***Conquering God (Not a Fairy Tale)

        God is like Mount Everest. To conquer him, we must climb the mount. Surrendering to God is like receiving a speedy aerial tram from him. Getting on it and you are pulled to the top fast. Then God is all yours. He and you now live as one happily ever after. 

Home of My Soul

        Good to be home again to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist daily.

        Today's Communion experience. My soul found its home in Christ.

*Calling for Prayer

        In these last few weeks away, I did have the chance on several occasions to share about the necessity and joy of seeking union with God, so I might have sown a tiny seed in those hearts. But the harvest is immense and I felt utterly feeble in serving the Lord. The only choice I have is to do my little part faithfully and pray intensely for him to do the work, directly and through others also. Prayer becomes absolutely necessary for us to depend upon him.   

Cleansing the Interior First

            The Gospel reading today came from Luke 11. Here's the entire reading:

        After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to that is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you."

           The lesson here. We must always work from the inside out, starting with the heart. Similarly, to tell others about God, we must know God ourselves first.

***Christ Most Personal

        Today is the memorial of St. Ignatius. The entrance antiphon came from Galatians 2: I am crucified with Christ, yet I live; no longer I, but Christ lives in me. I live by faith in the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself up for me. How more personal can God possibly get? Christ die for us as a whole, but he also did it for every single one of us as if there were only he and you. This is what's unique and great about our Lord – he is our pure joy!

**Jesus' Invitation, Our Salvation

        In Matthew 22, Jesus, in telling the parable of the wedding feast, said, "Many are invited, but few are chosen." Did you ever receive an invitation from Jesus? If you did, did you accept it? If you didn't, why not? Many reject his invitation – do you feel sorry for him or for those who reject him? (A good question to think about.) If you accept his invitation and get chosen, both he and you win. Rejecting his invitation and both he and you lose. With the Lord, it's all or nothing. He invites you to inherit all of his kingdom, nothing less. Reject his invitation and you'll regret it for all eternity.

Being a Loner or Lonely

        By definition, a loner is someone who prefers to be alone, avoiding the company of others. For God, you may even prefer to be a loner, and with him, you are never lonely. On the other hand, many seek the company of others because they do not know God and are lonely. While being a loner may be good, being lonely is always bad. 

What God Will Ask

        In this world of tech-savvy entrepreneurs, successful app developers are making a lot of money. I have known one recently associated with an app that has become so popular globally that the company is now estimated to be worth five billion dollars. My point is that no matter how successful you have become in the eyes of the world, in the end God will not ask you so much what you have done as what you have done for his sake. 

Letting Go in the Spirit

        A follow-up on the post "Something Very Odd." I think the only way to make Christ personal to you is to let the Holy Spirit take over so that you become spiritually free. Yes, seeking union is definitely the way to go.

*Which Life to Take Care of 1st?

        We have two lives to live, our life on earth and our life after death. Which one should we take care of first? Those who concentrate upon taking care of their life on earth will never get to taking care of the other one, for it becomes a lifelong task. But those who take care of their life after death first (and quickly) take care of their present life as well.