*God's Unsurpassable Gifts

        Communion experience. These are the three unsurpassable, most personal gifts of Christ: freedom, peace, and joy. They are beautiful and precious beyond words.

*It-Is-the-Lord Moment

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 24, the Risen Lord appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem. He walked with them and conversed with them, even interpreting the Scriptures to them. Arriving at Emmaus, he agreed to stay with them. The whole time the two were prevented from recognizing him. Then when he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Every time we witness the breaking of the Bread at Mass, we have this it's-the-Lord moment. The apostle John recognized that it was the Lord about a hundred yards away from him at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21). It certainly is a blessed, joyous moment every Christian should experience. 

*In the Name of Jesus*

        In today's first reading from Acts 3, Peter cured a crippled beggar in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean. I believe that if we consciously do everything in the name of Jesus, we'll be walking with the Lord and make great spiritual progress.  

***Following Your Heart to Home

        Why some Christians do not feel anything about God, while others have their hearts set on fire by the Holy Spirit? It all has to do with how much you let God have your heart. When you give your heart completely to the Father, you belong to him and you are home!

Life After Death?

        Do we have life after death? If there were no God, it would be impossible for us to know. In fact, we might not even come up with this question, if God hadn't created us in his image. It is through spiritual experiences that we come to realize that there must be life after death, that life is worth living, and that God has made us this way. Witness the Resurrection of Christ! The atheists would disagree with me because they simply block out anything spiritual. Those who remain open to God can confirm without a doubt that there is life after death because God has made them see.   

Most Sweet Feeling

        Communion experience. That the Lord pities me and is merciful to me was a most sweet feeling. He forgives my sins and makes me clean – how can you possibly not love him or live without him?

Rejoicing in Order!

        In today's Gospel reading from John 20, the Risen Christ appeared to Mary of Magdala. After she recognized that it was the Lord, he said to her, "Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." These words reveal that Christ is our brother, and he and we share the same Father and the same God – awesome news that should make our hearts leap for joy!

*Following Christ Has been . . .

a journey that's continuously exciting and satisfying, with absolutely the very best yet to come at the end! 

*Bonus Benefit

        On top of having revealed the good news of salvation to us, the Lord God also sets the mind of anyone who truly believes in him at ease amidst this tumultuous, sinful world of unrest and disorder we live in. 

***Spiritual Foot-dragging*

        Do you realize that not wishing to face Christ, not wanting to consider surrendering to him, and not being interested in seeking union with him are all forms of keeping the Lord at a distance? Do you also realize that the Father is patiently waiting for you to run toward him to be embraced by him!

Conquerors of Death

        Romans 6.9: today's Communion antiphon: We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. Following Christ, we Christians also die just once and live on forever. Hallelujah! 

Fools Abound

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 28, we heard read that after the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.'" Some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.' And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you our of trouble." 

           Instead of showing any interest in finding out exactly what had happened to Jesus, the chief priests and the elders were solely concerned about saving their own neck. They are being extremely foolish. Today news media spread fake news instead of reporting truth, and liars propagate falsehood on social media. As long as we have sinners, fools will abound.   

***God Working for Us!

        I've mentioned numerous times that when you are in union with God, he does all the hard work for you, and this is a huge advantage that makes your life exciting. Specifically, let him love all others through you for you. Essentially, if you obey the Lord, he honors your wishes. Thus, union is the greatest possible relationship with God our Father.

*Praising the Resurrected Christ*

        Christ is risen! Happy Easter to all! Without the Resurrection, we wouldn't be here today to pay much attention to him, let alone eagerly want to tell others about him. Honestly, Christ has absolutely made my life exciting and worth living. Without him, I'd rather die and become nothing. But this is not possible anymore, for I now belong to him forever! He is our Savior, the Savior for every one of us if you'll just let him. A simply yes from your heart will start your journey to heaven. Choose to trust and follow Christ; let him lead you every step of the way and you don't ever need to use your free will again. The more you abandon yourself to him, the smoother your journey becomes. He is our freedom, our peace, and our joy! 

The Entire Human History

        Here are the various stages. (1) God created Adam and Eve. (2) Adam and Eve disobeyed God, committing the original sin. (3) We inherited the original sin. (4) God the Father out of love sent his only Son Jesus into the world to let all know how they can have eternal life. (5) Some believe in this good news and others don't, with many in-between believing to various degrees. (6) Jesus alone who knows the heart will come again to judge and take us to heaven or leave us behind. 

          We are at stage 5 now.         

**Greatest Truth*

        Today is Good Friday. It was on this day that Jesus completed his mission on earth, to save us from sin. And the Resurrection that followed sealed our joy! This is the greatest truth relevant to our eternal existence, but how many of us realize it and take it seriously? This is the perfect day to meditate upon the Passion of Christ and thank the Lord for his love and mercy from our soul, and eternal salvation is assured.

**Of Critical Importance*

        God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not neglect to read and meditate upon the four Gospels. Examine the Lord closely and be amazed by everything about him. Dismissing him as merely someone who were on our earth briefly some 2,000 years ago would be a huge mistake! Assume that he is God and Savior and you'll see everything about him fitting beautifully together. This posting is prompted by my personal experience after participating in a small group discussion at my church. We look ahead at the readings for the Mass of the following Sunday. Believe me, knowing Christ truly makes the life-and-death difference to our life!

*Holiness Through Obedience

        It is easy to do what you feel like doing, especially when you see that there will be no harm done to anyone. But the Lord made me see that this is not good enough, that we need to do what he wants us to do. To follow our own is like giving in to temptation, while following the Lord is to be obedient. The fruit of obedience is holiness. Witness Jesus who was obedient even to death on a cross, and God the Father greatly exalted him. Last, being obedient becomes easy and joyous when you are one with the Lord, for now he empowers you in all that you do.