Holy Communion Benefits

        When I attend a banquet on earth, I simply enjoy the eating and any festivities present, then leave and go home afterwards ~ it's a one-time thing. Today after I received the Holy Eucharist, I felt that I was attending a banquet that feeds, cleanses, and permanently heals the soul ~ its effect is for all eternity. 

The Lord's Prayer Facilitates Union

        During the Lord's Prayer at Mass this morning, when I came to saying "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," I realized that if I say it with all sincerity, I am really making my surrender to God. Now I see that when Jesus taught us this prayer, he desired union with him from us.

"Please Choose Me"

        Jesus told his disciples, "It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you" (John 15). It struck me that a great prayer would be to ask the Lord to choose you, whether you are a believer or not. If you are already a believer, then ask him to choose you to serve him, to spread the gospel, to make you holy... there are just so many favors you can ask. When the Lord chooses you, it is a great honor and assures that you'll live a blessed life now and forever. 

Attachment Is Not Love

        Why do people feel sad when someone (or even some pet) close to them leaves or dies? Of course, you miss the person (or your dog or cat). But still why? I dare say that it's because of attachment, not necessarily all love. I know some readers may see it differently ~ that's all right. Here's my take. Attachment to anything in the world is basically self-centered. If someone departs from this world and you miss that person, it's most likely because you feel your loss ~ you no longer have the joy of that person's company, you no longer have that person to give you comfort or help when you needed it, etc. If you truly love that person, you would think for his (or her) sake. If you know his soul is going on to God, you rejoice for him. Otherwise, you feel sad for him, not for yourself. Love is only pure when there is no attachment mixed with it. And the heart is free only when it is free from all worldly attachments.

We Know Enough About God

         A couple of days ago, I read on BBC News online about the discovery of millions of supermassive black holes and blisteringly hot, "extreme" galaxies. Black holes are called such because they are regions of space where gravity is so powerful that not even light can escape. The hot galaxies are labeled as "extreme" because they can outshine our sun by a factor of one hundred trillion! It all sounds like science fiction. I have talked about how I was awed by the universe in the past ~ billions of galaxies with each galaxy consisting of billions of stars. Another interesting fact is that what we see now is already ancient history ~ looking at a star a billion light years away is looking at that star when it was a billion years younger. To see where it is today, we'll have to wait another billion years! If the universe is infinite, then what we've seen is quite nothing. I feel the same way about God our infinite creator. We learned about him through the Old Testament and a lot more from the Lord himself, but there must be so much about him that we still don't know yet. 

      Three points I want to make here. (1) We are finite creatures and obviously, it is impossible for a finite creature to understand his infinite creator fully. What we can know is limited by how God made us or what much he allows us to know. To try to figure out all about God would be utter folly. (2) What God has revealed to us through Jesus is all sufficient for our salvation ~ knowing any more would be superfluous. Therefore, be content with what we already know and start believing. (3) Most importantly, it is knowing God, not knowing about him, that's central. Once you know him, you'll be loving instead of questioning. Then one day your beloved will reveal everything about him to you. 

"I Couldn't Care Less"

        You hear the expression "I couldn't care less" said by people from time to time. Whether this attitude is good or not depends upon whom you care less about. If you couldn't care less about others, then you could be a very selfish, uncharitable person. But if you really couldn't care less about yourself, then you could be a very humble, enlightened Christian.

Heavenly Holy Communion

        After receiving Holy Communion today, I knew that the bread of heaven is not a figure of speech ~ I actually received literally Jesus himself from Heaven! It was more that just a taste of heaven ~ it was more like attending a banquet in my honor in heaven.

Don't Get Locked Out by God!

        Today at Mass we heard the Parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25 read. The five wise virgins all got their lamps ready waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom, while the five foolish ones didn't even have enough oil for their lamps. When the bridegroom came unexpectedly late at midnight, those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him, while the other virgins who went off to buy oil came back late and found that the door to the feast already locked. When they knocked on the door, the Lord did not even recognize them. What a terrible thought ~ to be locked out and turned away by God! Jesus' lesson is that we need to stay awake and be ready in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. The superior way is to embrace God's love with all your heart now, then getting locked out or not needn't be a concern anymore. 

Be Smart Before God

        This morning's first reading at Mass came from 1 Corinthians 1, in which Paul states that "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." This profound statement can confound many. Because it is true, the self-centered world is having trouble understanding and obeying God. But to the truly wise, they see the way to approaching and knowing God. Since God's wisdom and strength are so much superior than ours, there is no better choice than submitting ourselves to him, follow him, and obey him ~ the smart way to go.

Knowing God Personally

        To Know God is to love God. It's impossible to know him if you don't love him. If you love him, then he will draw you close to him and make you love him even more. Our God is a personal God, Jesus. How blessed we are that he is not remote, aloof, or uncaring ~ he is a God in whom we can greatly rejoice!