**God's Incredible Sweet Love**

        Today's Communion Antiphon based on 1 Peter 1: 18-19: By the precious Blood of Christ, the Blood of a spotless and unblemished Lamb, we have been redeemed. Read it again. Let it sink in. It all happened for our sake; let your heart be moved by God's most sweet love.

**World Divided by Truth**

        In today's Gospel reading from John 7, some in the crowd who had heard Jesus, words said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others, "This is the Christ." But still others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?" So  a division occurred in the crowd  because of him. Of course, the Pharisees did not believe in the Lord at all and thought that the crowd was accursed. Today we also hold different opinions. To seek the truth, we must remain objective, open, and humble. Too many people today have pretty much decided to follow their own hardened hearts, even hoping that Christ is not the truth. That is being as bad as the Pharisees of Jesus' day.

***Reality We Must Be Aware Of***

        It may be a beautiful day, but we live in a chaotic world in which evil is waging a fearsome war against the Lord God, fighting for our very souls. How we live our lives will directly affect our eternal fate. To remain complacent, as if nothing earthshaking is happening or will happen to us, amounts to saying that Christ's coming and what he went through are irrelevant!

**Following Your Vision**

        Anyone without a vision will not get anywhere. For me, that vision is to return to my creator and Father in heaven after this life—a path already made possible through believing in and following Christ. The way has been paved, and it's only a matter of time before my vision is fully realized!

**Christ, Only One Worthy to Believe In**

        Christ challenges us all; he will not go away as long as we are alive on earth. Reading the Gospels alone compels us to ask if Jesus is truly our Lord and Savior, and the stakes are too high to ignore him. Personally, I totally believe in him because he is incredible and amazing. I don't think that any of us would be happy with a mundane and ordinary god. And there is simply no one else who can even compare to him.

**Reflections on Growing Old**

        Having lived quite a bit beyond normal life expectancy, I am totally ready to meet Christ, my Lord and my God—a blessing in which I greatly rejoice. When you are old, the energy is just not there, which is why you see old folks doze off easily. A nap or good rest replenishes the body; a weak battery that needs constant recharging is a good picture of this. We all become like old batteries if we live long enough. The important thing is that we remain strong and vigorous spiritually as we leave this life and enter eternity.

***Our Ultimate Fulfillment***

        This is to love and be in union with Christ forever.

**Salvation Made Simple**

        What impressed me today is God's tremendous love and his perfect plan of salvation for us. In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus said to the Jews, "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life." It can't be any simpler! The Lord has done all the work—we only need to believe as he has asked.

**Know God's Motive Clearly*

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 3:17, reads, "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him." We must be clear about God's motive: He only wants to save us, not to judge us. This should remove any fear we have of the Lord. If we ever get judged, it has to be the result of our own actions. 

***Transformative Moment with the Lord**

         Today is the Optional Memorial of Saint Patrick. The Gospel reading from Luke 5 is on the Call of Simon the Fisherman. Alongside the Lake of Gennesaret, Jesus got into one of the two boats, the one belonging to Simon. He asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him. Simon Peter gave such a beautiful, heartfelt response, realizing who Jesus was and who he himself was. Would that we all could have such a transformative moment.

***Called to Be Saints***

        We are all called to be saints, yet no two are alike. The Lord knows each of us intimately—exactly how we should serve and glorify him. Be holy as he desires, letting him mold us every step of the way for an exciting life!

**A Clear Picture**

        You either belong to God or the world. If you are not with God, then you are with the world. Since the God of Christ is eternal and the truth, the bond you form with him will last forever; whereas the world passes, and any bond you form with it is unreliable and only temporary—afterwards, you'll be left all alone for all eternity.

**Suffering to Be Offered to God**

        Once you experience the sweet, sublime presence of the Lord, every other worldly experience becomes boring. When you hear people incessantly blab or gossip about trivial, mundane things, you feel as though you are being dragged away from the Lord—a feeling that can be unbearable! This is a form of suffering anyone in union with Christ undergoes, and is to be offer up to God.

***How We Are Set Free***

        Jesus is the light. On our own, we remain in darkness and are self-centered; thus we are not free. Basically, we have the blind leading the blind. When we follow Jesus, we remain in the light always and center on him. By getting ourselves out of the way, we are set completely free. I might add that we also experience one of the greatest possible feelings.

***Urgent Call to Repentance***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus opened the eyes of one born blind. The pastor's message was that God can open our eyes to see the truth, but we often choose to remain blind. We hear the good news, but we just close our hearts to it—how sad that our pride has hardened our hearts, causing the Lord great sorrow! It is time for us to repent, for we are crucifying him all over again!

***Ultimate Fulfillment Is . . .***

 living in the will of Christ, feeling exactly what he feels at all times.

**Positive Outlook*

        I see people dwelling on the past, wasting their limited, precious time on earth, whereas we should be focused on Christ the LORD full-time, praying and serving him, while waiting for the joyful day of joining him in heaven!

**Endless Love**

        I was impressed by the phrase "endless live" in a video I watched recently—it perfectly describes God's love for us. We must never cease to love others at every opportunity for his sake. This is how we progress spiritually toward living the eternal life. If we remain stagnant, we are, in reality, falling behind the Lord.