In the days when I didn't know Christ or later when I didn't know him well yet, I, as is common among most young adults, often found myself looking for things to do to kill time, to amuse myself. Should I go visit some friends, go see a movie, or just take a nap? That was drifting. Today I can't do that anymore ~ I must have a goal to motivate me to live on. That goal I've found to be meaningful and most satisfying is to serve God. Life driven by any self-centered goal will invariably turn out to be disappointing or even destructive.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Is God Being Unfair?
In the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20), Jesus told that the landowner paid each laborer at the end of the day with the same wage, regardless of how early or late during the day he was hired. Naturally, the ones who worked the longest grumbled against the owner. But he said to them, "Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?" We often complain about unfairness in this world. So what is fair? God is always just ~ this we can be certain of. We must look at the whole picture. If you end up in heaven, are you still going to grumble about the time someone got the job you also applied for or someone didn't catch the flu and you did? Or should you end up in hell, you still wish you had suffered less in this life? The bottom line is that what happens now doesn't matter much. What matters is what happens in the end: If you believe in Christ and do good, you get to heaven; if you reject him and do evil, you end up in hell ~ this sounds perfectly fair to me.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Perfect Surrendering Moment
Communion experience. After I received the Eucharist, I realized that the Lord is pure, spotless, and most holy, and has the power to transform me. It was the perfect moment to say "I am all yours" and union is achieved.
Counting on God
Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 16, after Peter realized that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said to Peter that he would build his Church upon him the rock and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." Despite internal problems and external persecutions to this day, the Church still stands ~ whatever Jesus has said you can count on. Here's another one: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day" (John 6.54). With so many other promises he has given us, our future is set.
On Knowing God
I have never visibly seen nor audibly heard God, but I know him better than anyone else. Of course, I know my family members and some friends well, but I'll never know all about them because they change and communication with another human being is never candid at all times. Whereas God is love forever, the only one you can fully trust and rely upon, so there's nothing more I need to know. In a way, he is the easiest person to know.
Friday, June 28, 2013
How to Live Satisfied
The measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you (Luke 6: 38). Live to satisfy God and he will make you satisfied in life.
Jesus, a Great Joy
Communion experience. Jesus was such a joy today, a refreshing joy, a liberating joy ~ he's to be greatly enjoyed. Just thinking that I have him was a joy.
Consolation for Sorrow
In this present age, my experience has been that after experiencing sorrow for the sake of Jesus, I always receive consolation from the Lord in some special way, not to mention eternal life in the age to come.
God Will Never Reject Us
Today's Gospel at Mass came from Matthew 8. A leper approached Jesus and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." When I heard the reading, I knew that the Lord will never reject us in his heart. We may not get what we ask for, but that's no rejection for he always knows what's best for us.
The Union Difference
If you really want God in your life, the best approach is to seek union with him. Why? Because if you are not in him, you'll always have questions, doubts; you could struggle your whole lifetime and not get much closer to him. While if you are in union with God, he teaches you personally and everything in your life falls into place, making perfect sense ~ no more questions or doubts; just communion in peace with the Lord.
Grateful to God
Nova has produced an excellent episode titled "Earth From Space." A spectacular space-based vision of our planet is revealed. Nova transforms the data from earth-observing satellites into visual sequences, each one exposing the intricate web of forces that sustains life on earth. We see how dust from the Sahara fertilizes the Amazon; how a vast submarine "waterfall" off Antarctica helps drive ocean currents around the world; and how the sun's heating up of the southern Atlantic gives birth to a powerful hurricane. All this knowledge makes me realize that God has hand-created this planet in the vast universe with the right atmosphere, temperature, environment, natural resources, etc., so that we may survive. For this I am grateful. But most of all, I am grateful that he has revealed his love for me through his own Son in my short lifetime here.
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