The sharing of my spiritual thoughts and experiences
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
***Union Privilege
*Meeting Matthew Kelly
Father Goring's instructive interview with Matthew Kelly. Hear his comment on his mystical experiences. Ley's realize that receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist is also a great mystical experience.
**What to Give Up
Our daughter-in-law suggested to my wife and me to have a bag containing all the important things ready so that we'd be prepared to leave in case we have to evacuate our house. I had thought about this before because I live in an area with a lot of trees around and California gets lots of wild fires every summer. With just two cars to load what we can carry, I pretty much have to leave behind almost everything normally you would want to keep for a while. This is virtually as "bad" as when you leave the world. Nevertheless, this has been a good exercise, making me realize that there is a time to let all things go and the time to learn to say goodbye to them is now.
***Fighting a Winning Battle
With Christians facing persecution, the Church in disarray, and evil seemingly having filtered the fabric of our entire society, the days look dark indeed. But let's know that Satan is loose only because God has permitted it. It is a given that the Lord will triumph totally in the end. Because Satan knows that his days are numbered, he is fighting extra hard out of desperation. So we should fight him and his minions without any fear, but with full confidence in our God. It's only a matter of time before the days will be brighter than ever. We may not be here then, but that shouldn't make any difference to us. Just know that we are fighting a winning battle.
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
**Living Right Is Terribly Important
We were all born into this world and get to live our lives. We can choose to live a holy or an evil life or one anywhere in-between. Then when our time is up, we all die. So what does it matter how we live our lives? Answer: It matters a lot because we have a soul that live on forever after death. This life is only the infinitesimal beginning of our everlasting existence. You want to live it right in order not to screw up your whole eternity.
**Still in the Doldrums
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And who find it are few." Jesus gave us these warnings 2,000 years ago and we still are not taking it seriously enough. Time to snap out of the doldrums!
Conscience Affects Peace
The Lord has given each of us a conscience. The one who has a dull conscience can sin more and not get bothered too much. Then he won't have much inner peace either. Anyone with a sharp conscience sins a lot less, for he knows the pain of carrying a sin, so he enjoys peace in his heart almost always. It's a choice, but know that if you lack inner peace, it's God calling you to him.
*We Reap What We Sow
Everything we do, the Lord knows, and we'll be either rewarded or punished. You can say that what goes out from us will always come back to us in some way or form. That is, there'll be consequences to whatever we do or don't do. It's good to remember Proverbs 22:8, "Those who sow iniquity reap calamity."