Secret Joy

        This is the joy of living secretly in Christ.        

Joy of Union

        One great joy of union with Christ is that you and the Lord share the same joys and sorrows.

Jesus Dispenses Joy

        Today is the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene. In the Gospel reading from John 20, Jesus after his Resurrection appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the empty tomb and said to her, "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Hearing this and what Mary Magdalen had said earlier in the reading, I was moved to tears. I knew then that Jesus, being always loving and gentle, could only give us joy.

The Ultimate Survivalist

        Just last Wednesday, I posted about the TV show Doomsday Preppers on various survivalists preparing for the end of civilization. If we truly want to survive, we must go beyond driving a safer car, installing a burglar alarm system in the house, taking the flu shot before flu season starts, etc. We all are going to die, so the focus should shift to survival of the soul which is eternal. Since the world we live in is a sinner's paradise, we must be sure that we don't get defiled by all the sins that surround us. Therefore, the ultimate survivalist aims at safeguarding the soul, letting heaven, never this world, be his paradise.

Letting God Set Us Free

        It's essential that we spend quiet time to commune with God regularly so that we may get to know him and have him reveal our true self to us. If we do not know ourselves, we won't know how to become holy. Self-knowledge is the key to letting God set us free.  

Letting In God's Peace

        God's peace comes to us when we clean out all impure and selfish thoughts.

First Vocation Call

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, while Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Stretching out his hand toward his disciples to make the point, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." The Lord made it clear that the vocation for a disciple is to do his will, preceding any other vocation calls.     

On Becoming Pefect

        God wants us to be perfect, but because we are finite, we can never be as perfect as he who is infinite. But we can approach perfection the way a curve approaches an asymptote in mathematics as time passes. Our lifetime goal is to surrender, trust, and abandon ourselves to God to the best of our ability and leave the drawing to God. In theory and practice, perfect cooperation brings perfection.

How Not to Judge Others

        Jesus teaches us not to judge others. He is right. Before God who alone is holy, we are all sinners, so we are no better or worse than others. The way of not judging others is to never compare others with ourselves. This should also rule out gossiping. 

Taking Death Seriously

        Death is a reality, but a lot of people do not want to think about it. They act as if they are going to live forever. We absolutely need to be ready for death as it could happen at any time. I am not talking about getting life insurance to take care of your family or picking out a cemetery plot ~ I want to make sure that I am going to heaven and not hell, unless you believe that there is no life after death or that everybody goes to heaven anyway. For the Catholic, it's important to go to confession as often as necessary to remain in the state of grace. It's a great feeling to know that your soul is safe. Only a fool would gamble when eternal life at stake.