Our Hope Is Here!

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Levi, a tax collector gave a banquet for Jesus in his house, a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained about Jesus' eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus said to them, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners." We are all sinners, so Jesus has come to call you and me. That means that our hope is here! Let us prepare a banquet in our heart to welcome Jesus, our Savior.

Know When to Turn to Christ

        If you are not with Christ yet, but at the same time you cannot tell him that he is a total fake and dismiss him from your mind altogether, the Lord is still calling and waiting for you. It's time to turn to him to start your new life with him that will lead you to eternal happiness.

Best Free-Will Offering!

        Communion experience. As I joined the queue to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I readied myself to offer him both my heart and my soul to him. 

Ultimate Relationship With God

        Union with God is the most intimate relationship you can possibly have with the Lord, for in union you and he become one, and you get to know him most intimately. 

Power of God's Holiness

        Know that the Lord is holy and let his awesome holiness dispel all the impurities from you.

Living for Christ Is All About . . .

letting the Lord condition your heart, pointing to seeking union with him.

Living With Joy

        This is today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9: The disciples of John approached Jesus said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." My thoughts are that now we have the Lord with us always, we should rejoice at all times. For those in union with the Lord, he even dwells within them happily. Indeed, Christian life is permeated with Christ our pure joy.

How to Hear the Lord

        To hear the Lord speaking to you, make sure that your heart is unruffled, content in him, and desirous of hearing his voice, for a disturbed heart with even minute intruding sinful thoughts can block your hearing.

***It's the Lord Speaking

        Today's Gospel reading consists of just three verses from Luke 9: Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?" 

        The Lord here spoke definitively as God. He knew exactly what he was going to happen to him, laid down the precise conditions of discipleship for us to save ourselves, and asked the most poignant question that should make us realize that there is life after death. Listen to him.

Amazing Lord

        Communion experience. Christ died for all, so he belongs to all . He died for me too, so he is also mine alone. He is the only being we can all belong to, possess, love, and easily share with others and rejoice together in. A most amazing Lord.

Ash Wednesday Joy

        As I walked up the aisle to receive ashes to be placed on my head, I was deeply moved, realizing that I was made by the Lord, belong to him, and am on my way returning to him. 

To Be Rewarded Openly or in Secret

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 6, Jesus teaches about almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. He let it be known that if we perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them, we have received our reward. But if we do them all in secret, the Father who sees them in secret will repay us. It shows again that any reward a hypocrite receives is short-lived and that our ego is our great enemy.

Lenten Giving

        This is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The Lord invites you to give all of yourself to him, for he loves you so much that he wants all of you to himself. During this season we are supposed to fast, be penitent, and give up things to which we are attached in preparation for Easter, so why not give all of yourself to him? 

*Seeking a Sign

        Today's short Gospel reading from Mark 8: The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus, seek from him a sign from heaven to test him. He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Then he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore. Today's unbelievers also wish to see a sign before they would believe, so they say. I say that if they do not already believe that Jesus had healed the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the lepers, cast demons out of the possessed, raised the dead, and performed so many other miracles, including the biggest one of them all, his own Resurrection, then they are not going to believe in him even if he shows up today to do another miracle. Remember that when the great 1917 miracle of the sun took place in Fatima before tens of thousands of people, critics still tried to explain it away, saying that it must be mass hallucination or something. Once the heart has hardened, it becomes a tough nut to crack. The next time you see the Lord doing a sign in person will be at his Second Coming, then it'll be too late for us to believe in him, even if we want to.

Reflecting on My Blog

        This blog began in 2009, but it's not until late 2010 that it started to take off, and the Lord made it clear to me that through his messages, he wishes to draw all to union with him via receiving the Holy Eucharist. This has continued on for over seven and a half years. It is clear that not everyone is receptive to this message. In fact, it creates a disconnect in many cases, for union with God is too far from what they would consider. I have personally met people who told me that they did know what I was talking about and others who, seemingly content in their faith, expressed no interest in furthering their spiritual growth. On the other hand, from the small number of comments I'd received, these messages did impact these readers. The number of pageviews and followers are also indications of how popular the blog is. But to go viral is never the objective, for we are called to fight spiritual battles, to tread on rough roads if need be. As always, we merely do what we are assigned to do by the Lord and trust that he will take care of the rest. 

**Mutual Waiting

        Death waits for us, but it does not wait for us to be ready, so we must be ready now and wait for its coming. For those who belong to Christ, it would be the Lord waiting for them and them waiting to meet him in person.

Appreciating God

        I am happy today because I realize that we all sin and our God knows that. Should he be absent, we would spin out of control and evil would rule the world. I am also happy that the Lord is all holy, setting the example for us to follow. Otherwise, we would have no guide to show us the way. He is everything we need, our indispensable salvation!

*God My Janitor

        Today I feel that the Lord not only cleanses, but also unclutters my heart. He casts out all the litter and rubbish and puts the rest in order. An uncluttered heart is a heart that enjoys peace.