*Smart Tactic

        We all enjoy being appreciated and loved by others, then why not redirect this desire to letting God appreciate and love you? God is ever ready; you only need to allow him to do it. Other people can only inflate your ego, but when God does it, he humbles and exalts you at the same time and your heart will rejoice.

***True Humility

        Humility is measured by how much you are willing to let God change you! You are humble when you are ready to let God do whatever he wants with you.

**Some Signs of Ego Presence

1. We get unhappy when things don't go the way we want. 

2. We notice only what we do not have, but don't appreciate what we already have. 

3. We go over in our mind what we have said or done before others, concerned about our own image. 

Only by immersing ourselves in God can we let go of our ego. Therefore, be wide open to God to let him enter to displace your ego.

*Foregone Conclusions

        If you fight God by rebelling against him, you will lose everything, you soul included, at the end. On the other hand, if you love him as your Father by obeying his every will, you shall inherit his kingdom in heaven.  

Something to Beware

        We do not know the day of our departure from earth, but it is marked on God's calendar. Beware of this so that we may live our life right and please the Lord.

**Jesus Most Personal!

        The Lord who has died for us to redeem us knows all about us and we are to face him alone to account for how we have lived our life on earth and he is to determine our fate for all eternity.

**How to Gain God*

         Simple! Humbly surrender yourself to him and he is yours.         

**Most Beautiful Win-Win Deal

        You let God into your life and he's happy to let you have all the spiritual support you need, freedom, peace, joy, and eternal life to boot. 

Most Appropriate Short Prayer

        Communion experience. I felt that the shortest, most appropriate general prayer to God for us was "Lord, have mercy." It shows that we acknowledge that we are completely at his mercy and are willing to submit ourselves to him. 

To Be Heaven-Ready

        If we love God, we'll get to heaven. Another way of looking at it: we love God to get heaven-ready. Many people today do not feel good because they do not know that they can be heaven-ready. I am letting all know here and now that all you need to do is to love and follow Christ to get heaven-ready and feel good.

On Judging Others

        God does not judge us until we have lived our life fully; that is, the door to our salvation is always open as long as we are alive on earth. If we are highly critical of anyone still living without mercy, we sin against God who has commanded us not to judge others. [Note. Judging involves forming an opinion, but forming an opinion may not be judging. It becomes judging only when we form our opinion without love or pity.]

**No Self-Concern In God

        Communion experience. When you are in God, you are invisible to Satan, for the Lord completely envelops you with humility. When you are in him, you also have no concern about his judgment, for you are one with him.

Exploring God

        God is infinite love. It is the infiniteness and boundlessness of God in every way that makes him exciting to explore, if you are at all adventurous.

Turning Around With Jesus

         Is life worth living? If your answer is no, you do not know Christ yet. Once you know him well, the answer would be a resounding yes. Just as the Resurrection of Christ brought new hope to his followers and new life to the church, knowing Christ rejuvenates his believers and makes their life meaningful and worth living.

*Getting to Know God Important

        Most people believe that God exists, but they do not know who he is. Christians believe that Jesus is God, but they may not know him well. To be sure, it's how well you know the Lord that matters. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus likened the Kingdom of heaven to a treasure buried in a field or a pearl of great price. Once you find it, you would want to sell all that you have and buy that field or pearl. If you truly believe in Christ, you would want to go all out to get to know him. There will always be things you don't get to do or complete in life, but do be sure that you get to know Christ as intimately as possible before you die. 

**Going All Out for God

        Once you find the most precious treasure, you want to have it all. Therefore, once you find God, you want to go all out for him, leading you to seek union with him. This is what makes living for God most exciting!

Letting God In!

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 15.16: It was not you who chose me but I who chose you and appointed you to gather fruit, fruit that will last. When Jesus chooses us, he call us. If we are to hear him, we must remain open to him. How can you let the sunshine and fresh air in if you do not draw the curtains and open the window? Putting it bluntly, to shut the Lord out is to commit spiritual suicide.

*Serious Choices Awaiting

        From Jesus' explanation of the parable of the weeds to his disciples in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, it was clear that hell exists and would not be empty. That was somewhat chilling, but it's a good wakeup call for all. Good seed and weeds, children of the Kingdom and children of the Evil One, evildoers and the righteous, being thrown into the fiery furnace or shining like the sun in the Kingdom of the Father . . . these were all mentioned, helping us to make the right choices while we still have time.