At the Presentation of the Lord, when Simeon saw the child Jesus, he took Jesus into his arms, blessed God, and said, "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation..." We should also desire that the Lord will not let us go in peace until we have come to know him.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
God Alone Purifies Us
From Malachi 3 at today's Mass, we read that the Lord refines and purifies his people. There are all kinds of powers in the world, but only God has the power to cleanse the soul. Let him do that unto us in this life to make us ready to face him in the next.
Consecration to God
Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Joseph and Mary presented baby Jesus to the Lord according to the law: "Every first-born male shall be consecrated to the Lord." We too should present ourselves (and our children) to the Lord at some point in our lifetime. If the opportunity for making the consecration in public does not exist, we can always do it in the privacy of our own heart.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Crucifixion for Us
Today I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. As I got to the last one, the Crucifixion, I saw that Jesus was crucified on the cross because out of pure love he wanted to save us. What can we do to express our gratitude? We can crucify our old self and live anew in him to show that we love him. Of course, we do not actually crucify ourselves physically, but we can certainly do that spiritually. Then we'll be standing with the Lord on the same side, bonded by love.
Keeping Eyes Fixed on Jesus
In Hebrews 12, today's first reading, Paul talks about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. I had the thought on the way to Mass that if I don't keep my eyes fixed on the Lord, I would be "wandering," the word that came to my mind. Wandering is aimless, heading in the wrong direction most of the time, and we lose precious time. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we are assured that we are always going in the right direction.
Monday, January 31, 2011
We Are Our Own Enemy!
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.)
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.
Beware of Ulterior Motives
The Holy Spirit speaks in a gentle voice, but the Devil is also adept at whispering to your heart. One trick he employs is using your ulterior motives to prompt you to action. These motives may be hard to detect because they often lie beneath or are embedded among your good intentions. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal these motives to you and remove them from your heart.
Please God Always
The Saturday morning Mass I attend starts half an hour later than the weekday morning Masses. This morning I somehow miscalculated; I thought I had time for breadfast before Mass and took a bite of a well-ripened banana before realizing that I would be taking Communion in less than an hour. Since the present rule is to fast for at least an hour before receiving Communion, I skipped Communion at Mass. It was a sacrifice as I longed to receive the Lord; then I realized that by offering it up to God, he'd be equally pleased. I now see that whether we get what we want or not is not necessarily more important than how we deal with the situation. We can please God under any circumstances.
Friday, January 28, 2011
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)