*To Be Perfect

        Today's alternate Communion antiphon, Matthew 19.21: If you would be perfect, go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and follow me, says the Lord to the young man who wished to gain eternal life. If we do not actually do as advised by the Lord, we should at least be detached from all material goods to the point that we would be willing to give them up if need be. Again, intention comes into play.

Pitiful Generation

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, the Pharisees watched closely to see if Jesus would cure a man with a withered hand on the sabbath so that they might accuse him. He asked them, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus restored the hand of the man. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death. The generation today is like the Pharisees. Their hearts are hardened to the point that they no longer listen to reason. They act as if they are the righteous ones knowing more than God. How foolish can you be?

Intention, Not Words

        Jesus healed so many who were sick and disabled. None of them who asked to be healed used too many words; they just said, "Have pity on me," "I want to see," or something like that. It shows me that intention and faith count, not how many words we use. It's so good that the Lords knows our intention right away (all along). 

**Who Is Jesus?*

        Our church is running the Alpha program. It consists of 11 sessions. Each session starts with a video presentation, followed by discussion in small groups. Today's second video presentation "Who Is Jesus?" is quite powerful. In fact, one participant commented afterwards that it hit him like a ton of bricks! If you are still not convinced about Jesus, watch this video to be challenged intellectually. 

  

Our Return to God on Earth

         Communion thought. Receiving the Holy Eucharist and attaining union with God is reaching an endpoint in life. It ends our return to God on earth.

Our Heart's Concerns

        In today's reading 1 from 1 Samuel 16, God sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to find the future king among his sons. The Lord told Samuel that while man judges from the appearance or lofty stature, he looks into the heart. While Samuel was impressed by the appearance of some of the seven sons present, the Lord did not chose any of them. Then Samuel had Jesse send for the youngest son, David, who was tending sheep. When he was brought to them, the Lord said to Samuel, "There – anoint him, for this is he!" Observations. First, God already knew whom to pick for what role. Secondly, God looked into the heart. Therefore, we must (1) trust in God's role for us and (2) make sure that our heart is presentable to him.

*What's Most Beautiful

        There are many beautiful sights to see and beautiful sounds to hear, but what's most beautiful is the love of God which can touch our innermost soul. 

***The God You Must Know***

       The love of God is crushing yet most sweet. And when you yield yourself totally to him, you experience the greatest possible freedom! This amazing God, the God of Christ, you must seek out, get to know, fall in love with, and hold onto forever!

No Room for Sins

      Communion experience. In receiving the Holy Eucharist, the Lord filled my soul to the full, dispelling all my sins. 

Good Enough to Know

        We do not understand many things well, the Lord God himself included, but it is good enough for us to know that the Lord God understands us and loves us.

God's Tireless Arms

        Here is another mental picture I see. God full of love has his arms tirelessly outstretched, waiting patiently for us to go to him to be embraced by him. Many of us couldn't care less and don't even glance his way. Again, it is us who resist or ignore God, the God of Christ. Do not blame Satan. For Satan is an opportunist and sees you as a target only when you make yourself noticeable to him. Let God embrace you and you become invisible to Satan. My advice: Run to God while you still can!

No Melancholy Christian

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 2, people came to Jesus and asked, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day." We now know that Christ is with us always until the end of the age (read the last verse of Matthew), and we realize this especially when we receive him in the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, as disciples of the Lord, we experience constant joy. Anyone who is melancholy cannot be possibly be a genuine disciple. 

*Perfect Justice

        Each one of us comes from a different background, receives an individual upbringing, and lives in a unique set of circumstances. When God, the only one who knows our soul, judges us, he takes all that into consideration and whatever we receive is exactly what we deserve. Therefore, his justice is perfect.

Life Is All About . . .

how much you play God.       

Serving God Joyfully

        Being aware that God has chosen you brings joy to serving him.

How To Change the World

        Someone I know suffers greatly in an unhappy marriage. The thing is you cannot make anyone live up to your expectations, as only God can fundamentally change a person. To make it happen, you must petition God, and before that, you must ask him to change yourself first if you wish to be taken seriously. The reason the world, the nations, the cities, the communities, and the families are in such chaos and disorder is because the interior of so many individuals is in chaos and disorder. Almost everyone nowadays is so busy judging and blaming others that hardly anyone bothers to examine his own conscience anymore. Here is another awakening we need to bring peace to the world.

**A Matter of Awakening

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 2, some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus heard this and said to them, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." I believe that all of us know that we are not perfect and holy, which means that we are sinners and need God's mercy to be saved by him. This becomes increasingly clear to me as I age. Unfortunately, most people live so much for this life that the need for salvation just doesn't occur to them until things go really badly or their life is under threat. Some awaken early and some later; still, others never do. I hope this message will help awakening those who are still asleep.

**Obedience to God First

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 1, Jesus healed a leper and said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleaning what Moses prescribed." The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report so much that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. Here is a case of emotion overriding obedience to the Lord. The other instance I recall appears in Matthew 16. After Jesus first revealed to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer greatly, and be killed and then be raised, Peter rebuked him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." Jesus turned to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." We human beings are so used to following our emotion and forgetting what God wants us to do. Self-directed emotion must be set aside to clear the way for total obedience to the Lord.