No Accidental Incidents

        Yesterday I had the great joy to share Christ with someone.  The opportunity just came up naturally and I did not force anything on the person ~ I simply shared my own experience.  He shared with me too.  It turned out that he believed in God, but not in any particular church.  When he was around 6 or 7, after some tragedy struck in his family, he got really angry and looked up into the sky and yelled at God "Why did this happen?" or something like that.  Then he heard the rumble of a thunder and it was on a clear day.  I told him that the Lord was probably letting him know that he heard him. 

        I have heard or read other similar stories.  You just don't forget incidents like that and eventually the person comes back to the Lord and/or the Church.  There are no accidents!

Wake Up and Repent

        Today's big, horrific news is that earthquake and tsunami suddenly hit Japan, resulting in massive damage.  When will the world (this country included) wake up, realize that we are at the mercy of God, repent, and turn to him for salvation??  This is no new message (I could hear John the Baptist preaching) and people just don't get it!!  The need to pray for God's mercy on all has never been so urgent.

Jesus Makes Loving Meaningful

        Leo Buscaglia is well know for his talks on living, loving, and learning on Public Broadcasting Service.  A lot of his sayings are quite beautiful, but it just strikes me that any talk about love without ever mentioning God sounds somehow empty.  True you can  be a great humanist and know that to love is the way to go, but how long can you keep that up?  Do you love in order to feel good about yourself?  I also tried self-hypnotism to make myself feel happy ~ the effect never lasted long.  I also practiced being aggressive in dealing with others, believing that I would get my way.  Some people practice the power of positive thinking.  To put it bluntly, believing that you can do it without God is basically fooling yourself.   

        Then Jesus came along and showed us the way to live.  He gave us purpose in loving and we finally understood.  There is now a greater power than us to inspire us and a perfect example for us to follow.  Jesus has come and made loving meaningful. 

To Choose Abortion Is to Choose Death

        From the first reading from Deuteronomy 30 at Mass, I heard, "Choose life, then... by loving the Lord, your God."  Yes, to choose Jesus is to choose life, as the Lord had made it amply clear. 

        Then I thought of the pro-choice (meaning pro-abortion, according to the dictionary) people who don't like to be known as being anti-life and don't want to hear that abortion is murder.  Surely, to choose abortion is to choose death ~ you can't deny that.

        Place the two above-mentioned choices side by side.  Remember that Jesus said that for anyone to follow him, he must deny himself and take up his daily cross and also that the greatest love is to lay down your own life for another.  Now, try to reconcile these two choices with each other.       

Jesus Is True God

        Today's Gospel reading is taken from Luke 9.  Jesus told his disciples that he was going to suffer, be rejected and killed, and be raised.  Than he told 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 Jesus were a pure man and not divine, this kind of talk just wouldn't make any sense, unless he was a lunatic or someone who just didn't know what he's saying.  Then you read about him in all the Gospels and you just have to rule out that possibility.  Now, if you believe that he was speaking as the true God, then after the first shock is over, you know that he's speaking the truth.

        I am most grateful to the Lord for revealing himself and laying out his plan of eternal salvation for me so clearly.  This is a tremendous blessing indeed. 

Speech Watching

        Here's an afterthought after the last posting.  We looked at not doing anything to gain personal attention.  I notice that this may be hard to observe in speech, especially in a social situation.  It's just so easy to want to say something to show that you are knowledgeable, you are witty, you can be the life of the party, or you have something to say too like the others.  Of course, you may tell jokes, say things that can get you attention, or to express your personal opinions.  All I am saying is that let whatever you have to say come out naturally and be not ego-oriented.  If you miss the chance to tell the best joke, that's OK.  Always be humble, honest, and genuine, and you'll be refreshing.  

Live Secretly in God

        In today's Gospel from Matthew 6, Jesus advises his disciples to do good deeds always in secret.  If we perform them to have others notice us or to win their praise, then we get our reward already. 

        This is an excellent way for us to learn humility (and become holy).  Basically, we do not do anything to feed the ego; we just do it for the love of God.  We don't need to desire that God will notice us either because he knows what's going on anyway.  It comes down to letting love alone motivate everything we do.  This may not be easy, but no doubt about it ~ it's the way to peace.     

        Live a secret life in Jesus, secretly, and he will reward you in secret.

Take Advantage of God's Grace

        Reading 2 today is taken from 2 Corinthians 5, in which Paul appeals to them not to receive the grace of God in vain.  The verse caught my attention.  God's grace is all there ~ how do we respond to it?  We can ignore or reject it, receive it but not pay much attention to it, or receive it, treasure it, and respond to it with all our heart.  The grace of God is ready to pour into us like a mighty river, so let it drench us, cleanse us, and transform us.                 

Ash Wednesday Thoughts

        When you go up to receive the ashes on the forehead, the words you hear are "Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return."  The message is clear as a bell and irrefutable.  We have the physical body and the soul.  The body will only last a brief moment on earth, but the soul is imperishable.  We automatically take care of our body, but don't think much about the soul.  Shouldn't the priorities be taking care of the soul first and foremost and then the body?  Ash Wednesday is a good wake-up call for many of us.

Give to God What Belongs to Him

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus said to the Pharisees and Herodians out to test him, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”  Having failed to ensnared him, they were amazed at his reply.

        What exactly of us belongs to God?  It's clear that the whole of us belongs to him.  Why not start with the heart, the most important part to us?  When you are at it, throw in your mind as well.  Offer your heart and mind to God and he will purify both, filling the heart with his love and enlightening the mind with his wisdom.  And we become a new creature, pleasing to ourselves and delightful to him.  A great way to pay what's due.     

Let Love Motivate Us

        Sometimes I want to do something to someone, which seems harmless or even helpful on the surface, then I detect that there is the underlying motive to justify myself, to hurt someone emotionally, to convey a subtle message, or to put someone in his or her place.  This must not be so because we must let love motivate every thought.  (I didn't include word and deed because they automatically follow thought.)  This is what following Christ is all about.  To follow Christ is to follow love and nothing else.  The Lord has made it clear that this is the way to eternal life.        

Taking Refuge in God

        Every time I see my own faults, weaknesses, and imperfections, I look at Jesus and see a more perfect Lord.  

        Too many times when our hearts are troubled, we try to resolve the problem on our own.  I hear people say that it's not a big thing and I don't want to bother God.  Could this be just a pretense put up to hide the unwillingness to get God involved?  I now see that if I profess to trust in God, I must include him in everything I do and at all levels.  In fact, anytime my heart is troubled, the first thing I should do is to run to him without hesitation, asking for understanding, guidance, and healing.  Dwelling on the trouble by myself still shows the presence of pride.  I see a great example in Jesus going through the agony in the garden, at the same time praying to the Father.  May God free us completely.                 

The Process of Union

        The yearning for the Lord prompts us to seek union with him.  The Lord then helps us grow in holiness and the process of union begins.  Now he helps us even more (rather, we are now more receptive) and we are drawn still closer to him.  This process continues on.  It all starts with a desire at the very beginning and ends with perfect union.  Naturally, the Holy Eucharist is the essential aid in this process.

Does the Lord Know You?

        Today's Gospel reading is from Matthew 7.  Jesus told his disciples that only those who does the will of the Father would enter the kingdom of heaven.  And to all the others he would say, "I never knew you.  Depart from me..."

        It would be so terrible for the Lord to not know you.  This is worse than being a nobody ~ it's like you have never even existed.  So, we must live in such a way as to make him notice us.  Another reason for seeking union with him in this life.     

Grafted to the Lord

        Today I heard the verse before the Gospel reading about Jesus being the vine and us the branches.  This gives me another picture of union with the Lord.  We are grafted to him, thereby becoming part of him.  Cut off from him and we die.  United with him, we get fed and continue to grow.  How nice it is to flourish right before his eyes!

Charity Begins at Home

        We often act nicer to those outside of the family than we do to members of our own family.  To the outsiders we want to create a good image because of pride, whereas at home we freely show our true colors as there's not much to hide anymore.  Well, the Lord makes me see that this shouldn't be so.  Everyone must be treated alike with love, respect, and patience.  The saying "Charity begins at home" takes on a new meaning.   

Chance for Heaven

        Last thought as I came home from Mass.  No one looks perfect in this world.  We can be ugly, have wrinkles on the face, scars on the body, bad teeth, crooked smiles, and so on.   After we die, we all turn into bare skeletons.  Lucky for us is that when we apply for admission to heaven, the Lord totally ignores our appearance and looks at our heart only ~ so we stand a good chance getting our application approved.

Clear Choices to Make

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 11, Jesus asked the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders whether John's baptism was of heavenly or human origin.  (John refers to John the Baptist.)  Of course, it was either one or the other.  Then I thought that with Jesus and the Church, it's the same.  Either Jesus is true God or a false impersonator, and his Church of divine or human origin.  We are either saved or not.   Hopefully, the fact that there is no muddy middle ground to stand on will not delay us in making the right choices.