***When we trust in God . . .

we become channels of his power for the good of all sinners.

**This I Know**

        There is an infinite number of things I don't know, but I do know without a doubt that Christ is our Savior, being the only light who can lead us out of darkness.

***Conversion Story*

        Here's a short video showing why an evangelical is becoming Catholic. This first reason he gives was also one of mine when I decided to become Catholic decades ago as a Presbyterian.    

***What to Avoid at All Costs***

        The pain of offending the Lord we feel in this life is real and can be unbearable. Imagine how bad the souls in hell must feel when they experience various even much worse pains that never end. 

**How Hard Is Your Heart?**

         Today's Communion antiphon, Revelation 3:20—Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. Such a beautiful, sweet, and kind invitation! The Lord is ready and waiting, so how are you going to respond? 

**Aging Blessing*

         When you are young and physically fit, you pursue many activities in the world in hope that life would be worth living. Then you age and your physical condition deteriorates to the point you no longer can participate in all those activities, and you have no choice but to think about God more,. Now you start to grow spiritually and see that life can truly be worth living. This shift of focus or attention is a great blessing!  

**Being Fake and Being Genuine**

         When our thinking, reasoning, and emotions get tainted, we easily sin and remain in unrest. Now we are no longer genuine, for we must act as if we're not sinful. Those who don't sin or have repented and all their sins taken away don't have to pretend that they are someone else, so they remain genuine and live in peace.

**Our Brightest Hope**

         Sometimes if we don't watch our self-righteousness, it can overcome our sense of restraint and end up hurting someone. This is a sin. I know because I just did that to someone and felt terrible! I have apologized to that person, but confession is in order. Much more humility is needed, something we can never have enough. Recently, I blogged that we should always trust in the Lord and never let anything disturb our peace. This is correct, but as usual, it's easily said than done. Fortunately, we always have Christ present to perfect us and that's enough to cheer us up again.

**Happy with God*

         At Mass this Sunday morning, I rejoiced that I had such a holy God who can make me holy like him one day.

**Wise Advice**

         The Lord God is Lord and God, to be obeyed completely by us! Play any "game" with him and you'll always end up losing—this is a foregone conclusion. So wise up for the sake of your own soul.

**Most Worthwhile Exchange**

         Communion experience. When you give up everything for Christ's sake, you gain freedom and eternal life to boot.

**One Most Beautiful; One Ugliest**

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 1, how the birth of Jesus came about was told. We know that the angl Gabriel appeared Mary and announced to her that she had found favor with God, and through the Holy Spirit she would conceive and bear a son to be named Jesus who would be great and called Son of the Most High. Mary responded, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Anytime God asks us to do something and we say yes, it's such a beautiful thing! By the same token, anytime we ignore or say no to God, it has to be one of the ugliest things in the whole universe! We have caused disorder and lose our peace as a result.

***We Should Imitate Christ Because . . .

he is the perfect example of carrying out the will  of the Father.

**Be Righteous in God's Eyes**

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 1, God chose Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth to become the parents of John the Baptist because they were righteous in his eyes. We can never be really perfect, but we can surely be righteous. So, let being perfect be our goal and being righteous, our way. Intention and effort count. Obey the Lord always and we'll be favored by him now and made perfect one day. 

***Fulfulling God's Greatest Desire***

         Christmas Day is just a week away. We'll be celebrating the coming of the Messiah. The fact is that he has already come and is here with us. What we need to do has gone beyond making his paths straight—it's now making his dwelling in us as comfortable as possible. This requires our total trust in and complete obedience to him. It is fulfilling the Lord's greatest desire to lead us to the greatest possible happiness of our existence!

***Enormous Change for Us***

        Holding onto yourself is like trying to pull yourself up by your bootstraps—you're not going to get anywhere. It's submitting yourself to Jesus Christ that sets you free. Now you experience his love, power, wonders, and enjoy his eternal peace. You were a defiled sinner, now your are made clean and heaven bound. The change is truly enormous! When you go along with the Lord, no way can you go wrong.

*****Rock Solid Truth and Reality*****

        Everything in our life will pass except our life in Christ that's everlasting! So rejoice in the Lord always!

***Only Connection We Need*

         Communion experience. I know I am now connected to the Lord God and heaven through Jesus. There's nothing else I need nor wish to connect to anymore. 

**Spiritual Dementia?**

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 21, Jesus told the parable of the Two Sons. The lesson was that whoever ultimately believes and obeys the Lord will enter his Kingdom. We know from John 3:16 that anyone who believes in Christ will not perish but have eternal life. It's so simple, but many just don' believe. This is like being given an admission ticket to heaven and you just don't want to take it. Spiritual dementia might be an appropriate name for it.

***Valid Question**

        In Mark 8 (also Matthew 16), Jesus asked, "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?" I see people who pride themselves on getting along with everyone else (at least according to them). So you could also ask: "What profit is there for one to get along with the whole world, but not with God?"

***How We Need Christ!***

        Communion experience. We absolutely need Christ, for only he can take away our sins and make us perfect!

*****Following Christ Perfectly*****

        Today's Entrance Antiphon based upon Jeremiah 31:10 and Isaiah 35: 4—Hear the word of the Lord, O nations; declare it to the distant lands: Behold, our Savior will come; you need no longer fear. For us, Christ our Savior has already come, so we only need to trust in him and let nothing bother us anymore. We may appear cold externally, but I believe this is how the Lord wants us to follow him. When we don't let our will, feelings, and emotions get in the way, and remain unperturbed, we'll be able to see God's will clearly and carry it out confidently. 

**Involving the Heart**

         Serving the Lord without involving the heart is a wasted gesture.

***Be Ready for What's Coming***

        Communion experience. Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist is most satisfying; how more satisfying we'll feel in heaven is hard to imagine. By the same token, hell will be more horrible than what we can possibly imagine. Everything will be magnified or intensified later. Prepare for the best for us and let the worst go, and we'll be fine.

****The Only One to Seek****

         Should God understand you totally, even if the whole world doesn't understand you, it doesn't matter anymore. This is not giving up; it's total victory!

***Joy of the Lord*

        As Christmas approaches, the readings at today's Mass reflect more the joy of anticipating the coming of Christ the Savior. Then I realize that in reality he has already come and is here with me totally, and my joy becomes uncontainable! The desire to spread this joy follows. Sadly, much of the world doesn't want to hear the good news of salvation, for Christ makes them feel uncomfortable. I think you know why. I've been even accused of judging them. They don't realize that judging is exposing all one's faults without mercy. Anyway, being misunderstood for Jesus' name is an honor and also joy. This joy is now part of the overall great joy.  

**Staying Awake, a Christian Duty**

         Today is the Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr. The Gospel reading was the Parable of the Ten Virgins from from Matthew 25. Five were foolish and five wise. When the long-delayed bridegroom arrived at midnight, the wise ones trimmed their lamps filled with oil and were ready to meet him, while the foolish found their lamps going out due to insufficient oil and had to go off to buy some. Meanwhile the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. The door was then shut. Afterwards the foolish ones returned and found themselves locked out. Therefore, we need to stay awake always. That means we need to be in a state of grace always.

***A Most Blessed State***

        It's being humble and in union with the most humble and meek Lord.

**Remain Lowly to Become Mighty**

        Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Communion Antiphon, Luke 1:52, "The Lord has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly," came from Mary's Canticle after the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to her. Be lowly and the Lord will make you mighty. This is in accord with what Jesus said later in Luke 14:11: "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

***Faith in God Is Everything***

        In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Of course, whatever we ask the Lord to do has to be serious, urgent, necessary, and reasonable. But most of all, it should always glorify him. Now, when we pray that the Lord would heal someone who's sick, we usually plead for his mercy mercy. I'll never forget the time my son was hit by a virus when he was 27. His heart almost stopped beating and the doctor informed me that even if he recovered, he'd need a heart transplant. I walked into the ER with a cotton ball I had which I believed to be soaked with the tears from a weeping icon of Mother Mary. I made the sign of the cross with it on my son's forehead and said, "Be healed in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." It was the first time I sounded as if I was giving a command. My son was discharged on the 4th day. It was a miracle! Now, praying for someone's conversion is more complex, for it involves the free will of that person. Still, believing that nothing will be impossible for God is the way to go, and those who hold great faith in the Lord God will witness his wonders, experience his joy, and have life forever!

*****Keeping Our Intentions Pure*****

         If we truly believe in the Lord, knowing that he is our only judge and will totally take care of what we ask for, then after we pray to him, we should absolutely feel at peace. This is a good test of our faith. We should always keep God's will intact, not to taint it the slightest with ours. This is a great way of purifying our intentions.

**Short-Lived vs. Lasting Happiness**

         When we do things just to feel good momentarily, we are being self-centered. On the other hand, when we just remain humble and experience great peace, that results from being God-centered.

***Our Greatest Triumph***

         It is to be able to not fall into sin for the sake of God the Father who loves us.

**Destined for Greatness**

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus said to the crowds: "Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he." So all of you who are on the way to entering the Kingdom of heaven rejoice, for that you are going to be great in the eyes of the Lord!    

***Perfect Submission to Christ Brings . . .***

perfect peace to us. 

***True Love***

         Communion experience: The Lord invites us to receive his own body and blood—he truly loves us!

*****My Most Urgent Appeal to All*****

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18, Jesus said to his disciples: "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost." We see how precious our souls are! Don't you see that when you reject the heavenly Father, you basically go against his will that you not be lost? We are all his children, so to all of you, my brothers and sisters, please do not commit spiritual suicide, for the Father truly loves us.

**A Lesson Learned**

        This morning after I got up, I found a knot in the stainless steel chain on the miraculous medal I wore around my neck. That was somewhat unexpected and a mystery. And it took me quite a few minutes to untangle the knot. I saw that the Lord was teaching me a lesson here. You see, I'd been bothered by this problem. I bought something online and it didn't work out. So I requested to return the item, and the company issued me a return label and would deduct the return shipping cost from the refund amount later. That sounded fair enough until I noticed that the return label was marked 2ND DAY AIR. That would cost a lot more than regular no-rush shipping. It seemed that they were trying to make more money from my return. I emailed them to inquired about this, but received no response for days. I began to believe that I was right—another unpleasant issue now to deal with. I finally phoned them earlier today and was told not to be concerned about that, for the standard charge on my kind of return was fixed at $12. So it's a matter of bad communication. The lesson of the knot in the chain is that unexpected problems happen and we must not project the worst so that we may remain unperturbed. Then deal with each problem patiently to arrive at a resolution. 

***Most Wonderful Gift from God***

         Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I praise God for having created her without original sin so that she might be fit to bear his divine Son and our Savior. I also praise God that Mary willingly followed the Father's plan, is now actively praying for all sinners, and will be used by him to crush Satan in the end. Last, I rejoice that Christ has given his own mother to be our mother too—what a most wonderful gift! This truly fulfills a basic need of ours as children of the Father.

**Laura's Testimony*

         A short that's beautifully honest which I forgot to post when I first caught it earlier.

***The Lord My Defender***

         Communion experience. We do get to drink from the chalice of Jesus' Most Precious Blood at Sunday Masses. This Sacred Blood is so powerful that it can ward off attacks from all evil spirits. The Lord is now my defender!

***Best Preparation for Entering Heaven***

         Attain union with Christ through the Holy Eucharist.

**How Do We Straighten the Lord's Paths?*

         In the Gospel reading from Matthew 3, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. The Lord is already here, so how do we prepare his way by making straight his paths? The answer: We remain wide open to him so as not to obstruct his paths in any way. 

**Trusting in God's Justice**

         We learn today from the first reading from Isaiah 11 and the Responsorial Psalm 72 that the Lord will judge all of us with perfect justice. This should put all of us who follow him at ease, for whatever each person receives in the end will be perfectly justified.  

***Warning Continued***

         In my last post, I stated "if you think that you are good enough to get into heaven, you are not taking the whole matter seriously." So you may not even make it. The sure way is to do the very opposite: You assume that you are not good enough to enter heaven, and you submit yourself totally to God's mercy and humbly follow his will as best as you can. Now you have ensured the opposite effect.

*****Dire Warning*****

         If you think that you are good enough to get into heaven, you are not taking the whole matter seriously. To be serious, we must realize how horrible it'd be to end up in hell! What's truly horrible is that our separation from God and the agony and suffering we experience there is forever! For this alone, we need to believe in Christ our Savior right now. Going to hell is a no-fun oneway trip—don't ever let it happen to you!

**How Christ Sees Us**

         While Jesus was on earth, he never really judged others. He always loved everyone and felt sorry for those who were lost. He even pray for his enemies: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do" after they crucified him. The Lord is truly magnanimous!

**How We Are Tested**

        In this evil world, we are being tested to see how faithful we are in following Christ, which translates to if we show love for others in all that we do.

**Do You Know?**

        Jesus has died on the cross in our place so that we may have life eternal, so it's no surprise that he'll be the one to judge all of us in the end. He has loved us to death and we're being tested by how we respond to this love.

**Jesus Comforts Us**

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, two blind men cried out as Jesus passed by,"Son of David, have pity on us!" He said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened. This last saying of the Lord is so good for us to hear from him! In turn, it'd be good for us to always pray "Let it be done for us according to your will."   

***God's Most Ardent Wish***

         Today's Entrance Antiphon: Behold, the Lord will come descending with splendor to visit his people with peace, and he will bestow on them eternal life. God, because he loves us so much, wants to bestow on us eternal life. I am sure many know about it, yet they don't seem to care. So for their sake, I am restating it here loud and clear: God's most ardent wish is to bestow eternal life on all of us!

***How to Be Prepared*

         For the Christian, it's to be ready to leave this world and go home to the Father in heaven. It's the best to come, something really to look forward to.

**Just Believing Is Not Good Enough

         To Believe is not the same as to want to believe. If we believe in God only halfheartedly, or with no zeal, then we are Christians in name only. Christians who want to believe in God are always on the move, alive and eager to serve the Lord.

**Self-Examination Time

         This begins my posting for today, Dec. 4. The Gospel acclamation from today's reading from Matthew 7: Whoever does the will of my Father will enter the Kingdom of heaven. This is so easy to know and remember for us to get into heaven. To do the will of the Father, we only need to listen to and follow Jesus the Son! God makes everything simple for us, yet we make it complicated for ourselves. We need to make a good examination of ourselves and start to see and live right!

***Most Powerful Bond***

         Communion experience: In union with the Lord, your invisible bond with him is stronger than any visible or physical bond, and you are closer to him than to anyone else! 

*****The Lord Is Perfection*****

         Jesus is the embodiment of perfection. It there are others who are perfect, there have all been all been made perfect by or thru him. So Jesus is the first and eternal perfection.

**In Case You Don't Know . . .*

         It's our pride that prevents us from obeying God and gets our soul ruined in the end if we don't follow the example of our most humble Lord.

**Speak and Proclaim We Must**

        The Communion antiphon of Dec. 3, Matthew 10:27: What I say to you in the darkness speak in the light, says the Lord, what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. We who follow Christ cannot remain silent; we must listen to voice of the Spirit and speak out. We are to be warriors ablaze. holy rabble-rousers.

***God's Humble Power*

        In the Gospel reading from Matthew 15, Jesus took seven loaves of bread and a few fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn fed a hungry crowd of four thousand men, not counting women and children. They all ate and were satisfied. This miracle may not be so dramatic as the miracle of the sun that happened at Fatima in 1917, witnessed by a estimated 70,000 people, but it's equally amazing, if not more so. The Lord always shows his power to us most humbly to benefit us physically and/or spiritually only.

*****REAL PRAYING Called For***

         I lost my internet service again yesterday, so I'lI share yesterday's thoughts first. I first hared Laura's conversion story Buddhist to Catholic on November 5. Coming across this short of hers titled The Virgin Mary Is Real (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_bkJT69e6eE) triggered in me the following thoughts. There is a difference between just praying and real praying. One is a lot of more serious than the other. You can say your prayer as an an obligation, while your mind is elsewhere. Or you can pray, feeling strongly prompted by the Holy Spirit or that you really need God's help. Recently, I felt the urgency to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet before an original Divine Mercy image hung on a wall in my house. I stood close to it the whole time, focusing fully on the Lord and saying every word from my heart, and my soul felt the close presence of the Lord. Never hold back if you feel like pouring your heart out to him, for "real praying" allows God to let you experience him fully. He always treats us the way we treat him! He is not to be just a casual acquaintance of ours; he's to be our most beloved personal Lord.  

**Being Humbly Proud & Content

         Communion experience—the Lord is all mine!

**Sign You're Ready to Go to the Lord

         Today's Communion antiphon based upon 2 Timothy 4:8 reads: The just judge will bestow a crown of righteousness on those who eagerly await his coming. When you eagerly await the Lord's coming, you are ready to go to him.

**Smart Attitude**

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike." To be childlike is what we need in the Father's presence. On our own, we'll never be able to understand everything. Knowing that the Lord has the answers to all things is good enough for us to believe in him without question.

**Being Nothing and Free**

         Communion experience. The Lord is everything to me, for he is the creator of all things, myself included. I owe him all I have. When you belong to the God of Christ, you know you are free.

**The Lord Delivers*

         Today, I still can't believe that the Lord has chosen me to believe in him and given me so much joy! This is a case of "it's actually true when it's too good to be true."

**To Amaze the Lord**

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 8, a centurion appealed to Jesus, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed." Jesus was amazed by his great faith and said to him, "You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you." At that very hour his servant was healed. Let's amaze the Lord with our faith too. What say you?

**Christ Makes Us Fearless*

        Today's Entrance Antiphon (cf. Jer 31:10; Is 35:4): Hear the word of the Lord, O nations; declare it to the distant lands: Behold, our Savior will come; you need no longer fear. One thing about having Christ as our Savior is that we now know we're going to have life with him in heaven forever and thereby no longer fear anything!