Honors and Dishonors

        The late Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno and the US Olympic swimmer Mark Phelps have been in the news. The statue of Paterno was removed from outside the football stadium for his involvement in the cover-up of sexual assaults by his one-time assistant Jerry Sandusky, while Phelps has just won his 19th gold medal at the London Olympics and people are already asking if he is the greatest all-time Olympic athlete ever. One was dishonored and the other honored. How important are honors and dishonors? They may be important to the living, but not necessarily to God. I am sure that some of those we honored as great human beings in the past might not have made heaven, while among those who were persecuted, calumniated, or stripped of honor are saints now with the Lord. In any case, let neither honor or dishonor you receive in this world affect you the slightest. 

Ways of Seeking Happiness

       When people of the world are unhappy, they compensate by seeking happiness somewhere, hoping to get cheered up and forget their troubles. Going to drink at a bar or seeing a movie are just two examples. The problem is that what they seek are still things of the world, which provide only temporary escapes and have no healing effect. By contrast, the one who believes in the loving God turns to him when his heart is troubled. God alone can heal the soul and restore inner peace. It's a case of "To the one who has, more will be given" (Matthew 13, 25; Mark 4). 

Causing Others to Sin

        Today is the Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Gospel reading during Mass came from Matthew 13. Jesus in explaining the parable of the weeds of the field to his disciples mentioned himself (the Son of Man), the Evil One (the Devil), the angles, and the Father. At harvest time (the end of the age), Jesus will send his angels to collect all who cause others to sin and all evildoers to be punished. 

        I am struck by the separate category in which those who cause others to sin are placed. Normally, we are aware of our own sins, but we don't often think about whether they might cause others to sin. For example, if a father uses bad language, he doesn't think about how his son might pick it up from him. Obviously, the more people we cause to sin, the more severe our punishment will be. The best policy, of course, is to be aware that any sin displeases God and to stop sinning. 

Trusting in God to Keep Going

        Blogging has been great for me to learn to trust in the Lord. Earlier for quite some time, I couldn't help wondering what I was to blog next because I didn't have a clue. Then eventually, I let the Lord do whatever he wants ~ I'd be happy with a million ideas or zero. So far, he has been putting thought buds in my head at various times of the day. To be honest, I don't even recall exactly what I posted in the last couple of days; but each posting has been an enjoyable learning experience for me. Let's trust in God and keep going. 

Real Spiritual Success

        To become holy is the best way to love God because when you are holy, you automatically (this seems to be my favorite word) start to love others as Jesus does and serve God with joy. Spiritual success is not measured by how many external, visible deeds you do, but by how much internal love you have for God and how much humility you have in serving others.

Going Extreme in Jesus

        If you feel like going all out to do something, how about doing it in Jesus? When you go to the extreme in him, there is absolutely no downside risk, only great rewards. Here's what you could do. Love him to the extreme; trust him to the point of looking foolish; abandon yourself, all your possessions, and your concerns to him recklessly; forget totally about yourself and see only Jesus; and seek union with him at all costs.

Suicide Is a No-No

        Read in a local newspaper online about someone who just committed suicide. I know that this is also the tragedy that happens to many war veterans who suffered wartime traumas. My heart goes all out to them. If you ever contemplate ending your life on your own, please hold off a moment and give the Lord Jesus, the true God who loves and died for you another chance. I want to shout as aloud as possible to you that once you know him, you will want to live, live, and live; to live in him, with him, and for him. To die in him, yes; but never, never to die on your own without hope. To die in Jesus is to live, but to die without hope is to die forever. Please do not make your God weep for you! Make him love you instead. He has a special love for the weak, the poor, the destitute, the disadvantaged. That was exactly why he stooped low to become one of us. [Feel free to ask me questions by using the Post-a-Comment box. If you wish me to respond in private, include your email contact. You comment will not be shown on the blog.]

God Satisfies Us Fully

        At Communion time during Mass, I felt that God had satisfied all my inner needs and granted all my life wishes, fulfilling "The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack" (Psalm 23). I remained at great peace. 

God Does Speak to Us

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Matthew 13, Jesus used parables to explain the kingdom of heaven to the crowds. God has also uses various signs, including dreams, visions, etc., to convey messages to his people. Basically, what I want to say is that God always speaks to his people through different means, both extraordinary and ordinary. What we must do is to remain alert, hear, discern, and interpret what comes our way. All what God wants us to know or understand is important and most beneficial to us.

What Jesus Did Promise

        Hearing some Harry Potter film music played brought magic to my mind, which in turn reminded me of the preaching of some non-Catholic Christians ~ they essentially preach that if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, he will bless you with money, good jobs, and all the other good things in life. (Like magic, this just sounds too good to be true.) When things don't go well, such believers then blame it on their own weak (not erroneous to them) faith. Anyway, Jesus never promised such things as such preachers claim. What he did promise were inner peace, freedom, and eternal life. If that last item is not good enough for you, then Jesus is not good enough for you either. 

The Coming of Jesus

        Christmas is celebrated in the secular world, including even many basically non-Christian countries, but is this true celebration? Even for a Christian, if Jesus has not come into his or her heart yet, what is the point of celebrating his coming into the world? It is true that he came once almost 2,000 ago, but he is also ready to come into our hearts any time we open up to him. This coming or entering calls for true celebration because when it happens, you spread joy around the entire heaven! Revelation 3.20: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me." I will never forget the Lord's loving invitation for me to dine with him ~ naturally, it is still open for everyone.

Jesus Is My Proof

        I was reminded that evil is real when I saw the signs posted along a road that leads to a prison, warning all drivers not to stop or turn around. Actually, it should be obvious to anyone whenever you listen to or watch the daily news. If there is evil, then there is also God because his love and beauty are manifested in so many ways among and around us. I might have relied upon my common sense or intuition, but Jesus had made it an absolute certainty for me. Against him, all the true and all the false are exposed. Against him, all good and all bad are to be measured.

God Makes All Things Easy

        We are advised to do good deeds, be kind and forgiving, and love others by our pastors, well-meaning friends, self-help books, etc., but we don't always find it easy. Doing it is often like going through a mechanical motion with not much heart put into it. To be successful in what we are advised to do, forget all about it and concentrate instead upon knowing Jesus. Once you get to know him well or better yet, have fallen in love with him or best yet, achieved union with him, all these things come automatically ~ very much like the shedding of all your sins. God now takes over and all things mechanical become natural. Here's another wonder of God.   

An Overwhelming Feeling

        I went to Mass this morning and it turned out that I was the only person attending. It's like I was invited alone to be at the banquet from heaven given by Fr. M for the Lord. I also attended the vigil Mass at 5:30 p.m. in lieu of tomorrow's Sunday Mass and received the Lord again in the Holy Eucharist. The feeling was so overwhelming that I thought that God had "annihilated" me or swallowed me up; but there was no fear, only the feeling of great intimacy and security. To disappear in God, to be in him, to be absorbed by him...it seemed such a natural thing for us. It's going home all the way! He made me want to love him even more. 

Being What God Has Made Me

        Thoughts at mass this morning ~ "I am no longer my old self with all the weaknesses and blemishes; I am what God has remade me into, a new creature."  

To Be in Top Spiritual Form

        Summer Olympics is underway in London, England. It's a known fact that athletes train day and night for years just trying to make the Olympic team. It's definitely hard work that calls for much sacrifice to put yourself in top form. Is it equally hard to put yourself in top form spiritually? Well, that depends upon your tactics. If you struggle on your own, no matter how good your intentions are, you'll not find it easy. In fact, making decent progress may seem impossible. If you change tactics and acknowledge before God that you need him and desire his help, placing your entire trust in him and yourself at his disposal, then all becomes easy, for he now does the work in you for you.  

Bearing Fruit for God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13 at morning Mass, Jesus explained the parable of the sower. Basically, the seed sown on the path, on rocky ground, or among thorns bears no fruit. Only the seed sown on rich soil, the one who hears the word of the kingdom and understands it, bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. It's indeed amazing to see how vegetables in the right soil in my planters grow so fast from tiny seeds into mature plants, bearing fruit along the way. Zucchini and cucumber practically double in size in a few days. When we hear the word of kingdom and understand it, we can be rich soil too. Then we can amaze God by bearing fruit manyfold. Let us be used by God to do great works.

Checking Jesus Out

        Assume that Jesus is not God. You'll find what you read from the four Gospels contradicting your assumption. If you still don't believe in him, then assume that he is God, and you'll find that everything you read in the Gospels makes sense and supports your assumption. Perhaps now you'll believe!