Looking at Life

        It's not how long you live that's important; it's knowing where you'll go after you die that matters.

False Joy

        On an NBC TV show this morning, I caught a glimpse of the regular reporters on the street of New York (Time Square? ~ I guess since I don't follow NBC at all) with a group of attractively clad dancers dancing in the background. Later, the reporters joined in; all seemed to have a good time. I realized that many people, especially public figures, are used to hiding behind a false facade, since presenting a good, happy image is so important. TV shows, the commercials, all present a world clad in false joy. If we cannot live to be truthful to ourselves, how can we live to be truthful to God? 

Enjoying God

        Our lifetime is limited, so I want to spend my time enjoying God and not the world, for God himself is a permanent joy while the world imparts only passing pleasures.

Looking Outside the Box

        If you are a perfectionist, do you ever consider your own imperfections?

        If you are the decisive type, do you ever decide how much you should love God?

        If you think you are tough, are you tough on yourself own shortcomings?

        If you consider yourself a doer, do you do unselfish things?

        If you are an inquisitive person, do you look into the meaning of life? 

        If you believe you have vision, do you ever look beyond this life?         

        If you are a good speaker, is your heart in the right place when you speak?
        If you want to find God, do you let God in first to find you?
        If you are rich and wealthy, why do you still worry so much?
        If you think about living a long life, shouldn't you think about death too?

Body and Soul

        We have our body and our soul. The body deteriorates every moment and will be completely worn-out one day ~ nothing we can do about that. Since the soul lives on forever, we should take the greatest care of it when we can by nourishing it and safeguarding it to keep it pure. Any imbalance should favor the soul and not the body.

The Superior Way

        After morning Mass I stayed for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at church, as today is the first Friday of the month. What I saw was that although the road to heaven is narrow and steep, the gate of heaven at the top is wide open, since Christ has redeemed us. The question is how best to reach the top. Making the arduous climb on your own is the obvious way, but seeking union with God to let him take over is much superior. Once you are in union, you are outside the gate. A tram will beat two legs anytime.  

Sinner Advantage

        Communion thoughts. I rejoice that I am a sinner because Jesus loves sinners! He would transform sinners into saints so that they may live in heaven while on earth.  

Beautiful Realization

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5 at morning Mass, Jesus got into one of the two boats, the one belonging to Simon (Peter), alongside the lake. He asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Later, he asked Simon to put out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch. Simon and his fellow fishermen had worked hard all night and caught nothing, but lowered the nets anyway. They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing so that their partners in the other boat had to come to help them. Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." That was one life-changing moment for Peter. How beautiful such a moment is when a soul receives the light of Christ in his heart and realizes what he truly is before the Lord!

Most Enjoyable Living Is...

loving God intensely with passion. 

Enjoy the World Rightly

        Enjoy the world the wrong way and you can lose your life forever. Enjoy God first while you are in the world, then you are safe and secure to enjoy the world the right way.

Reward You Can Count On

        Nothing can escape the Lord our God. The good news is that you will be rewarded richly for everything you do for his glory, in this life or in the next, or both. 

Anything Is Fine

        Today's Communion experience. I yearned for the Lord, so anything coming from him would be welcome. I decided to ask him to transform me to his heart's content, knowing that he could make me the happiest person on earth. 

No Personal Preferences

        I have greater affection for certain saints over others. Then I realize that when it comes to glorifying God, pleasing him should completely override my personal preferences. I should willingly and gladly do whatever is necessary, enjoyable or not, to glorify God.    

Faith Understood

           In Matthew 17.20, Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Again, in Luke 17.6, he said to the apostles, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." I've always been intrigued by what the Lord had said here ~ how can I get this faith the size of a mustard seed? 

            Once I actually challenged someone who had lost all his hair to believe in Jesus and assured him that his hair would come back after I prayed for him. Of course, nothing miraculous happened. Then there's the time I prayed for my son when he was near death, and he miraculously recovered. This time the petition just came forth spontaneously without any hesitation. Recall how Peter in his boat saw Jesus walking on the sea and wanted to do the same. Jesus said "come" and Peter got out of the boat and started walking toward Jesus. But he became frightened and began to sink. Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

        My new understanding of faith: (1) I cannot "force" myself to have faith. For example, it'll be utter foolishness to believe that I can go out and heal any sick person I run into. (2) Faith can work miracles only if you are doing God's will. If I get out of a boat on my own, believing that I can walk on water, it won't happen. But if Jesus had actually commanded me to do it, then I would do fine if I believed in him. (3) Conclusion: Do God's will always and trust in him completely while doing it. (4) Last, since faith is a gift from God, seeking union with him will definitely enrich this gift.

It's the Lord

        Communion experience. After I received the Holy Eucharist, I knew it was the Lord who had entered me, the one who spoke with authority, healed the sick miraculously, died on the cross in our place, was raised from the dead on the third day . . . enough.  

Urgent Call

        Through the horrible news we read and hear daily, revealing the ungodliness of our world, God is urgently calling us to greater holiness and to pray harder for all souls, those who sin, those who suffer, and those who seem to have no hope. After we die, it'll be too late. 

How Open Are You?

        If you remain closed to God, you will not experience him. If you surrender to him, he enters into oneness with you. It's clear that you experience God only to the extent you are open to him. Your move next.

Offering Must Be Holy!

        The first request made by Our Lady of Fatima is to sanctify our daily duties. Here is the official My Morning Offering prayer:

      O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with it the offering of my every thought, word, and action of this day.

      O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and I offer them together with myself to Mary Immaculate ~ that she may best apply them to the interests of Thy most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!           

        If we are prepared to offer God our every thought, word, and action of the day, we'd better make sure that every thought, word, and action of ours is good and pure. I see making this morning offering an excellent way to keep us holy.