Love Is Selfless

        In the Gospel reading from Luke 17 at today's Mass, celebrating the memorial of St. Leo the Great, Jesus said to the Apostles, "When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" This would be something difficult for today's generation to stomach. My comment is that the love of God for us is already a great honor, privilege, and reward. If you truly love God, your only goal should be to please him alone. The Lord, the most selfless one, deserves our selfless love.

Will You Believe?

        If you do not believe in Jesus now, will you believe in him if he shows up today and you see a person who is totally politically incorrect, is of the meek and humble type our society easily looks down upon, and threatens your security and freedom in this world which you think you are entitled to?

Intimate Communion

        We say the Hail Mary when we pray the Holy Rosary while meditating upon the various mysteries. These are the words: Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and the hour of our death. Amen. Although I've said this prayers countless times, today for the first time, the phrase "pray for us" touched me. I am asking the mother of Jesus to pray for me and she is going to intercede with Jesus for me. I have immediate access to the Holy Mother. This is communion of saints.  

Beautiful Love

        The love of Jesus makes us want to love everyone else. I can tell you that the Lord is so beautiful that you would want to dwell in his love forever, but you will not understand until you get to know him yourself.

A Choice for Us

        As long as we sin, we'll never feel quite right. Either we remain feeling so till death or let Jesus replace that feeling with joy and freedom.

Simple Fact

        God by his nature is completely pure. We by our nature are prone to sin, so we need to rely upon God to make us pure. Then we'll be ready to return to God our Father.

For Simplicity

        Most written prayers are too wordy. Many novena prayers are good examples. Whoever composed them wrote with great devotion, but what you get to read are long, compound sentences stringing together too many ideas. Trying to follow them gets in the way of fully grasping what they say. My personal preference is for succinctness. Similarly, there are innumerous ways out there designed to make you holy, but all you need to do is to seek union with God ~ then all else will follow. In union, God will show you how to love. Focusing upon Christ alone is the same thing. God is simple with us. Adopting the various approaches to fostering our spiritual growth only complicates our progress.

Living for God Only

        What others know about you does not matter; only what God knows counts. Live and be aware of this and you'll be free.

Holding Onto Jesus

        Communion experience. Jesus is my anchor, my rock, and my salvation ~ I must not lose him. Then I realize that he will never leave me. And I don't even need to try to hold onto him ~ I only need to remain passive and be completely open to him.

Keeping Safe

        Both God and the evil one pull us stongly, but we are absolutely safe if we abandon ourselves completely in God.

Simple Logic

        Since God can take away my sins, it follows that he must know all about me and what's in my heart.

With Love All the Way

        To follow Jesus is to follow love. Let love lead you and nothing stop you.

Complete Fulfillment

        Communion experience. The Lord of heaven and earth entered me! What more could I ask for? I just wanted to "die" in him forever!

Our Life Goal

        Today's Gospel acclamation, 1 John 2.5: Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him. I just want to say that it's so beautiful: to perfect the love of God in us. Indeed, the goal of life for us is to be able to love others as Jesus loves us.

When to Accept Christ

        An unbeliever should not wait, expecting that somehow God will let him know without a doubt that he exists and is calling him, for that moment will never come for almost all of us (I have in mind exceptions such as the call of St. Paul by Jesus). Faith is required. If you cannot possibly dismiss Jesus completely from you heart, the time is ripe for accepting him. Once you take the leap of faith, your doubts and uncertainties will diminish over time. They will totally vanish when you attain union with the Lord. Faith is absolutely the key.

Jesus, a Stumbling Block?

        In Luke 12, Jesus said, "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." Jesus is still a stumbling block to many today. Why? If he is not truly God, then it wouldn't matter whether you accept him or not. It's precisely because he is God that you find him hard to accept. Ironic, eh? I choose to believe in him because he is so extraordinary, for I do not want an ordinary god.     

Our Only Hope

        Communion experience. Christ is our only hope to deliver us from this life to eternal freedom. All other avenues are dead ends.

We Matter to Heaven

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 15, we learn from Jesus' parables that there will be great joy in heaven and rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. This is important for us to know. It shows how much God and the whole heaven love us and are rooting for us. Wouldn't it be great that we repent and aim to become saints? If we do not and continue to sin, imagine how much sorrow we shall cause in heaven!