In today's Second Reading from Romans, Paul writes, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!" We are finite creatures whom God has wonderfully made, yet we fail to comprehend that the LORD is infinitely greater than we can possibly imagine. This realization alone should awaken us to take God very seriously! After all, we owe him our very existence.
Sunday, August 23, 2026
**Our Perfect Prayer**
The Lord's Prayer Jesus gave us is the perfect prayer for us. It delineates how we should relate to our heavenly Father. Praying it with all our hearts can make us perfect, as he is perfect.
**No unhappy Christians!**
Christians should be the most joyful people in the world because God is their most loving Father, who assures them of eternal life if they follow his Divine Son, Jesus Christ, faithfully. An unhappy Christian is an oxymoron; such a person may simply not have fully grown in the faith yet.
Saturday, August 22, 2026
**Practicing What We Preach?**
Today is the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus denounces the scribes and the Pharisees. He accuses them of not practicing what they preach. For Christians, it is like not living up to what they believe in. In either case, pride is the culprit, and the Lord does not like hypocrites. In conclusion, he said to them, "The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
*****The Joy of Christ*****
This is the heavenly joy you experience when you encounter Jesus or the Holy Spirit. It is a sweet joy that bubbles forth from your heart, making you fall totally in love with the Lord. It is indescribable; you must personally experience it. You have to experience everything good about the Lord yourself, for he is a most personal God. In case you missed this video entitled "Infectious Joy in Jesus," which I posted on 10/17/2010, here it is again. The joy of Christ truly liberates us!
***Ultimate Fulfillment***
God's love for us is so great that we should remain in him always, listen to him, share everything in our hearts with him, and enjoy his holy presence. Being in loving union with the Lord completes our existence.
Friday, August 21, 2026
**The Story of Sr. Amapola**
Sr. Amapola, a nun with the Mission of Divine Mercy in Texas, has allegedly received messages from Heaven for years. You can hear her story in this interview. We are in end times, and the Church has already fractured, fulfilling the prophecies of the Holy Mother. As a result, these messages have generated some controversy. Catholics are not obliged to believe in private revelations, even if they have been approved. Personally, I found some of the messages about the Lord revelatory and inspiring, drawing me even closer to him. Sr. Amapola also confirmed that the illumination of conscience, known as The Warning, will take place.
***Inspiring Commandments***
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 22, Jesus said to a Pharisee, a scholar of the law, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." Because they set such a high standard, they are the most important. The Lord is truly inspiring!
**We Are God's from the Beginning**
In today's First Reading from Ezekiel 37, the prophet experiences the Vision of Dry Bones. It reminded me that the Lord is eternal and holds absolute creative power. We are basically bones embedded in flesh and covered with skin, remaining lifeless until he puts spirit in us. With this understanding, we know that we belong to God and must never walk away from him!
Thursday, August 20, 2026
**Responding to the Lord Is Serious**
Today is the Memorial of St. Bernard. The Gospel Acclamation, Psalm 95:8, reads: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts." The Lord is always speaking to us through various means. In the Gospel reading of the Parable of the Wedding Feast from Matthew 22, we learn that the king invites many guests, but they all refuse to come (all with hardened hearts). A second time he invites whomever his servants can find in the streets, and the hall is filled. Then the king sees a man not properly dressed in a wedding garment and has him bound and cast out into the darkness outside. So many are invited, but few are chosen. Even if you accept the invitation, you need to be properly prepared. Responding to the Lord's call is serious business—it is meeting the Lord God!
***Two Great Gifts to Ask For**
Psalm 51 is today's Responsorial Psalm. I learned from the reading that it is good to ask the Lord to create a clean, contrite, and humbled heart for us, and renew a steadfast, willing, and contrite spirit within us.
****One Big Union Advantage****
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). But once we attain union with the Lord through the Holy Eucharist, we come to know and understand his ways and thoughts.
***Beautiful Paradoxes**
1. When we acknowledge before the Lord that we are weak, the Lord makes us strong.
2. The more we humble ourselves, the more the Lord exalts us.
3. The more we see ourselves to be wretched sinners, the more we are made clean.
4. When we abandon ourselves to the Lord, he accomplishes what we want done for us.
5. Leave everything to follow the Lord and receive a hundredfold more from him.
6. Surrender ourselves to God and we become free.
7. The more we believe like a little child, the more God reveals to us what is hidden from the learned.
**Caring About What God Cares About Most**
We feel sorry for others who suffer from poor health or are depressed. Then I see that spiritual wellbeing is so much more important than any physical or mental condition. There is no gain if you enjoy good health and feel happy, but have not secured your soul yet. God desires to save our souls most, so we must go beyond just caring about others' physical and mental conditions.
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
**God's Reward Is Always Enough**
In today's reading from Matthew 20, Jesus tells the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard to illustrate what the kingdom of heaven is like. In it, all the laborers receive the same daily wage from the landowner at the end of the day, no matter when they were hired to start working that day. Of course, the ones who worked more hours grumble about this, but the landowner dismisses them. This can be likened to us who come to submit ourselves to Jesus at different times in life and end up in heaven. Once there, there is no point in caring about when we turned to the Lord anymore.
**Our One Shepherd**
In today's first reading from Ezekiel 34, the Lord wants Ezekiel to warn the shepherds of Israel thus: "Woe to you who have been pasturing yourselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture [my] sheep?" We, the people of the whole world, have only one shepherd, Jesus Christ. If we all let him shepherd us, we will have peace and heaven on earth for sure! For this, it is the duty of the faithful to pray unceasingly.
**My Triumph**
The Lord being my rock and my refuge, I have already overcome sin and death. It is only a matter of time before I return to him, my forever home.
**Good to Know!**
I am no philosopher or theologian, but I can tell you what life is all about. God has created us with free will, and we have inherited original sin. If we choose to obey God, we are restored to grace and saved. If we don't, we remain in sin and will be cast out by the Lord. All is fair, so be clear-headed!
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