God's Huge Deals

         Today is the memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. The entrance antiphon read: Let us rejoice and exult for joy, for the Lord of all has shown his love for a holy and glorious virgin. It hit me that God showing his love for one of us is a huge deal! 

         In the Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus reproached the towns whose people had not repented, "Woe to you, Chorzin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!" It hit me that having Jesus say "Woe to you" is a huge deal too.

       Last, today's Communion antiphon, Matthew 25.4, 6, read: The five wise virgins brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Then at midnight, the cry went up: Behold, the Bridegroom is coming; come out to meet Christ the Lord." It hit me that meeting the Lord is also a huge deal. As a matter of fact, every encounter with God is a huge deal. Let him impact you to make a huge difference in your life.  

Poignant Question

        As I was about to park my car outside the church, I saw the familiar daily Mass attendees, my faithful brothers and sisters, already walking toward the entrance. I saw that these were the ones who would walk through the gate of heaven one day and their journeys had already begun. Will there be many others joining them?  

Most Beautiful Thing to Do

         It was a somewhat cloudy morning as I drove to church for Mass, but parts of the sky unblocked by the clouds still exhibited a beautiful blue. I thought of the beauty of God, of Jesus, of the Blessed Mother and all the other saints ~ they are beautiful because of they are holy. By contrast, the world is ugly because it's filthy with sinners. It should be clear that the most beautiful thing we can do is to be holy so that we may appear beautiful before God, our Father.

Faith-Strengthening Lesson

        I had been facing a spiritual crisis which began two and a half months ago, caused by someone with evil intentions. Naturally I turned to my God, asking him for deliverance. Even though I was confident that he had heard me, being human I kept praying hard as if I might not come through unscathed. Yesterday, a last minute development indicated that indeed things could get worse. This morning everything got resolved and I was completely delivered from evil. The lesson learned ~ keep on trusting in the Lord, especially through the worst moments. The popular proverb "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" applies here. Just let the Lord make you tough.

Welcome Challenges from God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword." He was referring to what would happen after people hears what he had to say next: "Whoever loves father or mother than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." These challenges make up the sword that will separate us. The fact that God challenges us shows that he cares for us ~ he wants us to become worthy of him and be rewarded. By the way, if all of us meet these challenges, there will be peace.

Grateful to God

        Today I realize that it is the Lord who has gotten me through so many difficult situations. Without him, I would have lost my cool and messed up things for sure. For this, I am eternally grateful.

Letting God In

        If we have one gate that opens to God and another that opens to Satan, we only need to be concerned about the first gate. For keeping the gate to God closed would automatically open the one to Satan, but keeping it open seals the other one for good. In other words, let God in and Satan will be shut out.   

No Losers for God

        If you truly love someone who seems to be heading toward hell, then you should do your very best to make sure that he goes to heaven. If you truly love someone who is heading toward heaven, then you should make sure that you'll end up there too so that you can be together forever. Our duty is to make sure that everyone is a winner before God.  

Need for Union with God

        Do you feel perfectly comfortable with God? If not, you have not reconciled completely with God yet and you need to seek union with him.

Perfect Ego Replacement

        Ego makes you feel both good and bad. When it gets puffed up, you feel good and you are happy with yourself. Then when it gets punctured, you are hurt and come to hate yourself. This shows that ego is basically destructive. God is the perfect replacement of your ego, for he makes you see how precious you are to him, enabling you to love not only him, but also yourself. (Everyone is now happy.)