On Serving God

        In serving God, I admire others who are visibly doing great work. But the Lord made me see that we are all made differently and I must not "imitate" anyone outwardly ~ it is pride that drives one to "compare performances." We are to bear fruit only as directed by the Holy Spirit and not even be concerned about seeing the fruit. The fruits are to be completely at God's disposal ~ no instant gratification for us here.  

Good Question

        Ultimately and soon, each of us will end up in heaven or outside of it ~ so why do we still worry about trivial stuff, bicker, get impatient or angry, hold onto material things and the past ... while the clock is ticking away?

No Longer Earthbound

        Communion experience. After receiving the Holy Eucharist, I feel that although my body is still here, my spirit is already attached to the Lord, no longer earthbound.

Great Feelings

        It's a great feeling to know that you are clean and on good terms with God. But don't stop here ~ the next even greater feeling is to be in union with God, you and the Lord now completely dwelling in each other.

Transcendental Union

         Today's Communion experience. Just before distribution of the Holy Eucharist, the priest held up the consecrated bread and the consecrated wine and said: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. And we all responded: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. 

       I saw reception of the Lord in the sacrament transcending physical union. It's a calling for me to be healed spiritually so that we may be one. He showed his love through and through. What a beautiful "sight"!  

Call for Spiritual Growth

        When something bad happens to you, listen for God's call. You can choose to get upset, feel sorry for yourself, wish it never happened, want to go back to the way things were, be vengeful if someone else was the cause, or you can move forward and choose to trust and serve God more from now on. Believe me, the latter choice will give you healing and joy. It's letting God bring the good out of the bad.  

God's Mercy Reexamined

        In John 8, we read that Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in adultery; he just asked her not to sin any more. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus taught how we should always forgive others and love even our enemies. God's mercy is indeed infinite. I see that the Lord does not condemn us either because he continues to wait for us to repent so that he may forgive us. If we do not repent to the end, we simply get ourselves condemned. Seeing such great mercy, we must not mistreat anyone again. Taking revenge is even more out of the question. 

We Matter to God

        We are not nobodies; we are treasured by God! When we repent our sins and beg for God's mercy, the whole heaven rejoices. On the other hand, when we sin and die unrepentant, the whole heaven mourns. We can shake up heaven all right.

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.