It was raining this morning as I arrived at church for Mass. A few others just got there too and I watched them leaving their parked cars and walking toward the church entrance. It was a beautiful sight because I saw them on their journey to heaven. The faithful already possess the kingdom of heaven, but they have not entered heaven yet, but the journey is a continuous one. As one journeys toward God, he finds the journey increasingly more beautiful and will find the greatest beauty at the end, heaven. (I am tempted to add that heaven is the most beautiful place on earth or that it's the most beautiful place under heaven, but neither one makes sense.)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Planning Beyond Death
Saw the National Geographic program Moment of Death on TV yesterday. It deals with how to determine that a person is truly dead. Interestingly, toward the end it showed two cases in which the subject came back to life and described how he or she experienced going through a tunnel with light at the end and one case in which the person during a heart operation left the body, looked down and saw exactly what the doctors were doing to him on the operating table. At any rate, if this proves anything, it's that there is a soul and life after death.
The program made me think how fragile and precarious life is. We must look beyond things like buying life insurance for the family, getting a will ready, and buying burial plots in advance. We should plan first our eternal destination ~ to be or not to be with God.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
More on Forgiving Others
This morning's Gospel reading from Matthew 18 ~ The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, is on how Jesus wants us to forgive others, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
I always wonder if we should forgive someone who is not remorseful at all. Let's look at how our Father forgives us. Since his mercy is infinite, he is ready to wipe away our sins any time we repent. If we don't repent, then he can't do anything. Obviously, getting ourselves condemned is not saying that he's no longer forgiving. Perhaps it's more correct to say that we should be willing to forgive anyone, regardless of whether the person is remorseful or not, as God is willing to forgive us always.
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.
Monday, March 12, 2012
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.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
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.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
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.
Friday, March 9, 2012
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.
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