I felt sorrow because of the way someone responded to me (not to get into the details). Then I realized that all sorrows that hurt me were caused by someone or even myself, never never by the Lord! In fact, the Lord always consoles me whenever I feel sorrowful! Now, when someone hurts someone other than me, I feel sorrowful too. But that's still caused by someone and not by the Lord. The only time the Lord makes me feel sorrowful is when he lets me see my own sins so that I may repent them and be joyful again. Anyway, this realization makes me love the Lord even more, who knows only how to love.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
*Patience a Sign of Holiness*
Trust in God 100%. The Lord has the timing of everything. We are not to wonder, worry, or get anxious about anything. The faithful anticipate without impatience.
*****Be Genuinely Catholic*****
It is easy to go through the motion of being a Catholic and not be genuinely Catholic. Any of the following can make you a fake Catholic: Being pro-abortion, loving the world more than Christ, no reverence for the Holy Eucharist, not going to confession when you should, praying not much nor from the heart, lack of humility... It's always good to think that you are falling way short of loving God as you should so that you can grow holier. My advice is to go all out all the way to seek union with the Lord through the Holy Eucharist, then you can forget about all the concerns! This is absolutely the simplest, most direct, and most expedient way of knowing the Lord and becoming perfect. "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)
***The Lord Most Personal***
The Lord God loves me. He would have died for me alone to save me. He made me and thereby thoroughly understands me. He now remains in me and lets me remain in him every moment of my existence. He guides me, shields me from all evil, and consoles me when I am sorrowful. He keeps me alive and fully hopeful, looking forward to going to where he is. He is the one and only most personal person to me.
Monday, April 29, 2024
***Affected by the Lord
Communion experience. The Lord consoled me, making me willing to accept all things for his sake.
*****Love's the Key
Today is the memorial of Saint Catherine of Sienna. In the Gospel reading from John 14, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him." So love Jesus and you'll know him. (Naturally, if you love him, you'd be wide-open to him. So it's also correct to say "Be wide-open to Jesus to let him love you and you'll know him.)
*Quick Learning from God
Remain open and attentive, and you'll hear the Lord speaking to your heart, teaching you his ways. Coupled with a childlike faith, you are sure to grow quickly spiritually.
**When Something Bad Happens . . .*
If something bad or unpleasant happens to you, do not get upset or depressed. See if you can bring some good out of the situation. God has a purpose behind everything he allows to happens to you. So it's another opportunity for you to glorify and remain firmer in him.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
***Jesu Is Why I Came into the World!***
Today I realized that God the Father brought me into this world so that I might run into his Son, the Lord Jesus, be saved, and return to the Father in heaven who created me out of love—it's a real dream journey!
Saturday, April 27, 2024
*****Most Precious Privilege*****
Communion experience. I got to receive the body of my Lord and my God. It's the most precious thing I can possibly receive!
***Life-Changing Move***
Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit to set your heart on fire so that you may be purified and receive the zeal for glorifying God? It's yours for the asking and an opportunity to become filled with the Holy Spirit.
***Living the Exciting Life***
One thing about loving the Lord is that this love knows no bounds. Not loving God is to live a mundane life. Loving God spices up your life. Loving God intensely turns your life into an exciting adventure with you experiencing freedom, peace, joy, consolation, contentment, fulfillment, and most of all, God's intoxicating love. Don't ever let the world weighs you down, but let God lift you up.
***The Light of Christ
Today's entrance antiphon: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light, alleluia. When a sinner decides to follow Christ, he's leaving darkness to enter light. To not repent your sins is to remain lost in darkness. Jesus is our light, the only one who can deliver us from darkness! Nothing can possibly hide from him. Awake to his call so that you may enter to live in his light to remain clean, free, and content forever.
Here is the song The Light of Christ you might enjoy listening to:
**How to Go Home Justfied*
In Luke 18, Jesus gave us the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Both went to the temple area to pray. The Pharisee was convinced of his own righteousness and despised everyone else; he told God all the good deeds he'd been doing. But the tax collector simply beat his breast and prayed humbly, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus pointed out that the latter went home justified, not the former. The lesson the Lord gave was "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
By the same token, if we see ourselves as great sinners before God in need of his mercy, we would be saved. But if we think we are really good people deserving to go to heaven, we would be greatly disappointed. As for those who fall between these two extremes, they could go either way. When the soul is at stake, always play it safe.
Friday, April 26, 2024
**Peace from the Lord
Communion experience. The peace I experienced after receiving the Lord was so restful that I could have remained in that state for a long, long time if I didn't have to get up from my kneeling position for Mass to continue. It was resting in the Holy Spirit all right.
****Our Eternity All Set!****
Today's Gospel reading from John 14 is beautiful. Here's the entire reading: Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The Lord wants us to be where he is—rejoice! He is the way, the truth, and the life! Thru him we are with the Father forever—again rejoice!
****Determining Our Eternal Future****
The Lord God watches over us and tries to influence us. He does not directly control us in any way, leaving our free will alone. This way any faith born becomes meaningful and precious to us. So it's how we respond to the Lord God that determines our eternal future. The world, we see and hear constantly. If we don't pause and turn to the God of Christ for illumination and guidance from time to time, we'd be doomed. On the other hand, should we choose to follow God for good, we'd be freed from the clutches of the world and heading for heaven. Today I realize that I am totally dependent upon God every instant of my existence, so I'm going to remain with him every instant of my existence.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
***Our Love for Christ***
Communion experience. My joy is great. I see that my love for the Lord is like his love, also pure and unconditional—I just love him without expecting anything in return.
***Serious Conditions
Today is the Feast of St. Mark, evangelist. In the Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned." We must not take these words lightly, for the conditions of being saved or not are definitive.
***How to Receive Power from on High
Just obey the Lord and he will empower you. Be weak and humble and he'll make you strong.
***Jesus All Peace and Joy
Before Mass started today, I shared all my thoughts with the Lord from my heart and put myself completely in his hands. He was with me and I knew that I'd be going home to him. Great joy and peace pervaded me!
**A Problem of Conscience*
To see if some belief or deed is good or not, it becomes clear when we look at the outcome if everyone believed like that or did that deed. For example, if we believed that we must always come first or have no mercy on anyone we think is bad, the world would have its people all at war with one another. Then if we all remained humble and selfless, we'd have instant peace worldwide. Sometimes we think that doing something minor but not quite right is OK. But if magnified, we'd see that it's not OK. So we need to see sin as God sees it. Know the Lord intimately to develop a super sharp conscience is the way to go.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
***God at Our Service!***
If you don't have peace in your heart, it's because you're still carrying your sins. Let Christ unburden you by making you clean, and you'll be filled with peace and joy. In a way, our sanctity on earth, our salvation, our eternal destiny . . . are all up to us, for the Lord is ever ready to make all the good things we desire happen the moment we give him the permission. He is at our service! It'd be most unkind and foolish for us not to cooperate with him.
***The World-Asleep Warning***
The world has become so godless that the average conscience of its population has gotten so muddy or dull that it can no longer discern good and evil clearly. As a result, sinful practices and influences have been accepted or tolerated. Guilty feelings are easily suppressed or cast aside. When we no longer live for God, we are already following Satan! Again, as in Biblical times, we are in a state totally unprepared for God's impending chastisement or judgment. I am not any doomsayer, only a clearheaded follower of Christ the Lord.
**Christ Is Not Our Enemy!**
In today's Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said to the crowd, "If anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day . . ." The Lord didn't come to condemn us but to save us. If we get condemned, it's by our own choice. He is our Savior! If he makes us feel uncomfortable, that's because we need him! So it'd be a huge wrong and total injustice to treat him as if he were our enemy.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
**Total Fulfillment*
To surrender yourself to God is to open yourself up to him so that he and you may become one, as in union. The more you surrender yourself, the more goodies you receive from the Lord. Once you attain union with him, you are always filled to the brim. To me this is total fulfillment.
**Are We Jesus' Sheep?
In today's Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said to the Jews, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." We may consider ourselves Christians, but if we don't always do the Lord's will, or don't think about or pray to him much, we can hardly be considered his sheep. And eternal life is no longer assured for us either.
**A Great Reminder to All**
Each of us is a unique being created by God the Father in his own image and is greatly loved by him. So let us rejoice and never judge another fellow being again. To thank the Father, let his love reign in our hearts. We'll now have heaven on earth! Amen.
***God's Love Most Overwhelming!***
Again on this day of praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, we see how Christ carried out his greatest act of love by dying in our place on the cross. The sufferings he underwent were unbearable even to think about. But what really amazes me today is how the Lord so willingly went thru the whole thing in following the will of God the Father. God's love now even overshadows his action.
***Jesus the Only One
I am sure many of us have heard that Jesus died for us to redeem us from sin so that we might have eternal life. Do you ever realize that no one else could have achieved this? It just had to be Jesus, for he is God, our creator, and the only one who has the power to forgive sins.
**Self-Denial Leads to Freedom
Matthew 16:24: Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." So self-denial comes first. To achieve that, accept Jesus totally. Then you'll want to please him alone and not to satisfy yourself anymore. With yourself out of the way, you are now free.
**Foolish, Myopic Living
People in good health work and play hard; they don't think about God for the time being. This is foolish, myopic living, for you don't know how long your good health will last. The wise would put their faith in the everlasting Lord.
Monday, April 22, 2024
**Christ Governs Our Happiness*
If Christ cannot make you happy, you'll never be happy. If you are totally content with Christ, you'll always be happy.
***Joy of Surrender***
Communion experience. There is great joy in surrendering ourselves to God, because in so doing we allow the Lord to deliver us from ourselves.
**Superior Vantage Point
I arrived at Mass early at Mt. St. Joseph, so I remained in my car and started praying. Since the parking lot is at the top of the mount, you get a full view of the trees on the slope in front of you. Then I saw a small bird landing right on the tip of one of those tall, skinny, cone-shaped conifers. I thought it must have a superior view of all the things around. I immediately saw that when we have Christ, we have a superior understanding of all the things around.
***A Most Painful Dream***
Before I tell you about the dream, I need to provide some background information. I have been a photographer all my life. I basically transfigure ordinary subjects to make them look extraordinary. The images truly reflect me. I might have mentioned the rest of this story sometime ago on this blog already. Anyway, more than 30 years ago, I was traveling in Europe photographing. After about two weeks, I was ready to come home. Then shockingly, all my cameras and shot films got stolen at the railroad station in Zurich, Switzerland. I felt as if my right arm had been severed, as all the images were most personal to me. The pain was so great that I couldn't function for a couple of days. I even thought I'd quit photography. The dream came to me at about 3 a.m. this morning. It was still all dark outside. In it, I felt that old pain again, even worse, for it's like all my photographs are now gone! I actually cried out to the Lord. After almost 40 years, how could that pain still come to haunt me? I asked the Lord about it, and I sensed that he's just giving me a small taste of the pain of losing him which would be so much more intense and worse. I got the point.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
**The Lord Ever Present
If you believe that the all-knowing God is ever present, you might as well live as if he is ever present visibly and physically with you. Being aware that he is always watching and watching over you can certainly help us lead a holier life,
***Sign You're Truly Humble
You see yourself as the most wretched sinner before the Lord, so you do not judge (look down on) anyone.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
***Messages from Heaven
This is a very interesting video from LifeSiteNews. It's an interview with Sr. Amapola, a nun with the Mission of Divine Mercy in Texas. She has allegedly received messages from Heaven for years. These four things stood out in my mind after watching the video: (1) The Lord God made it very clear to her that he was God, the only God. (2) The coming Illumination of Conscience was affirmed. (3) So many of today's priests are asleep. (4) God miraculously guided Sr. Amapola to the exact spot where he wanted a chapel built. All in all, God is all-knowing, yet most personal. He is awesome!
***Good News for the Doomed World***
We were all born sinners and need God to save us. The whole world is basically evil with everyone living a more or less self-centered life. That everyone is at about the same spiritual level can fool us into believing that we're all OK. The reality is that without Christ, we are headed toward hell. The reality is also that with Christ, our journey instantly turns into a heaven-bound one. This dramatically shocking good news is what the world needs to wake up to.
**Measuring Ourselves
It's best to measure ourselves against God's holiness and not against the world's godlessness. How much less evil we are than the world doesn't tell us if we are holy enough, whereas knowing how much we fall short of God's glory gives us a good assessment of our spiritual state. Since our goal is to become like God, he's the one we look upon as our model.
***Faith Provides Peace*
I came home from morning Mass. It was a beautiful spring day. Both the weather and the scenery are perfect. On a day like this, you just don't think about the afterlife nor your present spiritual state. So for those who haven't settled their eternity yet, it's a dangerous time! We normally think about God and life after death when times are bad and ugly. My advice is to capture Christ now, then you won't need to be concerned about such worrisome subjects anymore.
**Prayers to Be Heartfelt*
The Jesus Prayer "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" is an efficacious prayer many pray unceasingly. But like any prayer, it must be said from the heart. If you pray for God's mercy just because it's a nice prayer, but without feeling an urgency within your heart, then it won't do you any good.
***God Imparts Truth
It is absolutely true that when the Lord lets you know something, you just know that it's true. This is proof to me that if we are open to God, he can absolutely transform us. Of course, the more you are in union with him, the more you're open and will hear him speak to your heart. Make union with God via the Holy Eucharist your priority goal so that your joy in him may be complete.
*****Be Good to the LORD
Today's Psalm 116 response: How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? Indeed, the LORD is forever good to all of us; things go bad only when we sin against him. So let's be good to the LORD by obeying him in all things so that we may not get ourselves condemned in the end.
Friday, April 19, 2024
***Letting Joy Reign
It's Friday, the day for praying the Sorrowful mysteries. Meditating upon the Passion of the Lord is always painful, yet I think we should be grateful that God loves us so much we can truly rejoice. Now, let us deny ourselves, take up our own crosses, and follow him.
**The Forgiveness Link
The more you detest your own sins and seek the Lord's forgiveness, the more you are ready to forgive all others who sin against you.
****How to Become Close to Christ
Attain union with him via the Holy Eucharist and be totally obedient to him.
***Good Questions to Ask*
Today's reading 1 from Acts 9 is about the conversion of Saul (Paul). On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He said, "Who are you, sir?" The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do." Jesus politely asked Saul "Why are you. . .?" It should benefit us to imagine what questions beginning with "Why are you" the Lord would ask each one of us. Doing this can help us see clearly where we fall short in following him. Hopefully, you won't come up with too many questions..
***Only Two Alternatives***
(1) Rising continuously with Christ—set free from sin, you head for heaven to eternal life. (2) Descending continuously without Christ—burdened with unforgiven sins, you head for eternal darkness.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
***Garabandal Messages
I have posted about these messages before. If you want a quick review of them, you may want to watch this short video. (To see the full documentary on Our Lady of Garabandal, watch this film here.)
***In the Hand or on the Tongue***
How should we receive Holy Communion? This is currently a controversial subject. I still remember the days we had Communion rails in all the Churches at which we knelt and received the Lord on the tongue; there was much reverence. If you are not sure about which way, this video may help. (I receive the Lord on the tongue now and do feel that for that I am receiving more blessings.)
**To Be Free of the World
Once the pleasures of the world have snared us, we no longer think about God. It'd be most difficult now to extricate ourselves from our predicament. The only hope is that by the grace of God we come to realize that worldly pleasures can never fully satisfy or bring us peace, and we need to change ourselves. Only after tasting the true joy of God will we be able to make the change and move forward.
**Set Free by the Lord*
Communion experience. Total surrender to the Lord results in total freedom from the world. Now you are all his.
***The Heart Is the Key***
We can connect with the almighty God, our loving Father, anytime we turn our hearts to him. When you attain union with God via the Holy Eucharist, union of the hearts also takes place and you enjoy your greatest intimacy with the Lord.
***The True Good News
In todays Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus said to the crowds, "This is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."
**To Remain Clean and New
First thought at Mass: I want to empty myself completely for the Lord to fill me with only what he wishes to place in my heart. This is an excellent way to keep oneself clean and new.
****Time on Earth Most Precious
There are so many things we need to do as Christians to glorify the Lord Jesus in our short life on earth. How we live now is crucial to how we'll live for all eternity! We are merely passing thru, so our time on earth is most precious. Here is a short video to let Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel tell you how so special and unique our Lord Jesus is.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
**Who's Foolish?
I've seen people spending a lot of time to find the perfect spot for their own burial. They also have all the funeral expenses prepared in order not to burden their children. Notting wrong here, except that they don't seem to be concerned about God and life after death at all. Are they or am I being foolish?
*****Time Is LATE (a Warning)***
We don't know when Jesus' Second Coming will happen. For that, time may not be too late. But remember that we'll be judged by the Lord right after we die. In that case, if we haven't loved the Lord, our God, with all out heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind yet, time is late for us. The godlessness of the world is worse than you think—we're already tolerating or accepting many evils or sins—we're in danger of losing our souls! End times are here and God's chastisement impending. It's time that that we wake up, turn to God wholeheartedly, remain vigilant, and be ready. Being lazy or sloppy just won't cut it.
***Jesus Is Unique***
More about Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel. He's becoming increasingly popular, drawing more and more people to Jesus. He is powerful because he preaches Christ. His messages are like beacons of light shining in today's darkness, waking people up to see the truth again. Praise God!
***Beneficial to the Soul
Communion experience. Receiving the body and blood of the Lord is one great humbling experience that's most beneficial to the soul.
**Bread of Life Satisfies
In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus said to the crowd, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." I can testify to you that as a believing Christian, receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist has completely satisfied my hunger and thirst.
***Logical Consequences
It's clear that humility leads to holiness, while pride, to sinfulness. A humble person can forgive all others, including his enemies, thus he has peace. Whereas a person full of pride sees everyone as an enemy in his way, thus he is always in turmoil.
Monday, April 15, 2024
***Address to Muslims with Love***
Because of the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, I am posting another video. This is the kind of preaching from the heart we need to hear, especially at times like ours. God bless him!
**Pray for Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel*
Today I learned that Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked by a Muslim assailant during a Mass service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Sydney, Australia. Please pray for him and Australia. Here's is just one of the many videos you can find on YouTube now. I picked this one because it reports the incident from a somewhat different perspective.
After I posted the above video, I came across this one. It's shorter and complements the first one. You might even want to watch it first.
**Meaningful & Precious Faith*
As a firm believer in Christ now, I can say that the Lord has never put the slightest pressure on me; he totally respected my free will. After I chose to believe in him, there were zero regrets, only peace and joy. This has made my faith most meaningful and precious.
**Faith Categories
We need to believe in the God of Christ if we ever want to be saved from sin. At one extreme are those who reject or attack Christ—they are the biggest fools of all. In the middle are those who realize and accept Christ at some point in their life; they will be saved. Most blessed are those who believe from an early age with an unwavering faith; they will surely be honored in heaven.
Sunday, April 14, 2024
**Have a Heart
Think about what Christ has gone through to save you, then you'll realize how precious you are to him. Be grateful and rejoice!
*****THE DIRECT WAY*****
Here's a pressing message, what this blog is all about. The Lord wants me to let the whole world know that he desires we all seek union with him through the Holy Eucharist. It should be clear that he so desires because he loves us. Of course, to attain union with God, the proper way to get started is to go directly to him to surrender ourselves to him. Unfortunately, most of us who want to know and love God more go about doing it indirectly. We read and listen to a lot of messages from others; what we end up learning is a bunch of rules to follow. If you put them altogether, I am sure the number would stagger us, making it impossible to follow all of them. The direct way is to go straight to Christ, opening yourself up to and sharing everything with him until you know him so well that you fall in love with him. Now you automatically love the Lord with no need to follow any rules. In general, don't waste time trying to change yourself, but simply let God do it for you.
***Christ Our Only Savioir*****
No matter how deep is the pit you are in, turn to Jesus humbly to ask him for help and he'll deliver you on the spot. For misery, depression, fear, and loss of inner peace are all caused by our sins, and Jesus, being our loving Lord and Savior, is exactly the one, in fact the only one, who can free you from your sins. The happiest person is the one who has been forgiven by Christ, made clean, and is now heaven bound!
****Know Love and We're Home****
When we fall in love with Christ, we finally comprehend God's love, and we are back in our Father's house!
Saturday, April 13, 2024
***Mosi Personal and Intimate Experience
Communion experience. The almighty holy Lord entered me, it's the most personal and intimate experience of my life!
****Most Wise and Profitable Move****
In our life on earth, we don't have full control of our physical or mental health. We can get sick at any time and lose our memories as we age. But the best news for us is that on earth we can totally fix our spiritual health for all eternity! Of course, I am talking about believing in Jesus to have him take full care of us spiritually. This is a most wise and profitable move we can and should make now.
***Simple Truth***
Today's entrance antiphon: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light, alleluia. I see clearly that I was in darkness before I found Christ, but today I am basking in his wonderful light. Without Christ, we are just lost; with him, eternal life is assured. It doesn't get any simpler.
Friday, April 12, 2024
*To Discern God's Thoughts*
In Matthew 16, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him,"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." We probably would have responded like Peter, but the Lord felt differently. This makes me realize that what we mean well may not be from God. Whatever we think, say, or do is from either God or Satan. So we must discern God's thoughts as best we can and respond accordingly. The only way to know God's thoughts is to know him as well as possible, and seeking to attain union with God is the way to go.
**Yielding to Love
Communion experience. It's all about love, so I just let the Lord fill my heart with his love.
***God Knows What to do
Today's Gospel reading from John 6 is on the multiplication of loaves. When Jesus saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew that he was going to multiply some loaves and fish miraculously to feed the crowd. Indeed, the Lord always knows what he's going to do. So when he tests us, we should not question him, but respond to him with faith.
***To Fear God or Not***
When we say we should fear God, we are not talking about being scared of him. We fear him so that we might not hurt him! This fear makes us want to be holy and not ever sin against him. So it's a holy fear. On the other hand, we can say that we don't need to fear God at all, for he loves us so much and will save us from eternal death if we believe in him. Once you know the Lord well, all your fears vanish, for he is now your most beloved and will shield you from all evil.
*****Important Obligation*****
To be holy is an obligation, for God is to be thanked for wanting to save us. If you choose not to become holy, you risk losing your soul. It should be clear to anyone that I am stating a most serious truth here.
***Power of God's Love***
In today's first reading from Acts 5, the high priest and his companions had the Apostles flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. They left, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. They continued teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus. This is amazing, for no one would normally rejoice about suffering dishonor for whatever reason. Christ is truly amazing that he can turn all our sufferings into pure joy! It's the power of God's love at work here, transforming us fundamentally.
***Our Highest Attainment***
To be on intimate terms with the Lord God, we must be completely open to him to the point of sharing all our thoughts with him, praying to him whenever we can, seeking his guidance in all that we do, and being aware of his holy presence at all times. This state is reached when you attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist. Now you and the Lord dwell in and belong to each other.
*****What Matters Most to the Lord***
The Lord, of course, sees how much good we have done and are doing for his sake, but he made me see that more importantly, he cares about how obedient we are to him.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
***Preaching Just Christ***
Nowadays, most homilies we hear encourage us to love and trust in God. It would be more effective to preach just Christ instead. If we realize how beautiful, how holy, how powerful, and how merciful he is, we'll automatically want to love and live for him. This is in line with going to Christ directly to know him best. It is he alone who can make our lives exciting and joyful.
**Plain Reality**
In John 10:9, Jesus said, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved . . ." It is only through Jesus that we get to see the Father. Enter through him and we are heaven bound. Stay away from him and no one can help you anymore.
**Rebirth Through Christ
In John 12:24, Jesus said to Andrew and Philip, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit, alleluia." Die in Christ and we are born anew, now living in and for him forever, alleluia.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
*****God's Soft Spot*
Nothing will make our heavenly Father happier than telling him that we are sorry to have offended him. The moment we repent of our sins, he forgets all our wrongdoings and is ready to take us back to his bosom. Let us realize that he is infinitely merciful and most soft-hearted. To reject him and end up lost forever has to be the most foolish thing we can possibly do. If we get ourselves condemned, it's by our own doing.
*****Most Satisfying Feeling
Communion experience. It's impossible to describer the sublime satisfying feeling of receiving the body and blood of the Lord, so I'll just a list of a number of words or phrases that came to my mind: crowning moment, ultimate exaltation by the Lord, joy completed, final rest, total fulfillment, highest state of existence, exultation, exhilaration, freedom, reaching the summit, and of course, union with God.
*****Letting Christ Save Us*****
I heard from one of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel's talks that since we were born sinners, if we were left alone, we would all end up in hell. This makes sense to me. Of course, Christ came and completely altered our predicament. Today's Gospel reading from John 3 makes it all clear: God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned . . . Alleluia!
***Only One We Need***
Today I clearly see that the Lord God of Christ is the only one we can absolutely depend upon for our eternal existence. Without him, nothing would make any sense and everything fall apart, this I know.
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
***Appreciating God's Constant Presence***
Anytime the Lord sows thoughts in my heart, I experience great joy, for it's like hearing him speaking directly to me. I now feel his holy sweet, fragrant presence at all times. I no longer know what feeling lonely is like.
***God's Great Mercy
Communion experience. Receiving the Holy Eucharist was a most impressive experience. Here I approached the Most Holy Lord as a lowly repentant sinner and the Lord entered me to bring me into full union with him. The vast gap between us was completely bridged. He reached down to me, making the impossible possible. Such was his great mercy.
***Christians Are Special
When we believe in Jesus, we are freed from sin and become connected to God. Instead of drifting aimlessly toward oblivion, we are now heaven abound! There cannot a changeabout that's more dramatic, fundamental, and joyful. This makes being a Christians truly special.
***Our Only God***
In today's Gospel reading from John 3, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man." This is absolutely true for every single one of us except Jesus, so we'd better listen to him alone to learn the whole truth. It also shows that the God of Christ is our one and only God. Let us worship, adore, praise, and love him!
**Letting God Enter Your Heart*
If you truly desire to know the Lord and are humble enough to be wide open to him, he will come to you. People say I am open and waiting, and I feel nothing. But have you told him that you truly desire him? God is so much greater than us and knows all about us. If total humility is absent, any pride will block him from entering your heart.
Monday, April 8, 2024
***Forgiveness Principle
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel's talk on forgiveness: God will forgive us as much as we forgive others. If we forgive others 100%, God will forgive us 100%. A forgiving person is a happy person.
***Great Miracle of Love***
Communion experience. If you only realized how the Lord truly miraculously changes the bread and wine into his own body and blood to be given up just for you, you'd be converted instantly by his love.
*****Spiritual Intelligence Test*****
Keep sinning and you hurt God and destroy your own inner peace. Repent to become holy and the whole heaven rejoices and you enjoy peace now and eternal bliss later. What's your choice?
*****Freedom in Union with God*****
In union with God, you can do whatever you want and you are free and happy. You see, in union with God you will find joy only in doing his will, and whatever you want to do is always accomplished.
*****Cause for Rejoicing
Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. It is the Holy Spirit that made it possible for Virgin Mary to conceive and bear a son, Jesus. Indeed nothing is impossible for God and we can all believe that, for how can God manage the whole universe if there were something he cannot do? So trust in him fully and rejoice, as you can't get any better than having an omnipotent God who is also your most loving Father!
**Dealing with Prophecies*
If you go on YouTube nowadays, you find so many videos warning us about all kinds of imminent disasters and how we can prepare ourselves for them. Many of these presenters use clickbait headlines or titles. You watch the video and what you expect to hear is not even mentioned. Sometimes you see the image of a well-known religious figure posted, but how the message is related to that figure is not made clear. Truth should always be presented clearly in every respect, but that's not the case at all. Also, these videos use pretty much the same AI voices and stock images and follow the same pattern of starting out a prayer before getting to the main message. By the way, some of the messages are from those whose past prophecies didn't come true. So should I deal with them? I feel that the Lord just wants me to hold onto the big church-approved prophecies such as the Fatima and Akita ones, be as holy as possible, and not be concerned about anything else.
Sunday, April 7, 2024
***Most Rewarding Belief***
The Gospel came from John 20. Here are the concluding statements of this chapter: "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name." Yes, believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and you'll have life eternal—it is the belief that brings you the greatest possible reward.
***Faith's Greatest Victory
In today's second reading from 1 John 5, we heard read "The victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" I totally agree with the Apostle John here. My faith in Christ has already conquered the world, for the world no longer attracts me. I have even been freed from death as I shall be living forever with Jesus. This has to be the greatest possible victory of my faith!
**Evidence of God's Love**
I know that the Lord God of Christ loves me. I only need to realize that he's the one who keeps me alive in this life and will keep me living forever in the next.
**Thought of Great Comfort
I thought of the many things in my past, they came and went away. It hit me that once I have the Lord God, he's with me forever! This greatly comforts me.
Saturday, April 6, 2024
***Sure Way to Holiness***
I greatly admire the Little Way of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. It's about being both small and doing the smallest things with great love. This is how we can become saints. I bring this up because the Lord made me see at Mass today that if we let everything that happens to us in life draw us to the Lord and make us appreciate and love him more, our spiritual progress will be phenomenal!
***Lord Dearest
Communion experience. The Lord is not only my soulmate, he is as dear to me as my own soul.
****Christian Cowardice
When it comes to controversial topics such as abortion and LGBTQ, many Church leaders and Protestant church pastors just don't want to talk about them. Recently, a number of megachurch pastors in this country were asked about this. Their responses were pretty much the same: They want to focus upon telling people to follow Christ and not on advising them on specific issues. This is sheer cowardice, being afraid of following Christ all the way. You'll have to "give credit to" those Catholic bishops and priests who openly support LGBTQ, those Protestant churches that help pregnant mothers to get abortions, and the openly Satanic worshippers. If true Christians don't speak out more and don't pray and fight harder, whatever chastisement coming from the Lord will only worsen.
**Unsuppressible Joy**
In today's first reading from Acts 4, the leaders, elders, and scribes ordered Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. The two disciples said to them in reply, "Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard." It is true that it is impossible for anyone who has encountered and known the Risen Lord not to tell others about him, whose last instruction to the eleven before his Ascension was "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." The joy of the Holy Spirit is unsuppressible!
**Christian Joy and Sorrow**
Joy, we feel in Christ as he blesses us; sorrow, we feel for the world as it offends him. The joy will last forever, while the sorrow will be short-lived.
**Christ on Our Mind?*
We say we are Christians, but we think about everything else first except Christ—whereas we should be aware of his holy presence always whenever we think about or do something. Attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist and you'll become aware of his presence at all times.
Friday, April 5, 2024
***Strong Basic Messages*
I am posting more videos by Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel because he doesn't hesitate to speak the blunt truth. His love for Christ is obvious. Strong spiritual messages feed the soul and are exactly what people need to hear today. So Bishop Emmanuel is like a breath of fresh air when you don't hear too many other clergymen speak with such faith and passion. The two videos here are related in a way.
***Why People Reject God
At Mass the Lord made me see we do not accept God because we "love" ourselves too much, and that's the truth. And it's also true that as long as we love ourselves more than we love God, we'll never be free from sin. Here's Bishop Emmanuel's two-minute talk of why people reject God.
**Bye-Bye to the World*
Communion experience. With the Lord dwelling in you, it's time to trust in him, put yourself totally in his hands and say bye-bye to the world. As Peter advised his community in 1 Peter 5, cast all your worries upon God because he cares for you.
****It Is the Lord!****
In today's Gospel reading from John 21, Jesus after his Resurrection revealed himself again, to seven of his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. The seven had been fishing all night, but they caught nothing. At dawn they saw Jesus standing about a hundred yards away on the shore, but they did not realize that it was he yet. Then he asked them to cast the net over the right side of the boat, and they caught a full net of large fish. At this point the disciple John said to Simon Peter, "It is the Lord." Peter heard it and got so excited that he jumped from his boat into the sea and went straight for Jesus. Now, for us who follow the Lord and have attained union with God, we know that he is with us at all times. So every moment now is an exhilarating it-is-the-Lord moment! To have him with you constantly in this life is such a wonderful blessing!
Thursday, April 4, 2024
***Truth to Hear***
Another clear message from Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel. Since he is an Orthodox bishop, he is free to speak out this way. The unorthodox teachings of Pope Francis have already alienated the Orthodox Church and so many in his own Church. Lord, have mercy on us.
***God Is Real!
For non-believers, here are some proofs that God Exists. I'd like to add one of my thoughts. It seems that our earth had been perfectly created for us. We have the perfect atmosphere for survival; various kinds of plants and animals for us to live on; and the right climate, water, and other natural resources to sustain us. As far as we know, there is not another planet in the whole universe like ours; our earth seems to be a unique "anomaly." That God is our creator has to be beyond doubt!
***Our Life Goal:
to know Christ and submit ourselves to him so that we may pass his judgment and return to the Father, our creator, in heaven.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
*****PURITY AWARENESS*****
The God of Christ is absolutely holy and pure. Once you belong to or have attained union with him, you become aware of the slightest impurity and develop a strong aversion to all impurities. I know what I am going to say will not resonate with those who have already been snared by the world, but speak out I must. Recently, I saw some videos attacking Taylor Swift. I didn't know much about her at all. I learned that she claimed that she's a Christian, yet some of the things she'd done contradicted her claim and were even seemingly satanic. I sense the impurity when I just look at her appearance and how she dresses herself. I'd like to mention that I used to enjoy listening to jazz singing, for the music could be quite beautiful. But now after knowing the Lord, I sense its impurity and listening to it actually weighs me down. Even great rarefied abstract classical music has lost its appeal. It's pure, but pales next to God's purity. I am totally with Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel's view expressed in this recent video below. Following Christ is the only right path for us.
*****Unique Christianity
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel again gives a good talk, clear and bold. Unfortunately, the editor did a poor job. I suggest that you listen to just the first seven minutes to preserve the unity of the message.
*****Appreciating Christ*****
Today I just feel that Christ has been good to me beyond words! I was a nobody . . . only a wretched sinner. Yet he called me, never gave up on me, showed me his tremendous love for all of us, taught me patiently, opened my eyes and heart to see the truth, fundamentally changed me, and set me free, while filling me with peace and joy thru the Holy Eucharist. The Lord is as precious to me as my own soul or more!
***Greatest Self-Giving***
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 24, the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to two of his disciple on their way to Emmaus. They recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread. I recognize that when the Lord breaks the bread for all of us to eat, as happens at every Mass, he's giving all of himself to us! What we receive, eternal life, is priceless and no sum of money, not matter how huge, can possible buy it. This is how the Lord rewards us who give ourselves to him. We the finite become infinite, alleluia!
****Greatest Satisfying Reward****
Today's entrance antiphon from Matthew 25:34: Come, you blessed by my Father; receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is what Christ will say to those who have been chosen to inherit eternal life at his judgment of all the nations. When you choose to follow Christ, it shows that the Father has chosen you! This has to be the most satisfying reward you can possibly receive in your whole existence! You have now become one of the Father's special favorite creatures!
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
**Forget About Heaven & Hell*
Do you think that the Christians have a better chance of entering heaven than non-Christians? The answer should be yes, then we recall that in Matthew 7:21, Jesus said, "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." Also, Christians are held to higher standards than non-Christians. In Luke 12:48, Jesus said to his disciples that more would be demanded of the person entrusted with more. So it's best not to presume that you are saved if you're not that holy yet. For the Catholic, it's' important that you don't have a single stain of mortal sin on you soul. Seeing how godless the whole world is today, I wouldn't be shocked that overall more people enter hell than heave. Anyway, focus exclusively on loving God and keeping your soul pure and you needn't dwell upon heaven and hell much anymore.
**At Peace with God
Today's Communion experience. I received the Lord and every molecule (or atom) of mine was at peaee with him.
***Believing Without Seeing***
Finally, I was well enough to resume attending daily Mass. In today's Gospel reading from John 20, the risen Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene. He told her to go to his brothers to tell them that he's going to his Father and their Father, to his God and their God. Mary went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and reported what he had told her. I can't say that I have seen the Lord, but I know the Lord as if I've seen him many times already as I feel palpably his holy presence at all times. And pretty soon I will be seeing him. Alleluia!
Monday, April 1, 2024
*****What the Church Needs to Do Pronto
On Easter Sunday, the church was extra packed at all Masses. Many Catholics who didn't attend Mass regularly showed up—they were not really Catholics anymore. I have no idea as to how many of them received Communion. As you know, if you receive the Lord not in a state of grace, you commit another mortal sin. Possibly, some of those lapsed Catholics might not even realize that. Anyway, I believe it's super important for the sake of not offending Christ our Lord to let all know of the requirements for receiving the Holy Eucharist at the beginning of each Mass even if there were only one person present who needs to be informed. Since surveys have shown that a great percentage of Catholics no longer believe in the real presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, this is a crisis so urgent that we must solve without delay. To me, this is even more fundamental than stopping abortion or human trafficking. Without this belief, there would be no Church! And this should also be mentioned as one of the requirements for receiving the Lord. If we do nothing to stop people offending our Lord, we'll have to answer to him for this grave negligence!
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