People who work hard to get where they want to be lament the fact that nothing is free. I do know that the beautiful love of God is absolutely free, unless you consider opening your heart to this love is work. When you receive this love, you get all the other good things you need to help you live a life full of joy and freedom as well.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Jesus Is Ours
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life ~ he is our way, our truth, and our life. Jesus is the light of the world ~ he is our light in this world.
Our Real Enemies
In today's Gospel from Luke 19, Jesus mentioned the enemies of Jerusalem that would destroy the city in the coming days. I started thinking about enemies. There are people who don't like us because we hold different political views. There are others who still owe us money they borrowed from us. Some say nasty things about us. Are they and similar other examples our enemies? I don't think so. In a way, they are blessings from God to test us to see how Christian we are. Of course, we must still love them.
The real enemies are those who cause us to sin or lure us away from God, thus endangering our souls. We should love them too, but must fight them at the same time.
Keeping the Heart Pure
When God looks at us, he sees the heart first. To delight the Lord, you must have a pure heart. The "secret" to keeping the heart pure is to have the Lord dwell in it. Where God is, impurities cannot exist.
Getting Back into Grace
Adam and Eve fell from grace through pride and disobedience to God. Jesus the Savior had already come to invite us back. Let's seize this opportunity to get back into grace through humility and obedience to God.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Another Union Advantage
In union with God, you are totally in the Lord. Since you are with him, you no longer need to ask him to lead you anymore. Where he is, you are. When he wants you go in a certain direction, he will let you know.
Beauty of the Holy Spirit's Mind
As I was driving to Mass this morning, I sensed the profound beauty and perfection of the mind of the Holy Spirit, which made me want to share it.
God as Light
It was a beautiful morning. As a past photographer, I am very aware of the quality of light. There were a few times when the light was just perfect and made what I saw extraordinarily beautiful. Once I drove along a creek and saw the distant hills with trees on them and clouds overhead to one side of the road, bathed in the late afternoon sunlight after a rain, so beautiful that the image just etched in my mind's eye. I had driven along the same road many times before, but the scene never struck me like this. So, the presence of the right kind of light is essential to the creation of a great image. All this makes me think of God as light, for the presence of God is absolutely necessary for transforming a human soul into a pure one. As physical light transforms an ordinary scene into one beautiful to the physical eye, God transforms an ordinary soul into one beautiful for him to behold.
A Golden Thread
I can recall many pleasant moments in life. For instance, someone was being extra nice to me or I happened upon the best apple strudel in the world. These were all isolated moments. Then there were moments in which the Lord drew me to him, step by step, at different times. Nevertheless, they form a continuous thread, leading to spiritual fulfillment. If God had already thrown you a thread, hold onto it and let him draw you all the way to his bosom.
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