"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Monday, June 11, 2018

Setting Our Own Destiny

        Jesus and the Father are in each other. Jesus is the Son of God the Father, and they are one. You know Jesus and you know God. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, why do we dismiss Jesus because he came to us 2,000 years ago? Time does not alter the truth, since the truth remain true forever. Today as in the days of Christ, those who do not believe in him choose not to believe in him, not because he is not our Lord and Savior. By our choice, we set our own destiny. I wish I could say bon voyage to all.

Letting Faith Bring Us Peace

        When those in our family lose their faith in God, we feel the heavy burden on our hearts, compelling us to pray for them. If we have deep faith in God, we should realize that they are in God's hands; and therefore, we should detach ourselves from them and focus upon God alone. In Luke 1, Jesus sends 72 disciples in pairs to every town and place he intends to visit – to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand. Whatever town they enter that welcomes them, they are to eat and drink what's offered to them. Whatever town they enter that does not receive them, they are to leave and even shake off the dust that clings to their feet. This shows clearly that we are to do our part and leave the outcome to God. Remain meek and humble and trust that God will lighten our burden, and we'll find rest (Matthew 11.29).

Sunday, June 10, 2018

*God's Ways and Thoughts

          In today's Gospel reading from Mark 3, Jesus spoke to the big crowd that gathered around him. His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him and called him. But he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Looking around at those seated in a circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." That was a radical saying. It's the Lord revealing his ways and his thoughts. 

Saturday, June 9, 2018

**The Best Good News for Us

        There has been a number of suicides of well-known personalities in the news. How I wish I had the opportunity to let them know that God loved them so much that he had died for them so that they might live forever! This has to be the best possible news for all of us ever! One cannot truly appreciate and enjoy life until he knows Christ. 

Setting Our Final Destination

        June 7. An obituary usually gives a biographical sketch of the deceased. How many people learn how much about the deceased really doesn't make any difference to that departed soul anymore. What matters is whether that soul has gone to God or Not. Never forget that we have the power to chart our course after death before we die. 

We Were Created From Scratch

        June 5. Evolution and creation are separate things. It is my personal belief that we could not have evolved from some apelike creatures, since we are the only ones that were made in the image of God. The fact that we can conceive and get to know God is proof for me.

**To See the Splendor of God

        June 5. There are so many magnificent cathedrals, basilicas, and churches built all around the world that draw vast numbers of visitors to admire their history and architecture. But I dare say that there are not many who actually get drawn closer to God afterwards. People built churches to glorify God; unfortunately, they can take the limelight away from him. For those who want to see the splendor of God, you don't even need to go inside a church. Just go to the Lord directly to seek and desire union with him and he'll reveal all his glory to you in person. The focus should always be on the Lord inside or outside any church.

**What Jesus Provides

        June 3. What Christ provides us is absolute certainty in life. If you do not know him, you are simply lost.

**Most Perfect Gift

        June 3. It was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Gospel reading from Mark 14 tells how Jesus instructed his disciples to prepare for him to eat the Passover. It shows how the Lord could arrange things to happen as he had wished. At the Last Supper, he gave us the most perfect gift, his own Body and Blood, which can make us perfect. When I received Holy Communion, it was the most beautiful feeling to know that by giving in to his love, I become one with him. 

Feeling How God Feels

        June 2. Attended Vigil Mass at a beautiful church, Saints Peter and Paul. The Lord made me feel his great love for the poor. Of course, he loves every single one of us the same, but you feel his love more when you think about the poor, much like light becoming more prominent against darkness. Feeling how the Lord feels is a great joy!  

The Soul Needs Rest

        June 2. Yesterday I ate lunch at a food court packed with crowds and you could hear the noisy talking filling the whole place to the hilt. I knew all that would pass. Today I was resting in the pew of a magnificent basilica, experiencing quiet and peace. This would pass too, but the soul got refreshed.  

Worst Condition of the Soul

        May 31. I felt the intimacy of the Lord as if he's been etched in my very soul. And I had the image of the worst condition of the soul – a soul with sins tattooed all over it.

*Happy Ending Most Important

        May 31. If you have some solitude and time, it can be spiritual beneficial to review your own life as a movie. Acting as the film critic and judge, what do you think of your life? This would be a good time to correct your course if necessary to make sure that your story will end happily!  

Sad State Without God

        May 30. As I was traveling, I saw these quotations at one hostel: (1) Keep your seeker spirit alive. (2) Bring your curious self here. (3) Seek the weird, the cool, and the random. (4) Lose yourself, then find your way. And at one public library, a quote from the famous poet, T. S. Eliot: The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man. If these are the best quotes we can come up without involving God, then we are in a pretty sad state.

Blessed Are the Weak

        May 27. Know your weaknesses and thank God for them, for now you must depend upon him more (preferably entirely).

What Matters & What Doesn't

        This message came to me on the 26th of last month. What matters is what God thinks of you, which depends upon how you respond to his will. What does not matter is what others think of you. 

Loving God Alone

        This message came to me on the 24th of last month. Whatever you do to anyone affects God. Therefore, make sure that you do not offend God in whatever you do to others. Then if you love the Lord, you'll love others too. Therefore, love God alone.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

*Foolish Living

        If you are smart, you should realize that if you rebel against God, you will certainly lose in the end. Not believing in him or following his will is, of course, rebelling against him. But if you do acknowledge that God did create you, you are admitting that you belong to him. When you die, you simply return to him, for judgment this time. Then it would be extremely foolish for you to rebel against him during the brief period between your birth and your death. (Note: I shall not be able to blog for the next two and a half weeks, so please check back for new postings on June 10. May God bless each and every one of you abundantly!)