The Evil of Entertainment

        I want to talk about the business of entertainment in this country. It is a huge business that sucks in practically everyone. Television, radio, stage shows, concerts, gambling casinos, magazines, websites, YouTube broadcasts, i-pads, background music, even advertisements and commercials...all aim at entertaining you. We become so addicted that we have to listen to music while exercising or doing homework, watch a TV show when we are cooking or balancing checkbooks. The big names in the entertainment business have egos to match, their admiring fans following them everywhere. Entertainment has a place in our society, but when it starts to "dominate" my lives, the balance is lost. It robs us of prayer time, keeps God away from us and even leads us into sin when it's impure. In short, too much entertainment definitely endangers our soul.

Believe Now and Question Later

        St. Teresa in her Meditations on the Song of Songs writes that we are not to dwell upon the many mysteries of our faith and what we do not understand in the Holy Scripture. I agree that as long as the message of salvation is crystal clear and we are certain that God loves us, it's sufficient for us to submit to him with all our heart. "Believe now and question later" is not a bad idea.

What the Holy Eucharist Signifies

        The Lord showed me that the institution of the Holy Eucharist is an invitation to union with him, signifying that this union is possible. When we receive the Holy Eucharist, it should signify that we are committed to seeking union with him. 

Two Ways of Seeing

        There are two sides to each coin. A glass can be seen as half full or half empty. There's the story about two shoe salesmen who visit a village where no resident wears shoes. One comes back and says that there is no point in going there to sell shoes, while the other sees the opportunity to sell shoes to every single villager. One sees believing in God as a way of avoiding going to hell, while another sees it as a way of going to heaven. We yearns for God ~ it could be that we are tired of living or that we are in love with God. Attending Mass every Sunday is fulfilling an obligation for some and a chance to unite with God again for others. In each case, both ways of seeing can be valid, but one is usually superior to the other. When it comes to making spiritual progress, seeing it as seeking union with God is definitely superior to seeing it as struggling to become holier on you own.

A Mind-Challenging Problem

        In my last post, I said that our mind is limited, but it can still have considerable power. I thought it would be fun to give you problem to solve at this point in the middle of all the serious talks. So here we go.

        There are ten identical containers with each holding ten identical pills. Nine of the containers hold pills weighing 10 mg each and one container holds ten pills weighing 9 mg each. All pills look exactly alike. There is an electronic scale available for your use. The problem is that the batteries in the scale are so weak that there is only one weighing left. So, how would you weigh the pills just once and identify the container holding the 9 mg pills?

        The solution is not that obvious. Some people have solved the problem in a couple of hours, but others in a couple of weeks. Try your best, but don't lose any sleep over it. 

Power of the Responding Heart

        Our physical strength is clearly limited. Our mind too ~ when I use mine to solve a problem, I can only go so far. When I want to praise God, I run out of words to say. Now, when it comes to our heart, it knows no such bounds as it responds to the Lord directly. He can make us love him and others as much as he wants to with no cutoffs. If I yearn for God, he can increase that desire as much as he wishes. It's all up to him. A heart responding to God unites us to God, giving us unlimited power to change ourselves and the world.

Simplifying Your Life

        Seek only God. Once you have found him, stay with, attach to, focus upon, and trust in him alone, letting everything else go. Then interiorly, you'll have freedom, peace, and joy. 

Doing Whatever You Want

        When can you do whatever you want? It's not meant to be a trick question. The simple answer: when you are in union with God. That's because in that state, all you want to do is God's will. 

No Comparing with Others

        If you are physically more endowed, intellectually more astute, verbally more skillful, artistically more talented, spiritually holier, better educated, more famous or wealthier than others, never compare yourself with them because all that you possess do not belong to you ~ they came from God. Furthermore, remind yourself that you are also inferior in so many ways to others. Your first priority is to please the Lord, and being humble would surely do it.

No Time for Sin

        We sin and we lose interior peace. By contrast, when we are in union with God, sin becomes repulsive. Besides, we'll be so absorbed in God that there is no time left to even think of sin. Now we have peace.