Enjoy and Skip

        I loved good music. Listening to Beethoven's great piano sonatas was an almost spiritual experience as the music revealed the depths of the composer's soul, raising my thoughts to God. Now that I know the Lord intimately well, the music no longer draws me as he is infinitely greater and more beautiful than any great music. May all the good things you encounter in the world serve as stepping stones along the way as you journey toward God. 

Purifying Our "Love"

        God is our standard. His love, selfless and pure, defines love. Unfortunately, we use the same word for our self-centered and impure feelings. Following God is the process of getting our "love" purified by his love.

Belong to God?

        If you are still attached to the world, then basically you still belong to the world.

Fit to Serve God?

        As long as ego still exists in you, you are not in the best shape to serve God.       

God, an Endearing Equal

        Today is the Memorial of St. Martha. In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, Martha came to Jesus and complained, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." To me, the fact that we can address the Lord as an endearing equal is due to the fact that he did come into the world as one of us, making a direct connection with us. 

God Prepares Us

        As I look back, I see that all my past experiences, good and bad, have made me more fit to serve God. The best experiences were, of course, receiving the Holy Eucharist daily. The bad experiences truly put my faith to the test. God has his timetable for each of us who follow him. He prepares us step by step for the task he wants us to perform at the time of his choosing.

Intuitive Knowledge

        We easily forget that we are intuitive. What if we don't know love? Definitely, the world would be in total chaos. The fact that we can conceive love, not necessarily practicing it successfully, must have kept the world in partial order. And this is because we have a Creator who is love. It's all very clear to me today.

Is Big Deal

        Offending God is a big deal because it keeps you on the road to self-annihilation.

What God Can Do

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven as a mustard seed that a person took and sowed. The smallest of all the seeds when full-grown became the largest of plants. The kingdom of heaven is also like yeast a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened. One thing is clear: God can change us, transform us. 

On Self-Centered Thinking

        Our thoughts determine our inner peace. If we think only to please or satiate ourselves, we will never have inner peace ~ an absolute certainty. God measures us by how much good we do to others. Self-centered thinking accomplishes nothing and is pleasing only to Satan. How so? Because God has made us so.    

A Wonderful Principle

        Hypnotism works because the subject is put in a relaxed state and becomes open to suggestions made by the hypnotist. The same principle is at work when we open ourselves to God and he wonderfully transforms us.        

True Liberation

        Today is the Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At Communion time, I had these thoughts. Imagine a soul, pure and untainted, dwelling in God's house. Whoever possesses such a soul is still in the world, but attached to God alone. This is true liberation because the soul is free! [Always take care of the soul first, before the body.]  

Amazing God

        Today is the Feast of St. James, Apostle. The Communion antiphon at Mass: They drank the chalice of the Lord, and became the friends of God. I can't help thinking that our Lord and God treats us virtually as equals ~ we are his sons, daughters, and friends. He never looks down on us because he treasures us. We truly have an amazing God and Father! 

How God Communicates

        In 1 Kings 19, we read that when the Lord passed by, he was not in the strong and violent wind, nor in the earthquake or fire, but spoke through a light, silent sound. I feel this is how he speaks to me: he either quietly implants a thought in my heart or flashes a quick one through my mind, all at a time of his choice.

Two Urgent Messages

         To all Catholics (and those considering to become Catholic): Your journey does not end with entering the Church and attending weekly Sunday Mass ~ this is just the beginning. There is unlimited room for spiritual growth that your journey (life) gets more and more exciting as you seek union with the Lord. It's always the best is yet to come (and you'll know it). 

        To all those who haven't turn to God yet (and nominal Catholics): Do not wait to turn to God until you are old and realize that you days on earth are numbered. They are numbered from the moment you're born. If you wait, you simply waste more precious time on earth. Delaying turning to God is absolutely being foolish. Unless you are a true atheist, turn to Christ right this moment to ensure your salvation.

Ego Ever Present

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13 at Mass, Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy. Should we blame them? I thought of how blind and deaf we are to the presence of our ego. We enjoy being praised; we like to be noticed for anything nice we've done; we care about what people think of us; we want to be life of the party; we don't like to be told what to do even though the adviser means well; we are turned off by anyone who is not attractive to us in some way; we judge others; we can not forgive those who have offended us.... Why? All because of the presence of ego.     

A Beautiful Thing

        Today I see seeking and following the will of God as a most beautiful thing! It gives living a clear purpose, making life meaningful, and brings you into harmony with God, filling the heart with peace and satisfaction.

Inspired Love

        God's love for us is pure; he simply loves us to the point of dying for us ~ that is his nature. Our love for him is a little different. We love him because we are amazed and awed by his great love and mercy, his perfection, his beauty ~ perhaps less so by his power. That we are able to love him also came from him in the first place. He loved us first and this love inspires us to love him back.