God Can Change Us!

        Why do so many people feel down and depressed? Never say God cannot change you until after you have surrendered to him. Nothing is impossible with God who specializes in transforming us with love. We are always our own obstacles, keeping us from being transformed by God ~ surrendering to him clears the way. Let Hope enter.

Being Prepared for Heaven

        Today is Pentecost Sunday, the great day of the Holy Spirit. We do not see the Spirit, but we know that he dwells in us whenever we are drawn to God. Knowing the Holy Spirit is knowing the gentle sweetness of God's love. At Communion time, I knew that the sanctifying Spirit was preparing me for heaven and would take me there when the times arrives. 

Allowing God to Love Us

        Once I heard David Leatherby, a Sacramento businessman, telling his inspiring conversion story in person. (You can read his "These Graces Were No Accident" story on TheDivineMercy.org.) I've never met his son Jeremy, now a parish priest in Sacramento, but I watched some of his videos on YouTube and listened to his homilies which I subscribe to. What impressed and inspired me was his deep spirituality and his intense love for Jesus that came through. In yesterday's homily, he mentioned that to love God, we must allow God to love us ~ be passive more than active. Indeed, the secret of possessing God is "to be passive and open" ~ it's back to letting God do all the work.

The Lord's Wish

        After receiving Holy Communion this morning, I asked the Lord out of gratitude what he wished me to do. His instant answer was "Remain in me."

Concise Guide to Living

        Today we heard the last six verses of John read at Mass. When Peter asked Jesus about what's going to happen to John, Jesus said to him, "What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me." Here we're given the best concise guide to living, namely following the Lord and not being concerned about anything else.

No Power over Us

        Second thought today. Like Jesus, we are in the world, but not of the world. After Jesus was arrested and brought before Pilate to be tried, he said to Pilate, "You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above." We can say the same about us. Since we are totally in God's hands, the world would have no power to touch us without his permission. 

Empty Without God

        First thought today. I recall how the world celebrated the arrival of 2000 with much hoopla. Then hoopla has always been part of the world. I do see the emptiness of it all if God is left out of it. You can whip up a good time, but everything is meaningless without his involvement. Only God can fill our void. 

Power of God

        The link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22556750. These beautiful pictures show the raw power of the sun. The images are awesome. What comes to my mind is the miracle of the sun that took place at Fatima in 1917. Up to 100,000 witnessed the sun appearing as an opaque, spinning disc, casting multicolored lights, and finally careening towards the earth in a zigzag pattern. Naturally, that was mere child's play for God, the creator of our universe. 

              

Playing with Fire

        For those who faithfully follow Jesus or knowingly reject him, their future is determined (though still changeable). But for those in the middle who are lukewarm believers, their future is still indeterminate ~ they are playing with fire!

God Going Overboard

        At morning Mass, I sensed this in his loving us. To save us, he let his own Son to be punished in our place. He gives us his own body and blood to eat and drink in the Holy Eucharist. Our life, another immense gift. It must be the nature of infinite love that drives him to go to extremes. Maximum gratitude from us is in order. 

Revelation Made Anew

        Through Jesus the Son, God the Father has revealed all we need to know for us to be saved forever. I have always believed it to be divine revelation. Now, I know that it is as if God has made the revelation anew.

Absence of Peace

        Our ego may be dying, but eradicating it may take some time because abandoning yourself to God takes time. Today I caught myself scheming something in my own interest. I had forgotten what it was, but at the time the momentary absence of peace I felt told me that I wasn't following the Lord. The absence of peace always indicates the absence of God.  

God's Loving Wish

        John 17:20-26 was this morning's Gospel reading at Mass. Jesus prayed to the Father: "I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us. And I have given them the glory you gave me ... that they may be brought to perfection as one. Father, ... I wish that where I am they also may be with me." Here Jesus expresses with so much love that he wishes us to be in union with him! "To be where he is" should be our wish.

Most Special Power

        To make us stand out as disciples of Christ, God could have given each of us some special power such as the gift of healing, yet he gave us only love. If you realize that God is love, then he had given himself to us, as Christ had amply made that clear. To conclude, we have already received the Lord himself to be our special power and we are to be recognized by his love in us.

Power of the Holy Eucharist

        Communion experience. After receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, I rested and trusted in him, knowing that through this Blessed Sacrament all spiritual goals can be attained. Love and enjoy God's power!

God Chooses Us

        Today is the Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle. The entrance antiphon is based upon John 15.16: It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last, alleluia. To all of you who are following the Lord: He has chosen you and you are to bear fruit. (Just a reminder.)

Entering the Kingdom of Heaven

        If the road to heaven is narrow and steep, I could also picture it as going through a keyhole. If you don't know what's on the other side of the hole, you wouldn't try going through it because you have no interest plus you know that's impossible. Then those who have peeped through the hole and see how beautiful the other side is would want go through that hole at any cost, and God surprises them by opening up the door wide to let them through. 

Everlasting Honors

        I happened to see an old black-and-white film clip on an educational TV station. It showed athletes winning Olympic medals and glamorous movie stars receiving Oscars, etc., back in the 1960s ~ all big news. What flashed across my mind was that they received honors that fade quickly as time passes and from people who were also passing themselves. All those honors seem rather forgettable. I'd prefer receiving anything from the Lord God who lives forever. Receiving even the tiniest gift from him is a great honor that lasts forever.