To Not Be Forgiven by God?

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6 at Mass, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray and added at the end, "If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." What a terrible thing it is to not be forgiven by God ~ this we must avoid at all costs! Therefore, let's always forgive (and not judge) others. Even if we cannot turn around emotionally, our sincere intention must be made clear to God.

Our Perfect Liberator

        Our ordinary existence can be likened to being trapped in a cage or stuck in a rut ~ no matter how hard and long we try to find true happiness and inner peace on our own, we fail at the end. I testify to you that Jesus can lift us out of our mundane existence to live on a higher plane, free from the burdens and snares of the world and drawn into the love of the heavenly Father. Here's letting all know that Jesus is the perfect liberator for us. 

God My Lord

        Today's Communion experience. I realized that I was just a weak, finite creature with a bunch of bones and flesh. Being such, my only role should be to trust in my infinite, everlasting creator ~ he indeed is my Lord! 

Recipe for Happiness

        I am no prophet, but this I can say for sure: Without knowing God through Christ, one will never find true happiness. Unhappiness is caused by sin, our own and others'. It's true that sin is always around us and we get hurt by it all the time. But those who know Christ feel sad only because God is hurt, while remaining joyous in the Lord for they know that they are heading for eternal happiness.   

Seeking Inner Peace

        Why do we lack inner peace? Here are some causes: (1) We still don't think as God does. (2) We still have not completely detached ourselves from all things other than God. (3) We still have not completely abandoned ourselves to God yet. (4) We still mind what people think of us. 

        

All Planned Out (by God)

        I have the picture book Jesus, the Son of Man, a Our Sunday Visitor publication, illustrated with paintings by the great Danish painter Carl Bloch. Since I knew all the New Testament stories, I just left it on a coffee table. Yesterday for some reason I picked it up and, reading the complementary Scripture texts next to the beautiful images, the stories came alive. I meditated and didn't get beyond the Annunciation and Mary's Visit to Elizabeth. The Holy Spirit made me see that they were part of the miraculous events, mapped out by God to continue through the Resurrection and beyond. Once I saw that, my faith surged. What God had planned out for us was beautiful ~ it's the true God showing us the way!

Self-Serving or God-Serving

        After seeing my grandkids working so hard at school and participating in so many extracurricular activities, and many adults who were not only involved in various church ministries, but also busily making wines at home, build woodworking shops, etc.; I wondered why we keep ourselves so busy. Are we self-serving or God-serving? It turned out this was also the message from the pulpit this morning at Mass.

        Accomplishing a lot make us feel good, but doesn't that build up our ego too? Let's say I am talented at playing the piano, so I do it all day long. It's easy to justify my action by saying that I am obligated to use this talent God has given me so that people get to enjoy listening to the music I play. This may be stretching quite a bit, as deep down I really want to enjoy myself, become famous, and not be concerned about the rest of the world. There is no humility here. So what appears to be is not what it really is. In general, ambitious people serve themselves first. Common goals are to feel good, to look well to others, to get rich or famous, to get ahead in society.... Without aiming for God's glory, we'll always have that hypocrite part in us. If you want to be a superman or superwoman, then be one for God.

Balanced Prayer

        When enemies attack us, we pray for God's protection from their evil as well as his mercy on them.  

About Trust

        Today's realization is that God is in control of everything. I do my best to do what is necessary in each situation, but leave the outcome to him. This is what trust is all about. It's obeying the Lord in all things and leaving where I'll end up in his hands.

Tragedy in the Making

        I saw people concentrating so much on shaping and conditioning their bodies that some didn't even stop training after their had caught a cold or virus. This made me think that if we focus too much on anything in the world, we are likely to miss the boat at the end. God exists forever, but if you don't even look in his direction, you will miss him for sure. And this would be the greatest tragedy of your life. 

The Salutaris

        On this first Friday, there was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass. At the beginning of the Exposition, we sang the Salutaris by Thomas Aquinas. It's very beautiful, so here are the verses.

         O saving Victim, op'ning wide                         

         The gate of heav'n to all below, 

         Our foes press on from ev'ry side; 

         Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow. 

         All praise and thanks to thee ascend

         Forevermore, blest One in Three;

         O Grant us life that shall end   

         In our true native land with thee. Amen.

Power of the Holy Eucharist

        Communion experience. I felt Jesus thoroughly cleaning up my interior. 

Great Father We Have

        I pray to Jesus a lot and to the Holy Spirit too. At Mass today, I felt called to pray to the Father just as much. I thanked him for having created me so that I might enjoy him in this life and forever in the next. It is unbelievable that we have such a loving Father.

On Forgiving Your Enemy

        Forgiving others can be the most difficult thing for many of us. Let's look at the matter this way. Here's someone you dislike or even hate, and get angry about. Now think of hell, such a horrible place, where one is cut off from God and suffers for all eternity ~ would you honestly wish that your "enemy" be condemned to hell? If you do have a heart that hard, which I don't believe you do, then perhaps you should reconsider whether you deserve to go to heaven for God loves your enemy as much as he loves you. If your answer to the question is no, then simply forgive your enemy. 

How God Leads

        In leading us, God does not show us every little thing we need to do; he usually brings us to the point where we finally realize on our own what he wants us to do. This is good learning because it teaches us to remain patient and trust in him always. 

The Only Sin

        I thought of Adam and Eve who committed the original sin and got banished from Eden. And that sin was disobedience to God. To this day, this has been the same sin that alienates mankind from the Lord. Start obeying God now is the only but sure way of returning to the state of grace.  

God's Way of Love

        St. John of the Cross spoke of dark night of the soul. We all have or had our own dark nights. Mother Teresa had hers that lasted for decades! Whether it's the feeling that God is totally absent, sickness, or any other form of suffering, I see all of them as proof of God's existence or his love. It's because God exists so that we notice his absence. It's because God loves us that he sends us trials and suffering to purify us, readying us for joining him in heaven. We must welcome whatever the Lord sends our way.

Saints Can Help

        I just finished reading Colleen Carroll Campbell's My Sisters the Saints. She is a gifted writer and I enjoyed reading this spiritual memoir of hers. Even though I am already familiar with the saints she grew to love, it's good to read about them again, knowing that we are in communion with all the saints and they can definitely inspire and help us in our spiritual journeys.