Spiritual Journey Dissected

        I posted before about the turning point of the spiritual journey ~ that is the point at which you surrender yourself totally to God. So you basically can view your entire journey as two segments that are joined at that point of surrender. The first part is very much an uphill journey that involves constant struggle. You have the good intention to grow spiritually, but you may also find that old sins are hard to shake loose and fundamental changes do not come easily. Then you surrender to God and things begin to happen because now the Lord is taking full charge of your life and the journey is becoming more like coasting downhill with him sitting next to you. Since we'll never be as perfect as the Lord, there will be some rough bumps along the way; but the momentum of the ride will carry you right over them. 

Fighting Temptation

        We live in a world in which we face temptation every waking hour of our life. Just watch some entertainment on TV and you'll see what I mean. The smart way is to avoid doing anything that might lead you into temptation. The basic recipe for overcoming temptation is to remain humble. And the only way to remain humble is to surrender to God. Therefore, turn to God the moment you sense temptation coming on to submit yourself to him for protection. God is our safe refuge against all evil. Absolutely true.  

Reasons for Being a Catholic

        I am truly happy about being a Catholic because the Catholic Church is the original church established by Christ, her teachings are true and complete, and through receiving the Holy Eucharist I am able to achieve the closest possible union with God in this life.

God Is Life!

         This past week I learned of a couple of suicides committed by people whom I only knew indirectly. And I had posted about the surging high suicide rate among the veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's just so sad, so sad. How I wish that all the victims had known Jesus the Lord! God is Life and the creator of life. He grants eternal life and gives us the zest for living the present life. He is our bright hope. Death is the opposite of life and despair. What's why knowing Jesus can turn one around completely. With him you'll never die, as he had promised! It sounds good and is true at the same time. This is what the Good News is all about!

Sharing Padre Pio's Thoughts

        It turned out that I have quite a few books on Padre Pio, now St. Pio. I am more interested in his meditations, counsels, and spiritual wisdom than his story. I've started reading his Meditation Prayer on Mary Immaculate, a little booklet, and would like to share a couple of things he said and add my two cents.

        (1) He wished to acquire a love of God that is continually renewed ~ I thought of how I get my love of God renewed every time I receive the Holy Eucharist. 

        (2) Padre Pio considered the Immaculate Virgin Mary the greatest of all the masterpieces created by God's hands. Realize that all of us, who were not conceived without the original sin like Mary, are nevertheless, still amazing masterpieces created by God.  

Jesus Worth Knowing

        We all have people we know ~ family members, relatives and friends, our pastor, fellow parishioners, business associates, classmates, et al. Some we know well and some not. Some we like and some not. 

        In today's Gospel from John 2, the disciples of Jesus saw how the Lord turned water into the best wine at the wedding at Cana and began to believe in him. Later, after following him longer and witnessing more miracles, they were convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. So I am thinking that if you'll just get to know Jesus, you shall also come to believe in him. I can testify to you that you'll find him to be the most beautiful, trustworthy, and understanding person you'll ever encounter and fall in love with him in time. There is just absolutely nothing worth knowing more than Jesus!

Formula for Spiritual Success

        This morning during meditation before Mass, I saw any of us as a small plant, possibly weak or even diseased, before God. As long as we remain open and passive and let the sunshine of the Father, the water of the Son, and the food of the Holy Spirit heal, nurture, and feed us, we will become healthy, strong, big, and bear much fruit. This is a sure formula for spiritual success.

Greatest Human Accomplishment

        Life gives one the chance to practice being holy continuously. Since practice makes perfect, in time one will be living a holy life, pure and pleasing to God. In God's eyes, there is no greater human accomplishment.        

Touching Jesus

        When I was receiving Holy Communion today, I realized that, the Lord being present in the Holy Eucharist, I was actually touching him. More than that, the Most Holy One came to dwell within me ~ something for me to think about!

Two Joys

        At morning Mass, Reading 1 continued from 1 John. From chapter 5, we read, "God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son does not possess life."  Therefore, it was Jesus whom I want to listen to and obey, and I felt great joy in that.

        Next, I saw darkness hovering over the world and infiltrating most of God's children.  Then I saw the light that's the bright, ever-present hope of God, and I felt great joy again.

Proving Our Love

        The Apostle John has some harsh words for us from 1 John 3. In yesterday's reading, he said, "Whoever sins belongs to the Devil." In today's, he said, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer." Although the messages could have been conveyed in a less harsh way, they are basically correct. Later, John finally advised, "Let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth." This reminds me of what James said that faith without works is dead. Jesus really demonstrated his love by choosing the cross, so let's also prove our love in deed and truth.    

Be Holy at Every Moment

        Today is the Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. My single thought: Every moment we have is precious because it provides a chance for us to love God. I posted about the importance of living the present moment. Life is just a series of continuous moments. If we can be holy every single moment, then we can be holy all our lives. Jesus wants us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48) ~ obviously, with the help of God we can do it. 

What to Do with Life

        As I was driving home from church after Mass, I looked again at the many granite boulders on both sides of the road and knew that they wouldn't be around forever. The dinosaurs had disappeared. Geologists had shown that drylands were once land under water and vice versa. A large meteoroid hitting the earth can instantly change its landscape. Then I thought of the billions of celestial bodies in space and as far as we know, we are the only creatures living on this planet of earth with perfect conditions for sustaining our lives. And amazingly, we also happen to understand good and evil.  At this instant, I was sure of the existence of God our creator. Then I knew that mankind as a whole wouldn't be around forever either. In the first place, the size of earth is limited. Our survival so far is just a chapter in the book that has not come to its end yet. Now, I was certain that there would be the Second Coming of Jesus to end the present world as we know it. 

        With these realizations, it's clear that we must make maximum good use of the time we have. All acts not motivated by love for God would be simply wasted. It's good to know exactly what we are doing.      

The Good News Forever

        In today's Gospel reading from John 1, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and started out saying "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." It's the Holy Spirit who revealed this to him. Of course, only God can take away sin and John testified at the end referring to Jesus, "He is the Son of God." Today, after knowing Jesus for so many years, I am still amazed to hear that he can take away all sins, yours and mine. This is indeed good news forever.

What God Asks of Us

        On the way to Mass, I was thinking how I should live today. I thought of all the mammoth or even horrendous problems around the world and near home, but I was so limited in my ability to solve any of them. Then I heard the Lord clearly say that all I needed to do was to please him as much as I could in what I do. Of course, he was right. If everyone in the world would do this, we will have peace.

Let God Heal Your Soul

        I looked forward to receiving the Lord again at morning Mass because I knew that he was going to refresh me again. This freshening goes beyond getting a bodily massage and shower or acquiring some exciting, new mental knowledge, for God heals the soul. When the soul is healed, the mind and heart are healed too and you are ready on your way to union with him. This is the easy way. Note: Everything becomes easy when you let God do it for you. 

Before Going Before God...

to worship or pray to him, it's proper and best that we set my hearts right by removing any hatred, resentment, anger, or even displeasure against anyone. God's justice is perfect and it's not our business to judge anyone in any way. Pray for mercy on all and let God alone reward or punish them in the end. We cannot hold grudges against our neighbors and expect God to listen to us. There'll be no peace in us as long as we do not forgive others. In fact, we should regard ourselves as the least holy ones among all. This will greatly please the Lord and keep us from judging others.

New Year's Message

        As the new year begins, let God make you into a new Christlike person. Every one of us is a unique, special creature before God. We were made in his image in the first place and we have the potential to become holy after him. We may not be called to be another Moses or St. Paul; but nevertheless, he has a plan for each of us. You can be sure that he wants us all to serve him, to love him, and to follow him; only the specific details in each case are different. The reason for it is that he wants us to have eternal happiness. Make union with him your lifelong goal and you will be amply rewarded and surprised. It is an absolute delight to let God do the work to transform you into a new, beautiful creature!