Two Sides of God

        It seems that we always have two sides to everything.  In today's Gospel reading of the Parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25, the five foolish ones were not ready when the groom arrived and were barred from entering into the wedding in the end.  God loves, but he also judges.  I pray for those who believe that God loves them, but forget that he's also the judge.  Being ready is critical if you want to make sure that you don't get shut out in the end, for you don't know when the Lord is going to arrive.   

Link Between Cross & Love

        Today is Friday.  As I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries, I saw deeply that to truly appreciate the depth and breadth of the love of Jesus, we must first ponder upon the Cross to fully understand its meaning.  It was through the Cross that Love was manifested.

"Do It Anyway"

        Chances are you've already read this poem attributable to Mother Teresa.  Just in case you haven't, here it is:

         People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway.

         If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

     If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.

        If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

        What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.

        If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

        The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

      Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you've got anyway.

       You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.

Adore Jesus Online

        Go to http://www.savior.org/, see live image of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and adore.  (It may take half a minute or so for the image to appear.)

Our Mission Is...

to spread the love of Christ to everyone.  The more we give away his love, the more he fills us with his love ~ a miracle.

Why Believe in Jesus?

        Seeing the various problems in my life that I still have to deal with, I ask this question as a sort of review.

        First, since I have come to believe that Jesus is the truth, I have no choice but to believe in him.  

        Secondly, if I had believed that all my problems would go away once I believed in him, then I would've been totally mistaken.  Jesus made it clear that there would be crosses for his followers to carry.  The problems of life will always be there.  In fact, being a follower of the Lord may even bring a new set of problems.  But now, we have him to help us carry our burden, and our outlook changes and the yoke becomes easy.  In other words, we now fight battles following an invincible leader who gives us solid backing.

        Last, looking beyond our transitory life, we see eternal life with the Lord if we believe in him.  There will be no more "problems of life."  This is our "long-term" goal.

God's View

        I have taken Holy Communion countless times, so how has that changed me?  I still sometimes expected to do great works for the Lord, then he made me see that I was not to expect anything to happen from my point of view, but to be grateful for and happy about the more important interior transformation which he had brought about.

Mystic and Saint

        I read somewhere once that anyone in love with God is a mystic ~ I am not sure about that.  What I am sure is that anyone who does everything cheerfully for the love of God is a saint.  (Look at St. Therese.) 

Dying for Others

        Today is the Feast of St. Bartholomew.  One of the first things Father said at the beginning of Mass was that St. Bartholomew, who was martyred, died for us.  I always thought of Jesus dying for us and the martyrs dying for Jesus ~ it hit me that in a way it's also true that the martyrs died for us.  If we are willing to die for Jesus, then we should be willing to die for our brothers and sisters, as Jesus equates loving our neighbors with loving him ~ we should really think about this one. 

        (By the way, the Gospel reading, John 1: 45-51, on the calling of Nathanael Bartholomew is beautiful.)

Emptying the Mind

        Up until Mass time this morning, I had nothing in mind to blog.  So I decided to empty my mind totally and not be concerned about it.  Then I could see that this is really the way the Lord wants us to be like at all times.  With mind emptied, you dispel all worries and become openly receptive.  You wait for him to make the move.  It's really putting into practice our trust in Jesus, not just theorizing, talking or thinking about it.  Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow, not to be anxious,...  Perfect advice to follow in practice.  He wants us to have peace in all circumstances.