A Free Relationship

        Our relationship with God is also a free one in the sense that God freely gives us his love with no strings attached and we are free to respond to him any way we choose. Amid God's free giving and our free responding, faith is born. 

A Jealous and Generous Relationship

        Before Mass began in church this morning, I saw my relationship with God to be a jealous and generous one. Jealous, because I enjoy the Lord so much that I want to possess him totally and not let anyone take him away from me. Generous, because I enjoy the Lord so much that I want everyone to possess him and experience the same joy.

Healing the Soul

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 15, we read that great crowds came to Jesus, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet and he cured them all. Today, such miracles are no longer so common, except for the healing of the soul. When we repent of our sin and ask for healing of the soul, the Lord instantly complies. We have his great mercy on our side.

More than Number One

        God is not to be number one in our lives ~ he is to be the only one in our lives.

Sharing the Good News

        Today's Communion antiphon, Matthew 10.27: What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light, says the Lord, what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. Therefore, we must make Jesus the Truth known, one way of another. We can tell others about him and/or live our lives as faithful disciples. Not to share the truth is like being the servant who dug a hole and buried his master's money in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25). Subsequently, all that he had was taken away from him. Good news is to be shared with all and not kept in secrecy.  

Highest State of Existence

        Today is the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier. In the Gospel from Luke 10, Jesus praises the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for having revealed those things hidden from the wise and the learned to the childlike. It is the childlike to whom the Son wishes to reveal the Father. The highest state of our existence is then to be childlike first and seek oneness with the Lord to achieve perfect harmony with his will.

How God Has Made Us

        Quoting St. Augustine once more: God has made us so that our hearts are restless until they rest in him. It's also true that God has made us so that we are not completely free until our hearts surrender to him.

Living the Dream Life

        Is life a dream? The answer depends upon whether life is meaningful to you or not. Everything you see, hear, touch, and experience is real enough, but if you do not know where you came from and where you are going, then your life will be like a dream. To those who know Christ to be the eternal truth, life is no longer a puzzle. Everything that happens to them makes sense and they know where they are going more surely than they know that the sun will come up the next morning. The beautiful dream of their life has become a reality. Everything is now real, extended beyond this life.

Expecting the Unexpected

        The Gospel reading was taken from Matthew 24. Jesus said to his disciples that the coming of the Son of Man would be as it was in the days of Noah. People were eating and drinking, marrying and giving marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. The flood came and carried them all away. He therefore told his disciples to stay awake and be prepared, for he would come at an hour they did not expect.

          It's critical that we be ready always, joyfully anticipating the coming of the Lord.

God's Holiness Should Rule

        Today is the First Sunday of Advent. At the beginning of Mass, I trembled because I sensed the awesome holiness of God. I am sure that Peter, James, and John felt it on Mt. Tabor when they witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. So, how do we dare to do anything without God's approval?