*My Only Lord!

        Communion experience. My soul feels triumphant, victorious, for by the power of Christ, I have conquered my sins and conquered myself. Only the Lord is my lord now. 

**Union with God a Must

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus said to his disciples that what comes out from within a man, from his heart, is what defiles him. As examples, he mentioned evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, Blasphemy, arrogance, and folly. The fact is that God can thoroughly cleanse our heart and keep us holy. That's why seeking union with God is not just a choice, but a must for us. It's getting defiled without God or staying clean with God.

Choice We Make on Earth

        We have many successful business entrepreneurs who have become billionaires today. They are ambitious and they work hard. By their own choice, they have succeeded in their own way in this world. We can also make a choice. Since we are all going to God after our limited time on earth, the wisest choice for me is clearly to follow Christ to store up riches in heaven while on earth. Then our eternity will be secured. This is being foresightful and smart, not to mention the peace and freedom that will accompany you on your way. 

**A Test on Forgiving Others*

        Forgiving others is difficult for most of us, especially if the person who has hurt us is also evil. Nevertheless, God understands that as finite beings, our mercy is also finite. We may wish to forgive an "enemy," yet our feelings may still remain negative. Here is a test for you. If God comes to you to ask for your permission to forgive that enemy of yours, would you say yes or no to the Lord? If you can say and answer yes, you pass the test. (BTW, had you said no, you would have been condemned by God for judging others.) 

**Going Directly for God

        This posting segues from the previous one. We get so many little pieces of advice from so many sources on how to get close to God. If you put all of them down on paper, you'd have a long, long list of do's and don't's. Besides, many of such messages are hardly memorable. So what's the productive way to reach God? Once again, the answer is to surrender yourself to achieve union with God. Then you'll automatically know what you should do and what you should not do, with no need of memorizing anything. So, to reach God, go directly for him.

**Desire Nothing Short of God

        Today's response from Psalm 84: How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God. Our dwelling place is really the Lord himself. We want to dwell in him! The second half of today's Communion antiphon from Psalm 107: The Lord satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry he fills with good things. Again, it's the Lord himself who satisfies our thirst and hunger. The Holy Eucharist does the job. When we seek union with God, it is to be one with God himself, not the gifts we receive from him. Don't "shortchange" yourself. Go for the Lord God, all of him. Once you have him, you receive all the gifts he has for you as well.   

**Neglect of Our Highest Calling

        We've ignored Christ and are no longer aware of his teaching that to be great, we must serve others (Matthew 20.26). It turns out that to be a lowly servant to others is in fact our highest calling, for he promised that he would exalt all those who humble themselves.

**Secret of Spiritual Growth

        To follow the Lord spiritually, you must get to know him, for it's impossible to grow spiritually if you do not know him. And it is impossible to know him if you do not get close to him. So the way to follow God best is to surrender ourselves to him to become one with him, then we'll know him inside out most intimately.  

*Lost Priorities

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus came to Gennesaret and people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak and be healed. Being human, we all want to be healed physically, but not so much spiritually. When you look at the world today, everyone wants to push their own agenda; they couldn't care less about the will of God. We always get the priorities wrong! No wonder the world is always in a mess.

***Simple and Direct way of Knowing God***

        I just saw a video telling you how to focus on Jesus by reading certain prayers. There are many suggested ways or methods out there. But you cannot beat going straight to the Lord; it's simple and direct. Your goal should be to attain union with God, beyond merely focusing on him. In union, you get all the support you need from the Lord himself, so much superior than reading books, attending conferences . . . in general, learning from someone else. So go heart to heart with God and not let anything stand between you and God, and he will reveal all his thoughts and ways to you. This is the endearing and most efficient way of knowing God. In a way, you don't have to do anything to know him. Like Mary the sister of Martha in Luke 10, just sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him speak.