*Cleansing Your Inside First

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus was invited by a Pharisee to dine at his home. The Pharisee was amazed to see that Jesus did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. Jesus sain to him, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?" Our outside is for people to see, but our inside is for God to see. So cleanse your inside first and then the outside if you have the time. Jesus said to his disciples, "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." So focus upon yourself and never mind what other people see or think.

**The Living Word of God

            Hebrews 4.12, today's Gospel acclamation: The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thought of the heart. To surrender to the Lord is to surrender to his word. It is through surrendering to this living word that we are spiritually nourished, enlightened, and formed to become like the Lord, fit to inherit the Kingdom of the Father.

***Be Prepared for the Unexpected Moment

          I love the late night or early morning before dawn arrives because when I am awake, I could sense or hear the Lord so clearly in the quiet. This time the Lord made me see that we might be in a very nice environment, living in a comfortable house, seeing beautiful things around us, etc., but one day even if all such things still remained, we would pass and find ourselves alone before the Lord. This could be drastic for some of us. So let's expect and be prepared for this unexpected moment when it comes.

To Be Set Free the Right Way

        From the first reading from Galatians 4, Paul wrote, For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. People erroneously think that if they do not accept Christ, they can do whatever they want and thus remain free, not realizing that they only end up enslaving themselves! To be truly set free, we need Christ, our creator and a much greater power, to heal our soul and set our spirit free.  

**God's Love Removes All fears

         Even though I am a most wretched sinner, since I love the Lord and yearn for him, I look forward to meeting him in person, as I know that he'd be glad to see me in person too. The love of God removes all fears, knocking down all barriers.

*Blog Title Change

         You might have noticed that I have changed the title and the description of this blog at the top of the page. When the Lord first started giving me thoughts to post eleven years ago, I had no idea what he was up to. It was almost a year later that he made it clear that he wished to draw all to him through the Holy Eucharist. Early this morning, the idea of changing the title to make it more relevant came to me, and I made the change. Praise the Lord. May he be glorified forever! 

**Enlightening the Heart

        Today's Gospel acclamation from Ephesians 1: May the Father of our Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts... That's right, we need the Lord to enlighten our hearts, not our minds. The mind only serves the heart. With an enlightened heart, we'll be able to see and think clearly. We speak of "the heart of the matter," not "the mind of the matter." If your heart is for God, you are for him. Whether your heart is defiled or clean concerns our Lord the most, for he cares about our soul the most. Opening your heart up to God opens the door to your salvation!

***Making Your Faith Infinite!

         In today's second reading from Philippians 4, Paul wrote: My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Christ the Lord himself has assured us of the same and we need to believe in this truth. This is the faith that can get us through anything and lead us straight to heaven. This is total abandonment in God that allows miracles to happen. This is truly believing that nothing is impossible with God. 

***The Same Magnificent Lord

         Today's psalm at Mass is Psalm 23, probably the best know and possibly the most beautiful psalm of all the Psalms. As you know, it starts out this way: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. Of course, this psalm of David was written about a thousand years before Christ came. After knowing Christ, you feel about the Lord just as David did, if not more so, for it's the same magnificent Lord. There's consistency here. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

**Knowing-Christ Difference

         If you do not know Christ, living seems to be empty and life, meaningless. Once you know the Lord, it becomes absolutely clear that without him, you are definitely lost. To know Christ is to know the truth and reality. Not knowing him is knowing everything that's not worth knowing! You are hearing this from someone who has found out and knows all about it.