Blessed Mary

        If the Catholic Church is the most misunderstood church in the world, then Mary the Mother of Jesus must be the most misunderstood women in the world. 

        As I mentioned in a previous post, I am basically a simple and even naive person. To me, if I love Jesus, how can I not love his mother?  On the cross, the Lord gave her to St. John to be his mother before he expired. If she's good enough for St. John, she's certainly good enough for me. The death of her Son had made her suffer more than anyone else (as prophesied by Simeon at the Presentation of Jesus).  At the wedding in Cana, Mary told others to do whatever Jesus tells them. She always wants all to do God's will, leading them to her Son. Invite her to be your partner in doing God's will and you cannot go wrong.
        A loud and clear note: We Catholics do not worship Mary because she is also a creature like us, albeit a very special one favored by the Lord.  A lot of us simply love her very much.    

First Thing First

        How can you deal with all the problems of life?  How can you be less self-centered?  How can you not let others upset you?  How can you find peace?  It feels like there are so many things to resolve, to settle, to square away.

        "First thing first" means seeking the union with Christ first before all else, then everything will automatically fall into place over time.  The closer you are united with Christ, the more you think and view the world like him.  Then you will learn not to worry or be anxious about anything (remember his counsels in the Gospels?).  You will have great courage in facing all the problems in life.  You can actually become fearless.  Achieving the greatest possible union with the Lord in this life should be your foremost goal in life.        
        A footnote.  Ralph Martin's book The Fulfillment of All Desire describes the various stages of union with God.

Being Lost

        In general, no one likes to be lost.  If you're lost in the wilderness, you would worry or even panic.  Sometimes when you don't know what to do in a situation, you are lost too.  But if you are lost in Christ, then that's totally different.  In fact, it's the best thing that could ever happen to you.  To be lost in Christ is to be found by him.  To be found by him is to be lost in his love.  And this love will beget freedom, peace, and joy.  So don't be a lost soul, but be a "lost" believer instead.     

Offer of Unconditional Love

        God's love for us is unconditional.  It's offered to us independent upon how good or bad a person we are.  Jesus has demonstrated how great this love is and it's ours for the asking.  Unconditional love is equivalent to unlimited mercy.  If you do not embrace this love yet, then what is your "good" reason?  Remember that the offer is valid only in our lifetime.  

One Sin of Omission

        This morning at Mass, the Lord made me see that if we don't ask him to make us holier and to love him more after receiving him in Holy Communion, then we shall have received him in vain.

A Simple Faith

        Compared to most people, I am a relatively naive person.  It follows that my faith is rather simple too.  I just believe in God's love and that this love is sufficient to sustain, nurture, and more than satisfy me.  I much prefer reading authors who write with their heart than with their intellect or brain.  Books like Carretto's Letters from the Desert just suits me fine.  Anything theological or that which gets into deep analysis or just wordy doesn't generate much interest in me.  Maybe this gets me close to believing like a child as Jesus likes.  I am lucky that when I look into my heart, I do not find any tangled mess, knots, or cobwebs ~ the Lord must have taken all that away.  This is why St. Therese of Lisieux appeal to me so much and I had asked her to be my spiritual director.  I hope that you will find your own personal way of believing that suits you.         

Ecstasy Defined

        Practically speaking, ecstasy is rapturous delight, bliss, great delight.  In theory, ecstasy is simply doing God's will.  What could be happier than knowing that you are making God happy?? 

Judging Others

        Jesus wants us to notice the plank in our own eye before seeing the speck in our brother's eye.  And he asked whomever without sin to cast the first stone  at the adulterous women caught in the act.  St. Therese learned to never speak ill of anyone and only say the good things about a "bad" person.  All these examples teach us not to judge others.  Those who love to criticize others are unhappy people, because they fail to see that God loves everyone, including the critic.

Life Beyond

        Sometimes at home you happen to see or find something that's a gift given to you a long time ago by someone and the giver is no longer here in this world.  Of course, you wish that he or she has found peace in the Lord.  Yes, where we end up after this life is over is of extreme importance, unless you just don't believe that there is life after death.  I think most people do believe that the soul lives on, yet they don't do much to make sure that they go to the right place after death.  Why?
        In the context of eternity, we are only here in one blink of the eye, yet we plan and live as if we are going to live forever.  It seems that this world is a trap, in which we're easily made to forget to  consider this most important question of life.  I remember the saying: "Everyone wants to get to heaven, but no one wants to die to get there."  The wise with true vision will want to look into the life beyond as early in their life as possible.  Happy are those who have already found Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life!

Beauty of God's Love

        "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son..."  We've all heard this so many times, but have you really thought about it to feel and sense the immensity and depth of this Love?  Today we might call it "extreme love."  Jesus himself said that there's no greater love than laying down your own life for others.  Yes, Jesus did it for each one of us!  To some of us, he must be insane.  Yet to God, this is his nature.  It's so incredible that this love becomes extremely beautiful.  Once you see and feel this, you can't help but fall in love with the Lord.  If you appreciate beauty, then I urge you to discover the beauty of his love ASAP.  The reward will be not just peace and joy in this life, but also in the next for all eternity.