Attaining Union with God thru the Holy Eucharist

Saturday, May 27, 2017

God Is Fair and Just

Sad headline news from Egypt: ISIS opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians on their way to a monastery, killing at least 29, including many children. This was only the most recent in a wave of attacks on these Christians and their Church. What are we to think? Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus came to my mind. Lazarus was the poor man, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. (The rich man also died, but he went to the netherworld and suffered torment.) I have no doubt that God would take care of the souls of these children of his who were tragically slaughtered, for he knows our hearts, thoughts, words, and deeds. All of us shall be judged by him and receive exactly what we deserve in the end. We need to trust in our God no matter what happens.

Friday, May 26, 2017

*Call to Yield to God

God's message for salvation is straight forward and simple to understand – you do not need to explain it like rocket science, yet people do not accept it readily. So it's not the mind, but the heart that gets in the way. To overcome this barrier, we must become like a child as Jesus had indicated. What we need is humility. Without it, we won't find God, let alone know him. The most humble Christ is our example and clue. God has already yielded himself to love. It's time for us to yield to him!

**Best Place to Be (Surefire Formula)

Today's Communion antiphon, John 15: As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. To remain in Jesus' love to to remain in him, for he is love. There is no better place to be. In fact, this is part of the simple surefire formula for getting into heaven: Remain in Jesus and let God take care of the rest.

*Joy Over Pain

In today's Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus, with his departure from the world and succeeding Resurrection in mind, said to the disciples, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you." Jesus was right, for we know that once we get to heaven, our joy will make us forget all the pains and anguish we suffered on earth. Start rejoicing now if you know you are heaven bound. Do not forget that the daily Mass is a celebration of the Lord's sacrifice resulting in our salvation. [A footnote. No one will take your joy away from you: the joy God gives is a joy that stays with you forever.]

Thursday, May 25, 2017

**Way to Union (Winning Feeling)*

When you let God transform you and the transformation takes place, you are amazed and can get quite excited, for something you've tried to change on your own without success God now does it effortlessly. Even though the Lord did the work, you can't help feeling that you have won! Now your relationship with him is more intimate than ever. As you continue to let God perfect you, the same thing happens again and again. You are on your way to union with him.

Looking Beyond This Life

The most recent terrible tragedy is the terrorist attack in Manchester, England, which killed 22 and injured many more. One lesson we can learn from this is that all the more we need to look beyond this life and make settling our eternal destination our first priority. Most people do not think about it for various reasons. Only the ones who have put themselves completely in God's hands know that they will be fine no matter what happens to them.