Only a Two-Way Relationship

        There are really only three possible players in our lives ~ God, us, and all other humans beings. (As for Satan, as long as we are aware of his existence and know God, he may be safely ignored since he just becomes a distraction, a small annoyance at times. He is dangerous only to those who do not believe that he exists.) We must respond to God alone and ignore all other fellow human beings, no matter what they do to us. What I mean is that we still take action following God's will, but we won't let their wrong doings in any way affect our love for God. If someone offends you, it's no different from a tree branch falling accidentally on top of you car ~ he will have to answer to God on his own in the end. You may picture that we are all linked to God upward individually, with no horizontal links between any two fellow human beings ~ a clean and simple image to remember.

Lost Souls Abound

        There are so many lost souls nowadays constituting a huge portion of the population of any big city in both the United States and other Western countries. Let's just say that he is male for convenience' sake and I'll provide a description. He does not know the meaning of life and has no one to guide him. He drifts from one day to the next. If he is working, he is not happy in his job. His family does not support or care much about him. Most likely he has financial as well as marriage or girl friend problems. He has no qualms about trying drugs or engaging in sex with others ~ to him it's no different from going to a bar to have a few drinks. And abortion does not bother him either. He thinks like his friends, not knowing that they are as lost as he is. The whole aim is to get out of or forget his own misery with no concern about morals. In a big cosmopolitan city, if there is any opportunity to have some quiet time appropriate for reflection, he mopes in gloom instead of thinking calmly to figure out how he could change and improve his life. Such souls are not inherently wicked ~ they simply are overcome by secular forces and become helpless. Since there are so many millions of them out there, we need to pray hard that they will discover the love of God one day. 

The Power of Mass

        Today during Mass, drawn by the love of Christ, I yearned to go deeper into him. The Holy Eucharist inspired great reverence ~ I knew that I touched the Most Holy and would not the same anymore!

Abandonment to Freedom

       In today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 4 at morning Mass, St. Paul said that when the Lord comes, he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God. 

         Anyone who truly trusts in God is not concerned about what is going to happen to him because he has left all in his hands. He is willing to accept whatever God sends his way ~ no questions, no complaints; only total acceptance. He welcomes God to expose all that's hidden in darkness and manifest the motives of his heart, for he knows that whatever he receives will be for the glory of God. When one abandons himself to God, all fears and worries are tossed out as well.

Jesus Is with Us!

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, the scribes and Pharisees noticed that the disciples of Jesus did not fast or offer prayers like those of John the Baptist and theirs, but ate and drank. Jesus responded by saying, "Can you make the wedding quests fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the day will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days." 

        Today, I see that the Lord has completed his work of salvation, left us with the great gift of himself, the Holy Eucharist, which can lead us to union with him, and he has sent the Holy Spirit to us, to be with us always; the gospel is still being spread around us. Yes, the bridegroom is with us, more intimately than ever! As his disciple, I too feel upbeat and joyful. 

Surrendering to Love

       After receiving Holy Communion this morning, I felt that I was surrendering to the most beautiful love ~ there was nothing more I could ask. 

How the Lord Wins Us Over

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, before Jesus taught his disciples to catch men, he showed them how to catch fish. Jesus told Peter to put the boat out into deep water and pay out the nets for a catch. Peter and his companions had worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but they obeyed. They netted an unbelievably huge number of fish and were completely overwhelmed by the catch. Peter fell at the knees of Jesus saying, "Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man." 

       This is how the Lord teaches and draws us ~ he lets us have a personal experience and we are overwhelmed. Then we know that he is Lord and we are won over. As Peter showed, the winning-over itself is a sweet experience. 

Easy to Possess God

        To build up our body, we need to exercise hard. To earn a higher degree, we need to study hard. To make money, we need to work hard. It is general knowledge that nothing is free and all gains must be earned. Then I started thinking about possessing God ~ it's the easiest of all! In fact, you don't even need to work hard ~ all you have to do is to remain open and passive to the Lord for him to enter so that he may fulfill your desire ~ it is absolutely true!    

Sticking with God

        Before I share today's thoughts, I want to say that I've revised my post Ridiculous Faith of September 4. Since I caught Hannity's interview in the middle, I missed the fact that the Democrats did not mention God in this year's party platform, not in their speeches as I thought. I just read that because of all the criticisms, they've hurriedly added God back to the platform. As far as I am concerned, this is still bowing to the people and not to God. They acted like a bunch of kids not knowing what to do without the guidance of their parents.

       Since God is forever constant, present, patient, and loving, let us trust in him always whether we ride on his wings or go through the dark nights, whether the day is beautiful or gloomy, whether we are healthy or sick, for better or for worse, so that we and God will always be with each other through thick and thin.

One Short Step Away from Paradise

        Since I have a simple mind, the Lord out of his mercy always simplifies things for me to understand. At Mass this morning, I saw that God had made everything beautiful in our universe and we are the only ones who mess things up because we disobey and rebel against God. To correct this wrong, we only need to turn to him, repent, and start loving him ~ that is it! All that's involved is a change of heart and we are given the free will to make it happen. Imagine...eternal happiness just one short step away! Why are we making it so hard for ourselves?    

Learning from St. Teresa

       I am a little over a third of the way through reading St. Teresa of Avila's Life. Here are some virtues she spoke of and one tip on praying she gave:

      (1) Not speaking evil of anyone, no matter how slight; avoiding all fault-finding (not desiring to say of another person what I would not want him to say of me); no talking behind another's back (ch. 6).

        (2) Pray not with the noise of words but with longing that God hears (ch. 15).      

Ridiculous Faith

        I just happened to turn on the news and saw Hannity on Fox News talking to a Democratic governor (I wasn't 100% sure that he was a governor) at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina. Hannity pointed out that in 2004, God was mentioned seven times in the Democrats' party platform. At the last 2008 convention, God was mentioned just once. This year there is no mention of God in the platform at all. The Democrat responded, without mentioning God, that the party is one of faith. This answer was pretty ridiculous.

        First of all, faith could mean faith in themselves, not God. Secondly, even if the faith was faith in God, it had to be a timid one. Being ashamed of God is to invite God to be ashamed of you (as Jesus had made it amply clear). It seemed to be a case of being more afraid of the people (atheists included) than of God. Thirdly, it also showed the hypocrisy which the Lord could not tolerate ("Woe to you...").  

        Yes, woe to us who treat God this way! 

The Lord Is Too Much!

        This was how I felt after receiving Holy Communion this morning. Every time Jesus enters me, he removes all my discontent, refreshes me, and gives me enough peace and joy to sustain me for a long time until I see him in paradise. Receiving him daily is being filled to overflowing. What a great joy to let his love overwhelm us!

A Beautiful Way to Live

        Today is the Memorial of St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the church. The Entrance Song at Mass reads: "Blessed Gregory, raise upon the throne of Peter, sought always the beauty of the Lord and lived in celebration of that love." What a beautiful way to live! This should be the aim of all disciples of the Lord: seeking the beauty of the Lord and living in celebration of that love. 

Two Big Words from God

        Again, with 1 Corinthian 1:25 in mind, which says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than the human strength," I can say that hearing the Lord say "Well done" is worth more than receiving all the accolades and honors of the entire world.      

God Shapes His Children

        As God's beloved children, we receive the benefit of being shaped by him. This is our training to be made fit to serve him. We become soldiers in his army and our weapon is love. Our goal is to glorify God in every way we can. When he shapes us, our existence changes into the most perfect state.

Knowing God Makes the Difference

        Since I see so many people I know not living a joyful (not even happy) life, I'd like to draw the contrast between those who know God (Jesus) and those who do not. Those who have no faith seem to drift from day to day. They don't think about God (even though I believe that deep down they know that they should). They feel uncomfortable anytime God is mentioned (an indication that they really need him). Life is not fulfilling, at best OK. They worry about and plan for this life, avoiding thinking about life after death (out of fear?). They may seem cheerful on the outside, but they feel empty on the inside. Basically, they live a life of running away from life. Then those who have faith live exactly the opposite.  

Shocking Lessons from God

        God may teach us by shocking us if we don't pay attention to earlier warnings. I don't know if I have mentioned this incident in the past (after over 2,000 posts, it's no longer easy to remember). I used to be somewhat obsessive about collecting music recordings, vinyl long-playing records and later, compact discs. In the old days, there were no online stores, so the only way was to actually visit the stores to find any interesting releases. I knew in the back of my mind that I was spending too much time doing this, but it's easy to go on anyhow. One day when I was driving home right after spending an excessive amount of time at Tower Records (which had folded six years ago), a bird flew out of a row of trees along the freeway and collided with the car's windshield. The impact was so great that it sounded like an explosion and the whole windshield, being tempered, broke into myriad small pieces covering my entire upper body. I really thanked the Lord that nothing went into my eyes. This was a lesson loud and clear to show me that I was wrong in being so obsessed about acquiring recordings.

        The other hobby of mine was collecting postcards of airplanes, ships, trains, and cars. To every new city I traveled to, I headed for the postcard stands first. It was exactly when I was doing this that my unwatched camera bags containing all the equipment and rolls and rolls of film shot were stolen. This shock stopped my collecting folly cold.

        Early this morning I had a bad dream. In it I put my camera bag on the rear seat of my parked car on the street of a busy city and left to go somewhere. After walking quite a while, I remembered that I forgot to lock the car and got panicky. So I started rushing back to the car, but lost my way and just didn't know where the car was parked. I was so alarmed and woke up. Is there a lesson I could learn here? Yes, the Lord showed me how attaching to anything in this world can cause great pain and it's just not worth it. Thank God for the shocks.