***Making Your Faith Great

         When I first accepted Christ as my Savior, he was not that real to me, for I did not experience his presence. Only once in a while, I sensed his presence for a brief moment. Others with a much greater faith impressed me. Then later after I got baptized in the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement,  I was a changed person—Christ and the Holy Spirit became real to me. Now, finally, the Lord is more real to me than anyone else, for when he speaks to me in my heart, all doubts vanish. This is how faith comes about. Know the Lord and let him make your faith great. This is why I advocate seeking union with God through the Holy Eucharist to make all the difference to your faith.

*No Choice but to Be Humble

        The Hubble telescope in space has been taking photos of the universe for 30 years. The images are truly amazing. Of course, since the universe is so immense, the images captured could be billions of years old already. Seeing these images willingly makes me want to surrender myself to the Lord who created the whole universe. I wouldn't be surprised that the universe is infinite, for God is infinite. There are numerous videos showing such images. I have chosen a fairly recent short one for you to watch.

***Key to Union with God

        There are numerous beautiful spiritual writings, sayings, and prayers you can read, but if your heart is not involved, reading them would all be in vain. To enjoy the Lord, turn you heart directly to him, for his beauty is beyond words. Gazing at or meditating upon the Lord with all your heart is so much more satisfying and rewarding than reading someone else's beautiful words about him. Your own open heart is the key to union with God. 

***Important for Catholics to Know

        This video came out a week ago. It's an important informative video for all Catholics and pro-lifers to watch before the Presidential election comes up in November.

**Pity the Hypocrites

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean." To cleanse our inside, we need the Lord, for only he can cleanse my heart and soul. If our inside is clean, our outside will be clean too. Hypocrites are to be pitied, for they don't realize that they cannot fool God nor us. Today's hypocritical politicians can be easily spotted. They are self-deceiving fools.

***Hell to Avoid at Any Cost!

        Early this morning I had a horrible, vivid dream. I am traveling with my younger son. We fly for some 17 hours to a remote foreign destination. When it's time for us to return home, we go to the city center to look for the place to get transportation to take us to the airport, but we have trouble finding it. We walk and look and somehow get separated. And I do not have a cell phone with me. I am not sure whether I should stay put for him to come back perhaps or go look for him. I decide to go look for him. Then I get further and further lost, having no idea where to go next. I am going to miss the flight for sure and do not know what my son is going to do. Now I must go find out where the airline company office is, go there and buy a ticket home on another flight, possibly on another day. I just hope that when I get home, my son is back too. The feeling I had was so horrible that I suddenly woke up. And the Lord right away made see that in my dream predicament, I at least had the hope of getting out of it; but once one lands in hell, there is absolutely no such hope. I believe this is the message the Lord wants me to post today.

**Christ Our Liberator

         When we truly know Christ, we are liberated! Those who do not know him or know him well enough yet spend all their time dealing with their own imperfections and end up imposing unnecessary miseries on themselves. They can be good people, but without Christ, they do not see the light of the Lord and have no defense against the attacks of the devil. We must all follow what Jesus commissioned the Eleven to do before his Ascension: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16.15)

*No Looking Back for Christians

          There is no point in attaching ourselves to anything in the world, including our possessions, our accomplishments, our memories, and even our good times. All that's left behind will be gone instantly or in time. As Christians, our focus should always be on the Lord without ever looking back. In heaven, we shall live our new life enjoying every present moment.

**Believing in Our Own Prayers

         When we pray, we must pray from our very heart and believe that the Lord not only hears us, but also will respond to our petitions. That is, we also believe in our own prayers. We are not just nobody; we are his most beloved children!

***How Personal Is Your God?

           We need to establish a personal relationship with God, as we are often so advised. How far should we go? Since the Lord loves us with an infinite love, we need to go all out to open up to his love. We need to abandon ourselves to him completely to remain in him. We need to yearn for him and rejoice in him at all times. We must not fall short of attaining full union with him. This would please him the most and give us the greatest joy at the same time.