Praying Unceasingly

        Communicating with God whether it's reciting a formal prayer, praising him in public or talking to him in private, or just thinking about or longing for him is prayer. Every time you pray (from the heart), you strengthen your relationship with God. Therefore, pray unceasingly, and you'll be richly rewarded.

Reason for Our Salvation

        Of course, God wants to save us from condemnation because he loves us. More specifically, he save us for wanting us to be holy as he is holy.

Steps to Heaven

        Realize that every creature, animate or inanimate, belongs to God and you'll be able to let go of all your material possessions and forgive even your enemies. Then do you very best to glorify God in every possible way ~ you are now ready for returning to your Father in heaven.   

Amazing Love of God

        God's love is so beautiful and powerful that it can move our hearts to the point of accepting suffering and dying for his sake, willing and joyfully ~ seeing it as a great honor. 

Making Life Meaningful

        If you acknowledge that God did create you and then died for you to save you from sin, life instantly becomes meaningful.        

Wonderful, Amazing God

        Today's Entrance verse at Mass from Psalm 68: O God, when you went forth before your people, marching with them and living among them, the earth trembled, heavens poured down rain, alleluia. Indeed, God is awesome. He is to be worshipped, praised, and adored, yet he is also completely approachable. There is an amazing duality here. He is our God, but also our loving Father. He is our judge to be feared, yet also our most endearing, intimate friend. He is all holy, yet he yearns to unite with us sinners. John the Baptist said that he was not even worthy to untie the sandals of Jesus, yet this Lord gladly enters me daily in the Holy Eucharist. Our God is not only unique, but truly amazing. 

Only Qualified One

        Communion experience. It's abandonment time. Then I realized that the Lord is the only one to whom I can completely abandon myself ~ there was absolutely no one else around who could take his place. What a blessing and joy that I have him!

Sheep Test 2

        If you know that you've been chosen by God to follow Christ, then you are his sheep.       

Live to Live

        In today's Gospel reading from John 12, Jesus cried out and said, "If anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day." We see that even though we commit many sins, the Lord does not judge us until after we die. So, it's either observing the words of Jesus now while we are still living or waiting to be condemned.

Making Life Beautiful

        Back on June 18, 2015, I posted about the genius of Oscar Peterson which made me think of the infinite genius of our Lord. Today I thought of the great jazz pianist again, whose playing was so free and natural that he and the music became essentially one. It strikes me that expressing our love for God should also be completely free and natural. And we can achieve that when we become one with the Lord, making our life most beautiful. In case you missed Peterson's video the first time, I am posting it again.

Ceasing the Struggle

        It is either we let God be God or we play God. This is the fundamental struggle that goes on within us. If the former, then we abandon ourselves to God, the struggle ceases, and we have peace. If the latter, the struggle simply continues on. I choose to have peace, therefore I choose to submit myself to God (the God of Christ). 

Only Relevant Question

        Here are a number questions regarding sinning. (1) How did you sin? (2) What lead you to sin? (3) How often have you sinned? (4) How serious is your sin? (5) Do you sin?

        Only the last question is relevant.

Another Hurdle

        It's not difficult to refrain from speaking ill of anyone whom I do not know well, but it's another thing not to criticize someone in my own family whom I know well. In the family setting, when there is a disagreement, it's just so easy to assert that I am right and my "opponent" wrong, hoping that all others within earshot will support me. This again shows the presence of ego and that more dying with Christ is needed.

Unhazy Dream

        I had a vivid dream last night. I was in a town amidst all the traffic and pedestrians heading every which way. There was a small stadium filled with naked people occupying all the tiers of seats. I looked around and saw some of them clearly, others more difficult to make out, and still others rather hazy and looking tired and sad. Then I understood it was about how God sees us. Since we can hide nothing from God, we are naked to him. We appear clearly to him if we have nothing to hide from him. But if we are sinful, the haziness indicates that we are trying to hide ourselves from him.     

True Satisfaction

        When you are in union with Jesus, you have already tasted the very best and nothing other than the Lord himself can satisfy you anymore. That's why any message not centered upon the Lord 100% can no longer set the heart afire.  

The Sheep Test

        I attended Vigil Mass today. In the Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice." How certain you hear him speak to you in your heart tells you if you truly belong to him or are still on the periphery. 

Free Will for God

        In today's Reading 1 at Mass from Acts 9, God gave Peter the power to instantly heal Aeneas, a paralytic who had been confined to bed for eight years. God can do anything, but our free will almost always gets in the way. We must will to remain open to God in order to receive whatever gift he wants to give us in serving him. That is, as channels of God's love, we must clear ourselves of all obstructions.

God's Plan for Us

        In today's Reading 1 from Acts 9 at Mass, Jesus made it clear that he had chosen Saul to be his instrument to carry his name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel. God's plan for us may not be that specific, but it is equally clear that he wants each of us to serve him as holy disciples wherever we are now and always.