God Calling Us

         In today's Gospel from Mark 1 at Mass, we heard that Jesus, passing by the Sea of Galilee, saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fisherman. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." They left their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat.

       Although we cannot hear the physical voice of the Lord today; nevertheless, you can be sure that he still calls us through other means. It's the same voice that speaks directly to the heart. Anytime the Lord calls us, he is calling us to live with him for all eternity! Our only right response is to follow him without reservation. 

Best Feeling There Is

        You know that (1) you and God are best friends and you have no sins to worry about, or (2) you are deeply in love with God who loves you, or (3) you're in union with God. [By the same token, the worst possible feeling is knowing that you are in a sinful state and you are afraid to face God ~ this is being extremely unrealistic.]        

To Be with God Always

        When I see or hear something beautiful, I think of God because he is beautiful. When I see or hear something sad, I think of God because he suffered for me. When I feel happy, I think of God because he is the source of all my joy. When I feel sorrowful, I turn to God because he will console me. When I am not occupied with anything, I feel his very presence within me.  

Start Being Ageless

        When people ask a friend of mine how old he is, he always answered, "I am ageless." He is not kidding ~ he is serious and speaks the truth as he loves Jesus. The Lord promised that whoever believed in him would never die. This is saying that if I remain with him, then I'll be with him forever since he lives forever.

Our Sin of Omission

       Fr. Benedict Groeschel, whom I love and respect, unwisely made some controversial comments last year related to the sexual abuse of children by priests and a lot of people out there used the opportunity to degrade him and the Church. A gay, former Catholic priest criticized him on Huffington Post. From most of the comments on his article I read, I could tell that there were lots of people who disliked or even hated the Church. Again, I believe that they never knew the Church and/or Jesus. Judging others without looking at yourself is always the easiest thing to do. If Christ were here today, they would most likely be turned off by what he tells them too.

         The Christians have themselves to blame for not taking stands when morality started eroding. If you go back half a century or so, very few unmarried couples practiced living together. Then abortion got legalized. Over the years various Christian churches have softened their stands on many moral issues, causing further disunity (Satan must love it!) Even though the majority of this country still claims to believe that God exists, they live just as nonbelievers. Today hedonism is the dominant way of our life and atheism continues to rise. We reap what we sow.

Spiritual Burden

        I feel a lot of pain today because I know that God is feeling it too. The BBC News earlier reported that hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied against gay marriage in Paris despite one newspaper poll showing that 56% of the people supported gay marriage. In Italy four topless female activists staged a protest in St. Peter's Square in favor of gay rights. The Church is against the sin and not the sinner. Even in the case of suicide bombers killing innocent people, God's love for the perpetrators never diminishes. The mission of the Church is to save souls, yet she is perceived as being nonprogressive and suppressive. This misunderstanding is causing the present sharp division.      

Getting Along with God

        God loves us as we love others. God forgives us as we forgive others. God becomes ours as we become his.

Ultimate Fulfillment

        Our yearning for God is proof that God is the ultimate fulfillment. To want to possess all of God, all we need to do is to let him possess all of us. Union with God on earth and in heaven then should be our goal.    

How God Has Made Us

        It is St. Augustine who wrote: "O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." Then once we find God, our hearts start to yearn for him because our God is infinite ~ infinitely beautiful, infinitely lovely, infinitely attractive. We realize that the desire for God can be limitless and we won't be completely satisfied until we are in heaven. That's how God has made us.  

Love and Humility Extraordinaire!

        After morning Mass, there was a brief exposition of the Blessed Sacrament prior to a scheduled mini-retreat. It hit me that what I was looking at on my knees was the Lord! He was not distant ~ in fact, he just entered union with me a while ago. It's hard to get over the extraordinary love and unbelievable humility of my God which I realized!