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Weekly message
from Fr. Chris
1LA - holiness
February 22nd, 2026
Dear SPA Family, Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2).
Many people associate holiness with something that is far from everyday life. Saints are people considered role models and examples of life, as some kind of elite. What about the rest of the people? The Sacred Scripture, the teaching of the Church, meanwhile, tell us something else: holiness is the way for everyone.
The Second Vatican Council speaks of the universal call to holiness of all the baptized. For holiness is not about perfectionism, but about becoming like God the Father. We are not called to perfectionism, but to holiness.
What does it mean that God is holy? This means that God’s love is perfect because God loves us unconditionally. This means that God loves us equally when we are good and when we are weak, or despite our weaknesses or mistakes. This is the perfection of God’s love. Bur, does this mean that God wants evil, wars, violence, hatred? NO. The source of all evil and all hatred is sin. If I allow sin to overwhelm me, that’s where all the evil comes from. We can compare sin to a parasite that exists thanks to its host. The more sinful the lifestyle I lead, the more mature are the demons of the disease of hatred and all its derivatives. But even then, God does not stop loving and being faithful to his love. It’s not easy to understand. God is holy because he forgives and loves. Love and forgiveness are the only cure for the parasite of sin, which is hatred.
The witness of God the Father’s forgiveness is Jesus. When he died on the cross, he did not curse, but forgave (Luke 23:43). This is one of the most important parts of the Mass. A priest prays over the bread and wine, saying words that Jesus himself said: This is my body..., this is my blood given for you... and then very important words: Do this in memory of me. What are we to do “in memory of him”? The Gospel tells us: Love your neighbor as yourself. Forgive. For many people, this seems impossible. However, nothing is impossible for God. God’s love (and our faith as a response to God’s love) helps us forgive. He helps us not to give up, to start over, to be faithful.
Each coin has two sides. One side does not exist without the other. Yes, holiness has two sides: love and forgiveness. We can derive an almost mathematical formula for holiness, that is, a happy life. It would look like this: Love alone without forgiveness can only be a warm feeling. Forgiveness without love can be an unbearable burden and obligation.
This is what the words mean: Do this in memory of me - love and forgive. Maybe there are areas in my heart where the wound after the injury has not healed yet, where every touch hurts horribly? Maybe I am attached, attached to things or opinions of others on which I base my life decisions?
Evil can only be overcome with good. What can I do in remembrance of Jesus in my life this week? Maybe someone is waiting for my forgiveness? Maybe I’ll refrain from unnecessary words? Maybe I’ll start saying good things instead of just pointing out the weaknesses of others?!?
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, (Mt 5:44-45).
Have a blessed week. Fr. Chris
6OTA - commandments
February 15th, 2026
Dear SPA Family,
In our times, perhaps more than ever, louder than before, even baptized people demand a change of the Decalogue. They demand to have God on the second place when it comes to the morality or the right to abortion and the right to shorten the suffering of the terminally ill by euthanasia. Today, probably more than ever, people think that if they arranged the world according to their laws, the world would be better, and life would be much easier. Today, at various demonstrations and marches, it’s demanded that the Church change God’s law, although it is not written directly on the banners.
A question may arise in the heart of a believing Christian as to what attitude to take and how to defend oneself against all these attacks and accusations. This Sunday’s liturgy of the word gives us a clue. In the history of humankind, there was no greater revolutionist and reformer of the existing law than Jesus. He Himself speaks to us today about Himself: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill (Mt 5:17).
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, also warns, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5, 19).
So why do people demand a change in God’s law? Probably because they are unwilling to take the trouble to uphold it. Think, Brother and Sister, what the world would look like if we, at least slightly, changed these ten sentences of God. Would life on earth really be paradise? I think not. I am convinced that we would have even more broken rules, more liars, thieves and murderers.
So why do people demand a change in God’s law and say it’s too hard to keep? I think that one of the reasons may also be that someone notoriously, knowingly breaks one of the ten commandments. Then the entire Decalogue seems to be an unbearable burden. If people cheat on their spouses and enter into new relationships, that is, if they deliberately remove the sixth commandment from their life, then keeping the other nine commandments in such a situation becomes much more difficult than if they continued faithfully in marital love. If the driver with the best and newest car unscrews one of the four wheels or loosens the bolts in one of the wheels, we know that he will not get far. The Decalogue is a wholeness. The more I try to keep the individual commandments, the easier it is to live according to God’s law.
The Church has not changed the Decalogue for centuries and will not change it, because it was not the Church that gave it to us, but God Himself. The Church was established to guard this law and to teach it, to preserve it and not changed, as Christ reminded us. The Church is supposed to show people the way to heaven, not to hell, to eternal happiness, not temporary pleasure.
Have a blessed week. Fr. Chris