****Year-End Reflections and Wishes

       Some thoughts as the year concludes. As my time on earth becomes increasingly limited, doing the will of God is now my only priority. Prayer comes first. At this point, blogging to draw as many people to the Lord as possible through the Holy Eucharist is my primary mission. I leave how much I can achieve entirely to Christ and care only about how obedient I am to him. I still enjoy playing the piano and photographing with my iPhone, but they no longer have any hold on me. It's a beautiful day today with blue skies, white clouds, and green grasslands all around, begging me to go outside to enjoy the outdoors, yet no feeling can ever be more exhilarating than knowing that the Lord God dwells within you.  
          My prayer is that every single person will come to know that Christ is our Lord and Savior. I wish more than anything else that you will let him love you so that you may love him and enter heaven. There is no greater joy than giving Christ joy. 

***Glory Be to Our Lord***

         Today's Gospel reading at Mass began with the Gospel of John. I'd like to present the first 5 verses below to glorify our Lord on this last day of the year 2021.

        In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. he was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

***Greatest Revelation and Test

         John 1:14a, 12a is today's Gospel acclamation. "The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him he gave power to become the children of God." This has to be the greatest revelation to us, for it is stunning, awesome, and incredible! Of course, to those who do not believe, it means nothing. But for those who believe, it is everything! The Lord wishes to take complete care of us— and it's up to us to say yes or no to him. So this greatest revelation is also our greatest test.

*****God's Love at Work

        This year is coming to an end tomorrow. I'd like to share this story which is basically a happy one, for it shows how beautifully God's love works. Here's the site. If you are looking for a good charity to make a donation to, you have an ideal candidate here. 
          May you have the brightest New Year coming to you!

***Same Old Dilemma

        In today's first reading from 1 John 2, the Apostle writes, "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever." It seems as if the Apostle had just seen our world today. To love the Father and not what's in the world is indeed most difficult. The only remedy is to do the will of God. So we must know God first. To attain union with God is of course the way to go. It again comes down to how we respond to God's call. We can keep on loving the world, which is easy, or turn to loving God, which is possible if we were humble enough.

***Our Best Prayer

         Abandoning ourselves totally to God without reservation. 

**Nobody Becomes Somebody

        Be a nobody in the eyes of the world and you become somebody before the Lord. (You can achieve the same result by living for Christ only in secret.) 

**False Humility & True Lack of Pride

        If God asks you to become a saint and you say "Oh no, I am not good enough"—do you know that this is false humility? On the other hand, if you say "Yes, I'll do it"—this shows that you are humble enough to know that nothing is impossible for God and you do not let the your pride get in the way.    

**Are You a Burden or Joy to God?*

        Do Christians carry a heavier burden than non-Christians? I believe so. That's because a Christian feels the tremendous pain the Lord suffers as the entire world sins against him. What is amazing is that Lord helps carrying the burdens of all his servants with joy! 

***Purify the Vaccines!

        Fr. Mark Goring follows up his video Tainted Vaccines of yesterday with a new one today. You can learn more and do something about it by visiting the website https://cogforlife.org/. (Note: Today is 1/26/2022. It looks like YouTube has removed this video. Anyway, you can still visit the website given here.)

**Tainted Vaccines

        Fr. Mark Goring's new message. In case you don't know, not all vaccines are "clean." 

***Christ Our Determinator

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 2, we have the presentation of the child Jesus in the temple. Simeon blessed Joseph and Mary and said to Mary, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." Indeed, it is through Jesus that all our hearts will be judged and our destiny determined by him. For he is our creator, our judge, and our Savior! 

***Why I Love the Holy Spirit

        I love God the Holy Spirit for the following reasons. (1) He makes me new and keeps me refreshed. (2) He teaches me in all things and revealed the truth to me always. (3) He sets my heart on fire to glorify God to the max in this life. (4) Last but not least, he is the greatest joy to me.

****Proclaiming God's Glory

        From Psalm 96, today's responsorial Psalm, I read the following: "Announce the LORD's salvation, day after day. Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds." We Christians must never stop spreading the good news and telling people what the Lord has done for us! Never let anyone who reacts negatively to us silence you. Even if there is no one around, we need to proclaim the glory of God to the mountains and the sea. The joy of God is not to be suppressed!

***Learned from Saint John the Apostle

        Today's first reading comes from 1 John 2. Two things the Apostle wrote impress me. (1) "Whoever keeps Jesus' word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him." So obedience to the word of Christ leads to union with him. (2) "Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness." So whoever remains in the light of Christ does not hate anyone anymore. This is how we remains in peace. If you are still angry at a brother or sister, you are not yet walking in the light of Christ.

**Never Worry for the Lord

        We often pray to God for some favor and wonder if he is going to grant it to us or not. Well, the Lord knows exactly whether what you ask for is best for you or not and how he should respond to you. If we don't have peace after praying to him, then you are in a way worrying for him. Our role is to trust in God completely and wait for things to work out in peace. Know that faith can only get stronger after being tested 

**Being Secure in God's Light

        Today is the Feast of Holy Innocents. In the first reading from 1 John 1, the Apostle writes that God is light and exhorts us to walk in that light. I love the Lord shining his light on us always while we fellowship with him, being cleansed by him from all sin and prevented from sinning anymore. No darkness can now invade our space again.  

**That Which Completes Our Joy

        Today is the Feast of Saint John, Apostle. In the first reading from 1 John 1, as an eye witness and Apostle of the Lord Jesus, he writes, "What we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete." When we are in union with the Lord, we attain the ultimate fellowship with him, and our joy is complete. This joy, being the ultimate joy that surpasses all other joys, becomes the only joy we need to possess. It is the joy what will sustain and vitalize us for all eternity. 

**Another Christian Joy

        The great joy for those who follow Christ is, of course, knowing that they will be in heaven with him forever. Another joy we mustn't forget is that when that happens, we'll be like him ourselves!  

**Saving the Family

         Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In these evil times, Satan has succeeded in breaking up so many families. It's common to meet Catholic parents whose sons and daughters were raised in the Catholic faith but have left the Church altogether. When prayers don't seem to work, the parents are left with no choice but to give their children completely to God. This is a good move, but remember that if you truly trust in the Lord, your burden is now carried by your heavenly Father and you mustn't let it burden you anymore.

**Learning How to Love

          If you love anyone, you must be concerned about that person's soul and eternal life. If you don't live a good spiritual life, you basically don't love yourself. Love Christ first and foremost and you'll know how to love everyone else and yourself right.

**Completing God's Joy

        Communion experience. God has completed my joy. I must now focus upon completing his joy. 

***Day of Mercy

        Each day we are alive is a day of mercy bestowed upon us by God! We'd better take full advantage of it.

***God's Ultimate Intention***

       Do you know that the Lord wants to save us so that we can finally become perfect like him?

**Mutual Exalting

        When we remain humble, the Lord exalts us. Do you see that as we humble ourselves, we exalt the Lord too?

***That Christmas Joy

          It's Christmas, a day Christians greatly rejoice in. This is a unique joy that non-Christians do not experience, the joy of knowing that God truly loves you and has saved you from sin to live for all eternity with him in heaven. So, on this joyful day, I do feel the sorrow that many still do not know or have even rejected Christ—you can't get more lost that that. It is imperative that all true believers in Christ pray for the conversion of the entire world so that all peoples may experience that joy God has intended for all of us.

***Most Comfortable for Me

         As Christmas is only two days away, you see houses decorated with lights, people busily shopping for gifts, stores putting up ostentatious displays, etc. Christmas is now even celebrated in non-Christian countries. For many, it provides a holiday break and an opportunity to spend or make a lot of money. Just how many people see Christ as our Savior and are drawn to him at Christmas time? I am afraid that all the glitter and glow only show how ungenuine we can be. Anyway, I am happy because Christ is the one with whom I feel most comfortable. He has completely fulfilled me in every way. How is this possible when him I don't even see? Well, that's because he created and knows me thoroughly and nothing is impossible for him.

*****Conversion of the Jews

        I posted Part 1 of Roy Schoeman's talk on Nov. 8, 2018, in which he told his own amazing conversion story. Today I watched Part 4 of his talk and feel compelled to share it with all. He tells how some of the prominent Jews converted to Catholicism. Perhaps more importantly, we Catholics can learn how lucky we are to have the truth and all the sacraments. This presentation should make us appreciate and treasure Jesus Christ our Savior and the teachings of our Church even more! The main talk ends around 1:06:14, followed by a Q and A. 

 

**Christ Our Ohly Hope

        Many hope that the coming Christmas and New Year will bring them peace and joy. As a matter of fact, they do this every year. But those who are in union with Christ are already enjoying peace and experiencing great joy in him. Elsewhere you'll find no true peace nor joy, so stop hoping in vain but go directly to Christ to surrender yourself to him to receive what you lack. 

****Extraordinary Living

        Prophets, visionaries, mystics, and many saints experience the Lord supernaturally. It might be hearing the Lord speaking to you, seeing visions, entering ecstasy, receiving the stigmata, or other. Nevertheless, for us who do not normally experience the Lord in any extraordinary way, we can still enter into a most special relationship with him. We receive the Holy Eucharist and attain union with him. Now we enjoy the Lord, living secretly for him in him. We are in the world, but not of the world anymore, feeling completely secure. Dwelling in the Lord is absolutely special, most satisfying and exhilarating. 

***"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

        Alma Deutscher was a British music prodigy. At age 16 now, she has already composed a number of orchestral works, an opera, many piano pieces and songs. She plays both the violin and the piano beautifully. Enjoy her latest Christmas song here, sung by her friend Anna Voshege with Alma and her sister Helen providing the chorus.

****Why Imitate Christ

        If you are a parent and your children want to be just like you, you would feel very happy, for they believe in you. Now, our heavenly Father loves us with an infinite love—imagine how much more he would be pleased if we want to be just like him! Start seeking union with Christ so that you may become like him.

**Taking Afterlife Seriously

        I feel sad when I see someone doing something not quite right and hear him say casually that he doesn't mind spending some time in purgatory. How foolish can one be! Assuming such an attitude can only worsen one's suffering in purgatory. We must be absolutely serious about where we go after this life. The suffering one experiences in purgatory can be most painful too. If we truly love Lord, we should aim for going straight to heaven.

*Accidents and Coincidences

         Unbelievers explain away all hard-to-believe events as accidents or coincidences, but believers in the Lord know very well that no event can occur without his permission and he imparts knowledge to them via everything that occurs to them.

***Healing Our Division

        The world, including the Church, is so badly fractured now that in some way we have all become enemies to each other. As long as we do not submit ourselves to Christ completely, we shall remain divided. Unity and harmony can only come through obedience to the Lord. When we all attain union with him, we become truly one.  

**God Is for Us

        Romans 8:31—If God is for us, who can be against us? I can't think of God going against me without a good reason. Truly, he loves me and is always for me. Since I do have a heart, I feel that I must love and listen to him as much as possible.  

***Why We Need to Pray

        When we pray to the God of Christ from our hearts in great faith and with great trust, we move his heart and can change his mind. The salvation of all the souls, the severity of coming chastisements, how much time the Devil still has over us, our own destiny . . . all these things and more are within our power to alter, alleviate, or eradicate. For the Lord listens to those who love and stay with him. Pray for the conversion of the entire world so that he may truly become the Lord in all our hearts.

****To Be a Saint or Not

        If you pray to the Lord to make you a saint, how do you think he will respond? It'd be impossible for him to reject your request, as far as I can see. In fact, this is exactly what he wishes to hear from all of us at any time. You are now making heaven rejoice! Sadly, many Catholics don't ponder over becoming a saint, for they think that's for the big, well-known saints only, not realizing that at the beginning, these saints were sinners just like them or worse. The truth is that nothing is impossible for God. If you truly desire something for his glory, God will surely make it happen. We are never too good for God or not good enough for God—we are always just right for him to turn us into saints! If you'd rather remain with the world in this life, becoming saintly is not for you. But if you'd rather shine extra bright in heaven later for all eternity, then it's perfect for you. (Note. To be a saint does not mean to be a canonized saint later. I believe that all the canonized saints were so humble that they'd rather not be singled out if they had the choice. It simply means to be holy here.) 

***Serving God Only*****

        In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said to his disciples and the crowds, "No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon." Of course, God we must serve, so "mammon" may be replaced with someone or something else. What comes to my mind is that "we cannot serve God and ourselves." If we serve ourselves first, we cannot possibly love God. Even if we place ourselves in second place, we won't be able to serve God whole-heartedly. That leaves us the conclusion that "we must forget about ourselves and serve God only." This is the key to freedom and holiness! And our reward will surely be great in heaven!

***God Meeting Our Expectations

         I've wanted to experience God's love, peace, freedom, and joy. I've wanted to know him most intimately. I've wanted to enjoy his presence at all times. I've wanted to be able to overcome all evil through him. And most of all, I now want to go to him as soon as I depart from this world to be with him for all eternity. These are all big demands, and the God of our Lord Jesus Christ has met them all, assuring me that I would be with him forever. This is the God who can meet our highest expectations.

***You Are Ready*

         If you are ready to face Christ, you are ready; you are now ready for anything! Rejoice!

***St. John of the Cross Counsel

        Today is the Memorial of Saint John of the Cross. I had read some of his writings some decades ago and the best thing I learned from him which I'll always remember was this piece of advice. He says that if you wish to attain union with Christ, you must focus upon him alone and let nothing whatsoever distract you, even should the Lord appear before you. He really made the point. It is true that anything that tends to shift our focus away from Christ can be counterproductive. If you want only him, why look elsewhere?

***Time Is Short (a Warning)

         I have already lived quite a bit beyond my life expectancy. One good grace I've received from the Lord is being aware of the little time I have left on earth. Some of you may not even live as long as I, so the time you have left would be even shorter. Anyhow, no matter how old we are, the time we have left is limited. That is, the time we have for seeking Christ the Savior is limited, while the time we'll spend with or without him later is forever! Wake up now while you still can. 

***Everything Through Christ!

        The Lord God knows everything that's going on and nothing can happen without his allowing it. So I see that it would be most wise to do everything through him. That is, we make sure that we always do his will, as it's easy to follow what we think we should do without going through him. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said to his disciples, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Make sure that you know this. A perfect God deserves perfect obedience from us.

***Christ Our Liberator

        We human beings tend to hold onto the past. We like to preserve our heritage, our culture, and our traditions. We restore old buildings and protect ancient artifacts. All this is good as long as we are not obsessed with it. Again, I love Christ because he liberates us from all things, good and bad. We become abhorred of the bad and enjoy the good without being attached to them. In other words, we are free. We belong to Christ now, our everlasting future. The world will pass one day and that would be just fine.

**Questioning the Lord Properly

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 21, the chief priests and the elders of the people questioned the authority of Jesus. Since they couldn't answer the counter question Jesus asked them, he did not tell them by what authority he did all his things. Of course, we may ask the Lord questions to learn from him, but we should never ask him without trust nor respect. After all, what we know is nil compared to what he knows.

****Only True Future

        I watched another video showing that some of the most talented students at a prestigious university in China are working on how they can improve our daily life with cutting-edge technology. This is truly looking into the future, but does that make you truly smart? Let me say outright that any future that does not include God is no future. We must look beyond this world, this life, to be truly smart. To be blunt, without Christ, we don't have a future to speak of.

**Spotting the Smart One

      In Matthew 21, Jesus told the parable of the two sons to the chief priests and the elders of the people. "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The nan came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, "Yes, sir," but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered correctly, "The first." 
       I thought of this parable because I want to ask a question in a similar way. Say you have two people. One is very good at trading or doing business with others and becomes rich. Meanwhile, the other lives for God alone, quietly storing up treasure in heaven. Which of the two in your opinion is the smart or wise one?

**Shock for the Proud

        All the great saints humbly saw themselves as most wretched sinners before the Lord God, whereas today many lukewarm Christians and nonbelievers see themselves as pretty decent people that the Lord will surely forgive them. In Matthew 23 and Luke 14, Jesus said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." So for all those who think they are good enough and are not contrite or don't try to become more humble, they'll be in for a big shock when they face the Lord either at the time of the Warning or after they die. Only a fool will take a chance with God.

***Ultimate Freedom, Peace, and Joy

          It is the Third Sunday of Advent. Today's Communion experience: my quest for ultimate freedom is over.
       Freedom, peace, and joy mark the true Christian. There are all kinds of freedom, peace, and joy out there, but only the freedom, peace, and joy of God surpass all understanding. To me, they are the ultimate freedom, ultimate peace, and ultimate joy. If you don't possess Christ, you are not truly free, let alone experiencing his peace and his joy.

**How God Teaches Us

         The Lord God is always trying to perfect those who love and are receptive to him. It is in learning from him that he becomes dear to us. There will be dry moments or periods, so don't think that he has abandoned you. It may just be a transient test or signify the beginning of a new phase of your spiritual life. We must never let our feeling affect our faith. Psalms 23:4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."

*****Greatest Favor!

        Prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosaries today and realized that the Lord God actually died for my sins so that I might live—this is absolutely the most anybody could possibly do for me. It is hard to believe that God should love me this much—I feel elated and most grateful to him. Soon I'll be with my most beloved Father forever! Try to top this. 

****We Are the Culprits**

        We see how evil the world has gotten to be. Christians clearly see the fierce battle being waged by Satan against God. You may wonder why Almighty God doesn't just wipe out Evil to bring us peace. We must remember that the Lord's hands are tied because of our disobedience. If all of us repent of our sins and surrender ourselves to God, Satan instantly loses the battle and we'll have order and peace. So, you see, we are the ones fanning the spiritual war, giving the Lord God a most difficult time. He is doing his utmost to save us and we keep resisting him! Rebelling against God is surely the path to self-damnation; it's so very logical and clear.

**Mary Our Best Ally Against Evil

         Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord had chosen this immaculate handmaid to bear his divine Son first and is now letting her spearhead the campaign to crush the Devil. No doubt her Immaculate Heart will triumph in the end. Allow the Holy Mother to help us crush evil in our own lives.

**Dealing with Prophecies and Apparitions

      Jesus came to cause division among us. Mother Mary has also caused division. So have all the prophets. I've come across one website which lists all the prophets that are credible or questionable or false, beginning with Prophet Joel (c. 800 BC) to the self-proclaimed prophets of today. That would be absolutely impressive if the information were accurate. Anyway, we should always use our discernment. Regarding current prophets, I get suspicious if a prophecy contains specific detailed instructions, as prophecies are usually general warnings. But many of them do give us good timely advice which I can totally accept. 
    Regarding the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and Garabandal, the Church has not approved or disapproved them yet. I've been to Medjugorje three times and experienced great joy and uplifting of the spirit there. Nonbelievers always point out some of the scandals (not involving the visionaries) or the disapproval given by some high church official, but the good fruit is obvious with so many conversions happening there, not to mention the miracles witnessed by many (and myself). As for Garabandal, I believe that the Church never really investigated the apparitions with an open mind. There were those high in the Church who did not wish to see them approved from the very beginning. The Church was already fractured in those days. The video I am giving you below is a little over an hour long. But if your are interested in the Garabandal apparitions, you should find it enlightening. 

**Sticking to the Father

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18, Jesus gave us the parable of the lost sheep. He told his disciples, "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, he rejoices more over it than the ninety-nine that did not stray. In the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these littles ones be lost." Know how much we mean to the Father and stick close to him so that we may never become lost.

***Advice on Spiritual Growth*

        We should never compare ourselves with anybody else. If you follow Christ and don't judge anyone, that should take care of that. Basically, what anyone (yourself included) thinks of you doesn't matter in the end—it's what God thinks of you at any moment alone that matters. So you should focus only upon making sure that he is always pleased with you.

***God's Unique Love

        Strictly speaking, only God's love qualifies as true love. Our own so-called love for people and things is never 100% pure. We fall for them for our own pleasure and enjoyment; that's more desire than love. When we love God, we love him with his love. We know this because we become selfless in loving him and others. This is love on an entire different level, for it sets you free and you are never the same again!

Living Our Last Day

         It's been said that we should live each day as if it were our last day on earth. I see the merit in that. If I were living my last day now, I would just not worry or be anxious about all my unfinished business anymore.

***Faith Saves Us!

        Jesus often told those who had been cured or whose sins had been forgiven by him that "Your faith has saved you." Faith is essential for our salvation and experiencing God's wondrous deeds. In my own experience, I can say that as long as I have faith and believe, the end or outcome is not affected by the means I use. Let's suppose that I touched someone serious ill with a relic pertaining to some saint and prayed that he be healed and he got well quickly. This would be because I put my faith in God's power, not in the relic by any means. I could have used some other object; as long as I believed, the outcome would have been the same. Let's remember what Jesus said in Matthew 17:20 to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, if you have the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

**Praying for Ourselves First

         While praying the Our Father, I came to "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and saw that for everyone on earth to do God's will, it must start with us first and then we pray that the Lord will convert the rest of the world to do his will. We must make sure that we are not deficient of what we wish others to have ourselves. If we put our own house in order first, then we'll know better what the rest of the world needs.

****Secret to Spiritual Triumph

        Cast all your burdens upon to Lord to become carefree. If you don't do this, you become his burden! Letting God carry you every step of the way is the way to spiritual triumph. 

**No Concern About Second Coming

        Jesus has come to us and will come again to judge all nations. If we remain in union with him now, we won't need to be concerned about his Second Coming anymore. 

*God Our Permanent Rest

        I attended Vigil Mass yesterday. Communion experience: the Lord made me see that he's the only one in whom I can find true rest for now and all eternity.

**God Our Great Giver

        God first gave himself up fully to saving our souls. Then he gave himself to us in the Holy Eucharist to be with us always. And he is giving us all the time we need to turn and return to him in our life on earth. 

**Story with the Happiest Ending

        I just saw a video on YouTube. It's a true story that happened in China. A mother's two-year-old son was kidnapped and she never stopped looking for him since. Now, 32 years later, with the aid of DNA testing, he was found and the dramatic reunion took place. It was a sad story with a happy ending. I mention it here because I see how fortunate we can be by attaining union with God the heavenly Father so that no one will ever be able to snatch us away from him. Yes, we can always end our story with the happiest ending!

*The Little Boy or Girl in Us

        No matter how old we are or how mature and poised we appear to be, we all still have that little boy or little girl in us. In situations when our security is threatened, fear and worry often make us wish that we can turn to a father or mother who can protect and comfort us. For the Christians, they no longer have this problem, for they have their most powerful and mightiest heavenly Father to turn to at any time.

**God Exalts the Humble

        When you decide to become a nobody before God, he changes you into somebody pleasing for him to behold. Submit yourself to the Lord and he always changes you into a more beautiful person beyond all expectations.

**Knowledge That Leads to Life

        I love Christ because he loves me and is my Savior. To anyone who doesn't know him, all the sufferings he underwent probably doesn't make much sense. But to those who already knew him, it makes them want to love him even more. Understanding the Passion of Christ is the gateway that leads to eternal life.

***All Because of Sin*

        Today I realize that I love Jesus because I am a sinner. If I were a holy, sinless person, I would not need God to save me anymore. I believe that because we innately realize that we are sinners, we are innately attracted to Christ. And when we find out that he is truly the one for us, we fall in love with him.

***The Shroud Says It All*****

        Right after I blogged about how God died for us in the last post, I saw this video about the Shroud of Turin which provides all the evidence you need to see that it is the shroud of Jesus who suffered and rose from the dead just as the Gospels tell us. This is a video all should watch, especially the nonbelievers. How Christ suffered for us! Knowing that we are sinners, how can we possibly not love him?        

***God Loves Us Rightly*

        Jesus has said to his disciples, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." The Lord God is all holy, while we are notorious sinners. If we love the Lord, it makes sense that we should die for him. Yet the Holy Lord has sacrificed himself to die for us sinners! This doesn't seem right until you realize that he loves us so much that he sees us as his best friends.

****Submission Power

         When we are submissive to God, we receive great power from him. Now we are directly linked to him and he listens to our pleas, concerns, and questions. We can now influence the Lord and get things done for his glory for us.

*Muslims Converting

        An interesting video from Dinesh D'Souza.

****Secret to Union with God!

        Let God love you and you'll fall in love with him. Let God know you and you'll know him as never before. Let God possess you and he is all yours as well. Be wide open to the Lord to become one with him.

*****Fate of Our World*****

        The fate of our world depends entirely upon how much we obey God. It is in our hands! 

**Gratification Now or Delayed

        In this life, many worldlings do their utmost to earn admiration and praises from other worldlings, while some followers of Christ focus upon pleasing the Lord God only. Your get rewarded in either this life or the next.

*The Way Is All Clear for Us!

        Today is the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle. In the first reading from Romans 10, Paul writes, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." If you believe that Jesus is Lord and ask him to save you from your heart, he cannot possibly say no! Never forget that he has already died in our place to save us. Be grateful and rejoice, for you are now free to return to the heavenly Father!

**Becoming Beautiful to God

        As you know, I understand music quite a bit, especially classical piano music. When a pianist learns a new composition, there are so many aspects of it to explore. A good pianist finds all sorts of nuances in a score, and as a result he brings them out and makes the music sound beautiful. As disciples of Christ, the Holy Spirit makes us aware of the many spiritual nuances as we follow the Lord. As we let the Lord perfect us, we become more beautiful to him.

***Our Most Crucial Choice***

         Today is already the last day of November, 2021. As long as I continue growing closer to the Lord, I don't mind how time flies. The Lord God is everlasting, the Alpha and the Omega, and remains the same forever. Everything in the universe depends upon him. Our existence and all-around well-being depend upon him. We must know, love, and hold onto him! If you miss him, you lose your freedom forever!  

***Liberated from the Earth

        Way back when I was in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, I felt that my physical freedom was somewhat restricted, since I wasn't able to drive as fast as I could back home in California and I couldn't go as far away as possible either, as you just go around an island. Since then, I had traveled around the whole country and abroad, but I still felt the restriction imposed on me by the gravitational force—not being able leave the earth for good. After knowing Christ the Lord most intimately, these restrictions no longer bother me, as I am now with him at all times. So there is no desire for me to go anywhere anymore. When I leave this world, my spirit will be ready to soar to wherever he is. Yes, I've been totally liberated from this globe. And it's a joy!

*God's Holiness Purifies Us

        Today is the First Sunday of Advent. Here's my Communion experience. Where Jesus dwells, no evil can exist. The Lord entered me and I became clean and blameless. 

**Letting God Change You

        The Lord can overcome any obstacle in our way. If you put your trust in him, he can change you and/or things for you. More often than not, we are the obstacle. If you have trouble getting along with someone, let the Lord change you first. Should the problem persist, let him take care of the rest. Yes, he can make us new. Let him do that every chance you get and you grow holier and happier.

**How to Eradicate Divisions

        There are divisions everywhere. Among Christians, we have the Catholics, the Orthodox Christians, and the Protestants. Take the Catholics of whom I am one, there are traditional Catholics, more liberal ones, cafeteria Catholics, lapsed Catholics, and totally hypocritical Catholics. Even among all devout ones, some are more on fire than others. You can almost say that no two Christians are exactly the same. Of course, such divisions greatly weaken the Church. But by bonding ourselves to Christ, we can become one and be strong. I am talking about attaining union with the Lord so that we become just like him. This is the only way we can wipe out the divisions among us. This is also another reason why we should seek to attain union with God.

***How to Remain Pure

        Just make sure that every motivation you have is pure. That is, in whatever you do, you aim to please God and never yourself. This may sound harsh, but the peace you experience definitely makes it worthwhile! Besides, when you retain peace, you know you are doing God's will!

**Holy Greed

        When you petition the Lord, ask for as many favors and blessings as possible for you to become holy, fruitful, and be filled with joy, for his riches are infinite and will gladly give you whatever you need for your sake and his glory. How can a Father who loves you to death be otherwise?

**To Be Super Ready

        Today's Gospel acclamation from Luke 21:36 Jesus said to his disciples, "Be vigilant at all times and pray that you may have the strength to stand before the Son of Man." It means to me that we should pray that we may have the strength to stand before the Lord not only when we see him after we die or at his next coming, but also right now.

*** Holy Spirit's Gentle Test***

        The Holy Spirit is a most gentle spirit and his word to you can be a mere whisper. As a result, his voice is easily squelched by anyone without a sharp conscience. Therefore, we know that those who hear his voice and respond are truly being called by God. This is somewhat similar to the fact that someone who believes in God like a child becomes a true disciple of the Lord.

***Staying on the Right Path

         To believe in Christ as your Lord is one thing, but to follow him correctly is another thing altogether. For in today's world, there are myriad gurus spreading diverse messages every which way according to their own interpretation, and great confusion has also arisen from within the Church. As a result, one can easily be lead to false beliefs. For Catholics, we need to seek to attain union with the Lord thru the Holy Eucharist and adhere to the catechism of the Church—this is the safe way of securing our soul.

*****Time to Choose Sides

        In these end times, it is so urgent that we choose to follow Christ. If we don't, we risk being swept away by Satan in the end. I see divisions everywhere: divisions among both those who follow Christ and those who don't, divisions in our government, our society, and each family. Evil has infiltrated not only the largest corporations, but also some of the well-known charity organizations. The Church no longer listens to the Holy Spirit. Humanity is totally fractured! There is only unity among those who hold fast to the Lord in all circumstances. Belong to this remnant group to let the Lord protect you from all evil and keep your soul safe!

****God Not for Emergency Only****

        We meet various people in life and what we see, even within our own families, is often a microcosm of our society, our own country, or even the whole world. A lot of people, Christians not excepted, are interested mainly in things and affairs of the world, are concerned about their physical health much more than their spiritual wellbeing, get stressed out by what they try to achieve in this life, and do not seem to realize that they will die and have a soul to take care of. Here's the only thing you need to do to correct all these issues. It is that you surrender yourselves to God to let him take complete care of you, beginning with your soul. Many people may laugh at me. Laugh all you want, but you really shouldn't until you have tried it to see if what I've said is true or not. 

*Our No. 1 Concern

         Communion experience. How can I possibly not submit to the Lord to have him make me become like him? It should be our #1 goal that we be like him so that he may be pleased and glorified.

***Most Intimately Related to God

      Not only has God created us in his own image, he has also redeemed us with his own blood! Imagine how closely and intimately we must be related to him.

**Clinching Eternal Life

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, ten lepers met Jesus and raised their voice, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" He said to them, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned to Jesus, fell at his feet and thanked him. Jesus said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." We see that faith is essential to being saved. Then if you continue remaining humble, your salvation is assured. Faith and humility are the one-two that can clinch eternal life for us.

**Thanking God Especially Today

        It is Thanksgiving Day and I was happy to see many people at Mass this morning. What do I have to be thankful for? First, I am thankful that God loves us so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Next, I am thankful at Mass that he again gave all of himself to be one with us in the Holy Eucharist. It's a no-brainer.

*Equal Before God

        We are all most important to ourselves as we know ourselves best and try to take care of ourselves first. Everyone feels that way, so before God we are all equally important to him. Before him we are not superior (or inferior) to anyone else. Therefore, we must not judge or look down on anyone. This is to see everyone as God does.

**Test of Our Love

        In Luke 6:32, Jesus said to his disciples, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." The test of love is whether you love those who do not love or even hate you. The love of God is pure and blind; you just love. If people don't appreciate our "love" and turn against us, of course that would turn us off, but we should never view them as our enemies, for the love of God is devoid of any hate or bitterness.

**Heavenly Advice for Us

        Today's Gospel acclamation, Revelation 2.10c: Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. This advice the Lord gave to the angel of the church in Smyrna we also need to know and follow in these times of great evil.

**Thanks to Sin

        Because I realize how ugly all my sins are, I come to realize the awesome holiness of the Lord God. This is the only good thing I can say about sin.

*****Stunning Realization!*****

        I was asleep, woke up, and realized that I know the Lord God better than anyone I see on earth—this is absolutely stunning and I was filled with joy! It has to be the Lord's doing! So how can anyone say that we cannot know God? He's been waiting all our lives wanting to know each of us badly and we just shut him out. God wants to love us—let him do it! He wants to save us so that we may live happily forever—let him do it! First of all, he wants to know us, so welcome him with open arms for a change! Are you afraid of him because of your sins? If you don't have a better reason, all the more you need to open up to him! For heavens's sake, let's stop being so blind, so spoiled, so prideful, and so stupid! Being a sinner is bad enough to start out with. To me, to remain unbelieving in the one who truly loves and can save us borders on insanity if I may say so.

***Christ Taking Care of All Things

        If Christ can secure our eternal life, surely he can and will take care of everything else for us! A perfect logical conclusion. 

****Our Most Important Concern

        Let's be realistic and talk basics. If you believe that we all possess a soul and the soul lives on forever, then the most important thing we should do in this life is make absolutely sure that we get to heaven. Of course, Christ has already made it known to us that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. So you must look into him unless you can find someone else who can promise you the same even more convincingly. Time is running out for all of us. Here's the best of luck to all.

**Only Way to Change Ourselves*

        Today I realize that we are complex sinful beings that only God our creator can fundamentally change. We can change ourselves on the surface only. This is a basic fact we need to recognize if we ever hope to change ourselves to experience the freedom, peace, and joy in God. It shows that we fundamentally need Christ.

**The Sin Situation

        We cannot take sin lightly. Anyone with unremoved sins is like sitting on the edge a precipice and can fall off it if he's not careful. When Christ removes your sins, it's like he's placing you on level ground with no precipices in sight anymore.

**Communion Experience

        Today is The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. I received my King in the Holy Eucharist, the food of immortality! There is nothing I lack anymore.

**A Simple Observation

        Sin is the main cause of the corruption, the disorder, and the suffering in our world. If you recognize this, especially in evil times such as ours now, all the more you should turn to Christ to ask him to make you as holy as possible. 

**Letting God Be Our Refuge

        Things come up in life that seem to disappoint or discourage us, setting us back in some manner. This is the time to seek refuge in the Lord to restore our perspective. In the overall scheme of things, most things that happen are quite trivial, and good might even come out of theses experiences. The Lord is where you can go to gain understanding of all things and receive guidance. Of course, this is also where you can get consolation and encouragement. Whenever the world tear us down, the Lord can build us up even more. Let God whom nothing can overcome and to whom everyone must succumb be your refuge, rock, and stronghold.        

***Faith Without Questions

        In today's Gospels reading from Luke 20, the Sadducees questioned Jesus about the resurrection. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes were always asking Jesus difficult questions in an attempt to trap him, but they failed each time, for he knew all the right answers. We should trust in our Lord, knowing that he has all the right answers to all our questions. Therefore, belief in him steadfastly and never let what you do not know stand in the way.

**Believing in the Lord

        Even as ones who follow Christ, we still tend to hold onto our own beliefs when it comes to issues such as administering justice to criminals, forgiving others, turning the other cheek, etc. I don't have all the answers, but I do believe that if I love my Lord, he will never put me to any test that I cannot pass.

**Solution to Division Among Us

         Jesus has told us that because of him, there'll be division on earth. Even among those who follow him, there's much division, let alone those who do not follow him. I see division practically in every family with distinct characters holding individual beliefs, not getting along with everyone else. Large models of division are our government and the Church. We are far from surrendering ourselves completely to the Lord—it's this disunity that weakens and can destroy us! Turning to and surrendering to Christ is our last call, for there's no other recourse available. He's our only hope and the one we need. True unity can come only thru uniting with him. Thus, union with Christ is the solution to restoring us to peace and harmony with God and fellow human beings.

*****Most Satisfying Relationship Possible

        The Lord God is invisible to us and many don't even sense his presence, yet we can form the closest possible relationship with him. How so? First, being our creator, he knows everything about us and understands us perfectly. He can take away our sins, heal our souls, and make us anew. Secondly, by seeking union with him thru the Holy Eucharist, you come to know him most intimately and he becomes the ideal perfect soulmate you have always wanted. Now he is more real and indispensable to you than anyone else. Rejoice that the Lord has made you this way for him!

****Seeing What's Coming

      In today's Gospel reading, Luke 19:41-44, Jesus laments over Jerusalem: As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will smash you to the ground and your children within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." As evil is trying to take over the world, I see the worst coming for the Church and its members. There'll be increasing persecutions against all Catholics and the Eucharist may even disappear, according to some prophecies. Of course, we are not obliged to believe in such messages coming from private sources, but at the same time we should not ignore them either. The fact that there are so many prophecies coming to us now shows the urgency of our times. And the fact that they, coming from so many different sources, are very much in agreement with each other adds to their credibility. I do feel the urgency to do whatever extra we are called upon to do. Christians must recognize the signs of our times. Sure, we'll be all right if we trust in God and God will triumph in the end, but we still need to take action and do what's necessary to save as many souls as possible. If you are only lukewarm, you'd better get hot! If you are already hot, you can get even hotter! God now needs us more than ever.

*****Highest Form of Prayer

        Praying that God's will be done has to be our foremost and only goal! Of course, sometimes his will is ours too. So we can say that we should always pray for God's sake and not for our own. Know that God's foremost goal is to save us. So if we pray that his will be done, we are praying for the best for ourselves! To abandon ourselves in God is to let him do whatever he wants with us. Submission to God glorifies the Lord and is truly our highest form of prayer.

***Living in the Present

        Whether you follow Christ or not, the best way to live is to live in the present moment. For the Christian, it's a lot easier. You simply trust in God, asking no questions, never look back, and have no anxiety whatsoever about the future. We live for Christ every single moment, for he is with us every single moment. This is how we live in his peace. Jesus lived in his every moment in union with the Father and never rushed out to proclaim the Kingdom of God until he was ready. Always enjoy God and never rush things. One clarification: this doesn't mean that you don't feel the urgency to pray and fast even more in evil times like ours. We feel the urgency and remain vigilant and alert, but still remain in peace every single moment.

*****Jesus' Unique Suffering

      When I see people suffering physically, I just feel sorry for them and pray for their healing. Today as I saw the cross on my Rosary and realized how Christ had suffered so terribly for our sake, I also saw that all the most painful physical wounds he carried as sweet balms to my soul, for he suffered out of pure love for us to save us from eternal damnation. I'll forever be grateful to him.

***Our Greatest Blessing

        If you love God, he will always bless you. So focus upon loving God and you don't need to ask for his blessings anymore. Even better, attain union with the Lord, and he, our Greatest Blessing, is now with you as one.

***Spoiled Generatioin

        Jesus has said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." To deny yourself and take up your cross is to be willing to suffer for the Lord's sake. Indeed, this tests if we are truly his disciples or not. Our generation is a totally spoiled generation; it seeks physical and material comfort and is not willing to endure any suffering, and Satan knows that and exploits it to his advantage. To accept your cross and offer all you sufferings up to God leads to liberation of the spirit, for you are no longer your own slave. You thus triumph over Satan and become united with Christ who has suffered for us and is still suffering for us. The Little Way of St. Thérèse the Little Flower teaches us that we can become saints by doing every little thing with love for God. Our crosses are little compared to what the Lord carries. So if we are willing to take up all our crosses for the sake of our Lord, we become saints.

***All About Loving God

        Jesus gave us the greatest and first commandment: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." The following are equivalent to fulfilling this commandment: keeping the word of Jesus, total obedience to God, total abandonment in the Lord, not wanting to sin anymore, longing for Christ with all your heart, to be willing to suffer form him, remaining in union with him, and last but not least loving your neighbor as yourself.

**An Unprofitable Activity

        We can be hot or cold for God, but there is also a lukewarm area we must not fall into. It's so easy to spend a lot of time talking idly about other people or things, which doesn't result in any changes. This doesn't bear any good fruit nor advance the kingdom of God. It may make you feel good, but essentially you waste valuable time of your life when you can store up treasure in heaven. If I sound rather strict, ask the question "What if we all do this our whole life?" 

**Praying for Souls

        We need to pray hard unceasingly for the salvation of all souls, for our own souls are at stake.

***Breakthrough to Knowing God

        Sharing everything with God from your heart is opening yourself up to him completely, beyond what you ask of him. Normally, we tell the Lord what we want him to hear and not mention what we do not want him to hear. You should reverse the order to show that you truly trust in him. This should be a breakthrough to greater intimacy with your Lord God, and you'll experience great freedom and joy. You now enjoy him more than ever. 

**Relying upon the Perfect One

        Today's Communion experience. Great joy in realizing my utter dependence upon the Lord, the one who can make me perfect. 

**Peace Extraordinaire

        To me, the peace of the Christ is the greatest peace we can possibly experience on earth. We experience peace in the world when there is nothing to worry about, but this peace is always short-lived. The peace of Christ is permanent, for the Lord takes care your life for all eternity! Besides, you are filled the joy, knowing that you are loved by God.

****Our Greatest Reality!

         People avoid facing God. This is the God who has created all of us in his image, who has existed from the very beginning and will be around forever, who loves us to death, who has done all the work for us to inherit his kingdom, who is sustaining our existence every moment now on earth, who is continually calling us to respond to his love and mercy, who is intent on saving us from damnation, and who has given us all we enjoy now and will give us eternal life in heaven if you believe in him. So why are you avoiding facing this greatest reality? Please answer this question before you lose your body and soul at the same time! 

***Praying for God's Will First

       God knows what we need best. Therefore, pray for his intentions for us. This way we show obedience, trust, and support, and will receive the best from him. Of course, we can pray for what we want for ourselves too, but that should be of secondary importance.   

*****Squaring God's Justice with His Mercy*****

         God's justice is exact and thorough, and he knows every little sin we have committed. At the same time, his mercy is infinite. How do you square these two with each other? Well, we have the key in our hands—it is "repentance." If we do not repent of our sins, his justice takes full control. If we repent of our sins, then his mercy reigns. Now you know which way to turn the key!

***Either God or We***

        To trust in God is to forget ourselves. This is another truth. Since life is all about whether we let the Lord be our Lord or not, if we don't forget ourselves, we stand in God's way. One can't be aware of his own presence and trust in God fully at the same time. 

***With All Our Heart Always

        While our soul is most important to us, our heart is most useful. To do all things with the heart is to be genuine. Unite our heart with his Sacred Heart and we receive wisdom and power. Let him set our heart on fire and it becomes pure and spotless. Have heart-to-hearts with the Lord every moment and we enjoy great intimacy. If we are to love the Lord with all our heart, we must let him have our heart so that we may attain union with him as one forever.

**Honesty in Confession

         Confession is the sacrament of reconciliation given to us by the Lord. It's necessary for Catholics to go to confession if they have committed a serious sin, and, of course, it doesn't hurt to do it even if all your sins are minor. When confessing, we tend not to make ourselves look too bad, but this is dishonesty. True, you don't need to spell out everything in detail, but the gist of your sin must be truthful. If you were not totally honest with God, you may not even be forgiven by him. In addition, you have added the sin of dishonesty to confess. The Lord is always straight forward to us, and we must always be straight forward to him too.

*****Idolatry Warning!*****

        Today I read about the fall of Yundi Li, known as the Piano Prince in China. He won the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000 at the age of 18. He was caught with a prostitute and the Chinese government arrested him. It looks like his bright careen is over. (In the West, no one would care about any pop star committing many immoral acts, but that's another story.) Anyway, the unfortunate happening is that many of Li's possibly millions of young fans are now devastated by the fall from grace of their idol. Some have given up learning to play the piano altogether and fallen into depression. *This is the time for us all to remember God's first of his Ten Commandments: "I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me." Today the young idolize pop stars and we "worship" material things and even Satan. There is only one God who will never fail or disappoint us: he is the God of Christ, our only Savior. Violate his first commandment and we will surely suffer the consequences.

**How to Have True Life

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will have it." To me, the Lord is telling us that if we live for ourselves only, we won't have eternal life. Living for God is the only sure way to salvation.

**A Christian's Primary Mission

        This should be obvious, but it doesn't hurt to state it clearly again. As a Christian, I believe Christ is our Lord and Savior, and every soul enters either heaven of hell after death. Sin is a reality and the spiritual battle between God and Satan is all about saving souls. Therefore, a Christian's primary mission is saving souls, his own foremost, of course. This mission continues even after he enters heaven. At Christ's Second Coming, everything will be wrapped up and earth no longer will be our abode. So as Christians, let us follow Christ by evangelizing and praying for as many souls as possible, and our reward will be great in heaven. 

***Most Humble Miracle

         The last Luminous Mystery of the Rosary for today is The Institution of the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist, the Lord himself, is our greatest gift from God. The changing of the elements of the bread and wine, when they are consecrated in the Eucharist, into the body and blood of Christ has to be one most amazing miracle. Yet this change is physically invisible (although many visible Eucharistic miracles have occurred). The fact that the Lord totally gives himself to us in the Eucharist and the fact that the transformation into his body and blood takes place so unostentatiously strike me that The Institution of the Holy Eucharist is the most humble miracle that God has ever performed. 

***Best Time to Follow Christ

        When you try to convert someone to become a Christian, one common response you get is "I have many things to take care of now, so I am not quite ready yet." This sounds more like an excuse than a valid reason. In Luke 9:62, Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." With the Lord, you always move forward. Not even wanting to move is not wanting to follow him at all. If you do not follow him now, there will never be a better time! You have only your time on earth to decide and you don't know how much time you still have left. Why gamble with your soul? 

*****Secret to Knowing God

        To let the Lord enter our lives and to hear his voice, we must step out of his way. This means we remain passive and not try to accomplish this through our own exertion. We remain wide open to let the Lord reveal himself to us—this is all it takes, for the Lord who loves us wishes ardently to become one with us! Let it all be his doing!

***The Warning According to St. Faustina

 

*Be Grateful to God Always

         1 Thessalonians 5:18, today's Gospel acclamation: In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Indeed, whenever we realize that we are alive and have been given eternal life, we should give thanks.

*Soul More Important than Body

        Since the everlasting soul is infinitely more important than our perishable body, we should pray harder for all souls than we exercise our bodies. Common sense.

***Re Purgatory and Loving God

        Two older messages from our heavenly Mother, but worth listening to again. 
       

*Wise Advice

         Don't waste time trying to leave a mark on this world or hand down some sort of legacy. Spend your time wisely on storing up your treasure in heaven instead.

***Christ Is Joy!

        Once you know Christ most intimately, joy underlies all your experiences, the sorrowful ones included! For the Lord is joy!

***Jesus' Tremendous Agony

        As I was praying the first sorrowful mystery of the Rosary, Agony in the Garden, I could feel Christ undergoing tremendous mental suffering as a human being. All the sins that have been committed by all sinners are now on him, and he is going to have to pay for that with his own life so that we may be freed from sin. How can we not be grateful and love him?

**Blessing Out of Order?

        Whenever I hear people asking God to bless this country, I cringe a little bit, for our Supreme Court has legalized abortion! If I have done evil, I'd be a hypocrite to go before my father to ask him to bless me. Shouldn't I repent and reform first like the prodigal son before returning to his father? It seems that we should repent and ask for God's forgiveness first before asking him to bless us.

***Only You and God

        There are just you and God. You get to know a lot of people in your short time on earth, but you'll have them for just a short time. Besides, none of them can do a thing when you face the Lord at judgment time. It is he alone that matters to you. Either you'll be with or without him forever. So it comes down to just you and God. Live for him alone and you should do fine.

*****Big No-No for Us!*****

        I have given this warning before. But because it's so important, I'm bringing it up again. All sins we have committed are burdens that weight us down, making it impossible for the soul to soar to God. Therefore, never die in sin. You must get all your sins removed by the Lord before you leave this world. The sacrament of reconciliation was instituted for that purpose. To die in sin is to have your soul commit suicide, so please do not ever let that happen for your own sake and for God's sake. Have mercy on yourself! Repent and let the God of Christ remove all you sins as often as necessary. No one else can make you clean, for everyone must go thru him.

**Liberating Love

        Psalm 136: 1b-10 was today's reading. After reading it, I felt the following. The Lord is all around me. No matter where I go, he is there, and he knows all about me. Yet I experience complete freedom in him. This is amazing! It must be his love that liberates us. In submitting ourselves to him, we become free.

**Mutual Trust Essential

        No matter how you feel about God, he loves you. But if you don't trust in him, how can you expect him to trust in you? So trust in him fully so that he may trust in you fully too. Now you can talk about heaven.

**Heaven-Triggered Sadness

        Yes, I am going to heaven—you have to feel the joy just thinking about it! But you feel the sorrow too, when you realize that many other souls may not ever experience that joy. Sorrow to Christ is sorrow to us.

***First Step to Union

        We all have things about ourselves we do not wish others to know. But these things the Lord God knows thoroughly already. So sharing them with him will be perfectly fine. In fact, you should share all your feelings, thoughts, and inner secrets with him to show that you trust in him. Once he sees that, he knows that he can trust in you too. Now he reveals what you need to know to you from his Most Sacred Heart. The bonding begins. Sharing all that's in your heart freely with the Lord is the first step to attaining union with him. 

***Following Christ Is Exciting . . .

because there is no limit to how much you can love him (and you are on your way to heaven)!        

***Our Fundamental Battle

        It's between God and us. If God wins, we also win. If we win, God loses and we also lose. Simple truth.

**God's Chief Aim

        When you follow the Lord God, he does not aim at making you rich or famous or powerful; he only wants you to receive the greatest possible reward after you leave this world. Is this OK with you?

**Holy Spirit Most Refreshing . . .

        The Holy Spirit is most refreshing because he renews us continuously and inspires us regularly.

***Next Coming for Sure

        In Acts 1, we read that while the apostles of Jesus were looking intently at the sky as the Lord was ascending into heaven, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." As his ascension was witnessed by many, you can be sure that he will return again to clean up sin on earth once and for all.

**Choosing the Right Extreme

        Here are the two extremes. You can depend upon God totally or just drift around during your whole existence on earth. The God I am talking about is not just an imagined God, but a concrete God you can actually experience. So it comes down to knowing exactly where you are headed or remaining lost. The latter might be exciting when you are playing a game, but it becomes a horrible nightmare if your soul were involved. Of course, you can always take that other extreme with God.

***How the World Splits***

        For me, telling others about Christ is like someone telling me about an enthralling book, a beautiful piece of music, an attractive new friend, an exciting new car, an enjoyable new game, etc. We can talk about all these last things mentioned comfortably without getting upset even if we disagree. Yet, when the subject is Christ, the whole scene can change. People can start feeling uncomfortable. They think I purposely try to make them feel so. They think I am imposing my views or ways on them. They feel that I am lecturing them. Obviously, they don't like what they hear, even though none of what they think of me is true. I simply share the good news with all out of love without judgment whatsoever. The name Jesus must not be an ordinary name. Jesus said he came to cause division, that I can now understand. The whole world splits along that name. You either accept him as God and Savior or you don't. It must be that he truly is God.

**God is Thorough

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones." It seems that the Lord prefers that we be thoroughly trustworthy and honest. If you are not trustworthy or honest in all matters, you are not trustworthy or honest. With God you must to be thorough, no compromise, no wishy-washiness, and no duplicity whatsoever. That's why I enjoy the Lord.

*****God Wants the Best for Us!

         Christ is completely selfless. He'll do anything to make sure that we'll have the very best, and what can possibly be better than gaining eternal life in heaven? He even sacrificed himself to be sure that we get the best! You need to realize this unless you are already in heaven!

*Optimistic About Conversion

        When Jesus called St. Paul, Paul changed from being a zealous persecutor of Jesus' followers to become his new Apostle. We are now anticipating the coming of the illumination of conscience. I believe that this warning will succeed in converting many unbelievers. Let's pray that the conversion rate will be 100%, for nothing is impossible for God.

***One Great Feeling

         That is knowing that you are totally in Christ, not halfway or partially, but all the way. Now you are one with your master and will remain safe spiritually forever. This is the very opposite of being cut off from the Lord. The worst possible feeling has to be that of knowing you've been cast out by God forever. 

**Unhappiness Analysis*

         If you are unhappy about anything, I recommend that you find a quiet place alone and look deep inside your heart to see what the cause might be. You must be completely honest to yourself. This kind of search can surprisingly reveal the true cause of your happiness. It's like making a good confession to yourself. Once you see the trues reason, you'll feel relieved and happy, for the truth shall set you free. Understand yourself first and you can solve your own problems. I must confess that I did my analysis before the Lord God and that helped me tremendously. Not only was I able to pinpoint the cause each time, I also asked the Lord to remove the cause and experienced great peace. 

**Light of God Exposes Evil

        Jesus the Son of God came into the world and his Mother couldn't even find a suitable place for his birth, Joseph had to flee with Mary and the infant Jesus to Egypt to avoid the child to be killed by King Herod, and later Jesus himself was mocked, scourged, sentenced to be crucified and even made to carry his own cross. All these events show the kind of world people lived in then, and the world has gotten even worse today. By the light of God, we can see all that's evil in our world.

***Waiting to Become like the Lord

         Tonight as I was praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, I marveled that we sinners can actually attain union with the Holy Lord on earth! For he can take away our sins! But we still remain capable of sinning. I hope and believe that in heaven we'll become like our Lord, knowing only how to love. I so look forward to that day!  

*Lamenting the World

        Once you know Christ, you know you don't belong to the world anymore. You look at the world and see that every day people fight against each other; they just want to lord it over others. They create their own problem, their own miseries. Where are forgiveness, selflessness, humility, and love? When do they pay any attention to our Lord and Savior. I love all people, but not the world they have created. It's downright boring and no good fun any more; there's little to rejoice about. But with hope in our Lord, the true God, nothing can deter us who follow him. We just pray as hard as we can to save as many souls as possible. Hey, nothing is impossible for our God. 

***God's Clear Aim*****

        What does God want from us? Take a good look and see it clearly. Our heavenly Father loves us so much and wishes to save us from sin. If we believe in his Son Jesus, we'll have eternal life. This message should be clear to anyone who hears it. This is God's sole aim. If you reject it, you reject God, for the message can't be simpler and more straight forward.

****All About the Soul****

         Our soul is our most precious possession, and it's absolutely treasured by the Lord our God. Why did he come down to earth to die on the cross, if not to save our soul? Our first priority should be to please the Lord, which means we must take care our own soul foremost above all other things. Therefore, live so that our soul may go to heaven to be secured forever.

*****Letting Go of What We Leave Behind

        When we die, we leave behind all our possessions and all what we've accomplished in our lifetime. Some of the things may even be quite valuable in the eyes of the world or have meant a lot to us personally. Should we just totally let them go? My answer is a resounding yes if you know you are going to the Lord. What we leave behind will eventually be forgotten or gone forever. I thought of the doctoral theses I saw all stored at the library of the university I attended. They were no doubt the results of years of hard thinking and work, and now they are just placed on shelves collecting dust. Realize that once you are gone, whatever you have left behind can no longer affect the state of you soul. But if you have left behind something that can continue drawing others to God, then that should be something you can let go happily. 

**Attitude of Serving God

        In Luke 17, Jesus described the attitude of a servant. He said to his disciples, "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" When we do all things for our own sake, we are never free. But if we serve the Lord in all things, we are actually rewarded with the greatest satisfaction we feel after having done what we were obliged to do. Humility before God can truly make us feel good.

****Don't Be Spoilsports

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 15, Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep and that of the lost coin. The Lord let it be known that there would be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. It shows how he truly loves us! If we pray and succeed in converting all sinners, imagine how much joy we can generate in heaven! If we don't try to convert anyone or ourselves, we are spoilsports, party poopers, not deserving heaven anymore. 

***Why Judge Others?

        In today's first reading from Romans 14, Paul makes total sense advising the Christians at Rome not to judge others. No comment needed. 
        "Why then do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you look down on your brother or sister? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written: 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God."

***How God Judges Us

         The Lord judges us by different standards. Christians are given more, so more is expected of them. Someone who has never heard about Christ may be saved if he is a good person, but someone who knows Christ will be judged by a higher standard. I believe that the standard applied to a priest can even be higher, for he is in a position that can affect many souls. Anyway, every case is different and the Lord knows them all and is always just. If you've been given much by the Lord, know that you need to give him back more in order to receive still more from him.

***God's Beautiful Act

        As I prayed the Luminous Mysteries today, I saw that Jesus' giving his own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist was a most magnificent, selfless act. What a great gift we received from him! 

***Bonding with God

         Some years ago, I had to deal with a difficult matter and one person was always with me. She always supported me and spent a lot of time doing a lot of work for me. The matter was finally resolved after several years. Since she and I went thru so much together, a strong bond was formed between us. Bonds are always formed among those who do things together. Now, if we share everything with our Lord and experience the same joys and sorrows with him, we form a strong bond with him too. In fact, this has to be the most rewarding of all possible bonds, for our partner is no other than the Lord God himself. How satisfying it is to know that he is your closest friend, your most trustworthy ally, and your very soulmate!

***Spiritual Breakthrough

        When we abandon ourselves in God, we break through to freedom and joy. This has to be a turning point in our spiritual life, for we break out of self-imprisonment and begin the non-arduous part of our journey to union with God.

***We Are Malformed!

        We are shaped by what we experience in this world. In this secular, sinful world, we are influenced so much by all the impure and evil things happening around us that we don't even realize the pitiful state we are in. Hence, we need God who can make us see our sorry state and make us pure, whole, and beautiful for him to behold again. Last but certainly not least, we get to go to heaven too!

***Endearing Yourself to God

        Every prayer said straight from the heart endears ourselves to God. So let him draw you right to his Most Sacred heart by sharing everything in your heart with him. After all, he is our most loving Father.

***Skipping Purgatory

        I saw this Fr. Mark Goring video that came out in June of 2019. Here are some of my thoughts. Purgatory is where we get ourselves purified before entering heaven. You are going to heaven anyway, right? But both the severity of suffering in purgatory and the duration vary, depending upon the state of the soul. If your time in purgatory would last till the end of time, that definitely won't be a pleasant experience. I am saddened whenever I hear someone who has done something sinful and casually say "I'm going to purgatory anyway." Such an attitude will surely worsen his experience in purgatory if he does get there. Listen to Fr. Goring's message. I agree with him that our aim should be to get ourselves totally purified in this life. If you do this and truly long to see the Lord, chances are you'll go straight to heaven. The attitude should be that even if we do go thru purgatory, we willingly accept whatever the Lord wants to do with us. Total submission to the Lord and loving and longing for him can assure that your time in purgatory will be zero or minimal.

**Awareness of Death

        We all know that everyone is going to die one day. But since many people, being still relatively young, don't know when that day will be and have gotten themselves attached to the many things of the world, they live as if they are never going to die. I am sure that should they know the exact date of their death already, they would live their lives differently. You could say that they are now temporarily being deceived by the unawareness of their certain death. I'd advise that we think about our death in advance and start living right, before we get old and realize that death is near. For we may not get that opportunity.

***God Needed More than Ever

       Last night I emailed a petition to many of my friends to sign. It was to call on the president of the Catholic Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to cancel a scheduled fundraiser on behalf of Planned Parenthood on campus. Catholics now openly promoting abortion! Because many Christians have not been vigilant, evil has succeeded in infiltrating much of the world and even the Church. To sin in a secular, materialistic, godless society filled with temptations is just too easy, as easy as going down a slide. Without a strong faith in God, conscience is our only weak brake. We always need God, but now we need him more than ever in these last moments! 

**Discipleship Requisites

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus addressed the great crowds traveling with him. He said, "If anyone 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. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Jesus is basically saying that we must put him ahead of everything else. We must be detached from everyone else, including ourselves. Of course, this doesn't mean that we do not love our family members and ourselves anymore. Once we follow the Lord, we'll know how to love all others properly with his love, a love that's pure and truly selfless. His last saying here tells us that we must also accept our crosses.

**Sign of Total Conversion

        If you totally obey the Lord God of Christ in all things, you have totally converted.

**Don't Create Disorder

        God is totally meek and humble. So if we are haughty and full of pride, we create disorder. Naturally, our infinite almighty God is to be glorified. If we finite creatures start glorifying ourselves, we also create disorder. Be humble following God and we'll enjoy peace now and be happy for all eternity!      

**Be Heirs to God's Kingdom Now

        Matthew 25:34, today's Gospel acclamation: Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is what you'll hear the Lord say to his faithful sheep at his second coming. Happy indeed are those who will hear him say this to them! Start enjoying the Lord now and let your joy increase to that day and beyond.

**How to Understand Truth

        Today is All Souls Day. From the first reading from Wisdom 3, verse 9 reads "Those who trust in God shall understand truth...." This simple statement is very beautiful! God is the truth. When you trust in him, he reveals himself to you and you know the truth. And, of course, the truth sets you free. If follows that those who trust in God are free!

***Christ Never Boring!

        Christians feel about Jesus differently. Believing in him with a strong faith no matter how you feel is always a great blessing. Personally, I find knowing and following Christ most exciting and exhilarating. He is the same always, yet I can never get bored. For he is the truth, remaining forever new and refreshing, and he makes me new and refreshing to him too! He is the one I greatly look forward to spending eternity with!

**Our Business and Challenge

        Instead of minding whether others love the Lord God or not, we should mind first whether we ourselves love him enough or not. By the way, we can never love God enough, and that's the challenge for all of us on earth.

*Christ as Our Teacher

         Have you ever noticed that the Pharisees of Jesus' days only cared about following set rules for all to observe, while Jesus always spoke spiritual truths aiming at people's hearts? 

***Lord's Prayer Revelations****

        In praying the Our Father this morning, I saw that the plea "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" truly is the key to our salvation, and the following plea "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" ultimately tests our our love for the Lord (and our obedience). 

***Only One Thing We Need to Do

        I have been posting quite a number of videos lately to help spread some of the urgent messages of our times. Although many terrible events were prophesied, one central message was that if we convert, pray hard, and hold onto Christ and his Holy Mother, we'd have nothing to fear. I think this is really the most important message. It's good to know what might be coming in the near future, but that should never lessen our focus upon the Lord. In fact, no matter what kind of times we are in or how badly things seem to have turned, we only need to abandon ourselves totally in God and our soul will be safe and secure.

**Following Christ or Ourselves*

       The God of Christ has a specific plan for each of us who was uniquely created by him. If we believe in him and do his will, we follow his plan and will end up in heaven for all eternity. But if we choose to follow our own plan, we no longer understand all the things that happen to us and lose all assurance of going to heaven. It's that simple.

**Complete Satisfaction

        Communion experience. There is no greater satisfaction that knowing that I have found the exact one I need for all eternity! He and I even belong to each other!

***Evil Generation

        A sad thought at Mass this morning. The Lord who loves us has done all the work necessary for our salvation, but this generation continues to crucify him.

**How to Love God

         Let God love you first, then you'll be filled with his love. Now you love all others with this love. 

***God Easier to Know than Math

        When I studied math in graduate school, the class was often given difficult problems to solve as homework. One time we were give a theorem to prove. It was so hard that I spent a whole weekend working on it, racking my brain like never before. I finally got a brief glimpse of the solution and quickly wrote it down. I knew that if I didn't, it would flee me forever. Now, God is an infinitely more complex subject than math. Yet, if we open ourselves up to him, he reveals himself to us and we know and understand him effortlessly. Proving a difficult mathematical theorem can be most satisfying, but know God is a lot easier and a pure joy.

*Extreme Joy and Sorrow

        In union with the Lord on earth, the joy can be so great that it practically crushes you. You can be sure that the joy in heaven will be much greater. Now, you can also be sure that the sorrow in hell will have to be most unbearable.

**Complete Compatibility with God*

        Complete compatibility is only possible with the Lord our God and impossible with any other human being. That's because only the Lord God understands us perfectly and can transform us to become like him.

**Ideal Way of Living

        Enjoying the Lord as we serve him as best we can without any anxiety, as we approach the day of meeting him in person.

***Love Alone Shines

        In these end times, the Lord is sending us so many urgent messages through a great number of prophets. What strikes me is that he always asks us to pray for the conversion of those who have fallen away from him and not to judge or attack anyone, not even the greatest evildoers. It's love alone that shines through. Let's remember this so that we may triumph over and not fall prey to the evil one.