Signs of Indwelling Holy Spirit

        How do you know that the Holy Spirit dwells in you? In the early days, I wasn't sure. I did not exactly expect to see a white dove or tongues of fire landing on me, but some tangible sign would surely help. Of course, you cannot see the Holy Spirit, for he works within your heart. Now I know that when you sense Christ's presence, hear him speaking to your heart, feel the urge to call on the Father, pity anyone who is suffering, can't help wanting to witness for the Lord, experience joy at the thought of God, yearn to be one with him, or . . . – all these are signs that you have the indwelling Spirit. This is the Jesus who promised that he would be with us till the end of the age.

**Disempowering Satan

        This is quite simple. Focus entirely upon God, letting him replace your ego fully with his humility, and you become invisible to Satan. Seeking to attain union with God will take care of all that and more. 

What I Admire About Jesus

        What impresses me about Christ is that even though he is God, he has zero ego, never boasted about his power, and always told straight the truth. We can be like that only with God's help. He is the Lord who never attempts to lord it over us.

*Choices of Living Our Life

        Broadly speaking, there are only two. First of all, life is never perfect, for things do not always go right for us. In fact, for some, life can be downright miserable. It is a no-brainer that we should want to live a most happy life forever after we die. Coming right down to it, we can either accept the offer of eternal life from Christ as he promised or turn him down and end up living the most miserable life apart from him for all eternity. It's a choice between "from bad to perfect" and "from bad to worst."

**Secret of Happiness

        Born with original sin, we can become self-centered and commit sins. On the other hand, we are capable of loving others too. There is another desire we are not always aware of: we want to feel happy. Deep down, there is an emptiness in life we want to fill, so we continually seek fun, pleasures, and security throughout our lifetime. But true happiness is never found this way until we know that we can be happy for all eternity. This is exactly why true Christians feel completely fulfilled and happy.

God Challenging Us

        At Mass this morning, as the priest raised the Holy Eucharist and proclaimed to the people: This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper. Of course, I had heard this thousands of times and it had always sounded fine because I accepted it. Today I heard the Lord challenging us whether we believe that Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world or not. Not thinking about it would be tantamount to rejecting the claim. So we are challenged to either accept it as true with all our heart or reject it resolutely as false. The Lord is never to be ignored. 

Follow the Prodigal Son

        The most beautiful and powerful parable of all the parables of Jesus has to be The Prodigal Son. Realize that we are all prodigal sons or daughters to some degree because we all need to turn to the Father, repent, and beg for his forgiveness. Follow the example of the prodigal son and we shall likewise discover the infinite love and mercy of God and arrive at a happy ending.

God to Be Imitated

        Communion experience. After receiving the Lord, the clear message I heard from him was "Be like me." Yes, we are to imitate the Lord, never play him.

*Sinking Reality

        Imagine everyone stuck in quicksand. How deep we have sunk depends upon the degree of our sinfulness. And Jesus our Savior can easily lift us out of the sand if only we will to listen to and follow his instructions. I could have imagined a less dire picture, but the reality of truth remains the same. 

*Shining Light of the World

        Jesus is the only shining beacon in our dark world because he is the supreme example of selfless love. He said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" and he did just that to show that we are his beloved. He has set the highest standard so that the world may not be lost. If you do not see this, you won't find hope anywhere else.        

Dangerous World

        Our world is dangerous because it is where we can lose our soul forever if we do not watch out carefully. If you love the way of the world, you've already fallen into its trap. In today's Gospel reading at Mass from John 15, Jesus said to his disciples, "If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you." So if the world loves you, watch out. But if it hates you on account of the name of Jesus, rejoice.

*How Christ Changes Us

        You encounter Christ, get to know him, decide to follow him, fall in love with him, abandon yourself to him to let him into your life, and now you belong to him completely. After experiencing freedom, peace, joy, and other amazing happenings, you know that you have tasted and possess the very best in the whole universe and there is nothing you lack. At this point, you learn that you have won the lottery for ten billion dollars, tax free too. And you are cool, looking and feeling just the same, for you already have the best.

*Perfect Obedience

        Be/do whatever God want you to be/do; your role, status, position and everything else are all irrelevant.

*In Tune With God

        In quiet solitude, it's easier for us to turn to God and sense his presence. But to be in tune with God, you need to be in a state of total abandonment in him, for a single disturbing thought coming from you, can block you from hearing his voice, thus stopping the flow of any grace coming your way. 

Only One Indispensable

        Communion experience. I live among a lot of trees and the weather can get very hot and dry in summertime. One common concern around here is forest fire. So it did go through my mind what I should grab if I ever had to evacuate this area in a hurry. I really wouldn't know. However, during Communion today, if I had to choose one person to hold onto, that person would be Christ without the slightest doubt. Again, Jesus makes it easy for me.

**Direct-to-God Advantage

        Going direct to Jesus is superior to learning about him through the writings of any human, with the exception of the Gospels, for when you approach the Lord direct, the Holy Spirit teaches you direct.  

***Shortcut to Loving God

        We are being told to love God, to love God, to love God; but it's hard to love him if you do not really know him that well yet. Once you know him well, you wouldn't need anyone to remind you anymore. So how do we get to know God well? Simple, we do what we can and have God do the rest. Which is: we surrender ourselves to him and let him reveal himself to us or accomplish whatever we desire of him. Super neat!

All About Union

        In today's Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." Basically, Jesus is taking about union with him, what he desires.