Surefire Prayer

        If you ask for what God wills, how can he resist you? That's why when you ask the Lord to transform you spiritually, he does just that without delay ~  showing that he's well pleased.

Most Amazing Accomplishment

        Human accomplishment has been amazing in numerous areas; but human capabilities are limited. God's power being infinite, no human can possibly match him. The most amazing accomplishment comes from God ~ the spiritual transformation of a soul. Without God, that would be impossible. Spiritual transformation is satisfying precisely because God accomplishes it.  

A Blessed State for Us

        Romans 8.38-39: "...neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus..." God's love is ready and waiting. If we completely accept this love, we become inseparable from God. What a blessed state for us to be in!

We Are Loved!

        Entrance antiphon at morning Mass, Matthew 25.34: Come, you blessed of my Father; receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is what Jesus will say to his sheep on Judgment Day. Another saying that should make us jump for joy. God always does his utmost to make us happy!  

Freeing the Heart

        John 12.24: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit, says the Lord. Similarly, unless our enslaved heart turns to God and surrenders, it remains enslaved; but if it surrenders, it gains great freedom. 

Joyful Tidings

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from John 20, Mary Magdalene was weeping outside the empty tomb, thinking that someone had taken her Lord away. Then Jesus appeared and asked her why she was weeping. She first thought he was the gardener, but recognized him after he called her by name. Then Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Jesus' Father is our Father and his God is our God! ~ surely our hearts should jump with joy upon hearing this.

Our Only Good News

        All news get old except the Good News of salvation from God. It is as fresh as it was two thousand years ago and is needed as long as one unrepentant sinner still lives. In today's dark world, the Good News, our only good news, is our last and only hope! Whoever rejects this Good News rejects the love and mercy of God, in effect believing that Christ has died for nothing! And they'll have to answer for that before the Lord. 

Know Your Eternal Destination

        I got up this morning before 6 and saw dawn breaking over the eastern sky. As surely as the sun would appear next, Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. Chances are I shall meet him before the Second Coming. Either way, I'll be ready. Once my eternity destination was clear, peace settled in my heart. Anyone who does not know where they are heading is like sailing on the Titanic, for disaster can strike unexpectedly. 

In God We're Free

        Quoting St. Augustine once again: "O God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." I felt this morning at Mass that I wouldn't be happy until God took full control of me. One taste of freedom in him and you desire more of it. 

To Lapsed Catholics

        As always, the churches were packed yesterday because so many lapsed Catholics attended Easter Mass to ease their guilty conscience. Some never had much faith, but others stayed away because they didn't like something about the priest or a fellow Catholic. To the latter, I pose the question: "Were you, as a Catholic, attracting others to the Church or turning them away from her?" Since the Church is the Body of Church, to leave her is to not want to belong to Christ.