***Follow the Truth***

        Compared to other religions, only the Christian God teaches his people personally. His teachings are always clear and loving, never oppressive. These to me are the markings of the true God. My personal experience of freedom, peace, and joy confirms this truth without any doubt. Follow the truth always! 

**Asking God to Make Us Great**

        The Lord is mighty and most loving, so why not ask him to make us humble and holy so that we may be "great" before him? Since he he desires that we be perfect as he is (Matthew 5:48), all will be ours for the asking!

***We Are Special to God!**

        It has been estimated that our universe contains at least 200 billion trillion stars. The Lord God who created this immense universe also created us—tiny as we are—and gave us life, free will, and the ability to communicate with him. This should make us realize that we are incredibly special to God, a truth confirmed by the coming of Christ, who brought us the good news of salvation. We must appreciate the Lord and never deprecate ourselves again.

***The Light of My Life***

        John 8:12, on which today's Gospel Acclamation is based, reads, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." To me, Christ the Lord is the light of my life, for he has made me see the whole truth—what is right and what is wrong. By following him, I shall never fall again!

**Today's Delight**

        From today's Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 37:4 reads, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will grant you your heart’s requests." This verse is an absolute delight to me!

***What to Know About Judgment Day***

        In today's First Reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, "It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself... the one who judges me is the Lord." This is the perfect attitude: We should not judge anyone, ourselves included. This way, we focus completely on serving and honoring the Lord. Paul continues, "Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts...." We must be careful with our motives, for if our hearts are not clean, our motives will likely prompt us to sin. Ultimately, for all those who have nothing to hide, judgment day will be a glorious day!

****A Very Special Joy****

        Every sin starts with a thought. The moment I sense a bad thought emerging and can dismiss it outright, I feel triumphant that through God's grace, I can remain unstained. It is pure joy to realize that our mighty, loving, heavenly Father can truly transform us into holiness. It's a dream come true!

***How to Make Sure You'll Be Saved***

        "Belief in Christ and you will be saved"—it's not quite that simple. It depends upon how much you believe in him. If you still live mostly for yourself, you are a Christian in name only. To be a bona fide Christian, you should strive to follow Christ with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. In other words, you should surrender your entire will to his—that is, let him truly be your Lord. This is the challenge we all face and the standard by which we'll be measured. When you surrender yourself to him totally, he will accomplish that for you effortlessly! Remember what Jesus said 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."

**Mean Business When You Pray**

        When we recite structured or formal prayers such as the Our Father, it is easy to say them perfunctorily while the mind is thinking about something else. Once, while I was praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet right in front of a small Divine Mercy image hanging on a wall at home, I closed my eyes and focused on praying it from my very soul. The closeness of the Lord that I felt right there and then has been unforgettable to this day. Therefore, when you pray, take your time and mean what you say, and the Lord will reward you for it. We reap what we sow.

**Let Us Welcome Jesus**

        In today's reading from Luke 5, Jesus called Simon the fisherman to be a fisher of men. After Jesus finished speaking to the crowds from Simon's boat, he asked him to lower the net into deep water for a catch. Simon replied, "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. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." This reaction is normal, for he had not yet realized that Jesus could forgive sins. Otherwise, he would have repented of his sins and asked Jesus to take them away. Therefore, we as sinners need to welcome the Lord into our lives instead of running away from him.