Sign of Spiritual Progress

        As one becomes more Christlike, sin becomes more and more repugnant to him. He feels more the hurt that sin inflicts upon the Lord and wants to do whatever he can to lessen it. He cries out to the Lord and begs for mercy, and the Lord hears and consoles him. 

The Death Penalty

        Personally, I am against the death penalty. It is general knowledge that China is not lenient on criminals ~ sentencing and execution can follow quickly, but the legal system is changing. Recently, 13 crimes have been removed from the list of capital offences and cases that are considered fit for lenient treatment are given leniency. One judge even commented, "A life could end in the twinkling of any eye after a trial. I'd say this is also very cruel. It's also a means of getting rid of evil deeds through an evil deed. Since the death sentence for criminals is itself a violent act, then we should abolish it. However, I don't think our country is ready yet." Interesting!

The Sweet Power of God

        After you taste the Lord, all else becomes flavorless. After you know Jesus, all things of the world grow tiresome. After the Holy Spirit fills you, any other learning is no longer exciting. Such is the sweet power of God. 

Whence Comes Peace?

        Inner peace does not come from enjoying good health, having no family problems, enough money to acquire anything you want, success in all your pursuits in the world... True peace comes from having trust in God, a heart that's totally lifted up to him, and a mind that's emptied of everything except Christ. 

Reminder for Us to Be Humble

         This verse was read from 1 Corinthians 1 at yesterday's Sunday Mass: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." A good reminder for us to remain humble.

To Really Know Jesus

        You can learn spiritual lessons from even secular programs on TV. One Korean film titled Poem on Netflix shows the poetry teacher introducing poetry to a new class. He shows the class an apple and asks if they have seen one before. Naturally, everyone has seen one ~ the point is if they really know one. He continues by saying that to really know an apple, one must be interested in it, understand it, converse with it, gaze at it for a while, observe its shadow, feel its every curve, turn it around, take a bite out of it, imagine the sunlight absorbed in it... Then it's really seeing it. Well said. I thought of knowing Jesus ~ it works the same way.

A Picture of Union

        When we say we decrease in Christ, we are referring to the old, sinful self. To vanish in Christ is to decrease the old self to nothing and let the self be renewed in Christ. The transformed self is now totally immersed in Christ, indistinguishable from him. This is one way of describing the perfect union with God.

Enjoy God's Holiness

        The Mass this morning started off with a song reminding all that we were on holy ground and that where God is, we have his holy presence. Since we are temples of the Holy Spirit, the most holy Lord dwells within us. With this thought, we must be holy to honor his presence ~ reverting to any sinful way is out of the question. Once we see this clearly, the Lord will keep us holy and we shall immensely enjoy his presence. 

Advantage over the Apostles

        The Apostles followed Jesus, but they did not understand everything fully until after the Resurrection of the Lord. We have the advantage because all that Christ had revealed to us has been made clear by his Holy Church. In addition, we are able to learn more about the truth from the writings of the great saints throughout history.

Bad-Happening Blessings

        Today's Gospel story at Mass was the familiar parable of the lost (prodigal) son. The younger son, after squandering his inheritance on a life of dissipation, got himself into a desperate situation. He finally came to his senses and returned to his father, repentant of his sins against God and his father. Here a bad situation turned him around. A fellow parishioner and good friend told me that he remains faithful to God because every time he strayed, something bad happened. In my own case, when I deviate from God's will, my inner peace leaves. Bad happenings can be blessings.  

Why Blame God?

        When things don't go right, people tend to blame God. My questions to them are: (1) Do you really know your God? (2) Do you really love him as you should? Remember how the scribes and the Pharisees brought the woman who had been caught in adultery to Jesus and told him that in the law, Moses commanded them to stone her. The Lord resolved the situation by saying to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." My point is that before pointing your finger at God, make sure that you are blameless yourself. I know that the saints argued with God sometimes, but they never really told the Lord that he was the one at fault.  

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.