***How to Follow Christ (and Enjoy Peace)***

         To follow the Lord mean we always follow his will and never rush ahead of him. All glory and honor should go only to him. If the world ever notices us, it should see him and not us. With us out of the limelight, we simply enjoy his peace.

*****Incredible Love and Power of Christ*****

        Communion experience. It's like attending a banquet in heaven and was served the Lord himself—an unbelievable experience! You cannot remain the same old sinner anymore; in fact, you can now become a brand new saint! Praised be Jesus Christ, our most beloved Lord and God.

**How Do We Receive God's Word?*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus told the parable of the sower to his disciples. He likened us hearing the word of the kingdom to the ground receiving the sower'e seed. The seed could be sown on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, or on rich soil. I think the case of the seed sown among thorns best describes most of us today. This is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. Pray that we are like the seed sown on rich soil, the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

***Inspiring Wake-Up Speech***

        Here's a clip of Bishop Barron's talk at this year's 10th National Eucharistic Congress which just concluded four days ago in Indianapolis, Indiana.

***Jesus Is LORD Because . . .

he can take away our sins.

***Baseless Fear***

        It is common that we follow Christ, but do not abandon ourselves completely to him for fear that he may make us do things against our will. Let me first say that this fear is totally baseless. You see, the Lord understands us thoroughly and knows how we can best serve him, so he would never make us do anything that is beyond our readiness or capability. He prefers that we offer to serve him first. Now, when we don't abandon ourselves all the way, it's because we still don't want him to be our Lord fully yet. This is due to our lack of humility. Let's recall what Jesus said in Luke 9:62: No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. To follow Christ is to follow him only and not yourself!

***Heaven More Real than Earth

         We live in a real world, but I now see that heaven is even more real because up there with the Lord God, you'll see the whole truth clearly with your life on earth looking more like an old bad dream. To return to the loving Father in heaven is to wake up and leave all your nightmares behind forever!

***The Lord Knew Us All Along!***

        In today's reading 1 from Jeremiah 1, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." We are the same to the Lord: He knew us before we were born and had a plan for each of us to follow. Our role may not be as distinct as Jeremiah's, but nevertheless, it should become as meaningful to him if we followed his plan. Realizing this alone should make us feel blessed and want to rejoice in the Lord.

***Limitless with God***

        With the Lord God, we are dealing with infinity, for nothing is impossible for him. And we can go infinity too! There is no limit to how much we can love him, abandon ourselves to him, ask for favors from him, obey him, and pray to him with great fervency. This is precisely what makes following the Lord God so exciting and such a joy!

**God to Be En...

        The Lord God is to be worshipped, adored, and praised, for we trust in and love him. But don't forget that he is to be enjoyed by us too! He is most enjoyable because if you love him with all your heart, he will fill it with unspeakable joy unexpectedly from time to time, totally delighting the soul.

**Only What Belongs to God Remains

        Tow days ago, I wasn't able to turn on the house alarm. Couldn't figure out what's wrong, as all window and door contacts looked fine. Arming and disarming it repeatedly didn't seem to reset anything. Then all of a sudden this morning before I left for Mass, the green light on the panel was on, showing that the house was ready to be armed. I realized that in this world, problems come and go, so don't let any of them make you lose your peace. They pass and only what belongs to God remains forever. Remain in the Lord and let everything else go by. 

**A Christian's Calling

        Taking care of just myself is easy since I already belong to Christ. It's taking care of all others in the world that takes much work and prayer. A Christian is called to help the Lord save as many souls as possible, as his last instruction to the Eleven before his ascension was "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

*****Secret to Enteriing Heaven*****

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, while Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him about this. But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Now we know how to belong to God the Father's family in heaven! Joy should now fill us throughout our whole life!

***A Special Revelation*

        As sinners, we'll be held responsible for the sins we have committed in the end—no escape here! Once we realize this, we'll want to stop sinning and become perfect. And we realize that we are being called to become like Jesus Christ.

***Christ the Complete Truth***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 20, the resurrected Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene and these are his last words to her: "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" I already quoted this in my last post, but it strikes me that he absolutely told the truth here, for if he hadn't, imagine how absurd the whole thing would have been—performing all those miracles, dying for us out of love, rising from the dead, and not even ascending to heaven? So when he said he's going to the Father, he knew precisely what he's talking about. We can be sure that Christ is the truth through and through.

*****God's Most Beautiful Love*****

      God's love for us is absolutely pure, and that makes it most passionate and overwhelming. Today is the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene. The antiphons, the verse from reading 1, and Gospel acclamation . . . all show how this most beautiful, powerful love is and has affected us.
        (1) The entrance antiphon from John 20:17. The Lord said to Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Jesus shares his Father and his God with us!
        (2) Verse 4 from Song of Songs 3. I have found him whom my soul loves. We love God with our soul, beyond our heart!       
        (3) Response from Psalm 63. My soul is thirsting for you, O loving God.
    (4) Gospel acclamation from John 20:15. Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" We who love the Lord look for him and weep for him often.
       (5) Communion antiphon from 2 Corinthians 5. The love of Christ impels us, so that those who live may no longer live for themselves but for him who died and was raised.
        This is the love for us to live in!

***By the Grace of God

 

**Overcoming the Ego*

        There were times I shared something that's true, but felt uncomfortable afterwards. And I realized that I was only trying to gain sympathy or understanding, not really serving any useful purpose—it's the old ego rearing its ugly head! So from now on, the moment I sense ever slightly a no, I'll obey that voice. The ego's got to go for good!

**Today's Stray Sheep

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, a vast crowd waited for Jesus to show up. When he arrived and saw them, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. Today we have Christ as our shepherd, but many do not even choose to follow him—we have truly gone astray.  

***Mind Follows Heart*

        If your mind is easily cluttered with all kinds of thoughts that make you feel unsettled, trace it back to your heart. If the heart remains clean and calm, the mind will follow suit. Of course, attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist and you'll have a pure heart filled with peace. 

***Most Righteous Goal*****

        One goal of my blog is to spread the name of Jesus for the whole world to know. For he is our most beloved Lord, creator, and Savior. He alone deserves to be worshipped, adored, and praised. Without him, we'd be nothing. With him, we can have eternal life. He is the truth, the light, and the way. I want all to know and acknowledge all this so that they may be set free! May this goal be the goal of every one of us. 

***Ready to Face God?

         We'll never be perfect when we face God, but if you don't have any hesitation and is eager to go to him, you are OK—good enough to go. 

**Happiest Tears*

         These are the ones to which you are moved when you genuinely sense or feel God's love for all of us. It follows that you are a happiest person when you know that God truly loves you.

**The Lord's Doing

         Communion experience. The Lord made my soul presentable to him; I was ready for his judgment.

***We Are Precious to God***

         Know that God has shed his own blood to free us from spiritual death, so we are absolutely precious to him. Therefore, let's keep our soul as spotless as possible. With his help, this becomes practically effortless.

***Going All Out for God*

         The Lord God always goes all out for us and we need to go all out for him to live a purposeful and exciting life. So go all out to worship him, to adore him, to praise him, and to obey and serve him. Then we'll be blessed and rewarded to the max by him with eternal life securely in the bag. 

***Reconciliation with God, a Must***

          God has already paved the way for us to go to heaven. All we need to do is to reconcile with him. It's that plain and simple! So what's your problem?

***God's Beautiful Love*

         It' the most beautiful thing in the whole universe. It is pure, meek, humble, most forgiving, but also most powerful, transforming, and capable of solving all our problems—it's the Lord God himself.  

**God's Permanent Joy

         I use eyedrops to keep the my eye pressures down. As I lay down in bed this morning to do the drops, I first turned on the clock radio by the bedside to see what's playing on the classical music station. It was a guitar concerto that sounded quite beautiful. Then I realized that this listening pleasure was only a passing one, while the joy of Christ I experience is already mine, dwelling in me forever! This realization is in itself a joy!

**Letting Go in the Lord

         Communion experience. Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist strengthens our union with him, readying us for living and dying for him. 

**Triumphant Proclamation**

         Today's psalm response from Isaiah 38.17: You saved my life, O Lord; I shall not die. All faithful Christians already know this, but it sure was good to hear it proclaimed aloud five times at the reading of the psalm.

***Bravery or Cowardice

         If you don't believe in Christ, that doesn't mean that he is not our Savior, for you may be dead wrong. As a believer, I know that no one will ever be able to prove that Christ is not our Savior! So all unbelievers are simply avoiding facing reality. Risking losing your soul for all eternity is not an act of bravery, but one of sheer cowardice and stupidity.

*** Only One Final Judgment!***

         We do not know how and when we'll die. Will there be time for making a final confession of sins? What if we die unexpectedly all of a sudden? Know that after we die, there'll be just one judgment, with no higher court to which we can appeal our cases, for the Lord God is our final and only judge. If you don't have your eternal life secured by Jesus Christ yet, you absolutely need to think about it right now!

***Praying with Faith

         Pray earnestly with persistence, but always believe that the Lord will answer you, and remain in peace.  It's earnest sans anxiety. Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." (Mark 11:24) 

**Living for Eternity*

         If you love the Lord, you'll always receive what's best for you. So be happy with what you have and the state you are in, and do not complain under any circumstances, for there's so much for us to be thankful for. This may be difficult to achieve, but as disciples of Christ, we live for him and what's to come. All hardships now are nothing compared to what we'll be receiving later. Live joyfully now and your joy will continue forever!

***All Are Relative*

         Relative to God, we are truly despicable sinners. The more you know the Lord, the more awesome he is to you. Once you know Christ well, all worldly pleasures become tiresome and I can even go so far as to say that everything we do for ourselves without involving the Lord in any way is basically frivolous.

*****True Flesh and Blood of Christ*****

         I'd like to quote all these verses from John 6. Except verse 52, they are all Jesus' sayings. 
        
        51: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

         52: The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (Obviously, the Jews understood that the Lord meant it literally.)

          53: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

         54: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

           55: For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

           56: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

           57: Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

          58: This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.

          Clearly, when we receive the Holy Eucharist at Mass, we receive the true flesh and blood of the Lord, not just bread and wine. If not, all Catholics have surely committed the sin of idolatry! 

***Being Wise at the Highest Level***

         The Lord God is our creator and heavenly Father who loves us to death. He wants to save us from sin so that we may be with him in paradise forever. He is almighty, for nothing is impossible with him. Love and obey him, and our eternal happiness is guaranteed. He is truly our refuge and greatest resource for all that's best for us. Recognize this and take full advantage of it and he'll be most pleased. 

**Remember This!

         God's infinite mercy is to our great advantage. Anytime we repent our sins to him and ask for his forgiveness, he saves our soul for heaven.

*****Momentous Occasion**

        Communion experience. I see receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist as momentous as the creation of man as depicted in Michelangelo's painting. For this is the moment God creates a new you in Christ if you were open to him. In both instances, it's done out of love.

***Important Rule***

         Never follow your heart before giving it to Christ Jesus first.

*Sinner Has No Right to Judge

         In John 8, when the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery to Jesus. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Today so many people slander, and lie and say vicious things about others—they will have to answer to the Lord one day. May he have mercy on their souls.

**Be CHILDLIKE**

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11,  Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will." Be childlike and God the Father will reveal all his "secrets" to you! I still remember the time when I was 7 or 8, I felt so carefree, realizing that I just played most of the time while my parents and grandparents took care of everything else for me. This is how we should feel about our heavenly Father who can take better care of us than anyone else.

**God Is with You

         You know it in these two instances. (1) You are tempted to commit a sin and know that you shouldn't and you don't. (2) You commit a sin, lose all your peace, and feel really sorry about that.  

**Trust in the Lord Is All**

        God knows every one of us thoroughly and what we can do for him. We only need to trust in him and live a life as holy as possible. Dreaming about ourselves doing great works does not come from the Lord. He only wants us to listen for his voice and do his will. 

**Willing Follower of Christ*

         We follow Christ, but how willing are we? Not following him closely is not following him at all. A willing follower is one who remains joyfully in the Lord, eager to carry out his will at any time. 

*****Inevitable Endings (Another Warning)**

         Time marches on and we are getting closer and closer to facing the Lord to be evaluated by him. Think of living your life as making a movie that's going to be reviewed and rated by him. The finished work will be either added to his collection or tossed into the furnace. Think about it and be ready.

***Trump's Assassination Attempt Prophesied***

        This morning, I posted God Saved Trump. I just came across this brand new LifeSiteNews video titled Prophecy Unveiled: Pastor's Vision of Trump's Assassination Attempt. I think you'll find it very interesting. Here it is.

**The Lord Incredibly Good!

        Communion experience. Still hard for me to believe that my Lord could be this good to me. Hence I believe in him even more.

***What's Most Exciting*****

        There is nothing more exciting than letting the Lord God make us holy. Normally, we don't believe that this would be possible, so we don't think about it. Then we realize that this is what the Lord seriously wants from us and nothing is impossible for him, we submit ourselves to him completely and voilà, we discover that he can actually change us fundamentally, and moreover, there is no limit to how far we can go. We then get excited—the unbelievable is now real! When we follow God, the outcome can only be success!

***Becoming Better Lovers

        When we love God, our love for others becomes purer and less self-centered. You see, God is all love and most holy, and when we are influenced by him, we can't help but want to love others the way he loves us. Loving God makes us become like him. 

***God Saved Trump*****

        By now, the whole world knows that Trump has survived the assassination attempt made on him at a rally in Pennsylvania two days ago. Slow motion videos have now shown that just before the bullet struck, Trump tilted his head to the left enough for the bullet to pierce his right ear instead. I along with many others believe that God did intervene, for he still had work for him to accomplish on earth. The Lord holds all those who trust in him in his loving hands—praise him now and forever!

**Letting God Make Us Genuine**

         We become genuinely ourselves when we attain union with God and are set free. Conversely, when we remain out of tune with God, we develop a fake self and become unhappy with both life and ourselves.

***Why We Need God***

         God is forever holy while we need him to become holy.

***Today's Joy:

My Lord can make me whiter than snow.

**To the Proud:

         This perhaps is more a man thing because I see men often don't admit that they are wrong after they've made a mistake—it probably has something to do with a macho ego. This lack of humility makes repentance difficult, thus blocking the way to salvation. Know that God humbles the proud and exalts the humble.

***Existence Completed***

         Communion experience. When you have Christ, you have no more fears nor worries; he's now your only focus. Union with him completes your existence.

***Our Peace*

         Two days ago, I declared that God is our hope. Today I'd like to add that God is also peace.

***The Lord Teaching Us

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." So if your soul is safe with the Lord, you should not be afraid of anything anymore! Who cares how or when you're going to die when you'll be with God forever? Jesus also said, "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." Now you know exactly how to get accepted by the heavenly Father. If you get denied by him later, you have only yourself to blame. The Lord is showing us how to be smart here!

***Resorting to Prayer Always*

         Prayer can be most powerful. In Mark 9, Jesus healed a boy possessed by a demon. When the disciples asked him why they could not drive it out, Jesus told them that this kind could only come out by prayer. So we should always resort to prayer. Whenever we wish to honor the Lord and don't have the means to accomplish that, we can turn to prayer. Coupled with deep faith, prayer is surely a Christian's best friend and weapon for fighting evil.

***Finding Rest in God***

         I have quoted this famous saying by St. Augustine quite a number of times in the past. It came to me again today. Here it is: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." First of all, this is absolutely true. Secondly, to rest in God is to submit yourself to him 100%, for If you fall short by even a tiny percentage, you'll still experience some unrest. But once you hit 100%, you'll taste peace and freedom and not want to fall short again.

***Minding Our Business Only***

         Since God alone is our judge, we should not ever judge others. It follows that we should not ever compare ourselves with anyone else either. Our only business should be to make sure that we pass God's judgment. 

***Lamentable State of the World

        The world is in total disorder. Just look at his country alone, evildoers spread lies and hatred, destroying the country and society in the process, in order to remain in power. The battle between the good and the evil has never been so clear. God has given each of us a conscience and these evil ones have already lost theirs. When you lose your conscience, you lose your soul as well. 

***Be Saints for God in Secret***

         We all should be saints for God's sake and known to him only. A true saint couldn't care less about being recognized, let alone venerated. We cannot love God and also ourselves (or the world).

***Joy-Filled Morning

         First, before morning Mass started, I felt the joy of just being aware of Christ's presence. Whenever I think of him, my heart is filled with joy. In today's reading from Psalm 51, the psalmist (David) asked God to cleanse him of sin so that he should be whiter than snow. Surely Christ could make me whiter than snow too—a joy for me. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus told his Apostles that in coming persecutions, the Spirit of their Father wouldl speak through them. It's clear that this Spirit is also mine, the Holy Spirit, who makes me see and guides me in the truth . . . my joy continued. Then when I received the Lord in the Eucharist, it reached a peak. All in all, a most memorable morning. 

***Discernment Called For*

         After Mass, I remained in prayer at the chapel. I noticed the reflections of the candle stand and other objects clearly in the shiny tiled floor of the sanctuary. These are virtual images like what you see in a mirror. The reflected objects do not exist; it's the light reflected fooling you into thinking that they are there. For example, I see myself in the mirror, but I don't really exist behind that mirror. This is how Satan fool us. He makes us see miracles to fool us into believing that they are from God. Someone could tell you that he's seen a vision or heard a message from heaven and he's telling the truth, but what he saw or heard might not be from God. So, be always discerning. If you don't need miracles to bolster your faith anymore, then leave them alone.

*****In Constant Communion with God*****

         It is essential that we communicate intimately with the Lord God unceasingly! For this is a wonderful way to maintain a vibrant close relationship with him. To neglect the Lord who is our most loving Father and creator has to be an abominable sin in my view. Seek full union with him thru the Holy Eucharist so that you may love him as you should.

**Communion Experience

         Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist has to the topmost experience of my existence on earth above all other enjoyable experiences.

***Our Hope***

         Jesus is love, mercy, and joy. Today I see that he is our hope also; for without him, we'd be living in total darkness and possibly doomed for eternity! 

***Easy Come, Easy Go

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus sent out the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to make the proclamation: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." He also instructed them to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons, and added, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." Indeed, we need to realize that all our things have come from the Lord and we are to give them freely if need be. This'll teach us not to get attached to the world but to remain free in the Lord.

**Most Beautiful Life goal**

         Today is the memorial of St. Benedict, abbot. The entrance antiphon at Mass: There was a man of venerable life, Benedict, blessed by grace and by name, who, leaving home and patrimony and desiring to please God alone, sought out the habit of holy living. "Desiring to please God alone"—what a beautiful goal for us to have! That'll make us all go to heaven! That would surely bring the greatest joy to all of heaven and earth! So let's live like St. Benedict to please God alone.

**Levels of Awakeness

         What is your life's end destination? If you are just living from day to day and haven't thought about it yet, you don't know what you're doing. If you see that your life will end one day and haven't done anything beyond, you are not better off. But if you have already looked beyond this life and had your eternal destination all secured thru Jesus Christ, then you are truly being wise and awake, knowing the whole truth about life. 

**Becoming Spiritually Whole Again

         Communion experience—another opportunity for the Lord to cleanse my heart and heal my soul.

**No Middle Ground*

         The Lord God waits for us to turn to and go after him. To not do so is to ignore him. These are our only two options. With the Lord, there's no middle ground to take—we'll be either saved or condemned. So be prepared now.

****God's Urgent Call Now*

         God's omnipotence and omniscience are indeed awesome, but the beauty of his love and sanctity alone should be enough to make us want to submit ourselves to him totally. He is the only one who can save us from sin and make us fit for entering heaven—this is the absolute truth! It is urgent that you wake up and drop everything now to follow Christ our God and Savior—there's no time to waste.

***Self-Struggle Is Wrong!***

          This morning I heard the tragic news that the spiritual director, a priest, of our parish priest had taken his own life five days ago on July 4. I do not know him nor what caused him to do such a thing. Anyway, I feel called to share the following thoughts, which may not apply in his case.
         A lot of people struggle hard to know God, then when they realize that they are not succeeding well, they give up and lose hope. The secret to know God is to let him know you. That means you go passive. I had said before that to log onto God, the password is "passive." By remaining open, you don't struggle at all. You simply relax and trust, letting the Lord "do the work." This is abandonment to God, the formula for rapid spiritual growth.

***Receiving Revelation from God***

        Throughout Church history, there have been private revelations purportedly coming from heaven. They all try to teach us something about God or warn us about something that's coming from him. Many of them are inspiring, while others more dubious or even controversial. Anyway, the Church doesn't bind us to believe in any of them, even if they've been approved. The thought that came to me this morning at Mass was that the Lord does give messages to every one of us privately for the good of all humanity, even if we're not saints or mystics. Such revelations don't have to sound supernatural to be authentic. Especially when you are in union with the Lord, the communication between you and him are completely free and unobstructed, and you hear him speaking to your heart at all times. 

****Moving God with Your Heart****

         Online I've read about the Divine Mercy devotion controversy, the best devotions, and whether we should say the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost. Well, I have learned that the Lord only looks at our hearts. He does not care about exactly how we approach him as long as we believe in him. It's not that a better devotion will work better. You can pray to God in all your own words and that's good enough if you really mean what you say. It's the devotion of your heart, not the devotion you follow that matters.

**Mixed Feelings After Communion

         I rejoiced after receiving the Lord, but I also felt great sorrow for him as so many of the world still offended him nonstop. And I felt like crying amidst my joy.  

***Simplifying Our Readiness*

        This is a time of great confusion for the Catholics. The Vatican has been consistently pronouncing teachings and taking actions to destroy old traditions, fracturing the Church in the process. It seems to me that the Pope is aiming for a one-world religion. Meanwhile false prophecies pervade the internet, all presented in clickbait fashion. In my view, they are as bad as the moneychangers in the temple that offended Jesus if not worse. My advice is that we focus upon Christ and his teachings alone and shut out all distractions. As long as we are with him, we are saved and don't need to be concerned about whatever comes.  

*****Letting God Unify or Divide Us*****

        Union with God through the Holy Eucharist is the most exalted form of relationship you can possibly achieve in your existence. In this state, you are also in union with all others in union with him the same way. On the other hand, reject God and you put yourself in the most estranged state you can possibly be in. Letting God be your greatest unifier or greatest divider—it's your choice.

***How to Praise God More

        In general, we don't praise God enough. We can praise him vocally, but that's somewhat limited, as there are only so many ways we can say it. We can remedy this by doing everything for his glory. The surely would be an excellent way of offering our praises. 

****Most Important Decision to Make

        In this sinful world, it's so easy to ignore God and lose your soul forever. But for those who have looked into Christ and chosen to give themselves to him, their souls are secured for all eternity. Now you decide what to do with yourself. 

***Accepting What's from God Only (a Challenge)***

        What comes to us are either from God or from the Evil One. In the former case, we get drawn closer to the Lord; in the latter, we get prompted to sin. Example of an evil influence: A pop singer garners legions of fans, but the music and performance are basically impure that they pull them away from God. The way to free ourselves of such influences is to discern them and cut them off early at the outset. Of course, in a secular society like ours, this hardly happen, especially among the impressionable younger generation. The best solution is to seek union with the Lord first, then you'll be strong enough to ward off all evil influences which to you now are all abhorrent. 

***The Christian Way

        If we are to love Gold with all our heart, we are to do everything from our heart. It follows that we are to think, speak, pray, love, and behave always from the heart. It means that a Christian is always genuine and trustworthy, reflecting God's glory. This way you live with a clear conscience in peace.

****A Most Beautiful Thing Is . . .

to trust in the truth wholeheartedly with zero doubt, and that truth is Jesus Christ to whom you can even entrust your soul.. 

***Face of Jesus***

         The face of Jesus on the Shroud of Turin has been brought to life. You can view many other videos on Widerperspective Productions.

***Making Loving God Easy

        When you let the Lord love you, you want to do everything in his name because you now love him more than anything else.

****Making God Hear You

        When you love the Lord, he is "obligated" to hear you now. 

***Fear of Judgment Vanished***

        After morning Mass, I remained in the chapel alone with the Lord. As this is Independence Day weekend, not many came to Mass and those who did left early. I had the chance to remain completely open to the Lord to be in full communion with him—all my fear of judgment vanished! Be on good terms with the Lord and you don't need to be concerned about judgment day anymore. 

**Responding to God

         Communion experience. The Lord is now all mine; I am ready to do my small part as best I can.

***Upright Living***

        Live each day as if it were the only day that's worth living for. More specifically, live it selflessly for the sake of Christ alone. This is making the best use of your time on earth to honor God and live in peace. 

***All Except the Lord Are Distractions*

        In the homily this morning at Mass, I heard Fr. Steve say that everything but Christ is a distraction. I thought that was so true. Imagine how much time we waste on distractions. Focus our whole attention on the Lord and let everything else flow from it. This awareness you gain, once you attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist.  

***At Our Next Meeting with Christ (a Warning)***

        Christ is our Savior and we know that he is most loving and merciful. But when you meet him next, he'll strictly be your Judge and you can't ask for mercy or forgiveness then anymore! So make sure now that you'll get the best welcome, not the worse rejection, of your entire existence at judgment time. Your judgment is as critical to you as your salvation.

****Christ the Right One*

        Today I feel extra good that I have Christ the LORD to follow and treasure. He is so perfect for me that I know that without him, I would be absolutely lost, for he is the only truth out there! 

*****Most Satisfying, Fulfilling Experience*****

        At Mass this morning, I resolved to completely empty myself to let the Lord fill me with whatever he wished, knowing that he would always give me the best. And, of course, receiving the Holy Eucharist later was going to strengthen my union with him further. So this great opening up of the self leads to the most intimate possible bonding with God—there can't be anything more satisfying and fulfilling!

**Time to Say Goodbye

        Communion experience. Once you have the Lord in you, you are ready to say goodbye to the world.

**Repentance Is . . .

 the best medicine for the soul.        

***Judgment Reveals We're Saved or Not*

        If we take our salvation seriously, then we must take our judgment seriously too. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus says "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." At judgment time, we find out if we are saved or not. So Christians must not slack off. Growing holier daily is the antidote to being influenced by Satan. 

***Avoid Evil Totally

        Today many politicians, church officials, and lay people are serving Satan and remain firmly so. You can say that they have already reached the point of no return, and if true, it'd be absolutely tragic. It's literally throwing your life away by ignoring God's infinite mercy. It's best that we remain firmly in the Lord so that evil won't be able to touch us. We should always turn away from evil, not because we are afraid of it, but because this is the smart way to ward it off. 

*****Jesus Only God

        A fit video to end this month of blogging. 

****The One We Absolutely Need****

        Today I see that the Lord God as the only one for me to depend upon, for he's not only trustworthy, but also will be around forever. Other good human beings I can depend upon, but their help is always limited and temporary. We need the God of Christ for us to exist on forever, and I rejoice that I have him! 

***The Unavoidable Reality*

         We are all on a oneway trip. Our destination will depend upon how we behave in this world. The Lord God sees the motivation behind everything we do, for we are completely exposed before him. If you think otherwise, then you're burying you head in the sand, looking foolish and pitiable.  

**It's What God Thinks

         Take someone who always gets to do what he wants to do. For example, he decides to befriend only those whom he likes and cut off anyone he dislikes. Now look at another person who has every intention to do God's will, but because his faith is still not that strong, he can't accomplish that every time. We could say that the first person is a success and second a failure, but I am sure that Lord God would think the very opposite.

****All That Comes from God****

        Today is the Solemnity of the Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 16, when Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." There are times we receive insights from God too. For me, they are thoughts triggered by something I see, hear, or read. One thing about such revelations, you experience the Lord's great intimacy and just know that they are true. The joy of the Lord is triggered the same way. When it happens, you are completely overwhelmed to the soul.

***Purpose of the Holy Eucharist***

         Receiving the Holy Eucharist at Mass is not to be taken lightly, for it's receiving the body and blood of the almighty holy God, our creator and Savior. It's an awesome privilege and we must be in a state of grace to receive this heavenly gift. Even more importantly, we must desire that the Lord make us holy and anew. The main purpose of the Eucharist is to help us attain union with him so that we may become as perfect as possible. It is only right and just that we honor the Lord who has honored us by giving us such a precious gift.

***Praying with Abandonment***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 8, a leper approached Jesus, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Normally, when we ask for a favor from the Lord, we pray hard and persist. Here a leper simply said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." This is refreshing and a "relaxing" way of asking, showing abandonment to God's will, and it worked well. I am going to try praying that way.

**Best Goal of Life

        What's the most proper goal of life? It shouldn't be to become rich, famous, most powerful, healthy . . . for they all make you self-centered. So the best goal for us is to become holy for God's sake. This is the only way to experience freedom, peace, and joy now and forever. (You'd better believe it.)

***Grace of Growing Old

         Growing old affects us differently. For some, they want to enjoy as many pleasures of the world as they can in the time they have left. For others, they feel so lonely and depressed that they lose interest is doing anything. These are extreme examples. I personally feel that I am at the point the Lord God can call me to go at any time now, so I just abandon myself totally to him every moment I am alive. This gives me great peace and I consider it to be a grace from God. It's important that we have something we truly look forward to in life, and that something for me is to be happy with Christ for all eternity!

***Marian Apparitions

         A good video by Michael Matt. I highly recommend watching his presentations. You can always find them on his website remnant-tv.com.

**Listen to God, Not Yourself*

        Anyone who does not know the true God always asks, "What shall I do now?" But for the one who knows the true God of Christ well, his question now is for the Lord: "What do you wish me to do now?" And he waits with anticipation in peace.

****Christ the Truth Is It.

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus spoke to his disciples with authority: "Everyone who listens to my words and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to my words but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." Without the truth, we are all lost, and I've found Christ to be the exact truth I need to complete my existence. 

***Tragic State of the Church

        Taylor Marshall presents this short video by Mel Gibson which I believe was made in 2021. It's even more relevant today.

 

***Ultimate Quest for the Catholic

         When we first decide to believe in Jesus, that's a moment of seeing the light. And we may just believe in him for the rest of our lives without making much progress spiritually. In that case, what's missing is fire, the fervor as kindled by the Holy Spirit. Without it we simply remain lukewarm. And it's this fire that precisely makes following Christ exciting! Attaining union with God thru the Holy Eucharist should be the ultimate quest for every Catholic, for in seeking this union you give all of yourself to Christ the Lord and become all fired up for him.  

***Rule to Gain Spiritual Freedom

         If the Golden Rule is the rule to achieve world peace, then here's the rule to gain spiritual freedom: Let the Lord God be your Lord and yourself be his servant. There is nothing more honorable or rewarding than serving God humbly. The harmony between God and you are now restored; you are now spiritually free.

***God-Given Golden Rule

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you." This is also saying "Do not do to others whatever you would not have them do to you." It's commonly known as the Golden Rule, and golden it is indeed; for if we all follow it, we'll have peace in the world. Attain union with God thru the Holy Eucharist first and you'll automatically follow it without thinking.

***Blessed Carlo Acutis***

        Carlo Acutis was born in 1991 and died in 2006 at the age of 15. In 2020, he was beatified by Pope Francis. You can read his whole story on Wikipedia. He truly loved the Lord with a great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. There are numerous inspiring videos about him on YouTube. Here are two short ones for you to watch in case you don't know anything about him yet.   

**God No Longer Surprising

         The Lord God is great, holy, most glorious, infinitely loving and merciful . . . truly amazing in all respects. But if you already know him well, all these outstanding characteristics no longer surprise you. Now you can focus exclusively on submitting yourself to the Lord in peace and humbleness. 

***Becoming like Christ***

        Communion experience. Once Christ becomes your Lord, all your problems, sufferings, pains, and concerns fade away. You now know that you are free and secure in him forever!

***Huge Difference***

         You want to be like God—that's being super wise.
         You want to be God—that's being super foolish.         

***To Jesus First*

        I've noticed that when Christiana face a problem, they usually tried to solve it like most other people. They turn to the Lord for help and guidance only when they can't handle the problem themselves anymore. But if Christ is really No.1 in your life, shouldn't you always turn to him first for anything? I believe this way you'll most likely have your problem solved sooner. By the way, never rule out asking for a miracle, for if you persist enough, it could very well happen.

**Most Secure Treasure

         Any worldly treasure you own risk being robbed, lost, or stolen, but the most precious of all treasures, Christ our Lord, is a treasure that will always be yours so long as you don't give him up.

**The World Deafens Us

       The Lord God is ready to speak to us at any time, but we need to open wide our hearts to hear his gentle voice. Unfortunately, we are so used to hearing the constant extraneous ungodly noises that we don't seek solitude anymore. Thus, we never get to know God and perish in the end. What a great pity!

***Amazing Consistency

        I have always believed that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus, but there are always skeptics who doubt its authenticity despite the many amazing findings by experts in various fields. There have been over a hundred Eucharistic miracles involving a bleeding host and those that had been tested for blood type all showed that Jesus has AB blood. Now, the blood on the Shroud tested also showed that it's of AB type. This is surprising or not surprising, depending on your faith. 

**Spiritual Myopia?

        People always ask old seniors about their secrets to longevity, yet very few openly ask about how to have life everlasting! Anyhow, we should be interested in life everlasting a lot more than living a few more years in this life.

*****Moment to Die For*****

        Communion experience. The Lord God descended from heaven just to enter me to be with me! This is a moment to die for! In fact, after I received him, I was ready to go to him! 

***Best Move for Our Hearts***

        At each Mass, we lift up our hearts to the Lord. It struck me that it'd be better to give our hearts to the Lord once and for all, then we'll surely be with him always. 

**Tragic Unawareness*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus asked his disciples to store up treasures in heaven, for where one's treasure is, there also will his heart be. We waste a lot time storing up treasures on earth, for we seek immediate gratification and fail to look beyond this brief life—what a tragic myopic view! The awareness of God's presence can easily cure that. Again, union with God is the answer.

***A Sin We Continue to Commit*

         We are commanded by the Lord God to love him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength, but we always fall short despite our best intentions. Fortunately, the Lord always takes our intention into account each time.

****Through Confusing Times (Urgent Advice)****

        Times are most confusing nowadays. We have good people portrayed to be evil, and vice versa. False prophets are galore. Divisions break up both the Church and the nation. All the more we need to focus upon the Lord God alone, making him our rock, our fortress, our refuge, and our shield. For Catholics there's not a better time to strengthen your union with God through the Holy Eucharist so as to be ready for whatever comes.

****Exceeding All Expectations****

        What kind of God would you like to have? Suppose you didn't know God and were asked this question, how would you answer? I don't think it'll be easy to come up with a perfect ideal answer that would satisfy everyone. Now that I've known Christ well, I must say that the God of Christ has exceeded all my expectations, for he's our Father who has created us in his image and knows all about us—the state we're in and what would be best for us. Most amazingly, he is love! I don't believe we could have expected all this, had he not revealed it to us. Anyway, seek to know Christ to possess the most amazing true God. 

*R.I.P. Now

        Communion experience. Again, receiving the Lord is the time to submit myself totally to him, settling my eternal future. It's achieving R.I.P. before death.

**Day of the LORD

        What is "the day of the LORD" to you? I believe it refers to the Day of Judgment. Today I see that each day is given by the LORD for us to live for him, so each day is a day of the Lord.

***So Much to Rejoice About

        Today's Psalm 97 response: Rejoice in the Lord, you just! Before Mass even began, I rejoiced that God had created us so that we could have eternal life and had made me enjoy knowing him personally so much. During Mass, I rejoiced that God loved all of us equally. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer and I rejoiced that the Lord was addressed as "Our Father."

***We're Marvelously Made!

        God has created many marvelous talents, such as great orators, genius musicians, ingenious scientists, top athletes, etc. Then each of us is marvelously made too, with or without any special talent. I am thinking that the fact that we can sense the existence of God, hunger and search for him, and finally find him in Christ and become fulfilled is something truly marvelous too. In fact, this gift is infinitely more precious than any talent we can possibly receive from him.

**Riddle of Life Solved**

        Life starts out as a riddle: We don't how we got here, why we are here, and where we'll be going. Is there any meaning to it? Then once you know Christ, everything becomes clear, for he is God and our creator! You can say that life is now complete. It's a happy ending beyond expectations. I can hardly wait to return to my Father in heaven.

***Wise Living***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples to perform all righteous deeds, such as almsgiving, praying, and fasting, in secret for only the Father to see. In other words, we are to live for the Lord alone and not for other people. It's choosing to receive your reward from God and from the world. To experience peace, ego must not play a part. 

*****Invite the Lord Now!

         In John 14:23, Jesus said to Judas, not the Iscariot, "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." How simple it is to have the Lord come to dwell with us! 

***The One to Know***

         We came from the Lord God. The more we know (understand) him, the more we know (understand) ourselves. We were indeed created in his image. Self-understanding leads to freedom and we come to appreciate him even more. We should really seek to know the Lord God (our Father) more than anyone else, for he alone loves us with the greatest possible love, understand us perfectly, and wants to lead us to heaven.

***Necessary Realization***

        Christ is our Lord, our God, and our creator all right.. We must also realize that he is the one we need to rely upon for both our existence and our eternal happiness.

***Guide to Beng a Good Christian***

        Everything we do comes down to whether it pleases Christ or not. Of course, to please him is to love him by obeying him. To be a good Christian life, this is basically all we need to know.

***Know God's Plan for Us*

        Each of us was created by the Lord God to play a unique role in his plan. He knows each of us thoroughly and how we can each glorify him in the best possible way. If we are open to him, we'll know how to carry out his will and be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. If not, we simply become disrupters, creating disorder, and will get duly punished in the end.

***Eternal Life Ensured

       We are just passing thru this world. If we don't watch out, by the time we leave here, we could have been ensnared by the world (Satan) already and be heading to condemnation. Therefore, attain union with Christ thru the Holy Eucharist to remain holy, undefiled by the world, so that our eternal life may remain intact.

***Becoming Perfect Like God

        Since God the Father has made us in his image, he can make us perfect like him. We can get started by seeking to attain union with him thru the Holy Eucharist now and become perfect in our next life. 

***Proper Way of Serving God***

        With God we must go all out and all the away, for he never holds back in loving us! This is loving him with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our soul. It's forgetting all about ourselves and abandoning ourselves totally to him.

***We Need God Our Father****

        Today's Communion antiphon, Psalms 27.4: One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life. We feet at home in our own body or comfortable in our own home, but we need to dwell in the Father's house or remain in him even more, for only he can save us, and without him we'll simply perish! 

***To Our Heavenly Father

        It is Father's day today. Since we have such a great, perfect, loving, and holy Father in heaven, every day for us should be Father's Day.  

**Jesus Changes Our Plight

       In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." This is true if you do not know Christ. In John 11, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." And later in John 14, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So once you know the Lord, the picture completely changes. We are now in that lucky position.

***Be Invulnerable to Satan

         At morning Mass today, Fr. Steve mentioned one saint saying essentially that if your are not enslaved to anything of the world, Satan would have a hard time finding a weakness to exploit. So attach yourself to the Lord God alone to become invulnerable to Satan's attacks.

**Two Spiritual Laws**

      1. You believe in Christ and know that you have eternal life . . . you experience profound peace and great joy.   

       2. You repent of you sins to God and he takes them away . . . you receive great peace.

        

**Worldly Pleasures vs. God's Joy**

        Worldly pleasures are invasive, for they lure and enslave you. Eventually, they become tiresome. On the other hand, the joy of the Lord is purely there for you to enjoy in freedom and remains forever refreshing. 

***Keeping My Faith Simple*

         The Lord just wants us to believe in him, trust in him, and obey him, and our salvation will be assured. Today there are many teachings out there from various sources, some of which are downright confusing or contradictory. And there are also prophecies galore. They are interesting, but do we really need to heed them all? I don't think so because first of all, that would be impossible. Besides, many of them could be false. If not following them can make us perish, that shouldn't make any difference to us who are ready to go to the Lord. So I am just going to adhere mainly to Jesus sayings, using the Church catechism as my guide if need be. 

***Be Holy First . . .***

         You are not free to love God if you are still enslaved to sin. Be holy to enjoy great freedom in loving God.

***Praising God's Love***

        There is no one but the God of christ who can love us with such a great, powerful love that makes us anew, melts our hearts, heals our souls, fulfills all our desires, frees our spirits from all bondage, and fills us with joy and peace. We are indeed most blessed!

*****Stark Truth to Know*****

         If you are not happy for whatever reason, I daresay it's because you do not have Christ yet. He's really the only one who can fulfill us in every way. You have him, you have everything. Without him, you wouldn't even exist. This is the simple truth we all need to realize. 

***Basic Message***

        Christ is our Savior so that anyone who believes in him will be saved from sin. Then not everyone reaches the point of loving your God with all your heart, with all your strength, and with all your soul. So it makes sense that purgatory exists to purify those less perfect ones before entering heaven. It also makes sense that some will be glorified more than others in heaven. As for those who never had the chance to know Christ, the Lord being fair will know exactly how to judge them. The worse case will be for those who believed in Christ once, but have now rejected him.  

***Freedom of Belonging to God***

        When you belong to God, you become his and don't need to own and hold onto anything anymore, for you now have the Lord himself and will have all his inexhaustible riches to enjoy later in paradise.

***Union of Hearts

        Communion experience. The Lord drew me heart right into his Most Sacred Heart. 

**How Important Are We to God?*

        We know God loves us, so we are important to him. But do we really know how important we are to him? Probably not, but we can be sure that we more important to him than we can possibly imagine. The fact that he died for us alone tells me how precious we are to him. Meditate on this often and you'll be so happy about yourself and never ever feel sorry for yourself again.  

***Learning from the Lord***

         In today's Gospel reading from Mathew 5, Jesus said to his disiples, "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment . . . and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna." The Lord set high standards here. We all get angry with someone or think someone is foolish. I think Jesus is referring to doing it condemningly or mercilessly. The bottom line is that if we do not judge anyone and do all things always out of love, we should be OK.
          The Lord also said, "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." We should settle with our brothers and sisters before we settle with the Lord God. This makes perfect senses. Let it be a "revelation" to us.  

***Be Ready for Salvation

        When you ask the Lord to have mercy on you, you are acknowledging that you are a sinner and need him to save you, and that you depend upon him totally. If you don't feel you need his mercy, then you are not ready to be saved yet.

***The Lord Our Refuge***

        Living in this secular world, you see so much rebellion against the Lord God going on, and you can't help feeling sorry for him. Sure, you can say that we should always trust in him and not to worry for him ever. This is correct, but if you love him and are totally with him, you feel his suffering intensely and that you should do something to soothe him as best you can. This drives me to enter even deeper into him who is my only refuge. This means deeper prayer, greater devotion, more perfect obedience, and more intimate union with him. After all, he's the one in charge and is our own hope. But we certainly can show that we truly love him and wish to ease his suffering as much as possible.

*****Incredible LOVE and HUMILITY**

        Communion experience. The Lord let me see that he's my Lord and also my servant!

***Experiencing God's Presence***

        When we kneel in front of the tabernacle in a church, it's easy to feel the holy presence of God. But since God transcends both space and time, he is always present. And you can experience his holy Presence no matter where you are at all times, once you've attained union with him thru the Holy Eucharist. 

**The Only Trustworthy One**

        It is the God of Christ, for he is the truth, speaks only the truth and, loves us with an everlasting love.

****We Determine Our Eternal Future*

        God always loves us, but we are free to accept or reject him. Know that how we treat the Lord in this life will determine how he'll treat us in our next life. If we trust in him now, he'll trust in us later. If we ignore his will now, he'll ignore ours later. All this is being fair and square, for he has already died for us so that we may have life forever. 

***How to Lose God***

        Easy . . . just play him.

***God's Infinite Love for Us*******

        If you could genuinely feel God's love for you for a split second, you'd be so overwhelmed that you want to die right away to live with him forever.  

***Good Habit***

        See to it that every act you perform is an act of obedience to the Lord God. 

***Hanging by a Thread

         All sinners are hanging by a thread in this life on earth. If they do not repent or turn to Christ, once the thread snaps, they'll sink to the deepest possible depth. For those who follow Christ the Savior, that thread turns into a strong unbreakable cord so long as they keep their faith in him. This is the big difference to be aware of.

*****Know Your Realities

        Reality 1: We were made in the image of the holy God, but have fallen into sin. We'll be judged by him at the time of our death or at his Second coming; he'll measure us against his own sanctity. If we fall short, we'll be condemned forever. Reality 2: God so loved us that he gave his only own Son, Jesus, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). This is great news for us! So if we accept Reality 2, we needn't be concerned about Reality 1 anymore. I pray that if you're not following Jesus yet, you would take this message most seriously. 

**The LORD Our Guard*

        From today's Psalm 121, we heard read: The LORD will guard you from all evil; he will guard your life. The LORD will guard your coming and your going, both now and forever. The LORD loves me and knows all about me, so if I trust in him, of course he's going to guard me so that he'll never lose me.

**Christ the Fountainhead of Peace*

        I looked forward to attending Mass this morning because I was going to receive Christ the Lord who would make me clean and whole for me to experience his wonderful peace. 

**Ultimate Fulfillment

        Communion experience. I receive peace now and for ever. 

***Either All God or No God***

        We are either for Christ or not for Christ. We live either a Christ-centered life or a self-centered one. We either love God or the world. It's either all God or no God. A person can preach Christ or share his testimony with others and his ego surfaces, then it's no longer all Christ. This is often not felt by all outright, but it's there. As we grow spiritually, we must learn to "promote" only the Lord and not ourselves. We decrease to let the Lord increase.

***The Everlasting Sin***

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, the scribes from Jerusalem believed that Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul and it's by the prince of demons that he drove out demons. Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." I personally believe that this unforgivable sin is believing that the Holy Spirit is an unclean spirit, which is basically saying that the Lord God is the Devil or vice versa. Ergo, anyone who worships Satan instead of God is guilty of that sin.