Danger of Gratification

        I continue reading The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich.  Her charity, humility, obedience, and willingness to suffer are truly remarkable.  She was favored with visions in her ecstasies.  Here's a short one that's both meaningful and interesting.

        Her angel led her across a narrow bridge safely and she saw on the bank a mousetrap around which a little mouse kept running and running, and at last slipped in to get the bait.  Anne cried out, "You are sacrificing your liberty, your life for a mouthful!"  ~ "Are men more reasonable," asked her angel, "when for a momentary gratification they endanger their soul's salvation?" 

Recipe for Inner Peace

        Live to please God alone and not care about what others think of you.

Think of God First

        If you see someone sin against the Lord, think first how it must bring sorrow to him, then pray for that person. 

Denying Ourselves Includes...

        being willing to accept sufferings coming our way.

To Counteract Sins

        I have started reading The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, a holy, German nun (1774-1824), who took sufferings upon herself to expiate the sins of the Church and her members.  This picture comes to my mind.  Visualize every sin as a filthy raindrop falling on the Lord.  We have billions of people in the world with each of us committing numerous sins each day ~ now imagine how the Lord is being bombarded every single moment by us!  This visualization should prompt us to perform as many acts of love as possible to shield some of the drops from hitting him, providing some comfort.  It's most urgent and our duty to fulfill.

Motivation Purified

        Yesterday I posted that I felt that I was ready to go to Christ.  Today, I started examining my motivation during morning prayer.  Yes, the yearning was there because I love the Lord, then I also detected that deep down there was the desire to escape from some of the things that were somewhat bothersome to me right now.  So I realized that my motivation wasn't that pure.  The yearning can continue, but Jesus wants me to deal with all problems head-on with his help and not to want to run away from any of them.         

We Need to Know God

        God already knew us thoroughly, having created us ~ the question is whether we know him.  If we do, then how well?  The more we know him, the more we understand ourselves and our place before him, and the more we are set free.  Jesus, brighter than all the shining stars, has pointed the way to knowing him, who is God.  To ignore him is to be lost in the universe. 

Mary, Our Mother

        Mary is God's great gift to us.  From the cross, Jesus gave her to us as our Mother.  This makes us brothers and sisters to Christ.  Since the Lord gave her to us, then of course, we can communicate with her.  That's why we talk to her, asking her in intercede for us before the Father. 

        I love Holy Mother for the following reasons:  (1) She suffered greatly for the Lord's Passion.  (2) She's a most special and dear gift given to us by God.  (3) She always brings us closer to Jesus.  (4) She's most holy, most beautiful, and most loving, a perfect model for us to imitate.   

Ready to Go to God?

        I've mentioned that sometimes I feel that I am ready to go to God.  Today after I received the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I felt that way, then I heard the Lord asking me if I had already lived up to how I felt?  What he wanted to tell me was that if I still had things in this world to cling to, then I wasn't really ready yet.  A good question for me at this time to consider. 

To Be Free for God

        It came to my mind that we all have mementos, things of sentimental value, and, I should include, nostalgic memories.  The Lord has shown to me that all such things are to be detached from us, since knowing him alone is all that matters.  Again, his thoughts are not our thoughts and I know that he's right.  To be free for him, let nothing of the world hold us back.