How God Has Made Us

        It is St. Augustine who wrote: "O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee." Then once we find God, our hearts start to yearn for him because our God is infinite ~ infinitely beautiful, infinitely lovely, infinitely attractive. We realize that the desire for God can be limitless and we won't be completely satisfied until we are in heaven. That's how God has made us.  

Love and Humility Extraordinaire!

        After morning Mass, there was a brief exposition of the Blessed Sacrament prior to a scheduled mini-retreat. It hit me that what I was looking at on my knees was the Lord! He was not distant ~ in fact, he just entered union with me a while ago. It's hard to get over the extraordinary love and unbelievable humility of my God which I realized! 

For God Alone 2

        In both Matthew and Mark, Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Indeed, if we live for Jesus alone and forget all about living for ourselves, we will experience perfect freedom. Therefore, let's worship the Lord, love him, adore him, glorify him, trust in him, follow him, obey him alone.

For God Alone

        The Gospel reading at Mass this morning came from John 3. Both John the Baptist and Jesus were baptizing at different locations and John was informed that everyone was going to Jesus. John answered, "I said that I am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease." What I learn here is that I must rejoice, never feel jealous, if God is being served and glorified by others. How gratifying it would be if everyone else loves God more than I do! One who truly loves God does not know jealousy.

On Turning to God

        I hear so often from people that they are so stressed out in their work or because of problems within their own family. I feel bad for them, but I feel worse that they do not know or believe that God can truly take care of their problems or give them peace despite of the existence of problems. It's a sad reality that God, the most loving and powerful one, does not have the trust of his children. See problems as perfect invitations for us to turn to him for help. He's the one who deserves to be given a chance first. Don't wait until you are on your deathbed to turn to him because you may not get that chance. 

Always a Winner with God

        Today's Communion experience. As the bread and wine were consecrated, I was particularly struck by the tenderness and the lovingness of the Lord in calling me to his supper. After I received him, I urgently begged for mercy on my unworthy soul. Yet at the same time, I felt that with him, I was already a winner! 

Waiting for God

        "Waiting for God" was once a regular TV show on PBS. It's a series imported from England, showing the comic side of life of a bunch of old folks living in a retirement mansion. I mention this because the title applies to living the Christian life. Personally, I see living for God as basically remaining passive before God, letting him love us ~ more specifically, waiting for him to lead us in our spiritual journey every step of the way. This calls for great humility before the Lord. Today's Gospel reading from Luke 5 at Mass illustrates this attitude. A leper saw Jesus, fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." The leper's humble attitude brought forth the touching response from the Lord. 

Essence of True Living

        A simpler definition than two days ago. The essence of true living is to let God love you.

Abiding in the Lord

        This is what I learned from the Lord today. It's easy to get zealous about wanting to glorify God in some way, but he made me see that I must not think about what I can do or gauge my spiritual progress by looking at what I have accomplished. No, no, no ~ he wants me to take every step following him, as the Holy Spirit leads. Sometimes nothing seems to happen, but it's the abiding in him that he desires. I am to remain in step with the Holy Spirit at all times, no matter where he is taking me to. This is the way he wants me to keep peace within me.                 

Becoming One with Christ

        Today's Communion experience. When I received the Holy Eucharist, I knew I was with Jesus and we became one and inseparable like a little branch already grafted into him, the main vine.

"Do Not Be Afraid"

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6 at Mass, Jesus walked on the sea toward his disciples in a boat. When they saw him, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they were terrified. Then at once Jesus spoke with them, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" I know that Jesus said "do not be afraid" on numerous other occasions, so we should take it to heart. Indeed, with him with us at all times, there is truly nothing to be afraid of. Even if we lose our life, we'll be in heaven with him. 

In Spiritual Emergency

        At Mass, I also became aware of the horrible state of our world. There are just so many tragic events happening everywhere every moment you feel that your prayers can't even keep pace with the rate at which they're taking place. Using Isaiah's description: We are a people walking in darkness and dwelling in a land of deep gloom. Today's Communion antiphon was 1 John 1.2: "That life which was with the Father became visible, and he appeared to us." Why don't we turn to Christ? Is it because we are so sinful that we are afraid of the shining light? The need for us to love God is so great and urgent now that I feel the door will not stay open long! We need to repent without delay and go directly to Christ to seek safe refuge in him.

The Essence of True Living Is...

finding God and loving him.

To Be Fair to God

        Before Mass began this morning, I was made aware of how much God had given us. He had gone as far as he could, sacrificing himself on the cross on our behalf, whereas we do not even listen to him most of the time and when we do, our effort is often so very feeble ~ it's just not fair! The very least we could do is to submit ourselves totally to him.

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.