All to Be Done for God's Glory

        Many things we do are obviously done for the glory of God.  For example, we visit the sick, witness to others about God's love and mercy, etc.  But what about other mundane things such as dusting the house, shopping for food, etc.?  What about even less pleasant things such as paying for a traffic violation, repairing damages done to your property by others, etc.?  The Lord shows me that all things are to be done patiently for his glory, so long as what you do is not sinful in itself.

Pride is like Hot Air

        Pride is like hot air, so anyone who has a lot of pride is like a hot air balloon.  Too much pride and he is set afloat and loses his footing.  And pride becomes his downfall when he suffers a setback as happens to a balloon when it's punctured by a pin.  

Focus upon Jesus Alone

        This is the word I received from the Lord today at Mass.  Never follow another human person, not matter how charismatic he or she may be.  Follow Jesus alone.  If you witness a miracle, whether it's true or false, and your faith gets greatly bolstered, praise Jesus alone and forget about the "miracle."  If some Catholics turn you off, still keep your faith and forget about them.  The center focus must be on Jesus.  Without distractions, you will be safe with the Lord.          

Do You Know the Love of God?

        Many years ago I read somewhere that the great Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau did not believe in God and I felt sad for him.  I just hope that he did change his mind before he died in 1991.  In the documentary on the Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, who was definitely one of the world's best, I was again saddened to hear him say that he did not like himself.  God gave him the genius, yet he had such low self-esteem. 

        A good test question: Do you like yourself?  If your answer is in the negative, then you don't know the love of God yet.

Jesus, My Savior

        I switched on EWTN to check on World Youth Day in Madrid and caught the young people doing publicly the Stations of the Cross.  They just arrived at the 13th station, Jesus is taken down from the cross.  I knew that Jesus had already expired.  Now he's being taken down by others from the cross ~ he was dirty, bloody, and looking completely helpless.  Yet, this is the one in whom I can place my total trust and who can help, protect, and save me.  Wonder of wonders! 

The True Reborn Experience

        The born-again experience is claimed by many to happen when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but the true reborn experience begins when the old self dies and Jesus begins to live in you completely.

The Selflessness of Jesus

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 22, Jesus gave us the two great commandments.  (1) You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  (2) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 

        The second commandment shows that he equates loving our neighbors to loving God.  It just shows how selfless he is and this was substantiated by his own sacrifice on the cross. 

Obeying Jesus Brings Peace

        Before Mass this morning, I saw that to obey Jesus is to bring oneself into harmony with God.  When you are in harmony with God, you have peace.

My Request Today

        At Mass, I asked the Holy Spirit to be my conscience. 

Heeding God's Invitation

        Recently, I read about the alleged scandal at the University of Miami, FL, involving 72 athletes over eight years.  The accusations were made by a convicted Ponzi con-man and Miami booster.  In his tell-all to Yahoo Sports, he revealed how he treated the athletes to strip club parties, paying for prostitutes and catering to their every need.  In one case, he said he even paid for an abortion for a woman one of the athletes had impregnated!  You could say that Sodom and Gomorrah still exist today. 

        The Gospel reading this morning was taken from Matthew 22, in which Jesus told the parable of the wedding banquet.  It illustrates the situation of today perfectly.  A king gave a wedding feast for his son.  He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.  He did it a second time and some still ignored the invitation and the rest laid hold of his servants, and killed them.  The king was enraged and sent his troops to destroy the murderers.  Then he asked the servants to gather all they could find in the streets, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.  But when the king saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment, he had his attendants cast the man into the darkness outside.  At the end, the Lord said, "Many are invited, but few are chosen."  This should serve as a warning to us.  God's invitation is to be taken seriously ~ it's an invitation to live the eternal life with him.  The choice is ours. 

God Is Always Fair

        In today's reading from Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable about the landowner who paid all workers in his vineyard the same wage at the end of the day whether they had started at the beginning, later, or in the last hour.  This seemed unfair and the workers hired earlier grumbled.  The owner responded, "My friend, I am not cheating you.  Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?  Take what is yours and go.  What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?  Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?  Are you envious because I am generous?"

        The lessons for us are: (1) God has the right to do what he pleases, (2) He will never shortchange us, (3) How others are rewarded by him is not our business, and (4) We are to be content with what he gives us (if God is going to grant us eternal life, we should be happy even if we are the last ones to get into heaven). 

Wonderful Oneness

        I watched the beginning of World Youth Day live from Madrid, Spain, on EWTN.  Seeing how exuberant the youths were, I sensed the beautiful communion I had with God, all the saints, the Holy Father, and all those now celebrating in Spain.  The oneness of all those who love the Lord, sharing the same faith, fills me with great happiness.     

Entering the Kingdom of God

        Today's Gospel reading is taken from Matthew 19.  Jesus said to his disciples, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God."  The "eye of a needle" has been interpreted as a gate in Jerusalem, which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could pass through this smaller gate if it was stooped and had its baggage removed.  While the road to hell is wide and downhill, the road to heaven is narrow and steep.  To get through that eye of a needle, we'll have to detach ourselves from our material things as well as dropping our spiritual baggage consisting of pride, greed, envy, etc.   

Our Own Sins

        At morning Mass Today, when I came to saying "I have sinned through my own fault" in reciting the Penitential Act, I was particularly struck by the phrase "through my own fault."  Indeed, I cannot sin through someone else's fault; neither can others sin through mine.  When I am being judged before the Lord, I cannot blame anyone else for my sins.  We are the source of our own sins.

True Humility

        Today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is our loving intercessor and a great model for us to imitate.  Her most notable virtue is humility.  Humility is not believing that we are the lowest and letting everyone trample on us or that we are useless and thereby remain idle.  True humility is selfless obedience to the will of God, which may call forth our courage, boldness, and resolve.

        A footnote.  Humility also takes the form of not speaking unfavorably about anyone or making someone look bad before others.  I am still working on it.     

Please Consider Jesus

        I have personally known so many sad cases of the human state.  Their minds are occupied with problems.  Basically, they are mired in their own misery, yet they do not turn to the Lord for help.  Mind you, these are already avowed Christians.  I just want to shout at the top of my voice to ask them to please turn to Jesus, the only hope and one who can truly free us.  Yet, they are deaf to any such suggestion.  The heart, once hardened, is surely hard to crack open.  Perrsistent prayers for them are needed.     

Holy Spirit the Sword

        Whether you have seen a Star Wars movie or not, you probably know what a lightsaber is.  I mention this because what appeared in my mind was the picture of the Holy Spirit as an almost transparent sword emitting pure light.  As you wield this sword, the length of the blade changes, depending upon where the person you want to touch is and there's no limit as to how long you can extend this sword.  When the Holy Spirit touches a receptive person, he kindles the fire of his love in that person.  Thus touched, a devout person will love the Lord even more and a sinful one will feel sorry for his trespasses and be drawn back to God.  If you know that the Holy Spirit dwells within you, use this great weapon for the glory of God.

God to Be Trusted

        Today's Responsorial Psalm response reads: "His mercy endures forever."  The Gospel reading is from Matthew 19, in which Jesus made it clear that when a man is joined to his wife, the two become one flesh and that what God has joined together, man must not separate.  So marriage is forever too.  We also know that God's promises to us will never be withdrawn and his love for us is everlasting.  Such a God is to be trusted.