The Same True Church

        In Matthew 16, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."  Many Christian denominations and sects today claim that the Catholic Church had gone astray and no longer taught what Christ handed down, but none of them can pinpoint exactly when and how it happened.  Nevertheless, this claim basically says that the gates of the netherworld had prevailed against the Church, thus contradicting what Jesus had said.  In my view, this is a most serious offense committed against God.  I challenge all to read the early history of the Church and the writings of early church fathers to find out who had gone astray, the Church or those you're following who, interestingly enough, don't agree among themselves.  The fact that the Catholic Church alone has the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, preserved for over 2,000 years speaks for itself.     

Returning to God Is Homebound

        To believe in God, you must acknowledge that he is the one who did create you ~ in fact, in his image.  Then you will realize that he, being your creator, is truly the dearest person to you.  By obeying and following him through Christ, you will return to him in heaven ~ that's going home to your Father who loves you and is waiting for you.  Remember this all the days of your life on earth.  

Learning in Sickness

        I've been quite sick, especially yesterday.  It could be a cold, allergy, or a virus, or mixed.  It started out with a sore throat, then followed by a running nose and a cough.  The last was the worst ~ a non-stopping cough can really hurt your entire chest.  I thought of how much a healthy person can do.  He can build a castle, a skyscraper, or even more; but a sick person is totally helpless in performing any physical work.  The only prayer I was able to say in this state was the holy name "Jesus."

        Good things that came out of sickness:  (1) I learned to be patient.  (2) I saw a chance to offer up my sufferings to God and be more united with Christ.  (3) Now that I know what suffering is like, I could mentally pray for the souls in purgatory.  It's my understanding that these souls depend totally upon our prayers as they have no power to alleviate their own sufferings in any way.  The saints in heaven cannot pray directly for them either, but they can intercede for us if we initiate such prayers.     

         

Sharing the Saints' Belief

        When Jesus asked Peter, "Who do he say that I am?"  Peter replied, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."  Today is the Memorial of St. Martha.  She also told Jesus, "I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  It gives me great joy to know that the saints and I share the same belief.

Against Organized Religion?

        Many who do not believe in the Church often give the reason that they do not like organized religions.  If that's the case, then do they have a one-to-one relationship with God?  Do they ever kneel and pray to God on their own?  I doubt it very much.  I believe that it's a pretext they use most of the time for not wanting to submit themselves ~ the pride again.  "Don't tell me what to do" ~ you hear that all the time.  Pro-abortion people are like that.  Nations are like that.  People want to be their own god and we end up with billions of gods and a chaotic world.  Disobedience (pride) is the root of all disorder.   

Lord, Make Us Holy

        The Entrance verse, Reading 1 and the Responsorial Psalm at today's Mass are all about "dwelling."  We dwell in a physical body, we dwell in our house... but no dwelling place in this life is permanent or safe for us.  The only permanent, safe place is the Lord himself.  How wonderful it is to dwell in him all the days of our life now and forever later.  Don't forget that for us who were baptized in the Lord and receive the Blessed Sacrament worthily, the Lord dwells in us too.  Our cry to him must be "Make us holy" so that the Lord and we shall be comfortable dwelling in each other.

Avoid Making Sin Attractive

        I'm now going through The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, Vol. 2.  She talks about the many things of the world making sin attractive...  "Making sin attractive" ~ this description stopped me in reading.  It's obvious a sin to make sin attractive to others.  I am thinking that if you open a shop just selling luxurious clothing to appeal to rich women's vanity or to make them look sexy ~ that's making sin attractive.  I can also mention video games, shows on TV, etc.  In summary, anything you do that makes others less holy is, to put it mildly, not a good idea since we are to bring all closer to God, who is all holy.   

Our Soul, God's Concern

        I developed a sore throat today and prayed for healing.  Of course, the Lord does not always comply with our request of this sort right away.  Then I realize that it's only with healing of the body that it is so.  With healing of the soul, he never delays ~ that's because the soul exists forever and is so much more important than the body, which is here today and gone tomorrow.  We repent for our sins and we are forgiven instantly.  The Lord is most concerned about our souls ~ he wants us to be perfect, to be holy ~ starting right now; whereas the body can wait.    

Letting God Affect Us

        In today's Reading 1 from Exodus 34 at Mass, we learned that while Moses was conversing with God, the skin of his face became radiant.  The Lord can truly affect us in a radical way.  Surrender to him and he'll make you heart radiant!  

Why Surrender Feels Good

        To have surrendered to God is to have conquered oneself ~ that's why it's such a good feeling.