**Most Important Selection Process

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus spoke to his disciples using another parable, "The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad hey throw away. Thus it will be at the end of age. The angles will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth." This makes me see that in life we basically go through a selection process. How we live our life will determine how we'll be selected by God at the end. We prepare ourselves hard to make sure that we get admitted into a university or the job we apply for, but it is infinitely more important that we prepare well so that we might be selected by God to keep us for all eternity. 

**Facing God Alone

        Expect to face the Lord alone at judgment time. No one else will be there to witness or speak for you, and there will be no lawyers you can hire to help defend you. The Holy Mother may come forward to intercede, but you still need to have some redeeming value in you. Anyway, the time to take care of all your concerns and future problems is now in advance, and this is precisely the message of our Lord. You alone are responsible for your own future in eternity!  

*Jesus' Protection

        I thought about the Apostles who followed Jesus. Were they totally under his protection? Of course. But protection does not mean that they no longer had to face hardships or suffer in this life. In fact, with the exception of John, all got martyred in the end. Therefore, protection by the Lord means that he would make sure that they would receive eternal life in heaven with him, and that's good enough for me.

Humility, Essential Ingredient

        Communion thoughts. Even though the Holy Eucharist enables the communicant to become one with the Lord, ironically it has also caused division among his followers. As you know, most Protestants do not believe that Christ is really present in the consecrated bread and wine. There are many other dividing issues as well. The extreme enemies of the Church even believe that the Pope is the Antichrist. As long as they do not have the humility to be willing to study the history of the Early Church and the official teachings of the Church, the division remains. Humility is what we all need to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

The More Joyful Life

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus likens the Kingdom of heaven to a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field; and again, to a merchant searching for fine pearls, who, when he finds a pearl of great price, goes and sells all that he has and buys it. There is and should be great joy and excitement in finding Jesus. Of course, faith is not to be based upon emotions solely, but knowing the Lord well enough to feel excited about him surely can make your life a lot more joyful!

*Thought on Abortion

        The unborn baby is definitely not a part of the mother's body. God has designed for the baby to reside in the mother's womb for 9 months exclusively for the purpose of protecting and nurturing the infant before its birth. Therefore, to abort the unborn child is going directly against the will of God, let alone the commandment "Thou shalt not kill."

*How to Do Good

        Sometimes we feel inadequate at doing much good in this world, what with so many talented and capable people visibly doing so much. Let's think differently. God loves to help the weak, so we can rely upon him to do the work through us. Not only this trust pleases him, our intimate collaboration with him can also help us grow spiritually. Of course, we can always pray, asking the Lord to do good. We needn't know what he's going to do – we only need to believe that he's going to do it. Here, it's how sincerely we ask that counts, not necessarily how holy we are. 

*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.