*Gracias a Cristo

        Without Christ, I wouldn't be existing. Now that I am here, without him I would be stuck in sin and have no life for all eternity. (Existing without life – what an unthinkable state!) I am most grateful to the Lord.

**Precious Time

        Psalm 84.10-11: O God, watch over our shield; look upon the face of your anointed. Better one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. Every second with Christ is most precious. If you know him well, your whole life becomes most precious from now on.

**Waiting for the Unknown

        I enjoy taking pictures with my mobile phone. The exiting part of it is not knowing what will catch my eye next. I mention this because living the spiritual life is like this. I am excited about what the Lord will speak to my heart next. Waiting for the unknown to happen is always exciting. In these cases, the unknown is always good, beautiful, and satisfying. 

Hurricane Lesson

        Right now, Hurricane Harvey has caused catastrophic floods in southeastern Texas. We do not know precisely why God allows such disasters to hit us, but the general message is clear – he is letting us know that we are at his mercy and must not sin against him or we'll have to take the consequences. This is not old-fashioned thinking. I merely see that everything that happens to us has a lesson or warning for us. Shall I say that I am just a believer in the Lord?

Delight or Woe

        Today is the memorial of St. Augustine. Response from Psalm 149: The Lord takes delight in his people. By contrast, in the Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus denunciates the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy by saying "Woe to you" repeatedly. Naturally, we want the Lord to take delight in us and not ever say woe to us. 

*Successful Living

        A half-filled glass can be seen as half-full or half-empty. You can see life as facing problem after problem with respites in between. No matter what your perception, the successful (triumphant) life is remaining in union with God and taking all the problems of life in stride together with him. 

Christ Our Source of Power

        Communion experience. I looked forward to receiving my Lord, for he is most awesome. I saw myself receiving his power to change myself, for he is the source of all power. The refrain of the closing hymn "Here I Am, Lord" at Mass was most appropriate: Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.

*Uniquely Wonderful Lord

        We are awed by the holiness of our God, yet because of his great love for us we have no fear in revealing everything in our inner heart to him. We are most blessed to have such a uniquely wonderful Lord.

*Greatest Obedience

          Jesus tells us that the greatest love is to lay down your life for your friends. This helps me to see that the greatest obedience is to lay down your old life for your Lord.  

Guidance From Above

        Yesterday I heard the story of how Dr. Ray Guarendi reverted back to his Catholic faith on EWTN. He is a practicing clinical psychologist, quite well-known nationally. After I heard him, I realized that there are so many people out there lacking inner peace because they do not know what to do in any unpleasant situation. It's like they hear different voices telling them to do different things at the same time. I felt somewhat that way in the past too when there was no clear moral guidance. Now I am so happy that one of the best things about knowing Christ is you know exactly what you should do in each situation. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit provide just one voice for you to follow. And when you follow, confusion flees and peace and freedom prevail in the heart. The Lord God will help anyone in a quandary if he will submit himself to his guidance. 

***Rejection Most Serious

        Jesus came into the world as the Son of God to die for us on the cross so that we sinners might be saved and enjoy eternal life. Therefore, to reject him is to reject God's love for us and to say that Christ had come and died absolutely for nothing, amounting to writing him off entirely! Is it too much to hope that those who do not accept the Lord will ask themselves what their true reasons are? Are they too cowardly to face God because of their sins? Whatever the reason, such rejection is total folly and will bring on serious consequences.

True Soul Food

        Communion experience. I received the Lord in the Holy Eucharist and he purified and healed my soul, readying it for heaven.         

Why Love Your Neighbor?

        Today's Gospel reading came from Matthew 22. Jesus gave the second great commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Why? Simply because God loves your neighbor as much as he loves you. Also, since we are all sinners, no one has the right to think that some of us deserve to be loved more and others less.

*Power of the Heart

        God does not care about how we look, how we dress, how we speak or even how we pray. He looks at our heart only to see how it receives him. Whoever has a heart that loves and yearns for him will find favor with him.    

Showing Your Love for God

        Communion experience. Submitting ourselves to God (letting him be our God) is one way of showing our greatest love for him.

No Duplicity for God

        When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Of course, the Lord knows each one of us thoroughly and is pleased with those who have no duplicity. To have no duplicity is to be genuine and honest always – no longer presenting ourselves differently to different people in order to gain recognition, earn approval, or to benefit ourselves in some other way. What people see is what we are. A synonym for "duplicity" is "hypocrisy." Know that duplicity invariably robs us of our inner peace. 

Know When You Are Chosen

        Today is the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle. The Gospel was read from John 1. Philip already knew that Jesus was the one about whom Moses and the prophets wrote. He took Nathaniel to see Jesus and Nathaniel too recognized that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Israel. If you also realize that Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior, know that God has chosen you! Therefore, rejoice.

Enlivening Our Spiritual Life

        God always hears us, but if our faith is weak, he cannot perform miracles for us. If we put all our trust in him, then we hear him also and wonderful things start to happen. For our spiritual life to come alive, mutual trust must be present and it's up to us to supply the missing part.