Appreciation Through Loss

        We often don't appreciate something until after we lose it. Years ago, I left my wife in front of a hotel in Merida, Mexico, to check if there was any vacancy. Since I couldn't stop my car there for long, I told her I would drive around the block and back, not realizing that it's much easily said than done. It's also late evening and hard to look for street signs plus the fact that I did not read Spanish. Soon I went around and around and lost my way. To make a long story short, I found my way back almost an hour later. Of course, the overwhelming joy of finding my wife waiting out there made me appreciate her even more. Today's example. I enjoy the peace of the Lord until I commit a sin. It only needs to be a minor offense to make me lose my peace. This makes me treasure his peace even more.

Christ Speaking as God

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus laid down some conditions for discipleship. He said, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Everyone who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple." Was he mad and being irrational? Not if he spoke as God.

**Fundamental Focus for All Christians*

        In the older days, many youngsters attending Catholic schools experienced harsh treatment that would affect their whole life. Tragically, his had caused many to leave the Church. Of course, there were truly loving and understanding nuns and teachers too, but the "horror" stories you hear a lot more. I believe that the major cause was not knowing the Lord personally well enough, for you can know all the teachings of the Church, say all the prescribed prayers, be active in ministries and still remain a cold person. One other thing I see is that children can go through religious classes for years and lose their faith in college or later. Again, the focus of the classes might not have been proper. Once I suggested sharing personal spiritual experiences with the children and the person in charge of the program didn't seem to know what I was talking about. The goal of all programs and activities should be to bring the participants closer to Christ. Even Bible studies can become so focused on history and other peripheral facts that you feel you are taking an academic course. As for preparation for confirmation and other similar programs, the ceremonial aspect gets top attention, whereas the focus should be 99% on the Lord. The strength and vitality of the Church depends foremost upon how well her people know the Lord.

Most Beautiful & Pleasing to God!

        Communion thoughts. Jesus listens to us! He makes us see our sins; we ask him to take them away and we are clean. There is nothing more beautiful and pleasing to the Lord than a pure heart filled with his love.

Feeding on Jesus

        One of the Communion antiphons today was what Jesus said in John 6.57: Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. What struck me was that anyone who feeds on Jesus will have life. So how do we feed on Jesus? To me, to feed on Jesus is to depend upon him for everything, not just for spiritual sustenance and growth. To feed on the Lord successfully, we must become branches of his vine. That is, we become part of him, inseparably in union with him.   

**Fooling the Lord

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus tells the parable of the great feast. It illustrates the point that God invites many to dine in his kingdom, but one by one they excuse themselves, giving some reason for not being able to attend the feast. It is absolutely true that many are called, but few pay attention. If you turn Christ down for some reason, are you being truthful? If not, then you  are merely trying to fool the Lord, which only a fool would do.

Easily Overlooked Sin

         Here's today's Gospel reading from Luke 14:

         On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the 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."

         The clear lesson here is that when we are being kind to others, we should do it for the Lord's sake and not expect to receive repayment. This would be true charity. Do anything to get ourselves recognized or appreciated is a sin that is often easily overlooked.

Truth Prevailing

        Jesus said in John 8, "If you remain in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." My testimony is that when you get to know the Lord intimately, you just know that he is the truth because he reveals it to you "automatically."

All About Life

        To be deep in Christ is to have life, life eternal, for he is the source of all life and is our life.

Resting in Christ

        Matthew 11.28: Jesus says, Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. This is one of his well-known sayings familiar to many. I am quoting it now because his promise is true, for when I rest (let go) in him, he does the work for me and I experience rest (peace).

Action and Reaction

         Communion experience. Humble yourself before Christ to the max and he will exalt you to the max.        

*Always Merciful

        Witness the Christians who have lost their lives throughout history because of their faith. We get rejected by others often in this world for various reasons, but God who loves us will never reject us. When we reject him, we reject ourselves, but he remains open to us as long as we are still living on earth.

**God Alone

        Today's Gospel acclamation from Matthew 23: You have but one Father in heaven and one master, the Christ. Therefore, obey God alone in this life (and everything should turn out fine). In fact, we should live for him, die for him, serve him, glorify him, please him, and care only about what he thinks about us alone.

*No Longer Smart

        Smart persons tend to think that they know more than God. When that happens, they are no longer smart. 

*Division on Earth

        In Luke 12, Jesus says, Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.... This is reality as I notice that among all the families of my parish, few of them still have their grown-up children remaining faithful within the Church. If Christ were just a man, this wouldn't have mattered much. But since he is also God, the division makes all the difference, for it comes down to a clear separation between believers and nonbelievers. Believers must expect to be rejected, ridiculed, or accused in such a divided world. Nevertheless, they should continue rejoicing, for they are being persecuted on account of Christ.

*Letting God Initiate All Things

        Today's Communion antiphon, John 15.16: It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. It seems to me that when we pray for the conversion of someone, we should pray that God would chose that person. That is, we ask the Lord to initiate things. The dramatic conversion of St. Paul was a great example.

Heal All of Us, Lord!

        Communion experience. The Lord forgave all my sins and healed my wounds, but I thought of those I might have harmed in the past through my fault. So I asked the Lord to heal them as well, for this was important to me.

Christ My Guiding Light

        The world is so dark that Christ our light appears more beautiful than ever. I rejoice that I have him as my shining beacon.