**Best Blessing**

        When God rewards us, it may be a monetary blessing, but it can come in any form. I value any blessing that is unknown to me so that my ego does not get inflated.

**Ultimate Challenge**

        There is usually a gap between our heartfelt love for God and our actual practice of loving others. To close this gap, we must follow the Lord's every word to the letter. This means practicing what we truly believe. It remains the ultimate challenge for every Christian.

***Repeated Reminder***

        From today's Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 90, I'd like to single out this verse: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart." Not wanting to sound like a broken record, I'd like to remind everyone again that we have only one life to live and one place to go after death, so let Christ make it good for us—this is being supremely wise! 

***Christ Changes Things!**

        Today's First Reading from Ecclesiastes 11 and 12 is a poem on youth and old age. It is true that no matter how we choose to live our lives, God will bring us to judgment in the end. In a sense, all things are vanity, as the author of Ecclesiastes states. However, after knowing Christ, life can be lived in complete humility, and the fear of judgment is no more!

**God Is All for Us!**

        Romans 8:31b reads, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Because Christ died for us, we know He is all for us. Therefore, we should have no hesitation in placing ourselves completely in His hands. Eternal life is now ours! Remember, eternal life cannot be earned; it is received purely through faith and trust.

**The LORD Is My All**

         This is the first stanza from today's Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 144: "Blessed be the LORD, my rock, my mercy and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust." I can easily add, in no particular order, that the Lord is also my God, Savior, King, master, light, life, refuge, shepherd, teacher, guide, best friend, confidant, comforter, and soulmate. 

**There Is a Time for Everything**

        Today's First Reading comes from Ecclesiastes 3. I am going to post the first eight verses here because they are quite beautiful: "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every thing under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." To me, this is about accepting life. At my age, it is a time to get detached from everything in the world. By the way, a time to surrender to God is not mentioned, but it definitely belongs on the list.

****Secret to Achieving Union with God****

        Once you receive the Lord consistently in the Holy Eucharist and remain completely open, you experience his transforming power and can't help but fall in love with him, who is love. Falling in love with love now liberates you from every kind of enslavement and helps you achieve total union with God.  

**Warning**

        God has given us the Ten Commandments and more, and these standards do not change. We will all be judged by them in the end. The problem with us is that we do not take this seriously enough, not realizing that the consequences can be grave. The Lord God is to be revered and fully obeyed. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."

***Our Choice***

        Our time on Earth is more precious than gold. If we squander it for our own sake, we shall have received all our reward in this life. However, if we bear maximum fruit for God's sake, we shall receive our reward in heaven for all eternity. It's our choice.

***Humility Over Vanity**

        Today's First Reading from Ecclesiastes 1 is all about the vanity of human toil. Let us get straight to the point: If we work so hard in this life but find that our next life is even worse, then we have truly labored in vain. Here is where Christ change everything. By following him, we find satisfaction in our earthly work and will discover a next life that is more joyful than we can possibly imagine!

**Ask for Only What's Right for Us*

        Here is one proverb from today's First Reading from Proverbs 30: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need." I think with the Lord, we should ask for only what is right for us. For example, we need the cross we bear to be neither overbearing nor too light, and we are to be perfectly honest with and obedient to God—no more, no less. The Lord always knows what's best for us, and that should take care of all things.

**What We Must Do to Remain Close to Christ**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 8, the mother and brothers of Jesus came to see him but were unable to reach him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see you." In reply, he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." Therefore, to be close to Jesus, we must act on his word. We cannot simply do whatever we want and say, "I trust in God." That is not enough—we must actively do God's will!

**Joy on a Different Level**

        There is a commercial that claims using their product—I can't remember the name—makes you feel guilty for feeling so good. It made me think of the joy of Christ, which elevates our spirits to a heavenly level without a single ounce of guilt.

**The Lord Is Our Physician*

        Today is the Feast of Saint Mathews, Apostle and evangelist. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, as Jesus passed by a man named Matthew sitting at the custom table, he sais to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Thus, we can see all sinners as sick people and the Lord as their physician.

**Follow This Rule to Perfection***

        Since God is love, to live for God is to live for love. So let us bear with one another through love, as St. Paul advises in Ephesians 4 today. Follow it to perfection and we become perfect. This is the only simple rule we need to remember in following Christ.

**Humility, A Must for Eternal Life**

        If you are a fairly intelligent, talented person but are not aware of God's omniscience and omnipotence, it is easy to believe that you know enough to no longer need him. This is like a curse—the very opposite of a blessing. You are being foolish in the extreme, for whatever you have came from the Lord who created you in the first place. Don't let pride imprison you; It is by acknowledging that you are absolutely dependent on him that you may inherit eternal life.

***Communion Experience***

        I finally got to receive Holy Communion after almost five months. The fact that I felt the Lord's presence within me at all times helped a lot. Nevertheless, after I received both the consecrated bread and wine, I couldn't help weeping tears of joy for at least five minutes, lifting my spirit high.