Communion Desire

        Today's Communion experience. After attending such a heavenly banquet, how could I not let it leave a permanent mark on my soul? How could I just leave right after Mass as if nothing extraordinary had happened? Right there and then, I wanted to be totally absorbed into the abyss of God's love and become nothing, yet desiring all of him.   

Our Only Option

        We must realize that God sees and knows so much more than we do. This means that we are more sinful than and not as holy as we think we are. We are only worthy to prostrate before him and beg for mercy, letting him do whatever he wishes with us. Total submission becomes the only option. This is heeding what Jesus had said: "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Our Simple Role Made Clear

        True humility is to know our inabilities and limitations before the Lord. Basically, we are not capable of accomplishing anything without him. Any finite quantity compared to infinity has to be zero. God created and shapes all things. Our simple and clear role then is to obey, trust, and follow. 

Made Simple and Easy by God

        At church this morning before Mass began, I wanted to praise God the Father, but words failed to express my feelings. Frustration set in. I realized that as finite creatures, we are loaded with inabilities. Then the Father understood and helped me see that instead of trying so hard, all I need to do is to remain silent, passive, and enjoy his presence. God makes all things simple and easy for us.  

Go Eternal

        Do not dwell on anything that is passing or has passed. What is passing includes ourselves, and what has passed is the past. Dwell on the Lord God alone who never changes. Hold onto the Eternal and we shall be eternal too. 

Reacting to Shocking News

        Today's news headlines are shocking after the horrific school killings in Connecticut that happened three days ago: (1) "Deadly Oregon shooting at shopping center," (2) "Delhi woman gangraped in moving bus," (3) Six Hyundai workers kidnapped in Nigeria," (4) Pakistan blast: Market bomb kills 17," (5) North Iraq bomb attacks kill 25," (6) Bangladesh factory fire was sabotage ~ inquiry (111 workers were killed).

               What are we to do? I believe that every single person living should repent our sins before God for failing to make our world a holier place and cry out for his mercy to save us. President Obama promising to use the power of his office to do all he can to prevent another massacre of the innocent and senators starting to discuss more strict gun control do not understand the cause of such violence at all. (On the same day the Connecticut school tragedy took place, it was reported that a man with a knife (not gun) wounded 22 children and an adult at a primary school in China.) We have turned the world into an evil place and only God can turn us and all things around.

"I Need You, Jesus"

        Two days ago, I posted "Acknowledging Our Need for God." I have found saying "I need you, Jesus" often during the day most edifying. When I say it, I feel the Lord coming right over to me. When I am required to do a chore, I say it and find the Lord giving me strength and patience needed for doing a great job. This practice builds up the trust we need in him. I hope that you'll try saying it and let me know of your experience.

Looking for God

        I see life as a journey whose end goal is to find God, whether you realize it or not. For some, this realization comes early ~ for example, both St. Therese and St. Gemma felt in love with God when they were still a child. For others, they don't turn to God until they are on their deathbed. Anyway, if you believe as I do about life as stated above, you might as well start looking for God right now if you do not know him yet.  

Go to God First!

        You get a lot of spiritual advices from many sources such as books, friends, retreats, and the homilies we hear at Mass. Generally, you are advised to love God and others more, to pray more, to forgive others, to do more charity work, etc. All good advice, but I am afraid that they miss one big point ~ here's what I mean. 

          These advices ask you to initiate the doing by yourself and it always turns out to be a struggle and progress is usually slow. It may sound uncharitable for me to say that in a way God is excluded from the endeavor. Remember that nothing is impossible with God ~ this specifically implies that we cannot make spiritual progress without God's involvement and help. Therefore, if we have a problem, go to the Lord, the source of our power, first to ask for his help. Basically, it comes down to seeking union with him first, then he will draw you to him, making all things easy for you. "The Lord is my strength" (Psalm 28). "The Lord is my helper" (Hebrews 13). Go to him first for strength and help and your spiritual life will become airborne.  

Preparing for The Lord's Entry

        The opening song at morning Mass today consisted of only the line: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." To me, this is preparing our hearts for the Lord to enter, which is something we should have done and always do before we receive Holy Communion each time. The Lord has come, is here, and wants to enter, so it's up to us to get our hearts ready. We rejoice that Christmas is approaching and that the opportunity offered by the Lord for us to be united with him is ever present as long as we are still alive on this earth.  

The Ego Exposed

        The best hiding place for us is God, but our ego knows how to hide itself! The ego makes us focus upon ourselves and lose our focus on God. If we did something good, we love to go over it in our mind. If we said something clever, we love to guess how others might have received it. The ego fools us into thinking that self-importance is OK and that we are quite good already. Don't fall for it! We need to hide ourselves completely in the Lord in order to expose the ugly ego. God and ego do not mix.

To Be at God's Disposal

        Some nervous people are again preparing for doomsday, this time December 21 based upon Mayan prophecy, less than six days away. Jesus wants us to be alert for his second coming, but no one except the Father knows the time and day. Actually, we only need to be alert to what the Lord wants us to do at any moment by putting ourselves completely at his disposal, then we'll be ready. To be at God's disposal ~ what an awesome, ideal post for us! 

Occupation by Jesus

        When one is fully occupied with Jesus, there is neither time left for him to think about sinning nor any space left in his mind for sinful thoughts to occupy anymore. Besides, sins are already repulsive and nauseating to him. Let the Lord occupy you fully and you become holy.  

Our Presentation to God

        Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." Then what better way is there to be with God than to give your heart to him? This thought came to me today when I was meditating on the 4th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Giving our heart to God seems to be an ideal way of making our "presentation" to God.

Perfect Balance

        As we grow older, our exterior appearance becomes less attractive to others, but we can balance it with an interior that's more beautiful for God to behold.

The Big Message

        Being in Advent, today's Gospel Acclamation at Mass, Luke 3.4,6 reads: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. All flesh shall see the salvation of God." It struck me that "the salvation of God" is the big message that we really should pay attention to. We can be so busy doing shopping, decorating the house, planning the Christmas dinner...and the salvation of God couldn't be further from our mind. But this message is BIG! It is big because it is beautiful, relevant, special and of critical importance to us. We should think about it and thank God for it every day. 

How Good Are We?

        We seem to know how good we are as a person; after all, we should know ourselves. But should we, especially if we have a big ego? Often, others do not see us as the person we think we are. Of course, it could be their problem. At any rate, what we need to be concerned about is how God sees us ~ we need to see ourselves through the eyes of the Lord. To cut to the chase: how is God going to judge us on the last day? My good suggestion: Concentrate on loving God and don't even think about how good you are.      

Where Is God in You?

        Today's horrible news: Killing in a Connecticut school leaves 27 dead, 20 of whom were children. God is always present, so the question is: where is God in you? Without God in our hearts, we are doomed! Think of the continuous silent killing of over one million unborn babies each year in this country ~ is it less horrible? Mark my words, as long as we have that abortion-is-OK mentality, other killings will continue. Lord, have mercy on all those who offend you and all those they victimized.