It Is the Lord

        It is in Jesus that we enjoy our freedom.

        It is for Jesus that we rejoice in living and dying. 

        It is with Jesus that we become bold and unafraid.

        It is from Jesus that we receive peace and joy.

        It is about Jesus that we are not ashamed of bragging.

        It is to Jesus that we can turn when we are troubled.

        It is because of Jesus that we shall live forever.

        It is to him that we owe all our gratitude.

Declaration of Love

        Communion experience. As the Lord was changing the bread and wine into his own body and blood, he was declaring his everlasting love for us!

Be Renewed by God

        God can make all things new. Therefore, let him renew you by casting away your old fixed thinking, old foolish beliefs, old bad habits, old stubborn attitudes, old silly attachments, and most of all, your old ego. Then you'll have new freedom in the Lord. 

Greater Agony

        Today's Gospel came from Matthew 13. Jesus continued to preached the kingdom of heaven, using parables. It struck me that his greater agony than what he experienced during his Passion might be the sorrow so many caused him by rejecting the good news he preached. Sadly, this has continued to this day.   

Life Puzzle Solved

        My life was like a giant jigsaw puzzle that needed to be solved. Then Jesus came along and put all the pieces together for me. The picture that emerged was beautiful beyond my highest expectations.        

Seeing Ourselves

        Today I see that each one of us exists alone in the universe and God through his love and mercy sustains us and everything else in the universe. And there is absolutely no barrier to prevent us from slipping into our next life in the spiritual world. This makes all the more important that we return to God and not be lost forever.

Dislike Yourself?

        If you don't like yourself as a person, you haven't completely let God love you yet.

Enjoy and Skip

        I loved good music. Listening to Beethoven's great piano sonatas was an almost spiritual experience as the music revealed the depths of the composer's soul, raising my thoughts to God. Now that I know the Lord intimately well, the music no longer draws me as he is infinitely greater and more beautiful than any great music. May all the good things you encounter in the world serve as stepping stones along the way as you journey toward God. 

Purifying Our "Love"

        God is our standard. His love, selfless and pure, defines love. Unfortunately, we use the same word for our self-centered and impure feelings. Following God is the process of getting our "love" purified by his love.

Belong to God?

        If you are still attached to the world, then basically you still belong to the world.

Fit to Serve God?

        As long as ego still exists in you, you are not in the best shape to serve God.       

God, an Endearing Equal

        Today is the Memorial of St. Martha. In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, Martha came to Jesus and complained, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." To me, the fact that we can address the Lord as an endearing equal is due to the fact that he did come into the world as one of us, making a direct connection with us. 

God Prepares Us

        As I look back, I see that all my past experiences, good and bad, have made me more fit to serve God. The best experiences were, of course, receiving the Holy Eucharist daily. The bad experiences truly put my faith to the test. God has his timetable for each of us who follow him. He prepares us step by step for the task he wants us to perform at the time of his choosing.

Intuitive Knowledge

        We easily forget that we are intuitive. What if we don't know love? Definitely, the world would be in total chaos. The fact that we can conceive love, not necessarily practicing it successfully, must have kept the world in partial order. And this is because we have a Creator who is love. It's all very clear to me today.

Is Big Deal

        Offending God is a big deal because it keeps you on the road to self-annihilation.

What God Can Do

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven as a mustard seed that a person took and sowed. The smallest of all the seeds when full-grown became the largest of plants. The kingdom of heaven is also like yeast a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened. One thing is clear: God can change us, transform us. 

On Self-Centered Thinking

        Our thoughts determine our inner peace. If we think only to please or satiate ourselves, we will never have inner peace ~ an absolute certainty. God measures us by how much good we do to others. Self-centered thinking accomplishes nothing and is pleasing only to Satan. How so? Because God has made us so.    

A Wonderful Principle

        Hypnotism works because the subject is put in a relaxed state and becomes open to suggestions made by the hypnotist. The same principle is at work when we open ourselves to God and he wonderfully transforms us.        

True Liberation

        Today is the Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At Communion time, I had these thoughts. Imagine a soul, pure and untainted, dwelling in God's house. Whoever possesses such a soul is still in the world, but attached to God alone. This is true liberation because the soul is free! [Always take care of the soul first, before the body.]  

Amazing God

        Today is the Feast of St. James, Apostle. The Communion antiphon at Mass: They drank the chalice of the Lord, and became the friends of God. I can't help thinking that our Lord and God treats us virtually as equals ~ we are his sons, daughters, and friends. He never looks down on us because he treasures us. We truly have an amazing God and Father! 

How God Communicates

        In 1 Kings 19, we read that when the Lord passed by, he was not in the strong and violent wind, nor in the earthquake or fire, but spoke through a light, silent sound. I feel this is how he speaks to me: he either quietly implants a thought in my heart or flashes a quick one through my mind, all at a time of his choice.

Two Urgent Messages

         To all Catholics (and those considering to become Catholic): Your journey does not end with entering the Church and attending weekly Sunday Mass ~ this is just the beginning. There is unlimited room for spiritual growth that your journey (life) gets more and more exciting as you seek union with the Lord. It's always the best is yet to come (and you'll know it). 

        To all those who haven't turn to God yet (and nominal Catholics): Do not wait to turn to God until you are old and realize that you days on earth are numbered. They are numbered from the moment you're born. If you wait, you simply waste more precious time on earth. Delaying turning to God is absolutely being foolish. Unless you are a true atheist, turn to Christ right this moment to ensure your salvation.

Ego Ever Present

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13 at Mass, Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy. Should we blame them? I thought of how blind and deaf we are to the presence of our ego. We enjoy being praised; we like to be noticed for anything nice we've done; we care about what people think of us; we want to be life of the party; we don't like to be told what to do even though the adviser means well; we are turned off by anyone who is not attractive to us in some way; we judge others; we can not forgive those who have offended us.... Why? All because of the presence of ego.     

A Beautiful Thing

        Today I see seeking and following the will of God as a most beautiful thing! It gives living a clear purpose, making life meaningful, and brings you into harmony with God, filling the heart with peace and satisfaction.

Inspired Love

        God's love for us is pure; he simply loves us to the point of dying for us ~ that is his nature. Our love for him is a little different. We love him because we are amazed and awed by his great love and mercy, his perfection, his beauty ~ perhaps less so by his power. That we are able to love him also came from him in the first place. He loved us first and this love inspires us to love him back.

Connecting the World

        Watch this video on Eric Whitcare's virtual choir, a beautiful way of connecting people all around the world, using technology. This is refreshing when many lost, fanatical people today are mercilessly killing others to get their way.

 

Earthbound or Not?

        If the world is more interesting to you than God, then you are still earthbound and your soul not free. 

A Sober Overall Look

        The soul is invisible in the physical world and we live in this physical world with our soul only for so many years, a very brief time. After we die, the soul lives in the spiritual world where it belongs for all eternity. This overall picture should make us realized how awful we are in our lifetime on earth to mess up (1) our lives and the world through self-centeredness and (2) our own eternal destiny by ignoring God, our loving creator.  

Fooled by Ego

        Having a big ego is like clutching onto yourself for dear life, but you should know that only God, not you, can save you.

Rising Above Ourselves

        Learn to see the good in everyone, which could be the saving grace God looks for. This will help you not to judge others, and God will be lenient in judging you too. We must rise above ourselves.

Our Greatest Danger

        Being close-minded ~ ignoring the gospel and not looking beyond this life. 

Christ Our Confirmation

        We are all born with a conscience, which proves that there are good and evil, which proves that God must exist and be the ultimate good, which is love. Christ came and confirmed it all. 

Have Passion & Become Awesome

        This video featuring the Japanese yo-yo world champion Black is inspiring because his found his life's passion and truly gives an awesome performance here. We can also love God with passion and become awesome, to God, that is. 

Most Urgent Prayer

        The conversion and salvation of the entire world.

Mistaken Belief

        Today's Communion Antiphon at Mass, John 6.56: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Does it sound like Jesus was merely talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood symbolically? Sadly, many Protestants believe so by glossing over John 6.

What Makes a Saint?

        Following Christ all the way without reservation.

Doubly Tragic

        I watched some short episodes on the Smithsonian History Channel. They were on World War II, sinking of the Titanic, the Great Train Robbery, etc. It made me realize how short-sighted mankind had been. As history repeats itself, we have not gained any foresight. We still keep on living as if there is no God, no eternity, but only ourselves and this life. It's doubly tragic we don't even realize that we are already "acting" in a tragedy.

Love Unconditional

        You know that God loves you, but know also that he loves the one you find it hard to forgive just as much as he loves you! This is why we should love even my enemies.

Most Special Moment

        Communion experience. Just God and I, alone together in union ~ it had to be the most intimate, private exclusive privileged moment of my life.               

Ultimate Level of Trust

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11 at Mass, Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened.... Take my yoke upon you and learn from me... and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." Notice that Jesus does not promise to remove your burden, but will make sure that it will be light enough for you to carry as he walks with you. Normally, we do go to God for help and relief when we are burdened, but it's difficult to completely let ourselves go when we don't know how things are going to turn out. In theory, if we totally trust in the Lord and know that our soul is safe, we should feel completely at ease. This is possible only if we are detached to all our possessions and ourselves ~ it will be total abandonment, the ultimate level of trust. With God's help, we can rise to that level like the many saints. 

"Alone" with God

        Since God alone is perfect, let us imitate him alone. Since he alone is love, let us love him alone.

Better than Confession

        It's good to go to confession often enough to keep yourself pure and clean, but it's even better not to commit any sin that will make you go to confession. 

Great Awareness

        When you are aware that the Lord who is holy, pure, and the light of the world dwells within you, you know you are blessed and he fills you with joy, gratitude, and humility.

Peace Killer

        As long as we sin, we shall not have inner peace within us and external peace in the world.

Necessary Awareness

        Today is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus reproached (quite severely) the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. To get to know God, the very first awareness we need to have is that we are sinners! Otherwise, there will be no repentance. It is such an obvious necessity, yet so many of us have not awakened to it. This explains why so few go to confession regularly. It follows that those who don't see their own sins become great sinners in time, and those who are acutely aware of their sinfulness become saints in time.

Saving the World

        Seeing how the world is such a terrible state, you wonder what you can do to improve the situation. My advice is that we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, offering him everything ~ every thought, word, action, experience, joy, sorrow, talent, possession... ~ so that he may apply whatever merit we acquire to saving more souls.      

Speaking as God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10 at Mass, Jesus spoke to his Apostles: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Find Jesus and you find life.

Like Sailing in a Boat

        Life is like sailing in a boat on the sea. Without Christ, you sail in a boat that simply drifts or sails in some unknown direction. When you encounter a high wind and violent waves, you become afraid. With Christ in your boat, he'll be at the helm at all times. No matter how fierce the wind and how treacherous the waves you encounter, you know you are safely heading in the right direction.

On Speaking Ill of Others

        Should we speak ill of someone even if what we know is true? That would depend upon the situation and your motive.  The answer is yes if speaking out will be for the greater good, correct some injustice, bring someone back to God, etc. The answer is no if your motive is retaliation, to defame someone, or just to gossip. The glory of God is at stake.

Grave Negligence

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass, continuing from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." Most of us are concerned about eating right, taking health supplements, exercising and resting enough, forgetting that our foremost concern should be to protect our soul.

Transforming Light

        Communion experience. I received the Holy Eucharist and saw Jesus as the light outshining the light emitted by the stars of all the galaxies in the universe put together. This light entered me! Let now the transformation begin.

Guidance for World Living

        Today is the Memorial of St. Benedict. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to the Apostles: "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd like serpents and simple as doves." This strikes me as the way we should conduct ourselves in dealing with the world: to be shrewd to keep others from taking advantage of us and simple to preserve our purity. 

Important Awareness

        It is most important for us to be aware that God created us and every instant of our existence depends upon him! You can ignore him, but that does not change the fact. Without him, we are nothing. If you are not thus aware, then you should back yourself up with the awareness that hell exists and it's most important for you to guard against ending up there. 

Happy to Be Imperfect

        Communion experience. I was grateful that I was not perfect so that the Lord might enter me to heal me. And I desired that he would expose everything in my heart and eradicate anything that offended him.

True Reality

        Still at Mass, I became aware that we're living in a horrible, horrible world. Just read the news headlines to see what's happening around the world and in our own country. Since God looks at the hearts, he would see great darkness covering the entire earth and shining lights only from those who have chosen to love and obey him. This is true reality, not the beautiful sunshine, the nice houses in your neighborhood, or any other things external that you see. 

The Christian Life

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10 at morning Mass, Jesus said to his Apostles, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." This is the perfect instruction on how to live the Christian life ~ we receive freely from the Lord and give freely for his glory. We own nothing and we are free.

Sign of Holiness

        We get caught in slow traffic and start to cuss, in our mind first anyway. It's so easy to lose patience. Since we are not lord of the world, why should things always happen to please us? Even Christ encountered "inconveniences" so much worse than ours when he was on earth. We live in an imperfect world and what happens to us is permitted by God, not to screw us, but to make us more perfect. And this definitely makes patience a sign of holiness. 

We Are Debtors!

        Someone is greatly irritated because the person who owes him some money is late in returning it to him. I start thinking that we owe the Lord for everything and don't even consider giving any of it back to him! The Lord will surely deal with us as we deal with our debtors.

All About Love

        God is love. In fact, he alone is love, so love is God. All our love comes from him, the source. It is this love that can transform us, making us new, so that it may override everything in the universe.

Union and Hypocrisy

        This may sound harsh, but if we are not in full union with God, we can easily be hypocritical. In full union, one appears as he truly is. In partial union, one projects a false image.

Importance of Focusing on God

        When we lose our focus upon God, the ego can easily surface, making us lose our composure (peace). Then we start to speak unfavorably of others, though not in a deliberate way. I've seen this happening in people (myself included). This is judging, which the Lord wants us to stop. Take our eyes off the Lord and we'll surely slip, stumble, and fall. 

God in Full Charge

        Jesus promised that the gates of the underworld could never overpower the church he's going to build on Peter (John 16.18). God is in charge. It follows (yes, logically) that he must hear and answer all our prayers.  

A Most Reasonable Request

        God first created us out of love. We fell from grace and he gave his only Son to save us. We who believe in him are restored to being God's endearing children and become heaven bound. God initiated it all; we only need to listen and obey. 

True Happiness

        Any happiness that does not last for all eternity is not true happiness. In heaven we'll be truly happy. In fact, that is what it is for. Our heavenly Father wishes us to go to heaven and his Son has already paved the way for us. In our life on earth, the most happy we can ever get is to experience inner peace and spiritual freedom in God. Any earthling trying to find true happiness outside of God will only experience frustration and misery.

What to Do with Enemy

        If you have not done anything wrong, then the person who sins against you must have problems. In that case, pity and pray for him, and God will deal with him. The best way of changing others is to be the best example yourself. 

Being Made Whole

        Communion time thought. Jesus came to make us whole so that we would be fit to face anything in life, including martyrdom.

The Immediate God

        Communion experience. God is way up there in heaven and I am down here on earth. Yet the separation totally disappeared when Christ in the Holy Eucharist entered me. 

The All-Knowing God

        Today is the Feast of St. Thomas. The Gospel reading came from John 20. Thomas was absent when Jesus appeared to the disciples. They told Thomas that they had seen the Lord, but Thomas said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later Jesus came to the disciples again and Thomas was present. Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." What didn't stand out to me until today was that Jesus knew exactly what Thomas had said a week earlier and responded to him. Conclusion: every single thought I think, every word I say, and every deed I do, the Lord knows. I feel totally secure!

How to Leave the World

        Thank God we have things we enjoy doing in this life, but let's not get attached to any of them so that when it's time for us to go, we'll be free and have an easy time. When you experience joy in heaven, everything you ever enjoyed doing on earth will fade into oblivion. Becoming attached to the world will only make your departure more painful. And I for one want to return to my God in my greatest possible joy!

Our Own Obstacle

        I've said that we are always our own biggest obstacle in journeying toward God. If you tell yourself that becoming a saint is not for you, my point is proven.

Sign God Is Love

        After receiving the Holy Eucharist today, Jesus became so "perfect" to me that I wished everyone to know him! He is already mine, yet I want to share him with everyone ~ it's precisely his selflessness that has made me selfless in this respect. All other good things tempt me to keep for myself to enjoy first, but only the truly good Lord wants me to give the very best to everyone else. What I want to keep the most for myself is also what I want to give to others the most. Yes, sign that God is love.  

God Our Refuge

        A Christian never takes his frustration or anger out on anyone. Instead he goes deep into God to seek consolation and guidance, and the Lord restores his peace. 

Misinterpretation

        The Church upholds the sanctity of life from the moment of conception and pro-abortionists misinterpret the teaching as disregard for women's rights. The Church upholds the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and was misinterpreted to be hatred for gays and lesbians. On BBC News today is this story making headlines: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-28113228. I don't know the singer Lovato, but I must point out her "misinterpretation" of Jesus when she said at a gay pride event in California as reported: "You don't have to hate because my Jesus loves all." It's true that Jesus loves all, but you must also remember what he said to the woman caught in adultery before dismissing her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin any more" (John 8:11). 

Another Sign Jesus Is God

        In Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that whatever we did (not do) to one of the least ones ~ the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned ~ we did (not do) for him. This is an amazing statement, showing that he loves all of us and identifies himself with all of us. Only possible if he is God!   

Sign Jesus is God

        At Mass this morning, I realized that for all of us on earth, there were times when we needed guidance, not sure about what to do. Reading about Jesus in the Gospels, you find that he never hesitated, always knowing how to proceed. To me, another telling sign that he is God incarnate.