Beware of False Prophets

        Today's Gospel Acclamation at Mass is the verse John 15:15b. "I call you my friends, says the Lord (to his disciples), for I have made known to you all that the Father has told me." I believe that Jesus had revealed all we need to know for our salvation and that his Church has preserved all his revelations to this day. Therefore, anyone who claims that he or she has received new revelations from God that change the status of Jesus or contradict the preserved revelations has to be a false prophet, and there has been plenty of that kind popping up now and then.

Most Amazing Love

        This is Friday, the day to meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. I thought about the first mystery, Agony in the Garden. Earlier, Jesus already told his disciples that he's going to suffer and be killed. Personally, I believe that unlike prophets who realized their roles only at the time God called them, Jesus, as God, knew all along his mission from the very beginning. Imagine the agony he must have felt in all those years leading to his Crucifixion! One consolation I see is that his love for us is so great that you might say that he gladly suffered and died for us and was happy that he completed the work of salvation he'd set out to do. No matter what you think, his love is the most amazing thing in the whole universe.  

To Think as God Does

        Today's Gospel reading came from Mark 8. Jesus openly taught his disciples that he must suffer greatly, be rejected and killed, and rise after three days. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Jesus then, before all the other disciples, rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Naturally, to be correct, we must think as God does. And the only way to achieve that is to be in union with him. 

        I heard on radio while driving back home after Mass two speakers talking about the Catholic Church (and other denominations and sects). It shocked me to hear that in their opinion, the teachings of the Church are just human inventions ~ they have absolutely no understanding of what I and many of you the faithful believe in. Here's an example of thinking totally as human beings do. At the end, as I had suspected, the program turned out to be an atheist one. One interesting thing though I caught in the last minute or so ~ when one of the speakers asked the other if religions will all be gone a couple of thousand years from now, the other said probably not because people always want to look for a god. This just confirmed what St. Augustine said.

God Deserves the Best

        This morning the new tabernacle finally showed up at my church. Before Mass began, the priest, with all of us present gathered in front of it on the altar, blessed it and placed the Most Holy Sacrament in its new abode for the very first time. This is the tabernacle which had been anticipated for a couple of months already. It's quite beautiful and shows the detailed craftsmanship ~ perhaps this explains its delayed arrival. Seeing it made me see that God absolutely deserves the best. He deserves the best from each one of us ~ this means that we must present ourselves in the light that makes us appear most pleasing to him. This calls for nothing short of being pure and holy in his sight.   

Heavenly Feast

        As I was going up to receive Holy Communion at Mass this morning, I knew that I was going to a heavenly feast. God himself was the host who invited me on this occasion and the feast was nothing but Jesus himself, the bread of life, who heals my soul. I mentioned before that I receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist to express my love for him, but I also need constant healing of the soul too. When he heals the soul, it is made fit for heaven. A taste of heaven starts right here on earth.

No Escape from God

        Thought of this morning. I am alive with my heart continuously pumping ~ surely it's not me who is making this possible. In fact, I don't even know how I got here nor when I'll be leaving this world as so many others have departed, often rather suddenly. Therefore, I am totally in God's hands ~ it's his call. We all came from him and we shall return to him too. Escape from God is impossible. To run away from him is worse than self-banishment to oblivion. Recognizing our total dependence upon God, the only wise and sensible thing left for us to do is to stop running and hiding from him. Instead, turn to him and embrace him with all our heart and you'll know that you've made the right decision.

Praying for Enemies

        If you find it difficult to pray for those who are enemies or whom you find it hard to forgive, pray for them for the sake of pleasing God. This shift of focus makes your job easier, while following God's will.

Love Needed for Happiness

        It is common knowledge that even any infant knows whether he or she is being loved by the parents or other adults. A child so loved becomes a happy grownup. This works for adults too. If we acknowledge that God is our Father and let him love us, we'll invariably be happy. This morning as I received Holy Communion, love came to dwell with me in solid form.

God Most Tender

        The Gospel Acclamation today is based upon John 14.23: "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." I hear these words of Jesus said with such tenderness and love ~ how anyone with a heart can possibly shut him out?

God Is Our Friend

        Today is the Memorial of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. The Entrance Song reads: "These are holymen who became friends of God, glorious heralds of divine truth." What strikes me is that we worship our God, but we are also his friends. This means that we can approach and talk to him as if he is our equal, for he is humble. There is no doubt that he is the best friend we can possibly have and basically the only friend we'll ever need. I do not know other religions in the world well, but I venture to say that this is a unique aspect of our God as revealed through Christ our Savior. 

One More Mark of Truth

        In John 3, Jesus said that "everyone who believes in him may have eternal life". Later in John 14, Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." These and others are familiar sayings of the Lord, but pay attention to the boldness of these claims! Either he spoke the truth or falsehood. We see that everything he said or did challenges us to deal with it. A big sign could be placed next to him that literally says "Ignore me at your own peril!" There isn't another human being like that. To me, this is another one of the marks of a true God. 

Freedom Under God

        By my own free will, I have chosen to surrender to Christ. Never at any time have I felt that the Lord has shackled me in any way. On the contrary, I've never felt so free in my whole life. Should I decide to break off my relationship with Jesus, I am entirely free to do so. In other words, the Lord only loves and teaches me, never trying to control me (the free will is mine to keep) ~ another reason why I love Jesus. (Psst, I am not going to break off with him.) 

Unseen Miracle

        In the Gospel reading from Mark 1, a leper came to Jesus and asked Jesus to make him clean. The Lord, moved with pity, touched him and said, "I'll do it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately. To us that was obviously a miracle. Then I saw that every time we repent and Jesus forgives us and removes our sins, that's a miracle too! In a way, it's even more wonderful than physical healing and we should take full advantage of this power of God at our beck and call.      

We Are of Christ

        In Reading 2 at Mass from 1 Corinthians 11 was Paul's plea: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." It struck me that if we are faithful Christians like Paul, each one of us should be able to declare "I am of Christ" openly with great joy, pride, and satisfaction. 

We Cannot Beat God

        Today's Response to Psalm reads: "I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation." The Lord is always ready for us, so the question is whether we are ready to turn to him to receive his joy. Suppose we view this as a contest to see who can maintain his stance longer ~ you or God. Of course, God will always be looking at you. If you don't turn to him, you ultimately lose. But if you give up and turn to him, then both you and he win. In other words, in this game you must lose to win. The truth is that we can never beat God in any game we play ~ submission is our only sensible choice.  

Christian Life a Crescendo

        At this morning's mini-retreat, I heard the word "crescendo" and I thought of the Christian life as being a crescendo. As you discover Jesus and move closer to him toward union, you experience more and more love, freedom, joy, and peace and see that the Lord will be all yours at the end.

Becoming Fearless

        A Christian lives for God alone and not for himself. Because he has no more concern for himself and there is no need to fear for God, he becomes fearless.

"Porta fidei"

        At a mini-retreat, I heard part of this letter by Pope Benedict XVI on the "Year of Faith" read. It is very beautiful and well worth reading if you have some time. The letter was made public on Oct. 17, 2011 and the "Year of Faith" is to begin on Oct. 11, 2012, so you will probably hear more about it as we approach October. On the following site, you can read extracts of this long letter in PDF form: http://www.smcim.org/files/portal/news/attach1_307.pdf