How do we take criticisms from others? It's easy to feel offended if we don't control our ego ("Who are you to tell me what to do?") Recently, an older lady gave me some constructive suggestions as to how I could have performed a certain task better. I realized that she meant to be helpful and what she said was to the point and exactly I needed to know. I felt that God used her to communicate to me. When the Lord wants to speak to you, he doesn't care whether he offends your ego or not. I am grateful that he continues to groom me for what he wants me to do.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
No Escape from Reality
In John 8, the Jews said to Jesus, "You are not yet 50 years old and you have seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." What an awesome answer! To me, Jesus is the eternal reality. Reality, being real, exists and there is no escape from that. Those who do not believe in the Lord live in a virtual world and will have to face him inescapably in the end.
Getting the Right Help
I started my last post four days ago, then my computer malfunctioned. A couple of months ago, the computer was cleaned by Microsoft for virus and malware infections. Then I had the so called "stop error" or "blue screen." Since it's a Sony computer, I contacted Sony for support. Both Microsoft and Sony do all the work by taking remote control of my computer at their end. Sony used the Iolo System Mechanic tool to check and repair the problems uncovered, inexcusably ignorant of the known fact that this tool messes up Window Vista in various ways ~ in my case, the Windows Installer. As a result, I could no longer install any new software ~ it was definitely a serious blunder! Online I couldn't find an easy solution to this particular problem. Finally, I got a local 30-year experienced person to come to my home and he amazingly fixed the problem in a simple way. Moreover, he removed even more viruses and malwares. The lessons I learned: (1) Online fixing is not good enough and even risky, (2) There are many softwares such as Iolo System Mechanic, which you can download free or are low-cost, but you can't be sure that they are both safe and effective, and (3) You can't beat having someone who's experienced and can personally come out to you check out the problem. (I would avoid using any big chain that employs many repairmen available for different locations because you don't know whom you are going to get.)
These lessons point to the truth that for spiritual healing, we should choose God and appeal to him for help.
Fortified by God
During the Communion Rite at Mass on July 17 (4 days ago), when we prayed "Lamb of God...have mercy on us" and "Lamb of God...grant us peace," I felt that mercy and peace were perfectly for us to ask from God for. Then just before Communion, we asked the Lord to heal our souls. I saw that shielded from evil by the mercy of God, with our soul healed and in peace, we should be ready to face anything coming my way.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Judgment Day Warning
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus made it clear that there is a judgment day for all. This gave me comfort because the fact that there would be closure just made life meaningful. Of course, judgment day, also known as doomsday, does not spell doom for those who follow and love the Lord, but for those who don't, this is a warning to be heeded.
Monday, July 16, 2012
God Must Come First
This is a sequel to the excerpts quoted from Matthew in my last post. Jesus makes it clear that God must come first and be the only one to attach ourselves to. The time to follow him should be the moment we hear his call. And if we respond with "not yet" after we hear his voice, we only prolong the time we won't have inner peace. We all (should) know that God commands and pursues us because he loves us, so any problem has to come from our hardened hearts.
Only God Can Speak Thus
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus gives many commands to his Twelve disciples with great authority. Some excerpts: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." This is clearly God speaking, all right!
We Too Levitate
Levitation is defined as the rising of a body in air by supernatural means. Historically, there have been many levitating saints. In a way, we also "levitate" as we get to know the Lord. At the beginning, we are deeply immersed in the world and attached to the many things of the world. The result is that we feel heavily weighed down and tired. As we know God through Christ more and more, the burden gets lighter and lighter until finally, we are in union with him and feel like being lifted up into air in total freedom. So it is like levitation, but the rising just took a lot longer.
Being One in God's Love
Today is optionally the Memorial of Our Lady of Carmel, so I thought of Mary Our Mother. As Mass was starting, I felt that I really knew and was most close to her, St. Therese, as well as all the other saints. This is made possible through the love of God, for in his love there is no separation, only oneness. It's all understood and felt in the hearts of both the saints and mine ~ one of the numerous delights of knowing God.
Cana Miracle Amazing Wonder
I mentioned "wedding ceremony" in my last post. Now I am bringing up the wedding at Cana which Jesus attended. I often thought about the first miracle Jesus performed there ~ changing water into wine. Someday our scientists probably can figure out a way to achieve this, but they'll have to add or do something to the water to change the chemistry, while Jesus just had the empty jars filled with water and out comes the wine. This instant powerful transformation is evidence enough for me to believe that Jesus is God.
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