"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Friday, September 16, 2016

On Hurting God

        We can easily hurt our family members or friends who are close to us if we do not treat them kindly. Imagine how we hurt God, the closest one to us of all, when we sin against him!

*God Indispensable

        We need God to make us holy, but this need is unaffected by how holy we become, for we need him for our existence and salvation. We absolutely need God, period!

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Keep Communicating to God

        Sometimes because we are mentally occupied by various tasks or lack solitude, we do not hear God speak to us in our heart. Consider this to be a perfect time to pause and speak to him as often as you can. All the Lord needs is a quick word, glance, or thought from you. 

Monday, September 12, 2016

Coming Clean

       Today's thought. When so many of us just do what we want to do, ignoring God's will completely, it's time for us to come clean with the Lord about our duplicity.
         Again, for the next three weeks or so, I shall not be able to attend daily Mass nor blog daily. To read new postings, please check back After October 5. God bless you all abundantly.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Who's the Complicated One?

        Actually, God is simple and straight and we are the complicated ones. He has laid out the simple and straightforward plan for us to go to him in heaven, yet we make it labyrinthine because we do not listen nor obey. What a sad bunch we are! 

Ready for Leave

        Communion experience. Since Jesus and I were already in each other, I was ready to go to him body and soul, leaving everything behind.

Miracle on the Altar

        Today at Sunday morning Mass, I realized that every time I attend Mass, the most wonderful miracle takes place on the altar when the consecrated bread and wine transform into the body and blood of Christ. I do not witness the change, but Jesus blesses those who do not see and still believe (John 20.29).

Empty Love

        Love for God not translated into loving action is no true love, for we are judged by the fruit we produce.

*To Be a Fool

        In the parable of the rich fool, the rich man planned to store up all his grain and other goods and then rest, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him,"You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?" To live as if you are going to live forever in this world is to be the greatest of all fools. It doesn't matter if someone calls you a fool, but don't ever let God do it, for he is always right.

Perfect Loving Father

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 15 included the Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son. For me and many others, this is the most beautiful and moving parable of Jesus, for it portrays the love of God for all of us so clearly as only someone who truly knows God intimately or is God himself can. Read and meditate upon the story to find out what a perfect loving Father we have and rejoice!

We Are VIPs

        You hear "God loves us" said so often that it helps to see that it's really saying that "We are loved by one no less than God" so that we are important, valuable, and precious to one no less than God.

Flood Control by Us

        The love of God flows like a flood and our heart is the floodgate. The trouble with most of us is that we do not open wide that gate to let God's love flood us. 

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Fighting Satan

        Satan is an expert fisherman who tosses out bait to lure and snare human souls. If you take the bait, he will haul you in and you are in for a struggle. The loss of inner peace indicates that you have trespassed against the Lord. The proper action to take when you first sense the temptation is to nip it in the bud by running away to God immediately ~ never fight a temptation head-on. Once you are back in God, Satan no longer sees you. Remain in God always and Satan ceases to exist.

Making Jesus Our Foundation

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus talked about the two foundations. He said to the crowds, "Someone who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed." The lesson is clearly that we cannot have "all listen and no action"; we must do what the Lord commands to build a strong, firm foundation. 

How to Remain Cool

      Immerse yourself completely in the soothing, calming, healing love of Christ. 

*Reality Check on Life

        The people of the world either do not know God, or believe in him falsely, or know about the true God (the God of Abraham and the God who is Christ). Among those who know about him, many get to know him personally. It's fair to say that those who claim that they know him are at various stages of rebellion against God, for few become totally obedient. As long as one is not in complete union with God yet, he is, strictly speaking, still a rebel. Dare we say that life is all about whether we submit to God or not?   

Friday, September 9, 2016

*Why Do We Make It Hard?

        God has already loved us. So if we let him love us, we and God become one. It's all so very simple. 

We Are No Judge

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus taught his disciples to notice and remove the wooden beam in their own eye first before attempting to remove the splinter in their brother's eye. Of course, the lesson here is that we are not to judge others. We are not even to judge sinners, yet there are many who still question or blame God, who is all holy, for various things. Sinners must realize their own state and their need for salvation or they are doomed.