Sin Offends God!

        After I heard on the radio the story of Steve Rossi of Schenectady, someone who would do all he could to hold onto power and control others, I became extra aware of how terrible it is to be selfish and have no regard for others.  We all know in conscience that hurting others is bad, but do we also realize that all sins offend the loving, blameless, holy God?  Now, this is serious!  Since God equates loving our neighbors to loving him; so, to not love others is to not love God.

No Fooling the Lord

        In the Gospel reading from Luke 16 for today's Mass, these sayings of Jesus stand out. 

        To his disciples:

        (1) "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones."  [It's wrong to justify cheating a little bit in small matters by saying that I'll be honest in more important, big matters.  Not being 100% honest is being dishonest.  With the Lord, we must be good all the way through.]
        (2) "No servant can serve two masters.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  [Again, honesty matters.]

        To the Pharisees:

        (3) "You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God."  [Pretty strong language.  The Lord loves humility.]  

To Be in Christ

        I did not get to attend today's morning Mass, so I just read the readings online (http://www.usccb.org/bible/).  The first reading is taken from Romans 16.  Paul uses the expressions "in Christ" and "obedience of faith."  They generated these thoughts in me.  Can you say that you are in Christ?  Just knowing about him is certainly not in him.  Even knowing him may not quite be in him yet.  To be truly in Christ is to have total obedience in him.  To be truly in Christ is to be willingly transformed by him.  To be ultimately in Christ is to be in union with him.

True Joy from Within

        During Communion, the Lord gave me these thoughts.  True good feelings and happiness do not come from without; they come from within.  I may feel momentarily pleased when someone compliments me or be exhilarated by driving a fast car; but true, lasting joy comes only from the Holy Spirit dwelling within. 

God Wants the Best for Us

        Today's Entrance Song, 1 Samuel 2.35: "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest; he will do what is in my heart and in my mind, says the Lord."  [How beautiful to be of one heart and one mind with the Lord!]  

        Gospel Acclamation, 1 John 2.5: "Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him."  [The pathway to perfection!] 

        Communion Song, John 10.10: "I came that men may have life, and have it to the full, says the Lord."  [God wants to give us life to the full ~ truly overwhelming!]

        All my comments in brackets end with an exclamation mark, because God loves us so much that he only wants to give us the very best. 

               

How Good to Be Penitent!

         Today we celebrate the Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo.  I felt particularly good when we were doing the Penitential Rite, confessing to God that "I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do..." ~ it just seemed so fitting for us to confess to the Lord.  He has the power and is ever ready to free us by making us pure.  It's as if we have a safety net ready to catch us at any moment.  Let us be prodigal sons or daughters returning to the Father.  We can only go wrong if we stay away from him.    

Proof of Truth

        The more you believe in Jesus, the more you find him beautiful.  To me, this is the proof of truth.

How to Live Today

        From today's Reading 1 from Romans 14 at Mass: "We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God . . . each of us shall give an account of himself to God."  Like death, this is unavoidable and is as it should be. You've heard that we should live as if today is the last day of our life ~ it's equally valid or even more immediate to say that we should live as if today is the day of our judgment before God.

Sin Has No Place

        As a Eucharistic minister, I sometimes have to get consecrated hosts from the tabernacle to visit those who are not able to attend Mass at church.  When kneeling before the open tabernacle, I really feel the presence of the Lord.  If I am sitting in the very back of the church, far away from the tabernacle, I just do not get that same intense feeling.  This morning at Mass, the Lord made me see that this was merely psychological and that it's erroneous to think that his Holy Presence is only limited to the tabernacle area or the interior of the church; in fact, he is present everywhere, transcending space.  Therefore, sin has no place anywhere.      

Clear-Cut Message

        Today is All Soul's Day.  In the Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus spoke to the crowds, "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."  The message just can't get any more clear-cut!

An Exclusive Relationship

        When we pray to God, don't expect things to change, but expect God to change them.  Trust God alone, not people.  Do God's will only and not follow anyone else.  Praise only God.  Do everything through him, for he is our agent.

Live and die for God.  Remember that it's always between you and him.

Salvation Most Beautiful

        This is the first day of September, appropriately the Solemnity of All Saints.  The readings of the Mass were extraordinarily beautiful:

        (1) Reading 1 from Revelation 7.  

        A great multitude from every nation, race, people, and tongue stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.  They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb."  [We need salvation, yes, and God provides just that!]

        One of the elders spoke up, "These wearing white robes are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb."  [The precious Blood of Jesus has made our robes snow white!]

        (2) Reading 2 from 1 John 3.

        Beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.  We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.  [Pure souls in all white robes!]

        (3) Gospel reading from Matthew 5.

        On the mountain the Lord taught the Beatitudes.  [What beautiful teaching!  Let's live these sayings and we'll be amply blessed.]

        Last, the pastor reminded us that we are eternal!  We don't just die and become nothing.  Do we want to live afterward eternally with God or not?  This is to be settled while there's still earthly life in us. 

Two Beautiful Situations to Be In!

        (1) Praying to the Lord with all your heart and then trusting in him with all your heart.

        (2) Letting the Holy Spirit move you before you take each step.

The Coming-Home Process

        When I first accept Christ into my life, I searched for a Christian church to join.  I knew there's the Catholic Church, but since there were just so many more Protestant churches around, it seemed that the Catholic Church was an oddball among the many Christian churches. As a brand new convert, I just didn't know much ~ a Christian church is a Christian church. I even looked into Christian Science. Once I found a friendly church with a pastor that gave good sermons, I joined and became a member.  I was happy, so I just never wondered why the various Protestant churches belonged to different denominations or if there was an original church that started from the time of Christ.  Happy people are content where they are and don't search or look elsewhere. It's only after I noticed some of the questionable practices and disunity among the Protestant denominations that I began looking outside Protestantism.  I believe that's how it happens to most Protestants who have come home to the Catholic (meaning all-embracing) Church.  The oddball church, usually the last choice on the would-be convert's list, turns out to be the one and only choice.     

Responding to God

        In today's Reading 1 at Mass from Romans 11,  Paul writes: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!"  After I heard that, it struck me that God is truly awesome that to exalt ourselves before him would be sheer folly and the only sensible course for us to take is to remain humble and obedient, period! 

Interior Freedom Matters

        Today I saw hundreds of sea gulls circling in the sky with great ease and freedom.  The sight made me wish that I could fly too.  Ironically, it happened over a large prison facilities with all the inmates housed in massive concrete buildings with narrow windows that looked almost like slits.  I asked myself if I preferred physical freedom over imprisonment.  The answer: One choice is not necessarily better than the other if one doesn't have any interior freedom in the Lord.  In fact, there are inmates who are grateful that imprisonment has brought them back to God.  Being imprisoned with interior freedom is definitely better than being outside of prison without interior peace. 

Formula for Spiritual Success

       I am reading the Gospel from Matthew 23 for tomorrow's Sunday Mass in preparation for a service I'll be conducting.  In it Jesus says, "Whoever exalts himself  will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."  Here is the formula for spiritual success.  If I exalt myself, I may win some temporary admirers, but I'll never win any hearts.  I'll never be content either, for discontent is the reason for self-exaltation.  The very reason we follow and adore the Lord is because he is humble and meek and he serves others.  The Lord knows how to win hearts, so let's listen to him.  

God to Be Accepted in Toto

        It comes to my mind again today that we must accept God in toto.  Truth is truth only because it's true as a whole.  If we accept God in all, then we must likewise accept the Church he built upon Peter, our Catholic faith, and her teachings.  Thus, to accept only certain teachings and reject others is to not believe that God is the whole truth.