For the Christian, it's the final victory that counts. Knowing that the Father has chosen you to return to him to be with him forever completely changes your outlook on life. Setbacks, sufferings, persecutions . . . all these things no longer affect you seriously. As long as there is God, the Christian sees hope ahead.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Inspired by Pianists
I watch talented classical pianists performing on YouTube. With no technical difficulties and thorough knowledge of the composition, they are able to concentrate fully upon expressing the music when they play. What you hear is very beautiful. They are good examples for us to follow as Christians. By surrendering to and remaining in union with God, we can fully express the love of our God beautifully for all to enjoy.
Sins as Firecrackers
I see sins as firecrackers. People carelessly and rampantly set them off for their own pleasure everywhere. They alarm, injure, maim, or even kill others. The only one who can defuse them for good is the Lord our God.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Life or Condemnation
In today's Gospel reading, John 5.17-30, at Mass, Jesus makes it clear that we shall have either life or condemnation. This is such a critically important message that not listening to it could make the eternal difference! Because of it, we who believe in the Lord are obliged to spread the gospel to as many as possible.
God Incredible
It's overwhelming to think about how Jesus suffered so excruciatingly for us from the Last Supper to his Crucifixion. It's even more overwhelming to realize that God ever had the intention of sacrificing his only Son for our salvation! Our God is most incredible.
Choices of Life
Life comes down to two choices: (1) To be holy for God and (2) to seek happiness on your own in the world.
Union with Perfection
Yesterday's Communion experience. (I am posting it today because yesterday the modem broke down and I could not get online.) Receiving Christ in the Holy Eucharist was receiving Perfection into me.
Our Clear Role
In Luke 5.1-11, Simon Peter and his fishing partners had worked hard all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, he obeyed when Jesus asked him to put out into deep water and lower the nets. And they caught such a great number of fish that their nets started tearing. I particularly like what Simon Peter did after he saw this ~ he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man" ~ for astonishment and fear had seized him and all those with him. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
This reading brings me great consolation. It shows that the Lord knows us and everything that's going to happen to us. Our role is to trust and follow him faithfully.
Back to the Basics
In everything that happens to you in life, good or bad, see the opportunity to examine your personal relationship with God, improve it, and move on.
Mercy Requires Surrender
In the first part of the Mass, we always ask God to have mercy on us in preparation for the Liturgy of the Word to begin. In praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, we repeatedly recite "Have mercy on us." It seems that if we truly mean it, we must surrender ourselves to God, for how can we ask for mercy if we don't even wish to submit ourselves to him?
Monday, March 16, 2015
Your Enemy Is Your Brother
The Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son (Luke 15.11-32) is teaching me to see how we are to love our enemies. In case you are unfamiliar with the story, here's a quick going-over. A father has two sons. The younger one, the lost one, took all the money, left home and squandered it all. He is left with no hope but to return to his father to admit his wrongdoing and beg for mercy. The father was elated that his son has returned and celebrates the occasion with him. The older son finds out and is angry that he's been faithful to the father all along, but never been treated like this by him. The father says to him, "My son, you are with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found."
Since we are all children of God, I see my enemy as my brother. Even if I do not like him, I must pray for his conversion to please God the Father. Wishing God to inflict harm on him is obviously out of the question. If I remain with God the Father, everything his is mine and that surely would include protection from all my enemies.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Great Consolation
Communion experience. The Communion hymn was I Am the Bread of Life. The lyrics of the song are based upon Jesus' Bread-of-Life Discourse from John 6, with Jesus promising eternal life to whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood. The song is beautiful! Receiving the Holy Eucharist, the living bread from heaven, was indeed one great consolation.
Draw Your Line
All the sins are connected in the sense that they are all sins and committing small oness can lead to committing bigger ones. Therefore, we need to draw a clear demarcation line between living in sin and being holy and choose the side we want to be on.
A Tall Oder
Life should be cleaned up, and lived effectively and with purpose. Since our time on earth is limited, all the more we need to be watchful. Sinning is the worst way of squandering away time. Not only do we need to remain pure, but also be fruitful for God. It sounds like a tall order, but all is within reach when you become one with the Lord.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Heart-to-Heart with God
God looks at the hearts. The centurion asked Jesus to say the word to heal his paralyzed servant and he was healed. The woman who touched the tassel on Jesus' cloak was cured of her hemorrhages. Jesus saw the faith in their hearts; what each of them did was merely an act through which they revealed their faith. When we pray to the Lord, the prayer is our act and he reads our messages from our heart just as clearly. Of course, the Sacred Heart of Jesus feels for us at all times. We read in the Gospels how often he was moved with pity for the crowds. He even wept at the death of Lazarus before raising him. How he deeply loves us is unquestionable. What I see is that to move the Lord's heart, we must communicate with him from the depths of our heart. This is truly heart-to-heart with God.
Easy Lesson We Don't Get
In today's Gospel reading at Mass from Luke 18, we heard the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Jesus concluded, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." The truth is clear. To exalt oneself is play god, and there is only one God, so you are doomed to fail. On the other hand, to humble oneself is to submit yourself to God and he will honor you for it.
Applying Simple Logic
In mathematics, if A > B and B > C, then A > C. Simple logic makes this obvious. Then we can say that if you love God and God loves all his children, then you should love all your brothers and sisters. Again by simple logic, if you hate someone, you do not truly love God yet.
Dying Is of No Concern
Some folks care about how they are going to die. My wish is that I shall go with a clear mind. Then I see that the much more important concern is how we live our present life. If we intend to do the will of God always, how we die, like everything else, becomes inconsequential.
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