God Alone Is Trustworthy

        I have learned that anytime I put my trust in people, I am taking a chance. Sometimes they become completely different persons. My conclusion is that when an opportunity arises for them to take advantage of you, they turn against you. So love all sinners, but be careful not to trust to them too much. God alone is worthy to be trusted, for he will never fail us.

A Sweet Cross

        I have mentioned that after you have fallen in love with the Lord, he gives you a great yearning for him ~ you feel that you won't be satisfied until you are with him in heaven. This is a cross you have to bear, but it is a sweet one.

Selfless Loving Called For

        Christ died in our place ~ God always gives all of himself to us. His love being boundless, he becomes completely selfless. That's why Jesus rightfully commanded us to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.   

We Mess God Up

        If we leave God alone (imagine that we are not even around), everything will turn our fine. But we love to interfere with his will! We rebel and offend him nonstop ~ no wonder that the world is in disorder. In other words, we mess God up. The only solution is for us to be as perfect as God is, then his will will be done. Again, to quote what Jesus said in Matthew 5.48: "So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect." 

Jesus Brings Joy

        I saw the TV program The Family Hearth on EWTN, featuring Br. Fishman telling the story of Elisha and the healing of Naaman the Syrian. Since Br. Fishman is a Jew, I thought how especially satisfying he must have felt when he realized that Jesus, his Savior, was a fellow Jew. This had to be an extra joy on top of the joy of finding the Messiah the Jewish people had been long expecting. 

Not Knowing We Are Finite

        God made all kinds of creatures with intelligence at different levels. God alone is infinite and all creatures are finite with some more finite than others. A dog is certainly more finite than a human being. You feed the dog and he eats the food, not knowing where the food came from. You give him a ride in your car and he joins you, not understanding anything about the car. You take him to the vet when he is sick and he goes along with trust. So the dog does not question, knowing that you are his loving master.

        God is obviously infinitely more knowing than we are and he had come to tell us that he wanted to save us if only we would believe in him. Then, being finite as we are, why do we keep questioning him and not want to trust in him? If we can't do better than a dog, then our ego must have grossly overestimated our intelligence. 

Latching onto Jesus

        Today's after-Communion thoughts. I was passing through this life and saw nothing worth latching onto. Then I saw Jesus, latched onto him and found out that he is worthy and I was able to let everything else go. Life is no longer a riddle. 

"Conquering" God

        Man wants to conquer Mt. Everest. The climbers spend a lot of money and years of training in preparation for the risky venture ~ risky because over 200 climbers have perished so far on the mount. I suppose that people want to do it because they feel good and proud if they can accomplish something so challenging. I have no desire to challenge myself like that. I brought this up because by contrast I see that I can "conquer" almighty God, to me the highest peak we can possibly reach, without even trying hard ~ all I need to do is to trust and let go in him and he lifts me right up to him. Not only the view from up there is beautiful, there is also absolute security.    

A Crucial Settlement to Make

        There is only one thing we need to settle before we die ~ to make our peace with God. This is of critical or crucial importance. Without such a settlement, we shall not have peace for all eternity! We know that we are to leave everything behind when we die, but don't forget to include unconfessed sins! The wise have already made their peace with God, but the foolish think that there will always be a tomorrow and tomorrow may bring the biggest shock of their life.

We Are Always Welcome

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 11. Jesus emphatically told his disciples: "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Obviously, the Lord wants us to feel free to approach him, let him know of our needs, and be persistent about it. It is a great consolation to know that God is always ready for us and we are welcome despite our sinfulness. Any hesitancy to go to him can only come from us. (We are always our own obstacles!)