**One Great Sorrow**

         It's seeing so many of us not seeing Christ as our Savior, a true case of "They know not what they do."  How they need God's mercy!

**Heaven Bound Formula*

         Today is also the Optional Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus. Start doing everything in the name of Jesus according to God's will before the day of your judgment and you'll be heaven bound.

*****Bold Move We Can Make*****

         In today's Gospel's reading from John 1, John the Baptist testified to Jesus: "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. The one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God." I say, ask Jesus to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. If you really mean it and and are open, you will experience the greatest change in your life, like being hit by a tidal wave! Freedom, peace, and joy will inundate you. This is my personal testimony to you. If you feel you are not quite ready for that, pray for guidance from the Lord. We are or have been prodigal sons or daughters. There'll be no true rest until we return to our Father in heaven.

***Exalted by the Lord***

        From 1 John 3: 6, we heard read "No one who remains in him [Christ] sins." Choosing to remain in the Lord puts us in a special class. I am in no way saying that we are superior to others; I am only saying that Christ has made us superior in him. And we now become even more humble and grateful to him.

***One to Hold Onto***

        We must hold onto Christ at all times, not just when we need him. He is ever present, sustaining and longing to fellowship with us, his love for us forever burning. Ignoring him is throwing our destiny to the wind! Stick with the him and he'll keep us safe and happy forever.

****Wise Living****

        It's always wise to look at the overall picture of things and not just focus upon one immediate thing after another. Most people of this world are too busy to look beyond their life on earth. A bona fide Christian sees that there is life after death and and goes ahead to get that totally secured through Christ. Now they live in freedom, peace, and joy on earth. This is being a wise visionary, seeing the forest for the trees.

***Total Fulfillment***

        Communion experience. The Lord came down from heaven to be in union with you; you were now fulfilled to the brim! 

***Hope & Resolutions for the New year***

         It's New Year's Day, appropriately the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Each New Year gives us hope that everything will be better from now on for all. But for those of us who already belong to Christ, this hope is already a reality with eternal bliss awaiting! This is also the time many make their resolutions. Bless them for the intention, but this rarely works out without involving the Lord. The superior way is to surrender ourselves to him first, then he'll show us what we should do and help us succeed too. 

***Face of Our Lady of Guadalupe***

        The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a miraculous image that appeared on a cactus-fiber cloak (tilma). If you are not familiar with the story, you can easily find it online. Why it's considered miraculous is also worth knowing. You can pull up quite a number of my thoughts involving her on this blog. I'll just conclude this year's blogging by posting this AI-generated image of her which is well done and quite beautiful. To see it, just click here.

***Our Only Source of Peace***

        My last declaration of 2025: True peace, external or internal, can only come from remaining in Christ and keeping his word.