To Die in Christ

        When you love the Lord, it becomes natural for you to want to die in him. What I mean is that you want the old you to die so that he may make you anew.

Communion of Saints

        Today I see that the Communion of Saints we believe in is a beautiful thing.  All members of the Church, living or dead, in heaven or in purgatory, are in spiritual union, forming part of the Mystical Body of Christ.  When I pray, it is a comfort to know that the angels and saints can intercede for me.  They are my family and my support.  We've all heard stories of people who died and came back.  After the soul left the body, they could see what took place around the dead body.  This reinforced my belief that all angels and saints,through the power of God, can know everything about us.  We are not alone; we belong to the big family of God.  

Knowing God

        Naturally, the first thing is that you desire to know him; that is, you are open to him.  Then he will start drawing you.  This is the beginning.  The process is gradual, but may accelerate at some points depending upon your disposition.  You may not feel much that he is drawing you, then one day you look back and will see that the Lord is a lot closer to you than before.  You reach the point at which you are aware of his holy presence at every moment, day and night.  This is a great blessing, as it helps you stay holy. 

Union, Fulfillment

        When I received the Lord this morning in the Holy Eucharist, the bread of heaven entered me and I realized that Christ is now part of me.  I, a little branch, am now totally grafted onto him, the vine.  He feeds me to keep me living and I become part of him.  This is union, fulfillment.  I now lack nothing.

God Is Joy

        This morning when I was feeling content and peaceful in the Lord after Mass, all the past unhappy, painful experiences of life seemed to have receded and faded away.  This verse from Revelation came to my mind: "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Humility Effected by Union

        Thoughts this morning before Mass.  To be safe from fall, humility is absolutely necessary.  A humble soul is one that dwells securely in the Lord.  To become humble, one must want to be like Jesus, our perfect model of humility.  And this brings us right back to union with the Lord.

        When I received Holy Communion this morning, I saw again that I could not just regard this reception as taking any kind of food.  This reception must effect a deep union with the Lord, ultimately if not instantly.  This is what the Lord desires and how the soul finds perfect rest.     

Ask the Lord to Make You Well

        In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus saw a man lying by a pool and knew that he had been ill for a long time.  He said to him, "Do you want to be well?"  And because of his helplessness, Jesus cured him. 

        I can't help sensing that at times Jesus asks us this same question too.  If you hear his voice, don't pass up the opportunity to answer yes.  Better yet, ask him to make you well before you hear him ask.

Dealing with Others

         The last line in the poem Do It Anyway attributable to Mother Teresa reads, "In the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and other people anyway" (see post of 8/27/10). All of us must deal with God in the end. If someone mistreats you, he or she will have to face God. About how we react to that person, we'll have to face God too. Realizing this fact, we can learn to remain cool in dealing with others in all things.

Why Christianity Is Beautiful

        Before Mass I was thinking how beautiful my Catholic faith was.  (I don't even consider Catholicism a religion because to me it's simply the truth.) 

        (1) The message is crystal clear.   God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life.

        (2) God's relationship to us is made absolutely clear.  He is our loving Father and Jesus not only our God, but also our brother and our servant. 

        (3) God is Love and Mercy.  You cannot find another god like that. 

A Lenten Prayer

        (1) Help me always remember that there is no profit in gaining the whole world and forfeiting my own life.

        (2) Please make every sin loathsome to me so that I may never offend you.

Follow like the Apostles

        I am thinking that the Apostles had Jesus with them all the time, following him around, absorbing all his teachings, and watching him  perform all the miracles.  We don't have the Lord physically with us, but we can also follow him like the Apostles.  We know that the Lord is with us as he had promised.  He'd given us the Holy Spirit, our Paraclete.  Especially when we receive him in the Holy Eucharist, we reaffirm our oneness with him.  In a way, we are more intimate than following him around in person.  As far as his teachings are concerned, the Church has it all.  He is still doing miracles today among all of us.  Yes, we are absolutely close to him.   

The Light of Christ

        This morning's Gospel reading at Mass was taken from John 9.  The story about Jesus opening the eyes of the man blind from birth is just beautiful.  Jesus declared himself to be the light of the world and then made the blind man see.  We can ask the Lord to shine his light on our hearts too to remove any blind spots he sees.
        As Jesus made it clear to the Pharisees later on, true seeing is not seeing with our eyes ~ it's seeing with the heart.  We can have perfect vision and still be blind to the truth.  O Lord, shine your light upon us so that we may be cleansed of our sins.

Heart for God Alone

        Today's First Reading is taken from 1 Samuel 16.  God lets Samuel know that man sees the appearance but he looks into the heart.  Time and again, I have assessed a person based upon his appearance and even his speech and I turn out to be wrong.  Only God knows what is hidden in the heart.  Our hearts are for God alone to see and examine in secret.  You could say that to become holy is basically a process of preparing and purifying the heart so that it becomes presentable to the Lord. 

How a Christian Should Act

        The current horrible news is that violence has spread in Afghanistan, resulting in the loss of innocent lives and more hatred against the United States and the West ~ all triggered by the people's anger over the burning of the Quran by a Florida pastor.  My thoughts are that a Christian should always act out of love for others and never, never do anything that will turn nonbelievers away from Christ.  That particular pastor obviously doesn't know Christ well and has done something foolish.  Anyone without true humility becomes an easy target for Satan to deceive. 

On Loving God

        In yesterday's Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus taught that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.  When I thought about this, it is really the only logical, sensible way for us to respond or relate to God, for he is our infinite creator, so much greater than us finite creatures.  In addition, he had shown that he loved us so much that he gave his only Son so that we might be saved.  To not love him as we are called to would make us both rebellious and ungrateful. 

Reasons for Loving God

        (1) He is holy.

        (2) He is love.
        (3) He is Jesus.

Doing God's Will Pictured

        I picture doing God's will as riding in a boat with the Lord in it.  The boat may sail smoothly downstream or run into rough water, tossing you about, but you are always safe with the Lord with you.        

Process of Spiritual Growth

        The process of spiritual growth may be depicted in various ways, depending upon what yardstick you use for measurement.  Here's a not-so-precise depiction:         

        (1) You search for God to fill the void in your life.

        (2) You find Christ, believe in him, and life becomes meaningful.  You still learn more and more about him.

        (3) You finally know the Lord so well that there is no more questioning, doubting.  You fully embrace him and he is no longer mysterious to you.  You happily follow him everywhere at all times.