***Communion Elation*

        Communion experience. In John 6:51, Jesus said to the people, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever." How could I possibly not feel elated when I ate that very bread? (I did feel sorry though for those who couldn't get to experience the joy I was experiencing.)

**Christ My Illuminator and Consoler*

        Today I feel blessed that anytime my heart is troubled, I can go to the Lord Jesus who understands everything perfectly. I unburden myself before him and he would help me see the truth and make me feel good again. Without recourse to him, one could easily be driven to depression and hopelessness. With him, no matter how heavy your burden is, you always come away feeling free.

**How Lost Can One Be?

        We are to take God's every word seriously, yet today there are many who worship Satan exclusively. Satan is real to them, but the Lord God is not? How lost can you be? This surely has to be one gravest sin!  

**Attending Daily Mass Avantage

        I get to enjoy uniting with the Lord spiritually as much as possible. If we are inseparable now, we'll be inseparable forever.

**Praying for Evildoers

        We pray that the Lord will wipe out all evil. It's better that we pray he convert, not destroy, all evildoers.

***Each in His Own World***

        Once you know Christ fully, you know you are living in reality. Then you look at the people who live apart from the Lord and see that they are each in a way living in his own fantasy world. To them you now look like an oddball. I guess that's being fair enough and a small price to pay. Wait, I could also see it as a great big honor that's been bestowed upon you!

***Trust in God Only*

        We depend upon God. Of course, there are times we need to depend upon fellow humans too. But the ultimate trust we have must be in God alone, not anyone else. Then everything will work out right.

****Another Urgent Reminder****

        Christ has already paved the way for us to enter heaven and given us the road map (instructions) as well. All that remains for us to do is to get on that path to let the Lord lead us all the way. If you haven't started yet, what's making you hesitate? Know the window of time you have can expire at any time.

***Only One True Judge

        We get judged by a lot of people. They say all kinds of things about us, but if we don't let them affect us negatively, our souls remain intact. So they are not true judges at all. The only true judge we have is our Lord God. We only need to mind what he says about us. If we obey him, then nothing can harm us, for he is also our rock, our shield, and our refuge. 

****How Awake Are You?****

      I blogged this thought recently, but feel the urgency to do it again. We were born into this mostly secular, material world and have been conditioned from birth to believe that making a lot of money so that we can own a lot of material things is the goal of our life. Sometimes we do think of God, but that small inner voice we hear always gets drowned out fast. As a result, we no longer realize that we are losing our soul when in fact we are. This is absolutely tragic. Let me use an example to show you why we need to wake up to reality.
        Suppose you need to take and pass an entrance exam in order to be admitted to a university. Wouldn't you prepare yourself as well as possible to be sure that you'll pass it? But if you wrongly believe that you already know a lot and don't need to prepare thoroughly for it, you could miss the passing score by one point and be rejected by the university. Now, losing your soul is infinitely worse than being rejected by a university.

***Challenging Truth***

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 10, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all." Here is the secret (truth) revealed for us to be first and great. It is most challenging and we should appreciate it. The ball is again in our court.

***Enjoyment That Liberates You***

        I watched a video showing a famous pianist and his grandmother playing on one piano. She was also a renowned piano teacher in her days, but could only play with her right hand now. They play together most touchingly, and afterwards I heard her say how lovely it would be if one could continue listening to music when dead. She was right, but I did feel a tinge of sadness. For even though listening to music is a lot better than enjoying many other things in the world, it's still more or less self-centered. Not only it doesn't set you free in any way, it can even enslave you. I've seen musicians living exclusively for music where faith is God is absent. On the supreme level, we have enjoyment of the Lord. We experience that when we are in love with God. Here's an everlasting joy that truly uplifts your spirit and sets you free.

***Most Important Move to Make***

       Cleary, the earth is not our permanent home; we are just passing thru. So why do we live as if we're never going to die? Why do we accumulate so many material things knowing that we can't take a single thing with us when we leave? Why do we hold onto the passing world? The most important thing for us to do on earth should be to secure out next life, and that means following Christ and live for him now. It's a life-or-death move for us. 

**What I Feel Most Thankful For*

        After morning Mass, as I was walking toward my car in the parking lot to come home, I saw the clear blue sky on a perfect spring morning with just the right temperature, and I thanked the Lord for that. Then I realized that I was able to enjoy all that while feeling fine physically, and i thanked the Lord again. Finally, I saw that I needed to thank him most of all for the eternal life he has promised me.

***Letting God Delight in You

        Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 18: The Lord became my protector. He brought me out to a place of freedom; he saved me because he delighted in me. If you know that the Lord delights in you, then you should never do anything to make yourself ugly to him or destructive to your own soul! Instead, rejoice that he loves you. In case you are not happy with yourself because of your imperfections, the Lord can fix that easy to make you holy and beautiful!

***The Ego's Gotta Go

        Spotting others' imperfections is easy, while we barely notice our own shortcomings. Then when we do realize them, we feel hurt. This all has to do with the presence of pride or the lack of humility. The remedy is to accept our imperfections before the perfect Lord and ask him to make us truy humble. To be perfect, the ego must go!

****Biggest Case of Living in Denial

         Christ being the Truth, those who choose not to believe in him are living in denial! It's as bad as believing that they themselves don't exist!

***Willingness and Intention Count

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 10, a rich man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Since he had already observed all the commandments from his youth, Jesus said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement, his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. If this advice were given to us, would we be saddened? Most of us do live with other family members who depend on you, so selling what you have and give to the poor is practically impossible. Now, suppose you were alone and free to do whatever you want with your possessions, and you're willing to do what Jesus had suggested, then that should satisfy him. Final thought: Since no one can truly follow the Lord perfectly, every one of us is outwardly a hypocrite to some extent. But if our intention is always good, he will overlook that.

***Developing a Beautiful Relationship***

        Talk to God as often as possible and always pour your heart out to him each time you do. He will then reciprocate. A beautiful intimate relationship now begins.

***Jesus' Most Impressive Attribute*

        Jesus is Lord and God to us. He is holy and perfect; omnipotent and all-knowing. He is also our brother, best friend, and servant. What impresses me and makes me appreciate him the most is his selfless pure love for us. This is what we depend upon for our very existence and eternal salvation.

**Made Rich by God

        Communion experience. Jesus is all mine. I am now the "richest" person in the whole world! 

***So Good to Believe in Christ

        He loves me! He's always for me! He forgives my sins. He grants me eternal life! He understands me perfectly. And nothing is impossible with him! That's plenty good enough for me.

***God of Impossibility

         When we have the God of Christ, it would be impossible for us to go to hell, to ever feel lonely, to ever despair, to worry about things, to become impatient, to hate anyone, to judge others, to not love anyone, to think evil, to commit other sins, to be deceived by Satan, to be enslaved by the world . . . ad inf.

***The Great Union

        We are all different from each other, yet we can become one if we all attain union with our Lord, our greatest unifier. 

*Why No Judging Others

        The Lord God is the only one who can see what's in our hearts, so we have no right to judge anyone but ourselves.  

***Easy Way to Please God and Yourself***

        A happy post after the last one. If you have a contrite heart, feel free to approach the Lord God at any time. He's ready to forgive, console, and heal you! Take advantage of his love and mercy for you and rejoice!

***Later than Yoy Think!***

        Very sad that I must post this urgent message. Christians have fallen away from God so much so that they no longer realize how bad the state they are in. When you have been so captivated by the world and lost your faith in God, you with a muddy conscience no longer see good and evil clearly—you are already in the danger zone. You think that your are doing OK, while in reality you are headed towards eternal damnation. When almost everyone else feels the same, it's truly a bleak situation. We must realize that we are sinking fast, and turning to Christ is our only hope.

***How to Know It's Not from the Lord***

        The Devil is very tricky. He can make things happen in such a way as to make you think that God has planned it that way. If believing it all you want and you feel only turmoil, it's a big red light warning you that all is not from the Lord. Extricate yourself from the situation ASAP or you'll sink deep into it. When the Lord leads you to do something, saying yes to him may not be easy. But once you agree to go along with him, you'll always experience peace. 

***Becoming Impervious to Evil

        Communion experience. Jesus made me ready for anything. Once you have the Lord, nothing can harm your soul anymore.  

**Awaiting Jesus' Coming

        The world just doesn't get it. Not only persecution of Christians is on the rise, Satanic worship and blasphemies are becoming common. I pray that Christ will come soon, not to judge us yet, but to warn us out of his mercy. Perhaps the prophesied illumination of conscience might just be the thing.     

***Overwhelming Joy of Christ*

          As Christians, our duty is to share and spread the good news about Christ worldwide. In reality, the joy of Christ is so great that we feel compelled to do it, duty or no duty.

***Happiest Person***

        This is the one who obeys the Lord totally, for he is blameless!

*****The Right Focus***

      It's much better to focus upon what God can do for us than what we should do for him, for without him inspiring us, we cannot do anything great.

**God IS Our Heavenly Father!**

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 10, Jesus said to his disciples that "whoever does mot accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." We were all little children at one time, then for many of us our faith waned or disappeared as we grew up in this secular world. But the fact is that we'll always be children to God our heavenly Father! It would be right for us to become like children to him now as we're on our way returning to him. 

**Our Greatness Depends Upon . . .

how obedient we are to God, not upon how many great things we've done for him.        

****Becoming Free in God****

        Let the Lord occupy all of you, so you follow him in all things and at all times. You are now free as the Lord takes care of you in every way. (I don't mean that you do not do anything anymore; you still do all the things, but you now do all for the Lord's sake in peace and with joy. It has to do with having the right mindset.)

**Know Where You're Headed.

        If an evildoer dies and ends up in hell, that's sad but justifiable. Then there are people who live pretty happy lives, but never think about God or death much. After they die, they might or might not get into heaven. If not, that to me would be sadder. Know that anytime you wonder if there is a God or what life after death will be like, it's the Lord calling you. Do not dismiss that inner voice but look into Jesus the Savior. Once you believe and follow him, you'll know the whole truth with eternal life assured. Never head towards any unknown.

**Absolute Security in Christ*

        Communion experience. My heart now is all Jesus'. I feel absolute security in the Lord.                  

**Taking Jesus'' Words Seriously

        We must take all Jesus' sayings to us most seriously, for they directly affect us. We are not to interpret them in any way to our liking, for the truth remains the same always. We as clay are to be molded and shaped by the Lord to his liking.    

***How lo Love God to the Max*

        The Lord God already loves us to the max, so it's our turn to love him back to the max. How can we achieve this? The simple but not always obvious way is to remain open fully to let him love us to the max. 

*****Request God Always Honors**

         When you ask the Lord to make you holy, this is like music to his ears, for it's what he desires the most to hear from you. He will fulfill your wish 100% with delight and fill you with peace and joy! This is reading God's mind to get exalted by him. The whole heaven rejoices along! You now begin living an exciting and vibrant new life.

**Cup Totally Filled*

         Communion experience. It's so satisfying that I don't desire anything else anymore.

***Those Who Are Asleep

        They are the Christians who do not believe that the Lord is really present in the Holy Eucharist. For Catholics, if they don't believe, they are not really Catholic anymore. 

*****Living the Real Christian Life*****

        To live the most productive and rewarding Christian life, center on the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Go directly to him at all times for all things, no pussyfooting around. Cast all your cares upon him. He's even more precious to us than our own life, for he is the life! Realize that without him, we are nothing, and with him, we are everything to him.

**Sins That Affect Others*

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, Jesus said fo his disciples, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea." We sin, but we may not realize that sometimes our sinning also causes others to sin, and our sin now is a lot more serious than we thought. Always consider how your action would affect others. Better yet, consider how you'd affect the Lord God. 

*****Inspiring Talk

         Watch this short message from Mar Mari Emmanuel recorded in 2009. He has been steadfast in proclaiming the Lordship of Christ. We ought to be just as zealous!

**Confidence in God's Love**

        Communion experience. To receive the Lord is to receive the power of his infinite love, so nothing should be impossible for us now! God has redeemed us, certainly he'll do many other things for us when our intention is good and pure. Trust in his love.

***Don't Demean Yourself

        From today's Psalm 49, we have verses 8 and 9: "No man can ransom even a brother, or pay to God his own ransom. The redemption of his soul is costly; and he will pass away forever." This is true, but the Lord has done it for us himself so that we may be delivered from sin and have life for all eternity! He indeed loves us to death (no pun intended), and for this we can rejoice always!

***In Love with Love

        Communion experience. You realize that the Lord's love is so beautiful that you can't help but fall deeply in love with him. This is the love that also makes us beautiful. Glory, praise, and gratitude be to him forever!

***Total Abandonment = Freedom***

        Today's Psalm 55 response: Cast your care upon the LORD, and he will support you. I love this verse. it shows total abandonment to God; you now care about only what God wants you to do, not what you want to do anymore. This is true humility. This is how we are set free!

***On Securing Your Salvation***

        How often do you do something that helps you secure your eternal salvation? 10% of the times? 50%? 99%? The best answer should be 100%. All the times you spend not securing your salvation is counterproductive and totally wasted.

***Greatest Injustice of All Times***

         Today Tuesday I again pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. The Mysteries—Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with the Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, Crucifixion—stand out sharply, yet they are difficult to meditate upon as the scenes are just so poignant. Here Jesus shows his greatest love for us by laying down his life for us. That many people today treat him as if he were the worst criminal of all times has to be the greatest injustice of all times!  

*****An Urgent Wake-up Call*****

        Every time we sin, Satan cheers. You look around and realize that Satan has never been happier. We have people scamming others full-time. Arguments go on in so many families. News media spread fake news nonstop. Cheating and corruption have become the norm in our government, many corporations, and even the Church. Scandals come out of the entertainment industry big time. Road rages are common. This listing can go on ad inf. We have strayed away from God much worse than we realize. It's absolutely time for us to wake up, turn around, and submit ourselves to God to repent and beg for his mercy before it's too late!

*****Ther Holy Spirit Is Real!

        Today is Pentecost Sunday. It's good to recap again my experience with the Holy Spirit. We must go back almost half a century to the 1970s, the heyday of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement. I got involved in it because I was searching for the Holy Spirit. We were told that after confirmation the Hoy Spirit dwells within you, but how do I know if I didn't feel anything different? All members of the Renewal Movement had the choice to take the Life in the Spirit Seminar. After seven sessions, the whole group prayed over you for the release of the Spirit. I must say that in every case I saw, including my own, you develop a terrific desire to know the Lord who became alive in the Gospels. Praying to God became super easy and a joy at any time. Different people also received special gifts. One person found that his addiction to watching all the ballgames on TV was cured. I experienced a bubbling exuberance in my upper body for about three and a half months nonstop. At the first Charismatic Mass I attended, I received the gift of tears which made me cry tears of joy the entire time. The zeal for Christ I felt in my heart has only increased over these last five decades. God the Holy Spirit is real! Do not neglect to praise and pray to him!

**Great Sane Moment*

         I got up early this morning, went to the family room, and sat at the dining table, ready to pray. It was a beautiful day outside. My head was clear, my body feeling comfortable, and my spirit, resting in peace. I was aware of my Lord, his love for me, my faith in him . . . and the whole truth. I felt that moment was the most sane moment of my life!

***Confronting Our Greatest Challenge

        We are faced with whether to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior or not, for it could very well determine our eternity. If you were wise, you would try believing in him to see if it works for you. Of course, in that case you'll have to do it with complete honesty, for you cannot fool God if he's real.

*****Taking Control of Our Future!

        We know that life is so precarious that we can die at any moment. In an instant we'd be on the other side. Again, this is clear-cut, yet a lot of people don't seem to be concerned about that. Perhaps there're really having a good time on earth. Perhaps they think they'll be entering an unknown and there's no point thinking about it. I think they are making a huger mistake. My future is so important that I must find out as much about it as I can so as to be ready for it. In my case, I found Christ, learned the whole truth, and became super ready. What a relief and comfort, and great joy too as I think about what awaits me on the other side! 

***Serious Matter to Consider***

         Whatever we do, we serve either God or others, "others" here including ourselves, the world, and Satan. This is clearcut. We need to serve God out of gratitude alone, for he loves us and has died for our sins so that we might live forever. Secondly, being our creator, he's also going to be our final judge. Do you want to go to heaven or not? I hope you'll see the whole matter clearly and make the right choice. 

**Communion Experience*

           I attended a heavenly banquet offered personally to me by the Lord. 

**Jazzing Up Your Life*

        The Lord God is infinitely rich and loves us. What we can receive from him is inexhaustible! Get to know him well first, ask for whatever that's good for both you and him, and you'll get it. Then you'll be living a most exciting life! 

**It's a Great Feeling . . .

when you know Christ and that he is the truth.         

**Beauty of the Family

        While driving to morning Mass today, I had to brake my car to an almost complete stop when I saw a family of Canadian geese crossing the road ahead of me. These geese visit us every year and they pair up for life. The family I saw consisted of the two parents with around half a dozen goslings. They were not in a rush and the goslings looked really cute following their parents. The Lord made me see how beautiful a human family could be when all its members love him and are united as one in him. Alas, can you even find such a family today?

***Remain Awake and Active

        We need to remain awake and active at all times. When we are asleep or half-asleep, impure thoughts often enter our minds and we find ourselves weak in resisting them. Then we wake up, see everything clearly, and are able to dismiss them outright. When we are awake, we need to be aware of God's holy presence and the urgency to help him defeat evil and save souls. That the Lord will be victorious in the end is certain, but that doesn't mean we can just trust in him and wait for things to happen. On the contrary, we need to submit ourselves totally to him to actively carry out every single will of his for us.

**Union Counts

        Communion experience. I don't see or hear Jesus physically, but I know I am in union with him spiritually, and that's all that counts right now.

**Believe Only in God

        We humans come up with some amazing products and inventions and believe that we are capable of achieving anything on our own. Let's now look at the Lord God. Not only he created us and everything else, he's able to create anything on the spot simply by willing it. We are just not in his league! We can't even remain alive without his support! Be humble foremost so that you may remain in the truth.

***More Basic than Patience

         Three days ago, I blogged about patience being a sign of holiness. I now see that to be perfectly patient, we mustn't have any ego. I see clearly that it's my ego that has caused me to become impatient every time in my past. So humility is even more basic than patience. Be totally humble and you are holy.

***What God Desires the Most from Us***

         In today's Gospel reading from John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father that all those whom he had given him might be one as he and the Father were one. To be one is the closest possible relationship we can have with each other. To be one with God is to be in union with him. When we are all in union with him, our oneness becomes extra special. This union with God is not just another relationship; it is the ultimate relationship we can have with God, one that exalts us to the highest level of our existence. We Catholics should rejoice that we have the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament, given to us by Christ himself at the Last Supper. The Lord knows human nature fully, so the idea of providing us the consecrated bread and wine to consume at Mass is ingenious. Without this physical union, spiritual union remains an abstract concept. The Eucharist seals the deal here. In union with God, we become his and he ours, and we are no longer of the world. It is the intimate relationship most desired by our Lord. All Catholics should make seeking union with God through the Holy Eucharist their top goal. (Again, I recommend reading the book He and I by Gabrielle Bossis, a spiritual classic which has become increasingly hard to find.)

**Only Relationship We Need to Keep

        In today's Gospel reading from Acts 20, Paul gave his farewell speech at Miletus to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus. When he had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all. They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. All our relationships with others on earth will end one day, but our relationship with the Lord God will last forever. When we get to heaven, we'll again be united with all others there as one in the Father, this time forever.

***Our Biggest Enemy***

         When we abandon ourselves to God, we no longer care about ourselves, and we become completely free. It just shows that we are our own biggest enemy in wanting to be set free.

**Faith to Be Ever Present

        Communion time message: If we receive the Lord and expect that he'll transform us for the better, we need to believe in it. With him, things do not happen without faith.

***Loving God Is Exciting**

        For Christ the Lord, we can never love him enough. The exciting part of loving him is that we can always love him still more, knowing that we can never match his love for us. It really comes down to letting him love us, for it's by letting him love us that our love for him grows. While life with the Lord is most exciting. life without him becomes utterly boring.  

***Advocating Union with God

        If life is to be meaning and fruitful, we need to be connected with God in some way. I believe the best relationship we can have with the Lord is to remain in union with him thru the Holy Eucharist. It is direct, super strong, and most satisfying, and O, also life-changing. 

**Living for Christ**

        Once you start living for Jesus, you know you no longer belong to the world. You feel as if you are just going thru the motion of doing all the necessary things in this world, while your heart and mind are on the Lord always. It feels somewhat surreal, but you know that you are free!

***Hard to Get into Heaven, Then . . .

         To get into heaven, we have to get all our sins removed first. Since many of us rather "enjoy" remaining in sin, they will not be able to enter heaven. But there is a powerful way to make getting into heaven super easy, and that is accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Repent our sins to him and he'll take them away to make us heaven bound. Furthermore, he can even take away our tendency to sin! So even though going to hell is easy, going to heaven can be super easy/

***Easy to Go to Hell (a Serious Warning!)***

        Suppose you have committed a serious sin and try to forget it. That is, you may feel bad about it, but you never really feel sorry about it, and let's say you are not even a Christian. Do you think you should be allowed to enter heaven? I don't think so. For if anyone carrying a serious sin can enter, where would you draw the line? So you could be a person that's nice to others most of the time and lives a fairly peaceful life, but with that unrepented serious sin still on your soul, you may be shocked to find that after you die, the door to heaven is closed for you. 

***Total Fulfillment

        Communion experience. The Lord totally fulfilled me as I happily received him as he had asked. My joy was complete, ready fof his Coming! 

****Smart Way of Becoming Holy****

        St. Thérèse of Lisieux is known as the Little Flower. Her Little Way teaches us to become saints by doing every little thing with love for God. This is a smart way. You see, to build a whole brick house seems to be a lot of hard work, but if you just focus on laying one small brick at a time, eventually you'll have your house. We can also try living every second for God. Be holy every second (which shouldn't be hard) and eventually you will have lived an entire holy life. Start practicing the Little Way now.

****Christ, the Decisive Factor***

         We are completely dependent upon him for our existence. He knows all about us. Everyone will have to be judged by him in the end. We are free to say what we want, but he'll have the final word. Love and glorify him and we are saved; reject him and we get ourselves condemned. He is critically important to us, for he loves me to death. We must decide and not forget him!

***Today's Special Joy

         It's realizing that I have a heavenly Father who loves me, a holy Mother who cares for me, and the myriad saints and angels who all root for me.

*****Great Realization!

        If you realize that the Lord God can indeed change you, you look forward to have him make you holy and beautiful. This in itself is a huge change that greatly pleases the Lord! 

**Patience, a Sign of Holiness*

         It's easy to get impatient when things don't turn out the way you expect, but does that help any? Actually, that can make things worse. When you are upset, you become less clear-headed and is likely to become rash, act untimely or inappropriately, and end up makings things worse. Besides, all that negative emotion can ruin your health. It's so much better to believe that God allows all things to happen for your good. If you can accept them all with patience for love of him, you are on your way to sainthood! The wise always focus on the unseen eternity, while the foolish are bothered by many little thing that happen at any moment. The gap between the two is clear, but only the wise see it.    

****Yearning for Christ****

        If you yearn strongly for the Lord, it shows that you are in love with him, you are in union with him, and/or you are filled with the Holy Spirit.

***Key to Effective Preaching***

        All messages that preach about Christ address the intellect, affecting the mind only. So they are usually weak and unmemorable. Only messages that preach Jesus as our Lord and God speak directly to the heart and has the power to convert the listeners. What comes from the mind affects the mind only, and what comes from the heart affects the heart. This is why Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel is so popular today, drawing many to Christ!

***Jesus Is Coming Back***

         Jesus Second Coming is imminent. But it will be totally different from his first coming two thousand years ago. Let Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel make it clear to us!       

***Miracle of Abandonment to God***

        When you abandon yourself to the Lord, no matter how things turn out, you are happy.         

**Be like a Mirror*

         The Lord Christ alone is our shining light. The best we can do is to reflect his light for all to see. To do that like a mirror, we must be spotlessly clean. So surrender to him that he may make us clean. This is one best way for us to glorify him. 

***Ultimate Way of Following Christ***

        How do you follow Jesus? Do you follow him closely or from a distance just to make sure that he is in view? If you were really close to him, you'd be in union with him and carried by him the whole time! You now belong to him and there's no more following, so to speak. This is ultimately following the Lord, simply being with him and enjoying him.  

**Different Approaches

        When Satan wants you to remove your coat, he would most likely lure you with some kind of temptation to make you undress yourself, and you lose your pease. When the Lord God wants you to remove your coat, he would probably make the sun just warm enough to make you voluntarily take it off with no qualms.

****AMAZING LOVE****

        God's love is most beautiful because it's all pure and selfless. Once we sense that, we fall in love with the Lord. This is how he has made us. What's amazing is that when we love God, we become selfless and don't expect anything in return from him either! Loving him is our reward enough! 

*****Do-or-Die Time!*****

        Being sinners, we need to learn from the Lord as much as possible for the sake of our souls. In this secular world, we learns only secular things that do not benefit us spiritually at all; all the more we need the Lord to teach us so that we may keep our souls safe. This message is most urgent, for we are truly in a do-or-die situation!  

**False Freedom No Freedom

        We think that by being our own lords, we can be free. Then we find out that we become our own slaves and there's no way of freeing ourselves from sin. So the freedom we've been seeking is no freedom at all. This is where we need Christ, for he's the only one who can deliver us from sin. Once we're set free from sin, we are ready to inherit the kingdom of God our Father. Realize all this early to maximize our joy on earth and in heaven.   

***Who's at Fault?*

        Look at Jesus, he's all love, humble and meek, curing the sick, preaching the good news . . . yet many of us did not accept him then and still do not now. Who's at fault? Of course, it can't be the Lord, for he has done nothing wrong; both Herod and Pilate even agreed on that. So it is our foolishness that has made us reject him. I don't need to give all the reasons here because deep in our hearts we all know why. By accepting Christ, we can be set free, become holy, and go to heaven, but by rejecting him, we blow all that. We are at fault for sure.

***Heart Comes First***

        Offer your heart up to God to let him make it pure. Once your heart is pure, every thought, every word, and every act that come out of you will be pure too. Your joy will be great in remaining clean and pleasing to God!

***Food from Heaven

        Communion experience. The Holy Eucharist is our most desirable, most beneficial, most edifying, most satisfying, most essential, most precious, and most blessed and holy food. 

***Making the Soul Beautiful***

        Life on earth is a time for us perfect our love for God. The greater and purer that love, the more perfect our soul. Our time on earth provides numerous opportunities for us to make the soul beautiful for God to behold. Nothing can be happier than making our heavenly Father happy.  

**God's Timeless Counsels

        God is timeless, so are his counsels to us. They are basically principles for us to follow on earth and we'll be judged by how well we follow them.  

**Proper Interaction with God

        As creatures of God, we need to interact with God our creator. The best, most appropriate and most satisfying way for us to interact with him is to achieve union with him so that we may become like him, helping him create harmony in his kingdom, whether on earth or in heaven.

***How Christians Know the Truth***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus told his disciples that when the Spirit of truth comes, he would guide them to all truth. Now, I know that everything Jesus has said about himself and other things are all true, for he is the truth. How can I be so sure? My answer is that when the Lord (the Spirit) lets you know something, you just know that it's true, for he cannot lie and has the power to make you see the truth. This probably won't convince many unbelievers, but I can't prove it in any way besides my testimony. So with Christ, you either believe in him or you don't. Faith cannot be explained; it's a wonderful gift from God. And it really makes you love and appreciate the Lord.

***The LORD Is My Shepherd***

        David's Psalm 23 came to my mind. Verses 3 and 4 in particular portrayed how I felt. Here they are: "The LORD restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me."

***Spirit over Flesh

         Whatever you do, do not follow the flesh. Externally, you encounter temptations. Internally, your ego can surface. In both cases, do not succumb to the flesh. Follow the spirit means follow the Holy Spirit that dwells in you. If whatever you carry out gives you complete peace, you are following the Spirit. Know that God always sows peace, while Satan, unrest or turmoil.

***Simple Conclusion***

        Since our souls live on forever, we should care about only things that last forever, not things that pass or perish in time. Here is a perfect reason for following Christ, our Lord and our God.

****Unique Belief****

        Believing in Jesus is one of a kind; unlike other beliefs, it has serious consequences. Let me just list some of the positives ones: Your sins are forgiven; you are going to heaven; you no longer fear death; you are set free from the world; you can forgive all others and want to share the good news with them; you experience peace and joy; you never feel lonely anymore; you don't worry about anything and sleep well . . . There is not another belief that can help you achieve one of the above listed, and there's a lot more. 

***Overcoming Suffering

        We live in a sinful world and suffering is unavoidable. I'm being realistic to say that for the Christian, life is serving God sprinkled with sufferings. But suffering for Christ's sake is a joy, for it's triumphing over Satan! The Lord will never give us sufferings beyond our endurance, and accepting our cross unites us to him even more, glorifying him. I just watched another video on the Shroud of Turin and realized how horribly Christ had suffered for us. Why? It's because he loves us—there are just no other possible, logical answers! So welcome your sufferings bravely and overcome them with the Lord's help, while eternal happiness awaits.

**Way to Take Care of Eternal Future

        Our final impression of anyone or any place is formed by all the many separate impressions we have of that person or place. This brings me to saying that all the thoughts, words, and deeds we execute before God as a whole will determine our eternal future. Living for Christ alone will take care of this problem.  

***Schubert's Ave Maria

        A beautiful rendition by a young Briton named Dylan. (Check out my other Ave Maria videos listed under Good Websites, Blogs, Videos . . .  in the right sidebar.)

**Condition for God to Hear You

        To be sure that the Lord hears you, make sure that you are sincere and that he can trust you. 

***Shedding the World for God

        How can we detach ourselves from the world so that we may attach ourselves to God, the God of Christ? This change will happen only when you find God more attractive than the world. I dare say that all of us at some point in life realize more or less that the world cannot truly make us happy. This is the moment God is calling you to take a look at him, a moment of grace. So don't pass it up, don't close the door. Remain open and passive and he'll reveal himself to you in time. How long is that going to take? It could be an instant or years, depending upon how receptive you are. Just know that Christ is always ready and waiting, and you have only your lifetime to make the change.

***Serious Business*

        If you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you must take him seriously. You must trust all his words without reservation and go all the way with him! Remember the greatest and the first commandment he has given us? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Do yout best to meet this challenge and your reward will be tremendous!

***Lukewarm Preaching*

        Jesus is our Savior, the head of his Church, and we are his body. He is the one we should live for, die for, and follow solely with all our soul, mind, and strength; yet he is not preached much. We hear sermons preaching more or less about him or how we should love him. As a result, such messages are easily forgotten. To be able to draw all to Christ thru his power, we need to preach him boldly with fire and fervor.

**End Times Urgency

        As sinners, we have turned our world into a hell while on our way to hell. For the time being, Satan seems to have gained much control of the world, even fracturing and greatly weakening the Church (Go on https://www.lifesitenews.com/ to learn about what a sad state both the world and the Church are in.) It's time for us remnant followers of Christ to become extra obedient to him and to pray extra hard. The call to become holy to fight alongside the Lord is more urgent than ever. 

*A Special Feeling

        Communion experience. I attend morning Mass at the local Mount St. Joseph Chapel on weekdays. On average, around ten attendees show up. Today, I saw no other cars in the parking lot and thought perhaps there's no Mass. It turned out that I was the entire congregation there for Mass, and I got that special feeling. Fr. Steve said the whole Mass for me. After receiving the Lord, I didn't say any special prayers—I just remained still in the Lord, cherishing his company.  

**Going Back to God Easy

        Going downhill is always easier than going uphill, and tearing down a house a lot easier than building one. Falling away from God is super easy, but going back to him can be super easy if you are awakened to the need for returning to him. You simply turn to him, repent your sins, and ask him to forgive you, and you are right back with him. Many people accomplish this in their last moments of life. This is indeed good news! With God there is always hope, and he always makes things easy for you!

**Perfect peace

        Communion experience. The peace you feel belonging to Christ the Lord is the most perfect peace you can possibly experience on earth. 

***Sign the Spirit Dwells in Us

         This is a sign showing that we are temples of the Holy Spirit: We feel an unsuppressible inner urge to proclaim the gospel to everyone as Christ had instructed the eleven to before he was taken up into heaven.

***Obediance Our Foremost Goal***

        We pray "thy will be done" every time we say the Lord's Prayer. This should be our foremost goal as Christians. Not only we should pray it, but also live it!

*****Get Attached to God Alone*****

        We should attach ourselves to the Lord God alone. This is how we become free! Don't be attached to the passing world, for our final abode will be in heaven; nor to anyone else in the world either, for all present relationships last only in this life. In the next, we'll all be children before the Lord, looking the same young age forever. The Lord God is all we need to hold onto for eternal happiness.

**Apt offering to God

         Offer your heart and soul up to the Lord to be purified and revitalized, and he'll make you anew. 

*Best Care for Us*

        Do you know that we get the best possible care in this life when we obey the Lord in all things? Certainly, our eternal future will be taken care of. Next, we'll be able to endure all the hardships and still experience freedom, peace, and joy.

**We're Not at a Disadvantage

        The Apostles followed the Lord for about three years, but we are not really at a disadvantage. We have the Scriptures and the writings of the Church Father and all the great saints, so we know just as much about the Lord, if not more. As far as knowing him personally is concerned, seeing him or not doesn't make any difference either, for the Lord transcends time and space and can communicate with us anytime anywhere.