**A Great Feeling

        When you take God seriously, pray hard from your heart, and do everything for his sake, he actually lets you know that he hears you and that you help him shape his plans. This is such a great feeling to know that you can influence the Lord and help him in establishing his kingdom on earth.

*****Reminding All of Our Best News

        God's love is universally available to anyone who desires it, and everyone needs it unless you don't know that you are a sinner. Christ has come and made it clear how we can be delivered from sin and gain eternal life. This has to be the best possible news we can truly rejoice about. If you don't consider Christ, there is just nothing out there that makes a good alternative—this is what I see. So there's the reality. If you don't accept Christianity, think about what your reason is. Know that the Lord does not take away your free will because he wants you make the choice so that should you choose to follow him, faith is born! This would mean everything to both you and him. He could have forced you to believe in him, but that wouldn't have meant anything to you. The Lord is all love and kindness. Be fair and consider his invitation to accept his love, which will only be good in your lifetime. There'll be everything to gain and nothing to lose!  

***What You Should Care About Only

        One big reason we lose peace is worrying about how we look to others. It all has to do with the ego. We should always care about what God thinks about us, not what anyone else thinks. This is hard to follow for anyone who still has some ego in them. Do whatever pleases the Lord will make those who love him love you, but those who hate the Lord hate you. Do you want to get to heaven or not? Would you choose being free over not being persecuted? God over the world? Anyway, to begin your journey to freedom, you need to get rid of the ego first.

**How Are We Doing?

        We can grade what we do by the motives behind our acts. I'll list these motives from the worst to the best: (1) to hurt someone, (2) to benefit ourselves only, (3) no particular motive, (4) to help someone, (5) to help someone for God's sake. Acting with the first three, you wast time on earth. Only acting with the last two, especially the last one, will you be storing up treasures in heaven. 

**Being All Settled

        When I call out "My Lord and my God" from my heart to Jesus, everything about me is settled. The past is gone, but my present and my future are being settled by him. I have completely settled down in the Lord.

**The Lord Drawing us*

        I feel the Lord drawing all of us to him like a powerful but gentle magnet. Perhaps it's a gift or a calling, but I believe that if you are open to him, you'll feel it. If you are totally closed to him, of course you won't feel anything. Then if you really open up to him, you should definitely feel his attraction. When you feel it, do not resist, for it's the holy, perfect, most loving Lord drawing you.

****Prayer Attitude****

        When we pray to the Lord, we can see him as high above us and ourselves as little creatures begging for favors. This is proper and fine. Then I see another way I personally prefer. I see praying to my God as fellowshipping with him. He is not just my friend—he is my soulmate, my very soul! Prayer is my time to commune with him and become even more one with him, thus showing that I am totally with him all the way. The Lord needs our support, not just our obedience. To love him is to be dear to him who loves us so much as our Father.

*****Life's Ultimate Attainment*****

        Common experience. Union with God through the Holy Eucharist is our ultimate attainment that fulfills the Lord's most ardent wish. It is God and us melting or melding into one—it has to be the most jubilant occurrence that can happen to us in this life!

***Cure for the Ego***

        First part of reading 2 from Philippians 2: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Every time you feel your ego surfacing, remember the Almighty Lord humbling himself for our sake, and we are all but helpless sinners who cannot even survive without him. 

***Indebted to Jesus*

        Today is the Feast of the Exaltation of of the Holy Cross. Entrance antiphon, Cf. Galatians 6:14: We should glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is our salvation, life and and resurrection, through whom we are saved and delivered. We owe everything to the Lord!