The greatest and first enemy we face in our spiritual battle are ourselves. If we can conquer ourselves, then everything else becomes easy. The recipe for conquering ourselves involves a surrendering ~ surrendering to God, that is. To conquer ourselves, we need a power greater than us, otherwise it's six against half a dozen. We are so fortunate as to have the loving God ready to join in the battle at our beck and call. (The Christian life is definitely not dull.)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Most Joyful Advice!
Jesus has advised us to do many things. He wants us to deny ourselves or sell all our possessions to follow him, to love our enemies and forgive others, to not be anxious about tomorrow, and many more. These we must follow even though they can sound "harsh" to our ears. Today during Eucharistic Prayers, as I heard the priest quoting what Jesus said at the Last Supper: "Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you" and a little later "Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me," it just hit me that these two pieces of advice had got to be the most joyful advice from the Lord! And I also realized that by taking it, all the other advices can become joyful too.
Lessons Learned from Blogging
So far I have posted 490 times to this blog and on this last day of January, 2010, I don't think I'll hit #500; but that's OK. In the early days I sometimes wondered what I should post next, then I learned to rely upon the Lord and not be concerned about that. If he wants to dry me up, that's fine too; after all, I am not doing it for myself ~ it has to be his thing. Three hours ago, I didn't know what to post today; then during Mass the Holy Spirit triggered a bunch of thoughts in my mind. So, here I am at the computer again.
From blogging, I have learned to cast myself aside, trust in God only, and live one day at a time. Praised be to him!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
We Can Be Transcendent Too
God is transcendent because he is not limited by time nor space. We can also be transcendent is the sense that we can live in Christ and not be bound by things of this world. To live in Christ is the beginning of living the eternal life. It is the transcendent way of living.
On Confession
Confession is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The risen Christ gave it to us when he conferred on his apostles his own divine power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20: 22-23). The priest present at confession then becomes the instrument God uses to forgive our sins. Of course, if our sins are venial, we can go directly to the Lord, repent, and ask for forgiveness. What if the sin committed is most serious and you ask for forgiveness from God? How can you be sure that you're forgiven? Well, the Lord totally understands human nature. After you hear the priest absolve you from your sin, you are now certain that you have been forgiven by God because he had given us his word.
To Be Holy Is to Be Happy
I got the following message from the presiding priest at Mass this morning: To be holy is to be happy, content, and fulfilled. This should definitely expel the image in the minds of many who think that a holy person is glum, self-suppressing, and unfree. In fact, anyone who is not happy, content, or fulfilled cannot possibly be holy. To be holy is to live in God, who can only give joy, peace, and fulfillment of the human heart.
On Humility
I was thinking about humility this morning. If we want to imitate Christ, this is the virtue that can help us go a long way toward holiness. In fact, I see humility as being the foremost requisite for becoming Christlike.
This morning's readings at Mass reinforced my thoughts. In Reading 1 from Zephaniah 2, we are urged to seek humility. Reading 2 from 1 Corinthians 1 tells us how God chose the lowly and despised in the world to reduce to nothing those who are something. Finally, the Gospel from Matthew 5 gives us the Beatitudes. In one of them, Jesus declares "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land."
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Jesus Is Always with Us
In the last post, we learned that Jesus quieted the wind and stilled the sea. This was done from a boat when his disciples with him thought that they were going to perish during the violent squall. Father Matthew in today's homily likened our life to being in a boat. When we face the storms of life, we can be shaken; but Jesus is always there in the boat with us. Whenever we are in danger and need his help, he's going to quiet the wind and still the sea for us. A great analogy that gives great consolation.
Jesus, the Lord of All
In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, Jesus rebuked the wind and quieted the sea during a squall and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. His disciples were greatly awed by the fact that even wind and sea obey him. What they learned was that Jesus is the Lord of all. Subtly and sadly, today all weather conditions are attributed to Nature; our nation no longer believes that God speaks to us through hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. Alas, we are no longer in awe of God.
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