Receiving True consolation

        It turns out that my last post did not express my last thought of the day. I am thinking about what constitutes consolation. Suppose I am terminally ill or in some other distressful situation and my family and friends come to show their concern and sympathy, I would appreciate that, but whatever consolation I receive would only be momentary. I feel that true consolation is received only when God is also consoled. This means that his will is being followed. The Lord is the only one who can truly console us in this life and unquestionably the next.

Our Unhappy World

        Last thought today. The quick way to achieve peace both within and without us is to believe in Jesus and listen to him, but most people will have none of that. Eventually, some of them do learn the truth the hard way when they are down and out or in their last hour. This is why the world is so unhappy, being lost for not following the truth.

On Our Fears

        I'll always remember the time before I knew the Lord how spooky I felt every time I saw a dead body or thought about death. But God changed all that. The Crucifixion of Christ followed by his Resurrection is so glorious that it took away my fear of death. The faces of deceased saints now look just beautiful as when they were alive. The fact is that God banishes all fears, not just the fear of death. The only justified fear should be that of losing God (if you can call this concern a fear).

All for All

        Communion time thoughts. God is an all kind of Being ~ he wants to give us all his love, he wants to possess all of us, and he wants to save us all! Union with us is his most ardent desire. This is why when we desire union, we experience the most beautiful transformation of our lives. Let us give the Lord our all.

Making All Possible

        Nothing is impossible with God. Therefore, when we are in union with him, it becomes possible for us to do all of God's will since it is he who accomplishes everything through us.

On Being Transcendental

        On YouTube, you get to watch many excellent music videos. On one video Andras Schiff talks about Beethoven's last piano sonata, Op. 111, which is abstract and spiritual to me and described as transcendental by Schiff. On another, he talks about Schubert, his favorite composer, and considers his songs transcendental too. Schubert indeed wrote some 600 beautiful songs. What I see is that we can be transcendental too by loving God, for performing a good deed for the Lord is as transcendental as creating a beautiful work, if not more so.      

All Potential Saints

        http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/tags/pope-francis/: This is the site "Pope Francis ~ Latest News" listed under my Good Sites, Blogs, Web Pages.... I am very much impressed and inspired by what the Holy Father has said ~ so many gems of wisdom spoken simply from his heart directly to ours. Then I think of all the saints of the Church. They range from great intellectual minds, theologians, popes, mystics, high ranking officials at one end to the simple religious, hidden or in the world, and ordinary hardworking folks in the middle, and to uneducated peasants and youngsters at the other end. Their common denominator is the love of God. This shows that no matter who you are and what your background is, you can be a saint too if you love God enough. 

Preparing for Entering Heaven

        I went to vigil Mass yesterday. After receiving Holy Communion, I saw that the more we are in spiritual union with God in this life, the better are we prepared for entering heaven. A perfect transition happens when you bypass purgatory altogether. This should be what we all aim for for the love of God. 

How Freedom Came About

        When you are in union with God, you belong entirely to God and everything you considered yours is now his ~ you are free!

Jesus, Lord of All

        In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Luke 6, Jesus let the Pharisees know that he is the Lord of the sabbath. Of course, Jesus is the Lord of us all and everything else. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven." Therefore, to make Jesus truly our Lord, we need to surrender to him, achieving our goal of union with him. 

True Home

        I had the home-sweet-home feeling this morning at church for Mass. We all feel good at our home, but this feeling was even sweeter. Our home on earth provides only temporary, physical comfort with no permanent, absolute protection ~ this is the difference. What I felt this morning in church was that God is my home!

World Not Knowing God

         Today Pope Francis leads the world in fasting and praying for peace in Syria. War and violence will not bring us peace as long as the human heart does not have love. And this love must be unlimited or it cannot be love. Jesus has revealed to us that the love of our heavenly Father is truly infinite ~ he is the only one who commands us to love our enemies and love our neighbor as ourselves. The bombings, killings, and fighting going on daily around the world only show how so far the world is from knowing the true God. Pray hard for peace and conversion.

In Union with Holiness

        Today's Communion experience. The Lord entered me and I felt him to be my treasure, my pearl, and that the consecrated host I'd just received was the embodiment of Holiness! This is true fulfillment.

Have We Done Enough?

        Quoting Leon Bloy again: "The only tragedy of life is not to become a saint." Sometimes I feel that I have not done enough for the Lord. Then the Lord makes me see that my sole concern should be to follow him faithfully every step of the way ~ the rest is all up to him. Again, it's how we do it, not how much we do (back to St. Therese's Little Way).

Food for Thought

        Pope Francis during his inaugural address to the cardinal electors said, "When one does not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the expression of Leon Bloy: 'He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.' When one does not confess Jesus Christ, one confesses the worldliness of the devil." [Leon Bloy (1846-1917) was a French novelist, critic, polemicist who became a fervent Roman Catholic convert.] In the same address Pope Francis also said, "When we walk without the cross, when we build without the cross, and when we confess Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord: we are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord."

Glorious Awakening

          Today's Gospel reading was Luke 5:1-11. After Jesus had finished teaching the crowds from a boat that belonged to Simon (Peter), he asked Simon to put the boat out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch. Simon and his partners had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, he lower the nets at Jesus' command. They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to the partners in a second boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, including James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. 

        First they were astonished by Jesus, then they realized their own sinfulness. Finally, they left everything and followed him. What a glorious awakening, a glorious breakthrough! We all need such an occasion in our lives.

Why I Need Jesus

        Jesus is the doorway to freedom and I desire freedom. Also, during consecration of the bread and wine at Mass today, I realized my imperfections so that I need to cling to him to ask for their removal. 

Learning to Be Humble

        In last Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 14 at Mass, Jesus tells a parable to teach people humility. He says that when you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, "My friend, move up to a higher position." Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. Jesus is right because if everyone in the world humbles himself, we'll have peace in the world. This teaching is in line with his teachings on not judging others, forgiving your brothers, loving your enemies, turning the other cheek. In life, things continuously do not turn out the way we have expected due to unforeseen circumstances, unreliable people, etc. Our choice is to accept our "lowest place at the table" so that things may get better or continuously fight for "the place of honor at the table" and remain in turmoil. To be humble is hard but the right thing to do. And with the Lord's example and help, it's definitely possible.