**What Love Is

        Communion experience. Love is being one with God.

Our First Duty Is . . .

to submit ourselves completely to God, especially if you consider yourself to be a Christian, or we will not have peace in the world nor in our heart. There is no following the Lord, if you do not follow him completely and unconditionally.      

**God to Be Trusted

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus was moved with great pity for the great crowd that had been with him for three days and had nothing to eat. He was concerned that if he sends them away hungry to their homes, they would collapse on the way. So he took the seven loaves of bread and a few fish which his disciples had, said the blessing, multiplied them and ordered his disciples to distribute them to the crowd. I also recall that after Jesus heard that Lazarus whom he loved was ill, he still remained for two days in the place where he was before setting out for the village of Lazarus. When he arrived, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. And the Lord raised him from the dead so that all might see the glory of God and believe.  

         God always knows what to do and does test us constantly, while we always wish for instant results. Complete trust in the Lord is necessary. If God cannot be completed trusted, he couldn't have been God in the first place. If we were all sinless, we would be living in a perfect, predictably ordered world. Sinning throws things out of kilter so that the Lord has to deal with the chaos we have created as he sees fit without changing the goal of his overall plan. Because of this, we get confused about why things should happen this way or that way. Therefore, be holy, trust with patience, and do not question to the very end.  

*Only God Can Change Us

        We have little power to change ourselves fundamentally, that is, to change our heart. We can be determined and resolve to change, then we slip once and are back to where we were. Say there is someone who gets stressed out all the time and you advise him not to let anything bother him, even suggesting that he abandon himself in God. It's good advice, but if the person does listen, nothing will happen. I advocate seeking union with God, precisely because this is the way to let God into your heart to let him change your heart inside out. This is how you become a new work of God.

**Stunning Intimacy**

        Communion experience. In Matthew 9, the woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel on his cloak, saying to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." And she was cured. Surely, receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist is a thousand times more intimate than touching his cloak. Overwhelmed, I was speechless and could only exclaim in my heart "My Lord and my God!"

*Mind Takeover?

        The mind always follows the heart. But there are times when you are strongly tempted to do something that you know is sinful, and you feel as if the mind has taken control of the heart – the truth is that you've started out with a weak heart, for a strong heart could or would have prevented all these thoughts from occurring. Therefore, let the Holy Spirit keep your heart pure and strong, and leave your mind alone. 

Facing Death

        When you are young, death is a rather remote thought and that is understandable. But what about when you are already old? The common thinking is that since you do not have much time left, you'd better do all the enjoyable things, such as traveling, while you can. There is a point here, but it's still avoiding facing death squarely. Perhaps you already have faith in God and do not worry about death anymore – that's fine. But if you do not know what's going to happen to you after death and try not to think about it, that is not good. The best course of action is to always serve God first before serving yourself, no matter what age you are at, and soon you will have the most enjoyable time of your existence. 

*Whole Story of Humanity***

        God pleadingly wants us to go his way and we stubbornly want to go our way. In others words, we choose to rebel rather than obey. Let those of us who have chosen to follow the Lord do their best to help him make the ending less bitter and as sweet as possible!

Thoughts On Judging

        As we are all sinners, no one is "qualified" to judge others. It is ironic that a holy person should shy away from judging anyone, while a grave sinner readily judges everyone. Shall not we say that not judging others is a sign of holiness? Jesus tells me not to judge, period. For we have only one judge, the Lord God.

Be Ready for Appearing Before God

        In watching the news a little bit this morning, I saw some of the high-and-mighty politicians speaking for their own agenda, perhaps sincerely or perhaps for political gain. When they appear one day before the Lord, they will realize then that they are completely at his mercy. The best policy for us is to remain humble and be prepared for our day of appearance before the Lord.

*Moving God's Will

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, a Greek woman begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. Jesus tested her by saying to her, "Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She replied and said to him, "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps." Then he said to her, "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter." When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. We see and learn here that when the Lords wills something, it is done, and that faith can move God's will!

**God All-Knowing

        You can conjure up many gods, but there can be only one true God and he is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Lord God knows everything about us, his handiwork. If you do not know him, but mean to pray to him, he knows it. If you're misguided and have a false image of him but still mean to seek him, he knows that too. In other words, as long as you believe that there is only one true God and wish to know him, he will reveal himself to you. The Lord knows us before we were born. He sees what's in our hearts and understands us more than we can ourselves. It's such a blessing that we have an all-knowing God, which means that we are well looked after by him. 

Be Ruthless to Sin

        Realizing that you have sinned is good, but to not sin again is so much better. In fact, that should be your goal. Therefore, be absolutely ruthless to sin and become a saint. 

How to Live for God Effectively

        Get out of the way of the Lord, which means that ego must be absent, completely. 

God Our Liberator

        We on our own are easily shackled by all the material things of the world – a simple fact. The God of Christ is the only one who can shatter all our shackles and liberate us into eternal freedom – a simple truth. Submit yourself to God to make it happen – a simple act of will.

Cleaning the Heart 1st

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus said to the crowd, "Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile." Jesus used such examples as evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly. These all come from the unclean heart. The first order of business of loving God is to let him purify your heart and keep it clean. Then you'll be ready to love your neighbors as God loves us, for he is all pure and holy.

God's Will Satisfies

        Matthew 5.6, one of the Beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall have their fill. This tells me that if whatever you want is what God wants, then you shall have it. Therefore, follow God's will and you will be satisfied. 

Why Not Talk to God More?

        Most people love to talk. The moment Mass is over, you hear the buzz of conversations. Since the Lord God is supposed to be the most intimate one of all to us, it seems logical that we should talk to him more that to anyone else. Of course, with God, we can easily talk to him in thoughts, for he knows all our mind as well as our heart.