*****To Be Ready for That Most Important Day***

        People, Christians included, who do not have Christ at the very center of their lives do not seek guidance from him. As a result, they react and act like any non-believer and end up not being able to resolve their problems properly or in a righteous way. This is very sad, for how will they handle themselves when they face the Lord on the day of judgment, the most important day of their existence? Will they know exactly how they should act and what they should say to pass the test? Not being used to listening to the Lord and following his will can now be absolutely disastrous to their eternal future.

***Sinning on the Next Level*

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, Jesus said to 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." Essentially, I see that sining by yourself is one thing, but if your sin causes others to sin also, your sin is now a lot more serious! In this case, you actually take others with you on the road to perdition. So think twice before you sin. Better yet, don't ever consider sinning.

**What We Must Not Delay*

         Sirach 5:7a from today's first reading: Delay not your conversion to the LORD, put it not off from day to day. Now that Christ has already come to us, all the more we should not delay believing in the LORD. The longer you put it off, the more you put your salvation at risk.

***How Real is Jesus to You? (Becoming the Happiest Person)***

         Going way back, I did feel that the Holy Spirit first prompted me to accept Christ as my Savior. But my faith pretty much emanated from my intellectual conviction absent any deep personal relationship with the Lord. When I first heard about Mother Teresa volunteering to go to India to serve the poor and the dying, I couldn't believe that anyone would want to do something like that, missing all the fun in life! In fact, I personally dreaded that God might call me to be a missionary in Africa! Later I came across Thomas à Kempis' spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ and found his devotion to Christ stunning—I was unable to read on, for I realized I fell way short of loving the Lord. I was also impressed by the strong faith of a couple I knew well. At the funeral of their son who died tragically, both parents showed more joy than sorrow, for they believed that he was with Christ now. Anyway, today I am a different person altogether. Through receiving the Holy Eucharist, Christ is more real to me than anyone or anything else. It's easier to believe that the sun may not rise tomorrow morning than believing that the Lord is not real. Jesus is now my best friend and soulmate whose holy presence I feel at all times. When Christ becomes really real to you, you are the happiest person in the whole world!

***In Solidarity with God***

        I like to pray the Divine Mercy early in the morning before I get out of bed. This is when I can concentrate on praying without falling asleep again and everything is still quiet all around. Since the Lord's greatest desire is to save us, when I pray for his mercy on us from my very heart, I am in total solidarity with him, and this is such a great feeling! 

***Most Destructive Enemy***

        Sin against God and you start messing up your present life and ruining your eternal one. Sin is our worst enemy. Always know what you should do and what you shouldn't do to remain wise!

***God's Right Choices*

        God chooses us to serve him, not because we are perfect, but because we are the right ones. Rejoice if he has already called you! 

***Secret to Happiness*

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, Jesus said to the Twelve, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." If you always want to be first in serving yourself, you keep feeding your ego and one day it'll get so puffed-up and take complete control of you, possibly ruining your soul forever. On the other hand, if you only want to serve all others for God's sake, you'll enjoy freedom and peace and become first in his eyes. It's choosing to feel good for a little while or be truly happy for all eternity.

**A Wonderful State**

         You feel wonderful when you are in union with the Lord, seeing all things eye to eye and completely in tune with him, and you sense all his thoughts in peace. 

**For the Good of All

        Always pray for someone's good and good things will come to you.

***Hard to Not Believe***

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 11:27. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God, who is coming into the world." It hit me that to believe that Jesus is the Messiah is a lot easier than to believe that he is not. I challenge you to prove that he is not our savior!

***Great Sins of Omission***

         We shouldn't speak ill of anyone, but if the LORD is offended, his followers cannot remain silent. It's not to judge others, but to defend the LORD. Evil has already infiltrated the Church, causing many scandals. Here are three sins of omission committed by the church hierarchy. (1) Abortion is one of the most grave sins. According to World Health Organization, about 70 million abortions are performed worldwide every year—a staggering figure! In this country the pro-life laity has been the main force in protesting against abortion, while the majority of Church leaders remain relatively quiet. In fact, many Catholics are pro-abortion and they rarely get corrected by the clergy. (2) According to a latest survey, 70% of Catholics do not believe that Christ is really present in the Holy Eucharist. This is pretty shocking! You really can't be a true Catholic if you don't believe in this central doctrine of the Church. Yet the Church doesn't seem to be in any big hurry to solve this crisis. (3) This issue is also related to the Holy Eucharist. On both Easter and Christmas day, droves of submarine Catholics showed up for Mass. It looks like many of them do receive the Eucharist. Perhaps no one ever told them that to receive this most holy sacrament, you must be in a state of grace. Looking back, I don't recall ever hearing this warning given in advance for the sake of not offending the Lord at those Masses. Pray that the Holy Church will become as pure as the LORD himself. 

*****Only One Catch*

        Communion time thoughts. The Lord could calm a storm at sea (Matthew 8. Mark 4, and Luke 8) because the storm couldn't say no to him. So if we are totally open to the Lord to allow him to do whatever he wishes for us, he can easily calm our interior and more! 

**Prayer Priorities*

        To me, the Church is the body of Christ and it's mission to lead the world to the truth. Unfortunately, it has gone astray with many of the hierarchy becoming antichrist. So my most urgent prayer is that the Lord will purify the Catholic Church and restore it to its greatest glory. Then I would pray next for the conversion of the entire world so that the Lord may be glorified by all his children. By the way, we commonly also pray for all those who are suffering from poor health. But the wellbeing of the soul is infinitely more important than that of the body—what's a few more years of good health on earth compared to eternal happiness? So I always pray for the soul first before the body. 

**A Most Pathetic State**

        Communion time thoughts. In both Mark 2 and Luke 5, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Yet so many of us sinners do not welcome Jesus—how come? Don't they understand Jesus' mission? I think so. I believe that the reason is that they just don't want to let go of what they falsely believe to be their own freedom, while the reality is that they are being slaves to sin! An awakening to this truth is needed: We can never become truly free so long as we don't let Christ take away all our sins from us!

***New Prayer Approach***

        Today is the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle. In the entrance antiphon, Luke 22:32, Jesus says to Simon Peter, "I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers." It strikes me that the Lord actually prayed to the Father for Peter! Normally, we pray to God; now we can actually ask Christ to pray for us, for our loved ones, for the whole world, etc.! Amen. If he does pray for us, the Father will surely comply! So lets ask Christ to pray for what we pray for and we may be amply rewarded!

***A Real Good Feeling!*

         Many things make us feel good, and here's one that makes us feel good interiorly. This is when you are about to say something and realize that it would displease the Lord and you stop short. You now feel really good because you have triumphed over yourself (and the evil one). Pleasing God always brings true joy! (Now watch you thoughts and deeds too,)

***Showing Love Again***

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus said to the crowd and his disciples, "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it." That was a big statement. Jesus was either someone who's totally out of his mind and didn't know what he's talking about or he knew the truth and told it out of pure love. And I know that Christ is nothing but love.

***Letting Go in God

        Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 31: Be my protector, O God, a mighty stronghold to save me. For you are my rock, my stronghold! Lead me, guide me .... The Lord can do so much more than just saving us, for what he can do is unlimited and he loves us with an infinite love! So take advantage of this, for in a way, he is totally at our disposal. Let's abandon ourselves to him without reservation and everything will turn out right in the end for us.

**Sermon Levels

        The top sermon focuses on the Lord exclusively, glorifying and praising him. It inspires and draws you closer to Christ. The more the speaker draws attention to himself, the less effective his sermon becomes. At the bottom level, the sermon giver mainly tries to amuse his listeners. The talk is now instantly forgettable, for Christ is not really in the picture.

***Most Serious Commitment***

        Communion experience. Receiving the Lord in the Eucharist wholeheartedly is to give yourself completely over to him, promising that you'll always follow him by doing his will. 

***Becoming Powerful in Serving God*

        God is great because he is almighty and most humble at the same time. If we become humble like him, we'll be most powerful in serving him.

**God Is Either Remote or Close

         God is all over the universe at the same time. If you ignore him, then it's like he doesn't even exist for you. That would surely make you look pretty bad. On the other hand, if you totally accept and are open to him, you'll find him dwelling right in your heart. 

**Vastly Different Outcomes**

        Today I see that we can all link ourselves to God, our creator. Not linked to him, we are basically lost and become the loneliest souls in the whole universe. Link to him perfectly and we will enjoy his holy presence in heaven forever one day. Can the difference between these two outcomes be any greater? I don't think so!

**Our Proper Response to Christ*

        Christ's foremost desire is to save us from sin so that we may have eternal life, and to prove it he died on the cross fin our place. It is totally logical and fitting that our foremost desire should be to thank him for his love by following his every will for us so that he may be pleased. After all, he is our God and creator!

**God Fulfills Us

        Today's Gospel acclamation from Mark 8: Jesus healed a blind man and he was able to see everything distinctly. Communion antiphon from Psalm 78: They ate and had their fill, and what they craved the Lord gave them .... These verses describe my present feeling: Jesus has made me see the truth clearly and fulfilled all my desires. Psalm 23:1 also speaks for me perfectly: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

***The Most Beautiful Face.***

         It is the Lord! Here is a good portrayal of the Holy Face based upon the image on the Holy Shroud of Turin.

*****Amazing Fact***

        Communion time thoughts. With Christ fully accessible to us, it's so easy to become holy and heaven bound! 😇😇😇

**Worry, Anxiety, and Concern

       Jesus always teaches us not to worry about anything. Worry is a sign of lack of trust in God. In truth, worrying always worsens the situation we're in and harms our health. Anxiety is not as bad, but it still shows your lack of self-control and total trust in God. Concern is totally proper, for we need to be concerned about the safety of our souls and whether we love God enough or not always. 

***Perfect Blessing**

        Communion experience. What a blessing to have the Perfect One make you perfect!

*****Our Greatest Sign*****

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, the Pharisees came to Jesus to seek from him a sign from heaven to test him. Today we also want to see signs before believing. If we don't see Jesus Christ as our greatest possible sign, then we are blind indeed! We only need to be impressed by him alone to be saved, for he is the one who can bring about our greatest spiritual transformation!

*****Serious Warning***

        Jesus is waiting for you to acknowledge that he is your Savior. If you haven't ruled out never going to believe in him, then please for your own sake don't wait until your last moment of your life to repent and ask him to save you, for you may not get that moment. Don't ever take chances when your soul is at stake!

****Most Smart Move

         Latch onto Christ and let everything else go.

***Those I Pity the Most**

        I feel sorry for those who have fallen victim to evildoers, but I feel even sorrier for the evildoers or anyone who rejects Christ.

***God Compensates All Who Endure for His Sake*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus stood on the plain and said to a great crowd, "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man." Now I see that enduring for God's sake is a great blessing, for he will compensate you to make you really happy! Never forget that we who follow Christ faithfully will enjoy eternal life in heaven! 

****Letting God's Love Transform Us!****

        God is love. So believe in God and let his love fill your every fiber and cell and cleanse your soul so that you may become holy like him. This is possible because he has made us in his image in the first place.

*****Know Where We Are Heading

        Today's entrance antiphon from Psalm 95: O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God who made us, for he is the Lord our God. Yes, the Lord has made us. From the first reading from Genesis 3, we learned that Adam and Eve ate from the tree which God had forbidden them to do, and they were duly punished and banished from the garden from Eden. As children of Adam and Eve, we inherited this original sin.  Apparently, our Lord and God still loves all of us so much that he wishes us to return to him in heaven. So we are now all proceeding along this path. What we need to do is to follow Christ faithfully and our return will assuredly be successful.

***God Simplifies Us***

        On our own, we are pretty complicated individuals with various beliefs, outlooks, and feelings. That's why you find helping people not always easy, for they think and see things differently. I appreciate knowing Christ and love him immensely because he simplifies us by making us honest and genuine. Like him, we become straight forward without duplicity with yes meaning yes and no meaning no. Of course, the Lord himself is always trustworthy, understands us fully, listens to us patiently, and has all the wisdom to guide us. Having changed ourselves, we now find him to be the most delightful and easiest person to get along with!

***How the Lord Transforms Us***

        The Lord God can save us from sin and give us eternal like. How does he transform us in the first place? There are multiple aspects of him any of which has the power to transform us. These are his love, his holiness, his humility, his perfection, his omnipotence, his beauty, etc. Today at Communion time, I experienced great joy and realized that his joy also belongs to this list. 

**Pity the Perfectionist*

         There are people who want everything to work out perfectly. When that doesn't happen, they can get very upset. I was somewhat like that, way back when I was a spoiled kid. I had a friend once who always put everything he didn't need anymore back into it's original box and you could see all the boxes stored neatly in one place. By the way, he also kept a giant snake in a wired cage under his bed in the bedroom, and he was a married man! You figure that out. And there are car lovers out there who make sure that there is not a single scratch or dent on their cars. I pity such "perfectionists," should they only see and care about all the imperfections except their own. This in itself is a big imperfection that could easily lead to their downfall.

****Faith = Power****

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, a Greek woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at Jesus' feet to beg him to drive the demon out of her. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She replied, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter."
        We see that the Lord can drive a demon out of anyone unseen, as long as we have faith in him. Now, our world has been pretty much taken over by the ever spirits. If enough of us would persist in praying for the deliverance of the entire world from them, it will surely happen. Never, never underestimate the power of the Lord and our own faith! Hope in him always and we are indestructible!

***Be Inspired by the Lord God**

        It is important that we remain 100% open to the Lord God so that we may be inspired to think, say, and do only things that delight him. Then in turn we'll receive great joy and peace. On our own, what we think, say, and do can easily descend to a mundane level. When we are inspired, it becomes easy to remain holy, wise, and in union with the Lord.

****Letting Nothing Defile You**

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus said to the crowd, "Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile." That's a lot of things to worry about! But no worry, for all you need is a pure heart for you to remain clean. To achieve this, seek union with the Lord thru the Holy Eucharist. Once you attain union, the Lord as your housekeeper will keep your heart free of all evils and give you a super sharp conscience to guard it to boot.

**Life Continues on Beautifully

        Communion experience. I am already living for the Lord. Now I am ready to die in him to begin eternal life with him. 

**Following God or Human Tradition*

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus scolded the Pharisees and scribes for clinging to human tradition, but disregarding God's commandment. We pretty much do the same today. As one example, if someone we know dies, we customarily send the family of the deceased a sympathy card and even feel obligated to attend the funeral service when we wasn't really close to that person. We simply follow the tradition to serve ourselves. Prayers would have been more appropriate and done a lot more good for the soul. It comes down to following God's love you feel in your heart or exhibiting your "fake love" for others to see.

*****We Are Meant to Become like God*****

        In today's 1st reading from Genesis 1, God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Jesus came to us and he appeared as one of us. In John 14:9, he said to Philip, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." We haven't seen the Father, but we'll instantly recognize him when we see him. This is a huge realization for us. We are special, unique creatures made by God: He has made us in his image after his likeness so that we can become like him! His genuine love for us coming thru his Son Jesus is obvious and we are meant to return to him to live happily with him forever. So start embracing and rejoicing in his love for us right this moment!

*****Ultimate Fulfillment (Power of Love)*****

        When we fall in love with God, everything starts happening! We become all fired up, willing to serve and please him with all our hearts. We yearn for him so much that we want to be totally united with him, body and soul. We now enjoy him day and night. Our most holy Lord is now our dearest soulmate. Living and dying for him is no problem and a joy. It's truly incredible that God's love has such power to transform us in the best possible way. And the best is yet to come! Praise be to him forever.

**A Tug-of-War Depiction**

         Here's a picture depicting the spiritual battle in which both God and Satan are fighting for our souls. Let's start with a picture of you holding the end of a rope in each hand. Say God to your right holds the other end of the rope in your right hand and Satan to your left, that in your left hand. The battle begins when both God and Satan pull on you and you experience the pain of being pulled apart, This depicts your struggle in deciding which way to go. Now, if you let the left hand go, you are drawn all the way to God and saved for all eternity—both God and you win. Then if you let the right hand go, you are drawn all the way to Satan and are doomed forever—both God and you lose. So it's win-win or lose-lose for God and you. I hope this elementary presentation shows clearly what's going on with us.

*****Heavenly Private Joy***

        Communion joy. Receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist completes and perfects my joy. This is a joy like his peace that surpasses all understanding. I can bring various kinds of joys to others, but this joy is totally private that only the Lord can impart. It is impossible to share or explain; you just have to experience it yourself. A profound peace comes right with it, and I greatly treasure that. Furthermore, no one can possibly remove the source of this joy from me ever!

****Perfect Way of Perfecting Ourselves

         God is perfect and omnipotent, so we can seek perfection from him and have him make us perfect.

*****Awesome Incredible Love*

        We are most precious to God because he has taken all our sins upon himself and redeemed us from the consequences of sin and death by dying in our place on the cross!     

***Poor Excuse**

        People who do not wish to change often defend themselves by saying "God has made me this way." Know that we are all born sinners and far from being perfect, and the Lord definitely wants to change us for the better. We must absolutely be willing to change as he wishes. This is total abandonment, which is perfect obedience. So do not ever use "the Lord has made me this way" as an excuse.

***Beautiful Living***

        Let all you think and all you say and all you do be an act of saying "I love you" to Christ the Lord. 

**Another Wake-Up Call**

        Do you know that our Savior Jesus Christ is ready to take your sins away to make you spotless and clean any time you repent to him? How can you still say that becoming holy and going to heaven is hard?  He has completely cleared the way for us, but we stupidly hold back! If you are in that category, try to understand what your reason is. Honest self-understanding takes effort and courage, but it often clears the way for moving forward or a breakthrough. Wake up and open your heart and mind to the Lord to let him help you see the light and truth clearly. 

***Letting the Lord Have His Way***

       In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus got into Simon's boat and asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. He then said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. I just want to focus upon part of Simon's reply "but at your command I will . . ." Here is a big beautiful "but"! It's letting the Lord know that even if I don't think it's a good idea, I'll still do what you want me to do. This is being absolutely cool!

***Irrefutable Evidence

        In today's second reading from 1 Corinthians 2, Paul testified that Christ died, was buried, and rose on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He further said that the Lord appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom still living. After that, he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, to him. Many of us do believe that Christ indeed rose from the dead and is our Savior. If you are not such a believer, I believe that it's not because you believe he never existed or rose, but because you just choose not to believe in him, and that's a big bad reason.

**Prayer Request*

       This morning at Mass, I thought that if all of us in the world would pray for the wellbeing and salvation of all others, friends and enemies, we'll surely have a world in peace. Prayer is power, and God's power knows no limits. So I urge all to join me in praying for God's mercy on all souls sincerely from your very heart. We are to please God alone and leave the judgement to him.

****Two Aspects of Life***

        We have two aspects of life. The obvious one is the way we live outwardly. We do all the things to survive in this world. This is our exterior life. Then there's the interior life which we normally don't pay too much attention to, but is the first thing the Lord God looks at. It has to do with our motives and intentions behind what we do, how genuine or phony we are, how humble or prideful we are, and most of all, how much we love others. Live outwardly to survive this life, but live your best interior life now so that you may shine brightly in your next life for all eternity!

*****Most Horrible Existence!*****

        Give your soul to Christ and he'll purify and heal it. Give it to the Devil and you lose it altogether! There is no more horrible existence than living without your own soul. I can say that this is the most compelling reason for us to embrace Christ our Lord and Savior!

**Our Need for Christ*

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, people from all the towns hastened to where they knew Jesus was going to show up. When Jesus arrived and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. If you know you are lost and seek after the Lord, you'll be saved for sure. But if you are not even aware that you are lost and and do not seek him, you'll remain lost forever. 

****Love Incredible***

        At Mass this morning, I looked up and saw the Lord way up there as high as the heaven, and I looked around and saw hin filling the entire universe about me. This is the Lord who enters me every time I receive the Holy Eucharist—how great his love is! 

***A Clear Joyful Message

         A beautiful message about about Mary and Jesus!

*****Tragic Loss of Foresight*****

         This is like a pandemic that spreads around the world. Whether you are old or young, rich or poor, you want to make as much money as possible. If they are ways to get money free, you go for it. Whether it's ethical or not, you don't think about it. Anytime free money is available, it's likely that there's a catch or corruption. If getting rich in this life is all you care about, chances are you'll be too busy to think about your next life, which is the permanent one. This is the big tragic situation most of the world is in. When you don't have Christ to follow, you easily end up lost in darkness, or worse.

**God Frees Us from the World

         Communion experience. The Lord sets me free again, making me detached from all the things of the the world and ready to leave for him.

**Fundamental, Perpetual Battle*

        Every conflict we witness in the world is a battle between Good and Evil. Just look at our two political parties: One party basically does what would benefit itself the most, and the other, what would benefit the people of this country the most. It all comes down to if you are with God or not, for only God can make us selfless and truly care for others.

**Exactly the One We Need the Most*

        Hebrews 13:8 from today's first reading: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Psalm 27:1a, today's psalm response: The Lord is my light and my salvation. So Jesus is trustworthy, makes us see the truth, and can save us from sin. 

***Reward of Standing by Christ**

        Today's Communion antiphon from Luke 22, what Jesus said to the Apostles at the last Supper: It is you who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer a kingdom on you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. Wow, stand by him and our reward will be great in heaven! Count me in, Lord.

**Accepting Christ Matters**

        In today's Gospel readings from Mark 6, Jesus sent the Twelve out to preach repentance. He said to them, “Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” I see here the Lord is telling us that welcoming him or listening to him really matters!

***Requisites for Following Christ*

        Once you have decided to follow Christ, you must carry it out single-mindedly without ever looking back. And you should also seek to attain union with him so that you may be as holy as possible, for every sin you commit along the way can deter you from having a smooth journey. 

*****True Wisdom*****

        What makes us truly wise? A very high IQ? A vast amount of knowledge about the world? Talent on a genius level? Acumen in achieving great success in politics or business? Knowing how to live the most healthy life or make great scientific discoveries? So far, the answer is none of the above. To me, you'd be truly wise if you just let Christ free you from all sins so that you'll shortly enjoy living your eternal life in heaven!

**Sweet Discipline

        Today's first reading antiphon from Hebrews 12: The Lord disciplines those he loves. God's discipline is to be welcomed, for it sets us straight and invigorates us spiritually, making us stronger and happier.

***Being with God Matters*

        Today is the Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr. You might wonder how martyrdom can help God when you are already dead. Basically, we help God by doing his will. Saints who have already died and are now with the Lord in heaven still pray that God's will be done here on earth. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a Carmelite num and my model saint, died at age 24. Her autobiography, Story of a Soul, was published just a year after her death. So far millions and millions of copies of it have been sold worldwide in dozens of languages. Her message has surely drawn numerous souls to Christ and the Church. The Lord can always use us whether we are still alive now or not as long as we are with him.

**Most Privileged Moment**

        Communion experience. The Lord came; I was waiting for him and got invited. 

***Wake-Up Warning Advice*****

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 5, a woman afflicted with a severe hemorrhage came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?” And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”
        When we face Jesus, we'll have no choice but to tell the whole truth. So start being truthful to him now, for we won't be able to tell a different story when wen face him at judgment time.

*****Great Secret of Winning the Race*****

        In today's first reading from Hebrews 12, Paul addresses all to persevere in running the race that lies before them. Yes, following Christ is like running a race to triumph at the end. It sounds like hard work, but if you totally let the Lord carry you, it becomes effortless!

***Perfect Communication***

        The Lord knows each of us perfectly, so when he speaks to us in union with him, it's exactly what we need to know. You may say that the message is tailor-made for us, and I rejoice in that. 

***Communion Time Feeling

        A day with Christ is a day in heaven, while a day without Christ is definitely a day outside of heaven. 

***Following Christ Is . . .

continuous pure joy.         

****Living Above the Genius Level

        Here's a video that's a compilation of eight past "CBS Sunday Morning" stories featuring some brilliant and remarkable prodigies and talented individuals. It's almost 43 minutes long, but I think you probably would enjoying watching it. I suppose that most of us wouldn't mind being gifted in some special way. Here are some of my thoughts. If you use your amazing talent just to earn fame or riches, or just to feel good yourself, not realizing that it all came from God, then your achievement is not really on any lofty level. On the other hand, talented or not, anyone who loves and serves Christ faithfully and humbly is truly operating on a level way above all the other levels. Then if you were one of those remarkable geniuses and love and live for the Lord with all your heart, that would be absolutely fantastic!
         

**Stubborn Generation**

        In Matthew 9, when Jesus saw the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Today, the people, Christians included, are not that different. Again, only Christ can fundamentally change us. Without getting him involved, yon can talk, complain, cry, and advise all you want and the problem remains. It is tragic that people do not surrender themselves to the Lord to seek direct help from him. If they have no desire to change themselves first, they remain troubled and abandoned like lost sheep. 

**Critical Realization**

        It is God's will that we all come to realize that Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. When that happens, there'll be heaven on earth. And it's up to each of us to arrive at this realization and become heaven bound.

***Need for a Lord

        Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. I saw that God had created us to need a perfect Lord to follow, and Christ is that one! 

***Now or Later*

         We'll all face the Lord at the end of this life. If you are super smart, you'd face him now, get your eternity all settled, and start living a carefree life. Otherwise, you'd keep living a miserable life and face an unknown future later. The choice should be clear unless ...

**Perfect State to Be In*

        Communion experience. The Lord and I are as one. I remain perfectly still, savoring my rest in him. 

***Our Biggest Enemy***

         It's our ego. Leave it unchecked and it'll destroy your soul. Starve it to death and you defeat Satan as well.

***Beautiful Faith Journey***

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, Jesus and his disciples were in a boat crossing to the other side. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?” I can see that having faith in the almighty Lord is such a beautiful and exciting thing! And we are perfect candidates for living a life of abandonment to him.

***Sign You're in Union with God

        You are in union with God when you feel completely at ease with Christ, looking forward to doing whatever will he has for you.