Healing of the Soul

        If you expect God to heal your soul, you must bare your soul before him and be completely honest with him. If it shows that you are in the wrong, you must accept it and do whatever is necessary to correct the situation. This is obedience and amounts to surrendering to God. Then you'll be rewarded with healing and freedom of the heart.

Exciting Following the Lord

        What's exciting about following the Lord is that you don't know what's going to happen and you don't want to know it either. Then he delightfully surprises you.

Union Takes Care of Sinning

        In union we become basically Christlike ~ we see and hear as he does; we think as he thinks; and we feel what he feels. Then sin automatically becomes repulsive to us as it is to him. In union, as we are intoxicated by the beauty, the purity, the loveliness, and the sweetness of the Lord more and more, sin becomes uglier, more intolerable, and distasteful to the point that even committing a slight sin would make us want to throw up, so to speak. Naturally, you don't even think about sinning anymore.    

What to Live For

        Yesterday I learned of the death of a church friend ~ she and I were born on the exact same day. I still remember attending her husband's funeral service just a coupled of years ago. Such is the brevity of life, so what should we live for? I know some music lovers who live only for music. I've seen dedicated artists who work daily in a studio, often with background music playing, doing what they are good at and enjoying it too ~ it's easy to envy such an occupation. And there are others who live for the day they'll be able to buy their dream car. All these things or goals can keep us going for a while in our brief lifetime, but they are not really worth living for. What's worth living for has to be something that's also worth dying for! And that leaves only God left. To live for God is to live a meaningful life now on earth and a blissful life later in heaven. To live for God is to live forever!          

Justifying Turning the Other Cheek

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5 at morning Mass, we heard the Lord's hard teaching on turning the other cheek. Can we really accept that? We can if we see it from God's point of view. First of all, God loves everyone. And he has shown his greatest love by dying for us sinners. Secondly, judging is God's role, not our business. Turning the other cheek is not to strike back, to retaliate or revenge. It offers the only hope to peace. The world still follows An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ~ look what kind of condition it's in now. If we trust in God and leave everything up to him, turning the other cheek becomes our only logical choice. Another way of looking at it ~ if everyone practices it, we'll have a peaceful world. (Admittedly, practicing this teaching before the world is perfect is risking sacrifice on our part, but we must see that it's the right thing to do, for God cannot tell us otherwise.)   

Healthiest Outlook on Life

        I watched the 1988 Italian film Cinema Paradiso. The story was interesting, but the characters like most of us dwelt a little too much on the past. The past, whether happy or sad, is gone forever. Dwelling upon it can really impede one's spiritual progress. When I am enjoying the joy of knowing Jesus, the past becomes irrelevant. Jesus said it right: "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." With Jesus, it's plowing ahead (following the Master) joyfully all the way. It's the healthiest outlook on life we can ever have. 

Catholicism under Attack

        Catholicism is being attacked more than any other religion in the world. (Does anyone dare to say anything negative about the other religions?) Our government, the media, the press, the liberals, the atheists, some Protestant churches, and even certain rebellious elements within are all unfriendly to the mother church. To me, this is the sign that the Catholic Church is the true church of Christ. This is the church that's practicing "love your enemies." It has survived two thousand years and will survive till the end of the world, as Christ had assured us. By contrast, no one attacks a church that does not hold onto any rigid standards, lets everybody in, and tries to keep all members happy by not looking deeply into any of the Christian truths that might stir up controversy.

God Initiates All Good Things

        God is the source of all good things. He first loved me and I accepted his love and was able to love him back. Then he entered me through the Holy Eucharist and made me feel his presence, and I in turn was able to enter him so that we are now in each other.

Lovely Mary

        Today is the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. What comes to my mind first when I think of the Blessed Mother is her loveliness. She is lovely because she is pure (immaculate) and is obedient to the Lord. She is the perfect model for us to imitate.  

Serious Business

        Loving God is serious business. Take the people who play the stock market. They attend workshops, subscribe to newsletters, read the bulletin boards, keep up with market analyses, make sure that they have the latest technical tools, and watch the market like a hawk. West Coast players even get up extra early in the morning just to wait for the market to open. Isn't loving and serving God at the least just as important? Seriously, we really should love God as if our life is at stake. As a matter of fact, our eternal life does depend upon our effort! The stock traders or investors lose most of the time despite their diligence and acumen, but those who love God seriously is assured of great rewards in the end.  

Jesus Is the One

        Today's Gospel reading comes from John 19. We learn that after the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Jews wanted the bodies of Jesus and the two who were crucified with him to be taken down before the sabbath day arrived. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. The soldiers came and broke the legs of the two crucified with Jesus. When they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side and immediately blood and water flowed out. All this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled: Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another passage says: They will look upon him whom they have pierced. (Earlier, the soldiers took and divided Jesus' clothes among them. But since his tunic was woven in one piece, they cast lots for it. Again, all this happened to fulfill the Scripture passage: They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.) Of course, there are numerous other Scripture passages which Jesus had fulfilled. To me, this is solid basis for believing him to be the Messiah, our Savior, the Son of God.

Learning from the Meek & Humble

        Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Gospel Acclamation read was Matthew 11.29ab: "Take my yoke upon you, says the Lord; and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart." Would you learn from someone who is meek and humble? The world is full of teachers who are impertinent and proud. They are good at teaching you the ways of the world. But if you're interested in the ways of God, then learn from teachers who are meek and humble.

The Freest Existence Is...

to live as a mere instrument of God.         

Invitation to Union with God

        Is union with God beyond reach for most of us? Is it for saints only? The basic question now boils down to whether we can become saints. The answer is definitely yes, since God can accomplish anything. Therefore, union with God is definitely within our reach. In fact, I believe that the Lord wants all of us to reach that state when he asked his disciples to be perfect, as the heavenly Father is perfect. When you are in perfect union with God, he does not ask for anything more because that's the most we could do for him. The fact that he's letting you receive the Holy Eucharist, his true body and blood, is already telling you that the road to full union is now open. My brothers and sisters, take advantage of this privilege so that you may speed fully ahead to enter the most beautiful state of human existence ~ to be Christlike and one with God!     

The Rebellious Ego

        Right now there is dissent within the Church. Not that long ago, the Church of Ireland made news; right now the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization of American nuns, is in the headlines. All I can say is that a true Catholic must always follow the teachings of the Church. Unfortunately, the religious are no different from the laity ~ they also have egos. If you have an ego, then Jesus can not truly be your Lord ~ it's that simple. Again, seek union with God and your ego will be replaced with humility.   

God Is All-Knowing

        For one period of my life, I enjoyed woodworking and built quite a few pieces of furniture. I would work out the design, purchase the materials, cut and shape them, and finally assemble all the parts together. Then I would paint or stain the piece. Since I made the whole thing, I knew all about each finished piece. Once I cut the material too short and the width of the intended storage cabinet had to be scaled back. Another time a cutting mistake caused the grains of two parts of a tabletop not to match up. In other words, the defects, covered-up or not of each piece, I knew.

        Since God made each one of us, likewise he knows everything about us. In fact, since his mind is infinitely superior to ours, he knows us through and through, and sees all out defects, our sins. So, living as if God exists is not good enough ~ we must live, being aware that he knows everything about us.

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.