*****Jesus Only God

        A fit video to end this month of blogging. 

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

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

***The Unavoidable Reality*

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

**It's What God Thinks

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

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

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

***Purpose of the Holy Eucharist***

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

***Praying with Abandonment***

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

**Best Goal of Life

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

***Grace of Growing Old

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

***Marian Apparitions

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

**Listen to God, Not Yourself*

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

****Christ the Truth Is It.

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

***Tragic State of the Church

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

 

***Ultimate Quest for the Catholic

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

***Rule to Gain Spiritual Freedom

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

***God-Given Golden Rule

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

***Blessed Carlo Acutis***

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

**God No Longer Surprising

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

***Becoming like Christ***

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

***Huge Difference***

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

***To Jesus First*

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

**Most Secure Treasure

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

**The World Deafens Us

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

***Amazing Consistency

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

**Spiritual Myopia?

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

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

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

***Best Move for Our Hearts***

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

**Tragic Unawareness*

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

***A Sin We Continue to Commit*

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

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

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

****Exceeding All Expectations****

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

*R.I.P. Now

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

**Day of the LORD

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

***So Much to Rejoice About

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

***We're Marvelously Made!

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

**Riddle of Life Solved**

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

***Wise Living***

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

*****Invite the Lord Now!

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

***The One to Know***

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

***Necessary Realization***

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

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

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

***Know God's Plan for Us*

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

***Eternal Life Ensured

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

***Becoming Perfect Like God

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

***Proper Way of Serving God***

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

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

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

***To Our Heavenly Father

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

**Jesus Changes Our Plight

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

***Be Invulnerable to Satan

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

**Two Spiritual Laws**

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

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

        

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

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

***Keeping My Faith Simple*

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

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

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

***Praising God's Love***

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

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

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

***Basic Message***

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

***Freedom of Belonging to God***

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

***Union of Hearts

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

**How Important Are We to God?*

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

***Learning from the Lord***

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

***Be Ready for Salvation

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

***The Lord Our Refuge***

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

*****Incredible LOVE and HUMILITY**

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

***Experiencing God's Presence***

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

**The Only Trustworthy One**

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

****We Determine Our Eternal Future*

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

***How to Lose God***

        Easy . . . just play him.

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

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

***Good Habit***

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

***Hanging by a Thread

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

*****Know Your Realities

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

**The LORD Our Guard*

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

**Christ the Fountainhead of Peace*

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

**Ultimate Fulfillment

        Communion experience. I receive peace now and for ever. 

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

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

***The Everlasting Sin***

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

**Evildoers Are Foolish Losers*

         Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread? When those who do evil draw near, they stumble and fall. Those who do evil always live in fear, for they dread that they would be caught and exposed. Of course, they stumble and fall sooner or later, unaware that nothing can be concealed from the all-knowing Lord. In a way, I pity the evildoers for playing a losing game at the start and fearing the Lord in a wrong way.

***Going All Out for Jesus

         If Jesus is to be our Lord, then we must live in him, turn to him for his guidance in everything, and do all things with him as one. It sounds impossible, but nothing is impossible for God if we abandon ourselves to him. All of us are perfect candidates for the Lord to make perfect.

*****What Is Worth Dying For*****

         Anything that can make us live happily forever is worth dying for. You have to be a total idiot to disagree with me here. I can readily name some of these things: The Holy God, Christ our Savior, God's Love for us, the Holy Eucharist, keeping God's commandments, doing God's will . . . they all have to do with God. So I could have just said that the God of Christ alone is worth dying for.

***Assured Formula for Happiness*

         Submit yourself to the Lord to let him make you holy and beautiful for him to behold and you'll be so happy with both him and yourself!

**Rejoice in Our Immaculate Mother**

         Today we celebrate the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We rejoice that the Lord God loves us and should be happy that we also have a heavenly Mother who loves and always intercedes for us. Unite our hearts with her Immaculate Heart so that we may love the Lord as much as she loves him. 

***Knowing God's Love*

         We normally love someone or something because we know it would give us pleasure or satisfaction; this love is basically self-centered. We also feel sorry for someone in a sorry state and wish to help; this is a heartfelt love more like God's pure love for us. We do not feel God's love when we are too occupied with loving the world. Then there are times we are disappointed with the world and turn to God and finally come to know his most beautiful selfless love. So see unhappy times as blessings, for God is calling you to set you free from the world and make you heaven bound.   

***Alleviating Christ's Suffering***

         Again, it's Friday, the day of praying the Sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary. If we were present at the scene when Jesus was going thru his Passion, many of us would want to alleviate his sufferings in some way if possible. But he is still suffering greatly today due to the disobedience of many, and we can comfort him by being extra obedient to him.

**Incredible Experience*

         Communion experience. Still couldn't quite believe that receiving the Eucharist brought me into full union with my God/

****Know Yourself First****

         How pure are your motives? I start to question myself because I realize that I like different people for different reasons. We tend to like people who are pleasing to us. Then I like one person others don't like too much, and realize that it's because I want to feel that I am more loving than others—not a pure motive. Pure love is blind! Now, if you'd look deep into your own heart with complete honesty, you can learn a lot about yourself. This can be an enlightening, satisfying, and even exhilarating experience! (I'd like to do this after Mass in solitude under the Lord's watchful eyes, for he can make me see things difficult for me to see on my own.) Understanding yourself is liberating and always a joy, and most of all it unites you close to God.

***The Two Greatest Commandments*

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus gave a scribe the two greatest commandments. The first is this: You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I see that the second commandment is a corollary to the first one, proving that you love the Lord. 

***Essential Transformation

        In today's first reading from 2 Timothy 2, Paul wrote, "If we have died with Christ, we shall also live with him." The principle here is that we need to die first before we can live again. There has to be a rebuilding, a rebirth to take place. This is the transformation by Christ needed to get us into heaven.

***Time for Action***

         With evil all around us, what should Christians do? The Catholic Church has already been weakened by the infiltration of evil and as a result, the few bishops and priests who had the courage to speak out openly just got canceled one by one by their superiors or the Pope. Currently, I see only Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel whose's not Catholic as the only clergyman who speaks out fearlessly for Christ and against the various evils. We must defend God and attack evil both. For those of us who don't get the opportunity to speak out openly, we can alway pray extra hard. To just say "I trust in God" and not do anything is exactly what Satan wants from you. It's act-or-die time.

**Correct Focus

         In today's first reading from 2 Timothy 1, Paul wrote, "God saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus . . ." This is telling me that to be holy, I do not focus upon what I do for God, but upon following his will, a fine distinction here.  

***Do You Belong to God?***

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and asked him, "Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?" He said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brougnt one to him and he asked them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied, "Caesar's." So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." So if we belong to God, we should repay to God all of ourselves. If we are still fighting him, we don't belong to him yet, that is, he is not truly our Lord yet.

****What Life on Earth Is All About****

        In today's reading 1 from 2 Peter 3, Peter wrote "Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God . . . we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him." While we await meeting the Lord, this is the perfect time to perfect ourselves to show that we welcome that day. Life on earth is all about perfecting ourselves for heaven, in case you're still unaware. Either do this or waste your whole time on earth. 

****Same-Lord-Different-Roles Warning***

        Jesus came to us 2,000 years ago as Lord and Savior. He came to give us the good news as told in John 3.16: God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. He came not to condemn us, but to save us from sin with love and mercy. He remained meek and humble, and died on the cross for our sake. Then we'll meet him again to be judged by him either after we depart from this earth or at his Second Coming. That'll be the time of justice, not of mercy anymore! If you want to repent and ask him to forgive you then, it'll be too late! So make peace with your creator now while there's still time.

***Wake Up to Sin Please***

         We all know sin and must not ignore it! It is the biggest and most fundamental problem we face and our worst enemy, for it alienates us from God and can get us condemned for eternity! It is the first problem we need to address and dispose of. Dealing with sin is more pressing than any of our other concerns, for we don't how much time we have on earth. Much of the world's population is in such a sad state that they not only embrace sin, they are also oblivious to how sin can ruin their souls. The only way to solve the problem of sin is to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, for as our creator, he alone is able to take away our sins and make us heaven bound. This is the reality we need to awake to. It is what life is all about.  

****Amazing Thought*

        I am amazed and rejoice that on earth I can not only reach the Almighty God and Father, but also be united with him both physically and spiritually. After I leave this world, I'll be living the most joyful life in my Father's house forever! 

**Fruit of Being Connected to Christ*

        In John 15:5, Jesus said to his disciples, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing." Since each of us is a branch of Jesus the vine, we are connected to him as one. Know that not only we can bear much fruit, we also receive all the power we need to remain strong in battling evil at all times.

***Beware of Prophecies***

        Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that many false prophets would arise and deceive many. Today in what I believe to be end times, we have prophets galore. On YouTube alone you find all kinds of signs, miracles, apparitions, warnings, etc., reported or presented. To me, a true prophecy deserves to be presented accurately and clearly with all the detailed information on where, how, and when it came about. Looking at these videos on YouTube is like looking at a Hollywood production. You see special effects and hear dramatic music. The thumbnail usually shows a made-up fake image with a clickbait title or description which often is not even mentioned in the video. Sometimes it also shows the picture of a well-known Catholic religious figure just to lend credibility. The image of any sign or miracle presented is always fuzzy or somewhat dubious. Some weeks ago, some videos reported that Virgin Mary would appear atop the Statue of Liberty on June 1, just two days ago, according to Vicka, one major Medjugorje seer. The thumbnail showed such an image as if it had already happened. So far I haven't heard that it had. So this false reporting's can potentially ruin the credibility of all those alleged Marian apparitions that began in Medjugorje. What bothers me is that there are prophets who advise us to eat special foods, keep certain objects in the house, and even not to go out on a certain day during certain hours. To me, to be ready spiritually is of foremost importance, not performing certain specific little things. The best policy is to stick to the Church-approved prophecies, even though the Church doesn't require us to believe in them either. Put your trust in Christ and you can't go wrong.

*****Extolling the Eucharist*****

       On this Corpus Christi day, here is my message to all. The Eucharist is my our greatest gift from God, for it's the Lord himself. It is also the humblest and thereby the greatest miracle because the change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ takes place unnoticeably with zero pomp. When you receive this sacrament, you are united with the him physically; then when you also accept his invitation to unite with him spiritually, you attain union with him. There is not another relationship that's more intimate, exalted, or fulfilling. The Lord is now your God and also your heavenly soulmate.

***Jesus Is God***

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 14, we heard that on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus’ disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there." The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them. What amazed me here is that Jesus made things happen in the future the way he'd wanted. Only God can do this! 

*****KNOW THIS INVAUABLE TRUTH*****

         Anytime we lose peace, it's because we are out of sync with God. Proof: Surrender ourselves to God to become totally obedient to him and we experience instant peace. This is how God has made us! 

**Crystal clear Promise*

        Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi. John 6:51 is the Gospel acclamation: I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever. It can't be any clearer. Either you believe it or you don't. Also, common sense alone tells me that the Holy Eucharist is truly the body and blood of the Lord. If the bread were merely symbolic, it'd be hard to believe that he would have said "whoever eats this bread will live forever."