World's Greatest Tragedy

        Not believing that God so loves the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. 

Amazing Creation

        While driving home from morning Mass, I realized that we can think and somehow know that all thoughts originate from the brain, that we feel emotions and somehow know that feelings come from the heart, not some other organ, that we are both aesthetic and intellectual, that we understand good and evil, that we have a conscience with a free will, and that we can long for a God and actually fall in love with him. What amazing creatures we are!

Most Beautiful Posture

        Today's entrance verse from Psalm 30: The Lord heard and had mercy on me; the Lord became my helper. Response from Psalm 51: A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. Communion verse from Psalm 25: O Lord, make me know you ways, teach me your paths. Now picture one of us, prostrating before God, submitting himself completely to God with a contrite and humbled heart, asking for his mercy, and eagerly desire the Lord to teach him. We see a creature in complete harmony with his creator and receiving love pouring in upon him unhindered. 

Simple Loving

        God only wants us to love him by doing whatever he tells us. We need not be concerned about whether we succeed or fail, for his thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are his ways our ways (Isaiah 55. 8).

Lifesaving Formula

        In today's Gospel from Luke 9 at Mass, Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lost it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." It's clear that to gain eternal life, we only need to abandon ourselves fully to Jesus.

God Close to Us

        God is so close to us for the following: (1) He created us in his own image. (2) He came down from heaven to become one of us. (3) He was born through the womb of Virgin Mary, a human being. (4) He died for us so that we might have life. (5) He feeds us with his own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. (6) He desires to be in full union with us. (7) God the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us who are open to him. Why not gravitate toward the one who are closest to us and loves us the most?      

Close to God

        After staying home for the last 3+ days because of my bad cough, I felt good enough to resume attending morning Mass again. "Close to God" could mean different things. Here it means that we can die anytime and God is there to meet us ~ I acutely sensed this when I was sick and felt miserable. The fact is that God is never away; he simply waits for us. When we are healthy and well, it's so easy to live in a "fantasy world" without thinking about him. Meeting him when you are still alive is infinitely better than doing it after you die. Do not make the Father who is so close to you wait.

Living the Secret Life

        Today is Ash Wednesday. In the Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus gave the teaching about almsgiving, the teaching about prayer, and the teaching about fasting. The lesson: we are to give alms, to pray, and to fast for God alone, not for others, for performing righteous deeds for others to see is the same as doing them for oneself. This is a clear guide to living a selfless life, a secret one, you might say, in God. How well we succeed directly affects how much the Father will repay us.

Truth of Christianity

        When Christ died for our sins, he completely gave himself to us as the Father had willed. Now as Christians, we are able to completely forget about ourselves to attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist as he wills. This unique, extraordinary "disappearing act" enabling God to occupy all of us testifies to the truth of Christianity.

Jesus Our Example

        When I see someone who is highly opinionated, always has his defense up, and sounds most aggressive, I think of Jesus who is meek and humble and feels absolutely secure in his Father. If we want others to know that we are Christians, we must follow Jesus' example.