John 10.27: My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Here's Jesus telling the Jews. I have believed in Jesus for a long time, but did I always hear his voice? I don't think I did in earlier times when I did not know him that well yet. I belief that you will always hear his voice when you are always ready to do his will.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Our Only Choice
Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. After receiving the Holy Eucharist, I asked myself what I could give the Lord in return. And I realized that everything I had, myself included, came from him. I could give back my free will, my heart . . . but there's really nothing original I could give him. The only choice left for me was to accept all his gifts with gratitude and let him love me. That was a pretty good position for us to be in, I'll say.
Monday, October 6, 2014
The Big Disconnect
I am talking about the disconnect between God and man around the globe. Let's just look at this country. The Supreme Court legalized abortion four decades ago ~ now it seems that it's on the way to legalizing same sex marriage. The separation of church and state as guaranteed by the Constitution is used by our government to place state ahead of God. Printing IN GOD WE TRUST on the back of all currency bills only reveals our hypocrisy. Even Christians don't always turn to God for help when they are in trouble ~ a disconnect between belief in God and managing your personal life. Will Christ come next at a time when we are even more disconnected from him? I pray not.
Sin Soils the Soul
No doubt that sin hurts God, but don't forget to consider your own soul. Every time we sin, we mark our soul with a black stroke. When we commit a serious sin, it would be like marking the soul black with a big, broad brush. Eventually, if we don't repent and/or go to confession, the soul will appear all black and soiled. That surely would be an ugly sight repugnant to the Lord and at the same time making him feel even greater pity for you.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Overwhelmed by God
At Mass this Sunday morning, I received Christ under both species. I felt that God came and filled me to such a full extent that I could barely keep my heart from bursting ~ no doubt that it was the Lord! I love to be overwhelmed by him in every respect.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Exciting Catholic Life
As a convert, it was such a joy for me to enter the Church and start receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Now as I seek union with God, I have discovered and experienced along the way so much of God's infinite beauty that my journey can only be described as an exciting adventure. Here's one more reason for being a Catholic.
Advice for Fallen-Away Catholics
To fallen-away Catholics who attend Mass on just Easter Sunday and Christmas day and/or occasionally help the church out in some way, hoping that you can still get into heaven:
Are you serious? Thinking like that is believing that God is not worthy to be loved with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength. Basically, you still care about yourself more than you care about God. But in reality, it's a case of not caring about yourself at all! Wishful thinking is just that. With God you can't win by playing games. Repent, reform, and return will immediately solve all your problems. Let's face reality ~ no one can ever hide from God and if you run away from him, you run straight into Satan.
Joy in Following Christ
Today is the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi. The Gospel reading from Luke 10 tells that the seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus responded, "Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because you names are written in heaven." Father M in his homily stressed that we are not to rejoice at what we can accomplish in the Lord's name. Rather, our goal is to follow Christ like a child as St. Francis did ~ I could sense the pure joy in following the Lord like that and letting everything else go.
Looking at the Common Life
I was doing the treadmill at a nearby gym early this morning. Today being Saturday, there were more TVs turned on than people exercising. One channel was broadcasting a car race. You saw clusters of cars going continuously around the track. Each driver tried to get ahead of the others and they were all back to where they were again and again, the whole time on the same level track. The scene depicted the common life we live. We also try to get ahead in the world, expending much energy and not getting anywhere. Even if we succeeded, we are still embedded in the world, not getting any closer to God. Rather a sad scene.
Hell Becoming Irrelevant
There is any number of ways to get to hell, but that doesn't matter a bit because we have one sure way of getting into heaven ~ that is believing and following Christ. Hallelujah! ("To hell with hell" came to my mind, but "hallelujah" was better.)
Friday, October 3, 2014
Tragedy and Consolation
Tragedy first: God is so close to us, yet many neither see nor hear him.
Consolation next: In the end, everything will be resolved and squared away.
God Incredible
Today being the first Friday of the month, we had Eucharistic adoration after Mass. As I looked upon the Blessed Sacrament displayed, the true body of the Lord, the one I adore and pray to, I realized that this bread also came into me earlier to mingle with me, to be dissolved by me, and to become part of me. He is almighty, yet he stoops so low as to become united with me, a lowly sinner, physically. This is just hard to believe!
On Treating God
If there is no God, you wouldn't be here today. If you are smart, you would treat God as you would want him to treat you. But if you are wise, you would treat God as best as you can and not be concerned about how he's going to treat you at all.
Right & Wrong Way to Evangelize
A Christian's urge to evangelize stems from the joy of having found Christ. Having discovered the truth, he simply wants the whole world to know. The urge is spontaneous and entirely unselfish. It is not wanting to impose your beliefs on others. And it should never be judgmental. Thinking that you are saved and those who do not listen to you are lost forever is totally out of place. Protestant missionaries entering Catholic countries to convert Catholics, believing that all Catholics are lost, are all misguided because they don't realize that they are actually breaking up the body of Christ! The "original sin" here all originated with Martin Luther who began the Protestant Reformation.
The Process of Union
You make the effort to surrender to God. God now sees that you've given him permission to transform you and starts to work on you. As you experience interior changes taking place, you also experience freedom, peace, and excitement. Your growing intimacy with God continues . . . all doubts about his existence vanishes . . . his beauty and loveliness overwhelm you to the point that you can't help but fall in love with God ~ your beloved Father in heaven, the beloved Son your Lord, and the Holy Spirit! All this happens with frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist and continual prayer over a period of time. At the end, you are one with God ~ you are his and he is yours. What a glorious relationship!
Missing Virtue
Humility is the virtue that mankind lacks the most, especially among men. A humble person is seen to be weak, notwithstanding the fact that it takes courage to be humble. Without humility, one does not hear God. To bring these lost sheep back into his fold, the Lord may allow something harsh to happen to bring back their senses. His mercy knows no bounds.
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