***Dying in Order to Live

        In today's Gospel reading from John 12, Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." To be fruitful, we must die in Christ first. Otherwise, we remain our old selves, still disconnected from the Lord. To be truly born again, we need to believe in the Lord and die in him first. So die in Christ before we die and we'll have life abundantly.

***Doing All for God Only

        Today is Feast of St. Lawrence. In reading I from 2 Corinthians 9, Paul writes, "Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work." This is great encouragement for me, for the Lord at times seems to want me to do things going against my grain. But obey I must. To make it easy, I need to realize that I am to do whatever for the Lord and not for anyone else or myself. I am merely his instrument. He'll always be with me if I stay with him.

**Preparing for the Inevitable

         The Lord also made me see that I was on my way going to him and now was the time to prepare myself for the best possible meeting with him. All of us should be doing this on earth now. What's inevitable should always be of foremost importance to us.

*****Feeling Free with God

       It's 2:53 AM now. I feel the Lord is really drawing me close to him and I can't sleep. I know that he's right with me, feeling the intimacy only possible with God. There is absolutely no barrier between him and me. He made me see that when we feel absolutely free to know him, we are free. It's good to know.

**Urgent Call to Prayer

         This is calling those who are not strong in the Lord yet. Only submission and prayer to God can secure our eternal future. Otherwise, we may be easily deceived. The time to realize this is now, more urgent than ever.

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***The Definitive Prayer

        Today as I was praying the Our Father, I saw that if you truly meant every line you said, you would be acknowledging your total dependence upon the Lord and abandoning yourself completely to him. This is as it should be, as we also leave judgment entirely to him. We submit ourselves to God the Father and answer to him alone. This is the prayer that defines our relationship to God. 

***Most Fulfilling Expeience

         Communion experience. The intimacy and union is so fulfilling that I was ready to rest in the Lord forever.

***The Bread of Life Truth

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus proclaimed, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." In Jesus' days, he multiplied loaves of bread and fish to feed the multitudes. Today he has made this living bread available to all at Mass. I wish that Protestant will study John 6 head-on to see that Jesus really meant that to have eternal life, we are to eat his flesh and drink his blood. If Jesus had meant it symbolically, then receiving the Holy Eucharist would be no better than eating manna which fulfilled only physical hunger. (If you search this blog by typing in the word Eucharistic, you can pull up quite a number of posts on Eucharistic miracles.) 

***Avoid Becoming an Antichrist

       In today's reading II from Ephesians 4, Paul writes: "Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ." Of course, Christ had already taught us to pray "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Therefore, if we do not forgive others, we become antichrists. St. John in his first epistle writes: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar." Anyone who wishes someone to go to hell is therefore an antichrist. To love means you love everyone without exception. 

***Do It For Your Soul's Sake

        We all have a soul. We can take care of our own souls, but can only help others to take care of theirs. Taking care of your own soul is all God asks of us, for if we all do that, there'll be heaven on earth. Of course, to get the best care for your soul, you would put your soul under God's care. So for the sake your soul, abandon yourself to God totally.