**A Lovely Feeling*

         Today's Mass Response from Psalm 84 reads, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!" If you feel the same way and want to be there, you are close to the Lord.

**How Open Are We to God?*

        In Matthew 13:12, Jesus Jesus said to his disciples, "To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Based on this, we can say that "To anyone who expects a lot from God, he will receive much; to anyone who doesn't, he will end up with naught." Basically, it comes down to how open we are to the Lord.

***God Cannot Be Fooled*

         If you think you can serve the Lord by doing some good works and gain entry into heaven, but still haven't gotten all your sins removed yet, you are only fooling yourself. Your good may outweigh the bad, but the former cannot cancel the latter. God does not judge us with a balance, but by our purity alone.

**A Top Priority**

        Most of us feel it's OK to go ahead and do whatever we'd like to do if it's not something bad. Strictly speaking, this is still self-serving. While what we want to do seems OK, it may not be God's will, at least not yet. For example, I get an idea of spreading the gospel and am excited about it, but I could be rushing ahead of the Spirit or the Lord might want me to do it some other way. So it's best to let him motivate us and show us the way in everything we do. This takes patience and self-effacement, but follow the Lord we must.

**Awesome Communion Experience

        The Most Perfect Infinite One melds with an imperfect finite one. It was overwhelming and most gratifying at the same time!

**Selving Self vs. Serving God**

         If we just do whatever we feel like doing without considering whether it's in conformity with God's will or not, we essentially serve Satan, for it's self-serving—and we'll never experience true peace. On the other hand, even if we always follow God's will, disturbing thoughts can still pop up. But we now know that they're not from the Lord and dismiss them right off the bat.

***Church Needs to Step Up Preaching*

         Currently, all the mega churches that have been preaching prosperity gospel for decades have started to fall one by one. These million dollar enterprises are facing closures. People have finally realized that God has never promised that he'll make youn rich if you believe in him enough. On the contrary, true discipleship requires taking up the cross and denying yourself. As far as the Catholic Church in the United States is concerned, the preaching in general has been on target but rather weak and unbalanced. Weak because the focus on the Lord is not that strong, and unbalanced because important basic topics we need to hear but might make some parishioners feel uneasy are not mentioned. America is supposed to be a Christian nation, but affluence and materialism have made it secular.

**The Lord "at Our Command"

        If we are in union with the Lord, anything we wish becomes ours.

**Ask and You Shall Receive**

         In today's First Reading from q Kings 3, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you." Solomon answered, "I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong." The LORD was pleased with Solomon's request and gave him a heart so wise and understanding that after him there would come no one to equal him. Surely the LORD is open to us asking for gifts that can help us serve him better. Every bit we receive can make us bear more fruit.

**Warning to the Unprepared**

         Be prepared or unexpected things will happen and shock you!

**Jesus Appearing in Iran**

         Please pray for the people of Iran that they will be freed by Christ and have peace.

**Today's Herods*

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, we heard about the death of John the Baptist. King Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. This shows that he still had some conscience. Later, even when he knew it's wrong to get John beheaded, because of his oaths made to his daughter in the presence of all the guests, he still went ahead to get John killed. Many people today are like that too. They don't really understand Christ, yet they don't quite cut him off either. When it comes to commit a sin, they choose making themselves look good over not offending the Lord. These are all mixed-up folks.

**The Lord Does It All*

         Communion experience. I remained open to receive whatever messages and blessings the Lord wished to give me. Anything from him is good for the soul and exhilarating! We are now soulmates. 💕

**The Lord's Sorrow**

         Christ is inseparable from joy. Even when I shed tears of sorrow for his sake, it is intermingled with joy. When I weep for the world, the sorrow felt was pure. Then the Lord's joy comforts me.

**Disciple Test*

         Jesus' most ardent desire is to save souls. When we become fishers of all people, we are his disciples.

*****Achieving Perfect Obedience*****

          To achieve perfect obedience, attaining union with God through the Holy Eucharist is necessary. For it's in union with God that you come to know his will and receive the strength you need for execution.

**Holiness│Longevity**

         Today is the Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr. This Italian saint was tortured to death at age 20. It makes me realize that there is no correlation between holiness and longevity. For you can live a most affluent long life on earth and end up losing God later for all eternity or suffer torture, die young and end up in heaven. Simple conclusion: Live for Christ only, never mind everything else, and you'll live forever.

***Presenting God's Love**

         When we love someone, whether that person is trustworthy or not, good or bad, attractive or not . . . often affects how much we're willing to love them. This is not Christ's love for us. Pure love is blind, not selective in any way. This is hard for us to follow, but follow we must, and it tests how much we truly love the Lord.