**God Does It All*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." The picture I see is little me carrying a tiny cross, following the Lord with his big cross. As I follow along, I realize that he's caryimg me with my cross as well. Following the Lord is letting him carry you!

**Alone with God, Not Alone

        First thought this morning. I am not alone! For the Lord is with me—he watches over me; he knows all my intentions, and he hears me when my heart speaks to him. It's impossible for me to ever feel lonely!

**Reluctance and Willingness

         We are always the ones reluctant to let God love us, whereas God is always willing to save us from sin. When you are willing to embrace God, you are like the prodigal son returning to his father. The whole heaven rejoices and you are an instant celebrity. 

****Being Marked by God

        Today we all received ash in the form of a cross on the forehead. It's a beautiful mark to remind us that we are but dust, and to dust we shall return. To the faithful, I also see that God has marked them as ones chosen to inherit eternal life! From dust to becoming eternal sons and daughters of the heavenly Father, that's truly an amazing metamorphosis!

***Best Healing Experience!***

        Communion experience. Christ is he one who can shake up, enter, purify, and heal my soul! I love it! Lord, now I can truly thank you from my soul.

***Living in Secret, the Secret***

        In the Gospel reading from Matthew 6 today, Jesus said to his disciples: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father." The Lord wants us to live our lives in secret, hidden from others. This is living for God alone! This is being truly humble and liberated from yourself!

***Ash Wednesday Hope*

        Today is Ash Wednesday. In the first reading from Joel 2, the LORD calls the people to return to him with their whole heart, with fasting. and weeping, and mourning. We weep and mourn because we have sinned against the Lord. But we can also rejoice and celebrate because the Lord is also our Savior! To those who believe and follow him, he promises that he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain (Revelation 21: 4).

**Advice to Married Couples

         Union between two human beings can never match our union with God who alone is perfect. True, on earth there are happy marriages and not-so-happy ones. Always remember that in Mark 10, Jesus said that in marriage, the man and the woman shall become one flesh, and no one must separate what God has joined together. Again in Luke 6:32, Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." In other words, we must love everyone, our wife or husband included. Learn to love the unlovely and we grow spiritually. The goal is to let the love of God rule in our hearts. And this can best be accomplished through attaining union with God. For in union, you become humble, selfless, and generous like the Lord, thus you will be able to overcome all difficulties in your marriage or elsewhere in your life. The love of God is the most powerful force in our universe. Obey the Lord to become powerful.

*Attaining Freedom in God*

        Communion experience. It's by surrendering every bit of yourself to God that you gain total freedom in him! Everything else fades away, the LORD alone looms large. And I got myself totally renewed. 

*Overwhelmed by God

        My feeling at morning Mass: "My cup overflows." The Lord has filled my life with so many spiritual blessings as well as material things. Who am I that he should care for so much?