Learning from the Weeds

         I weeded a little outside this morning when it was still cool. I have quite a number of ornamental grasses around the house. And I often find weeds growing among them you can hardly tell unless you notice that their blades are slightly more flexible and darker in green. These weeds can be easily pulled out, as they are not deep-rooted as the grasses are. This brings to mind the evildoers in our midst. Outwardly, they can look very much like the rest of us, but they harbor a dark heart and are not rooted in God. They will be easily spotted and cast out by God if they do not change their ways.

***Fortunate Christians!

          Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. What a glorious event! Jesus' face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light, as reported in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 17. Christ no doubt is the Lord! I recall going to Mt. Tabor on my pilgrimage to the Holy Land many years ago. The road that lead to the top was quite rugged. At the top was the Church of the Transfiguration. A beautiful church, but I kinda wished that they had preserved the spot so that we could see exactly what the surroundings in which the Lord's Transfiguration took place were like. Nevertheless, one day soon I'll be seeing my Lord face to face. How fortunate we Christians are when we can be overwhelmed by the glory, sanctity, love, and mercy of our God at all times!

*Letting God Alone Judge Us

         I have started reading the book The Warning by Christine Watkins about the illumination of conscience that's expected to happen to everyone in the world, perhaps soon. At any rate, it is the Lord who can make everyone realize the state of their soul. We must stop judging others, take care of our own soul first and then help others to be saved. God is both merciful and just, thus everyone will be rewarded or punished in the end, receiving exactly what they deserve.

**We Are Blind Without God

          In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 15, Jesus said to the crowd, "Hear and understand. It is not what enters one's mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out the mouth is what defiles one." Then his disciples told him that the Pharisees had taken offense at what he had said. He said in reply, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." It is true that we must have the Lord in us to see everything right. Otherwise, we are just expressing our own opinions not rooted in the Lord. The evildoers of today are obviously blind and pitiful. Only those filled with the Lord see the truth and speak the truth, for their guide is the Lord. 

***Man's Tragic Ignorance

          To be aware that we need God, we must first be aware that we are sinners. Unfortunately, many sinners today do not realize this; they do what they feel like doing with no love whatsoever for others. One example is the senseless looting, burning, and killing that are being carried out by some extreme groups in some of our major cities. They have turned evil! This is the great tragedy of our times, practically assuring that God will send greater chastisements our way, and many will then perish. How I wish that everyone will realize that if all of us repent and submit ourselves to the Lord, we'll have peace in the world now and home in heaven later! The spiritual warfare is real. Accepting the gospel of the Lord is all we need to do to be saved. Sinners, you have only yourselves to feel sorry for. Wake up from your stupidity and know that God loves you! 

**How We Should Live

          In today's 1st reading from 1 Corinthians 2, Paul wrote, "I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God." We are to be completely genuine, to be ourselves relying upon God alone, and to be filled with his spirit and power. This is how we should live so that the world will see the Lord and not us.

***Our Primary Mission in Life

         In Sr. Deirdre Byrne's powerful pro-life speech which I posted yesterday, I'll always remember that she said she's not just pro-life, she's also pro-eternal-life. I'd say that if you truly love someone, you would want that person to have eternal life. Otherwise, you don't truly love that person. If you don't care about you own salvation, then you don't really love God nor yourself either. Coming down to us from heaven, Jesus' whole mission was to save all of us, and this is also the mission he gave us before he ascended into heaven. We can't claim that we are disciples of Christ if our primary mission in life is not saving souls?

**How to Really Pray*

        It's not good enough just to recite some written prayers without much heart. The Lord wants to hear your own thoughts from your very own heart. We need to get down on knees or prostrate before him and cry out from our very soul, then he will hear us and grant us what we request from him. The is the power of faith, the power of trust, and the power of obedience to his will.

*Our Best Is Yet to Come*

          Because we humans are rebelling against the Lord, God's will is not being done. But this is only temporary, as there will be final judgement and all order will be restored. Then God's will will be done. It is obvious that the Lord will be totally triumphant in the end. So for Christians, the best is yet to come. All our trials and tribulations will pass; we are being tested and refined for our brightest future. So don't ever get disheartened.

**Going Through Evil Times

        In these dark days with senseless violence, burning, looting, and killing going on in the streets daily in this country, evil has become totally unhinged. So what are we to do but praying to the Lord for mercy? In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he himself must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Are we who follow him going through our ordeals now? Jesus then told his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save this life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This is what we need to know. He continued on, "The Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct." This is the hope we need to hear. Meanwhile, let us pray with all our heart that the Lord will crush all evil and save all souls.