***Spiritual Journey With the Surprise***

        Achieving union with God is our greatest challenge, precisely because it make us saints. Actually, the hard part consists of just one sticky point: surrendering yourself to God. Here is how a fruitful spiritual journey progresses. You struggle along and eventually reach that sticky point. You stop, but you brave yourself and decide to go beyond it. Now God picks you up and carries you all the rest of the way! This is the big surprise.

Importance of Remaining in God

        In today's Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus talks about the vine and the branches. He said to his disciples, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned." Matthew 12.21 comes to my mind, in which Jesus says "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." Those who do not remain firmly in the Lord can easily be targeted by Satan. I have seen this happening time and again. My personal recommendation is to achieve union with God so that you and the Lord might remain in each other firmly. 

Evangelizing Ourselves First

        We must evangelize ourselves first before evangelizing others. It's always between God and us, never between others and us. And only God can convert our hearts. Our sole responsibility should be to evangelize ourselves, then we'll automatically be effective in attracting others to the Lord. Peace on earth starts with the evangelization of ourselves.

Indebted to God

        Communion experience. This is the Lord, my Savior, to whom I owe my existence and without whom I would not have life, let alone eternal life. 

*Awakening Time

        God has made his intention and how we can have eternal life absolutely clear to us. Are we willing to listen to him? Do we still pretend that we do not hear him?  

**God Does It Better

        When I thought that if I must give my own life so that the souls of those I love might be saved, I would do so. Then I realized that the Lord surely love them so much more than I, and I felt instantly relieved, knowing that he would take care of their souls. God always does better than we can in anything. 

***Let God Do It All!

        We fall short of loving God as much as we should, but focusing upon our sinfulness and asking ourselves how we can do better is not the way to go. To progress, we need to focus upon God's love, mercy, holiness, and greater power to inspire us to seek union with him. We can never become saints on our own. We become saints only when we let God do it all for us!  

***Jesus and the Father Are One

        Today's Gospel reading came from John 14. At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples, "From now on you do know my Father and have seen him. Whoever has seen me has seen he Father. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." You ask, "Where is God?" Find Jesus and you find him. Know Jesus and you know him. How you feel about Jesus is exactly how you feel about God the Father. God is completely within your grasp. In fact, attain union with him and he is all yours!

In the Light of Christ

        Today's entrance antiphon, 1 Peter 2.9: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. Indeed, once you've been called to know Christ, in his light everything becomes crystal clear (no more questions) and you are fully content.

Walking With the Holy Spirit

        In following the Holy Spirit, I have learned not to rush ahead of him. Today I see that lagging behind the Holy Spirit can even be worse. Seek union with God so you may always walk in lockstep with the Holy Spirit. 

Nothing to Say, Just Believe

        In today's Gospel reading from John 14: Jesus said to his disciples, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

         All I can say is that Jesus knew exactly what he's talking about. We'd better believe.

**What Preaching Needs

        Once I met someone promoting a certain product, telling how wonderful and useful it was. I asked him if he owned and used one himself. He admitted that he did not, but knew about the product well. Right there and then, he lost much of his credibility. This makes me realize that if we only tell others how great God is, but not mention how he has changed our lives in any way, we can't be very convincing. Giving personal testimonies is an effective way of backing up what you preach. To spread what God has done to and for you is to glorify God, something to boast about. Catholics can learn much from their Protestant brothers and sisters.   

**In the Light of Christ

        Communion experience. I feel I am basking in the light of Christ. In this light, I know that he knows all about me, and that he loves me, watches over me, and takes care of me. In this light, I feel good because I am completely content and comfortable with him. Basking in the light of your most beloved and enjoying him, there's nothing more I can ask for. 

***Union With God, the Breakthrough*

         The Church is a living church, but it needs to be on fire, especially in these dark days now. When the Catholic Charismatic Renewal originated in 1967, a flame started. Sadly, it never received the solid guidance and sustained support it needed from the Church, and after some decades it eventually died down. I see seeking union with God taking the Church to the next level, setting it aflame, God willing. It's in union with God that one comes to meet and know the Resurrected Lord, find out that he is alive, hear him speak directly to the heart, and fall deeply in love with him. May the Holy Spirit soften the hearts of all faithful to permit him to enkindle them.

**What Life Is All About*

        It is all about how much you let God be God. Vast many never give God a chance and a few like the greats saints open themselves up completely to God. Between these two extremes, the rest just remain stagnant or vacillate back and forth. Overall, not an exciting or pretty picture.       

**Secret to Becoming Free*

        By nature, we treasure ourselves more than all else. In this way, we become our own slaves. Therefore, if we can give ourselves totally to God, we become free! Then we become detached to everything else too. (Again, this is how God has made us.)         

**Man and God Connect

        Communion experience. It's the moment man and God connect. More than that, it's man and God become one. This verifies what Jesus said to his disciples before his Ascension: "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." 

**What We Most Need*

        What we most need is God's love! Since he is ready to give us that love, what we most need to do is to accept this love.