Communion experience. God always uplifts us. He exalts us to the level where we get to meet him in person.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
What Jesus Is About
During the liturgy of the Eucharist, how appropriate it is to refer to the consecrated bread as the Bread of life and the consecrated wine as the Chalice of salvation! "Life" and "salvation" ~ that's what Jesus is all about.
How to Be Exalted
Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The second reading came from Philippians 2. Excerpts: "Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God .... Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness ... he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord ...." You see how God loves humility. We now know how to be exalted by God.
Everything Can Wait
Serving God should be our number one priority ~ everything else can wait. We only have so much time on earth for storing up treasures in heaven, while other things will always be around whether we accomplish them or not.
Reason Jesus Not Accepted
Anyone who does not know God knows of only one god, himself. The reason people do not easily accept or surrender to Jesus after learning about him is not that he is false, but that he is or could very well turn out to be the true God, thereby posing a threat to anyone who has all along considered himself to be the only god.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Going Beyond Prayer
The "danger" of prayer is that we are tempted to take it as an easy way out, thinking that we've done our part. Jesus, to show that he has the authority to forgive the sins of the paralytic lying on a stretcher, healed the man by ordering him to rise, pick up the stretcher, and go home. To show that we mean what we pray for, we also need to back up our intention with action if possible. If I pray for the sick around me and have the time, but do not make an effort to visit any of them, then I am a hypocrite. If I say I am pro-life but do not try to participate in any activities, then again, I am being hypocritical. In Matthew 5.41, Jesus taught, "Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles." We need to go that extra mile beyond our prayer.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
We Are Special
We are the only creatures who are capable of conceiving God, visualizing his beauty, admiring his perfection, sensing his holiness, feeling his love, and being in awe of him. We are special in God's creation because we were made in his image to be loved by him.
How to Follow Jesus
Today's Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 6. Jesus said to his disciples, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you."
All this is not easy for us to follow. Then it struck me that the Lord would not teach us what he is not ~ so he really was telling us about himself. Therefore, to follow him is to imitate him.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Ideal God
God could be just a powerful being, creating the universe and all sorts of inanimate things. Then he also created things that have life, plants and animals ~ this shows that he has another aspect. Since we were created in the image of God, we were able to relate to God to some extent until Jesus came and made it clear that God is pure love. Now we have the ideal God, a God who has unlimited power of creation and an infinite love for us, his creature. What a blessing!
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