Ready to Go in Peace

       Today is the Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and this had been my Communion experience.

           At the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the temple Simeon, to whom the Holy Spirit had revealed that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord, took the child in his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation." When I received the Holy Eucharist, I had exactly the same feeling that I am ready to go in peace. I was most grateful that the Lord had made me see, changing my whole life. Outside, the wet cold wind howled, but I felt totally secure. This last sentence paints a good spiritual portrait of me.  

Life Is Making Choices

        Jesus has made it clear that we cannot serve two masters ~ we must choose to serve either God or mammon. In everything we do, whether we are aware or not, we make the choice to glory God or ignore him. The world competes with God for our attention. Do we put God ahead of us or it it the other way around? Dying for Christ or living for ourselves? Do we choose the challenging, uphill climb toward heaven over the easy, downhill slide toward hades? We don't think about it, but it's also choosing whether we want to be rewarded now or later. Basically, it is all about choosing life or death.      

Christ Alone Worth Keeping

        I just found out that a book, which is valuable because it has something to do with my grandfather who was very close to me, was most likely lost forever due to someone's fault. Of course, I could stress about it. Then I looked within myself and saw that Jesus was still dwelling in me ~ he's not missing, and I was happy. As I believe, there are no accidents. The loss now seems to be more like a blessing. Some people have the right attitude ~ they see that the loss suffered wasn't worse. Think about the people who lost their entire homes recently in Hurricane Sandy. Nevertheless, when you have Christ, the everlasting loving truth, everything else is already "worse" relative to him. Paul could have said, "Once you know Christ, everything besides him is rubbish and not worth keeping."   

Quiet Way of Increasing Faith

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 17, the beautiful story how Jesus cleansed ten lepers. As Jesus traveled through Samaria and Galilee toward Jerusalem, he was entering a village and ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."     

        The obvious lesson is that we should not forget to thank God for being good to us, but what I want to focus upon is that last sentence "your faith has saved  you." The faith as demonstrated by the grateful leper is simply believing in God and obeying his word. I recently posted that I felt helpless in increasing my own faith ~ I was right because I was barking up the wrong tree. Now it's clear to me that to increase my faith, I only need to believe and obey the Lord in all that he tells me to do ~ it is the quiet way. Yes, be like the leper.   

Union of Hearts

        Today during Mass I realized that when we are in union with God, our heart and God's are in union too. Therefore, what we wish to pray for, the Lord instantly knows. Likewise, whatever he wishes, we know too.

A Greater Feeling

        I have mentioned in the past that knowing that we are on good terms with God in this life is a great feeling. But if we love and serve God as much as we possibly can, knowing that we'll hear him say "well done" when we see him later, we can make that great feeling now even greater!

On Longevity

         People appreciate long lives. Most people want to live longer, admitting that they are not ready to meet the Lord yet. Someone I knew well passed away at 101 and right now I have quite a few friends whose parents are all in their 90s. Is longevity a blessing? Many martyrs and saints die young, then we have St John the Apostle living to a ripe, old age. When one lives long, it could be that God has more work for him to do. If the person has not come to God yet, it could be that out of his mercy, the Lord is keeping the door open a little bit longer. Then there are oldsters who suffered ill health in their old age ~ if the Lord is making that part of their purgatory, then it's something to rejoice about. What I am most concerned about are those nonbelievers who are basically not good persons and seem to have everything they need in this life. Recalling how Jesus taught to the disciples that hypocrites who perform good deeds in public to be seen and noticed have already received their reward, so it's possible that these nonbelievers are receiving all their reward in their long lives now. 

        At any rate, we shouldn't be concerned about how long we live ~ any length God decides on for us is right and good.

Serious About the Holy Eucharist?

        If you take the two quotes from 1 Corinthians at the end of my last post seriously, then they should be brought to the attention of all parishioners from time to time, since the casual reception of the Holy Eucharist seems to be widespread. If people don't realize the seriousness of receiving the Lord, then the fault lies more with the clergy. Looking at the flip side, we see that receiving this Most Holy Sacrament with great reverence, realizing fully that the Lord is physically present, will definitely bring great blessings upon the recipient.    

Holy Eucharist Our Greatest Treasure

        Communion experience. First, I felt that the Lord had made us so that he and each one of us can fit together like a hand slipping into a perfectly fitting glove. Then I saw that the Holy Eucharist is such a great, wonderful, significant, and truly earthshaking gift from heaven Christ had given us. Through receiving this Most Holy Sacrament, the Lord's true body and blood, we are able to enter full union with him. [Let us be reminded by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11: "Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. Anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself."] 

To Be Still in the Lord

        Today is the Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. At Mass, I felt that I still had not totally let the Lord do everything for me yet because I sensed some "struggling" on my part at times. I knew that he wants me to be still in him, in his love, to rest in peace starting now, not after I die. Complete trust is what he seeks from us. In today's Responsorial Psalm 37, we heard read: "Take your delight in the Lord, and he will grant you your heart's requests." I pray that he will grant me even more delight in him.

Do's & Don'ts of Converting Others

        "Be loving and humble" covers it all. This means that any holier-than-thou attitude is out. Feeling self-righteous is out. Look up to rather than down on the person you wish to convert. The great saints always consider themselves to be the worst sinners before God. Never think that you are doing some great work or will receive recognition from God; it's the Lord doing the work through you. You do it for the glory of God alone. Be patient to avoid rushing ahead of the Holy Spirit. Leave all outcome to the Lord ~ trust is requisite. And by the way, example is better than talk. Last but not least, pray hard from the heart for the other person (as well as for yourself). St. Monica prayed and fasted for 17 years before her son St. Augustine was converted.    

On Increasing Our Faith

        Today's Gospel reading came from Luke 17. The Apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith and he replied, "If you have the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." Of course, Jesus spoke figuratively, but I always wondered how I could have this super strong faith. I can try very hard to increase my faith, but it just doesn't work. I see that it's a gift from God. Like overcoming sin and achieving union with the Lord, it has to be his doing. My part would be then to remain open, and when the Lord sees my desire, he will fulfill it.

Holiness as a Choice

         Today is the Memorial of St. Josaphat. I am not too familiar with this saint, but from hearing the brief summary given by the priest at the beginning of Mass, the following thoughts came to my mind. 

      Saints are few worldwide. The history of any Christian church is filled with ugly pages. Therefore, the only clear conclusion I can draw is that every single one of us who truly wants to follow the Lord must aim for maximum holiness to make sure that the Body of Christ, his Church, on earth will remain as pure as possible.

New "Ave Maria"

Here's William Gomez' magnificent Ave Maria, rivaling Schubert's:

Jesus Is All We Need

        Life has its ups and downs; people succeed and fail. But once you possess Christ, you have everything. Ups and downs, success or failure ~ nothing counts anymore. This is what St. Paul meant when he wrote to the Philippians: "I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish..." In sum, relative to Jesus, everything else is rubbish.

What to Do with God

        Communion experience. I feel that God is so much that it's impossible for us to thank him enough, praise him enough, or adore him enough. It seems that the only logical choice we have left is to submit ourselves to his love contently.

Going All Out for God

        Gospel reading from Mark 12 at Mass ~ Jesus observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciple to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." This is a great example of loving God with all you've got, fulfilling the first commandment. It should inspire us to go all out every time we serve the Lord.

Jesus Extolled

        I already know all about Jesus. His greatness is overwhelming and his beauty most dazzling. My intense desire is to have him teach me his ways, for his teaching delights and perfects the soul. When you have him, you possess the truth, the secret of freedom, God dwelling within you on earth, complete fulfillment, and the pathway to eternal dwelling in heaven.