Why Obey God?

        If you do believe that God created us (that life just didn't pop into existence by accident or chance), these thoughts follow logically. Being creatures, we are not infinite as God is. We are given physical abilities and intelligence, but whatever we possess is finite, limited. What we know and can figure out are nothing compared to what God knows. Unequivocally, we can state that God is infinitely greater and superior than we are. Therefore, we should humbly obey him in all things. The good news on top of it all is that our God loves us.

Independence Day Sorrow

        Today is Independence Day, the 4th of July. We sang "America the Beautiful" at the end of Mass. But when I came to the line "God shed his grace on thee," I felt great sorrow. God has shed much grace on this nation, but the nation as a whole no longer welcomes him ~ he's been banished from the center to the periphery. Materialism has taken over and now religious freedom is at risk. The nation stands polarized. Will we ever be ready for Judgment Day?

Knowing My Destiny

        Communion thoughts. Since the Lord forgives sins, my destiny lies entirely in his hands. I felt good.  

Jesus Is God (Quick Proof)

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, people brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." Since only God can forgive sins, some of the scribes present thought that Jesus had blasphemed. Jesus knew what they're thinking. To show that he has authority on earth to forgive sins, he said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. Here Jesus backed up his words with deeds, showing that he is God indeed.

Let Love Rule

        As I was praying before Mass began this morning, The Lord made me see that it is his love that "rules," governs, or "manages" the whole universe. And this love is infinite. If not, who among us sinners can possibly make it to heaven? Each one of us is given an unlimited number of chances to repent and believe in Jesus. I was also made to see that we should let love manage our lives. Think of ourselves as channels of God's love. With this love, we can manage our worries, anxieties, fears, attachment to material things, egos, enemies, you name it, and do good in the world. Love is the solution!

No More Unfinished Business

        Communion experience today. After receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, I feel so attached to the Lord that I no longer see any unfinished business in the world for me to finish. This is becoming detached from all the unfinished businesses that are and will always be present in one's life.

On Believing in Jesus

        Today is the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle. The Gospel reading at Mass comes from John 20. Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, but Thomas said, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." A week later Thomas was with the disciples and Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." Thomas answered, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

         Many of us today are very much like Thomas ~ we would not believe unless we see hard evidence. John simply recorded what he had witnessed ~ Thomas' about-face should turn us into believers too. Jesus last saying above, Blesses are those who have not seen and have believed, should further encourage us to believe that Jesus is our Lord and our God.

To Know Jesus Is To Know God

        Jesus made it clear to his disciples that whoever has seen him has seen the Father and that he is in the Father and the Father in him. There is only on true God, so he must be the one as revealed through Jesus the Son. Any additional revelations about God through any man that came after Jesus may be safely ignored.  

Never the Same Again

        I have a crape myrtle tree in my yard. The whole tree was blooming beautiful lavender flowers, when a storm arrived. Afterwards the symmetric shape of the tree was gone, now with many branches drooping and many flowers damaged. The tree was just not the same anymore. I thought of my encounter with Christ. After he touched me, I too was no longer the same. But in my case, I embraced the change and don't ever want to revert to my former state. Unlike the storm, God changes us with love, making us even more beautiful.   

Zeroing In on God

        Quite some years ago, I saw an icon at a supposedly monastery. The image seemingly had teardrops streaming from the eyes of Virgin Mary holding Infant Jesus. I left the place with a cotton ball soaked with the tear. On my way out, I, along with two other visitors, all saw the blazing afternoon sun looking like a large moon with no glare at all ~ a miracle! A couple of years later, my son suffered a virus attack and his heart almost stopped beating. The doctor diagnosed that he would need a heart transplant if he did survive. I went to him in ICU, blessed him with the cotton ball I still had, and asked God to heal him. Four days later he was sent home ~ another miracle! Then much later, I learned on the internet that the crying icon was a hoax and the perpetrator was jailed and committed suicide. For quite a while, I was confused: how could miracles follow if the tear was not genuine? Here's what I have finally learned.

        It is our faith that makes God work miracles. Look at the woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years in the Gospels. She came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak, saying to herself, "If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured," and she was cured. The cotton ball just happened to be what I used to convey my faith. The Lord looks at our faith and not at the means by which we express that faith. The sun miracle teaches a separate but similar lesson: Put our faith in God and not in miracles. God makes miracles happen to increase our faith in him and not the miracle. St. John of the Cross, who had many supernatural experiences, made it very clear that in our journey to union with God, paying too much attention to any supernatural experience along the way would definitely impede our progress. Conclusion: Put all your faith in the Lord alone and let nothing along the way distract you.

Goal for Living

        In the days when I didn't know Christ or later when I didn't know him well yet, I, as is common among most young adults, often found myself looking for things to do to kill time, to amuse myself. Should I go visit some friends, go see a movie, or just take a nap? That was drifting. Today I can't do that anymore ~ I must have a goal to motivate me to live on. That goal I've found to be meaningful and most satisfying is to serve God. Life driven by any self-centered goal will invariably turn out to be disappointing or even destructive.  

Is God Being Unfair?

        In the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20), Jesus told that the landowner paid each laborer at the end of the day with the same wage, regardless of how early or late during the day he was hired. Naturally, the ones who worked the longest grumbled against the owner. But he said to them, "Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?" We often complain about unfairness in this world. So what is fair? God is always just ~ this we can be certain of. We must look at the whole picture. If you end up in heaven, are you still going to grumble about the time someone got the job you also applied for or someone didn't catch the flu and you did? Or should you end up in hell, you still wish you had suffered less in this life? The bottom line is that what happens now doesn't matter much. What matters is what happens in the end: If you believe in Christ and do good, you get to heaven; if you reject him and do evil, you end up in hell ~ this sounds perfectly fair to me. 

Pathetic Pelosi

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/06/26/priest-says-pelosi-has-admitted-her-abortion-position-is-not-catholic/

Perfect Surrendering Moment

         Communion experience. After I received the Eucharist, I realized that the Lord is pure, spotless, and most holy, and has the power to transform me. It was the perfect moment to say "I am all yours" and union is achieved.

Counting on God

        Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 16, after Peter realized that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus said to Peter that he would build his Church upon him the rock and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." Despite internal problems and external persecutions to this day, the Church still stands ~ whatever Jesus has said you can count on. Here's another one: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day" (John 6.54). With so many other promises he has given us, our future is set.

On Knowing God

        I have never visibly seen nor audibly heard God, but I know him better than anyone else. Of course, I know my family members and some friends well, but I'll never know all about them because they change and communication with another human being is never candid at all times. Whereas God is love forever, the only one you can fully trust and rely upon, so there's nothing more I need to know. In a way, he is the easiest person to know.

How to Live Satisfied

        The measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you (Luke 6: 38). Live to satisfy God and he will make you satisfied in life.

Jesus, a Great Joy

        Communion experience. Jesus was such a joy today, a refreshing joy, a liberating joy ~ he's to be greatly enjoyed. Just thinking that I have him was a joy.