Loving Jesus

        If you love Jesus, you would love his words, his teachings, the joy and consolation as well as the gifts and tests that he gives you, to hear his voice, to share his suffering, to rejoice in his glory . . . everything about him and from him.

God Waiting

        God is ready to give you all you need to get you to heaven ~ aren't you going to respond?

Most Beautiful Life

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 4 at Mass, we heard that Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

This event had to be as astounding as any of the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. In fact, Jesus' whole life is astounding act after astounding act until even after his death, revealing fully to us the love of God for us. His life on earth had to be the most beautiful, amazing, and awe-inspiring life of all.  

Believing in Jesus

        In John 20, we read that after Thomas saw the resurrected Jesus, he believed and said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." If I do not believe, then I do not believe that Thomas actually saw Jesus. If I do believe, then, of course, there is no need for me to see Jesus. What happened to Thomas and what Jesus said to him help me believe in the unseen Lord with my whole heart.

Joy of Following Christ

        Self-importance imposes a big burden upon us. When we follow Christ as Lord and Savior, we lose our self-importance and joy ensues.        

Living Right

        When you follow Christ, you will never feel inferior nor superior to anyone, as you know that God loves everyone. In other words, you feel just right. And you are free to do whatever you want to do, which is pleasing God (and yourself). Then you receive the peace in your heart from the Lord and can't help but love him even more. It's a virtuous cycle.       

Most Horrible Destruction

        Not the destruction of our health, mind, the economy, all our physical assets, the entire planet . . . but the destruction of one single human soul. 

First Awareness

        If we are not aware that we are sinners living in a sinful world, we won't find God!

On Suffering

        Both we and God suffer because of sin. We suffer because sin robs us of peace, while God suffers because he loves us and wants us to be happy. It is through suffering that we seek and find God, and through suffering that God has redeemed us. In suffering, we and God become one. Therefore, do not despise suffering.

Abortion Continued

        Mother Teresa had said, "Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion." Indeed, if we do not respect life of the unborn, all the talks about protecting our citizens and stopping violence sound hollow and accusing other nations of violating human rights only bares our own hypocrisy. In Matthew 7, Jesus said, "For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you." It's high time that we weep for ourselves.

Our Holocaust

        Today January 22 is Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The U.S. Supreme Court played God 43 years ago on this day by legalizing abortion. The lives of nearly 60 million unborn children have been terminated since that infamous decision. If this is not a holocaust, what is? It seems that we have severed our Christian roots and betrayed the Lord. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, ". . . woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born" (Matthew 26). The Communion verse at Mass, Psalm 36.10, reads: With you, O Lord, is the fountain of life, and in your light, we see light. I am most grateful that God has given me life, salvation, and the judgment that's going to come.  

Relating to God

        Communion time thoughts. To get the maximum benefit out of receiving the Lord, our relationship with him must be thorough, complete, total, and absolute. It must be all or nothing.

God's Omnipresence

        God is not just present during the Eucharistic consecration of the bread and wine, he is present at all times everywhere, even if we are not aware. Whether you are resting at home, out driving, doing whatever else, or even going through the dark night, God is there with you. His presence is absolute, regardless of how we feel or believe. He is always "on duty," ready to listen to us for whatever reason.

Obedience to God

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, Jesus warned those whose diseases he had cured and others whom he had delivered from unclean spirits sternly not to make him known. In the Gospels we read that in other cases, those who were healed spread their happy news quickly despite warming from Jesus. I do believe that we should always obey unquestionably the Lord's every command, even if we do not understand it. Obedience to God must be absolute, then we'll have inner peace, for inner turmoil is the result of rebellion against God. 

Blind to Truth

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, it's the sabbath and the Pharisees saw Jesus cure a man with a withered hand. Instead of being amazed at the miraculous restoration, they took offense at his healing the man on the sabbath, went out and took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. The Pharisees were so focused upon their own power and position and became close-minded to the truth. Today's nonbelievers are no different. They are so focused upon living the material life that turn blind and deaf to the extraordinary good news of Jesus.

Know What You Do

        The sad news on BBC today: Satellite images confirm that the 1,400-year-old Christian monastery near Mosul in Iraq, the oldest, has been destroyed by the jihadist group Islamic State. Then in sharp contrast, this touching story also on BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35201822, shows that there is still goodness in man. Jesus prayed for those who crucified him: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Clearly, Jesus sees the goodness in us and that we turn bad when we are misguided. Stick with Jesus to avoid ever being led astray.

Fighting Satan

        When Satan is allowed to attack you, God is putting you through the test. The Evil One always tempts you into believing what you are doing is justifiable, even though you know deep down in your heart that it's wrong. Loss of peace is a strong sign that you've been trapped. Praying hard for deliverance and talking to someone spiritually wise can be most helpful. Know that once you pull through, you'd be brought closer to God, just as after a storm dies down, the sky turns blue again.

Peace in Jesus

        The best known Psalm has to be Psalm 23. It portraits a scene of extraordinary repose. The other day I saw most vividly myself and Jesus together in a green pasture. On the grass, I was lying facedown with the Lord sitting next to my front right, his right hand supporting his leaning position. I felt great peace, knowing that he is always with me, taking care of all things for me.