The Golden Rule Modified

        "Do to others what you would have them do to you."  This is the Golden Rule given by our Lord in Luke 6. 

        Today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18 tells us how the Lord wants us to forgive others always (seventy times seven times).  Then Jesus told the story about a king who punished one official because he, after the king had forgiven him, did not in turn forgive his own fellow servant for the same kind of misdoing.  At the end the Lord warned that "My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."  From Luke 6, 37-38 and the Lord's Prayer, we hear the same message.  Hence, we may safely replace the word "them" in the Golden Rule with "God." 

        We have now: "Do to others what you would have God do to you." 

A Big Choice

        I posted the last message because the idea had been in my head for a few days.  Now this post is similar in that it also presents a choice, but in a way nullifies that post. 

        It happened at today's Mass, the memorial of St. Clare.  As I was going to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I saw that LOVE was going to enter me.  And this gentle, yet all-powerful love is stronger than fire because it's going to permeate the core and every pore of my innermost self, consuming all the dross and impurities in my soul and melting my heart to conform to his.  This purifying process is readying me for heaven.

        The alternative is to wait until I get to purgatory and let the fire there do the job.

        I can't imagine that anyone would rather choose the alternative.      

Believe Early

        The Lord is always trying to speak to us, but we sometimes don't or don't want to hear him.  It's easy to put him on Hold or the Ignore list.  Then pretty soon the only way for him to get your attention is to shock you in some way, as a last resort maybe.  One relative of mine did not return to Church until he had lost his job.  There are many others who came back to God only after some tragedy struck.  This is learning it the hard way!  

        It would be so much better to believe early to make it easy for the Lord, pleasing him at the same time.  And if shocks do come later, you'd be better prepared to deal with them too.        

Taking a Break

        Time flies like an arrow.  ____ flies like bananas?  You fill in the blank.  (Hint: sA selpicsid fo eht droL, tahw era ew detcepxe ot raeb?)

Happy Is...

the one who hears God's voice and steps aside for God to work through him/her freely.

Jesus, Thank You for...

        (1) showing us what our Father is like,

       (2) showing us that you are what we should be like,

        (3) sending us the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, to guide and comfort us,

        (4) revealing the mystery of the Holy Trinity to us,

        (5) last but not least, revealing how great God's love for us is by laying down your own life for each one of us.     

Love Must Come First

        This morning someone at home required my attention, so I decided that I should skip morning Mass.  I really miss not receiving the Lord, but that's OK, because...  I remember the story of Juan Diego who had an appointment with Our Lady of Guadalupe that morning.  Then his uncle got sick and needed his attention, so Juan Diego just skipped his appointment with Mary and went to his uncle's house instead.  Obviously, that would be a difficult choice for some, but not to Juan Diego.  It turned out that Mary didn't mind at all when they met the next time.  Perhaps Juan Diego was being tested.  The lesson to me was that love must come first, even if it means missing a meeting with the Lord.

        My last thought is that we should be more like Juan Diego, a simple, honest, and humble person.  The trouble is that we live in a sophisticated, well-educated, and basically secular society; and we learned to advance and take care of ourselves first and make our decisions by weighing reward against cost to us.  We need to re-form ourselves.  I feel sorry for the children born into our world ~ it's going to be an uphill battle all the way for them.  The need to have God in our lives is more urgent than ever.        

The Joy of the Holy Spirit

        There are pleasures to be experienced in this world, so how are they different from the joy of the Holy Spirit?

        (1) EFFORT.  To experience the pleasures of the world, one must make the effort to seek them out; while the joy of the Holy Spirit is given to you by God.

        (2) SOURCE.  The worldly pleasures are experienced through external stimulants, while the joy of the Holy Spirit wells up like a spring from within the innermost recess of your soul.

        (3) EFFECT.  Here's probably the best part.  With worldly pleasures, you enjoy them less and less each time and can even become sick of them, while the joy of the Holy Spirit refreshes you each time you experience it and you can never tire of it.   

Life Is Continuous

        This morning the Lord let me see that the afterlife is a mere continuation of the present life and that I should not live them separately.  There are those who live only the present life without paying much attention to the afterlife.  And there are those who are tired of this life and wish to enter the next life soon.  Let me elaborate upon the latter case a bit.  If you feel miserable in this life, it's understandable that you hope to end this life sooner.  Then there are those who have somewhat tasted the joy of heaven and got weary of the world and yearn to go to the Lord.  Even though this seems natural, the Lord still wants us to live our life joyfully in him in this world.  In other words, there should not be any discontinuity separating the two lives.  We should start living our faith, loving our Lord, from this moment on in this life, and proceed smoothly into the next life to be with our God forever.

The All-Knowing Father

        If you feel inspired to want to become a saint for the glory of God, then that's terrific!  On the other hand, if you want to be a saint just so that you are a saint, then you'll never make it.  For our Father is all-knowing.  A tinge of pride or any trace of impure motivation he detects.  He knows us completely, more than we know ourselves. To me, this is cause for jubilation since we have an utterly reliable, faithful, caring, and understanding Father who can teach us everything and show us how to live our lives.  Such an awareness should bring great peace to our minds and hearts.