**Ego Our Enemy

        Ego can destroy us if not checked. It make you feel good, but what good is it? Do you also feel more peace? If not, then it's only a false good feeling. If someone praises you and you like it, what do you really gain? Isn't that just vanity? In truth, you are being fooled, thinking that your are something, but in reality you are nothing more. A puffed-up ego is like a balloon filled with some gas. Once it gets punctured, you'll feel the hurt. Hopefully, you'll then wake up and understand what it's all about and become more humble.

***What Makes a Message Powerful

        You can talk about how to love Christ or Christ the Lord. Any message or homily that tells you how to love God is just some good advice, never very memorable. Only by focusing upon the Lord can you expect to convert or change the hearts of people, for he alone is the power that draws all to him.

**Easy to Be Foolish

        I see some people who have just retired starting to build their dream house, travel around the world, collect their favorite cars, or do whatever they have always wanted to do in a big way. This looks more like beginning a new life in this world than retiring from it. I wish them the best, but at the same time I recall the parable of the rich fool from Luke 12. To retire and really live it up is definitely not being wise. To be wise is to grow closer to God as the day of meeting him gets closer.

*More Important than Myself

        Communion experience. The Lord is more important to me than my own soul, for without him, I wouldn't be existing at all. 

***Making Jesus Come to Us

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke19, Zacchaeus sought to see Jesus. Being short in stature, he could not see him because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. Today we don't see Jesus, but we can actually invite the Lord to enter and dwell within us. Before receiving Holy Communion at Mass is the perfect time to do this—we remain completely open and anticipate his entry. By the way, this is exactly how we attain union with God over a period of time.

**Faith Necessary

        To know someone doesn't guarantee that you'd get help from him if you needed it. It's the same with the Lord. You must know and believe in him in order to be saved. That is, faith is requisite.

**Worry or Trust in God

        Worrying shows the lack of trust in God. This is the God who has created our vast universe and also died himself in order to save us, and you believe that he will not take complete care of us? As humans we are weak, but we are capable seeing the truth too. Worrying never improves anything; it only makes you feel worse. All things pass. God is so good that if you trust in him, even if you lose your life on earth, you will live forever in heaven. Abandon yourself totally in God to banish worrying altogether. Yes, God is to be trusted.

**Great Miracles in Comntrast

        Today I prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The 4th and 5th Mysteries are Transfiguration and Institution of the Eucharist. Both are awesome and glorious miracles, yet they contrast with each other. The Transfiguration witnessed by Peter, James, and John was truly dazzling to the eye, while the changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, normally invisible, affects directly the soul of the one who receives the sacrament. (I said "normally invisible" because many Eucharistic miracles have taken place.) 

***Most Valuable Sociable Person

       Some of us are more sociable than others. Being sociable is not good if your intention is not pure, but it can be great if your intention is all good and clean. Do you realize that Christ, who has nothing but selfless love for us, is the most sociable (and friendly) person there is? He's ever ready to communicate with us at the heart level. Yes, he longs to know you most intimately. He'll always listen to you. Since he understands you perfectly, he'll always give you the best possible advice too. He patiently awaits. He's the No. 1 person you should want to know. Once you know him, he'll become the only one you'd want to know, for he is that delightful and endearing. There is a lot more I can say, but it'd be a lot more exciting for you to find out things on your own.

**Great Blessing

        Another reason I feel so good believing in Christ is that he has made my conscience and mind so sharp and clear that I can discern if something is good or evil, right or wrong, true or false . . . easily. This provides an extra safeguard for the soul.  

****God Most Trustworthy

        The triangle is geometrically the most rigid of all polygons. A truss in civil engineering is a structural frame the design of which is based on the rigidity of the triangle, thus providing maximum strength. Also, a table with three legs offers the greatest stability. I thought of the Triune God, comprising the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three in and as one. Intuitively, I sensed the strength and stability of our God in whom we can fully trust.

**Tasting the Lord

        Communion experience. The Lord is most sweet.

***Our Necessary Choice***

        In today's first reading from Philippine 1, Paul wrote, "I do not know which I shall choose I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit." This teaches us that in serving God, we should not do what we wish to do, but do only what is necessary. The key word is "necessary."

***Believe Before It's Too Late

        We face all kinds of problems and try to solve them, but more often than not, they worsen. Personally, I see that solutions to all our problems lie in how much we seek and trust in God's help. With most of us who think that they know best, they'll never learn this truth. Nothing is sadder than finding out that you should have believed and now it's too late. We need to be wise and foresighted. Without foresight (and humility), hindsight just shows how wrong we've been.

***In Critical Need for God

        As sinners, we need the God of Christ for salvation. With evil seemingly prevailing worldwide, we need him now more than ever! It's believe-in-Christ-or-be-banished-forever time.

**Resting in Peace Now

        In Matthew 13, Jesus spoke to the people in parables. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it." I bring this up because today I feel that I already own that field and that pearl, and now I can just rest in peace.

**More Shroud of Turin Discoveries

        I have a small Albert Gilles copper piece showing the face of Jesus in 3D, based upon the image on the Shroud of Turin. It's been hanging on the wall over my bed ever since I bought it in Quebec, Canada, many years ago. I just knew that it was the face of Jesus. But today, despite overwhelming scientific discoveries show that the Shroud is most likely authentic, unbelievers still think that it's a fake, so much for the chasm between believers and unbelievers. I have posted about the Shroud quite a number of times. Two of the videos you can find listed under Good websites, Blogs, Videos . . . in the right sidebar of my blog page. I came across this video presenting the many discoveries so far. It's worth watching. Since the presentation goes by rather fast, you may consider setting the playback speed to 0.75. Just click on the Settings gear and choose Playback speed to change. 

***I Am a Hero!

        As you know, we all hold ourselves as prisoners. With Christ's help, I was able to set myself free from me. And now, I have the Lord to myself. So you can say that I have conquered myself and I have conquered God. Glory be to Christ!

**Heavenly Banquet

        Communion experience. I didn't have to go to heaven to attend any banquet; Christ came right to where I was and gave me one. 

**Letting Go of the World

        The world has a hold on you—that's because you are holding onto it. Just let go of your hold and the world is no longer able to hold you. Now give your hand to God and he'll keep you free for good. 

**Reverence Lacking

        Various things at Mass can be disturbing. Some examples: Scriptures read too fast and matter-of-factly; no pause given between readings; homily drawing more attention to the deliverer than to God, music sounding more like a performance, lay people assisting at Mass not dressed properly, people allowed to talk freely right after Mass in church, etc. They are all due to the lack of reverence. To worship God properly, we must not have anything take our attention away from him. Worshipping God is serious business.

**We Are Apostles Too

        Today is the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. They faithfully followed the Lord. We are apostles too, only being called to follow him at a later time. We have the same Lord, and we can know him today as well as the Apostles did then, for time is of no barrier for the Lord. So let's be the best possible apostles we can be today.

**Impressed by God

        The glories of God are most attractive, but his great sorrows also draw me to him. Our God is most holy, full of love, and humble. He is just awesome!

**Dealing with Infinity*

        Infinity is a concept, not a regular number; so our finite minds, especially those of scientists and mathematicians, have trouble dealing with it. But to those of us who know God well, it's no problem. Our God is infinite in every way. He has always existed, so beginning and end do not apply here. If the universe turns out to be infinitely vast, it doesn't bother me a bit—I can totally accept that. If I can be with my God happy for all eternity after I die, that's totally acceptable to me! An infinite God deserves our infinite trust. Onto infinity! 

***Lopsided Love*****

        Communion experience. The Lord has loved me first and continues to love me without cease. What can I say when this love is so lopsided? I have no choice but to submit myself totally to his love.

***Don't Undervalue Yourself!

        Christ has redeemed us with his own most precious blood, so we are most precious to him. Therefore, even though we are sinners, we should treasure ourselves as he treasures us, and let him perfect us. We are no junk for sure. See ourselves as he sees us and we can't help but feel grateful and love him. Know that the Lord has made us in his image for himself and we can become like him if we follow him.

***Marveling at God's Doing*****

        While driving home after Mass, I marveled at the immensity of the universe with billions of galaxies each containing billions of stars. As far as I am concerned, the universe might as well be infinite. Here I was. Relatively speaking, I am not even as big as a dust particle, yet I was able to marvel at this marvelous universe! I turned to God and marveled at him most of all. I realized that I knew this God most intimately, and marveled at the whole thing. 

****Appreciating and Praising the Eucharist*

        The Holy Eucharist links us most intimately to the Lord who loves us. There's no better way of satisfying our longing for him than receiving it regularly. This is also indispensable in helping us attain union with God. It is indeed the bread from heaven, the Lord himself. Receiving it with great reverence can change lives and save souls. It has the power to make us perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. I cannot thank the Lord enough or such a great gift. It's to be praised and embraced with all our love.

***Sure Way of Salvation

        Early during the liturgy of the Eucharist, the priest says "Lift up your hearts," and we all say "We lift them up to the Lord." The thought came to me that giving our hearts to Lord would be a most beautiful offering, for the heart is most precious to us and we always follow our heart. So if we let the Lord have our hearts, we'll be saved for sure. (This is also loving God with all our heart.)

***Is God Your Lord?

        When you pray "Lord, have mercy on me," do you realize that you must surrender yourself to him first? For you cannot pray that and also tell him that you are not always going to obey him. As a matter of fact, addressing God as Lord alone implies that you are obedient to him. If not, then strictly speaking, you are a hypocrite. Salvation is all about whether you accept God as your Lord or not.

**Sticking with Jesus*

        I am sticking with Christ Jesus not only because he can get me into heaven, but also because he will perfect me one day. To me, the fact that he can transform each of us anew is a huge drawing power.

**God's Joy vs. World's Pleasure

        In the world, we seek pleasure externally thru physical senses. But the happiness we experience never lasts long. By contrast, the joy we receive from God comes from within, for God works thru our hearts. That's why the happiness of the world can never truly satisfy us, while the joy of the Lord refreshes our soul, transforming us fundamentally.

***Letting God Work Wonders

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus tells us what the Kingdom of God is like. He said, "It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches." Again he said, "It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened." In both instances, the force of nature, which is the power of God, worked wonders. We can absolutely let the Lord work wonders on us too, provided that we rid ourselves of the pride that makes us rebellious first. And this can be accomplished by submitting ourselves to the Lord, discovering how good and beautiful he is, and finally falling in love with him. (When God takes over, we are set free!)

***Appreciating Earth

        Of the eight planets of the solar system we know, Earth is unique. It is the only one fit for us to live on, with its right atmosphere and amount of gravitational pull, the perfect temperature range and soils for growing plants, and all the other things necessary for our sustenance and recreation. I really believe that the Lord God has specially created Earth for our temporary habitation before entering eternity. We should appreciate this fact and spend our time wisely while we are here.

***Managing Your Thoughts

         We are always thinking about something. A lot of thoughts go thru our mind daily. We just think whatever comes to the mind. Such thoughts are not always pure or do us any good. If you pay attention, you'll realize that. You can pretty much tell if a thought is ego-oriented or not, pure or impure, judgmental or kind, being nosy or indifferent, etc. If we can dismiss outright any thought that we discern not to be from God, we'll experience a lot more peace. Start seeking union with the Lord and over time, all your thoughts will be coming from the Lord. 

***How to Humble Ourselves

        After telling the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in today's Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus said, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Know that the Lord always wants to exalt us. So if we just cast off ourselves, we become free for him to exalt us. This is how we humble ourselves. 

**One Sure Great Reward*

        What kind of reward in heaven do we seek from God the Father? Actually, everything he has will be ours. But one thing alone is plenty good enough for us, namely, that we'll be in his presence forever.

**Justification for Purgatory

        Being saved and getting into heaven are two separate things. If we are saved, it doesn't mean that we are fit to go straight to heaven, for only the holy ones can enter heaven. Take two people A & B, both saved. Say A is 90% pure and B, only 10%. They both die—do they both go straight to heaven? Even if all their sins have already been forgiven, there is still a price to pay. This is where purgatory comes in. A will go thru some purification there before entering heaven, while B will suffer a lot more there. (As many do not believe in the existence of purgatory, I am just sharing my own belief here. If you have doubts, I recommend reading the book "Get Us Out of Here!!" on Maria Simma by Nicky Eltz.) 

****Good Horrible Dream (A Warning)*

        Early this morning, I had a horrible dream that finally woke me up. I won't go into specific details. Here's what I experienced in the dream. Someone offended me badly and I felt really hurt. Then I realized that I had hurt others in the past too, intentionally or not. The feeling you've been hurt can be horribly painful. This made me see that we are all hurting the Lord so much that we've got to stop. If we don't, we'll end up in hell forever and that would be the most horrible experience of all. I Shudder at the thought of it. So I am going to pray hard that every single one of us will know that God loves us and shall follow him and be saved. God can get us into heaven so easily if we just listen to and obey him. Please treat this matter most seriously! Please...

**First Key to Peace*

        In today's reading from Luke 13, Jesus called some people to repentance. He told them that if they do not repent, they will perish. Repentance is critically important to us sinners, for it refreshes and restores the soul, thereby reconciling us to God. We are so made by the Lord that without repentance, we'll never be able to experience true peace. Once the soul is safe, everything else just doesn't matter that much anymore.

***How to Increase Inner Peace

         Just cut out whatever you see or hear that pulls you away from God. This is a gradual process that takes time to fine-tune, in concert with your spiritual progress. Such screening declutters the mind and leads to great inner peace.

**Earth vs. Heaven

        On earth, on all physical, mental, and spiritual levels, we have negative forces working against us. On the physical level, we expend much energy in overcoming the gravitational pull alone. To make a living and to survive in our societies, we experience mental stress. And in the secular world, we need to constantly battle evil. In heaven, all such negative forces will be no more and we'll simply enjoy fully the love and presence of the heavenly Father.

**Only Way to Be Saved from Sin

        To be in sin is like being stuck in a quicksand. If you try to get out of it, you only sink deeper. When you are stuck in sin, Christ is the only one who can pull you out of it to save you.

***Joy of Learning from God

        You don't need to do any searches nor studying. Just open up your heart and listen like a kindergarten kid.

**Very Sad Sight

         Looking at the world, you see so many people living as if God doesn't exist, hell doesn't exist, they are going to live forever, and there won't be any life after death if they die.

**Perfect Meeting

        Communion experience. It further solidified the union between the Lord and me. 

**Fact to Reckon With

         That it is impossible for us to escape from the Lord God. Even if we become nonexistent, he still knows. (Personally, I am truly glad that he knows me well and that he watches over me, protects me from evil, and teaches and guide me, keeping me as the apple of his eye.)

**Sign of a Lost Generation

         Degradation of the conscience due to not knowing the Lord God

**Our Golden Opportunity*

        We all know that we are sinners and need salvation. If you realize that God has already paved the way for us to be saved by sacrificing his own Son on the cross in our place, then rejoice and accept Christ without reservation. This is truly a golden opportunity, the best God can possibly offer us. I beseech you not to be foolish and ignore it!

*****Die Once Only (A Warning)

         Do you realize that we are all on our way to judgment? Each of us has two lives to live, but one or two deaths to undergo. The two lives are our life on earth and our afterlife. As for the death(s), those who are saved will experience only one death upon leaving the earth, but those who are not saved will die once more for all eternity. 

**Part-Time Lord**

        We Christians often live a double life—we behave like Christians at church on Sunday and are ourselves again until the following Sunday. That is, we put Christ in the back of our mind most of the time, making him a part-time Lord. This is far from being good, for he is to be the only one for us to live for every second of the day. I may sound harsh, but if he is not No. 1 in your life, the consequences will be a lot harsher. 

***Why We Need Christ

        Since we have inherited the original sin, we tend to sin. Then we are capable of doing good too, although sometimes that requires a bit of effort. If sinning is like sliding downhill, doing good is more like walking up a mild slope. What we need to do is to have Christ step in to liberate us from sin so that we'll be able to do good at all times. This ensures that we'll inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Christ Our Shining Example

        Christ is the perfect shining example for us to follow. He carried out the will of the Father to the letter with the greatest humility, never complained and did not stop until the task is accomplished. Our tasks given by the Lord are nothing compared to what Christ had to perform. Let him inspire us to do what we are supposed to do in the same spirit to show that we are with him all the way. And we'll also be glorified by the Father in the end. 

**Worse than Heart Disease

         Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the whole world, so we all want to keep my heart healthy. Then a defiled heart is even worse, for it can kill you for all eternity. Know that sin is what defiles the heart. So let's keep our hearts pure and clean before we worry about any heart disease.

**Good Reminder and Advice*

        We have only one short lifetime to learn what the Lord wants us to know—how to gain eternal life. So make good use of your time on earth.

**Irresistible Love

        God's love is irresistible. Happy is the one who would let himself be totally crushed by this love. 

***Love That Surpasses Knowledge

        In today's first reading from Ephesians 3, Paul prays that his brothers and sisters will know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that they may be filled with all the fullness of God. God's love for us is indeed boundless. If we truly realize that, we would stop judging anyone and abandon ourselves completely to the Lord right away. 

**A Great Joy Realized*

        It is knowing that I can instantly communicate with my God directly at any time.

***Natural Consequences

        The more you trust in Christ, the deeper he draws you in to him. The deeper you enter him, the more fulfilled and satisfied you feel. So trust leads to fulfillment and great satisfaction.

**How to Possess God:

You let him possess you first.

*Principle of Living*

        In whatever we do, we do it for the Lord's sake and not care about what anyone else thinks.

***Get God Right

         We may know Christ but still misconceive him. I at one time thought that he might forbid me to ever consider buying a new car or that he would want me to go to Africa to serve him as a missionary or that he's going to punish me for having committed a very minor sin. There are many other such instances. Now that I've known the Lord well enough, I can say unequivocally that such fears I'd had were all self-generated. God is ever so gentle that he'd never force anything on us, for he respects our free will. Besides, he knows us thoroughly and will only lead us to things that suit us at the right time. The notion that God somehow is going to control us is totally false and unfounded. Get to know the Lord first and you'll see that he only wants to free us from sin and us to be happy.

**Be Prepared or to Be Shocked

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus asked his disciples to remain vigilant and faithful always, for no one knows the day and the hour of his next coming. My thoughts are that if you are fully prepared and always act in accord with God's will, you need not be concerned about his coming at all. But if you are not ready, believing that he is not coming soon, and start to slack off, then you'll be in for a big unexpected shock!

***Life on Earth Only Temporary

        Gasoline prices have gone way up. I believe California here has the highest gas prices in the whole nation. Everything else has become more expansive. Life has become harder for all. At the same time, evil seems to have spiraled out of control. There's the great concern that another world war may break out. People in general are worried and feeling depressed. It came to me today that all these things will pass, and before long I'll be returning to God the Father. So I am just going to trust totally in God and let nothing bother me. 

***Your Way or God's Way (Formula for Peace)

        If you do not know or follow the Lord God, you do not have inner peace. That is because you always want things turn out the way you want and that just does not happen. Once you know the Lord and follow him, you would always want things turn out his way. With yourself out of the way, you now enjoy peace.

**Empowering Your Prayer

        You can always say your prayer quickly without thinking much about it. But to make sure that the Lord hears you and will act, you must not rush, but say every word from your very heart and mean it. If you take God seriously, he will surely take you seriously.        

**From Death to Life*

        Today is Memorial of St. Ignatius. The first reading came from Ephesians 2. I totally agree with what Paul wrote that we used to be dead in our transgressions and sins, following the age of the world and living in the desires of our flesh. I still remember those day before I knew Christ. Then Christ changed everything. God brought me to life and saved me. Knowing his love and great mercy has made all the difference.

***Direct Way to God (Secret to Happiness)***

        Again, I encourage that you go directly to the Lord to know him. Surely, others also seeking him can help, but why slow down your own quest? If you want to know someone in the world and have all the contact information, wouldn't you contact that person directly? In the case of God our Father, he is waiting to hear from you, ever ready to fulfill all your needs and good desires. Look, if you are wide open to him, receive him in the Holy Eucharist with great reverence, you can even attain union with him! If you feel uncomfortable going to him directly, all the more you need to approach him that way. Any attention we give to the Lord, no matter how small, pleases him greatly. Imagine how much joy we can give him when we always turn to him for all things! Tell you, nothing can be happier and more satisfying than pleasing God our Father. Here's the great secret to happiness. 

**Solving the Puzzle of Life

        If life were a jigsaw puzzle, when you surrender yourself to God completely, it'll be like all thousands of its pieces now fall into place, forming the beautiful complete picture he wants you to see.

***Outstanding True Joy

        This is a world filled with false joy. Look at all the commercials and ads, and people trying to find joy by holding parties and various celebrations, taking vacations, attending concerts and shows, visiting bars and casinos, etc. If you have to seek joy outside of yourself, you won't find it, for you'll only experience fleeting happiness. If you have true joy in your heart, you don't need to seek happiness elsewhere anymore. That interior joy is the joy of knowing Christ, a heavenly gift only he can give. Seek him first and not any transitory happiness from the world.

***Today's Tragedy

         I am bringing it up again, only because it's so clear to me now. The world is following itself, whereas it should follow the true God of Christ exclusively. Even Christians are treating Christ more or less as an afterthought. Again, God's mercy is infinite, and we do not surprise him. Many will still be saved even if that means going thru purification in purgatory first. Pray that all will be saved. If we all pray that way for others and ourselves, it becomes totally attainable.

*Not Inconvenienced by Inconveniences

        My pair of reading glasses doesn't seem to work that well. Perhaps the focus of the lenses was off or my vision has changed. It's an inconvenience. Then life is plagued with inconveniences, and they'll be around as long as we are. Since my days on earth will soon be over, I don't let them bother me anymore. I think this is a good way to look at sufferings too. Heaven is going to change everything.

*****Our Only Choice*

        If we truly love God, the God of Christ, we must choose him over everything else. No matter how enjoyable everything else might be, they will always end up being a burden. By contrast, God frees us from sin, our biggest burden, and uplifts us. He should not only be our first choice, but also our only choice!

**Christian Joy

        I overheard a conversation. An older person was saying that her great joy nowadays is waiting for a relative of hers to come by on a regular basis to take her to eat at her favorite restaurant. That sounds rather sad coming from her who's a Christian, since any Christian who knows the Lord well should feel the greatest joy merely at the thought of him. 

***Last Supper Experience

        Communion experience. I was brought back to the Last Supper. The Lord entered me and was consumed totally by me—he's all mine now. How could I possibly not be humble anymore? 

**To Forgive or Not to Forgive

        In praying the Our Father, we ask God to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We often find it most difficult to forgive some people who have hurt us or others badly. If we can't forgive others, we really shouldn't ask God to forgive us either. To not forgive someone is playing God, judging that person. Learning not to judge can help a lot. If you can really let go of it for God's sake and even pray for your enemy, you'll experience a new freedom and great joy that can change your life forever! Remember, God is always right. 

**Blessed and Chosen by God

         All Catholics, who have already been revealed the whole truth, should know that God has blessed them in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose them in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him (Ephesians 1:3-4 from today's first reading). Since we've been blessed and chosen, we can be confident that we'll be able to live up to what God has expected of us.

***The World Revealed

        The more you know Christ, you more you see the hypocrisy, falsity, and emptiness of the world. For the truth reveals all that's hidden.  

**Eliminating Wasteful Thinking

        As I came to know Christ the Lord more, I began to lose interest in a lot of things the world was interested in. Now I just know what I need to pay attention to or dismiss instantly. As a result, many things I no longer think about. I believe this is why I experience a lot of inner peace. Generally speaking, I no longer think about anything that is impure, worldly, trivial, or gossipy. The best part now is thinking about the Lord and his goodness. 

**Overcoming Sin

        In not falling into sin, we must be relentless. Again, the most effective way to overcome a sin is to seek refuge in the Lord. That is, the smart way to fight sin is to run away from it as far and fast as possible. A sinner is just not fit to fight his own sins on his own. Letting God do it for you is always the good rule to follow.

**Taking God's Blessings Seriously

        We ask God to bless us and others all the time. This is no making empty wishes. When you ask for blessings from the Lord, he's going to give you what's best for you bountifully. Things will happen in your heart and without you. You are now under his watch and care. When I bless you, I simply express my good wish. When God blesses you, your life can change! So take his blessings seriously and believe in him with all your heart.

**Foolish Cowards

        Christ has died for us to save us from eternal death. People reject him, yet they never say that they don't need salvation. The fact is we all know that we are sinners, and even think about going to heaven. What we ought to do is to welcome the Savior and submit ourselves to him with gratitude. If we ignore or reject him instead, then we are not only being foolish, but also cowardly.

**More than We Need

        Today I really feel that I can rest in my Lord and God after he has totally fulfilled me. My eternity is all set, and I know he'll take care of me no matter what happens. He is more than we need. Follow and stay with him and you can't possibly go wrong. 

*****Small Sins Matter*****

        In Luke 16, in telling the parable of the dishonest steward Jesus said "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." Since it's a lot easier to commit small sins than big ones, along the same vein the Lord made me see that anyone who does not commit small sins will not commit big ones, and anyone who commits small sins easily is likely to commit big ones. Ask the Lord to make us perfect.

**Stop Destroying Yourself!

        Without God, we get unhappy easily. We are anxious about many things and get stressed out all the time. We continue harming ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. With God, we enjoy our abandonment in him and experience freedom, peace, and joy. We now have the best possible physical health God wants us to have, are mentally at peace always, and remain in union spiritually with the Lord. We are no longer self-destructive! 

**Much Ado About Nothing

        After I consumed the Lord at morning Mass, I knelt before the altar in appreciation of such a great favor he'd bestowed upon me. One of the chapel windows was open. From this chapel situated on the top of a small mount, you could hear clearly thru the vast open space the noises generated by the tires of many cars speeding on the freeway in the distance. They were all going someplace. My thought was that if whatever we do is not for the glory of God, then no matter how fast or far we go, we are not getting anywhere—not one inch closer to heaven.  

***Joyful Submission

         Communion experience. I felt tangibly the love of God and gladly let myself be overcome by it.

***Signs of Intimacy with God

          When the Lord God is most lovely and his words most sweet to you, you know that your relationship with God is most intimate. Rejoice even more!       

***How God Makes Us Beautiful

        God, being most holy, is the source of all beauty. Whereas the world can make us superficially attractive for a brief moment, the Lord God can make us beautiful to the core forever.

***The Biggest Fundamental Obstacle . . .*

to spiritual progress (sainthood) is our pride. Displace it with humility so that you may move on.

**What the World Needs to Wake Up To

        I feel sorry for the world, when I see people everywhere trying to find happiness, while struggling to live each day. They, with heavily burdened hearts, have already been enslaved by the material world. Sadly, they do not yet know Christ the Lord who alone can liberate them from all evils. Once you've experienced him and tasted his sweetness, you are freed from all shackles and become a new creature. This is something to which the world needs sorely to wake up.

***Our Greatest Achievement***

         It is being humbly surrendering ourselves to God completely, receiving him in the Eucharist, and attaining union with him. This is also answering our highest calling from the Lord, being totally obedient to him, and at the same time fulfilling our own deepest desire. It's really letting God achieve what he wishes.

***Our Greatest Sign

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus reveals to the crowd that his generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given except that of Jonah, and he himself is greater than Jonah. Yes, Christ the Son of Man is our greatest sign for all generations. I see him as the ultimate one who desires to save us from sin out of pure love. Reject him and you reject yourself, period.

***Great Union Advantage***

        One more in-union-with-God advantage. Since you are fully aware of his holy presence in you at all times, you don't even need to try getting in touch with him!

**Exuberant Filling

        Communion experience I remain completely open to the Lord to let him fill me with whatever he wants me to have to the brim. What an exuberant feeling! 

***In Christ We're to Trust

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus cleansed ten lepers by asking them to go show themselves to the priests. The cleansing took place as they were going. One of the ten, realizing that he had been healed, returned to Jesus. He fell at his feet and thanked him. Jesus said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." When the Lord saves you, you are saved indeed. So have faith and believe in whatever he tells you, and you're saved for sure. 

*****Ultimate Living

        If we remain in deep union with the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, nothing of the world will be able to disturb us and we'll automatically know how to live right for him. This the Lord made me see clearly today.

***Bread from Heaven***

         The Eucharist is truly the flesh and blood of our Lord. One must not receive this Most Holy Sacrament if he is not in a state of grace.

*A Wise Observation

         The time we have on earth is the time we have for getting ready to live our life after we leave the earth. 

*A Sensible Observation

        All nonhuman animals do not possess souls and live for this life only. We humans who possess souls should live mainly for our next life.  

**Be Smart, Not Dumb

        To think that you can be free by ignoring Christ is about as dumb as you can get. The Lord created you, knows you more than you know yourself, and loves you to death. You cannot survive one nanosecond without his sustainment! There is absolutely no way for us to hide or escape from him. The smart thing for us to do is to accept reality, settle down, remain with the Lord, rest in him, enjoy his company, and receive all the good things from him.

***Only Way for Us to Live*****

        To live for the God of Christ is the only way to go—I am totally convinced and know it without a doubt. It's only in him that we can find hope and fulfillment, for he is the true God, our creator, and the only one who can save us from sin. He is pure love; he died in our place so that we may have eternal life. Being the life himself, death has no power over him. There is not another one like him! 

*****What We Must Never Lose!*****

        Yesterday afternoon as I was typing an email on my laptop, the electricity went out, so I couldn't finish the letter anymore. My wife and I wondered how we're going to have dinner without the stove working? We're so dependent on electricity that we are lost without it. Soon the whole house will be in the dark. It seemed that the only thing left to do was to pray, hope, and wait. The electric company did call me though, informing me that about a hundred households were affected and I should have electricity back after three hours of work. To my surprise, it was restored after just two. My thought is that we should never lose Christ our Savior. Imagine what's going to happen if he's cut off from us forever! Losing electricity or whatever else we have is OK, but losing the Lord, the only one who can save our soul, would be absolutely unthinkable. So don't ever let it happen to you! 

*****Today's Big Tragedy

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus proclaimed, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." To remain neutral is not good enough for the Lord (or us); we must be with him. The tragedy today is that people do what they think is good for them, not realizing that they are going against God. One such glaring example is Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Most people do what they think is OK, not realizing that they serve Satan. The devil is lurking in so many hearts today that you must be totally with Christ to realize it!

****Christ's Passion*

        Today is Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries for Friday. Christ went through his agony in the garden, was scourged and crowned with thorns, made to carry his own cross all the way to Calvary, and got crucified there. I have the 382-page book The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich. Since I love the Lord, I'd like to read the book to find out more about what he underwent; but at the same time I put off reading it for fear that I wouldn't be able to bear learning all about his sufferings in detail. If I go through what Christ had gone thru, I wouldn't last a minute. Anyway, the important thing is that the Lord knows that I love him.

***Power of the Holy Eucharist***

         When you receive the Holy Eucharist, you receive the true body and blood of Christ our Lord and Savior, so it has the power to transform you totally. This is the Most Holy Sacrament that can purify your heart and heal your soul. It's the Lord himself entering you! Receive it with the greatest reverence, gratitude, and love, and you eternity is secured.

***Call to Come to Senses

         God has made all things, the heaven and the earth, and created every single one of us (and loves us to death besides). He is the Lord of all. So wake up—how can we possibly not submit ourselves to him?

**To Do God's Will Is . . .

really to be out of his way so that he may accomplish what he wills freely with no hinderance from us. It's also abandoning ourselves totally in him.

**Serving God Effortlessly

        God does his mighty work effortlessly. We, who do his will, have complete access to his power. Therefore, with faith and trust in him, we should also be able to accomplish his will effortlessly. 

****Most Endearing Relationship

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer. Fr. Stephen in his homily pointed out that Jesus teaches us to call God, his Father, also Father or our Father. Think about this a moment. This is such a special endearing relationship! So let's treat God as our own Father, and see (and treat) ourselves as his most beloved children!

**Banishing the Ego

        This morning someone mentioned a past project. This was a project glorifying the Lord that took place quite some years back. I was involved in it, but wished to remain anonymous. Since the subject came up, I just mentioned that I was in on it. Even though this is factual, the Lord instantly made me feel uncomfortable. If I really want to banish my ego, I should never ever let it surface! Obviously, it's still there, ready to emerge at any opportune moment. I now again ask the Lord to operate on me, removing anything that shouldn't be in my heart, my mind, and my soul, so that I may feel clean, free, and great always.

**God Most Considerate

        If you do everything for God's sake, he's going to make everything you do easy and a joy for you. 

**God Our Generous Giver

        God always give us more than we deserve. If we love him and just remain receptive, we'll receive all the blessings we need from him.

****Christ's Beautiful Effect on Us*

        Once you known Christ the Lord well, all your memories turn beautiful. No more bitterness! Now you are free to enjoy him in peace. 

*All for God

        Communion experience. Today is Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. I desired all of my Lord and wanted him to take all of me. 

**More than Union with God*

        When you attain union with God, you are in the union with God the Father, with God the Son, with God the Holy Spirit, with all the angels and saints in heaven, and with all those in union with God on earth.

**Distinguished Marks of the Spiritual Journey

        In the spiritual life, I see repenting our sins to God and asking for his forgiveness as the initial essential breakthrough, and surrendering completely to God to attain union with him as the ultimate goal. You can still be saved without reaching this goal, but your spiritual life would be so much richer and more rewarding if you can. 

***Inspiring Speech for Our Time

 

**Letting the Lord Teach Me

        Communion experience. I saw Christ as my master teacher. After I received him in the Holy Eucharist, I simply rested in him, ready to assimilate whatever he's willing to reveal to me. To remain thus in peace in him is most satisfying.

**How to Be a Good Samaritan Today

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus told the parable of the good Samaritan, teaching us how we should be compassionate to those who need our help. In today's world, it is not easy to find out who truly needs help. When I looked into large organizations such as American Red Cross and Boy Scouts of America, I found out that the CEO of the former gets paid over $700,000 a year and that of the latter, over $1,500,000 a year! I just didn't feel like giving any money to either of the two. Then you run into those who ask for help on the street. And you discover that they are either fakes or a racket organized by criminals. Others ask for money only to support their drug or drink habits. In such cases, giving them money is not the best help. So I think a good guide is to find individual cases where you see the actual needs and help them if you truly feel compassion for them. Another place, lifefunder.com by LifeSiteNews seems to be a good reliable source online where you can find individual cases to help. 

**Marvelous Mercy

         When you repent of your sins to God and ask for his pardon, he'll always forgive you and take you back totally—it never fails. Think about it! How marvelous his mercy is! How much he love you! It's almost like you can do no wrong unless you reject him for good.

**The Catholic Distinction

        In today's first reading from Galatians 1, Paul writes, "Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel preached by me is not of human origin. For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ." This is a point we must see. Unlike other religions to which you can trace back to some human being, Catholicism can be traced all the way to Christ who is divine and the only true God, the God of the Holy Trinity. 

**From God or Satan

        Everything that come to us comes either from God or from Satan (allowed by God). So whatever we do is either for God or for Satan. We must be aware of this if we ever wish to enter heaven. Choose to follow God every time and you can forget about Satan altogether. God's laws and rules are always straight forward and simple. Only a fool would make them complicated for himself?    

****Unbeatable Birthday Gift!

        Yesterday was my big birthday and I did received some very nice gifts. I went to morning Mass and received Christ in the Holy Eucharist and realized that that's the greatest birthday gift I can possibly have—it came from God precisely to make me live everlastingly! By the way, in heaven we no longer age and every moment in God's presence becomes a joyful celebration. 

***Our Greatest Satisfaction***

        God the Father already loves us so much. If we become totally obedient to him, we become most delightful to him and receive the greatest satisfaction ourselves. Guaranteed! 

**How To Show Our Love for Christ

        Christ has already shown his greatest possible love for us by dying on the cross in our place. How can we show our love for him? One sensible way is to do what he commissioned the eleven Apostles to do when he appeared to them after his Resurrection: Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.

***Christ Our Perfect Solution*

        If life is a puzzle, then Christ is our perfect solution. Life was empty for me before, as I didn't know what it's all about. Then Christ revealed everything to me. The main things are the following. (1) Christ the Lord loves me. (2) Thus life is worth living. (3) He's the One who sets me free not only from the world, but also from all my sins. (4) Satan has no power whatsoever over me who now belongs to my Savior. (5) Christ is waiting to take me to him at the right time. Joy ad infinitum!

*Checking out the Real World*

        I am back. I was away the last ten days in order to "escape" from a big birthday celebration some of my family members and friends had been planning for me. I am grateful for their well-meaning intention, but I really didn't want them to go to all that trouble. (That God loves us is about the only thing that's truly worth celebrating.) So my wife and I decided to go on a week-long cruise to Mexico. The cruise was interesting, but I did miss attending daily Mass, and couldn't blog as internet access was not free onboard. The 4400+ passengers presented a microcosm of the population of the entire country, or perhaps more accurately, California, for the majority of the passengers seemed to be Californians. I met all kinds of people. There were many who enjoyed gambling at the casino and remained on board to take the same cruise again. One old gambler even boasted about how he could easily pick up young girls. There were Christians on board too. I met Protestants who did not understand Catholicism at all. Another passenger who's a Catholic, but pro-abortion. Then I aIso met a rare person, a Catholic who had been touched by the love of Christ to tears and understood me perfectly when I shared with her about attaining union with God thru the Eucharist. The casino and various bars were usually packed. Not surprising—I found the stage shows and other entertainment videos, music, etc., to be all secular and often impure. There was nothing that draws you to God. I feel sorry for the mostly lost generation on board, but I believe that if enough of us pray hard enough for them, they can still all be saved thru the infinite mercy of God. Two days before the cruise ended, I had the chance to be on the deck alone while many people were watching the stage show or having dinners. It was good to be able to enjoy the wind in your face, to hear only the sound of the waves, and to watch the crescent moon appearing, while communing directly with God the Father. This is a moment I'll always remember. (By the way, my wife and I didn't get to see much of Mexico this time, for it was so hot and humid that we were exhausted after walking just a couple of hours at each port.)