Aiding God

        Since we have all inherited original sin, we are the only creatures in the universe creating chaos for God, but everything will be settled and restored by God at the end. We can facilitate the process by following and obeying him in this life.

Do Everything with Love

        Whatever we do for God, it will not be in vain. It will have its effect, be noticed in heaven, and come up again on Judgment Day. Therefore, do everything for the Lord with great love.

God Alone Important

        Communion time thought. Everything exists because of God. Our own existence or nonexistence depends totally upon God. Therefore, God alone is important to us and we should always feel grateful to him for having created us.

A Matter of Time

        I still care about this life and I am not a dreamer, but I can't help looking heavenward from time to time with great joy, knowing that the Father awaits me. For all of us, it's just a matter of time. 

Why Do We Need God?

        So that he can help us in trouble? Make us happy? Get us to heaven later? I think more important than all these considerations is to realize that we have become sinners and we need God to restore us. 

God's Love Irrefutable

        One can believe that we evolved from monkeys (not my belief) or we might not be alone because there is likely life on other planets, but nothing should distract us from the fact that God loves us, here and now, and that nothing can ever separate us from his love in Christ (Romans 8). As long as God exists, we'll be loved since God is love. 

Surrendering to Jesus Praised

        Jesus said the following on discipleship: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16.24), "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14.26). Surrendering to Jesus is meeting these conditions and entering the narrow gate and embarking on the road that leads to life. It's a spiritual breakthrough, the beginning of living a new life in union with Christ. 

Evil Spirits vs. God

        Evil spirits do not respect your free will. When one of them invades a soul, it wants to take over and dominate that soul completely. While God calls us, teaches us, consoles us, he never forces himself upon us for love does not intrude. In other words, evil spirits are oppressive and God always liberative. 

The Greatest Partnership

        God is our greatest friend; in fact, the only friend we need. With him, you are never alone. As you do his will, he supports you all the way. Therefore, we should focus on him alone, not on anyone else or ourselves. Just you and God, together, forming the greatest partnership in the whole universe.

Learning from All Things

        Romans 8.28: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Therefore, let us learn from everything that happens to us for the Lord to continually shape us.

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.