*Melting Experience

        Communion experience. As Christ melted in my mouth, My spirit started to melt in him. It's a melting-into-each-other experience. Holy Communion is all about union.

**Special Class of Sinners*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus again brought up final judgment in explaining the parable of the weeds to his disciples. He said, at that time his angels will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers and throw them into the fiery furnace. Note that the Lord actually mentioned those who cause others to sin and those who just sin in general. I have blogged in the past that anyone whose sin causes others to sin commits a graver sin than one whose sin is known only to him and God. Therefore, we must be a good example to our children, relatives, friends, colleagues, boss at work, et al. Cease sinning and we'll not have to be concerned about this. Again, I advocate seeking union with God, for he is the one who can make us perfect.

*Amazing Lord

        Today is the Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The entrance antiphon from the 2nd letter of St. Paul to the Philippians reads: At the name of Jesus, every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This came from one who once notoriously persecuted Christians, and the Lord called and converted him. What is most amazing to me is that Jesus conquers and reigns in our hearts by sheer love alone!

***Most Urgent Reminder!

      At this hour, there are 16 wildfires burning across California. I live in Central California. Yesterday I already noticed that the sunlight that came through the window of my living room appeared extra warm against the light-colored tiled floor, right off reminding me of flames. It looked somewhat eerie. And I thought of the fires of hell, which had to be more terrifying than eerie. The attacks we face from Satan and his followers in this world are nothing compared the eternal punishment the evildoers will suffer in hell. There will be final judgment, so I wish to wake everyone up: turn and latch onto Christ before it's too late, for eternal punishment is so horrible that you must avoid at any cost. Remember that if you risk your soul for Christ, you soul shall be saved!  

*Belonging to Jesus

        Communion experience. John 15.16: It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Jesus has chosen me, captivated me, captured me, and made me his.

**Facing Death

        We all die one day and we feel differently about death. Those who know they are in grave sin may face the greatest fear. Again, they could turn to God in their last moment and be saved. Therefore, dying suddenly or in sleep is not necessarily a blessing, for you are robbed of the chance to repent. Some people do not know what's going to happen after death and are more or less resigned to entering the unknown – this can be a very uneasy experience. Anyway, the best way to leave this world is to let Christ into your life as much as possible to the point that you become one with him. In deep love with the Lord, you long to be with him forever, thus banishing all fear of death. Death now is the gateway to total fulfillment and contentment.   

**Prophecies Meant for Us

        In today's reading from Matthew13, Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world. In the time of the Old Testament, I am sure that all the prophecies about the coming Messiah couldn't have impacted the people much, for they have not yet been fulfilled. The prophecies mean so much more to us now that we are able to see how Jesus' had come and fulfilled them all. (You can easily find dozens of prophecies fulfilled by Jesus concerning his coming and in his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.) Time to believe!

**A Sin Is a Sin

        We cannot say to God that we are a little bad now, but we are really good at other times, for the good doesn't cancel the bad. All our sins need to be absolved by God. Being more good than bad won't get us anywhere. Getting the Lord to forgive all our sins is the only way out.

Dream Realization

        I see wild, enthusiastic audiences at popular music festivals completely letting themselves go under the spell of the performers and/or music. The Woodstock Festival of 1969 amazingly attracted an audience of more than 400,000 and many attendees lost all their inhibitions by going naked and using drugs freely. My thought is how beautiful it would be if we can all abandon ourselves completely in the Lord God instead! That would indeed turn earth into heaven. 

*Alternative Viewpoint

        You may see yourself living in freedom on your own without God; but in fact, you are only living in a prison built by you to keep God out.

Alternative View

        If you do not believe in Jesus, rather than questioning yourself why you should believe in him, look into why you shouldn't believe in him, and you may realize that he is to be accepted, followed, worshipped, and loved with all your heart and all your soul.  

*Urgent Call to Arms

        Beyond just believing in the Lord, we must realize that we are to fight to win the spiritual warfare in which he is engaged. To be a good soldier, we cannot afford to remain complacent. The least we could do is to pray hard for ourselves and our enemies. To love the Lord with all our heart is to fight for him with all our spirit.

***Our Inside Track

        Everything we do God knows and therefore affects him. Whatever we do, whether we know it or not, is either for or against him. If we are not being honest with someone, we are not being honest with God, period. If we love someone, God feels loved by us, period. This is beautiful, for it makes living our life meaningful – we actually have the inside track in shaping our own life and our future the way we like! Once again, it's time to rejoice in the Lord.

God Offering His Love

        Communion time thought. When Jesus was ready to enter me, he was ready to offer me his most tender, humble love. 

*A U-Turn We Must Make

        As sinners, the big turning around we must make is to repent of our sins to God to get them removed so that we might be saved. Otherwise, we would remain lost forever. This is completely logical, almost common sense. I am bringing it up to remind everyone, for sin has made us forget that we shall face its consequences if we do not do anything about it now.

**Our First and Last

        Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. For us, he is all that. And he should be our first an last resort too, as he is our only true refuge.

Be Rich Soil for God's Word

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus explains the parable of the sower – the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word of the kingdom and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. How much we bear fruit for the Lord is directly proportional to how much we surrender ourselves to him to let him do the work through us.

Our Creator Acknowledged

        Coming home after Mass, I drove by a house what had a selling-fresh-eggs sign up front by the road. I thought of the perfect shape of an egg and was amazed that it was formed inside a chicken and came out so naturally. No matter how advanced our technology may be today, I don't believe we can easily reproduce a shell like that which is smooth and without a joint. This pointed clearly to the existence of God, the creator of all things and life. And we are special creatures with an everlasting soul, created in the image of our creator. We were made to understand good and evil, and have been shown the way to return to him in heaven. I should say that, thanks to our creator and Father, all things work out well for us.