The Born-Again Process

        Protestants emphasize the born-again experience.  Once you accept Jesus as you Lord and Savior, you are saved forever.  It's that moment of acceptance that counts.  But for the Catholics, the born-again experience is an ongoing process.  Scripture makes it clear that a disciple of the Lord is to shed his old self and be transformed into a new creature that's Christ-like.  Since we'll never be able to reach the perfection of Christ, this renewal process must continue for our entire lifetime.  One just doesn't become holy overnight.        

      

The Meaning of Love

        God's love, agape, is the ultimate love.  He laid down his life for us.  Since he has first loved us, it's our turn to love him back.  When you say "I love you" to God, it should mean "I am willing to lay down my life for you."

Power of the Heart

        This posting could be considered a sequel to Heart of the Matter posted a week ago.  The heart in concert with the mind wields tremendous power.  For example, take someone who has committed serious mortal sins.  If the heart repents in a split second, the soul is saved.  If that's not done, the soul could be doomed.  This is why it's ever important to be prepared at all times. 

Beauty Everywhere

        When you are aware of God's presence, you see beauty everywhere.  I am thinking more of the beauty that you sense spiritually.  Naturally, the beauty of our Lord is ever present no matter what situation you happen to be in.  You see the beauty of each human soul because you see Christ in it.  There is beauty in the fidelity of a married couple and in every human act done for love.  This morning's Mass was particularly beautiful with a group of seminarians and some sisters joining the rest in singing.  The faith shone through.  The priest's homily and the devoutness with which he conducted the Mass made it even more beautiful.  To follow God is to follow beauty.     

The Joy of Letting Go

        There is joy in being able or allowed to go all out to do something.  For example, you get the chance to do all the enjoyable things over a weekend or play a sport with all your heart and strength.  Or it could be that you have the opportunity to express yourself fully in some way or even eat your favorite foods to your heart's content.  In the same way, if you can let go entirely in God, you will feel great joy in your soul.  This joy comes from feeling free and knowing that you have pleased God and made spiritual progress yourself.        

Trust Removes Guilt

        Sometimes I make a mistake despite my good intentions and start feeling that I have hurt the Lord.  Then I realize that he knows that we are imperfect and to be too harsh on ourselves is not trusting in his mercy.  This again becomes a chance to learn how to let go and deepen our trust in him.

Jesus the Shortcut

        In today's first reading from Ephesians 4, Paul asks us to be humble, gentle, patient, ... Elsewhere throughout the New Testament, we are called upon to be good in so many other ways.  I had mentioned before that to seek salvation, Jesus is the shortcut, in the sense that you don't need to search all over the world anymore ~ you just go to him to find it ~ simple and direct.  Now, to do all those things as a Christian is expected to, Jesus again becomes the shortcut.  We Catholics are so fortunate to have the Holy Eucharist available to us, the bread of heaven, to nourish us and unite us to the Lord.  It is through this union that we become holy and automatically, we'll be living right; there's no need to keep a check list to see if we're good in the various ways.   



God Is Infinite

        Today's First Reading at Mass from Ephesians 3 talks about the immensity of God's love, a love that surpasses knowledge.  Can you ever imagine that God is limited in some ways?  If there is a single thing that's not possible with him, then he cannot be God and I don't want to worship such a "God" either.

        If he is not finite, then he must be infinite.  Thus, his love is infinite; his mercy, boundless; his knowledge, unlimited... ~ I could go on and on, but the list is infinite too.  We creatures cannot comprehend infinity, but we are not supposed to ~ we are called upon only to believe and trust.        

How Important Is Jesus to You?

        Here is perhaps a way to find out how important Jesus is to you.  Imagine that Jesus is taken away from you, so you are absolutely cut off from him.  He's now totally out of your life and there is no hope of ever getting in touch with him again.  How would you feel?  Would you feel merely sad or devastated?  Would you feel that you could still live on or life has lost its meaning?  If you feel devastated, is there any point in not wanting to live anymore if Jesus is out of the picture?  There are many other questions you can think of. 

        Cheer up, because he will always be here with you. 

How to Live Right

        To abandon yourself to God is the only way to live right.  If God wants you to go to him right this moment, you response should be an instant "yes," with no reservation whatsoever.  If he wants you to live another hundred years, you respond exactly the same way.  In the meantime, we keep praying to God to show us the way in everything so that we may discern and do his will. 

How to Be Bold & Fearless

        If you put your full trust in God and since he is all love and all-knowing, you should never need to worry, be anxious, or afraid anymore.  This is the theory that sounds totally logical and I can't find any flaw in it either.  Therefore, put it into practice and become confident, bold, and fearless.

        A footnote.  This is not to say that you'll no longer experience any agony or have sufferings or crosses to bear.  The difference is that now you will have the strength and inner peace to deal with anything that comes your way.

A Matter of Occupancy

        One good way to picture our relationship with God goes like this. Imagine that God gives each of us one of his rooms to live in. Now he wants to move in to stay with us. Here are the various possible reactions. (1) Ignore him; close the windows and lock the door to keep him outside. (2) Look through the windows to peek at him once in a while. (3) Wave to him at the window or maybe even open the door enough to talk to him. (4) Permit him to move in, but change your mind afterwards. (5) Actually let him move in, but you are still in control. (6) He is in with you, but you still fight him over many things. (7) You begin to like him after getting to know him more. (8) You are pretty happy that he's staying with you. (9) You begin to get attached to and love him. (10) You come to love him with all my heart and finally surrender to him. He is now truly your Lord and can do whatever he pleases with you or the room.

        It's a matter of your decreasing to nothing and God increasing to occupy all of you.

Wise Up Now

        Today's Gospel reading is from Luke 12 about being prepared for the master's return. How much time do we have? The answer for each one of us is clearly at most the time each of us has left to live, unless Jesus comes again in our lifetime. Since no one knows how long he's going to live and when Jesus will come, the question "how much time do we have?" becomes irrelevant. The wise ones would wise up right now.

Hard to Please

        Please do not try to impress me with your meetings with celebrities; the cars you drive; the brand name of your watch; the designers clothes you wear; the vintage of the wine you serve; your exquisite collection of art or other rare objects; your vast knowledge of world affairs, science, or economics; and all your other successes and accomplishments in this world.  

        The only thing that will engage my interest is the fruit you bear out of love for God.

Guess Whom I Know

       People in general enjoy telling others whom they saw, talked to, or know, especially if it involves someone famous or well-known. It could be that they sighted some celebrity eating at the same restaurant, standing in the same line at the airport, or even got to talk to one at some show. These were considered special occasions and people love to let others know about them because they feel somewhat special about themselves.

        Please don't be disappointed if I tell you that the person I know, most intimately, is the greatest of them all ~ in fact, he is the creator of the universe and all of us: he is Jesus, the Savior. I shall tell you about him only out of love, and I do feel special about myself, but in a different way.

All Things Lead to Jesus

        When I see the beautiful blue sky and smell the fresh air, I think of Jesus.  In the middle of a dark night, I feel him even closer.  In every person, I see the Lord.  Great music leads me to the source, which is Jesus who made it all possible.  The music doesn't even have to be sacred or a hymn; it there is something there that stirs up some beautiful emotion, I thank him too.  Whenever I catch some bad news on TV, I see the need for the world to know Jesus.  Even when I watch some pretty bad, worldly shows ~ not that I enjoy watching them ~ I find out how awful it is to speak and behave without knowing Jesus.  A few days ago, I posted about the desecrators ~ what they did really hurts, but it also directed me right away to Jesus to pray for mercy on their souls.  As the Psalms make it clear, the Lord is everywhere you look.

Infectious Joy in Jesus (video)

Sr. Mary Samuele

        I came across this website 

http://www.salvationisfromthejews.com/samuele.html  about Sister Mary Samuele.  After it was discovered that she had cancer spreading through her body, she was hospitalized.  Her novice directress writes, "The last four months of Sr. M. Samuele's life were nothing more than the breaking loose, in all its tenderness and fury, of God's love for her..."  Sister herself said, "He has broken me down completely. He can do whatever he wants with me."

        It's so beautiful to have God break loose his love to break someone down.  It would be the experience of a lifetime, the new birth of a soul, the ultimate fulfillment of one's desire, the lifting up to the bosom of the Father, the union of the Almighty and a poor sinner, and the end of one's arduous journey. 

        Sr. Mary Samuele, pray for us.