****Making God Come to You*****

        John 14:23, today's Gospel Acclamation, reads: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." What beautiful and endearing words! Now you know exactly how to invite God into your life.

***Big Wakeu-Up Call to Unbelievers***

        God has given his own Son so that we may have eternal life. Can you think of anything you want even more than eternal life? If that cannot make you happy, you really don't deserve it. Are you so blind that, knowing that you can never find true happiness in this life and will only be on earth for a short while, you still don't want to let the true God of Christ be your God? Wake up now before your last moment arrives! 

**Hell Exists**

        In today's first reading from 2 Timothy 3, Paul writes, "In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived." Watch the news, and you will see that corruption and fraud are out of control in this country, resulting in the loss of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars every year, the rise of political riots funded by those who want to destroy our democracy, stolen elections, and a lot more. Do you think that there will be no consequences for all the evildoers? Common sense alone tells me that hell exists, notwithstanding the evidence offered by Scripture, many saints, mystics, and those who have died and returned. If hell is real, then heaven is real and God exists. Pity the evildoers who are now only digging their own graves, so to speak.  

***The Apostles I Can Relate To**

        Among the twelve Apostles of Jesus, Peter and John are probably the best known. When Christ asked Peter if he loved him, Peter replied, "Lord, you know that I love you." In his Gospel, John referred to himself simply as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Because the Lord knows that I love him—even though I fall short time and again—and I know without a doubt that he loves me, I feel that I can relate to Peter and John the most.

***Know God's Mercy***

        Watch this video to know God's mercy. Obviously, it would be wise to settle the matter before your moment of death. The lesson: Never despair, for there is always hope in God.

 

**How to Convert Others**

        I recall one particular person whose example led me to Christianity. His name was Harry Burke, and though he is most likely no longer with us, his impact remains. He was a member of the Inter-Varsity team at the University of California, Berkeley, during my graduate school years. Like most graduate students, I was under immense stress and began questioning the deeper meaning of life. That was when I noticed Harry. He dressed simply and didn’t even own a watch, yet he always appeared genuinely cheerful and kind to everyone. At social gatherings, he naturally shared his faith. After about two years of observing his life, I finally accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. My experience taught me that the best way to win others to Christ is to first focus on your own transformation. When you live a life filled with Christlike love, you stand out. People notice, and they remember. In short: Embody Christ, and leave the results to the Lord.

***The Story of Jesus**

        It has to be the greatest true love story in history. We have a God, our heavenly Father, who loved us so much that he sacrificed his own Divine Son so that we might not die from sin, but have eternal life. No writer could have come up with such an incredible story! Since it did occur like a miracle, it must be  true and worthy of belief.

**Joyful Realization**

        Although I was not feeling too well physically this morning, I felt great joy when I realized that because I now belong to Christ the Lord, no evil can ever touch me anymore!

****This You Should Know*****

        In this earthly life, any pleasure we experience is never truly pure, though those who know the Lord intimately do taste heavenly joy at times. Once we are with him in heaven, our joy will be completely pure—described more accurately as ecstasy or bliss. This is exactly what our Lord wants all of us to experience for eternity!

**Three Markers of Faith**

        In today's first reading from 2 Timothy 1, Paul writes, "I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control." These are what we need to possess: a spirit of power, love, and self-control—they go together. We must measure ourselves against these three gifts.

**Only One Judge for Us**

        Since God is the only perfect, holy One, and we are all imperfect sinners, he alone should be our judge.

***Praying Slowly**

        I have found that when saying any fixed prayer—such as the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Rosary, or the Divine Mercy Chaplet—slowly, I get a lot more out of it. When you rush through a prayer, your heart is not really in it. Dwell on each word a little bit, and you feel that the Lord is truly listening to you. My last post was about patience being a sign of holiness, and it applies here too. By the way, when I learn a new piece on my piano, I do much better when I play slowly and pay attention to all the notes. It is easy to play fast after a while, learning it by rote. Then, when muscle memory fails, you are stuck. Playing slowly enables you to remember all the notes in your mind as well. 

**Patience: A Sign of Holiness**

        God is most wise for he is infinitely patient with all our faults, forever waiting for us to turn to and put our trust in him. Nowadays, people often get upset when things do not go their way. When that happens, they can no longer think clearly, and things get even worse. Impatience is caused by a lack of trust in God, turning people into fools. 

*****Why We Must Trust in Christ*****

        Life flows seamlessly into death; there are no barriers to cross or overcome. It happens when our time is up. Therefore, we must trust in Christ, putting ourselves totally in God's loving hands!

**No Fruitless Toil and Drifting Away**

        This verse from today's reading from Psalm 90 strikes me: "Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong. And most of them are fruitless toil, for they pass quickly and we drift away." This holds true for those who do not follow Christ. When we know him, we will bear fruit and walk the path to paradise.

**Ultimate Freedom**

       e.Without faith in God, life can feel absolutely meaningless. Believing in him brings hope. And when you believe that Jesus is truly our Savior, everything in the Gospels falls perfectly into place, ultimately the truth setting you free.

**Be Like God, but Don't Play Him**

        When we say someone "plays God," we really mean that the person thinks he or she is God. Of course, that is impossible, for God is infinite and utterly humble, while we are the very opposite. So, to play God basically is to be like the Devil.

**Pathetic Belief**

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, as in many other Gospel passages, we read that the chief priests, scribes, and elders sought to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the crowd. It is ironic and sad that they feared the people, but not the true God.