Challenge to Nonbelievers

        To those who still do not believe in Christ yet, I challenge you to write down all the reasons why you do not believe. Then review your reasons to see if they are valid or not and what made you give them. This should be illuminating. When you examine the Lord, you reveal yourself too.

***How to Know God

        The Lord made me see that he is everywhere, always waiting for us. If you approach him with the wrong expectation or attitude, you won't find him. Your best chance is to look for him humbly deep in your own heart. We sense or feel his presence only because we are open to him and desire him – that's it. God does not hide from us; it's us who hide from him!

**Our top Priority

        Not offending God must take top priority over all other concerns, including whether we offend others or not.

*The Sin Issue*

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9 (in particular verses 42-48), Jesus makes it clear that we are not to sin. And since we all know what sin is, we'd better take the Lord seriously. Do we really want to offend the Lord all our life? Dealing with sin is our most pressing issue, for sin is the root of all evil, causing unrest, chaos, disorder, and ultimately, the likely loss of our own soul. If we can surrender to Christ, the problem is solved. But people are not willing, so the struggle continues on. The same old story of the fallen human race I am rehashing now in hope of waking more people up.

**Contrary Facts

         This is bases upon a post of November 10, 2016.

        Those who live for the world will die with the world. Those who die for God will live with God.

**Be Warriors for Christ

        There are two parts to the spiritual life, equally important. We must not sin and be holy, and we must be fired up interiorly to fight evil and save souls alongside the Lord. It's a double-barreled approach. All warriors for Christ must go all out, pulling no punches, on the battle field.

**All Through Jesus!

        Today's Gospel acclamation, John 14.6: I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no on comes to the Father except through me. Normally, I notice the first part of this verse, but this morning the second half hit me – we all must go through Christ to God the Father. In other words, he is God the Son. Also, Jesus says elsewhere that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father, for he and the Father are one. Rejoice that on earth, we can link completely to our God and become one with him – unbelievable! 

***No Retreat Possible***

        Do you know that we can only march forward toward God to ensure the safety of our soul? There is no place behind us to retreat to except hell.

*Don't Be a Sinner Also

        If someone sins against you and you do not forgive him, you become a sinner too.

**Getting Close to God (repost)

        I found this post of May 23, 2016. It's worth to be reposted.

        "The only way to get close to God when we are still on earth is to remain open to him – we cannot do more than that. The rest has to come from God alone." 

**Into the Lord

        Communion experience. The Lord defends me! I wanted him to remake me for his (and my) pleasure.

***Putting Both God and Ourselves Down

        We talk about and quote the saints a lot. Why don't we talk about that we should and can be saints ourselves?     

How to Be Great

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, the disciples of Jesus were discussing among themselves who was the greatest. I believe at that time they had followed the Lord long enough to see that he was great, but still did not know what being great truly is yet. Jesus heard them arguing, came over and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Now I think they were beginning to get it.

*You Can Be Superior

        We have people in the world who are talented, good-looking, have wealth and fame . . . they seem to be in an advantaged position. Know that if you know and have Christ, you should not ever feel that you are disadvantaged in any way. In fact, you are in a superior position. Of course, this is not something to speak publicly about, for it is more or less a secret between you and the Lord. But you must feel happy about it if the Lord is pleased with you. 

Prayerful Life Is Must

        In today's reading from Mark 9, Jesus healed a boy with a demon his disciples could not drive out. Jesus told them that this kind could only come out through prayer. It shows that prayer is most powerful because God hears us and is most powerful. Pray and trust is all we need to do to get through this life to eternal life.

Always Go to the Lord

        Here is Fr. Mark Goring's latest post. I say amen to his message. God and his word are what we should always go to first. Best yet, attain union with the Lord and hear him speak to your heart directly.

God Lives Up to His Standards

        The teachings of Jesus are difficult for us to follow unless you truly know him well, as in union with him. In reading the Gospels, you actually see that the Lord practiced what he preached to the letter. This further convinces me that he is God, even though I already know. 

Following the Lord

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus gave the teaching on love of enemies and judging others to his disciples. It showed me clearly that we should love everyone, enemy or friend, and expect nothing back. It goes beyond mere oneway giving, for we are to accept being hated, mistreated, struck, or robbed. This is extremely difficult us to follow. Then I realize that for the love of God, we must at least have the intent to follow him. Doing all this for the Lord is really not that much relative to how much love we receive from him. 

**Eucharistic Miracle

        On Nov. 20, 2015, I posted about this miracle which took place in Buenos Aires. The video had been deleted, so I am posting a different one with Fr. Mark Goring reporting. The other video showed photos of the bleeding Host, but Fr. Mark tells the story so well that you do not miss the images. 

What Life Is Like (revised repost)

        You hear said "Life is like a dream," but I think it's more like a movie. A dream is rather ethereal, whereas a movie is a succession of scenes which you can direct and edit to achieve the desired ending. Watch this Catholics Come Home "Movie of Your Life" commercial to see what I mean.

To Follow in Faith

        God wants us to follow him in faith. Otherwise, he would show us instantly what he wants us to do each time and reveal the purpose of it all. Trusting in him with a strong faith is what he wishes.

*Missing the Boat (repost)

        I have been going over my old posts, trying to extract the short to the point sayings from them. I came across this one of September 10, 2015. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

          "Not knowing Jesus is missing the boat that happens to be paradise."

**Fearing Ourselves (repost)

         This post of June 26, 2015 is worth reposting. I have shortened it to make it more succinct.

        "No need to fear God, for he loves us. No need to fear the evil one, for we have God. Fear only ourselves, for our eternal destiny depends upon if we choose God or the evil one."

To Know You've been Chosen

        Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Apostle. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." If you honestly believe as Peter did, then you have been chosen and called to be the Lord's disciple too. Now, follow him.

Letting God Have His Freedom

        I arrived at Mass this morning as an empty vessel, a blank canvas, ready for God to fill me with and make me look like whatever he wished.

***How to Love God?

        I was on the tread mill when this question came up and the answer came to me instantly: by unloving ourselves. As long as we love ourselves more than we love God, we do not really love him much. If we can love only him, 100%, then we become free. I have just revealed this simple truth to you. To me, compared to Einstein's E = mc² equation, it's simpler, but in a way even more profound and astounding. 

God Ours for the Asking

        There is a spiritual world out there. Before I became a Christian, I'd watched people inviting some spirit to come and it just showed up almost instantly. In this country, people who play the ouija board can tell you about this. Of course, those are all evil spirits you cannot trust. The point I want to make is that the Lord God, our creator, is the greatest and most holy spirit. Naturally, if you invite him to come into your life, your heart, he would do just that. Yes, he who loves you is yours for the asking. And he will protect you from all evil.  

An Unavoidable Question

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" We must ask ourselves this same question and know the right answer, and live what we profess to believe in. Again, no escape here. And believing in Jesus must be followed by following him until we know him at least as much as we know ourselves. (Yes, it's possible to know and love Jesus more than you know and love yourself.)

**The Unavoidable!

        The world is burying it head in the sand, trying to avoid something that is absolutely avoidable. And that thing is, every one of us will face our God and be judged one day soon; there will be no escape! So I am very concerned about all the souls. I have already woken up and know where I am headed, a great feeling. If you do not pay attention, you are drifting into oblivion, not good. 

*Living Without Anxiety

        I learned another lesson. God does not want us to be anxious about anything, even if we are doing his work. (Actually, a faithful follower will always be doing his work.) Not to be specific, I've been doing something I sensed to be what he wanted me to proceed, so I started working hard at it, disrupting even my daily routine. Last night I had a bad dream about that which made me lose my peace. I now realize that to do God's work diligently does not mean pushing it as hard as I can. Our Lord waited 30 years before the time was ripe for him to start his ministry. So I must enjoy living, trust in my God, take one step at a time following him, and never set myself any rigid time schedule in advance to follow.

Monkey Our Ancestor? (repost)

         As I was reviewing my old posts, I came across this one of Dec. 8, 2014. I think it's worth reposting it one more time.

        "The other day someone asked if her dog could go to heaven. Now, a dog has neither the concept of God nor any moral understanding of good and evil. Thereby, a dog does not have a soul. Without a soul, there is no heaven to speak of. I believe that theology can back me up on this. If dogs have souls, then what about birds, ants, all insects, and bacteria, or even plants? Where do you draw the line? If I am logical to you, then we can see that human beings, who have souls, could not possibly have been evolved from monkeys, who have no soul. Evolution of the soul? No scientists would know how to do research on that."   

**God vs. Satan

        God and Satan are far apart, for one is all good and the other, all evil. Yet Satan can make himself look like God by producing false miracles, apparitions, visions, prophecies . . . to deceive you. Many today are following certain seers whom the Church has already condemned to be false. We have to be so careful. My advice is to stick to Christ the Lord and the Church. You do not need any miracles to boost your faith. Genuine miracles are there for a particular purpose. False ones are there to distract and confuse you. Satan is cunning, but not smart. If you look closer, there is always something not quite right. I mentioned some years ago that I came across this book written by a woman who claimed to have seen the Blessed Mother and received many messages from her. I flipped through the book, everything seemed to be OK until a chapter close to the end started talking about how the Blessed Mother was reincarnated. At that moment, I dropped the book. So, focus single-mindedly upon Christ. Do you know how thieves and pickpockets steal things from you? They always distract you in some way first.

*God is Fire

        We know that God is love. He is also water, for he quenches our thirst. God is also fire, for the Holy Spirit can set our heart ablaze. Do not disrespect or play with this fire lest you get burned or scorched forever. Let it instead purify you to make you clean and ignite your zeal for God, and you'll be filled with joy and transformed into a delight in the Lord's sight. 

***God Is Unique and Real***

        God is unique because he is the only one who can enter our hearts, speak to us from within or deposit joy there, take away all that defiles us and make us clean and holy – you know it and you feel it! I experience all these things myself and I am not surprised at all, for he's the one who has made me after all. No one else in this world can even come close. Yes, the Lord God is real – this he let me know from within my heart. (It's so good to have him and to know that he is one with me.) Please open your hearts to let him in to be yours forever too!

**Are You Your Own Enemy?

        Telling yourself that becoming a saint is not for you proves that you are your own spiritual enemy.

To Be Made New Again

        Communion experience. It was a golden opportunity for me to be made new as thoroughly as possible by the Lord.

***Be Proud of the Lord!

        The Lord is everything to us. He is our creator, our Father, and our Savior! Therefore, we should be proud of him and proclaim his name and greatness boldly and loudly to the whole world! Shame on you if you consider yourself a Christian but hide him from others! If you are not proud of him, how can you expect him to be proud of you? With the Lord, either you are with him or you are not. 

Our Role Before God

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus talked about the leaven of the Pharisees, and his disciples did not quite follow. We are like that too with hardened hearts. In general, the Lord made me see that even if we do not understand what's going on, he knows exactly what he is doing, and he always prepares everything in the background for us. We must see that his plan would turn out well if we just trust and follow, not to get in his way. 

Another Fr. Goring Video

      Here's Fr. Mark Goring's latest video. I enjoy listening to him because he always gives a compelling message. This one is entitled "If Jesus is just 'another' way, forget about celibacy!"

**Very Sad Reality**

        At Mass this morning, I realized that Jesus just doesn't come up in our ordinary conversations. When I was active in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, Jesus was mentioned a lot within the charismatic circle. Then you started talking like that to non-charismatic Catholics and met only silence – they probably thought you were nuts or something. No doubt when Christ was on earth with us, people talked about him a lot after witnessing the wonderful deeds he performed. They were so overwhelmed and couldn't keep quiet. Today, most believers seem to have assigned the Lord to a compartment separate from theirs, living their lives by themselves. I do recall one pilgrimage I went on though – the priest who accompanied us was filled with the Holy Spirit. The first thing he told us each morning was what he learned from the Lord the previous day. Why can't all of us be like that? Yes, the Lord is real and most exciting to know!

**Cool Spiritual Progress

        When I was still the old me not that many years ago, I was a lot more anxious about getting things done. If I was on a project, I just wanted to finish it before I could relax – no time to waste. I am a lot different today. Even though I am doing something to which I believe God has lead me, I feel very calm about it all. If I don't get it done, it's OK. After all, it's his work and his call. If I die now, well, that must be what he has planned too. If he wants me to get it accomplished, I am not going to die early. This is clear thinking, good logic, showing trust. I am very happy about the new cool me.

Completing Our Trust

        Attaining union with God is simply letting God be our Lord. Prior to union, we are our own gods in our lives. By relinquishing our hold onto our lives, God properly takes over and we are freed, now receiving power directly from him. Our trust is complete and order restored.

No Partial Following the Lord

        In Luke 14.26, Jesus said to the crowds, "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. It occurs to me that this condition applies also when we go to him to surrender to him. He deserves our entire, sole devotion. His self-giving requires our self-giving. 

***Our Mortal Enemy

        It is sin. If we lose our battle to sin, we will spend time in horrific misery for all eternity. If we get sin lifted off us by God, we'll experience the most exuberant feeling and live in paradise for all eternity. So, heed my advice – take sin seriously and defeat it when you still can. 

One Example of a Hypocrite

        Anyone who believes that the way to "liberate" people is to give them all kinds of rights and free stuff, but is not willing to suffer in any way himself is an egoistic hypocrite.

**Do You Realize That . . .

the joys and the sorrows we receive in this life are nothing compared to the joys or sorrows we shall receive after we die? 

A Short Testimony

        My soul used to be quite tattered, but Jesus has made it whole again. 

God's Flexible Mercy

        God does not judge us like a college professor who fails you if you score below some prefixed mark or passes you after you have earned enough credit. I am sure that in some cases there is no question that the soul will go to heaven or hell. Anyway, I believe God will consider many factors at judgment time. If you are right on the borderline, he may just let you pass. The best policy is to love the Lord as much as possible and we don't have to be concerned about how we'll be judged.

***Our Only Savior

        By default, we are going to lose our soul to Satan! Therefore, we must turn and submit ourselves to God, our creator and only Savior.

***Our Spiritual Jam***

        The Lord made me see that we have inherited the original sin and ended up in this jam, helpless on our own, and he is committed to saving us because he loves us. It would be erroneous to think that we are basically evil, wanting to fight him. If that were the case, he needn't be merciful to us at all. With this understanding, we see that we are just capable of being bad as well as being good. The important thing to see is that by God's mercy, we can be freed and restored to holiness. All it takes is to believe in and follow Christ, something we can easily accomplish once we see that it is what God has planned for us. 

***Jesus Our Secret Help

      Great news! Accept any challenge from Jesus our Lord and he'll secretly assist you to make sure that you succeed. Now, aim high and tell him that you are ready to become a saint. (I am serious.)

Duality of Being Christian (reposted from 3/9/2013)

       A Christian is both timid and bold – timid because he realizes that he is finite before God; bold because God empowers him. A Christian is both humble and proud – humble because God is awesome to him; proud because he has God. A Christian is both invisible and visible –invisible because he hides himself in God; visible because God dwells in him. 

God Calling!

        If you feel that you are somewhat tired of living in this world, know that it is God calling you to respond to him!

*Are You Aware?

        Are you aware that God has done all the work for us to get back to him in heaven and it is now time for us to respond to him? I am not kidding. The time we have is the time we have on earth, not much. 

***Easiest Person to Love

        I have family members and friends who love me and whom I also love, but our love is so much inferior to God's love for us. Here's how God loves us. He always listens to us, understands us perfectly, is sympathetic and most patient, never rushes to judgment, never points the finger at us, is faithful and trustworthy, ready to help always. Unlike us, his love is totally selfless and pure, the greatest. See how much he went through in order to save us. Strictly speaking, only he knows how to love, for we all fall short miserably. The least we could do is to accept his love, hoping that we'll learn how to love better. All human beings, being imperfect, are more difficult for us to love without his help. The Lord has to be the easiest person for us to get along with and love. 

A Warning and Reminder

        How we live this life matters critically to how we shall live our next life.

**Mixed-up Hypocrite

        This is someone who wants to ban all the guns and rifles but totally supports killing the unborn at any stage. What a joke!

Heavenly Experience

          Remain completely passive in the Lord, letting him soak you with his love and draw you deep into him.

Be Nothing to Get God's Attention

       If you think nothing of yourself, you will get full attention from the Lord. As Jesus has said, whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

***Our Critically Important Choice

        In this life, we face this critical choice: to follow Christ or the world. Our eternal existence is at stake! 

God's Holy Power

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, a Greek woman begged Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. Because of her faith, Jesus did it. When the Lord willed, it was done. I am thinking that it's a good thing that we don't have such power, for if we do, we would surely mess up everything. The Lord will always will what is right and best for us – this we can be sure of. Trust in and follow him and all will work out fine personally for us. 

*From Pagan to Saint

        Here is the complete spiritual journey summarized. Part 1 – from not believing to believing. Critical point: when you repent of your sins. You search for God on your own and reach that point critical for salvation. Part 2 – from believing to being a saint. Critical point: when you surrender yourself completely to God. You struggle mostly on your own from the beginning and the critical point is difficult for many to approach. But once you go beyond it, you are powered by God and the journey becomes a delight. 

In Infinite Space

       Remain in Jesus and you feel completely free. That's because he is infinite! 

At God's Mercy

      "All at your mercy" – this was how I felt toward the Lord at the end of Mass. So, hear me, Lord. And I gladly submitted myself to him once more.

***Cool Experience

        Communion experience. My eyes do not see the Lord and my ears do not hear the Lord, yet my heart sees and hears him. This is really cool. Christ is now my life, my heart, and my soul – he's this close to me!

Spiritual Progress

        I am happy that nowadays my thoughts no longer dash around uncontrollably, for I am able to remain perfectly still in the Lord.

Don't Tell Me There's No God

        It amazes me today that the earth would orbit around the sun once a year, year after year. How is this possible if there is no God?

**Mankind's Biggest Tragedy

        I dare say that deep in their hearts most people know that money and material possessions cannot make them truly happy, yet they still strive to get rich and accumulate material things. It often takes something shocking or unexpected like a death, an accident, a serious illness . . . to wake them up. The biggest tragedy has to be that people do not want to know the God who only wants to save them.  

Jesus and the Avant-Garde

        What does Jesus and the avant-garde have in common? In a changing world, the avant-garde is always avant-garde, while Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Forever Refreshing and New

        Communion experience. Each reception of the Holy Eucharist is a refreshing new experience, for the Lord is forever refreshing and new.        

Effortless Creation

       For God, creating life or a miracle or anything is effortless. For us, creating something new always involves a lot of work. One thing that strikes me as an exception is creating a link to God. Anytime we wish to connect with the Lord, he knows it already. This is instant communication created without any effort on our part, unless you consider turning to the Lord to be an effort.  

On Temptation

        I've mentioned that the smart way to overcome temptation is to flee from it. I also want to point out that the more you enter the Lord and sense his holiness, the more repugnant sin becomes. Being human, you'll always feel the lure of temptation, but now you are stronger because you see that it will lead you to commit something that's repugnant to you. Also, attain union with God and you will not be lead into any temptation that can overpower you.

What God Asks of Us

        Do your humble best and not worry about the rest.

*My Greatest Joy Is . . .

that the Lord is my soulmate. A soulmate is someone completely compatible with you. This is difficult to realize between two human beings. However, with God you can attain union and become perfectly compatible with him.

The Great Tragedy

        Life can be so beautiful and complete if you can attain union with Christ, yet the world does not even want to know him.

*Doing What Matters

        In the limited time we have on earth, what matters is not how much work we get done, but doing what God wants us to do.

Is There Reproductive Justice? (reposted)

        The fact that the Left in this country has absolutely no regard for the unborn and care only about their own existence and political power shows clearly that they are hypocrites to the core. It is appropriate that I repost this blog of March 23, 2012 below:

         Yesterday I attended a forum on "Reproductive Justice: Does a Woman Have a Right to Choose?" at a local college. The panelists were made up of five well-known pro-choice, pro-abortion females. Naturally, abortion was the biggest issue among the reproductive rights claimed. What I basically saw was that they didn't believe that anyone, not even God or Church, should tell a woman what to do with her body, not admitting that the child conceived is not really a part of the mother's body. They admitted that abortion terminates a life, but it's the mother alone who knows whether it should keep the baby or not. One panelist had gone through an abortion herself and knew how painful an experience it was, so she wanted to make sure that others would have an easier experience ~ why didn't she make sure that others wouldn't have to go through an abortion? 

       They used the position taken by Catholics for Choice to bolster their own. I almost laughed out loud when one said that the bishops should not tell women what to do with the unborn because they don't have any children themselves. I wanted to tell them since they don't really know God, they are not qualified to preach to others on moral matters.

      I believe that they're probably all church goers and did care about women's welfare; but unfortunately, they were misguided. Until the heart is touched by the love of God and converted, the chasm remains between the pro-abortion camp and the pro-life one. I also sensed that they might feel that the pro-lifers care only about the unborn ~ how I wish they know that we love the pregnant mothers, the unborn babies, and even them!  

Effective Messaging Needed

        Telling others simply to love God and be holy is just too general – it won't affect the listener much in any way. What we need to give are specific, focused, strong and clear messages that illuminate the mind and better yet, touch the heart. The Lord is our supreme example. We don't have his authority, but we can certainly get to know his thoughts and learn his ways first.   

*Our Demonic Generation

        In the Gospel reading from Mark 6, Herod had John the Baptist beheaded. Many of our generation today are right with Herod. We have a major political party that has no qualms about killing the unborn at any stage of their life, even if they survive a botched abortion. You are talking about allowing mothers to kill their own children for whatever reason! Our generation has truly become demonic.  

How Real Is God to You?

        Faith is all about how real God is to you. Attain union with God and the Lord will let you know without the slightest doubt that he is real, for he and you are now one.

**Only Possible Union

        Think about it: only union with God makes sense. We cannot have union with a tree or any inanimate object. Union with nature is rather vague. Union with another person can never be perfect because there will always be differences between the two. Union with God makes sense because if differences exist, God has the power to remove them through changing us. Therefore, let union with God be the ideal state for us to attain.

***Get Baptized in the Holy Spirit!*

        In the Gospels, John the Baptist says that he baptizes with water, but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit. In the Church's Charismatic Renewal movement, we do pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit and, lo and behold, dramatic changes take place. All of a sudden, scriptures come alive, Jesus becomes real, praying is a joy, you experience great exuberance, or your heart is set on fire for the Lord. These are all real experiences. Therefore, I ask you, my friends, to ask the Lord to baptize you in the Holy Spirit or release his power in you, to kindle in you the fire of his love. The Holy Spirit is gentle but powerful. Simply pray straight from you heart and let miracles happen. Anything coming from your heart the Lord hears. Anything you ask for for the love of him, he honors. His whole goal is have you live in peace and joy now and enjoy eternal life later. 

Asking for Your Gifts

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus summoned the Twelve, began to send them out to preach repentance and gave them authority over unclean spirits. They went off and indeed drove out many demons. It shows that all our gifts come from God and when you need a special gift, he gives it to you too. This leads me to think that we should ask for all the gifts we need for our work. Yes, ask him to make us special.

A Brainteaser***

        Again, in reviewing my old posts, I deleted those with links that no longer exist and came across this brainteaser posted on 9/26/2011. I thought it would be fun to repost it here. This time I'll give a hint to make it easier: the word starts with the letter N. Here we go.

        

        What word is it? 

        (1) The word has seven letters.

        (2) It precedes God.

        (3) It is greater than God.

        (4) It is more evil than the Devil.

        (5) All poor people have it.

        (6) Wealthy people need it.

        (7) If you eat it, you will die.

*Dealing With God*

        Everything about God is infinite – nothing is impossible with him. With such a God, there is no point in asking him questions. The only way to deal with infinity is to accept it. We should just trust in him, obey him, rest in him, while marveling at his infiniteness.  

*Versatile Prayer

        Just nine days ago on Jan 28, I blogged about the three-word prayer "If you wish . . . ." Today I see that you can complete it with anything you have on your heart or let the Lord show you how he wants you to complete it. For example, you can pray "If you wish, heal my knee" or feel the Lord want you to pray "If you wish, help me forgive that person."  

Joy of Anticipation

        Communion experience. Knowing that I would be seeing my beloved Lord not too long from now filled me with joy. We all need to have something to look forward to. And I have found mine already, the one who is the source of all my joy.

Faith Releases God's Power

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deed in his native place Nazareth because of the lack of faith of his own people. When we don't have any faith, we don't get to see the power of God in operation. God can do wonders; it's we who shut him out. 

***Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (repost)

      Anne Catherine Emmerich is a holy, German nun (1774-1824), who took sufferings upon herself to expiate the sins of the Church and her members. I started reviewing my old posts and came across three on her which I blogged in July of 2011. I am reposting them here because what she had experienced in her visions deserves to be known by all.       

          (1) Her angel led her across a narrow bridge safely and she saw on the bank a mousetrap around which a little mouse kept running and running, and at last slipped in to get the bait. Anne cried out, "You are sacrificing your liberty, your life for a mouthful!" "Are men more reasonable," asked her angel, "when for a momentary gratification they endanger their soul's salvation?"

        (2) She was taken to a place to be shown how it is with our prayers before God. They seemed to be inscribed on large white tablets which were divided into four classes: some were written in magnificent golden letters; others in shining silver; some in darker characters; and still others in black streaked lines. The guide explained to her: "What's written in gold is the prayer of those who have united their good works to the merits of Jesus Christ and often renew this union; they aim at observing his precepts and imitating his example. What's written in silver is the prayer of those who think not of union with the merits of Jesus Christ; but who are, notwithstanding, pious and pray in the simplicity of their hearts. What's written in darker colors is the prayer of those who have no peace unless they frequently confess, communicate, and daily say certain prayers; but who are, however, tepid and perform their good works through habit. Lastly, what's written in black streaked characters is the prayer of those who place all their confidence in vocal prayers and pretended good works, but who do not keep God's Commandments nor curb their evil desires. Such prayer has no merit before God."

         (3) God also made it clear to Anne about his justice and mercy in this vision. She said, "Great is God's justice, but still more inconceivable is his mercy. He damns only those who are determined not to be converted; they who have a spark of good will are saved. Those who grieve for their sins, confess them sincerely, and trust confidently in the merits of their Savior; they are saved and their sins will no longer be remembered. It's true that they go to purgatory, but not to remain long. On the other hand, many stay long in purgatory who, although not great sinners, have lived tepidly. Through pride they would take no admonition or instruction from their confessor. The time was when the thought of only one poor sinner's condemnation grieved me so that I could not get over it; but on the present occasion, though many were condemned, I was perfectly calm, for I saw that God's justice called for it." Here she just answered my questions. 

**To All Sinners:

        Let any among you who has no sin be the first to reject Christ.

God Makes Us Forgetful

        Communion experience. I entered the Lord and was able to forget about everything else, for he was everything to me.

Lord Over All Demons

        I came across this interesting15-minute video "Exorcisms and the Church," an interview with Fr. Vincent Lambert by Raymond Arroyo on EWTN. For me, it clearly shows that Jesus is Lord over all demons and evil spirits.

Do Think Ahead

        On a beautiful, calm, sunny day, it's easy not think about the stormy days ahead after the season changes. Then when those days arrive, we are not prepared and may suffer damage or loss of our properties. Likewise, if we do not think about our life after death in advance, we won't be prepared and may lose our soul.

An "Early" Warning

        I have lived long and known the Lord enough to see clearly what life is all about. When you are young, you only see what you wish to achieve in your life. In other words, you see yourself as the master in control of your own destiny. What you do not always see is that you were born into a mostly secular, sinful world which can easily influence and shape you wrongly. As you age, you begin to see this danger and start to seek God or if you had somewhat known him earlier, to deepen your faith. My advice is to be aware of the existence of evil and start seeking the God of Christ when you are still young. If you play God too long, you may lose him forever.       

**Good Test Question

        How ready are you to go to God now? This tests how much you belong to the world, also how much you belong to God. If you are only 50% ready, you are still in the danger zone. God wants you to be 100% ready.

The Foolish and the Wise

        There are fools and there are the wise ones. The fools are those, especially the elites, who think they are in control, have everything, and live to serve themselves only; while the wise ones are those who have already linked themselves to God, got their eternal life all settled, and now live to serve the Lord, bearing fruit and building up treasures in heaven. 

***Old Warning Once More!

        On Feb. 1, I mentioned that I probably would not be able to blog until after Feb. 10. Well, things have turned out differently – I am back and blogging. Here's what has happened. I was asked to see three people south of here in Los Angeles, Temecula, and the San Diego area. My wife was already in Los Angles. I did not get a strong call to go until I heard that the friend in the San Diego area who recently lost her husband was feeling somewhat down, so I thought it would be a good time to lift her spirit by telling her about the Lord who can fill us with so much joy and hope. Yesterday I took the short flight in the morning. It had been raining hard all along the coast. At times in flight, the turbulence was so bad that the plane shook and jerked you thought it might break apart. Anyway, after a little over an hour, the flight continued past the arrival time for about 20+ minutes in grey and murky layers of clouds with horrible visibility. The time was before noon, but it looked so dark outside that you thought it was almost evening. Finally, the pilot announced that the plane was going to return to where we started, for he could not locate the airport landing strip and did not want to waste more fuel. It was all very dramatic. We finally got back, all passengers cheered. Clearly, the Lord did not want me to complete this trip for reason not clear to me yet. I also suffered from motion sickness, feeling dizzy and nauseous. Slept all afternoon and all night, feeling almost normal now. I thought of the suffering in hell again. It would be so much worse than feeling motion-sick and, worst of all, suffering for all eternity! I truly wish that no one would ever end up there. Do not commit any mortal sin. If you already have, go to confession and get it absolved. Salvation means saving your own soul too and first! This may be one of the reasons I did not complete this trip. 

Absolutely Sensible Advice

        In Matthew 6.33, Jesus said, "Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [the pagans seek] will be given you besides." He is saying that we should choose God and heaven first, and not worry about everything else. [Note. I probably won't be able to post anything until after the 10th of this month. Meanwhile, God's blessings on all of you who visit my blog.]

Letting the Kingdom of God Grow

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, Jesus said to the crowds, "The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade." This is a beautiful picture. We should be the soil for the Lord to make rich so that the seed he plants in us can grow to its fullest potential. Know that what we produce may not be impressive or even visible to us, but it would be great in the eyes of the Lord.

Safe in God's Light

        I see the Lord, the only one radiant in the darkness all around me, and I know that I am safe in his light which dispels all evil.

*Heart for God

      A kind heart alone is not good enough for God; it must also be pure.