Loving God Is Different

        I see people who run races, ride bicycles, or lift weights in a competitive event push themselves to the very limit, risking injuries, striving to do a little better than before. By contrast I see that in loving God, you have the exact opposites. First, you remain passive instead of pushing yourself hard, so as to let God do the work. Second, there is no limit to reach because God can draw you to him as far as he wants. Last, there is no risk of injuries of any kind. In fact, the closer you're drawn to God, the safer you are from all evil. 

The Holy Eucharist Miracle

        Today's Communion experience. I felt great satisfaction and deep fulfillment. Receiving the Holy Eucharist is letting God enter me, fill me, take care of me, empower me, and work his will through me. It is a miracle!

          [Interesting to read from part of St. Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Romans which Fr. Groeschel included at the end of his chapter on the saint (see my last post) what Ignatius said about the Holy Eucharist: "I take no delight in corruptible food or in the pleasure of this life. I want the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was David's seed, and for drink I want his blood, the sign of his imperishable love."]

How Are We Doing as Christians?

        Many of you probably know about the Franciscan friar Fr. Benedict Groeschel. I first saw him on EWTN TV. I love and respect him for his love for God and the Church, and I value his opinions on numerous issues as well as his spiritual insights. Even though he has been a prolific author, it is the first time that I am reading his book The Saints in My Life. The first saint he talks about is St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the early Church Fathers, who died a martyr around A.D. 108. He was a truly fearless Christian who lived for Christ alone. Never did he ever stop urging all to trust and abandon themselves in God. After I finished reading the short chapter on this saint, I realized how weak the faiths of our generations are! I feel prompted to examine ourselves with these questions: (1) How much do we believe in God? (2) How much do we live for Christ? (3) How much are we detached from the world? The correct answer to each question should be 100%. So how much do we fall short?

      Last thought. If you do not know Jesus or his Church yet, I urge you to read the writings of the Church Fathers, the earliest of whom personally knew the Apostles. 

Awe-Inspiring Truth

        This is the first thought I had before Mass this morning. The Holy Eucharist is the vehicle for achieving union with God. The mercy of God is great because of his humility, as shown by his sending his own Son to become one of us and to die in our place. If we are to be united with God, we must be likewise humble. Now, to receive the Holy Eucharist with great humility, we can actually become like God ~ this is absolutely awe-inspiring! For a moment I had trouble believing that this could be true.

Jesus Pure Enjoyment

        Today's Communion experience. I felt that Jesus was pure enjoyment, more enjoyable than all the best vacations I could possibly take. I just wanted to jealously guard this treasure in me. [Of course, this treasure can be anyone's if that person loves him enough.]

A Jolting Thought

        Following the train of thought in the last post, I see that not receiving the Holy Eucharist reverently is not taking the Lord seriously, so when you face him later, he may not take you seriously either.

Are You Fearless in Christ?

        Some Catholics in business try to hide the fact that they are Catholic for fear that it may turn some of their customers off and lose them. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "As you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you." Again, in Matthew 10, he said, "Whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." Fair enough. Then obviously, if we are ashamed of letting others know that we follow Christ, he will be ashamed of us later. True Christians are always proud of their faith and live their lives fearlessly in the Lord.

Hard but True Sayings

        Today's Communion verse at Mass was Matthew 19.29: "Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or father of mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life." This provocative saying brings to mind what Jesus said in John 6, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." This hard saying shocked even his disciples and as a result, many of them stopped following him.

        Of course, if you believe that Jesus is the Lord, then all his sayings make perfect sense. In my case, I have already received a hundred times more in this life (just for the peace and freedom the world cannot give alone) and am looking forward to inheriting the next part. 

The Greatest Journey

         Today is the Memorial of St. John Neumann, Bishop. The Gospel reading came from John 1. Jesus found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Then Philip found Nathanael and brought him to see Jesus. After Nathanael found out that Jesus saw him under the fig tree even before Philip called him, Nathanael responded, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." 

        Looking back, I remember the day I decided to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, the day I entered the Catholic Church receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist for the first time, the day I got baptized by the Holy Spirit in the Charismatic Renewal within the Church, and the day I surrendered to the Lord seeking union with him. These were all defining moments, marking the high points in my life. Each successive move drew me closer to God. And of course, the critically important question of eternal life got all settled. A life-changing journey to God has to be the greatest journey you can possibly take.

Reality Realized

        Today's Communion experience. Reality hit me. God is real; his love is real; I received real Christ in the Holy Eucharist; and there was real union with him. Again, what are true remains real for all eternity and time became irrelevant.

Following the Lord at Any Time

       In today's Gospel reading from John 1 at Mass, we read how Andrew and his brother Simon Peter came to follow Jesus. John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples, and as Jesus walked by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The two heard it and followed Jesus. They stayed with him that day. One of the two was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew then found his brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah," and brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas," which is translated Peter. 

         We do not have Jesus to follow physically, but we can follow him spiritually and get as close to him as Andrew and Peter. It's the same Lord for all eternity, so the gap in time is absolutely immaterial.

Living Martyrs

        Today is the Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious. She was not a martyr like many other saints who suffered death for Christ's sake. Then I thought that we could be living martyrs too. As long as we are willing to live for Christ alone, we should be willing to die for him. Whether we actually meet physical death or not, it's the willingness that counts. If our old self has already died with Christ and is now a new creature in him, we should be ready to live as martyrs.

Are We Robbers Too?

        We live in a materialistic society. Our strong attachment to material things easily turns us into slaves. You might say that we become possessed with our possessions. In the parable of the rich man Jesus told in Luke 12, God said to the man, "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have stored up, to whom will they belong?" Of course, God owns everything in the first place and nothing can really be considered to be ours. To think otherwise is to rob God of what belongs to him. We are now not just fools, but also robbers!

Humility Praised

        Humility has to be the most outstanding virtue among all the virtues. A person with humility thinks nothing of himself, yet receiving full attention from the Lord. A person with humility is secure in the Lord and safe from all evil. Without humility, one will not find God. With humility, he will be shown the doorway to heaven. And it is also the prerequisite for attaining union with God. Look to Jesus, the supreme model of this great virtue.

We Can Be Geniuses!

        There are all kinds of geniuses around. Kit Armstrong, whom you can watch on YouTube, studied piano with Alfred Brendel. At nine, he already performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24. He playing of Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert is most impressive, besides also being a composer and studying higher mathematics. He is definitely a genius. Most of us may be talented, but are not in that category. Then I realize that we do not need any special talent in loving God ~ all we need is an open, willing heart. So why not become a genius in loving God? Furthermore, we also build up treasure in heaven at the same time. Think about it.

A Call to Battle

        The Teens Defending Life  puts out a short, quite powerful pro-life video on YouTube. As usual, you find some outrageous, extreme comments there too. One commented, "god is a lie so removing a fetus that has no understanding of anything in the outside world will not hurt it ... if my mother didnt want me then so be it better to be dead than unwanted by your own mother , also who will look afte the millions of babys if they were all born , not you thats for sure". This is exactly the the way written. I looked up the uploader's background and found out that at least he seems to be still a teenager. Another comment later from a different person was so sickening that I can not even make myself read it again. Jesus, heave mercy on us!

       Anyway, the word "lie" in the first comment got me thinking. God never lies, period. Satan is the big liar and he's got so many others fooled and they all start to lie or talk nonsense. Souls are at stake ~ it's our fight for the eternal survival of all. So, let's join together to fight this critical battle by using all the time we have left in this life to love and serve the Lord to the best of our ability. This is my New Year's call.

Good News for All

        You've heard the Chinese proverb "Every great journey begins with a single step." Nothing is said about the completion of the journey. I have a better one: "Every great journey can be completed with God's help." And there is no greater journey than seeking union with God! The end of this journey may seem so far away as to be unreachable, but anything big to us is nothing to God. Give him the permission and he can get you there fast ~ it's his drawing that does all the work. So my good news for the New Year to all is that to become a saint for God's glory is within the reach of every single one of us, you and me.

My New Year's Resolution

            It is officially 2013...a little closer to Jesus' Second Coming. Will the world ever be ready for it? I just hope that the answer is not a no.

        My resolution for the New Year is let Jesus continue to work on me. Due to decades of living basically a self-centered life, to be thoroughly cleansed of all the residuals of old ways, habits, conditioned responses, etc. takes time. For example, when someone needs the Lord's help and asks me to pray for him or her, I would gladly oblige. Even though I sincerely hope that the prayer will be answered for the sake of the one who requests it, I also detect the thought that I so hope so that the person may think that I am close to God. This realization "horrifies" me, because once I start praying, how effective I am should not be of my concern anymore. Checking just to see how many more people have looked at my blog is another example. If I truly leave all matters in God's hands, then that number should not be of my concern either.    

           It comes down to trusting in the Lord by focusing upon him alone and forgetting totally about oneself. Only such trust leads to complete freedom.