No Excuse for Sinning

        I remember that once I sinned and after I overcame it, I became much stronger spiritually. At the time I thought erroneously that God must have permitted me to sin for the good to come out at the end. Now I see that God can draw good out of anything! He'd much prefer to see that I do not sin than to see me sin and have to rescue me.

God of Choice

        Today's Reading 1 on the Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua comes from 1 Kings 18. Although the people of Israel were required to worship exclusively the one Lord, they also got comfortable worshiping Baal, the god of rain and storm. Then Elijah showed them the true power of the Lord. Worship of many gods was virtually universal in the ancient world. Today, looking at all the major religions, I see that only the God of Israel, as revealed through Christ, comes across clear and precise and most of all, personal. That's why I am a Christian. 

Complete Trust in God

        I don't dwell on the past anymore, but sometimes I still wonder about the future like how something is going to turn out. To me, this is also a sign of my lack of complete trust in God. I am looking at Jesus as my example. You might say that not to wonder about the future is inhuman, but I say that we must be superhuman to trust in God and not question him about anything.  

Christ Simplifies Lives

        I've been observing people. These are in general good, decent people, but they all live such "complicated" lives and feel weighed-down. I've come to the conclusion that it's because they are attached to the world, to the past, and are involved with others who lead equally complicated lives. On the other hand, those who know Christ well lead uncluttered, liberated lives because they are not attached to the world or the past and are involved with the Lord only. They love others, but in a detached way.    

Praying to Be Perfect

        When we are not perfect, people cannot see the Lord in us. When we are, then they see him. So my prayer today is asking the Lord to bare my soul and expose all my faults so that I can become more perfect. 

Don't Speak for God

        Yesterday I had the chance to talk to someone about the Catholic faith. As often happens, you can let enthusiasm get in the way. Afterwards, I realized that I should have said some of the things in a different way. Thinking about what had transpired, I learned another lesson.

        When we try to convert someone, the best approach is to listen first. You must not be anxious to lay what we have to say on the other person. Of course, argument must never happen. In other words, we should remain calm and loving, and not get emotional. After all, it's God who does the converting, not us; so we should not speak for him! You could say that we must not meddle in God's business ~ we are merely instruments in his hands. In all things, let only the Spirit prompt us to say what he wants us to say. 

The Inescapable Moment

        This is the moment when we leave this world. You may not think about it now, but it will surely arrive. It could be a painful moment because you must leave all your possessions and loved ones behind. You may have already resigned to the fact that you cannot take anything with you, but leaving the loved ones is harder to deal with. For those who have no faith in God, they are heading into the unknown and I believe that they would feel a mixture of fear and sorrow. How about those who had faith once? They may have even more fear now, but may turn back to God in the last moment. As for those who believe in the Lord with all their heart, the overwhelming joy of meeting their Savior will overwhelm any sorrow they might feel. They want to witness to others to the very end that God is love and that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.   

No Pain, No Gain

        In the bodybuilding world, the idiom "No pain, no gain" is proven to be true. In the spiritual world, it applies also. If we live an easy, comfortable life with no money or health problems whatsoever and with everything going our way, I doubt that we'll ever make any progress spiritually. On the other hand, as is made clear in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount: God blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and those who are insulted and persecuted and against whom every kind of evil is uttered falsely because of Christ. Their reward will be great in heaven.           

God's Joy vs. World's

        God's joy surpasses any joy of the world. This is because God plants the joy in the heart, rewarding the soul, while the joys of the world remain at the physical or cerebral level, feeding mostly the ego.

God, Good to Us

        At the beginning of Mass this morning, a great calm came over me and the Lord made me see that everything he gives us is good. I accepted that with my whole heart. Matthew 6.26 comes to mind: "Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?"

Serving God Is Beautiful

        I joined the Walk for Religious Freedom today. It started with the Vigil Mass at the Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament. How appropriate since tomorrow Sunday is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ. The celebrating priests, altar servers, musicians...all made the Mass so beautiful that I clearly saw that serving the Lord is indeed a beautiful thing.

To Make a Long Story Short

        Somehow I came into the world. I didn't know what life was all about. Then Christ called me ~ he turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. I found out that I was not even worthy to touch his sandal, yet he loves me. His love made me cry with joy. He promised me that the best is still to come. I am so happy that I came into this world.

Practice What You Believe

        If you believe that God is our Lord, that he created us and the universe, that he provides for all our needs, and that he loves us, then so live that what you believe is made clear to both God and all others. 

Wonderful Eucharist

        During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, upon hearing that the consecrated bread and wine were referred to as "the bread of life" and "the chalice of salvation," I just knew that what I was about to receive is going to make me well spiritually.

Gospel Examples for Us

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass comes from Mark 12. First, Jesus pointed out how the scribes liked to go around in long robes, accepting greetings in the marketplaces and seats of honor at banquets, devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers ~ they would receive a very severe condemnation. We are not scribes, but in our own way we might have acted like them too ~ we'd better watch out.

        In the second part of the reading, Jesus gave us an example in contrast to the scribes above. He observed that a poor widow, from her poverty, put two small coins worth a few cents into the temple treasury ~ she contributed all she had, her whole livelihood! Jesus pointed out that this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury, who had contributed from their surplus. It's true that the wealthier we are, the harder it is to let go. Such attachment to wealth prevents us from becoming selfless.  

Union with God Is for All

        Now that I realize that seeking union with God is the best way for all Catholics to become holy, I am wondering why we didn't and don't hear much about it. Thinking back, I see that in my early days, I didn't even know what union exactly was. Later I read about saints in union with God and automatically assumed that it's a state only saints enter into. So I believe that we don't consider union as a goal because (1) not everyone aspires after holiness and (2) we assume that it's beyond our reach. Of course, the fact is that union is for everyone. Christ asks us to be perfect, and to be in union with God is to be as perfect as we can be, like the saints. Therefore, have courage and break out any box that might be confining you. Speed toward peace and freedom in God!             

Jesus Our Center

        Be occupied with Jesus at all times and leave all other things on the periphery. Direct all that we do at him. 

Let Only God Affect You

        If we do not have any quiet time or if we cannot stay calm emotionally, it'd be difficult for us to hear God's voice. I feel very sorry to see that so many Catholics or other Christians let others affect them so much to the point that their own faith starts to weaken. Some actual examples are in order. One woman's best friend was a devout Catholic, but when that friend discovered that she had views leaning toward feminism, the friend dropped her. Of course, that greatly hurt the person and affected her faith. Another person was shocked when a priest came to her home for dinner on a Friday during the days when they're supposed to abstain from eating meat felt like eating meat and dispensed with the obligation. This shook her faith. Another one remembers that she had a most abusive nun as a teacher in school and when the parish priest came and told the whole class that they're lucky to have a most saintly teacher who's going to heaven, all the kids couldn't believe what they heard. Of course, it's possible that the priest really didn't know the truth and saw it that way; but nevertheless, the damage had been done. Most likely everyone has something to tell that has affected their faith. (I shouldn't deny that there are many who have had good experiences that strengthened their faith. My wife became a Catholic mainly because she had a nun who treated her most kindly.)

        Let's realize that we are all sinners, religious or lay. See how perfect Jesus our Lord is because he is God, then we shouldn't be shocked by what all the sinners do any more because they are not God. Therefore, we need to focus upon the Lord alone and not let anyone else affect our faith! If you want to look at sinners, look at ourselves first. Do we also shock others by our behavior? How do we affect the others' faith? In conclusion, let only God affect you.