Let the Lord Do It!

        I am continuing reading Life by St. Teresa of Avila. She has made amply clear that it is the Lord who does everything. The gifts she received, union, ecstasy, levitation... all came from God. Even a lesser gift such as tears we cannot possibly induce by ourselves. When we progress spiritually, it is the Lord shaping us, drawing us to him. Here the secret of attaining rapid progress is revealed. Since we cannot do anything on our own, all we need to do is to remain open and passive and when the Lord sees our desires, he will do the work for us and our progress is assured.

Ascension for Us

        As I was praying the second Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary, the Ascension of Jesus, this morning, he made me see that I should have my ascension too! Of course, I won't have the bodily ascension as the Lord's, but after I die, my soul will ascent to him by his power. Yes, wherever Jesus is, his sheep will be there too because his sheep always follow the master shepherd. Another exciting day for me! 

God Our Most Intimate Companion

        There are people whom I have lived with or known for all my life or all their lives, but I know that we'll never know each other 100%. With God, it's different. He already knows me thoroughly, for he is all-knowing and my creator! How do I know him? He is much easier to know than any other human creature because he is honest, trustworthy, straight forward, and completely open to us. Jesus has come and shown us what the Father is like! Once you know God, you know him all at the most personal level. 

Focusing upon the Lord Always

        Our focus should always be centered upon the Lord. Even when I sin, rather than feeling bad about myself for having offended him, it is much better to realize that the Lord has been hurt by me. In short, think more about God feeling bad and less about me feeling bad. In short, be God-centered and not self-centered. 

On Using Our Time

        A good question. There is so much to seek, explore, wonder, and enjoy in the infinite beauty and everlasting love of God, then why do we waste so much of our precious lifetime bothering with all the ugly, unedifying, even trifling things of the world?   

Peace God Grants

        I believe that one reason why anyone with little faith in God does not have peace in his heart is because he is affected by everything that happens to him. Whereas one who has been drawn close to God is occupied by thoughts of love for the Father, feels the Son in him like a anchor holding him securely in divine love, and has the Holy Spirit screening all incoming thoughts so that nothing disturbing can get through. A blessed state indeed!

Made to Belong to God

      We are not made by God to own anything he has created in this world, since we ourselves are his creatures. It follows that we are made by God to belong to (be owned by) him.  

Only a Two-Way Relationship

        There are really only three possible players in our lives ~ God, us, and all other humans beings. (As for Satan, as long as we are aware of his existence and know God, he may be safely ignored since he just becomes a distraction, a small annoyance at times. He is dangerous only to those who do not believe that he exists.) We must respond to God alone and ignore all other fellow human beings, no matter what they do to us. What I mean is that we still take action following God's will, but we won't let their wrong doings in any way affect our love for God. If someone offends you, it's no different from a tree branch falling accidentally on top of you car ~ he will have to answer to God on his own in the end. You may picture that we are all linked to God upward individually, with no horizontal links between any two fellow human beings ~ a clean and simple image to remember.

Lost Souls Abound

        There are so many lost souls nowadays constituting a huge portion of the population of any big city in both the United States and other Western countries. Let's just say that he is male for convenience' sake and I'll provide a description. He does not know the meaning of life and has no one to guide him. He drifts from one day to the next. If he is working, he is not happy in his job. His family does not support or care much about him. Most likely he has financial as well as marriage or girl friend problems. He has no qualms about trying drugs or engaging in sex with others ~ to him it's no different from going to a bar to have a few drinks. And abortion does not bother him either. He thinks like his friends, not knowing that they are as lost as he is. The whole aim is to get out of or forget his own misery with no concern about morals. In a big cosmopolitan city, if there is any opportunity to have some quiet time appropriate for reflection, he mopes in gloom instead of thinking calmly to figure out how he could change and improve his life. Such souls are not inherently wicked ~ they simply are overcome by secular forces and become helpless. Since there are so many millions of them out there, we need to pray hard that they will discover the love of God one day. 

The Power of Mass

        Today during Mass, drawn by the love of Christ, I yearned to go deeper into him. The Holy Eucharist inspired great reverence ~ I knew that I touched the Most Holy and would not the same anymore!