**Faith, Hope, and Love**

        In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul identifies faith, hope, and love as the three fundamental virtues, with love being the greatest. We can tie these three together by recognizing that as long as we have faith in God's love, hope will always remain.

***Declaring My Faith***

        I am finite and imperfect, whereas God is infinite and perfect. Because his love for me is absolute, he can do no wrong. In fact, by placing my complete trust in his Son, our Savior, I am saved forever. He revealed this truth to me the moment I opened up to him completely.

***Joyful News***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 20, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning and saw it open and empty. She thought someone had taken the Lord from the tomb and began to weep. Then Jesus appeared and said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She recognized him and said to him, "Rabbouni," which means "Teacher" in Hebrew. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" I have blogged about this before, but I can't help doing it again because it is such a joy to know that Jesus' Father is our Father, and his God is our God!

**Resonding to God's Love**

        Today is the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. In the First Reading from Song of Songs 3, the Bride describes how she sought the One whom her soul loves. Indeed, Jesus gives us the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." We see that loving God only with our heart is not enough. He created our soul, and it is the soul that is most precious to him and loved by him. Therefore, we must respond to him at the soul level. This will please the Lord, and we will surely be saved.

***Precursor to Paradise**

        This world is entirely inhabited by sinners, with evil infiltrating every level of our society—including our homes and even the Lord's own Church. Indeed, one must be ensnared by the devil to love such a world. Confronted by this reality, my thoughts turned toward heaven, where we will experience nothing but God's absolute love. No evil will ever touch us again as we dwell in perfect, eternal union with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Mother, and all the great saints. I now see that for the faithful Christian, passing through this tiresome earthly life is simply a necessary precursor to paradise. Our time on earth is merely a brief moment at the very beginning of our journey to heaven.

**A Short on the Shroud of Turin Exhibit**

         https://youtube.com/shorts/o0V_LiV51Do?si=XK-6qj-lz8s8Miwy

**To Become Intimately Related to Christ**

        Here is today's entire Gospel reading from Matthew 12: "While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, 'Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.' But he said in reply to the one who told him, 'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?' And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.'" Conclusion: Conclusion: When we do the will of our heavenly Father, we are instantly brought into an intimate relationship with Christ.

**How Is Your Faith in Christ?**

        How strong is your faith in Christ? Do you ever doubt? The Lord tests everyone from time to time, but know that he will never test those who love him beyond what they can bear. Once you pass the test, your faith becomes stronger than ever. Consider every test a blessing.

**You Cannot Love God and the World**

       According to Jesus, the first and greatest commandment is, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Yet, it seems that many Christians are still far more interested in the things of the world. It is a blessing that the Lord's mercy is infinite, but we should always strive to love God more by becoming more obedient to him. 

***From Mohammad to Jesus***

        A week ago, I posted a short entitled A Muslim Woman Finds the Truth. Here is the complete version of that story, produced by EWTN. 

***Final Judgment and a Grave Sin***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus explained the Parables of the Weeds to his disciples. He said, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear." Two things are worth noting. First, at the end of the age, Christ will deal with the evildoers and the righteous once and for all. Second, if we also cause others to sin, our sin is particularly grave!

**Prompted by the Spirit**

       In today's Second Reading from Romans 8, Paul writes: "The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will." When we struggle to express our yearning for God, the Spirit within us prompts these inexpressible groanings, yet the Lord understands us perfectly. Any prayer inspired by the Spirit is always effective.

***Critical First Understanding***

        It is critically important for us to know our own state, understand who our Lord and God is, and know what he wants from us at the earliest possible moment. First, we are lost sinners without God. Next, Christ has revealed to us that God is all-loving and intent on saving us from sin so that we may return to him in heaven. If we understand this clearly and accept it, the riddle of our existence is solved, and we are free to return to the Lord, our loving Creator.

***Sinners Need to Think Correctly**

        As sinners, we tend to think incorrectly. For example, we think that because we are so sinful, we will never become saints. This is false humility. The truth is that the greater our sins, the more we need to become holy, and God can surely make that happen. True humility is believing that nothing is impossible for God.

        I just watched a short Catholic video showing that the most precious blood of Jesus can wash us clean. Would you like to be sprinkled with this blood? Again, if you think that since you are unclean, you are not worthy to have this holy blood touch you, you are thinking incorrectly again. Since the blood can make you clean, accepting it is exactly what you need to do to please the Lord.

**Wise Move Against Sin**

        Inheriting Original Sin makes it easy for us to sin, but fortunately, we are given a conscience to make us aware of it. Once we start sinning, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop. Because Christ has complete power over sin, it is wise to submit to him as early as possible so that sin never overcomes us.

**Christians in Name Only**

        There are many who think they are better Christians than everyone else, Christian or not. They quote the Bible to show that others are wrong, but ignore all the verses that plainly show that they are wrong. Basically, they are judgmental, lack true humility, and have not yet completely submitted to the Lord. When they are still full of pride, the evil one targets them.

****Glitz vs. Glory****

        The fourth Luminous Mystery of the Rosary is the Transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. This is absolutely beautiful and awesome! Then I thought of the world's celebrities, putting up the glitziest shows to impress people with their huge egos. By contrast, the former is refreshing and uplifting, while the latter is vulgar and sickening.

***Beyond Union***

        We can go beyond attaining union with God, because loving him has no upper limit! This is exactly what makes following Jesus so exhilarating.