Jesus said to his disciples, "To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Another way of saying this truth could go: "Expect more and you will receive more; expect nothing and you will have nothing."
Saturday, October 20, 2012
The Evil of Entertainment
I want to talk about the business of entertainment in this country. It is a huge business that sucks in practically everyone. Television, radio, stage shows, concerts, gambling casinos, magazines, websites, YouTube broadcasts, i-pads, background music, even advertisements and commercials...all aim at entertaining you. We become so addicted that we have to listen to music while exercising or doing homework, watch a TV show when we are cooking or balancing checkbooks. The big names in the entertainment business have egos to match, their admiring fans following them everywhere. Entertainment has a place in our society, but when it starts to "dominate" my lives, the balance is lost. It robs us of prayer time, keeps God away from us and even leads us into sin when it's impure. In short, too much entertainment definitely endangers our soul.
Believe Now and Question Later
St. Teresa in her Meditations on the Song of Songs writes that we are not to dwell upon the many mysteries of our faith and what we do not understand in the Holy Scripture. I agree that as long as the message of salvation is crystal clear and we are certain that God loves us, it's sufficient for us to submit to him with all our heart. "Believe now and question later" is not a bad idea.
What the Holy Eucharist Signifies
The Lord showed me that the institution of the Holy Eucharist is an invitation to union with him, signifying that this union is possible. When we receive the Holy Eucharist, it should signify that we are committed to seeking union with him.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Two Ways of Seeing
There are two sides to each coin. A glass can be seen as half full or half empty. There's the story about two shoe salesmen who visit a village where no resident wears shoes. One comes back and says that there is no point in going there to sell shoes, while the other sees the opportunity to sell shoes to every single villager. One sees believing in God as a way of avoiding going to hell, while another sees it as a way of going to heaven. We yearns for God ~ it could be that we are tired of living or that we are in love with God. Attending Mass every Sunday is fulfilling an obligation for some and a chance to unite with God again for others. In each case, both ways of seeing can be valid, but one is usually superior to the other. When it comes to making spiritual progress, seeing it as seeking union with God is definitely superior to seeing it as struggling to become holier on you own.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
A Mind-Challenging Problem
In my last post, I said that our mind is limited, but it can still have considerable power. I thought it would be fun to give you problem to solve at this point in the middle of all the serious talks. So here we go.
There are ten identical containers with each holding ten identical pills. Nine of the containers hold pills weighing 10 mg each and one container holds ten pills weighing 9 mg each. All pills look exactly alike. There is an electronic scale available for your use. The problem is that the batteries in the scale are so weak that there is only one weighing left. So, how would you weigh the pills just once and identify the container holding the 9 mg pills?
The solution is not that obvious. Some people have solved the problem in a couple of hours, but others in a couple of weeks. Try your best, but don't lose any sleep over it.
Power of the Responding Heart
Our physical strength is clearly limited. Our mind too ~ when I use mine to solve a problem, I can only go so far. When I want to praise God, I run out of words to say. Now, when it comes to our heart, it knows no such bounds as it responds to the Lord directly. He can make us love him and others as much as he wants to with no cutoffs. If I yearn for God, he can increase that desire as much as he wishes. It's all up to him. A heart responding to God unites us to God, giving us unlimited power to change ourselves and the world.
Simplifying Your Life
Seek only God. Once you have found him, stay with, attach to, focus upon, and trust in him alone, letting everything else go. Then interiorly, you'll have freedom, peace, and joy.
Doing Whatever You Want
When can you do whatever you want? It's not meant to be a trick question. The simple answer: when you are in union with God. That's because in that state, all you want to do is God's will.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
No Comparing with Others
If you are physically more endowed, intellectually more astute, verbally more skillful, artistically more talented, spiritually holier, better educated, more famous or wealthier than others, never compare yourself with them because all that you possess do not belong to you ~ they came from God. Furthermore, remind yourself that you are also inferior in so many ways to others. Your first priority is to please the Lord, and being humble would surely do it.
No Time for Sin
We sin and we lose interior peace. By contrast, when we are in union with God, sin becomes repulsive. Besides, we'll be so absorbed in God that there is no time left to even think of sin. Now we have peace.
All About Union with God
Today is the Memorial of St. Ignatius. The Entrance Song from Galatians 2 starts out: "I am crucified with Christ, yet I live; no longer I, but Christ lives in me." This is such a simple but profound statement. It's all about union with God. It reveals the secret of perfect living and is a recipe for attaining freedom of the spirit.
Islam and Christianity
I started reading a little bit about what Muslims believe. I learned that they believe that God is in one Person only, so this wipes out the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity. They believe in angels and the prophets of the Old Testament, but Jesus was just a prophet, not divine ~ this wipes out the Christian message of salvation through Christ, and I wonder why he even got crucified. (Later I read that they believe that someone else took the place of Jesus on the cross.) Muslims believe that Muhammad was the prophet with the last word on God's revelation to us. If that were true, then Jesus cannot possibly be a true prophet. They also maintain that messages and revelations from God previous to Muhammad's appearance on the scene had been partially changed or corrupted over time, so what can you say? At any rate, Islam and Christianity are fundamentally different. One can only believe in one, not both.
Sleepwalking Through Life
While exercising on a treadmill this morning at a nearby gym, you could hear the background music coming through the constant noises made by people working out on various types of machines. It was rock with a persistent beat and "sung" in indistinguishable words ~ rather annoying. The thought of the world sleepwalking through life, not being aware of the love and mercy of God and the bright hope of salvation there is for us, came to my mind. It's indeed easy to live on and not think about our ultimate destiny with time passing and gone forever. God has sent prophets to his people through the centuries and finally his own Son to all of us, yet so many of us now still sleepwalk through life. What do they truly want? I suppose that when you are sleepwalking, you can't really think about what you want.
Christ Our Best Guide
Jesus shows us how to think right, to see right, to hear right, to speak right, to feel right, to love right, and to live right. Among all the gurus and spiritual teachers of the world, he is the standard and most trustworthy one because he alone has shown the greatest possible love for us. Besides, he is God!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Feeling Free in the Lord
During Mass, it just hit me that there is no mystery about Christianity at all. The message of salvation is plain, clear, logical, and based entirely upon God's love. Receiving Holy Communion was a monumental moment for me. I felt deeply anchored in the Lord. I was completely in him, yet feeling completely free ~ another paradoxical fact of Christianity.
What to Do About Our Future
When I was shaving in front of the mirror this morning, the thought flashed into my mind that one day I wouldn't see myself like this anymore. Our future in this life is never certain, so what should we do? The best we could do to be guided by we already know to be the true way. John 21:18-22 come to my mind.
Jesus said to Peter, "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me." Then Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me."
What we can learn here is that we are not to be concerned about what's going to happen to us in the future ~ we are to just follow Jesus.
Seek Love from God Alone
When God makes you long for him, he's letting you know that he loves you! Do not seek human love, for human love comes and goes and cannot give peace to the soul. Seek love from God alone, for only his love is pure and everlasting.
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