Jesus wants to simplify our lives ~ he never gave us any complicated rules; he only wants us to love. To do more is to make life complicated ~ misery then is bred. Make love our sole motivation for living, then we live in God and will enjoy peace.
Monday, May 14, 2012
God the Great Makeover Artist
The story of St. Augustine is an inspiration ~ it shows how God can change a great sinner into a great saint. Brothers and sisters, God can change us again and again, making each day more beautiful. Let God give you a complete and thorough makeover.
On Way to Judgment
With zillions of actions going on and happening around the world, most of which not good, we truly are living in a chaotic, disordered world. I see all of us caught in a whirlpool, being tossed, churned, and pulled downward in slow motion. Eventually, everything will hit the bottom ~ this is the Day of Judgment. God will then settle all cases in his court and chaos will end and order return with everyone put in his right place.
Best Place to Remain In
Today is the Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle, and the Gospel reading is the same as yesterday's at Sunday Mass ~ John 15.9-17. Most beautiful is when Jesus asks the disciples to remain in his love. Imagine resting in his love, being soaked with his love, and living in his love at all times! Give me the most expensive and luxurious penthouse of all Manhattan and I'll choose the love of Lord to live in anytime.
Freedom, Peace, and Joy
After you believe in and have come to know Jesus, since he is the true God, he sets you free ~ this is the first experience. This experience of freedom naturally leads you to inner peace ~ the second experience. As for joy, the Holy Spirit will give it to you whenever he pleases ~ the surprise enhances the joy.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Greatest Love Practiced
Jesus has taught and shown us that the greatest love is to lay down one's life for one's friends (John 15.13). So why not show our greatest love by laying down our lives in serving others?
How We Live Comes True
If we live as if there will be no next life, then there will be no next life for us; but if we live as if there will a next life, then there will be one for us after we die.
Grateful for Old Age
If we have reached an old age, we should be grateful not because we have lived longer in this world, but because we have been give more time to grow holier before meeting God.
Knowledge as an Obstacle
In today's society, at least in this country (USA), people know so much, kids included. After all, this is the information age. What's sad to see is that so many people talk as if they know everything! They are opinionated, vocal, and even boastful. Showing some humility couldn't be further from their minds. They are not even aware that they are being self-centered and foolish in God's eyes. The knowledge of the world can be as dangerous as other things of the world that blind us from seeing God.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
In Touch with Heaven
After receiving Holy Communion today, I realized that I had just received the bread of heaven. Then the Holy Spirit is from heaven too, so being the temple of the Holy Spirit is to have the heavenly guest residing within me. Heaven and I are definitely in touch with each other.
Our "Resurrection"
The Entrance verse today at Mass, Colossians 2.12: "You were buried with Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised again with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." So you could say that we who have died in Christ and become new creatures in him have already gone through a resurrection. Indeed, the Lord raised us from the dead.
Real Presence Felt
I just realize that my constant awareness of the presence of the Lord dwelling within me is due to the fact that he is truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, which I receive at each Mass.
What's Important to Gain?
We go to a gymnasium to exercise, work out hard, and eventually achieve a better-looking and stronger physique. We attend a higher-learning institution, study hard, read extensively, and become a well-educated and -informed intellectual. But we neglect to pray and nurture our faith in God so that we may evolve into a holier person. Isn't gaining eternal life so much more important than acquiring temporarily a well-proportioned body or a headful of knowledge?
Friday, May 11, 2012
What to Ask from the Father
In today's Gospel, John 15, Jesus called his disciples his friends and he told them that he had chosen them and appointed them to go out and bear fruit, so that whatever they ask from the Father in his name, the Father may give them. Obviously, "whatever" doesn't include anything going against God's will. Therefore, you can be confident that if you ask God to make you holier, to draw you to union with him, he will readily comply.
Seek Union First
In today's Mass Reading 1 from Acts 15, the Apostles and presbyters, in agreement with the whole Church, sent representatives to Antioch to correct the problem of some who went out without any mandate from the Church, upsetting others with their teachings. The unity of the faith must be maintained (Church of Ireland, take note.) If we oppose the teaching of the Church, we can not possibly be in union with Jesus. Seek union with the Lord first, then we'll have the wisdom and humility to know what's right and what's wrong.
To Sink or to Soar
The rich are attached to their wealth and the poor want to become rich. In general, people are attached to what they already have and want to acquire even more things of the world. How to cure this problem?
Imagine that you are in your dying hour right now, luckily still with a clear mind. What are your thoughts? Are you looking forward to meeting God or still thinking or even worrying about what's going to happen to all your material possessions? Jesus has made it clear that we cannot serve both God and money. A soul heavily weighed down by material things is like a sinking ship, while one that chooses God first is more like a helium-filled balloon, eager to soar to God.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Burdensomeness Is Relative
Today is the Memorial (optional) of St. Damien of Moloka'i, the Belgium priest who ministered to the lepers in their colony on the Hawaiian Island Moloka'i. He eventually contracted leprosy and died of the disease. I am thinking that if one of us is asked to work among the lepers, he or she probably would feel the assignment to be a great burden. So what's not burdensome to one may be burdensome to another. Mother Teresa is another case in point. To those who always seek to do God's will, burdens no longer exist, for they see performing each task as fulfilling their duty to serve the lord they love. Free of burden, they are joyful.
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