*Christ Our Only Passageway

         I haven't been able to blog these last two days because of traveling to visit my younger son and some friends. In Reading II from Hebrews 5 today, Paul writes, "When Christ Jesus was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." We see that obeying Christ is necessary for eternal salvation. Therefore, if we can submit ourselves to him, we are ready. There is no way of bypassing Christ, as he is our final judge too.

Becoming God's Beloved

         After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) When Jesus was transfigured on Mount Tabor before Peter, James, and John, the three saw him conversing with Moses and Elijah. Then a bright cloud cast a shadow over them and again, from the cloud they heard a voice saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Matthew 17:5) Now, if Jesus is our beloved Lord, that'll surely make us God's beloved children! 

*It Is a Sin . . .

 to deliberately reject Jesus when you know about him and why he came into the world to die for us.       

**Most Appropriate Prayer

        If you think that you are a pretty good person, then you are not good enough for God. Remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18? The Pharisee took up his position and prayed, "O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous. I fast twice a week, yada yada." On the other hand, a tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus said to all, "I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Indeed, the most appropriate prayer for us to say is "O God, have mercy on me a sinner." When you truly say it from your heart, you are drawn instantly close to the Lord. To humble ourselves is to imitate the Lord Jesus, always the right thing to do.

**Treasured Information for Us

        Also from today's Gospel's reading from John 5, Jesus said, "Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life." We see that the Son identifies himself with the Father and how we can pass from death to life. Such information is to be treasured!

**Proof that Jesus Is Our Savior

          In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus said to the Jews, "Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes." I am reminded of Jesus' healing of the paralytic in Matthew 9. People brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. That Jesus had the authority to heal the paralytic is proof that he had the power to forgive sins. Similarly, the Resurrection of Jesus is proof that he has the power to give life to whomever he wishes as he claimed in today's Gospel reading. He is our Savior.

***Easy Road to God

        Again from today's reading from Isaiah 49, the LORD says to the prophet: "He who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. I will cut a road through all my mountains, and make my highways level." I really feel that the Lord has done all the work to remove all the obstacles and made our road to him level. Jesus had done the work and now we can get to heaven easily! The Lord wills something to be done and it's done. Well, we simply will to go to heaven by believing in Jesus and it's done for us! God has made everything easy for us; we just need to make it easy for ourselves.

***Face the Lord and Live

         From today's first reading from Isaiah 49, the LOAD says, To those in darkness: Show yourselves! This is a powerful command. Every sinner needs to show himself to the Lord. What's the point of hiding from him who already knows everything about you? If your are afraid to show yourself, it only shows how much more you need to do it. Show yourself and the Lord will place you in his light and you'll never want to go back into darkness again. So show yourself now or continue destroying yourself in hiding. 

***How to Stop Sinning*****

         I've mentioned that one of the great benefits of being in union with God is that you no longer tend to sin, as you are now aware of God's loving presence within you at all times. We sin when we always want to do what we want to do. Once you wish to follow only the will of God, you see all things as he sees them and no longer judge others. You are then free, have peace, and stop sinning. The days of feeling that you need to go to confession again are gone! To recap, you have all of God, you are completely satisfied, you no longer follow your own whims and desires, you stop sinning, and you enjoy the Lord's peace. It's so very straight forward and clear. (One side benefit worth mentioning: you do longer get stressed out about anything and you blood pressure remains normal at all times. You probably would live longer too, but that's up to the Lord and shouldn't matter to you.)

***Heaven or Hell?

        I like hearing Fr. Corapi talk because he comes right to the point, unlike some others who speak a lot of words but don't have much to say. I love what Jesus said in Matthew 5.37: "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'  Anything more is from the evil one." Here's Fr. Corapi's new 3-minute  straight talk.