Love Your Enemies!

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus teaches his disciples to love their enemies. This strikes me as a revelation, for the teaching goes against our grain ~ so he must be revealing how he views us. It follows that we must think as he does. 

On Finding God

        After watching a short clip of the Bill Maher show on YouTube, these thoughts came to me. In searching for God, questioning at the beginning is fine as long as it's done with an open, unbiased mind. But questioning must cease at some point and let faith take over ~ this is a normal, logical process. It's clear that those who never stop questioning will never find God, since they are not aware of their finite (or rather, infinite) limitations. Back to "only the humble will find God." 

A Suggestion

        Since nothing is impossible for God, aim for what seems to be impossible for you now, such as becoming a saint.

On Poor Conscience

        A poor or muddy conscience is worse than no conscience. The possessor of such a conscience mainly uses it to soothe himself, but the guilt remains, and he remains being a fool. 

The Ultimate "Ask"

        Today's Gospel reading came from Matthew 7, and the Communion Antiphon was the 8th verse: Everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. It just shows that God hears us and cares for us. Here's one "ask" to cover all other asks: "Lord, draw me into full union with you."

Why Receive the Holy Eucharist?

        Worst reason first: because everyone else at Mass receives it (not even considering if you are in a state of grace or not).

              Best reason: because you love Jesus and want to be one with him.

Perfect Contentment

        Today's Communion experience. The union was the melting of the Lord and I into each other, resulting in my feeling perfectly content.

Highest Calling

        We must go beyond following Jesus to become like him so that we may walk abreast with the Lord.

Sin Will End

        I participated in the 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil today. As I prayed outside the abortion clinic after noon with others from three churches of our area, I noticed the beautiful blue skies above and the colorful flowers in the planter areas below; but ugly things were happening inside the building. A Stericycle truck in the parking lot was picking up medical waste, most likely containing parts of aborted fetuses. One drive-by woman shouted at us that abortion saved her life ~ obviously forgetting to mention the termination of another life. We were also "honored" by another person who stuck out her middle finger at us as she drove off. One clinic escort kept taking our pictures, even though we were only praying. The Lord made me see that all the ugly things would end one day. My prayer was that it would end before the day of judgment.   

God's Tenderness

        This morning's Communion experience. I sensed the incredible tenderness of the Lord, characterizing his great love.

On Our Way to Union!

        In today's Gospel, Jesus taught the disciples to pray what we know today as The Lord's Prayer or the Our Father. After hearing the Gospel read, it became clear to me that when we say this prayer with all our heart, we are truly asking for union with God! Then we receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist and we are on our way.

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.