On Praying for Spiritual Growth

        We normally ask for the many spiritual qualities, such as faith, perseverance, patience, etc., we think we need.  This approach is relatively self-centered ~ we focus upon what we think we lack ~ and involves more of a struggle on our part.

        I believe that a superior approach is to rest in God with abandonment. We lie open before him, letting him see what we need and fill us.  The focus is mainly on him and not us.  Again, save our energy and tap God's power, for he is infinitely greater and wiser.    

Learning from the Lord

        Last night I had a dream.  In it I noticed that a big wall-mounted light fixture was missing from the house (I say "the house" because it's supposed to be my house, but in the dream it didn't look like my home at all) ~ someone must have removed it without my knowledge or permission.  I was upset, so much so that I woke up.  And the Lord was right there and I heard him (in my mind) asking me if this had happened in real life, how I should react.  I knew right away what he wanted to hear, which is "I should not let anything like this upset me."  It's good to learn from the Lord at any moment he chooses to teach us.     

A Reminder

        If you wish to transform the world, start with transforming yourself first.

Most Tolerant Father

        In Ecclesiastes 3, we read "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens."  I think of this verse because there are times when I feel a great urgency in praying to God and other times when I know that he has heard me and I do not need to ask anymore.  I let the Holy Spirit be my guide.  I could twist God's arm, cry, and beg from him, or just smile at him and whisper my wish and let go at that.  That's why I love the Father ~ as long as you love him, he is most tolerant with your behavior.   

God's Generous Giving

        Today's Gospel reading from Mark 4 contains the well known verse "To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”  At first reading, you might think that God has favorites and is being unfair.  Then I saw that the one who has was the one who loved God and asked for good things from him, while the one who has not did not bother with God in the first place.  We must first want to receive from the God whose generosity in giving is limitless.   

A Plethora of God's Gifts

        If you believe, love, and trust in God with all your heart, you will receive at least the following ten gifts from him:  (1) joy, (2) peace, (3) freedom of the heart, (4) patience, (5) courage, (6) humility, (7) compassion for others, (8) discernment of God's will, (9) detachment from the world, and (10) purity of heart.

        In The Fulfillment of All Desire, Ralph Martin, the fruits of union with God include (1) freedom from self-concern and fear of what others will think, (2) a pure heart, (3) an immense fortitude in the service of love, (4) continual prayer, (5) finding joy in everything, (5) rediscovery of the creation in God ~ seeing it as it truly is, (6) heightened sense of seeing good and evil, (7) deep, solid, interior calm, (8) constant peace and joy, (9) the experience of the almost continual presence of God, (10) being dead to every selfish impulse, (11) enjoying habitual sweetness and tranquility, (12) inebriation in the Holy Spirit. 

        All the above and more can be yours, if you so desire.

       

A Great Feeling

        Knowing that God is using you to serve him in some manner.

Are You Really Following God?

        It's easy not to follow God when you are intent on serving him.  Here are just a few examples.

        (1) You start on a project without praying about it.

        (2) You want to be in control of the project.

        (3) You try to do the work all by yourself.

        (4) You feel good when others see or notice what you are doing.

        (5) You are excited about an idea and want to get started right away.

        (6) You are so anxious to serve God that you neglect your family duties.       

Jesus Is the One

        Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  I looked back in my last post.  If I look back even further to my conversion, I saw how I came upon Jesus, found him attractive, and accepted him as Lord and Saviour.  Over the many years, it was I who was reluctant to go all out to follow him.  He remains forever the same; so, basically, we ourselves determine how much benefit we receive from following him.  (We reap what we sow.)  

        Now that I have willed to go all the way and started tasting the sweet fruit of the spiritual life, I can tell you without a doubt that Jesus is exactly what he claimed to be ~ you needn't look for another.  He warned us that after him there would come many false prophets.  He had already revealed to us all the truths we need to know.  To look for any other who claims to have received new revelations from God amounts to rejecting God.           

Looking Back

        This is sort of a landmark post as I look back.  Before I started this blog, I already felt that I must let the Holy Eucharist occupy a prominent spot in my life.  I should not receive Holy Communion because I am a Catholic and go to Mass, instead I should go to Mass because I want to receive Christ in Holy Communion. I also came across and read The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin, a book I mentioned in an earlier post.  Union with God is the end of the journey to God; and if you read about it in that book, you'll want to reach that state of peace and joy.  Gradually, as I received the Lord at daily Mass, I knew that the Holy Eucharist has the power to bring one to full union with God.
        After I started my blog, I wasn't sure where I was going; I just let the Holy Spirit lead.  Now I see that the objective of this blog is to lead as many as possible to union with God through the Holy Eucharist.  What happens from here?  I don't know and am not concerned about it.  Like the Apostles we must get off our duff and follow the Master the moment he calls.  We may have questions, but we do not ask.  The missions of the Apostles were not made clear until after the Resurrection of the Lord.  It doesn't matter what comes next because we follow a most trustworthy guide.  

Sequel to Last Post

        In view of the understanding of our part in God's scheme, to know that we were created in God's image makes even more sense.  Like him, God made us know what love means.  Since God is love, we should be able to understand him.  Hopefully, we will all fall in love with him as is his will.

Why God Created Us

        Last night I was thinking about God's love, then the Holy Spirit made me see something new (and big for me). 

        If God had not created us, then nothing else he had created ~ animals, plants, rocks, stars... ~ would ever know about his love.  Therefore, God created us so that he could be made known to be love.  This means that we are so very special, being indispensable partners to him in his intention.  With this overwhelming realization, we should never see ourselves quite the same again.  The Church is absolutely right in teaching that God created us to know and love him.

Rejoice If God Calls You

        In today's Gospel from Matthew 4, Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow him to become fishers of men and they immediately obeyed.  If you know that God has called you too, then you have a great cause for rejoicing.  What a special gift it is that he has picked you out among the multitude and called you by your name to follow him personally!!!

God Knows Our Heart

        I got called away this morning, so I wasn't able to go to Mass and there didn't seem to be any thoughts to share.  Then I caught part of the EWTN program Reasons for Our Hope, hosted by Rosalind Moss.  If you haven't read about Rosalind, you must find her conversion story and read it, as she is so full of love for Christ and inspiring.  She was a Jew, found Christ, became a evangelical first, and then finally a Catholic.  It must be extra sweet for her to realize that Christ, one of her own, was actually the Messiah her people had been waiting for.  So she became a fulfilled Jew, not a convert like the Gentiles. 

        On this show I caught her saying "God knows our heart" (when she's talking about how the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah to tell him that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son and Zechariah disbelieved).   That is an extra sweet statement to me.  We all like to be understood.  Here the Lord, almighty and loving, knows everything that's going on in our heart, mind, and soul ~ how good and comforting it is!  One more thing to rejoice about. 

Let the Holy Eucharist Seal...

your love for, trust in, obedience to, and inseparableness from God.

On Living Secretly

        The last post dealt with two opposites, one bad and one good.  Here are two more:

        (1) You live secretly in yourself, not letting God or anyone else know about it.

        (2) You live secretly in God, not letting yourself or anyone else know about it. 

On Escaping from God

        This morning the word "escape" came into my mind after I got up.  I saw that so many of us in this world try to escape from God by ignoring his presence or pretending that he's not there.  At Mass today, the Memorial of St. Agnes, the Entrance we read was "Here is a wise and faithful virgin who went with lighted lamp to meet her Lord."  This is just the opposite of escaping from God.  The antonym of "wise" is, of course, "foolish."  Those who live as if God does not exist are indeed fools.     

On Martyrdom

      Today St. Fabian and St. Sebastian share the same Memorial (optional) day; both suffered martyrdom.  We may not suffer physical death because of our faith, but we can be martyrs too in many other ways.  St. Therese of Lisieux is a perfect example.  Her "little way" calls for doing everything faithfully for the glory of God.  To put your own will to death is then a form of martyrdom, not less valued by God.  Anyway, the important thing is to do God's will and not be concerned about what form martyrdom takes.