**Wise Living**

         If you only do your own thing aiming at pleasing yourself, then you are simply drifting along horizontally, living a mundane life. What will happen to you after this life is over? This is the BIG question! To be wise, do everything for the glory of God. Now you soar vertically, keeping your link to heaven firmly in place. What's going to come is no longer of any concern.

**Pleasure vs. Joy**

         Whatever you enjoy in the world is a pleasure and whatever you enjoy in God is a joy. The former is short-lived and can get tiresome quickly. It does not make you any holier and life remains empty. On the other hand, the latter is permanent and forever refreshing. It uplifts you spiritually and fills the void of your life.

***Secret to Loving God***

         To succeed in loving God, you must be wide open to letting him love you. Any resistance you put up will simply impede your  progress.

***PERFECT ONE for Us***

         When I hear the name of Jesus mentioned, these three words instantly come to my mind: Lord, Love, and Light—he's all three, the exactly one we need for salvation and life.

***Most Powerful Catholic Prayer***

        Watch this video and be awed by God's mercy and power.

**To Delight in the Lord**

         Please the Lord and you'll be pleased with yourself. Embrace his love fully to let it transform you into a new creature and he'd be delighted. And you in turn will experience his joy.

**No Unhappy Christians**

         We easily get unhappy about many things that happen to us, deeming ourselves to be less fortunate than some others. We forget that if we look at the entire population of the world, we are likely more fortunate than many other people. Think of the millions of unborn babies that are aborted every year. How about the thousands of young soldiers who now lose their lives daily in Ukraine and Russian? Then we have sex trafficking victims, civilians unjustly imprisoned by corrupt governments, terminal cancer patients . . . the list goes on and on. So think how fortunate you already are. As for those who proclaim to be Christians, they should realize that having Christ is more than sufficient for them. An unhappy Christian is an oxymoron.

***Our Foremost Christian Duty***

        It is to love the Lord by being holy ourselves and spreading the gospel with the goal of saving as many souls as possible.

***How Our Joy Progresses***

        First, we experience the joy having our soul purified and healed by the Lord. Then we progress to the joy of being in union with him spiritually. Finally, we arrive at the joy of being with the Lord in person for all eternity. 

***RICH BEYOND MEASURE***

        Today's Entrance Antiphon, Ps 16:5-6, Reads: O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup, you it is who hold fast my lot. For me the measuring lines have fallen on pleasant sites; fair to me indeed is my inheritance. The Responsorial Psalm Response from Ps 2: I will give you all the nations for an inheritance. Last, the Communion Antiphon, Mt 19:29, reads: Everyone who has given up home, brothers, or sisters, father or mother, wife or children or property for my sake will receive many times as much and inherit everlasting life. All three quotes talk about inheritance. If we let the Lord of Christ be our Lord, we will inherit all that he has for us and everlasting life! Do you hear me?