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

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Being Thorough With God

        To think that it's OK to commit a minor sin as long a you do not commit a serious sin is only fooling yourself. To get to heaven, we must be sorry for every sin we have committed against God, no omission allowed. 

God Is Our Liberator

        The more firmly you hold onto yourself, the more surely you are continuing to sink. For only God can free you from the grip of the world and this life to uplift your spirit heavenward.

All Came From God

        It was August 15, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Communion experience. I offered to God the love he'd given me to love him.

*God Is Real

        Since the Lord God created me, he can transform me inside and out. The effect I feel within me is direct proof to me that the Lord is my creator and the truth. In other words, not knowing the Lord does not in anyway prove that he does not exist, but knowing him is proof in itself that he exists. 

*God Forever Present

        Without God, I wouldn't be here now. In fact, without God there will be absolute nothing! And only God can make it possible for me to conceive of my own existence as well as of nothing. God must precede all things.

**Requisite for Experiencing Peace*

        We do not experience inner peace, only because we have not yet submitted ourselves entirely to God, that is, we are still rebelling against him. We'll never be able to rest in peace in God until we acknowledge that we are at his mercy and beg him to have mercy on us. 

Friday, August 24, 2018

What Are You Looking For?

        Jesus wants to give us eternal life. The only reason good enough for you to reject him would have to be that you are looking for or have found something even better.

What the Soul Needs Most

        The Mercy of God.        

To Be Rewarded Now or Later?

        Jesus has made it clear that those who live for themselves will have received their reward in this life, but if we live for him, we shall receive our reward in heaven. Therefore, love God and expect that some things are just not meant to happen to you in this life. It is a no-brainer that receiving your reward in heaven is infinitely superior than receiving it on earth.

***At God's Mercy

        On this trip, I walked so much that when I came upon a church, I looked forward to going inside to rest a while. I was so tired that I did not even bother to genuflect or kneel to pray first – I just plopped into a pew. I knew that Jesus would understand, recalling that he didn't even mind that his disciples picked the heads of grain in someone's field and eat them when they were hungry on a sabbath. Anyway, the fact that I wasn't quite inclined to do what I should do after entering the church made me realize that one day I won't be able to do anything, and that's the moment before my death when I shall be completely at God's mercy. Then I see that when we first came into this world, we were completely at his mercy too. The reality is that we are at God's mercy every moment of our life or I wouldn't be breathing and my heart wouldn't be beating now. Yet we live as if we do not need God most of the time. Wouldn't it be nice and wise to be aware that we are always at God's mercy when we are alive on earth?

**God's Love Triumphs

        In January, 2015, I blogged about the tragic terror attack on Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 in Paris. As you know, Charlie Hebdo is the controversial French satirical magazine which mocks politicians, governments, religious figures, or anything it chooses to laugh at. The terror attack was apparently triggered by the mockery made of the Prophet Muhammad. Recently, I saw a Charlie Hebdo poster depicting the Holy Mother holding Infant Jesus with both of his middle fingers up – the overall portrayal of him was sickening and grotesque. I believe that the image aims to show what Jesus thinks of the French president Emmanuel Macron, but it also succeeded in irreverently mocking the Lord. I would even say that the portrayal is sacrilegious! It hurt me deeply and made me angry. Then the infinite love of God made me see that I must pray for the offenders, for they know not what they're doing. (Click here to see this poster image.)

Christ the Fun Spoiler

        I went on a trip, the Lord guarded me, and I got home safely. The Lord deposited thoughts in my heart almost daily. On August 9. I read in a magazine about a group of Europeans who expressed themselves artistically by putting on art exhibits, music performances, fashion shows, etc. They were quite talented, for what they put on were innovative, beautiful, and might even cause a stir within you at first encounter. If I didn't know Christ, I could see myself being drawn to living exclusively for expressing myself too; but I am happy that Christ has spoiled all that fun, for living for him is so refreshing that everything that's considered fun in the world is no longer meaningful in the final analysis. 

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Blessings to All!

        I must pause blogging for the next two weeks or so and hope to resume on the 25th of this month. We are so blessed to have such a great God who is a most loving Father. Rejoice in, praise, and thank him daily, and you'll be richly rewarded.

**What to Do With Your Free Will

        Today is the memorial of St. Dominic. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 15, Jesus tested the faith of a Canaanite woman. The fact that the Lord tests our faith shows that we are in full charge of choosing to believe or not to believe in him! You see, we've been given the free will. With that comes the responsibility to make the right choice. Believe in anything you want, but the best thing you can do with the free will is offering it back to God, then everything you do will be done according to his will and you are set free. 

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

A Realist Is One Who . . .

is aware of the presence of God at all times.       

Egoistic Fool

        Anyone who plans out his or her funeral to make sure that it will be impressive in the eyes of the public is being egoistic and foolish to the extreme. 

To Be Free of the World

        If you were going to die today, would you still care so much about all the things you've planned to do for yourself? I don't think so. But since you are not dying yet, shouldn't you at least care less about doing those things? Don't get yourself anchored to anything in this world, for you want your soul to be free to soar to God when the time comes.

Monday, August 6, 2018

Letting God Perfect Us

        Communion thoughts. God wants us to be perfect, but we know that we are finite and still imperfect. Good, because this is exactly what the Lord wants us to feel so that he can make us perfect. We only need to surrender ourselves to him even more, and receiving the Holy Eucharist certainly makes that possible.