God Is Joy!

        The theme for me today is "Joy."  It started at morning Mass, celebrating the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle.  Kneeling before the altar, I feel the joy of worshipping God, adoring him.  The Gospel reading from John 1 tells how Nathanael (Bartholomew) found Jesus.  And I feel that joy of finding the Lord.  The Communion verses from Luke 22 read: "I will give you the kingdom that my Father gave to me, and in that kingdom you will eat and drink at my table."  Hearing them read certainly brings even more joy to the heart. 

Be Detached to the World

        We don't live in this world forever, so why get attached to it? When we die, it's like the whole world leaving us, saying goodbye to you.  There is really no point of hanging onto something that passes.  Start living free now.  Our everlasting, loving Father is the one and only one worth holding onto.

Sins May Be Forgiven!

        Got a new battery for my car, so I was able to go to Mass this morning.  During Eucharistic Prayer, I heard the priest, while consecrating the wine, say "...this is the cup of my blood...  It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven."  I had heard this countless times, but today those last four words hit me.  Only God has the power to forgive our sins!  It's a tremendous grace available to us.  Whether your sins are forgiven or not makes all the difference ~ the difference between eterrnal union with God and Eternal separation from him.  Always take the Lord's words seriously, for he offers us only love. 

Going Beyond the Bible

        After watching Brent Stubbs, former Pentecostal, on Journey Home on EWTN, the following thoughts were generated in my mind. 

        Protestants are bound by the Bible.  Anything that's not found in the Bible is excluded.  Catholics are free from the Bible as the teachings of the Lord were handed down through tradition before the Bible came into being.  Naturally, the Bible does not contain all the teachings and whatever is in it merely supports what the Church has been teaching all along.  

        The next two thoughts are practically direct quotes from Brent.

        (1) Protestant churches are pulpit-centered, while Catholics churches are altar-centered.

        (2) In receiving the Holy Eucharist, Jesus comes to us.  This got me thinking.  We just wait (for him) and he comes to (into) us ~ what a beautiful thought!   

God Has His Reasons

        I couldn't go to Mass this morning because my car battery was totally dead.  It's an old 1999 battery and had obviously served its purpose.  The lesson here is that I should adapt myself to the situation and not fret nor complain.  It's a form of offering our sufferings up to God.  What happened was a blessing in disguise.  Trust God always.

All to Be Done for God's Glory

        Many things we do are obviously done for the glory of God.  For example, we visit the sick, witness to others about God's love and mercy, etc.  But what about other mundane things such as dusting the house, shopping for food, etc.?  What about even less pleasant things such as paying for a traffic violation, repairing damages done to your property by others, etc.?  The Lord shows me that all things are to be done patiently for his glory, so long as what you do is not sinful in itself.

Pride is like Hot Air

        Pride is like hot air, so anyone who has a lot of pride is like a hot air balloon.  Too much pride and he is set afloat and loses his footing.  And pride becomes his downfall when he suffers a setback as happens to a balloon when it's punctured by a pin.  

Focus upon Jesus Alone

        This is the word I received from the Lord today at Mass.  Never follow another human person, not matter how charismatic he or she may be.  Follow Jesus alone.  If you witness a miracle, whether it's true or false, and your faith gets greatly bolstered, praise Jesus alone and forget about the "miracle."  If some Catholics turn you off, still keep your faith and forget about them.  The center focus must be on Jesus.  Without distractions, you will be safe with the Lord.          

Do You Know the Love of God?

        Many years ago I read somewhere that the great Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau did not believe in God and I felt sad for him.  I just hope that he did change his mind before he died in 1991.  In the documentary on the Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, who was definitely one of the world's best, I was again saddened to hear him say that he did not like himself.  God gave him the genius, yet he had such low self-esteem. 

        A good test question: Do you like yourself?  If your answer is in the negative, then you don't know the love of God yet.

Jesus, My Savior

        I switched on EWTN to check on World Youth Day in Madrid and caught the young people doing publicly the Stations of the Cross.  They just arrived at the 13th station, Jesus is taken down from the cross.  I knew that Jesus had already expired.  Now he's being taken down by others from the cross ~ he was dirty, bloody, and looking completely helpless.  Yet, this is the one in whom I can place my total trust and who can help, protect, and save me.  Wonder of wonders! 

The True Reborn Experience

        The born-again experience is claimed by many to happen when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but the true reborn experience begins when the old self dies and Jesus begins to live in you completely.

The Selflessness of Jesus

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 22, Jesus gave us the two great commandments.  (1) You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  (2) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

        The second commandment shows that he equates loving our neighbors to loving God.  It just shows how selfless he is and this was substantiated by his own sacrifice on the cross. 

Obeying Jesus Brings Peace

        Before Mass this morning, I saw that to obey Jesus is to bring oneself into harmony with God.  When you are in harmony with God, you have peace.

My Request Today

        At Mass, I asked the Holy Spirit to be my conscience. 

Heeding God's Invitation

        Recently, I read about the alleged scandal at the University of Miami, FL, involving 72 athletes over eight years.  The accusations were made by a convicted Ponzi con-man and Miami booster.  In his tell-all to Yahoo Sports, he revealed how he treated the athletes to strip club parties, paying for prostitutes and catering to their every need.  In one case, he said he even paid for an abortion for a woman one of the athletes had impregnated!  You could say that Sodom and Gomorrah still exist today. 

        The Gospel reading this morning was taken from Matthew 22, in which Jesus told the parable of the wedding banquet.  It illustrates the situation of today perfectly.  A king gave a wedding feast for his son.  He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.  He did it a second time and some still ignored the invitation and the rest laid hold of his servants, and killed them.  The king was enraged and sent his troops to destroy the murderers.  Then he asked the servants to gather all they could find in the streets, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.  But when the king saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment, he had his attendants cast the man into the darkness outside.  At the end, the Lord said, "Many are invited, but few are chosen."  This should serve as a warning to us.  God's invitation is to be taken seriously ~ it's an invitation to live the eternal life with him.  The choice is ours. 

God Is Always Fair

        In today's reading from Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable about the landowner who paid all workers in his vineyard the same wage at the end of the day whether they had started at the beginning, later, or in the last hour.  This seemed unfair and the workers hired earlier grumbled.  The owner responded, "My friend, I am not cheating you.  Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?  Take what is yours and go.  What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?  Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?  Are you envious because I am generous?"

        The lessons for us are: (1) God has the right to do what he pleases, (2) He will never shortchange us, (3) How others are rewarded by him is not our business, and (4) We are to be content with what he gives us (if God is going to grant us eternal life, we should be happy even if we are the last ones to get into heaven). 

Wonderful Oneness

        I watched the beginning of World Youth Day live from Madrid, Spain, on EWTN.  Seeing how exuberant the youths were, I sensed the beautiful communion I had with God, all the saints, the Holy Father, and all those now celebrating in Spain.  The oneness of all those who love the Lord, sharing the same faith, fills me with great happiness.     

Entering the Kingdom of God

        Today's Gospel reading is taken from Matthew 19.  Jesus said to his disciples, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God."  The "eye of a needle" has been interpreted as a gate in Jerusalem, which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could pass through this smaller gate if it was stooped and had its baggage removed.  While the road to hell is wide and downhill, the road to heaven is narrow and steep.  To get through that eye of a needle, we'll have to detach ourselves from our material things as well as dropping our spiritual baggage consisting of pride, greed, envy, etc.