"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Monday, April 30, 2018

**Simple Questions*

             Question #1: Do you believe that nothing is impossible with God?
             Question #2: Do you believe that he wants you to be holy?
       If you answer yes easily to these two questions, then answer this next question: What don't you want to become a saint?

*The Blessed Person

        Today is the last day of April; time marches on relentlessly. Blessed is he or she who is ready to greet the Lord God at any moment.

God Understands Us!

        Communion experience. It's so satisfying to receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist, making me realize that the Lord our creator knows and understands our nature perfectly.

God Is Peace

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 14.27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you, says the Lord. As sinners, we'll never have peace on our own, for we continue to sin. God has made us so that if we desire to have him take away our sins, he'll do so and we receive peace from him. This is almost common sense and I can testify to you that it is true. 

**Through Christ in All Things

         Earlier in John 14, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Therefore, we should all connect ourselves to Christ first. It all comes down to that each of us is to go and respond to him, learn from him, and become channels of his love for all others. Yes, we love through him too.

***Union Promised by God

        Today's Gospel reading today at Mass from John 14 more or less confirms what I said in the last post. Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him. 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."

***Most Beautiful Coming Together

        The closer we get to Christ, the more we are awed by his perfection, and the humbler we become. Then finally, we enter him (or rather we let him enter us) and we completely vanish in him, with him dwelling in us alone.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

**Most Private Moment

        Communion experience. Being just with the Lord alone was a most private moment. The ego no longer existed and I was filled with peace and freedom. Where God resides, ego has no place. 

***Spiritual Journey With the Surprise***

        Achieving union with God is our greatest challenge, precisely because it make us saints. Actually, the hard part consists of just one sticky point: surrendering yourself to God. Here is how a fruitful spiritual journey progresses. You struggle along and eventually reach that sticky point. You stop, but you brave yourself and decide to go beyond it. Now God picks you up and carries you all the rest of the way! This is the big surprise.

Importance of Remaining in God

        In today's Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus talks about the vine and the branches. He said to his disciples, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." Matthew 12.21 comes to my mind, in which Jesus says "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." Those who do not remain firmly in the Lord can easily be targeted by Satan. I have seen this happening time and again. My personal recommendation is to achieve union with God so that you and the Lord might remain in each other firmly. 

Evangelizing Ourselves First

        We must evangelize ourselves first before evangelizing others. It's always between God and us, never between others and us. And only God can convert our hearts. Our sole responsibility should be to evangelize ourselves, then we'll automatically be effective in attracting others to the Lord. Peace on earth starts with the evangelization of ourselves.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Indebted to God

        Communion experience. This is the Lord, my Savior, to whom I owe my existence and without whom I would not have life, let alone eternal life. 

*Awakening Time

        God has made his intention and how we can have eternal life absolutely clear to us. Are we willing to listen to him? Do we still pretend that we do not hear him?  

**God Does It Better

        When I thought that if I must give my own life so that the souls of those I love might be saved, I would do so. Then I realized that the Lord surely love them so much more than I, and I felt instantly relieved, knowing that he would take care of their souls. God always does better than we can in anything. 

***Let God Do It All!

        We fall short of loving God as much as we should, but focusing upon our sinfulness and asking ourselves how we can do better is not the way to go. To progress, we need to focus upon God's love, mercy, holiness, and greater power to inspire us to seek union with him. We can never become saints on our own. We become saints only when we let God do it all for us!  

***Jesus and the Father Are One

        Today's Gospel reading came from John 14. At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples, "From now on you do know my Father and have seen him. Whoever has seen me has seen he Father. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." You ask, "Where is God?" Find Jesus and you find him. Know Jesus and you know him. How you feel about Jesus is exactly how you feel about God the Father. God is completely within your grasp. In fact, attain union with him and he is all yours!

In the Light of Christ

        Today's entrance antiphon, 1 Peter 2.9: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Indeed, once you've been called to know Christ, in his light everything becomes crystal clear (no more questions) and you are fully content.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Walking With the Holy Spirit

        In following the Holy Spirit, I have learned not to rush ahead of him. Today I see that lagging behind the Holy Spirit can even be worse. Seek union with God so you may always walk in lockstep with the Holy Spirit. 

Nothing to Say, Just Believe

        In today's Gospel reading from John 14: Jesus said to his disciples, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
         All I can say is that Jesus knew exactly what he's talking about. We'd better believe.

**What Preaching Needs

        Once I met someone promoting a certain product, telling how wonderful and useful it was. I asked him if he owned and used one himself. He admitted that he did not, but knew about the product well. Right there and then, he lost much of his credibility. This makes me realize that if we only tell others how great God is, but not mention how he has changed our lives in any way, we can't be very convincing. Giving personal testimonies is an effective way of backing up what you preach. To spread what God has done to and for you is to glorify God, something to boast about. Catholics can learn much from their Protestant brothers and sisters.   

Thursday, April 26, 2018

**In the Light of Christ

        Communion experience. I feel I am basking in the light of Christ. In this light, I know that he knows all about me, and that he loves me, watches over me, and takes care of me. In this light, I feel good because I am completely content and comfortable with him. Basking in the light of your most beloved and enjoying him, there's nothing more I can ask for. 

***Union With God, the Breakthrough*

         The Church is a living church, but it needs to be on fire, especially in these dark days now. When the Catholic Charismatic Renewal originated in 1967, a flame started. Sadly, it never received the solid guidance and sustained support it needed from the Church, and after some decades it eventually died down. I see seeking union with God taking the Church to the next level, setting it aflame, God willing. It's in union with God that one comes to meet and know the Resurrected Lord, find out that he is alive, hear him speak directly to the heart, and fall deeply in love with him. May the Holy Spirit soften the hearts of all faithful to permit him to enkindle them.

**What Life Is All About*

        It is all about how much you let God be God. Vast many never give God a chance and a few like the greats saints open themselves up completely to God. Between these two extremes, the rest just remain stagnant or vacillate back and forth. Overall, not an exciting or pretty picture.       

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

**Secret to Becoming Free*

        By nature, we treasure ourselves more than all else. In this way, we become our own slaves. Therefore, if we can give ourselves totally to God, we become free! Then we become detached to everything else too. (Again, this is how God has made us.)         

**Man and God Connect

        Communion experience. It's the moment man and God connect. More than that, it's man and God become one. This verifies what Jesus said to his disciples before his Ascension: "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." 

**What We Most Need*

        What we most need is God's love! Since he is ready to give us that love, what we most need to do is to accept this love.

***Our Foremost Duty

        Today is the Feast of St. Mark, evangelist. Here are the first two verses, 15 and 16, of the Gospel reading from Mark 16: Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned." Proclaiming the Gospel to the whole world really should be one of our foremost obligations or missions if we consider ourselves to be disciples of Christ. The Gospel remains fresh and the world needs to hear it as longer as we are still sinners. We don't have to proclaim Christ like those street corner preachers, but we certainly can share about Christ with anyone when we get a chance. Then how many of us even mention his name as if he is real outside of church? This is the one who created us, loves us, and died for us! We cannot exist or survive without him! This is the one we should love with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength! In general, Catholics are too timid and not used to testifying for Christ. All the more we need to seek union with the Lord to let the Holy Spirit set our heart on fire, so that we may be emboldened to proclaim the Gospel as the Apostles did.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

***Fears and Perfect Obedience

       Fear of God can be healthy or unhealthy. The healthy fear makes you afraid of being lost if you do not believe in God, while the unhealthy fear makes you afraid that God is going to take over if you surrender yourself to him. The healthy fear normally leads one to reconciliation with God, so it's the one to keep. And the unhealthy fear keeps you from growing closer to God, the fear you should not have. How intimate you are with the Lord is gauged by how comfortable you feel about him. Ideally, we should feel completely comfortable about our Lord, thus ready for whatever he wishes to do with us. This is perfect obedience. 

*Belonging to the Very Best

        We feel good if a university accepts us as a student, a company decides to hire us for a position, some well-known club invites us to be a member, etc. In other words, we feel good that we can belong to an organization or group. Of course, our application can get rejected too. Now, there is the very best we can belong to and will always accept us if we apply properly, and that is God's Family! It's the very best because in this family, you'll be loved, blessed, and protected forever!

Evangelization Effort

        I think we've all heard the saying "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." The horse has his own will too. This also holds true is evangelization. You can lead a person to Christ, but accepting the Lord now depends upon that person. Since nothing is impossible with God, we must always persevere in believing that the Lord will bring about the conversion.

*Joining Jesus and the Father

       Communion experience. Jesus and the Father are one. Receiving the Holy Eucharist unites me to Jesus and the Father. Now, there are three! The Lord desires to invite all of us to be one with him. (To find out about how God longs to be one with us, I again recommend reading the amazing book "He and I" by Gabrielle Bossis.) Rejecting any of God's invitations is a big deal (read the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22)! If you do feel invited to do whatever for the Lord, you may ask why, but "no" can never be the right answer. 

Positive Message From the Lord

       In today's Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said to the Jews, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." This message comes to us positively without ambiguity. It needs no clarification, amplification, or interpretation. If you do not accept it, you must declare that it's all rubbish first.  

How Not to Judge

        Pray for the salvation of all souls, including those of our enemies and all evildoers. This should help us follow Jesus' command "Do not judge."

Proof We Are Sinners

        If we are spiritually perfect and do not sin, there would be no need for God to come to save us. The fact that many of us have found out that we need Christ and are even willing to die for him proves that we know we are sinners who need salvation. Of course, there are others who have not woken to this reality yet.         

Monday, April 23, 2018

**Made for God!*

       Communion experience. I love the Lord because his love for me has made it possible. The Lord has made me for him! 

*God Most Personal*

        In John 10, Jesus declared to all, "A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep and they know me." It strikes me that our God, the God of Christ, is most personal. You won't find another god like that anywhere else. Since there is only one true God, perhaps I should have stated that our God is more personal and caring than any other being. This is logical and as it should be, and I rejoice in it. 

**Athirst for God

        Today's Psalm 42 response: Athirst is my soul for the living God. Looking back, I see that I first thirsted for God because I felt the emptiness of life. Now that I have found him, I thirst for him still as he draws me. So it is that you would want even more of the one who can completely satisfy you. Such is the unique power or charm, if I may use the word, of God.

**Our Life-and-Death Choice*

        Today's entrance antiphon, Romans 6.9: Christ, having risen from the dead, dies now no more; death will no longer have dominion over him. Of course, being God and the creator of all life, Christ cannot possibly die. His let himself be killed on earth only because he was carrying out the Father's plan of salvation for us. As for us, we'll all die. After death, we'll either remain dead forever or be raised by Christ – the choice is ours to make here and now!

Sunday, April 22, 2018

**Time to Become Like Him!

       Communion experience. It is incredible that the Lord should feed me with his own Flesh and Blood – absolutely overwhelming! Time to become like him.

*God Rewards in Secret

        The Lord God deserves all the attention, credit, and glory, so let's never take the limelight away from him. Then guess what? He rewards us by bringing us into his private limelight.

Let Sin Lead You to Holiness

        Every sin we commit provides the opportunity for us to grow holier. Loss of inner peace is our first reminder. The worst thing you can possibly do is to ignore your past sins and continue on sinning. Thus your soul gets defiled more and more. This is evading God, a game in which you'll lose for sure. This is also playing Russian roulette with your own soul – what if you die expectedly? Of course, the right thing to do is to repent as soon as possible your sin and have the Lord make you clean again. Don't stop, for it is also the time to surrender to God more to reduce your chance of sinning again. With practice, each sin you commit will lead you to greater holiness. By the way, with more inner peace, your physical health will benefit too.

Inspired by Peter and John

        In today's first reading from Acts 4, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to leaders of the people and elders, "There is no salvation through anyone other than Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified and God raised from the dead." In the Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd and I will lay down my life for my sheep." If Jesus was good enough for Peter and John, he is certainly good enough for me. 

Saturday, April 21, 2018

**Best Possible News*

        Who wouldn't want to be set for life? Perhaps you think that the billionaires are set for life. If so, then you are being quite short-sighted. What is infinitely superior is to be set for life for all eternity, and you can be in that position by simply following Christ! Now, this has to be the best possible news of your life on earth.  

*To Those Who Judge Catholics

        Jesus prayed to the Father that those who follow him may always be one in him and the Father. In Matthew 16, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Sadly, the Reformation headed by Martin Luther in the 16th century led to the establishment of many Protestant churches, breaking up the Church Christ had established. Since Jesus said that the gates of the netherworld should not prevail against his church, the Catholic Church still standing today has to be that church. Unfortunately, there is still a sizable number of Protestants continually attacking the Catholic Church, believing that the Pope is the Antichrist. My question is, if that's true, when did it happen? Did it start with the Apostle Peter, the first Pope, or later? They also claim that the Catholic Church has gone stray, yet no one can tell me when and how that happened. Study the early fathers of the Church and you'll see that they believed in what Catholics believe in today. One foremost example is the belief that the Holy Eucharist is truly the Flesh and Blood of Christ. So, please find out what we truly believe in before drawing any conclusion. By the way, we do not worship Mary. Do not judge us, for we were Christians first before you split off 1,500 years later. If you believe that we are lost, then lovingly pray for us. If you judge us, then pray for yourself too. I pray that we'll always follow the Holy Spirit who wishes all Christians to be one. Last, to set your mind at ease, we Catholics are not going to hell, so don't worry about us.

*The World Out of Touch

        What does the world teach us? The world is good at teaching us how to succeed by making more money to get rich so that we may achieve financial security, and that we can realize such dreams on our own if we try hard enough. The focus is entirely on ourselves. In other words, the world is out of touch with God. To be blunt, we live in godless societies. Where God counts, he is more or less worshipped in private and in churches only. The separation of church and state in this country succeeded in keeping God where he belongs, so to speak. This is the sad reality today.

Friday, April 20, 2018

**Cool Benefit of Union With God

        You get spiritually fed by the Lord directly.

**Feeling of Freedom

        Communion experience. I got the best possible feeling – letting the Lord take charge and I becoming free! Best preparation en route to heaven!  

**True Flesh and Blood*

        Excerpts from today's Gospel reading from 6: Jesus said to the Jews while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. The one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever." After hearing all these sayings, can you still presume that the consecrated bread and wine Jesus gave to his disciples at the Last Supper and we receive at Mass are just ordinary bread and wine the whole time, symbolizing the Flesh and Blood of the Lord? Not a chance! (John 6 is the chapter many Protestants avoid scrutinizing.) 

**Wakeup Call!

        The more you do not wish to hear about Christ, the more it shows that he matters to you. 

**Being Good Not Good Enough

        To get your sins forgiven, you need to accept and believe in Christ as your Savior. You might think that you are a pretty good person, and maybe you are, but that is no guarantee that you'll make heaven. Matthew 10.33: Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father – says the Lord to the Twelve. Yes, accepting Christ does take precedence over getting your sins forgiven. 

***Through Jesus Only!

        John 14.6: Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way and the the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." This makes perfect sense, for he is to be our sole judge and the only one who can take away our sins! It follows that there is no way we can bypass him, right?

Thursday, April 19, 2018

**Peace in Christ Only

        Peace on earth begins when you realize that in the God of Christ you can have your future secured for all eternity! No one else in history can promise you that as Christ has with such authority, backed up at the same time by mighty deeds, culminating in his own death and Resurrection. Only in him, the Prince of Peace, will one find ultimate peace.  

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

**Happy Ending!

        Communion experience. Christ is indeed our end. Once you've let him capture you, your life is full and complete, and you simply rest in him until he takes you to where he is. If you ever prayed for a happy ending to your life, this is it!

*Crux of Making Spiritual Progress

        We know we should love God more, but we cannot accomplish this on our own, for we are finite beings. To go beyond what we can achieve, we must open ourselves to God more to let him power us. Know that the Lord wants to enter totally into our heart to help and we are at the helm of how wide to open the gate of our heart.  

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

***Getting to the Crux of Our Problems***

        We do not let the God of Christ be our God. If we stop playing God and start obeying him, we'll instantly have heaven on earth!

*Christ Has all We Need to Know

        Anyone who focuses their attention on things of this world only is myopic. Then there are those who search for spiritual truths in the wrong places and end up with nebulous beliefs. Ram Dass is a case in point. You can find out more about him on Wikipedia. I watched the short Netflix documentary "Ram Dass, Going Home" – what he says about life, death, soul, reincarnation, etc., might be attractive to many spiritual seekers, but obviously he doesn't know what he's talking about. Only Christ has provided clear and positive answers to living our spiritual life now and forever. Start or end your search with him.

*Taking Mass Seriously

          At the Last Supper, the Lord Jesus held the First Mass and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, we should take Mass most seriously. The focus of Mass should be on adoring and glorifying the Lord alone; distraction in any form, no matter how good its intention, should be considered out of place. And worshippers must realize that they are in the house of the Lord and observe silence. Can all this happen in an ordinary parish? I believe that if you do take things seriously, people will come to respect that. It's precisely because you are casual about it that people lose their seriousness too.

**Preparing for Union With God

        In Psalm 31, David writes "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." Jesus on the cross cried out "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit" before breathing his last. To me, the spirit is more encompassing than either the heart or the soul. When we commend our spirit into God's hands, we entrust our totality to him. Therefore, making this commitment often should condition us for union with God.  

Monday, April 16, 2018

***Doing Everything With God

        Normally, we don't try to "bother" God with little things we can easily do on our own and only ask for his help when we feel that we need it. Today I ask myself why not ask the Lord to get involved with everything I do, big or little. It would be an excellent way of acknowledging his constant presence and showing my utter need for his companionship. It should strengthen our union of dwelling in each other. So it's doing everything for him and with him. You can never do enough for him who has given all of himself to us.

*Happy, Blessed, and Free Living

        People remain in darkness because it is easier for them to keep their sins hidden than to face light and have them all exposed. They forget that God sees everything in their hearts. Sometimes avoiding facing God can be a sin too, depending upon the circumstances. Again, only God can judge that. Living in darkness is not living at all. Happy, blessed, and free is the one lives completely in the light of Christ, with nothing to hide from the Lord!    

Peace From God Alone

        Today's  Communion antiphon, John 14.27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you, says the Lord. The peace God gives us is indeed different because it affects the very soul. Since the world has no power to touch the soul, whatever it gives cannot truly be peace.        

Making Doing Good Meaningful

        Doing good per se is good, but to make it meaningful, you must have a higher purpose. When we treat our own family members kindly, it's only natural. When we do good to strangers, it only makes us feel good. The higher purpose I am talking about is to do good for the sole purpose of pleasing God, not ourselves. This is the way to be set free and to build up lasting treasures in heaven. What Jesus has done to us is most meaningful because he died for us willingly in complete obedience to the Father. No act can be meaningful should God be kept out of the picture.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

**Sad Division

        At the end of Mass this morning, Fr. P held up a baby high to show us the one he just baptized yesterday, and the little one grinned. The whole congregation rejoiced and applauded. At that moment, I thought of those babies who did not get baptized because the parents either did not know Christ or had fallen away from their faith before their child was born. It saddened me to see this division among the children through no fault of theirs. 

**Most Tragic and Foolish Act

        Disregard of Your Own Soul.        

***Beautiful Union

        Communion experience. God is completely open and ready. We match him and voilà, the most beautiful encounter happens!

**Letting God Unfold His Plan

        Again, in the Gospel reading from Luke, Jesus says to his disciples, "Everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled. Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." Somehow, at that point, the Lord made me see that there was no reason for us to be terrified of anything anymore, as everything would unfold according to his plan.

*Complete Self-Giving

       In today's Gospel reading from Luke 24, the disciples recognized the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Each time at Mass, when I see the priest breaking the host, I know the Lord is letting himself be broken and distributed to each one of us, inviting us to join him in union with him.   

*God Is Eternal!

        In today's 1st reading from Acts 3, we heard Peter say to the people, "The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses." It dawned on me that since Christ was our creator, the author of life, then, of course, he cannot possibly ever remain dead! The Resurrection was unavoidable!  

*Church Before Bible

        The Church has always held fast to and taught the Sacred Traditions rooted in Scripture, handed down by the Apostles from the very beginning. The New Testament was not comprised by the Church until almost 400 years later. Therefore, it is false to believe that the Bible is the only teaching authority you need. Just witness the the disunity and disorder among the countless Protestant denominations without the teaching magisterium of the Church. In Thessalonians 2.15, Paul writes "Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by letter of ours." The Bible came out of the Church, not the other way around.

*Challenging Questions

        If you don't believe in Jesus, then are you prepared to say that the fact that he performed many miracles, died on the cross and rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and the Apostles and many early disciples willingly followed him only to meet death is all a big hoax? Are you also prepared to say that the over two billion Christians in the world and the great saints throughout history have all been deceived into believing in a falsehood that has been perpetuated for two millenniums?

Saturday, April 14, 2018

**Delightful Holy Spirit

        When the Holy Spirit fills your heart with joy to overflowing, it becomes impossible to keep it to yourself. I love the Holy Spirit, sweet and gentle, yet powerful and insuppressible. The experience of being slain in the Holy Spirit is most peaceful, yet intoxicating. The Holy Spirit is a delight! 

**Back to the Basics

        The Son of God had come to us, revealing God's love for us to the point of dying himself on the cross for our sins so that we might be saved. And he made it clear that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. Yet so many of the world ignore him – how foolish can you be? They do not come forward to say that the good news is untrue either – how cowardly can you be? If I sounded harsh, that's because I am concerned about their souls. Jesus prayed even for those who crucified him from the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." I pray that every single one of us on earth will enjoy heaven after death. What is so great about our God is that no matter how sinful you are, if you repent and ask for his forgiveness, you are right back in his bosom. Now, you are no longer a foolish coward or cowardly fool. 

Friday, April 13, 2018

**Breakthrough for Our Salvation*

        According to Jesus, the greatest commandment for us is to love God the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. How do we measure up? To say that we fall short miserably is not far off the mark. It shows how weak we are and how we deeply we have become entangled in the snares of the evil one. Against this, our hope rests in the infinite mercy of God. Even though we can never love God as perfectly as we should, we must try our very best. Again, I recommend seeking union with God to make everything easy. Yes, yielding ourselves to the Lord is the breakthrough we need to ensure our salvation.

Wonderful Feeling

        Communion experience. Knowing that you belong to Christ, that you are his, is a most wonderful feeling.

**Playing Smart With God

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, the Jewish feast of Passover was near when Jesus saw that a large crowd was coming to him. He said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." Andrew, another disciple, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus had all the people recline, about five thousand in number. Then he took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 
       The lesson here is clear. God does test us, knowing well what he is going to do. As a matter of fact, I see every problem we face as a test of our faith. Knowing well that God always knew what he is going to do, we might as well place our trust in him always.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

*Heavenly Banquet

        Communion experience. The Lord fed me the bread from heaven! This is the very bread about which Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." – John 6.

Reasons for Surrendering to God

(1) To know him, (2) to experience him, (3) to glorify him, (4) to please him.

*Greater Than We Think

        Being finite creatures, we cannot possibly comprehend how great God our infinite creator is. But we can realize that he is always faithful and more powerful, more loving, more merciful, and much wiser than we can possibly imagine.

**"Where Is God?"

        When things go bad, you question where God is. But did you believe in him or even seek him when things were going well? God is always there with us. To his disciples, Jesus said, "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." You ask where God is because you were never with him! 

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

*Becoming Free to Go to God

        Communion experience. Receiving Christ makes you forget everything else in the world momentarily. This is a blessing, for you learn to become detached to the world and ready to return to the Lord your God. 

***Truth and Reality

        Today's Gospel reading John 3.16-21, the first part: God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. Comment: The truth John, the Apostle, has spoken to us here should shake us to the core!
          The second part: And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. Comment: Again, John has spoken the truth, the reality then and now. When John wrote the Gospel at an old age, he had fully understood who Jesus was and why he came into the world. We must give these sayings of his most seriously.

**Fighting Temptation

        I've posted that the best way to fight temptation is to run away from it, but it is easier said than done for these two reasons. First, temptation is enjoyable – normally, we just do not walk away when we are having fun. Secondly, temptation is not a sin. When we sin, we sense the guilt and try to stop it, while temptation comes to us and does not make us feel that it is our fault, so the urge to walk away from it is not strongly present. In any case, it takes discipline to overcome temptation. Turning our attention to the Savior should be effective in getting us out of this trap.  

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

*Awesome Experience

        Communion experience. The Lord entered me in the form of bread to be absorbed totally by me, and physically and spiritually he and I became one. Awesome, awesome, awesome! 

**What God Desires From Us

        During Mass, we hear the names of many great saints invoked. Do you realize that God desires to and can easily make you a saint too? Give him the go-ahead and experience his power, and he will be greatly pleased and honored.

***World in Darkness!

        Godlessness in our world has reached a pinnacle as far as I can see in my lifetime. Do not rule out an imminent World War III. When that happens, you would wish that you knew Christ all along. Do not remain idle. It is time to pray hard with all your heart that the Lord will save all souls and crush all evil. There is never a time we need to cry out for God's mercy more. 

Monday, April 9, 2018

*Ideal Position to Be In

        Most people who are religious were either raised in their religion or looked for and found one they liked. But the only valid reason for one to believe in a religion should be that it has been found to hold the whole truth, and this is how I feel about Catholicism. I watched a short travel vlog showing an American vlogger in front of a Buddhist temple in Beijing, China. Like the native worshippers, she also took some incense sticks, held them up and bowed to the big statue of Buddha in the temple. She's probably having fun or just did it for sake of the vlog. At that moment I realized how blessed I was. I knew God in person, where I was going, what actions would draw me close to God and what actions wouldn't. Life became completely clear and purposeful. This is the ideal comfortable position to be in – the very opposite of being lost.   

Sunday, April 8, 2018

*Our Most Urgent Need

        We are sinners. Therefore, our most urgent need is get our sins forgiven by God! After that we can freely enjoy all the benefits, privileges, and advantages that flow from him, our Father. 

*Being Extremely Foolish

        It is plain impossible for us to avoid God and we are definitely not doing fine on our own. Therefore, ignoring the Lord who wishes to save us is being foolish to the expreme.

Getting the Most Out of God

         There is the saying, "You only get out of something what you put into it." In the case with God, the more you surrender to him, the more you are free. Moreover, since the Lord is infinitely rich, what you reap from him can be infinitely rewarding, such as being transformed by him into a new creature, holy and beautiful in his eye. Go all the way to get the most out of God.

Saturday, April 7, 2018

*Most Dangerous Living

        It is never wise to live dangerously. You may get the thrill, but you can lose your life and/or everything you have. But to ignore Christ is downright living most dangerously – not only you do not get any thrill, you can lose your soul forever! 

*To Be Beautiful Forever

        The world looks for the most attractive contestant in a beauty pageant or the most impressive physique in a bodybuilding contest. But the Lord God looks at our heart. What is beautiful to him is a heart that's pure, clean, and obedient to his every will. Aim for inner beauty that will shine forever, not for superficial beauty that fades away rapidly.

Jesus As Lord

        The Lord Jesus is not dictatorial nor bossy. On the contrary, he is compelling only because he is meek and humble out of love for us.  

Friday, April 6, 2018

Most Exhilarating Freedom

        There are all kinds of freedoms out there. The best, most precious, and most exhilarating freedom has to be the freedom given by God only: freedom from sin

My All

      Communion experience. God is my all because he is all my soul needs.

***Do Not Stifle God's Spirit!***

        You cannot be an good swimming teacher if you are not a proficient swimmer. And you cannot be an good driving instructor if you are not an experienced driver. Similarly, you won't be an effective evangelizer if you do not know the Lord well yourself. To know the Lord thoroughly is to surrender yourself to himself completely so that you may feel the zeal and inner fire and speak with passion and conviction. Otherwise, your message will only sound academic, dry, not-coming-from-the-heart, and lack power. To uplift others, let the Lord uplift you first. To inspire others, let him inspire you first. We should not spend so much time feeling sorry about how we fall short of loving God and trying to figure out how you should love him more. Instead, we should spend a lot more time focusing upon God's love and mercy, such great hope he has given us, and that he can actually help us overcome our sins and transform us into saints! The Holy Spirit does not like us to remain lukewarm; he wants to set our hearts on fire! Not letting ourselves go in God is stifling his Spirit.

***My Ardent Wish

       In today's Gospel reading from John 21, the Risen Christ revealed himself to seven of his disciples yet one more time at the Sea of Tiberias. Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John the Zebedee's sons, and two others went fishing and caught nothing throughout the night. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. Then John said to Peter, "It is the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. 
        First, John had that great it-is-the-Lord moment, followed by Peter so eager to get to his Lord. Would that everyone of us will recognize the Lord and run toward him with all his heart, casting everything else aside!

The Negative Can Be Positive

        You may not pay much attention to the good news of salvation brought to you by Christ, but realize the dire consequences of rejecting it and you might just want to take it most seriously. It's like realizing the horror of hell makes one want to seek heaven. The negative can surely make the positive look attractive.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

*See Jesus in 3D

      When you look at a scene with your eyes, you see depth and everything else in 3D. But when you look at a photo of the scene, you see it in 2D only, even though you can perceive the 3rd dimension hidden in the image. If we look at Jesus merely as a historical figure, it would be like looking at him in 2D. But he is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Now see him in 3D to watch him come alive with depth. 

*God's Unsurpassable Gifts

        Communion experience. These are the three unsurpassable, most personal gifts of Christ: freedom, peace, and joy. They are beautiful and precious beyond words.

*It-Is-the-Lord Moment

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 24, the Risen Lord appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem. He walked with them and conversed with them, even interpreting the Scriptures to them. Arriving at Emmaus, he agreed to stay with them. The whole time the two were prevented from recognizing him. Then when he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Every time we witness the breaking of the Bread at Mass, we have this it's-the-Lord moment. The apostle John recognized that it was the Lord about a hundred yards away from him at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21). It certainly is a blessed, joyous moment every Christian should experience. 

*In the Name of Jesus*

        In today's first reading from Acts 3, Peter cured a crippled beggar in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean. I believe that if we consciously do everything in the name of Jesus, we'll be walking with the Lord and make great spiritual progress.  

***Following Your Heart to Home

        Why some Christians do not feel anything about God, while others have their hearts set on fire by the Holy Spirit? It all has to do with how much you let God have your heart. When you give your heart completely to the Father, you belong to him and you are home!

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Life After Death?

        Do we have life after death? If there were no God, it would be impossible for us to know. In fact, we might not even come up with this question, if God hadn't created us in his image. It is through spiritual experiences that we come to realize that there must be life after death, that life is worth living, and that God has made us this way. Witness the Resurrection of Christ! The atheists would disagree with me because they simply block out anything spiritual. Those who remain open to God can confirm without a doubt that there is life after death because God has made them see.   

Most Sweet Feeling

        Communion experience. That the Lord pities me and is merciful to me was a most sweet feeling. He forgives my sins and makes me clean – how can you possibly not love him or live without him?

Rejoicing in Order!

        In today's Gospel reading from John 20, the Risen Christ appeared to Mary of Magdala. After she recognized that it was the Lord, he said to her, "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." These words reveal that Christ is our brother, and he and we share the same Father and the same God – awesome news that should make our hearts leap for joy!

*Following Christ Has been . . .

a journey that's continuously exciting and satisfying, with absolutely the very best yet to come at the end! 

*Bonus Benefit

        On top of having revealed the good news of salvation to us, the Lord God also sets the mind of anyone who truly believes in him at ease amidst this tumultuous, sinful world of unrest and disorder we live in. 

Monday, April 2, 2018

***Spiritual Foot-dragging*

        Do you realize that not wishing to face Christ, not wanting to consider surrendering to him, and not being interested in seeking union with him are all forms of keeping the Lord at a distance? Do you also realize that the Father is patiently waiting for you to run toward him to be embraced by him!

Conquerors of Death

        Romans 6.9: today's Communion antiphon: We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. Following Christ, we Christians also die just once and live on forever. Hallelujah! 

Fools Abound

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 28, we heard read that after the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.'" Some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.' And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you our of trouble." 
           Instead of showing any interest in finding out exactly what had happened to Jesus, the chief priests and the elders were solely concerned about saving their own neck. They are being extremely foolish. Today news media spread fake news instead of reporting truth, and liars propagate falsehood on social media. As long as we have sinners, fools will abound.   

Sunday, April 1, 2018

***God Working for Us!

        I've mentioned numerous times that when you are in union with God, he does all the hard work for you, and this is a huge advantage that makes your life exciting. Specifically, let him love all others through you for you. Essentially, if you obey the Lord, he honors your wishes. Thus, union is the greatest possible relationship with God our Father.

*Praising the Resurrected Christ*

        Christ is risen! Happy Easter to all! Without the Resurrection, we wouldn't be here today to pay much attention to him, let alone eagerly want to tell others about him. Honestly, Christ has absolutely made my life exciting and worth living. Without him, I'd rather die and become nothing. But this is not possible anymore, for I now belong to him forever! He is our Savior, the Savior for every one of us if you'll just let him. A simply yes from your heart will start your journey to heaven. Choose to trust and follow Christ; let him lead you every step of the way and you don't ever need to use your free will again. The more you abandon yourself to him, the smoother your journey becomes. He is our freedom, our peace, and our joy!