In Praise of Jesus

        Jesus is what makes life worth living. He's the reason for which I want to live joyfully. He's the sole one who can guide us back to God with certainty, as he staked his life on that. He is everything to us and all we need. Without him, we are lost and life becomes meaningless. With him, I am completely content because I have fulfilled his wish, for he is not happy unless we are happy ~ that's how much he loves us. His love is the greatest possible love capable of transforming the most hardened hearts if we cooperate. To be in union with him is to be in love with love.   

Discovery Is Not Revelation

        After that last post, I realize that there is a difference between what we discover and what God chooses to reveal to us. Left on our own, we simply find out more and more, through science mostly, about things that already exist. We would never have known that God is in three Persons, that he is love, that he had planned to save us... for these could only have been revealed by him directly to us. Therefore, we must take all such revealed truths to heart and treasure them. 

        In conclusion, we cannot know God if he does not say anything. But if he does, then we'd better listen and hold onto everything he says, for this is the only way for us to know him.   

We Have All We Need to Know

        Since we are only finite creatures, it's impossible for us to know anything beyond what the infinite God reveals to us. Therefore, let's be content by holding onto what he has revealed to us through his Son Jesus, enough for us to live on for ever. This is all he wants us to know now ~ anything more is unnecessary, out of line, and impossible anyway.

Where to Keep Jesus

        After Mass I remained in church to pray and contemplate as I normally do. I looked at the large crucifix hung above the altar, the statue of Mary on a pedestal in the niche, the picture of St. Joseph and that of Jesus of Divine Mercy hung on the walls. All these external images are beautiful, but Jesus is to be kept in our hearts. To have Jesus is to have him in the heart.

Expect More to Receive More

        At Communion time this morning, I mentally saw the image of the transfigured Lord (his face shining like the sun and his clothes dazzling white) in the Holy Eucharist. This is the very Lord whose body I was about to receive, so I expected that much more would be coming my way and greater things happening too. Open wide your heart to the Lord and expect him to fill your cup to overflowing. 

Living a Boring Life?

        I've known and seen people around who are very sophisticated and consider themselves worldly-wise. To them, those of us who love to pray, appreciate solitude or silence, and have no interest in much of the entertainment and fun most others enjoy may not necessarily be boring, but definitely live a boring life unattractive to them. The fact is that many of us were once worldly-wise too. Having tasted something that's truly refreshing, uplifting, and sweet, we have moved beyond and the ways of the world are now relatively tasteless ~ we are in love with Love! How I wish that all can taste the Lord and experience living a most delightful life.

The Love of Christ

        Is there anything you can love more than anything else in the world? Yes. Right after receiving the Holy Eucharist at morning Mass today, I knew, felt clearly, that it's the love of Christ. Basically, the love of Christ is the Lord himself, for he is love. Once I saw it, heavenly joy completely filled my heart. Experience this love from heaven and be lifted right out of this world.

Addressing Jesus

        The Gospel reading at Mass was John 20:19-31. Thomas, after the Risen Lord asked him to see the mark of the nails in his hands and put his finger into the nail-marks and put his hand into his side, believed and answered to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!" What a most beautiful response! Catholics were taught to address the Lord thus right after the consecration of the bread at Mass. If your heart feels like exclaiming it whenever Jesus comes to your mind, you can be sure that it's the Holy Spirit who's prompting you to do so.

Depending on God Only

        There are those who seek security (happiness) in wealth. Some of them after amassing a huge amount of wealth would lose it and become distraught to the point of not wanting to live anymore. And they are those who count much on the love and support of their family. When the family breaks up, their world falls apart too. These are all real cases. So, what are we to do? Dependence upon God only is the answer. This is not merely making a convenient substitution ~ it fundamentally solves your problem. Depending upon God frees you from being attached to all the things and people of the world. You can still enjoy your wealth while you have it or love your family while they are around, then you'll have God always, giving you the true security, love, and support you need. "God is all we need" not only sounds logical, but is also true, for he is real.

Connecting to God, a Picture

        Jesus is the best evidence that God is definitely out there or with us, but you would not know unless you are connected to him. Some people are just not interested in connecting to him, at least not yet. Others do not attempt to make a good connection and get disconnected sooner or later. Some make a partial connection so that the flow of God into them is restricted and as a result, they never really get to know God well. Then we have those who make the full, firm connection, allowing God to flow into them freely, receiving grace after grace to overflowing, attaining spiritual union with God.             

Peter Proclaiming the Truth

        From Reading 1, Acts 4:1-12, at Mass this morning, we hear Peter proclaim bravely to the leaders of the people and elders about Jesus, "He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved." What a bold statement (the one I italicized) it is! It's another one of those challenging ones that impel you to accept or reject without compromise. I accept this statement because this Peter is totally out of character with the Peter prior to the Resurrection of Jesus ~ he is now filled with the Holy Spirit. If what he proclaimed is true, then Christianity stands out as the bold truth.     

For Sinners to Know

        The own thing good we can say about our sins is that they can one day make us repentant and turn to God. Once we've returned to God, he then takes away the sins and we may feel so happy and free that we don't even think about that we ever sinned before. Now, be preoccupied at all times with the Lord in whom you exist ~ you no longer exist on your own!

A Union Edge

        If you love Jesus, but have not reached full union with him, it's more likely that what you think you should do to glorify God are basically your ideas, and they may even disturb your inner peace. When you are in union with the Lord, he and you will be of one mind and he will show you what to do, and you will experience constant inner peace.

Holy Eucharist Most Intimate

        At Communion time, it was clear to me that receiving the Holy Eucharist is truly the best way to achieve union with Christ. Since we still live in a physical world, I just can't think of a better way of attaining intimacy with the Lord by consuming him truly present in the Holy Eucharist. Both physical and spiritual union take place so that Christ and we become one in each other as Christ and the Father are one. 

Protecting the Lord

        At Mass this morning, I felt the Lord dwelling within me and I wanted to protect him within me. Of course, I am the one who needs his protection, but I could protect him in the sense that I'll do my best to draw others to him so that he would be offended less by sins. This should be the desire and goal for all his disciples. 

Faith Necessary for Finding God

        Read about Jesus in all the Gospels. If you believe that he is truly God, then everything you read would make perfect sense to you. But if you start out believing that he is not divine, then all the stories would absolutely make no sense and you end up knowing even less. In a way, this shows that Jesus is the truth and that faith or at least some faith is necessary for finding God. 

Soul over Body

        God can heal our soul and our body. The soul is more important than the body because the soul does not perish, but the body has no life of it own. When we ask the Lord to heal our soul, he readily complies as the soul is what he loves and a healed soul is a saved one. Our request for healing of the body is granted only if it'll help us spiritually toward saving our soul or give God glory in some other way, as the body, whether healed or not, will perish soon one day.

Cause for Joy

        This morning's Entrance Song, Matthew 25:34, at Mass: "Come, you blessed of my Father; receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, alleluia." As I read that, my heart leapt for joy. The Response to the Psalm (#105) echoed my feeling later: "Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord."