Attaining Union with God thru the Holy Eucharist

Sunday, July 11, 2021

**Walking by Faith

In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus sent the Twelve out to the villages around to preach repentance. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. This is indeed traveling light, but more importantly, it's to walk by faith. I believe that if we rely upon the Lord fully, he will support us fully. If we don't seek his support, we won't witness any of his wonders. A faith journey is basically an adventure filled with the wonders of God.

***Removing Our Sins, a Huge Deal!

"Jesus can forgive and take away our sins." You've probably heard this many, many times. I have, but it hit me today that this is a huge deal and we must pay critical attention to it. Christ can actually remove all our sins to make our soul clean again. What fantastic news! He is the only one who can do this. With a clean soul, we are fit to enter heaven. I hope you now see that this hackneyed saying actually brings us the best possible tidings we need to hear.

Saturday, July 10, 2021

***Wake-Up-to-Reality Call

We have those who work for the Devil. If they do not turn around, they'll become demons one day. We have those in the middle who are more or less lost, surviving like sheep with no shepherd to guide them and not knowing why they are here nor where they are heading. Then we have those who follow the God of Christ and know exactly where they'll be going. Their names are already written in the book of heaven. This is quite a wide range. We can choose where we want to be now and to go later. Wake up, think ahead, make your choice and be ready, for life on earth is short and fleeting.

***Christians Called to Be Dynamic

A Christian cannot remain static, peaceful yes but not static, for God is always calling us to action! If we just trust in God and remain static, how can we bear any fruit? We are to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our all soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength—this means we cannot sit idly and not sense any urgency, especially in dark times as now. Storing up treasure in heaven and bearing fruit in this life is our full time duty we must perform with great dedication. Be awake, alert, and vibrant!

What Union with God Is About

Union with God does not concern so much about how the Lord dwells within you or contains you. Being mystical, it's more about how much you become like him, A perfect union means that the Lord's ways and thoughts are now all yours as well. (Time for great rejoicing again.)

**Letting Pure Love Liberate You

What is love? I think love to us is most often sexual attraction or strong attraction to anything we enjoy sensually. True pure love is something else. To know this love, you'll have to know God first, for he is that love. Know him so that you may be freed from the entrapment of impure love.

*****Most Expedient Way to Know God

For many years in the past, I prayed to God a lot, but I never did open myself up completely to him. I kept him at a distance, you could say. Wishing to love him more, I read a lot of books about many saints and other spiritual classics. That helped. I still have about 20 of those books set aside containing many passages that spoke to my heart which I had highlighted with a yellow highlighter. Today I finally realized that if I had gone directly to the Lord with a completely open heart, I would have progressed so much faster and sooner. I took the longer, indirect route, but lived long enough to discover the most expedient way to know God. For this I am most grateful. I can now say that if you let yourselves be completely known to God, he reciprocates by letting himself be completely known to you. Now you and the Lord get to enjoy each other fully!