Why Faith Is Beautiful

        My first thought at Mass this morning was that the most beautiful aspect of my faith is believing in the Lord without having seen him. 

Unrealistic Living

        God is our most solid reality and there is no escape from that. Anytime you try not to face him, you're trying to avoid reality. If your heart is troubled for whatever reason, don't do anything to forget your trouble or get yourself distracted temporarily. The right thing is to turn to God right away and lay everything before him to get his guidance and help. Escaping from reality is wasting our precious, limited time on earth. Live realistically by living every moment with the Lord and in the Lord. 

On Being Well-Known

        I am a well-known person, well known to God, that is. Being my creator, he knows everything about me. He is the only one who understands me perfectly, and this gives me great comfort. Being love, he cares for me and watches over me, making me happy. To hide from such a God is to be the biggest fool in the entire universe.

For Our Sake

        Do you know that it's for our sake that God wants us to be saints?

Safe from Evil

        Communion experience. I felt absolutely safe in the Lord because I knew he would shield me from all evil. This does not mean that evil will vanish; it only means that evil can no longer touch my soul.   

Jealousy, a Deadly Sin

        This morning's first reading at Mass from Genesis 37 tells the story of Joseph and his brothers. Their father Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons; out of jealousy, the brothers plotted to kill Joseph. Indeed, jealousy can be a deadly sin, deadly to the those who are jealous, that is. Therefore, feel sorry for anyone who is jealous of you for whatever reason and pray hard for the person. For only God can change a jealous heart.

God Creates Joy

        Today I rejoice that Jesus has come and redeemed us, that he welcomes us to enter the most intimate union with him, and that he'll have the most beautiful dwelling places prepared in heaven for those who love him. How can I not feel happy? 

Incredible Meeting

        Communion experience. As I received the Holy Eucharist, it was the meeting of the infinite and the finite, the high and the lowly, the mighty and the weak, the holy and the guilty, the pure and the defiled, the perfect and the imperfect, the wholesome and the sick, the merciful and the one who needs mercy, the selfless one and the selfish one ... such an incredible meeting! 

Heaven Is Serious

        The Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 16, which tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man died and landed in the netherworld, while Lazarus the poor man died and was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. I see quite a bit of the rich man in most of us. For example, he dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day ~ we might have enjoyed dressing and eating well at one time or another. After the rich man learned that there was a chasm permanently separating his side and Lazarus', he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers at his father's house, lest they too end up in his place of torment. So there was kindness in him, as in most of us. Of course, his request was denied because Abraham told him that they already have Moses and the prophets to listen to. Well, we have Jesus, the Son of God, to listen to ~ but are we listening? We can be pretty nice people, but without love and paying God attention, we also risk landing in the netherworld.    

Heaven, an Enticing Place

        I've never been to heaven, but these few things I am sure will no longer exist in heaven: (1) the toiling necessary for making a living, (2) the burden imposed upon us by the physical body, and best of all, (3) evil. The list can go on and on. Without even mentioning the existence of one good thing, heaven already sounds most enticing. 

Network of Hearts

        First we let God change our hearts, then we are ready to change the hearts of others. I see our hearts forming a network for the Lord to use to reach the hearts of all his children. 

Choosing Sides Now

        Here's another simple view of mine, and I believe in it with all my heart. God will be victorious over evil in the end. Therefore, I choose sides right now, making God my ally, and my eternal future is assured. [I must admit that I did not see it this way before I knew the Lord well, so it's now the view from a mature believer.]

Letting Evil Make Us Holy

        Of whom is the Devil most afraid? God, of course. Why? ~ because God is holy! Therefore, the more you encounter evil in your life, let that stimulate you to grow even holier. For in God's holiness are we secure from all evil.

God Desires Union with Us

        Again, Matthew 5.48: "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Since God is always holy and perfect, the only way for us to become one with him is for us to become perfect. In the verse above, the Lord indicates his desire to be one with us. 

Speaking to the Heart

        God only looks at our heart because what's in the heart defines (also defiles) the person. He may speak through our mind to reach the heart, but more often we hear him directly in our heart. The words of Jesus are always intended for the heart to hear. If there's no change of the heart, we fundamentally are still the same person. To be heart-to-heart with God, we also need to aim at the heart of God. 

Fundamental Calling

        We discern what God wants us to do. Are we called to be married or become a religious? Should I go into engineering or social work? We are called by God to enter different vocations or professions, but there's one call that's the same for all ~ that is the call for each one of us to become a saint.                

Obedience Leads to Success

        Today the optional Memorial of St. Patrick was celebrated at morning Mass. The Gospel reading came from Luke 5. Jesus called Simon Peter the fisherman to catch men. But before Jesus did this, he, sitting in Simon's boat, asked him to put out into deep water and lower the nets for a catch. Simon had worked hard all night and caught nothing, but he did lower the nets at Jesus' command. The result was that the catch was so great that the nets were tearing. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful men." There are various lessons we can draw here. What I learned was that "if we obey the Lord in all things, he will lead us to many souls whom we in turn can lead successfully to him."   

Sweet Memories

        I went to the seminary chapel for morning Mass today. That was where I started attending daily Mass in November, 2007, for a number of years until our church was built. That's where the Lord drew me close to him by changing me. That's where he taught me things all the money in the world could not buy. That was how I fell deeply in love with Jesus. The chapel is being renovated, so the Mass was held in another room. It didn't matter ~ all the sweet memories came back and my heart was flooded with joy. I am truly grateful that our heavenly Father could be so good to me.