**Perfect Rest for Eternity

        Today is the Epiphany of the Lord, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles when the Magi paid homage to the infant Jesus. Epiphany means "a showing forth." My personal epiphany today is realizing that in Christ we have our perfect rest. When we rest in him, our sins are removed, our heart purified, our soul healed, our spirit freed, our eternity settled, all our burden lifted, and our peace restored. We fulfill both God's desire and our own secret wish. We are now completed by him.

Tragedy and Loss

        It can be considered a tragedy if you let the time of your life pass without seeking to achieve union with God. And I also consider it a big loss if one never gets the chance to receive the Lord present in the Holy Eucharist.

Never Enough Time on Earth

        Just got back from attending a funeral Mass for a close friend of my wife's. Her death came unexpectedly. This teaches us never to think that we'll have enough time on earth to do all the things we want to do. With limited time, we must consider what we should take care of first. We spend time either serving God or money, building up treasures in heaven or not, getting our eternal destination settled or not. It's never too early to deal with what's critical to our eternal wellbeing. This is being both truly farsighted and realistic. 

Being With Jesus

        Communion experience. Great joy. I focused upon Christ alone, shutting out my past and not looking ahead either, knowing that as long as I am with him every moment, I do not have to worry about a thing. He remains trustworthy forever. 

*God's Promise!

         Today's Communion antiphon, Matthew 19.29: Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life, says the Lord. Here is Jesus' promise. If you realize that sometimes your own family is even more important than yourself, why not give up yourself first? Then everything else will follow. The Lord has placed eternal life completely within our reach!

*Great Journey With Jesus

        In today's Gospel reading from John 1, Jesus called Nathanael. Philip first found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth." But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nevertheless, he went with Philip to see Jesus. Jesus said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael was bowled over and answered, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." 

        We can all see great things if we follow the Lord faithfully. This is precisely what makes seeking union with God so exciting. The great thing here is seeing that God can actually transform us, and experiencing it is what makes our discipleship exciting. Never a dull moment, that's for sure!  

**Secret of Possessing God*

        If you try to hold onto God, let go of him to let him take hold of you. In life, you should always get out of the way so that God may be free to do what he wants with you!

**Sober Thought and Advice

        Last night I did not fall asleep right away. As I stayed awake in darkness, I suddenly saw that human souls are continuously departing from this world. With the world population over 7 billion, I have no idea how many souls are leaving every minute or second, but the number should be high enough that the movement would appear to be continuous. Of course, in no time we'll be joining that line ourselves. My thought is that we should definitely plan well now so that when we cross over to the other side and face the Lord, we will be directed to proceed toward heaven.

***Completing Union With God

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 6.51: I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world. Again, at the Last Supper, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." I underlined "is" for emphasis, for nowhere in scriptures did Jesus ever use the word "symbolizes" in place of "is." Those who do not believe that the consecrated bread and wine are truly the body and blood of the Lord miss something really big. To me, just as I am assured that my sins are forgiven after receiving the sacrament of confession, I am assured that my union with the Lord is complete after I receive him in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. 

Perfect Communion Prayer

        Communion thoughts. Before Jesus breathed his last on the cross, he cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit!" This makes a perfect prayer for us to say during reception of the Holy Communion, for it expresses our willingness to entrust ourselves to the Lord.