**Fear No Evil**

        I had a vivid dream last night. I was visiting a city and entered a building that was supposed to be haunted. I experienced the presence of various evil spirits, yet I had no fear at all, knowing that the Holy Spirit was with me since I had received the Lord in the Eucharist earlier at Mass. It is true that when the Lord is with you, no evil spirit can touch you. Psalm 23:4 came to my mind: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me." Amen.

**The Least Shall Be Greatest**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus said to his disciples, "The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." If you are full of pride, you are on your own and can only fall. But if you are truly humble, God will exalt you without limit!

**Admirable Faith!**

        In today's first reading from Job 1, the LORD allowed Satan to take away all that Job had, but not to lay a hand on his person. Then, misfortune befell his livestock, his sons and daughters, and the house they were dining in. Job cast himself prostrate upon the ground and said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!" In all this, Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God. I especially admire and love that last sentence. What a great attitude!

**A Wakeup Call**

        Seeing all the amazing technological innovations and advancements made today, we tend to think that we are capable of achieving anything. We forget that it took us many centuries and countless individuals working our brains off to get to where we are today, whereas the Lord God can achieve infinitely greater things in an instant should he so choose. Our false pride simply distances us further and further from the Lord our Savior. Here is my wakeup call to all: The more we think we know, the more ignorant we are of God's omnipotence. Humility, not pride, is our ticket to eternal life!

**Believing Is the Key**

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 21, Jesus told the Parable of the Two Sons to the chief priests and elders of the people. Afterward, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him." We see that entering the kingdom of God is not a matter of how sinful we are, but rather whether we believe or not.

**Our Ultimate Aim**

        In today's Second Reading from Philippians 2, Paul, citing Christ Jesus as an example, advises everyone to do nothing out of selfishness or vainglory. Instead, he urges us to humbly regard others as more important than ourselves, looking out not only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others. This is a high standard and certainly something for us to work on, as becoming more like the Lord is ultimately our aim.

**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.