**Guardian of My Soul

        Communion experience. Jesus is the only one who can touch, cleanse, heal, and save my soul. I entrust my soul entirely to him for safekeeping.

***No Longer Lost

        We are here in this world, wondering where we came from, why we are here, and where we'll be going. So we need directions. On our own, we are definitely lost. Should we follow some other fellow being? But we are all in the same boat! Our clearcut dream answer: Christ the Lord. Being our creator, he is greater than us, and happens to love us—the perfect fulfillment. Following him is more satisfying than anything else we can possibly experience, for he solves all our mysteries for all eternity!  

**Jesus' Sole Intention

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners." Do you know Jesus' intention yet? His sole purpose is do us good by saving us from our sins so that we might enjoy eternal life in heaven! There's zero malice, only pure love! If you still ignore or reject him, I am sorry that I would see you as a quite thickheaded person.

**Only Concrete Way of Knowing God

        Abandon yourself completely to God to become one with him.

Joy Outweighing Sorrow

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, Jesus explained why his disciples did not fast: "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from therm, and then they will fast." We are happy because the Lord is always with us. At the same time, we are sorry because the world continues to sin against him. So we experience both joy and sorrow at the same time. By offering up our sorrows to the Lord, the joy outweighs the sorrow always.

*To Be Alert Always

        Jesus said to his disciples, "Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the Lord will come." (Mark 13.33.) While waiting for his coming, we must also be watchful and alert to discern and do his will at all times.

*More Important Concern than Money

        Under the current threat that the coronavirus might become pandemic, stock prices have plunged daily. Many investors are worried or even panic. So they are all getting out of the market. This is understandable. But more difficult for me to understand is why so few are concerned about where their souls are heading right now. This is so much more important than whether you make or loose money in this life—there is no comparison! As Jesus asked in yesterday's Gospel reading from Luke 9: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"

*Denying God?

        If you haven't surrendered yourself to the Lord God yet, then you are still denying him. God is our most fundamental reality and facing up to reality is always the best policy.

*Letting God Be Our Lord

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." If you believe that Jesus was of sound mind, then he must have spoken as the Lord God. Essentially, he's saying that he should be the Lord of our life. I'd like to add that the more we let him be our Lord and God, the easier it becomes to take up our cross. When we are able to completely submit ourselves to him, he becomes the one to bear all our crosses. Following Christ is the only way to true freedom. 

*Clear- or Muddy-Headed

        To me, a clear-headed person is one who knows that he is a sinner, that he needs to have his sins removed in order in be saved, and that Jesus Christ is exactly the Savior he needs to believe in and follow. Otherwise, he is muddy-headed.