Our Sin of Omission

       Fr. Benedict Groeschel, whom I love and respect, unwisely made some controversial comments last year related to the sexual abuse of children by priests and a lot of people out there used the opportunity to degrade him and the Church. A gay, former Catholic priest criticized him on Huffington Post. From most of the comments on his article I read, I could tell that there were lots of people who disliked or even hated the Church. Again, I believe that they never knew the Church and/or Jesus. Judging others without looking at yourself is always the easiest thing to do. If Christ were here today, they would most likely be turned off by what he tells them too.

         The Christians have themselves to blame for not taking stands when morality started eroding. If you go back half a century or so, very few unmarried couples practiced living together. Then abortion got legalized. Over the years various Christian churches have softened their stands on many moral issues, causing further disunity (Satan must love it!) Even though the majority of this country still claims to believe that God exists, they live just as nonbelievers. Today hedonism is the dominant way of our life and atheism continues to rise. We reap what we sow.

Spiritual Burden

        I feel a lot of pain today because I know that God is feeling it too. The BBC News earlier reported that hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied against gay marriage in Paris despite one newspaper poll showing that 56% of the people supported gay marriage. In Italy four topless female activists staged a protest in St. Peter's Square in favor of gay rights. The Church is against the sin and not the sinner. Even in the case of suicide bombers killing innocent people, God's love for the perpetrators never diminishes. The mission of the Church is to save souls, yet she is perceived as being nonprogressive and suppressive. This misunderstanding is causing the present sharp division.      

Getting Along with God

        God loves us as we love others. God forgives us as we forgive others. God becomes ours as we become his.

Ultimate Fulfillment

        Our yearning for God is proof that God is the ultimate fulfillment. To want to possess all of God, all we need to do is to let him possess all of us. Union with God on earth and in heaven then should be our goal.    

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.