:

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After my Easter reflections and a consideration of the last things, I am now, so to speak, turning my daily reflection toward the liturgical season of Easter. I would like to continue what I began in earlier posts—namely, to regularly take a look at the saints of the day. These need not always be those commemorated in the daily liturgy; they may also include lesser‑known or regionally venerated saints who nonetheless appear in the official directories.

The saints are true witnesses to the Gospel, whether their holiness was expressed in great outward works or blossomed quietly in hidden ways. They are an immeasurable gift to the Church and, thus, to all humanity. Only God knows what graces have been poured out upon the world through their lives.

Today we turn our gaze to St. Brother Konrad von Parzham, from whom this remarkable saying originates:

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The important but often misunderstood topic of Purgatory still falls within the scope of our reflections on the last things, and despite its seriousness, it is a very comforting teaching.

We must assume that most people cannot immediately attain full union with God after death, for this is possible only when a person is completely purified. At the same time, we hope that as few people as possible will go to hell—preferably none at all—which is left entirely to God’s love and justice. Against this backdrop, the profound meaning of the doctrine of Purgatory becomes clear. It springs from the wisdom of God’s love and constitutes an act of His mercy. Thus, for people who did not respond sufficiently to God’s love during their earthly life, there is still a path of purification after death.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following in Article 12:

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Any consideration of the all‑important “last things” remains incomplete if we do not also take into account the possibility of a life gone astray, for both Sacred Scripture and Church teaching bear clear witness to this.

Certainly, it may be frightening to hear about this, but that is no reason to conceal this dimension of our faith, for there is also such a thing as “salutary fear.” Saint John Chrysostom underscores the importance of this teaching and emphasizes how essential it is to keep it in mind.

“Truly, if we always thought of the punishment of hell, we would not easily fall into it! That is why God has threatened us with the punishment of hell: if the thought of it did not have something salutary, He would not have done so. Because the memory of the punishments of hell produces such great effects, God has given us the threat as a salutary medicine. (…) A soul that fears hell will not easily fall into sin. (…) The fear dwelling in the heart banishes all that is sinful from it.” (J. Chrysostom, Homily on the Second Letter to the Thessalonians, 2:3)

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As we considered yesterday, the highest good that awaits us in Heaven is the vision of God, which will make us infinitely happy. Some Church Fathers have attempted to make this incomprehensible reality somehow accessible to us. Therefore, I would like to add one of these voices for our edification. Saint Augustine, a master of the word, writes in The City of God:[1]

How great shall be that felicity, which shall be tainted with no evil, which shall lack no good, and which shall afford leisure for the praises of God, who shall be all in all! For I know not what other employment there can be where no lassitude shall slacken activity, nor any want stimulate to labor. (…) All the members and organs of the incorruptible body, which now we see to be suited to various necessary uses, shall contribute to the praises of God; for in that life necessity shall have no place, but full, certain, secure, everlasting felicity. (…) And, along with the other great and marvellous discoveries which shall then kindle rational minds in praise of the great Artificer, there shall be the enjoyment of a beauty which appeals to the reason. (Book 22, chapter 30)

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Yesterday we focused on the spiritual resurrection, or the first resurrection. This topic no longer needs to be explored in greater depth, for it is the daily path of faith, linked to the pursuit of holiness. It accompanies us throughout our entire lives, and I strive to offer help to the faithful and those seeking the truth through talks, meditations, and lectures.

But what also belongs to these reflections on the Lord’s Resurrection is the gaze toward eternity. For those believers who have remained faithful, it will be Heaven—complete union with God in the contemplation of His glory.

It would indeed be very unwise to lose sight of this wonderful goal toward which we are journeying. It is far more glorious than we can imagine, and its beauty should draw us to it. Nor does contemplating the glory of Heaven make us unworldly, “aloof,” or cause us to flee from reality. All of these are false notions. On the contrary, the anticipation of Heaven should strengthen our zeal to fulfill our vocation on earth, to glorify God and serve humanity.

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Now that we have considered our future bodily resurrection in three reflections—a resurrection we can joyfully look forward to as the faithful—it is fitting to turn our attention to our spiritual resurrection, which is the prerequisite for facing death with confidence. This spiritual resurrection is also referred to as the “first resurrection,” meaning the awakening of the soul to true life.

St. Augustine writes about this topic in The City of God and comments on the following words of the Lord:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” (John 5:25)

According to Augustine, “the Lord is not speaking here of the second resurrection—the bodily one that will take place at the end—but of the first, which is taking place now. It is precisely this that He wishes to mark with the words: ‘The hour is coming, and now is.’ But this resurrection is not a resurrection of bodies, but of souls. For souls, too, have their death—namely in godlessness and sin—and it is such dead people the Lord means when He says: “Let the dead bury their dead,” meaning: let those who are spiritually dead bury those who are physically dead. (Augustine, Volume 28, p. 1227)

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