Lenten Message

        Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." To deny ourselves involves drinking every cup that comes our way. When we can deny ourselves fully, we are ready to accept God fully and follow him.

God to Be Enjoyed

        Communion thoughts on this Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord is to be thoroughly enjoyed by us. To fully enjoy him, you must get to know him well and learn to trust in him with all your heart, knowing that he will always love you and never impose anything you are not willing to bear on you nor harm your soul. Then you can enjoy him fully in peace.  

*How Free Your Soul?

        It is safe to say that a soul who is not willing to leave this world will have more difficulty getting into heaven, while one who longs to go to God will have little trouble accomplishing it.

*Top-Priority Settling

        In Matthew 6, Jesus taught: "Do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." Do you know that if you seek the kingdom of God first and get your eternal destiny settled, all such worries will vanish? It is settling one "worry" to kill all other worries. 

**Living Up to God's vision

        When we try to live up to our vision of ourselves, we invariably fail and get discouraged. Do you know that it is much easier for us to live up to God's vision of us? This is because when we desire the latter, the Lord takes over and makes us easily measure up to his vision of us.

Heart Makes the Difference

        As God speaks to our hearts, anyone with a hardened heart does not hear his voice. On the other hand, anyone with a completely pliable heart is eager to hear the Lord speak, letting him mold him into whatever shape for his great joy.

Joy of Being Home

        Communion experience. I was in my Father's house. There was no returning home, so there was no great celebration. Nevertheless, the joy of being home persisted.

**On Having God or Not

        Without Christ, it's not just you miss a little something – you miss everything, including your own life. Not accepting him is equivalent to throwing all you have, yourself included, into the garbage bin. I may sound extreme, but God is to be had all, not discarded one iota. With God, it is all or nothing. A God who does not "demand" this is unworthy of our respect.

*A Great Joy

        Today from Luke 15, we heard the Parable of the Prodigal Son again. I and many others agree that this has to be the most beautiful, moving parable of all the Gospels – it reveals the love and mercy of our Father for us – it is what Christianity is all about. When anyone who has strayed away and decides to return to the Father, the whole heaven rejoices. One whom the Father loves with an infinite love is now home safe ~ how could the Father not feel an infinite joy? For us on earth, there is also no greater joy than that of reuniting with our Father. How I pray and wish that all those who have strayed away from him know this!

*Whom to Live For?

        (1) We can live for ourselves. This should be instinctual, a no-brainer goal. But we'll never find inner peace in living self-centeredly.

       (2) We can live for another human being. This seems unnatural – why should the other person be elevated more than ourselves? This happens when we are mislead into believing that the other person is superior in some way.    

     (3) Then we can live for Christ, an extraordinary man who is also God. In following him, we are set free! We realize that he's the missing piece we'd needed all along. Now our life is fulfilled and complete, with absolutely the best part still to come. 

On Sinning

        A nonbeliever of God may have a better excuse for committing a sin than one who is known to be a believer. A believer who commits a sin, thinking that he is OK, commits a double sin. Even if you are heaven bound, every sin committed can only lengthen your time in purgatory. 

For Rapid Spiritual Progress

        God calls us in everything that happens to us. Let him draw us closer to him via every one of our experiences.  

*Letting God Astonish Us

        On this St. Patrick Day, the Gospel reading was taken from Luke 5 on how Jesus called Peter to become a fisher of men. First, Simon Peter and his partners, all fishermen, had worked hard all night and caught no fish. Jesus asked Simon to put out into deep water and lower their nets, and over their unbelief they caught so many fish that their nets were tearing and the catch filled two boats to the point that they were in danger of sinking. Astonishment seized all, and Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." Letting God astonish us does us good, for we then realize that we are mere mortals compared to the everlasting Lord. A life lived in Christ is full of surprises if you believe that he has a hand in everything that happens to us. Furthermore, not knowing when the next surprise will be is going to add even more excitement to life.

Reality of Evil

        Today's Entrance comes from Psalm 31: In you, O Lord, I put my trust, let me never be put to shame, release me from the snare they have hidden for me, for you indeed are my refuge. It's the same story today ~ always someone trying to snare you, to put you to shame. Evil exists and is real! The blessing that comes out of this is we are made aware that we need God's help. 

*Soul's Beautiful Possession

        Faith is believing in something not yet visible. Believing that the sun rises every morning is no faith – it's kinda like loving someone who loves you does not really prove that you love your neighbor as yourself. Faith in God is believing that he loves you and has done the work of salvation for you. The sun may not rise tomorrow, but you can keep your faith in the loving God rock solid, unwavering. You know that God has given you the free will. By choosing to believe in him, your faith comes alive and meaningful. Now, your faith is the most beautiful possession of your soul.

**Ultimate Disbeliever

        The Lord only gave me this thought this morning, but it's a fitting final thought for the day. At Mass we heard the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus read from Luke 16. After Lazarus the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and went to the netherworld, where he suffered torment in flames. He saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out to Abraham, begging him to send Lazarus to his father's house to warn his five brothers lest they too should come the place of torment. Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them. If they will not, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead." Now, Jesus, the Son of God who is God and greater than Moses and all the prophets had already come to us himself. If you do not listen to him, you've got to be the ultimate disbeliever.

Lingering No More

        Communion experience. I was ready to go to Jesus since my existence in this world has been justified and fulfilled.

Jesus Speaking As God

        Today's Gospel reading at Mass came from Matthew 20. Jesus said to his disciples, "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Imagine any other human being saying that he is going to give his life as a ransom for many – that person would have to be either not understanding what he meant or out of his mind. Here I see Jesus speaking as God and our Savior. His later Resurrection is plenty sufficient to back him up on all he had ever said.