Joy of Finding Christ

        I still remember the time I almost "lost" my wife in Merida, Mexico. It's night time and we were driving around looking for a place to stay for the night. She looked in a travel guide, spotted a recommended hotel, followed the map (no GPS then) and guided me there as I drove. We got there, and since there's no parking allowed on the street, I told her to go check out the place while I drove around the block before returning. Well, driving to make four right turns in a row to get back didn't turn out to be simple, even though the blocks were all rectangular. I saw one-way streets I could not enter and back alleys I should skip. Finally, I right turned onto what appeared to be a decent street. Little did I expect that the street lead me to a huge market square filled with people. By the time I slowly emerged from the square after "plowing" through the crowds, I had no idea how far I had drifted from the hotel site. Now I didn't know how far I should drive after making each right turn and just kept spiraling away in rectangles. A last-ditch plan jumped into my mind ~ I would comb each street one by one horizontally and if necessary, vertically too, to cover the entire downtown area, even if it should take all night. Naturally, I started to pray. Then I saw the map on the vacant passenger seat next to me, picked it up and noticed a tiny pencil dot at one spot ~ could that be the mark my wife had made? I parked the car in front of a store still open even though I wasn't supposed to stop, jumped out the car, ran into the store with my map and kept pointing at that dot on the map in front of a store person, as I did not speak Spanish. After a while he understood my intention. He then located his store on the map and traced out the route on the map for me to take. The next hurdle was that the street signs were all in Spanish and difficult to see at night, so I made a list of symbols for myself. For example, R3 means that I turn right for 3 blocks, L5, left for 5 blocks, and so on. Following the list, driving and counting, the hotel finally came into view. You can imagine the joy I felt seeing my wife again who had been waiting on the dark side of the street for almost an hour! I am sharing this because the joy of finding Christ is even sweeter, for it delights the soul continually day after day.

God's Deep Peace

        From Psalm 31.3-4, today's entrance antiphon at Mass: Be my protector, O God, a mighty stronghold to save me. For you are my rock, my stronghold! This is why one in deep union with God always retains peace within the innermost core of the heart, despite ripples caused by any storm on its surface.

With and Without God

        Without God, a person does his best to find happiness on his own and finds none; he has lived an empty life. On the contrary, one who knows God finds joy and peace in the Lord. He understands that life comes with trials and troubles, but he knows that God will see him through all adversities. Here's one living a fulfilled life realistically, with the best yet to come!

Progressive Seeing

        The more one knows God, the more he is horrified by the sins he sees in the world. He wonders how anyone can possibly be saved. Then God shows him that his mercy is greater than what any of us can possibly comprehend. We must trust in him.

Love, Not Tolerance

        Heard on NPR this morning: Voltaire's 1763 manifesto on religious tolerance, Treatise on Tolerance, has become a bestseller in Paris soon after the Charles Hebdo tragedy.  Personally, I don't think tolerance is good enough. If you want others to tolerate you on what you have to say, you really should ask yourself first if what you have to say shows tolerance of others or not. Then, do you expect others to tolerate you no matter what you say? We need a guideline here. I believe that the fundamental solution is to love as Jesus has shown us. With his selfless love, forgiveness is implicit. Only God who is love can give us true peace in this world.  

Annoying Evil

        Since one is always safe with God, the assaults coming from the evil one are like flies ~ annoying, but incapable of hurting us.

Overwhelming Beauty

        In prayer after morning Mass, I desired to remain in the Lord forever as I sensed his great heavenly beauty! 

Thanks to Our Enemies

        What good is it to have enemies? For one thing, they drive us closer to God. 

Forever One

        Communion experience. Love penetrated my heart and permeated my soul ~ how could I ever let my Lord go?

Power of Prayer

        Go deep into God and he makes you perfect.

Wise Living

        Do everything right yourself before correcting others' wrongs.

Beautiful Journey

        This is following Christ, always moving forward and never looking back.        

The Gift of Suffering

        When you undergo suffering and truly realize how much Christ has suffered for your sake, you are drawn into deep union with him. In such a state, you become totally dependent upon him and acutely aware of good and evil. In the depth of God, all impurities are cleansed from your soul. Since these effects are permanent, accepting sufferings for the sake of Christ can definitely lead one to holiness.    

Uncertainties Are Blessings

        Uncertainty about what is going to happen to us always makes us feel uneasy. If you know that some evil might materialize to crush you, you begin to experience what the Lord must have felt when he went through the agony in the garden. This would be the perfect time to get on your knees and abandon yourself entirely to God until you feel the deep union between you and him. So uncertainties are blessings. And, you know what, God always shields and delivers you from evil and restores your peace at the end. 

Dying Honorably for God

        On January 8, I posted How We Die Matters on the recent mass killing at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. I mentioned that I wouldn't feel comfortable telling the Lord that I got killed for making fun of others. Today I thought I would feel the same if I died of a heart attack because someone made me angry or deliberately hurt me emotionally. Therefore, I would remain forgiving by placing my entire trust in the Lord. Dying as the result of my own sin is not dying for God. 

God's Presence

        As I was taking a morning walk, praying the Luminous Rosary on a beautiful day, I saw that if I were walking behind Jesus, I would be absolutely fearless knowing that he was right with me. Then I asked myself why shouldn't I feel this way, knowing that he was with me in spirit. His spiritual presence, of course, is independent of his physical appearance.

Never Get Discouraged

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7 at morning Mass, a Greek woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit came to Jesus and fell at his feet. She begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the fool of the children and throw it to the dogs." She replied and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under that table eat the children's scraps." Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." Sometimes the Lord just tests us, and we mustn't get discouraged. In fact, we should never be discouraged, for the Lord holds all our hopes in him. 

Most Important Safety Measure

        If we keep our heart clean and pure, evil cannot touch us and our soul is safe. This is our most important protection. Now we can let everything else go and let God take care of our body and mind as well.