**Communicating with God, a Joy**

        Communicating with other fellow humans is not always easy. Sometimes it's not even possible no matter how hard you try. Now, communicating with the Lord God is an absolute delight, for you don't even need to use words and he already knows what's in your heart. He can never misunderstand you and will speak to your heart to inspire, illuminate, guide, or comfort you. 

*****God Becoming Real*****

         Since God is real, he can become real to you. Attain union with Christ through the Holy Eucharist and he becomes more real to you than anyone else you know. Such intimacy changes you to the core. All this proves that Christ is God.

**Bestest Prize*

        Communion experience. What I have won is infinitely better and richer than the lottery—ETERNAL LIFE!

***What God Wants of Us***

        The Lord God simply wants us to accept his love! Is this too much to ask, huh?

**Play the Ball Game Right*

        God respects our feee will, so the ball is in our court now. Choose him and we live. Reject him and we perish. This should now help you hit the ball the ball back right.

**Myopic and Dumb?*

        We are good at making sure that we remain physically healthy so that we may live as long as possible on earth. Yet we seem to be unconcerned about our spiritual well-being as to what will happen to our souls after we die. What has made us so myopic? Are we dumb or what?

**Intention Matters**

        In Matthew 5, Jesus said to his disciples: Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Of course, being mortal and on earth, we can never be as perfect as God is, but we must do the best we can. The Lord would be pleased if we have this intention. In Matthew 19, Jesus said to a young man: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. Now, many of us are married and have a family to support, so the Lord's advice is not practical for us. But we should be willing to follow it if it were practical. Again, intention matters. The Lord will judge us by our intentions, not just our outward actions. Proverbs 16:2: All one’s ways are pure in one’s own eyes, but the measurer of motives is the LORD. Again, in 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord said to Samuel: God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart. Amen.

**What Keeps Us Alive**

        Today's psalm response from Psalm 13: My hope, O Lord, is in your mercy. I, a poor sinner, dare to approach the Lord only because he is merciful. None of us can possibly survive without his great mercy.

**Beautiful Truth**

        In today's reading 1 from Romans 8, Paul wrote, "All things work to the good for those who love God." Here's a truth to believe in. Put simply, we love God and all will end well for us! Amen.

***What Much Longer to Keep God Waiting?*

        The Lord God awaits us to submit ourselves to him completely, that is, to acknowledge that he is our Lord, so that we may enter paradise. If you haven't done so yet, how much longer are you going to keep him waiting? Know that God will always win in any game you play with him. Lose to him and you win every time.

**Can You Really Escape from God?**

        This is a challenging question for every non-believer. I suppose that if you are a staunch atheist, the question wouldn't concern you. All I can say to you is "Good luck." Otherwise, if you have any common sense, the answer should clearly be no; and if you are wise, you would want to become a believer.

***Smart Approach to Knowing God**

        Seeking God is not the same as seeking how to know God. Unfortunately, many people follow the latter, spending a lot of time and still failing to know God. The smart approach is to go to Jesus directly, for he is ever present and ready to receive you. People don't do that—I think it's because they are not quite ready to abandon themselves to God yet. Once you turn to Christ, just open yourself up wide to him and he'll reciprocate by revealing himself to you—now you know him. (This is not a new message; it's just important enough to be reiterated.)

***Jesus' Death Accepted***

        Today Tuesday is the day of praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Here are my thoughts. If anyone suffers a death like Jesus', I would feel most sorry for that person. But Jesus' suffering and death are different and most personal, for he died for my sins so that I might live! And I don't mind that because deep down I know I am a sinner. This to me is a great blessing!

***Our Big Fault**

        In today's Gospel  reading from Luke 13, Jesus cured a crippled woman in a synagogue. The leader of the synagogue got indignant that Jesus had done it on the sabbath. Our big fault is also to find fault with others. Instead of trying to help or understand others, we criticize and judge them outright. It's this hypocritical holier-than-thou attitude that really displeases the Lord.

**Important Realizations**

        Today's psalm response from Psalm 68: Our God is the God of salvation. Critical realization: We are sinners and we need the salvation of our souls. Most heartening realization: God has given his only Jesus so that we may not perish but have eternal life. 

**Evidence the Spirit Dwells in You**

        In today's first reading from Romans 8, Paul wrote, "You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, 'Abba, Father!'" Addressing God as Abba in Aramaic is like calling God Dad in a close and intimate relation. So if you turn to the Lord and "Abba" spontaneously bursts forth from your heart, the Holy Spirit dwells in you!

***We'll Have No Peace . . .

until we accept death and live for Christ.

**Use of Our Free Will**

        God gave us the free will, so we have the freedom to choose to be free from sin or to remain in sin. If you believe that God loves you, the right choice is a no-brainer. 

***Secret to Peace**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 18, Jesus said, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." When the Lord exalts us, we finally attain inner peace.

***Our G00D (GREAT) NEWS**

        I don't believe that there is anyone who wants to live in this chaotic, disordered world forever; and if there is life after death, we'd all want it to be better. Especially, if it's going to be everlasting, it'd better be perfect! The good news is that we indeed will have what we hope for if we follow Christ; for he has already died for us on the cross so that we might have life in heaven for all eternity!

**Our Distinguished Lord**

        Jesus is the Lord of lords, yet he never lord it over us. In other words, he's unlike any of us in the position of a lord. Utter humility is what distinguishes him.

***Clear and Simple Truth***

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus called the people to repentance. He said to them, "I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish!" The message is so clear and simple! Repentance can really cheer us up! If you don't feel excited about it, something has to be wrong with you. It could very well be that you are not ready to deal with all your sins yet, which basically is avoiding God.

**We Have the Same Spirit**

        In today's reading 1 from Romans 8, Paul wrote, "The Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you." So that same Spirit dwells in us. If we let the Spirit have free rein, we can accomplish whatever the Lord wishes and become like him. More power to us!

***Unbelievable Experience*****

        Communion experience. The greatest humblest miracle took place on the altar when the consecrated bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ the Lord. I was not only present, but also participated in it by uniting myself with the Lord both physically and spiritually. All in all, it's heavenly! awesome! and unbelievable!

***Sure Way to Loving God***

        We've been told to love God by doing this or that and almost never to surrender ourselves to God completely to attain union with him. And we end up lost in the innumerable rules we're given to follow. Of course, the right order is to seek union directly with the Lord through the Holy Eucharist first. Once you attain union, you'll know automatically how to love and serve him in your heart. 

**Sad Observation*

        The wise always follow the Lord. Looking around, I see that most of us, even though they profess to be Christians, are still deeply ingrained in their own ways and thinking.  Basically, they still foolishly follow themselves, barely the Lord. 

***One Basic Rule of Life***

         When the salvation of your soul is at stake, you must not take any chance. That is, you must always take the Lord seriously and never wait until it's too late. For example, if you believe that God will always take you back as long as you turn to him before you die, well, the Lord is always a step ahead of you. When he sees that you are really not in a hurry to turn to him, he may very well not give you that chance you count on. Revere the Lord and you take care of your soul as well. 

**Complete Delivery from the Body*

         In today's reading 1 from Romans 7, Paul wrote, "Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Yes, Christ can free us from our mortal body once and for all. Trapped in this body, we are weighed down physically and sin through our physical senses. If we follow Christ, he frees us from sin starting right now and will deliver us from our body totally the day we depart from this world. Misery will be gone forever!

*****Our Obligation Is Clear***

        Let's look at the Lord God. He is infinite and almighty, and is our creator. Now, look at ourselves. We entered the world naked, not owning anything. We live because our God and Father sustains us. Everyone and everything needed by us all came from him. In other words, we are 100% dependent upon God. Above all, he loves us with the greatest love. In such a situation, how should we behave or act toward him? Objectively, I see that the only correct answer is that we trust in and obey God wholeheartedly without reservation.  

***God's Great Mercy**

        This video presents a message that gives us hope and teaches us not to judge anyone. It shows how truly merciful God is.

**Our Dividing Lord**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus told his disciples that he had come not to establish peace on the earth, but rather division. He said, "From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." This has turned to be true to this day. This is proof that Jesus is the truth by which we are differentiated. Otherwise, the division wouldn't have been such a big deal.

**Right Choice Crystal Clear**

        The last verse from today's reading 1 from Romans 6 reads, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." What a clear, sharp contrast between the two! You can't possibly make the wrong choice here unless you've already been duped by pride to the point you can no longer think clearly.

**God Is Both Merciful and Strict**

         If you humble yourself before the Lord, you'll find him to be most merciful. But if you exalt yourself before him, you'll find him to be a lot stricter than expected. 

***Perfect Experience**

         Communion experience. Receiving the Savior to be in union with him both physically and spiritually is a heavenly experience. It's more than beautiful, so I'd describe it as a "perfect" experience.

**Logical Conclusion*

         If God can get us into heaven, he certainly can take care of everything else for us unless we get in his way.

****How to Gain God's Trust****

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus told the Parable of the Vigilant and Faithful Servants to his disciples. He concluded, "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more." Would you like to be someone the Lord can entrust? Know that if you are someone he cannot entrust with anything, you are doomed! To gain the Lord's trust, just trust in him all the way, for he'll reciprocate by trusting in you in equal measures.

**Resurrected in Christ**

        In  today's reading 1 from Romans 6, Paul wrote, "Present yourselves to God as raised from the dead." We who have accepted Christ as our Lord and God can indeed be seen as to have been raised from the dead, for its Christ now living in us, with us living for him alone. We are no longer dead in sin, but alive and vibrant, living a new life in the Lord! 

***Are You Perfect?*

         I'll start with this simple question. If your answer is no, then you need the God of Christ, for he, the Almighty, can make you perfect. Then if you don't want him to make you perfect, you're basically telling him you don't care about going to heaven, right? Is this what you really want? Avoiding or running away from God who honestly loves and only wants the best for you is being unconscionable and foolish to the extreme! By tbe way, it never ends well.

**Mark of the Blessed Christian*

         Today's Gospel acclamation, from Luke 12.37a: Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival, says the Lord. If you expect and look forward to the coming of the Lord at all times, you are blessed.

**Mishaps Can Be Blessings**

        We all have mishaps happening to us, causing pain or suffering. Since God loves us, everything he allows to happen to us has to be for our ultimate good. If you don't see that and blame God for it instead, no good will come out of it for you. Now, we are all sinners. Even if God forgives us all our sins, we still need to pay for our offenses, just like a remorseful criminal still having to serve his sentence. If we'd see all our mishaps as payment for our sins, they become blessings, for they will now shorten (or eliminate) our time in purgatory later! Suffering now is always preferable to suffering later after death.

***Time to Be Holy*

        The time to be holy is now when you are still alive. After you die, you cannot make yourself holier when you appear before the Lord.  Now is the perfect time to love your God as much as possible to be fulfilled to the max, and you'll experience freedom, peace, and joy, the three big blessings from him. 

****Changing Our Destiny***

        Part of today's Communion antiphon based upon Psalm 33:18-19: Behold, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, who hope in his merciful love, to rescue their souls from death.... Know that as sinners, we are heading toward death. Therefore, we need to fear the Lord and hope in his merciful love to let him rescue our souls!

***Praying for Ourselves First***

        When other people hurt us, we usually realize it right away. But when we do something that hurts others, we are often much less sensitive to that. On judgment day, the Lord is going to show us all the times we hurt others. So let's be more aware of how we treat others. It'll be a good humble practice to pray for ourselves before taking any action. We might need more prayers than others!

***No Appointed Time for One Thing**

        If you are familiar with Ecclesiastes 3, you know that there is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. Looking at my own life, I see a time to give up certain worldly attachments, a time to change my entire outlook on life, a time to get ready for meeting my God and not to ever look back again.  The only big exception is that we should always love God. Keep that love alive and it will take us through eternity (of course, you can never get through it and that suits me fine)!

***Spiritual Blunders*

        There are many, but two cases I've recently noticed are as follows: (1) One claiming his belief in God, but not knowing anything about his God and it's not Christ. (2) One not totally rejecting Christ but choosing not to follow some of his teachings, such as that on forgiving others many times. Such blunders can be detrimental to one's soul.

**Praising Turning into Submission**

         I yearn to praise God, but words fail me. Out of frustration, I give up and switch to yielding myself to him completely. This is a lot easier and I am sure it pleases the Lord just as much. Praise God! 

**Feeling Sorry for the Right One**

        We profess to be Christians, yet among all the people we know or know about, we seem to think about or talk to Christ the least. So we may feel sorry for the Lord, but we really should feel more sorry for ourselves as the Lord is pitying us right now.

**Communioin Prayer

        After I received the Lord, I asked him to reveal all my faults and blemishes so that he may perfect me more. When you are holier, you always experience greater joy.

***Prayer for All Earthlings*

         From Holy Scriptures, what God has revealed to many saints, mystics, and seers, and numerous NDE accounts, we know that heaven and hell definitely exist. Those who believe in Christ know that the day of their death will be the day of entering paradise where their'll be totally free and enjoy bliss. On the other hand, those who don't know nor follow Christ are not sure what awaits them on the other side; they simply avoid thinking about it. We all live on the same planet now, how I pray that we'll all end up in the same happy place!

**Expecting the Unexpected**

        My brother-in-law just slipped and fell in his own house and suffered fractures of some bones. Now he has to have surgery to mend them. Unexpected things can happen to all of us and we need to be aware of that. The best way is to trust in Christ and put ourselves in his hands, then nothing will alarm us anymore. 

***Urgent Action Needed***

        Life becomes meaningful only when we realize that God is defending our souls all along in his continuing battle against the Evil One. Our eternal wellbeing is at stake, so it is crucial that we wake up and do our part! Christ has already made it clear as to how we can get ourselves saved. It's now-or-never time!

***In Another World**

        Communion experience. I am totally in the Lord, all his, feeling heavenly free!

*****This You Must Know*****

         We have no way of getting rid of or running away from our sins on our own, for they are blemishes on our souls. The God of Christ, the way and the truth and the life, is the only one who can take them away from us. How we need him!

****How to Become Super Free & Strong***

        Simple, you just love Jesus with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

**Being Wise Enough*

        It would be wise to be able to turn to Jesus to tell him that you love him, are sorry for all your sins and ask him to please forgive you before you die, for this would surely save you from going to hell. Then I realize that's not being wise enough, for what if you die suddenly or have dementia! So to be truly wise, you would turn to the Lord to reconcile yourself with him right now!

***Prayer Tips

        When we ask the Lord for a favor, we need to (1) submit ourselves totally to his will, (2) pray straight from the heart, and (3) be sure that our motivation stems from pure love. If I pray for someone sick in my family to get well so that the person may not become a burden to me, my motivation is no longer pure. Prayers should center on glorifying God alone.

**Joyful Yearning and Thirsting**

         Today is the Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus. The antiphon taken from Psalm 42 reads, "Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God." Before I know God, I yearned and thirsted for something to fill the void of my life. That was yearning and thirsting in gloom. Then I got to know the Lord God through his Son Jesus and my void was filled. Now I yearn and thirst for God the Father in joy!

****A Reminder Warning****

        This month, quite a few members of my family celebrate their birthdays, and we recall the years when they were still kids. The years went by quickly. Then I see that our life on earth is really short when compared to the coming next life which will last forever. Instead of reminiscing about the past on earth, we should really think about the coming next life. If it's going to be a miserable one, will we be able to stand it? The time to fix that is now!

***Levels of Certainty*

        Here's an image of mankind. We are all hanging from a cliff for the time being and the day will come when we can no longer hold on anymore. Those who follow Christ faithfully already have a safety line tied around them and are no longer concerned about ever falling off the cliff. Those who reject Christ will have the shock of their life on that day. And those who do not know or believe in Christ due to no fault of their own can go either way, the Lord alone knowing what they justly deserve.  

**Blinded by Pride**

        Trump's big Mideast peace deal is the current big news. Looking at all the past wars and conflicts, they all eventually ended after much destruction, human suffering, and great loss of lives. The current war between Russia and Ukraine is no exception. So why do we ever start a war? And if one has started, why do we have to wait until many lives are lost and properties destroyed before seeking peace? How can we be so blind and stupid? Of course, the cause of it all is our pride! Jesus declared in the Sermon of the Mount: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Alas, we've fallen so far away from God!

***Much About the Ego**

        Whenever we feel insecure, our ego comes out. A world full of egos may be more interesting, but it will definitely lack peace. If you pay attention, you can sense egos all around. Now, ego begets greed, especially greed for money. If money is the root of all evil, then ego is fundamentally even more so. Ego projects a fake image of you. Let's remember what Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 5.37: "Let your 'Yes’'mean ‘Yes,’ and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one." Humility is the cure for the ego. Be humble enough to let the Lord occupy you fully and your ego will be ousted.

***Astounding Revelation***

       When we love someone or something, it's because that object gratifies our physical or intellectual desires. Then God loved us so much that he sacrificed his only Son to save us from eternal death—such a selfless, unconditional pure love is eye-opening, actually mind-blowing! It has made many of us fall in love with the Lord and had our lives transformed!  

**To All Who Are Aging:

        Most of us deal with the problems and affairs in this secular world daily. As we age, it would be wise for us to spend more time dealing with any issues we have with the Lord God before time runs out. Ideally, it'd be best to establish our good relationship with God from the very beginning before dealing with everything else. 

**Cause of Unrest**

         The world is not at peace because we hearts are not at peace. They are not because we disobey the God of Christ. Straighten out our relationship with the Lord and we will have peace. 

***Are You Keeping God Waiting?

         Communion experience. It's so good to receive the Lord, body and blood in both species. No one can possibly take him away from me! To all of you who have not accepted Christ yet, how much longer are you going to make him wait?  He's waiting for you to turn to him, but your time could run out. He loves you greatly. If you fall in love with him, you'll live the most rewarding life now and forever! 

**Key That Opens the Gate to Heaven**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus cleansed ten lepers and only one of them returned to thank him. Jesus said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." We cannot be saved without faith of any kind, and faith in Christ the Savior absolutely secures our salvation. This faith is the key that opens the gate to heaven for us. 

**Worth Dying For**

        Truth is for us to live for, but it's also worth dying for. Since Christ is the truth, he is worth dying for. 

****Most Righteous Goal****

        To want to be a saint is not for self-glory. In fact, it's being humbly obedient to God's No. 1 will for us—to get us into heaven! If you do not accept this love from him, you basically have no true love for others.

*****Smartest, Life-Changing, & Most Rewarding Move**

        It is the prodigal-son move: You realize that you are a sinner and need God's help, and you proceed to reconcile yourself with the Lord. This is a huge move that will make heaven rejoice!

**Ask for Mercy from God and . . .

you'll receive peace from him.

**How to Make God Bless You*

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 11: While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." You see how simple and easy it can be to get blessed by God!

**No Less Important than Prophets*

         A prophet is essentially someone who has been chosen by God to speak for him. For all of us who follow Christ, we have essentially been chosen by God to serve him in some way that suits us. If we assume our roles seriously, we are no less important than the prophets. 

**God Is Most Enjoyable When . . .**

you have your heart enkindled by the Holy Spirit.

**Christ Is Our Light**

        From today's reading 1 from Joel 1: The day of the Lord is coming, a day of darkness and of gloom. This is true for those who do not repent, but for all who have been born anew in Christ, it'll be a day of brightness and of great joy!

**Being he Happiest Person**

        Communion experience. An unhappy person is always seeking something to keep himself happy. Since I already have Christ, I don't lack anything anymore. So I really felt that I was the happiest person in the whole world.. 

***Inportant Questions to Ask Now**

        I got to church for Mass a little early this morning, so I decided o remain in my car to pray a little bit. When I closed my eyes, I felt as if I was traveling forward, seeing the sceneries passing by. It's like being in a dream state except that you are awake. This instantly reminded me of the reality that we were all traveling toward God, something we cannot stop. When we see him, will he exalt or humble us? welcome us turn us away? These are the important questions we need to ask ourselves now.

***Communion Experience

        The more I feel unworthy of receiving the Lord, the more I appreciate his invitation to receive him. His love is truly everlasting!

**Another Wake-Up Call**

        God's love and mercy are so great that you have to be totally out of your mind (to put it mildly) not to be saved through Christ! So wake up and start to live.

***Awesome, Amazing God**

        Today's entrance antiphon: Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all. It's awesome that all things consist of not only inanimate objects, but also living beings like us who possess a conscience, a soul, free will, intellect, and wisdom. Even more amazing, the Lord God turns out to be pure love!

***Most Expedient Way to Know God***

        Imagine that you see Jesus, all the great saints and prophets, and the multitude of all the best speakers, authors, scholars, counselors . . . all before you. Whom would you choose to follow? I have no doubt we who seek the Lord would all run straight toward Christ, bypassing all the others. And this is the way it should be when we don't see them all. Go direct to the Lord and you'll be fulfilled the soonest.

***Ego to Be Silenced***

         Here's today's entire Gospel reading from Luke 10. Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." Here, Martha spoke from her ego. Just yesterday, I blogged about the ideal state in which we let the Lord initiate every thought and prompt every word we speak. It's so easy to want to speak out whenever we feel mistreated ever so slightly. We really should let it go if the Lord is not offended.

*****My Big Loving Tip*****

        Today's Responsorial Psalm response from Psalm 130.3: "If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?" If the Lord exalts or humbles you, there is nothing you can do about it. Should you offend him, do not repent, and get yourself condemned, there is also nothing you can do about it. So be smart: Do all you can to secure your eternal future now when you can. To end up with God or nothing is all up to you!

*****Power to Control Our Destiny*****

        Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. In the first reading from Jonah 3, the LORD sent Jonah to Nineveh to announce, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed." The people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he did not carry out what he had threatened to do to them. We see that repentance and turning away from evil is most powerful—it brings us back to the LORD our most beloved heavenly Father, not to mention the profound peace and great joy we'll experience. Only a giant fool would choose to go his own way! 

**Speaking Rule for the Christian

         A genuine Christian should always speak what he believes in from the heart without ego.

**Ideal State**

        Once we attain union with the Lord thru the Holy Eucharist, we'll be able to let the Lord initiate every thought and prompt every word we speak. This is the ideal state to be in to preserve our inner peace. When we are at peace with God, we are at peace with ourselves too.

***All Settled*

        The Lord God has to be infinite and omnipotent or he can't possibly be God. And through Jesus, we have no doubt that he loves us. Accept the above and we know we can totally trust in the God of Christ (by logic and common sense). So let's do it!! From now on, we know that the Lord will take complete care of us so that we may remain in peace always.

***We Cannot Serve God and Ourselves***

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus described the proper attitude of a servant to his apostles. He said to them, "Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'? Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you.When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" Clearly, as long as the self-serving ego exists in us, we'll have no peace. Set ourselves on serving only God and we become free!

***Ultimate Joy***

         Todays is the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi. In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, the seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said to them, "Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Our ultimate joy is knowing that we'll ultimately be returning to the Lord in heaven to stay for all eternity!

**Good Fear vs. Bad Fear**

        You fear God because he is holy and you are awed and want to be holy like him—this is good fear. Here's the bad one: You are so sinful that you are afraid that God is going to punish you. We see that one is God-centered and positive, while the the other, self-centered and negative.

**Big Misunderstanding**

        People believe that if they let God be their Lord, they would lose their freedom, not realizing that they are slaves to their own sins! They will only see that this is a gross misunderstanding when they realize that they are sinners who need salvation and the Lord is indeed the one who can remove their sins and set them free. 

***Jesus Revealing His Status***

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus appointed seventy-two whom he sent ahead of him to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." This last saying which I have italicized is monumental, for rejecting Jesus is rejecting the heavenly Father! This bold claim plus the irrefutable fact that he did rise from the dead is enough to prove that he is indeed the Son of God.

***Unchanging, Everlasting Lord*

         Communion experience. I received exactly what the Apostles received at the Last Supper. Hebrew 13.8: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is to be trusted and relied upon forever!

**Better Rest**

         In the world, our body may find temporary rest if need be, but in Christ, our soul can find rest for all eternity, something we can't afford to neglect.

**Admission Free for Little Children**

         Today is the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 8, Jesus called a child over, placed it in the midst of his disciples and said to them, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." We are all God's children. Before the infinite Lord, we should remain as little as possible. Become like humble little children and entering the Kingdom of heaven is assured.

**How Shall We Become?*

        This is a good question to ask ourselves as we get older and closer to facing the Lord God. The only correct and logical answer: We shall become holier and holier everyday.

***Perfection of Conscience***

         In union with the Lord, he perfects your conscience and you see what he sees in you—an awesome freedom!

*Pure Joy*

         Communion experience. Receiving the Lord in union with him is pure joy!

**Following the Lord Our First Thing**

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus said to someone, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." What we learn here is that we need to say yes to every call from the Lord without hesitation! This shows we are obedient to him and in union with him.

***A Forewarning***

        On my way to church for Mass this morning, I drove past a field covered with pumpkins, letting me know that Halloween is coming up on the last day of this month. My thoughts are when we are young and physically fit, we just go ahead and do whatever we'd like to do, such as getting ready to sell pumpkins for Halloween, without seeking any guidance from the Lord. We live like this until we grow old and can't do much physical work anymore. Then we realize that we need to depend on God more, but find it now hard to let him take control of our lives. Today is the Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, my beloved model saint. The entrance antiphon was based on Deuteronomy 32: 10-12: "The Lord led her and taught her, and kept her as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle spreading its wings he took her up and bore her on his shoulders. The Lord alone was her guide." It's beautiful to let God alone be our guide. But if we wait around too long, we may not be able to achieve that goal!