**The Son and Father Are one

        Communion time thought. Loving Jesus is loving God the Father. 

***My Kingdom of Heaven

        Jesus has explained the kingdom of heaven in his various parables. Today I personally feel that the kingdom of heaven is letting the LORD God produce whatever amount of fruit he wishes thru me. 

**Losing Jesus Is Different

        I dreamed this morning that I lost all my cameras with all the pictures shot while traveling somewhere. I was devastated and woke up. I realized that had I lost Jesus, I'd certainly rather die. Then I also realized that no one except myself could possibly take the Lord from me, and I was instantly relieved.

**Message from Parables

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He likened the kingdom of heaven to a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and our of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Agains, he likened it to 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. What these parable speak to me is that since I already know what the kingdom of heaven is like, I should be willing to part with all else I have, for not doing so amounts to dragging my feet on entering the kingdom of heaven.

****Letting God's Mercy Perfect Us

        We need God's mercy for sinning against him. It is our lack of humility that causes us to dismiss or disobey him. Begging the Lord for his mercy unceasingly so that our ego may diminish accordingly. This is the way of becoming perfect until we are no longer burdened by imperfections. 

*****Top Necessity of Life*****

         It is knowing and believing in Christ. Once you have him, you'll know how to live right and have eternal life. Without Christ, you can be easily ensnared by the Devil and lose your soul altogether. For us, there is nothing more important than accepting and following the Lord Jesus.

***Secret to Living Forever

        Today is the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In the Gospel reading from John 11, Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die." It just can't be any clearer. You want to live forever? There's your answer!

*****Mark of True God*****

         Christ is the only leader whom, if you cannot prove that he is false, you must accept totally.

*****How to Love God*****

        God has everything except our obedience. So if you love God, just obey him. This is the best we can do and all he expects of us. It would complete his joy and make the whole heaven rejoice! So don't be a spoilsport and do it now!

**Sign We Need Salvation**

        If I were perfect, sinless, and knew that I was heaven bound, telling me that Jesus can save me from sin just wouldn't interest me. The fact that we can be deeply moved, even to tears, upon learning that Jesus as God the Son actually died for us so that we might have eternal life clearly shows that we are aware that we are sinners and need salvation.

**Jealous God

        In today's reading from Exodus 20, the LORD God gave the ten commandments to his people. He also made it clear to them that he, the LORD, was their God and they should not have other gods besides him. Thus we are not to idolize any other god or anything else, material or nonmaterial. This means that we must detach ourselves from the world and worship the LORD alone. It is only right, as the LORD is both our creator and our heavenly Father.

***Which Way to Go After Death***

        We are on this earth now. After we die, we end up either going to God or falling into hell. Choosing which way to go should be a no-brainer. But we may not quite realize that it's how we live our life on this earth that determines where we'll end up in our next life for ever.

***Jesus' Calling for Us*

        Jesus called his Apostles to give up everything to follow him. Why should his calling for us be different? The only way to follow the Lord is to follow only him.         

**Knowing God Cherished

        For all of us who already know the Lord, we need to cherish this privilege. For he has chosen us and we are now directly linked to him. He now guides and shields us from all evil, and we are on the way to heaven. There's much more, but that's a lot already!

**God Can Transform Us*

        When you belong to Christ, you are set free from the world. We all pursue pleasures in the world, but after knowing the Lord, you realize that such pleasures provide only short-lived enjoyment, while the Lord truly satisfies your deep inner longings. Now you let the world go and devote all your time honoring the Lord. Yes, God can truly change us to make us feel good.

***Great Homily to Hear***

        How I wish that all Catholics would have the courage of this priest in times as ours. 

**Which Comes First??

        To convert the world or to obey and love the Lord? The desire to convert the world is strong and urgent, yet obeying and loving God must precede that. For it's from the Lord that we receive guidance and power—we are only his instruments.

**Communion Desire

        I ask the Holy Spirit to take full charge of me so that I may be purged of all tendencies to sin. 

**Lamenting Lost Souls

        Jesus had come to us two thousand years ago, proclaiming the good news that we might have eternal life if we believed in him, and he backed up his claim by performing numerous miracles, including his own Resurrection from the dead. Shouldn't we at least pay attention and look into it, realizing that we are sinners and don't know what will happen after we die? Yet most people don't seem to care! It seems that they have lost their minds. If one doesn't even care about his afterlife, he is lost indeed.

***No Ordinary Food

        Communion thoughts. All foods we eat satisfy only our stomach temporarily, whereas the bread from heaven, the Holy Eucharist, satisfies and prepares our soul for eternity! 

***Determinant for Entering Heaven

        Will we enter heaven? It all depends upon how obedient we are to the Lord, our Creator and Savior. 

***Choosing Not to Be Great and First

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 20, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave." The world is doing the exact opposite. Looking at our own government, I see that the rulers lord it over us and the great ones make their authority over us felt (I am borrowing Jesus' words here). I can shed tears over that. 

**Reaping Rejoicing

        Today is the Feast of Saint James, Apostle. This is the Psalm response from Psalm 126: Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing. The verse resonates with me. Anytime we shed tears because we are deeply moved by God's love and feel sorry that he underwent so much suffering for us, or see how the ungrateful of the world continue ignoring and rejecting him, we shall be rewarded with great joy. 

***Our Most Urgent Callings***

        Our first and most urgent calling is to obey and love the Lord God, the God of Christ. The second and equally urgent calling is to help the Lord God save as many souls as possible, for this is his primary wish. Hell is too horrible for anyone to go there, while heaven is so beautiful that it's worth anything for us to enter.

***Why God Needs Our Prayers

        The Lord God can accomplish anything he wishes, so why should he need our prayers? I believe the reason is that he needs to know that we support and are with him, and that we love and trust in him. This would hasten the day of his total triumph over evil, benefiting all of us. By the way, praying to him shows our obedience to him, thus pleasing him and edifying us. Stand with the Lord is always the right thing to do. 

***How to Let Humility Grow***

        Do you know that as we worship the Lord, adore him, praise him, and thank him for his mercy and generosity, we become more and more humble ourselves? Now you can let your humility grow unceasingly.

***God More Merciful than We

        I do pray for the salvation of some family members and friends. I reason that since the Lord God is so much more merciful than I, surely he will answer my prayer—I only need to trust in him. And I find great comfort in reading what Jesus said to his disciples in Mark 11:24: "Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." Amen.

**Ending and Beginning in Christ*

        Communion experience. I receive Christ and are now one with him. There is absolutely nothing beyond him worth seeking. I end in Christ and my eternal life begins.

***A More Serious Sin

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus mentioned those who cause others to sin. When you are tempted to sin, ask yourself if that sin will cause others to sin also. If yes, then your sin is a lot more serious and you should wisely avoid committing it. Of course, the best thing is you don't sin at all, then you won't face issues like this one. And that's what you should aim for. Seek to attain union with the Lord thru the Holy Eucharist and you are heading in the right direction.

***Main Focus at Mass

        At Mass this morning, the music was somewhat contemporary. I personally prefer more traditional music. I've attended many Masses at various churches around the world and can recall hearing some truly beautiful uplifting music. Then different music styles inspire different people. The church setting is another issue that affects people differently. Anyway, the Lord made me see that the important thing that matters at Mass is how we dispose ourselves to worship him. He alone must be our main focus and we should not let other things detract us from that. 

***Going All Out to Love God***

        Just believing in the God of Christ is not good enough. We ought to cling to him for dear life! This statement is accurate, for if we don't, we can lose eternal life. The Lord dislikes anyone who's only lukewarm (Revelation 3:16). No matter how we much we love God, we can never love him enough. So do not remain complacent. Follow the greatest and first commandment Jesus gave us: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Complete trust and abandonment should be our goal. Again, with God's help, this should be no sweat.

*****Reminding All One More Time

        Our time on earth is brief. Next to eternity, it's practically zero. Clearly, we are not meant to remain here permanently. While here, we do have enough time to think about our afterlife and eternity. This is something we must do, especially when Christ has already revealed to us the way to salvation and eternal happiness. It's the only message that's been spelled out clearly, positively, and definitively to all of us. I can testify to you with all my heart that Christ is truly our Lord and Savior because God loves us so much that he was willing to give his only Son, Christ, so that anyone who believes in him might have eternal life. With God, it's always true when it sounds too good to be true. Override your pride with humility and you'll see the light.

***Being Truly Smart

        We should be smart enough to know that if we always follow our ways, thing just don't always work out our way. If you are really smart, you would want to follows God's ways. Then things will always work out your way with final success and satisfaction assured to boot.

***Christ Our Fulfillment***

        We all feel the need to be loved, and Christ is the perfect one who can fulfill that need, for he loves us the most and his love is unconditional. selfless, and most pure.

***Thank God for Knowing Everything!

        God knows everything about us, in particular how much we love him. Rejoice, for now we know exactly how to be rewarded the most by him heaven. 

***Way to Live Our Lives

        God deserves the very best from us, for he created us out of love and is our Father. If we fall short of being perfect, he'd love to help us. We obey, learn, and grow holy. This is how to live our lives: to let the Father make us his best children.

**Natural Reaction to Christ*

        Once you realize Christ's holiness, selflessness, beauty, and majesty, you become wordless. You would want to submit yourself to him to let him take whole possession of you so that you may rest in his peace and his love forever.

****Huge Big Deal

        To let God make you holy is a BIG deal, for it changes your existence for all eternity! You are now freed from sin and ready for sainthood. The world can no longer shackle you, for you belong to God the Father. His love envelops you. shielding you from all evil. Heaven is assured. There's no bigger deal than letting God save you.

*****Most Special Experience!*****

        Another re-realization. Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist is unique and most special—it initiates and seals our union with the Lord! It readies us for eternal living. It's an experience both humbling and uplifting.  

***Great Honor & Happy Thought*

        Many saints were martyrs. They died for Christ. Now, we are all going to die. So if we live for the Lord alone and die, we can be considered to be martyrs too. For me, this is a great honor and a happy thought. 

***God Only Knows How to Love

        Communion experience. Why would the Lord want to enter me, a both physically and spiritually impure being? I see that he's doing it out of pure love so that I might have everlasting life. That he should wish to attain union with me absolutely made me rejoice!

***Big Commitment

        Our soul is our most important treasure. If we can entrust our soul to the Lord God, that would certainly please him and give us deep peace for knowing that our soul is now secure. A win-win situation.

***Heaven and Hell Await***

        In yesterday's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household." This is actually happening today all around the world. The only way to heal this division is for us to repent all our sins and believe in Christ. Meanwhile, both heaven and hell are open and waiting.

***Awaken to This Reality***

        In todays Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus reproached some unrepentant towns and made it clear that they wouldn't be tolerated on the day of judgment. It's also clear that there will be the day of judgment for all of us. This is a reality truth we need to consider most seriously—definitely not everything will be hunky-dory for all of us.

***Way to Become Strong

        I have finally learned that the only way to become strong is to submit myself to God completely. That is, when I acknowledge that I am truly weak and need help before the Lord, he readily helps me directly. Our Father just loves helping us when we trust in him with all our heart. 

***Safe with Christ***

        If you are in sin and don't do anything about it, it's like you're hanging from a precipice, holding tightly onto its edge. If you ever fall, you're going to die for sure. Having Christ is like having a hand of his always under you, ready to catch you whenever you fall. 

**Letting God Rejuvenate Me

        Communion experience. The bread I receive is the bread of life! And the chalice of wine, the chalice of salvation! The Lord God entered me—how could I possibly bear this? I decided to let him crush me totally so that he may fill me up with life! 

***A Re-realization of Jesus***

        Christ is the Lord, the True one, our ultimate fulfillment, and the solution to all our problems. We must totally submit ourselves to him. (The resulting experience is phenomenally liberating and unspeakably wonderful!)

**Sign You're Ready to Die

         When we die, we meet the Lord. So if you are ready to meet the Lord, you are ready to die.

*****Greatest Transforming Force

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthews 10, Jesus laid down the conditions of discipleship: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Asking us to love him more than our own family? You just don't do that unless you are the Lord God speaking the truth, and I believe that's just the case. Now that's settled, we must love Jesus more than anyone else. The miracle is when we do that, we start loving others as well. God being love, his love turns our to be the greatest force in transforming us. Believe in it and we are saved!

***Choice We Face*****

        God is awesome because he is holy, and we being sinners are awful. The good news is that if we submit ourselves to the Lord God, he can transform us to become like him, for his mercy and power are boundless. So the choice we face is to remain in sin or to become holy. Think of the consequences and the right choice should become crystal clear.

***The Last Will Be First

        In Matthew 19, Jesus said to his disciples, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." Again, in Matthew 20 in using the parable of the workers in the vineyard to explain the kingdom of heaven, he again stated "Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last." I am not sure how to interpret this saying, but this I am sure of: If you rank last according to how much pride you have, you'll come out first in a lineup based upon how easy it is to get into heaven. 

***All About Giving Yourself Up

        At each Mass, we are reminded that the Lord gave up his body and poured out his blood for us. It's really all about offering oneself up. To follow his example, we must be willing to offer ourselves up to him for his sake. After receiving him each time, offering ourselves up is in order.

****Dealing with Material Possessions****

        All the material possessions we have are useful to us only when we are living on earth, so enjoy using them while you are still here and be thankful to the Lord, for they were all supplied by him. Never become attached to them though; for we came without them and we'll be leaving without them. It's the Devil who wants you to get yourself attached to these transitory, material things to keep you away from the Father. Do not fall for it. Follow Christ only for a little while on earth and you'll enjoy everlasting life in heaven! Even if you can live on earth for all eternity, you won't be happy. We can only be truly happy in heaven—this is how the Father has made us, so we'll ultimately seek him. Don't disappoint him and our happiness is guaranteed.           

****Accessing God's Power

        How much power you can receive from God is entirely limited by how much you are open to and trust in him. Imagine what you can gain by totally abandoning yourself to him!

**Way to Store Up Treasure in Heaven

        We do many things in our lives. Not long age, eight of us from church met after Mass and enjoyed eating a meal together at a local restaurant. But among all the things we do, those done out of love for God are the ones that will earn us spiritual merit. This is the way to store up treasure in heaven. 

**Mighty Deeds Speak Volumes

        In Matthew 9, people brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When he saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. The Lord performed a mighty deed here to show that he did have the authority to forgive sins. This morning I got up early and saw the sun already shining thru the bedroom window. Here the sun, almost 94.5 millions away, sending its rays to the earth regularly year after year since they were created. This mighty feat clearly points to the existence of an omnipotent creator, our God.

**All Fears Dispelled

        Communion experience. So much comfort in receiving the Lord. His love dispels all fears. 

***Be One with God Always***

        Know that everything that draws you away from God does not come from him. Attain union with God thru the Holy Eucharist and nothing can separate you from him anymore.

***Christians' Major Concern

Not Loving Christ Enough.         

***Greatest Fear for Disbelievers

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus also said to his Apostles, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." So for those who disbelieve Christ, their greatest fear should be not making heaven.

***Smart Breakthrough Move

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles, "Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known." I feel good that the Lord knows everything about me. You see, we lose peace because we attempt to hide our sins from the Lord. But if you realize that there is nothing you can possibly conceal or keep as a secret from him and decide to tell him all your sins and ask for his forgiveness, this will bring you profound peace and great joy.

***What We Must Deal With

        If we are in sin and don't do anything about it, we remain in a sort of limbo, not knowing where our soul will end up. This is not a good state to be in, for not dealing with sin will unavoidably lead to the destruction of our soul.

***A Truth to Face

        Many of the truths I realize nowadays are nothing new, but I just see them more acutely. Today I am made aware that we all are going to die and be buried, whether we think about it or not. What matters is how we'll look to the Lord when we appear before him and see our entire life on earth revealed to us.

*****Most Beautiful Name

        We address Jesus as Lamb of God because as God he is most humble. It's for this humility stemming from his infinite love for us that makes us fall in love with him, worship him, adore him, and want to live and die for him. "Lamb of God" is most fitting for our Lord and is the most beautiful of all names.         

***Best Way to Live

        We are imperfect and with a free will, so we do a lot of things not necessarily in accord with God's will. But the Lord is in charge of the course of all events and his final triumph over evil is already a given. The best way for us to live is to submit ourselves to him as perfectly as possible so that we may be amply rewarded in our next life. Yes, the souls lives on forever, for we are made in the image of God. 

***God Alone Protects My Soul

        Communion experience. Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist assures that I'll always be with him. The world can give me all the protection it can possibly give and that won't help my soul one iota.

***Essential Realization**

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus sent out his twelve apostles to proclaim the kingdom of heaven to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He said to them, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." It is true that God has given us everything, so there is nothing we can really claim to be ours. Even ourselves were created by him! Realizing this can help us let go of ourselves and what we have, so that we may truly live only for the Lord.

***Most Comfortable Feeling

        Communion experience. It's such a comfortable feeling not to offer any resistance to the LORD so that he may do whatever he wishes with you. 

**Letting God Take Over*

        At morning Mass today, I wanted to submit myself to the Lord entirely, yet I felt that I couldn't achieve that on my own, being a finite creature. So I just went passive completely and asked the Lord to take over, for he can accomplish anything if you'll let him.

***Joyous Realization***

        All of a sudden I realize that God loves us, for he created us and we are his own children! It's only natural that the Father should love his own children, especially when he is love? Rejoice! 

***Don't Wait too Long!*

        Recently, I heard that quite a few of the older folks I know had started to show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Here are my thoughts. If you do not know Christ yet and think you might want to know him, then don't wait. For once dementia sets in, it'll be too late. My own prayer is that the Lord will keep my mind clear all the days of my life, for I love him and wish to be aware of and enjoy him everyday I am alive.

**Our Response to God's Love

        Since God's love for us is boundless, our appropriate response will have to be loving him back with a love as great as possible.

**Christ Is the Way

        I attend Mass daily to remain in union with the Lord. This is how I keep my sanity, my sanctity, and my soul safe. Without the Lord, I'd be lost in this world for sure. 

*****Most Urgent*****

        Loving God is most urgent, for we have only a brief moment on earth to prepare for all eternity! 

*****Happy in the LORD

        Today I am so happy with my Lord. He has fulfilled me and I am so satisfied with him that I wish to be totally overwhelmed by him.  

***Faith at Work***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, an official came forward, knelt down before Jesus, and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and she will live." Later Jesus arrived at the official's house and raised the little girl from her "sleep." Another woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." And from that hour the woman was cured. In either case, it's faith at work, verifying what Jesus said in Mark:24: "All that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." So, have courage and believe."

***How to Be Happy

        Today I feel really happy that the God of Christ is my God. I feel that sinning against him is the worst thing I could do to him, and to repent my sins and be forgiven by him is the happiest thing that could happen to me. To obey the Lord always and you are the happiest person always.

***Need to Be on Fire!

        Just being awake is not good enough; we need to be hot on fire. The Lord God doesn't like us to remain just lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-16). We really should mind his business first, in fact, only. We serve ourselves most of the time and only serve him when we have some time left over or have to. This falls far short of fulfilling the greatest and first commandment Jesus gave us: You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37) To make this happen, we must desire it. Otherwise, we remain lukewarm. 

**Must-Have for Entering Heaven

        You can be the most intelligent person in the whole world, but without humility you won't make heaven. For to get into heaven, you need to be humble enough to surrender yourself to the God of Christ first.

**Only the Lord Can

        Communion experience. Only the Lord can take away my sins and save my soul. Only he can draw me into union with him and keep me holy. Only he can make me heaven bound.

****Christ Our Ultimate Model

         I have said that we should only mind what God thinks about us, not what others think. In practice, this is not always easy, especially when the others are our own family. It helps to take their intention into consideration. If they mean well, then accept what they say. If not, then it becomes hard to do so. I can only look to Christ the Lord for guidance and inspiration. In Luke 6, he said to his disciples, "To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back." Indeed, Jesus himself demonstrated what he taught here. He was accused, mocked, laughed at, scourged, and ordered to carry his cross all the way to his own crucifixion, yet he never retaliated in any way. Instead he prayed for those who persecuted him. So the answer is clear: we must remain calm and not take whatever is said about or done to us personally. Rejoice that you are following his example. This is difficult but entirely possible with the Lord's help. And you'll enjoy his peace too.

**Need for Christ to Free Us

        The secular world is replete with attractions and it's so easy to become mired in them your whole lifetime. That's why we need to know Christ first so that we may discern what's good for us and what's not. Even so, there'll still be a constant battle to fight. Hence I recommend that you seek to attain union with God foremost. Catholics should take full advantage of the Holy Eucharist available to them. Once you taste the Lord and his joy, all worldly attractions simply fade away. You are now free and truly happy.

*****Moment Special Moments*****

        Communion experience. The moment God created each of us was a most special moment for each of us. When I receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I am reunited with my creator and it's an equally most special moment! 

***Best Way to Live

        Since I am here on earth only temporarily and don't know what tomorrow will be like, I am just going to live one day at a time in Christ my Lord. 

**Common Sense View of Life

        Life is all about how much you obey God, that is, how much you let him be your Lord. If you disobey him totally, he won't be able to help you in any way. On the other hand, if you are completely obedient to God, you'll have eternal life for sure. If you obey him only part of the time, you may still be saved, for his mercy is great, but I wouldn't bet on it.

*Circle Completed

        Communion experience. I still can't believe that I am receiving the Lord himself into me. I feel as if I've completed a circle, and I don't have to go around anymore.  

**Being Heartless

        Christ died on the cross to redeem us from sin. He went to the extreme to show that he loved us. All we need to do is believe in him and we are saved. If we don't even respond to him, then we are indeed heartless.

***God Our Ultimate Transformer

        From personal experience, I can tell everyone that the God of Christ is the only one who can actually change us fundamentally. After all, he created us in the first place. If you feel enslaved, burdened, depressed . . . he can change all that, depending upon how much you'll let him. Abandon yourself totally to him and you'll have freedom, peace, and joy in this life, not to mention eternal life later in heaven!

***One to Go To***

        If there is someone you want to go to, whom would you choose? For me, Christ is the only choice, for there is absolutely no one else who can even come close to matching him. Years of following him have convinced me that he is both God and our Savior. He is unique and the best and only choice hands down. And I know that a multitude of others have also come to the same conclusion.

**Best Thing to Look Forward To

        We'll all be returning to God to be judged by him. So are you preparing for that day? What kind of meeting would you like it to be like? I want to be fully ready so that it'll be a day of greatest joy for me to begin spending eternity with our most loving Father. This is absolutely the best thing I can possibly look forward to.

***What God Expects of Us

         (1) We be holy. (2) We trust in his plan for us and focus upon bearing fruit for his glory. This will be different for each of us. (3) We respond to God's will alone and never compare ourselves with others. That's all.

****Happiest Thing to Do on Earth****

        Communion experience. I felt that to die to ourselves so that we may live in Christ is the happiest thing we can do!

***The Breakthrough*

        To surrender to God is difficult because you need first to have the humility to acknowledge that God is your Lord. If you can do it, you are set free. You've now broken down this big barrier to enable the Lord to make your life both easy and a joy to live.

**Answers to Some Questions

        What's most refreshing to the soul? Ans: God's holiness. How to best live our life? Ans: Follow God's plan for you. How to know God loves us? Ans: Love God with all your heart and all your soul first. 

***Saying "I Love You"

        We say "I love you" readily to a lot of people. We say it simply because we like someone or that someone pleases us or just as a compliment. When the Lord lets you know that he loves you, he's on an entirely different level, for his love is pure and unconditional. He won't say it just to please you; he wants you to know that he loves you to the point of even willing to lay down his life for you! So we shouldn't say "I love you" to anyone lightly if our motive isn't that pure. Taste God's love by letting him love us first and we can do it better.

***Jubilant Awareness***

        The Most Holy Almighty God and Father loves me, always watches over me, and now awaits my return to him in heaven.           

**Communion Experience

        At Mass, my Lord offered himself to unite with me bodily and in spirit. The only appropriate response I could see was "total submission." When I receive him thus, he completes me, fulfilling what I desire the most, and both he and I triumph.

**Increasing Our Love for God

        Communion experience. Receiving the Body of the Lord is a heavenly feast. Receive it with all you heart and with all your soul, and your love for him knows no bounds. 

**Believers' Benefits

        As we believe in Christ, he blesses and sanctifies us. 

****Jesus Knows Everything About Us

        Today is the Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle. This is how the Gospel reading from John 20 started: Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Jesus wasn't there the first time, but he knew exactly what Thomas had said. The Lord knows every thought we think, every word we utter, and every deed we perform. You unbelievers better wake up and watch out. To those who already believe, it's a great consolation that the Lord knows all about and watches over them.

        Communion experience. To let God's love inundate you is to be in heaven. 

***Thinking About Leaving the Church?

        If you are a Catholic and see other Catholics, lay or clerical, behaving improperly and decide to leave the Church, then you are judging others and probably never knew Christ the Lord well in the first place. Christ is most holy and perfect and we must never leave him. The Church he has established as a whole is his body, so to leave the Church is to leave him, cutting yourself off from all the sacraments he has given you, especially the Eucharist which is his greatest gift to us. There will always be sinners among us. The proper thing to do is to remain in the Church and pray even harder for yourself and the Church. Always pray and ask the Lord to help you see things clearly.

*****Most Beautiful Thing We Can Do*****

     In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his apostles: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." We are to love the Lord wholeheartedly without any reservation. This is showing our great faith in him, and our reword will be great in heaven. Loving God is the most beautiful thing we can do in our whole existence!

***Our Basic Burden

        We fear facing God because deep down we know we are sinners. If we acknowledge that and repent of our sins, joy and freedom will displace all our fears. It really works, so why are you still waiting and not wake up to this truth? You see, God has so made us that we cannot live in sin and enjoy peace at the same time.

**Priority in Prayer*

        It's easy to pray for others to become holier, forgetting that praying for ourselves to become more perfect should take first priority. To help others obey God, we need to obey him ourselves first. To help others become holy, we need to become holy ourselves first.

**God Knows What Suits You

        God will use you for his glory and your salvation as much as you'll let him. Since he knows you thoroughly, if you are open to him, he'll let you know exactly how you can best serve him. He'll never impose upon you anything for which you are not ready or that's beyond your endurance. You can always trust in the Lord who is wise, kind, and most considerate.

***Praying for Souls in Purgatory

        I am posting this video to urge all to pray for the souls in purgatory. When you pray for them, they will in turn pray for you too. I met Vicka on one pilgrimage to Medjugorje. As our group listened to her speak, we were able to look at the bright sun comfortably, for the glare was gone. 

**Sign You've Surrendered to God

        The Lord God occupies you mind and soul totally so that all worldly things no longer interest you. For everything pales next to the magnificence of the Lord.   

***Unique Intimacy

        Through receiving the Holy Eucharist, you can attain union with God. Now you enjoy the greatest intimacy, possible only with the Lord God.