Our Joy

        At the end of praying the Stations of the Cross, the closing prayer contains what Jesus said to his disciples in John 16.22: "I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." What encouragement! What consolation! What joy! And how sweet and loving the Lord is!

Jesus' Sorrow

        Today being Friday, those who remained after Mass did the Stations of the Cross. At the 10th Station: Jesus Is Stripped of His Garments, I felt particularly sad when we read that after the soldiers crucified Jesus, they divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. What's displayed were an utter disregard for suffering, a total lack of compassion, and the complete absence of heart! Is today's world any better? Jesus wept over Jerusalem and I wouldn't be surprised that he's weeping over us now.

Miracles Galore

        Holy Communion was another miracle for me at this morning's Mass. I am not thinking about the Holy Eucharist, which is possibly God's greatest miracle ~ rather, I am thinking about how this Holy Sacrament actually miraculously heals and transforms us, changing us also into miracles! Come to think of it, everything God touches becomes a miracle.    

Rejoice in God Alone

        People care about what others think of them, but the liberated Christian only cares about what God thinks. His soul rests securely in God and he is not affected in the slightest by anything others think or say about him. Look. If Christ is in you and with you, what can anyone do to harm your soul? If God has already forgiven you, what can others add to or subtract from it? Love everyone to keep the peace in your heart and rejoice in the Lord alone. 

The Use of Contraceptives

        Contraceptives are creating a big controversy now because the current government is infringing more and more upon the religious freedom of Catholics and other Christians. But what I want to talk about is the use of contraceptives. Like abortion, it is a subject that unfortunately, many Christians have not thought deeply about and therefore, allow. Here's my simple view.

         Why did God implant the sexual desire in us? Is it because (a) he wants to ensure that the human race will continue or (b) he just wants us to enjoy the pleasure of sex? If 'b' were the answer, then God would have not have attached baby production to having sex. So the correct answer is clearly 'a'. Therefore, the Church views the use of contraceptives as thwarting God's intention, a sin ~ logical and clear. Let me add that the Church is not against birth control; she objects to the use of artificial contraceptives only. The rhythm method under natural family planning is a form of birth control, but it's natural and approved by the Church. Again, God looks at our intention.

       Contraceptives, which may be abortifacient, only leads to more sex, then more unwanted babies, and finally more abortions ~ this is a fact! And abortion is the termination of an innocent life, no matter how you slice (pun not intended) it.

Listen to Jesus Now

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass is taken from Luke 16, on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, who did not care for the poor, ended up in the netherworld and Lazarus, in heaven; and there is obviously a great chasm separating the two sides. The rich man ended up where he was because he did not listen to Moses and the prophets. Of course now, Jesus is the one we should listen to since the Lord had come himself. If we do not, we'll end up as the rich man. The message of this parable should be loud and clear to all.

To Be Childlike Again

        Jesus made it clear that he wants us to believe in him like children. In other words, before we can become the children of God, we must first be like little children. A child has a simple soul. The younger ones are especially innocent. They believe in whatever they're told easily. Unlike adults, they don't plot or scheme with selfish motives in mind. Unlike adults, their minds are not cluttered with complicated analyses or plans. We grownups can all recall our carefree childhood days when we just ate, went to school, and played, not worrying about what all the adults had to worry about. When Jesus renews us, we are actually transformed into such new childlike creatures, living the carefree days again.

Thoughts on "Time"

        What is time? Is it just something conjured up in our conscious mind? Is it truly another dimension like width, length, and depth? Einstein showed that one who travels at the speed of light will never age because time stops for him. For God who has always existed and will always be the same, you could say that time is at a standstill too. I believe that time is a concept we get when we see things change. Imagine that everything in the universe, including all of us, become frozen in motion, remaining perfectly still, then time becomes meaningless because nothing happens. So you could say that we simply exist in space with just changes going on constantly. Forget that time exists to eliminate all the worries and anxieties. Instead, let's just concentrate upon making changes for good.

  

To Be About the Father's Work

        Communion time thoughts. In Luke 2, after Joseph and Mary found the 12-year-old Jesus in the temple after three days of searching with great anxiety, Jesus said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you know that I must be about my Father's work?" As followers of Jesus, we must also be about our Father's work. Obedience to God's will takes precedence over family ties (and all else).  

A Different Kind of Lord

        Thoughts received after the Gospel reading (Matthew 20:17-28) at Mass. When we submit before the rulers of the world, such as a king, a general (if you're in the army), the president of a company where you're employed, the principal (if you're a student)... any of them can lord it over you. As Jesus said, they can make their authority over you felt. Then I think of Jesus, our Lord. When we submit ourselves to him and realize that he is also our brother and our servant, all fears vanish. We are submitting to Love to become love.    

Intention Under Scrutiny

        Politicians come to my mind again. In a recent post, I expressed my disapproval of the dirty attacks some of the presidential candidates had made on other fellow candidates. All sinful actions stem from the heart and God will look at the intention more than the subsequent actions, not that he's going to neglect any part of the consequences. Let's recall what Jesus had said, "From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts... All these evils come from within and they defile." (Mark 7:21-23)

Stillness of the Heart

        Before Mass this morning, I felt that beautiful stillness of the heart, like the calm surface of an undisturbed pond. The message of the short homily given by Fr. A at Mass happened to be trust in the Lord. Indeed, if we trust in him with our whole heart, even though there are a million things going on all around us that can easily be upsetting, we turn to God, pray, and he lifts all the burdens off of us, restoring that stillness in the heart.

Amazing Creator

        As I drove to Mass in the morning, flowering trees had already started blooming along the road and in the fields in anticipation of spring. The colors were beautiful. There are thousands of man-made colors out there which you can find at any paint store, but it's impossible to come even close to the gorgeous colors of fresh flowers. Artificial flowers look very realistic today, but hold them next to the fresh ones in the sun and you know that they are dead and fake. What God has made, man cannot approach. Even man's best art creations appear unnatural and contrived. We are doing OK only if we judge ourselves by our own standards.

        God also creates amazing human talents. One example is Derek Paravicini, the blind British autistic pianist. The blindness was caused by oxygen therapy given after his premature birth at 25 weeks. It also affected his brain, resulting in his severe learning disability. He doesn't know his right hand from this left nor his own age; yet he is a genius on the piano, for he can play any tune, in any style, in any key instantly. You can easily search and find him online to check him out. 

        But it's the other aspect of what God has created in us that amazes me the most. Like God who's not only a builder of the physical universe but also pure love, we feel many emotions, sense the good and the evil, appreciate beauty, can reason and deduce, find life meaningful or empty, become aware of the existence of the soul, desire to find God, and so on. Let's say that science has advanced to the point that we can actually create a physical copy of a human being down to the last cell and molecule, do you think that this model will become alive? I don't think so because it'll be just like a masterpiece in a museum exhibit. Will it get feelings, understand the good and evil, appreciate beauty, be able to conceive God, and so forth? Even less likely. In any case, examining ourselves, I've come to see how truly an amazing creator God is.  

Most Personal Moment

        This was how I felt during Holy Communion today when Christ came and entered me again. It's a moment personal beyond words. If only everyone would have such an intimate, loving friend, there would be peace in all the hearts and in the whole world.

Choosing Death or Life?

        In today's Responsorial Psalm, the psalmist pleaded with the Lord to free those doomed to death (Psalm 79:11). The phrase "doomed to death" somewhat shook me a little when I heard it read. In the last post, I touched upon the joyful death of the old self in Christ; here I am thinking about the horrible eternal death of the soul. This really needn't happen because we all have the choice to steer clear of that for good! Our loving Father would gladly grant us eternal life, not death, if we will only ask for it. So, change "doomed to death" to "destined for life" once for all now.  

Joy in Death

        I am not talking about the physical death, although it can be joyful too. This morning before Mass, I sensed the great joy in dying in Christ. When you die in Christ, you become a new creature filled with him. Now you are his! This is total abandonment that opens wide the floodgate to joy and freedom. Nothing more needs to be said.

In, but not of the World

        Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." This goes directly against those who seek only earthly pleasures for themselves. They are not willing to suffer, but since life always has its hardships, they basically have no inner peace. Jesus was actually showing us the way to freedom! He is the only one who can lift us out of this world so that we are in the world, but no longer of the world. He raises us to live on a higher plane (closer to heaven), you might say.

On Leaving Your Mark

        Many of us, including myself in the past, want to leave some mark in their lifetime. My grandfather used to say that it's better to be known for being either good or bad than not being known at all. Now I see that whatever mark I leave, if the objective is to call attention to myself and not in any way to bring others closer to God, it'd be all wasted effort, for all things in this world will pass in time. The desire to leave any mark is to be directed by the Holy Spirit for the glory of God alone, with us being merely the instruments.