Only Lord

        Communion experience. Christ is the only Lord and we need to listen to what he tells us to do. 

Lost Souls' Predicament

        Like kids who only want to have fun playing games, not knowing what they play could harm or even kill them, lost souls do what they feel like doing, not knowing what they do could make them lose their soul.

Roles We Play

           In today's Gospel reading, John 12.1-11, we find various kinds of characters we see in our present days. Jesus went to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him. 

            (1) Lazarus' sister, Martha, dutifully served the dinner, doing the work.

          (2) Lazarus' other sister, Mary, wanting to give Jesus the best, anointed the feet of Jesus with a liter of costly fragrant oil made from genuine aromatic nard and dried them with her hair.

          (3) The disciple, Judas the Iscariot, who was a hypocrite and used to steal the contributions from the money bag he held asked why the costly oil was not sold for 300 days' wages and given to the poor.

           (4) A large crowd found out Jesus was there and came, not only because of him, but also because they were curious about Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead.

         (5) Meanwhile, the chief priests were plotting to kill Lazarus too, for many Jews had turned away and believed in Jesus because of him.

            Everybody was busy doing his or her thing.

**Simple Truth

        God is the same yesterday, today, and forever besides being holy and perfect, so he cannot change to suit us. We are the ones who must bend or yield to God, for we are not all holy nor perfect. This is all it takes to bring peace to ourselves and hence the world. Recognize and accept this simple truth and you are set free. 

Jesus Most Endearing!

       Today's Response from Psalm 22: My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? These were also the last words uttered by Jesus in agony on the cross. It showed his human side. He was like us, except that he was perfect and without sin. Suffering so much for our sake – this is what makes me love him so much.

Do We Welcome Our Lord?

        Today is Palm Sunday. The reading at the procession with palms came from Luke 19. Jesus proceeded on his journey to Jerusalem, riding on a colt. As he rode along, people welcomed him by spreading their cloaks on the road. His multitude of disciples praised God aloud with joy. They proclaimed: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest." The Lord should be welcomed by us all into our hearts – this is what he deserves. There will be no peace and joy for us until we treat our Lord and King right.

**Letting the Past Go*

        If today you are happy in Christ, let go of all your past sorrows, for it was through those sorrows that you are lead to this day. If you are already in heaven, would you still brood over your unhappy times on earth? I don't think so. Always look forward to meeting your beloved Lord ahead.

How Alert Your Conscience

        With Easter approaching, we'll again see many who normally do not attend mass showing up at Easter Masses. So I see how we Catholics possess consciences at various levels of alertness. We have those who (1) attend Mass only to ease their conscience, (2) attend Mass regularly, but do not go to confession, (3) attend Mass faithfully and take confession seriously. Again, we must not judge anyone, but pray for everyone.

Do You Realize That . . .

if we address Jesus as Lord but do not obey him in all things, we are being hypocritical? 

**God Does It All for Me!

        Communion experience. Jesus died for all of us to save us, so he did die for me personally to save me. During consecration, when the Lord transformed the bread and wine into his own flesh and blood, I also knew that he did it personally for my sake.