All Potential Saints

        http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/tags/pope-francis/: This is the site "Pope Francis ~ Latest News" listed under my Good Sites, Blogs, Web Pages.... I am very much impressed and inspired by what the Holy Father has said ~ so many gems of wisdom spoken simply from his heart directly to ours. Then I think of all the saints of the Church. They range from great intellectual minds, theologians, popes, mystics, high ranking officials at one end to the simple religious, hidden or in the world, and ordinary hardworking folks in the middle, and to uneducated peasants and youngsters at the other end. Their common denominator is the love of God. This shows that no matter who you are and what your background is, you can be a saint too if you love God enough. 

Preparing for Entering Heaven

        I went to vigil Mass yesterday. After receiving Holy Communion, I saw that the more we are in spiritual union with God in this life, the better are we prepared for entering heaven. A perfect transition happens when you bypass purgatory altogether. This should be what we all aim for for the love of God. 

How Freedom Came About

        When you are in union with God, you belong entirely to God and everything you considered yours is now his ~ you are free!

Jesus, Lord of All

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Luke 6, Jesus let the Pharisees know that he is the Lord of the sabbath. Of course, Jesus is the Lord of us all and everything else. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven." Therefore, to make Jesus truly our Lord, we need to surrender to him, achieving our goal of union with him. 

True Home

        I had the home-sweet-home feeling this morning at church for Mass. We all feel good at our home, but this feeling was even sweeter. Our home on earth provides only temporary, physical comfort with no permanent, absolute protection ~ this is the difference. What I felt this morning in church was that God is my home!

World Not Knowing God

         Today Pope Francis leads the world in fasting and praying for peace in Syria. War and violence will not bring us peace as long as the human heart does not have love. And this love must be unlimited or it cannot be love. Jesus has revealed to us that the love of our heavenly Father is truly infinite ~ he is the only one who commands us to love our enemies and love our neighbor as ourselves. The bombings, killings, and fighting going on daily around the world only show how so far the world is from knowing the true God. Pray hard for peace and conversion.

In Union with Holiness

        Today's Communion experience. The Lord entered me and I felt him to be my treasure, my pearl, and that the consecrated host I'd just received was the embodiment of Holiness! This is true fulfillment.

Have We Done Enough?

        Quoting Leon Bloy again: "The only tragedy of life is not to become a saint." Sometimes I feel that I have not done enough for the Lord. Then the Lord makes me see that my sole concern should be to follow him faithfully every step of the way ~ the rest is all up to him. Again, it's how we do it, not how much we do (back to St. Therese's Little Way).

Food for Thought

        Pope Francis during his inaugural address to the cardinal electors said, "When one does not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the expression of Leon Bloy: 'He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.' When one does not confess Jesus Christ, one confesses the worldliness of the devil." [Leon Bloy (1846-1917) was a French novelist, critic, polemicist who became a fervent Roman Catholic convert.] In the same address Pope Francis also said, "When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross, and when we confess Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord."

Glorious Awakening

          Today's Gospel reading was Luke 5:1-11. After Jesus had finished teaching the crowds from a boat that belonged to Simon (Peter), he asked Simon to put the boat out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch. Simon and his partners had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, he lower the nets at Jesus' command. They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to the partners in a second boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. 

        First they were astonished by Jesus, then they realized their own sinfulness. Finally, they left everything and followed him. What a glorious awakening, a glorious breakthrough! We all need such an occasion in our lives.