Our Only Second Chance

        Everything we do in thought, word, and deed is known to God and thus consequential to our eternity destiny. If you had started out badly, only repentance and asking for God's forgiveness can reverse your course, giving you a second chance ~ there are no other means.

Communing With God

        My heart was heavy when I went to Mass this morning because of the many pressing issues on my mind. The entrance antiphon from Psalm 38 read: Forsake me not, O Lord my God; be not far from me! Make haste and come to my help, O Lord, my strong salvation! This perfectly mirrored my feelings. Then at the same time I did not want to hear the Lord say "O you of little faith," which he had used on his disciples on different occasions. Later, the response to Psalm 105 read: Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord! And that was the answer I needed to hear.  

Death Perfectly Timed

        Surrendering to God makes you see that when your body starts falling apart, it's the time to shed it and return to God, removing all fear of dying.

Foolish Evildoers

        Evildoers are myopic and the greatest fools because they think they can get away with what they do from God, not knowing that at the end they will have to face God to account for their every single thought, word, and deed. 

Maximizing Trust in God

        Surrendering yourself to God maximizes your trust in God.

Our Certain Resurrection

        Today is All Souls Day. The entrance antiphon from 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 reads: Just as Jesus died and has risen again, so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep; and as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be brought to life. I believe in what Paul believed in. Our life does not end with death, for the soul is everlasting. Through Christ, we shall rise again. With Christ, we always have hope, for he is our hope. All who believe in him will live with him for ever.

All Up to You again.

        The line separating believers and nonbelievers in Christ is clear, but the thickness of that line varies for each individual. Take the extreme cases. If you are ready to believe and follow Christ, the line vanishes completely. But if you decide to reject him, that line becomes like a wide chasm. Again, you choose to unite yourself to or separate yourself from God. 

*All Up to You

        As I have said more than once that the spiritual battle we fight is basically between us and God. We don't even need to factor in Satan. We let God be our God and we are free! But if we let ourselves be our gods, then we remain slaves to ourselves. It is clear, precise, and simple. Experience God and you'll know. How close to or far away from you freedom is ~ that all depends upon you.

Beautiful Saints

    Today is Solemnity of All Saints. The Mass was a joy for all its beautiful readings.

1. In Reading 1 from Revelation 7, John saw that God would put his seal on the foreheads of his servants to protect them, and that those who had survived the time of great distress had washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb and made them white.
2. In Reading 2 from 1 John 3, John tells us that the children of God shall be like God when they see him as he is.
3. Gospel acclamation, Matthew 11.28: Come to  me, all you who labor and are burdened and I will give your rest, says the Lord. 
4. The Gospel reading from Matthew 5 was on the Sermon on the Mount, the beautiful Beatitudes.
5. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, I was greatly moved when the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper were recalled. 
6. These three Beatitudes made up the Communion antiphon: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 

    It's just so beautiful to be a saint for God!

To Know God Is . . .

to know your inner self.

Our Greatest Therapeutist

        Communion experience. God is the one to whom I can safely bare my inner self completely. I can go to him to empty any junk, trash, and filth in me, spill forth all my emotions and feelings, and get myself cleansed, healed, and revitalized. Accepting the fact that there is nothing I can possibly hide without his knowledge is greatly therapeutic. Shall we say that being totally honest with God is the best policy?

The Golden Rule

Jesus said all the following:

Matthew 6.14-15: "If you forgive others their transgressions, you heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do no forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions."       

Matthew 10.12-13: "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."

               

Luke 6.37: "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven."

Luke 6.38: "Give and gifts will be given to you . . . the measure with you measure will be in return be measured out to you."

Matthew 7.12: "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you." This pretty much sums things up with God taking part also. 

*Secret of Inner Peace

        Lesson from today's Gospel reading from Luke 14. Jesus went to dine at the home of a leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Indeed, before we invite someone to eat with us, we even consider if that person has ever invited us or if he has, how many times, how good the food was, etc. The same consideration is given when giving a gift. (This reminds me of the "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" saying.) Where is genuine generosity? What Jesus has taught is that we must do good from the heart and not for the sake of repayment. Love must be unconditional. To summarize it further: we must be completely selfless and do good for the sake of pleasing God alone. As a matter of fact, this is the secret of inner peace, when we exclude ourselves (our own egos) from the equation. 

Making Love Meaningful

        Loving others for love's sake may be meritorious, but only loving others for the sake of God who loves us makes it meaningful.

Joy of Perfection

        Communion joy. The grace we receive through the Holy Eucharist is sufficient to make us perfect. It is pure joy to be made as perfect as can be by God.

Our Biggest Pitfall

        Unfortunately, much of the world does not realize that if they do not humble themselves before God, they will never know the true God. Again, ego or pride is our biggest enemy, blinding our way to God. Beware.  

Known by God

        God knows everything about us. What about it? For me, if my God doesn't know everything about me, then he is unqualified to be my God. I rejoice that he does, so that he may know exactly how to help me with my needs and guide me to keep me on track, avoiding falling into Satan's traps. What a blessing! 

To Feel Free

        It took me a long time to see that feeling uneasy when I performed some task before others was because I was concerned about what others thought of me. Therefore, when we care only about what God thinks, we lose our self-consciousness. Aim to please God alone and we are set free.