***Be Vigilant and Alert Now!

        Jesus wants us to stay alert, for we do not know when he will come again. But while we are waiting, we must be aware of the fierce ongoing spiritual battle that's being waged by all the evil forces against God. You may look around and see beautiful neighborhoods, buildings, trees, etc., but if you think everything is fine and do not remain vigilant, your children and grandchildren will likely suffer. Looking within my own country, you have a political party that has no qualms about killing the unborn at any stage of their development. Abroad, there is a religion that wants to wipe out all Christians and others who do not share its faith. Christians, while continuing to love all others, must pray hard for their enemies, and themselves too, for they need to grow a lot stronger in the Lord and be prepared to suffer for him if they ever wish to triumph in this spiritual battle.

Another Guiding Rule

       There are many good rules of life we can follow, some broader and some more specific. Another one came to my mind: Forget about yourself and everything and everyone else in this world, and serve God alone wholeheartedly, and you'll go far (as far as heaven).

God Alone Is Sufficient

        Communion experience. Today's Psalm reading came from Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want." This first verse described exactly how I felt, for to have God is to have all our wishes fulfilled. Anyone who wants more than God has to be outlandishly out of his mind. 

Favored by the Lord

        During the consecration of the bread and wine at Mass, when I heard the priest say the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: "Take this, all of you, and eat of it: for this this is my body which will be given up for you" and "Take this, all of you, and drink from it: for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me," joy filled my heart, hard to believe that the Lord favors me so much.

**No Fear of Jesus*

        In the Gospels, we read that many were awed by the mighty deeds Jesus performed and the authority with which he spoke to them, and they became afraid to ask him questions. Should we also be afraid of him in the same way. I think not. This is because we now know who he truly is and how he loves us. Unless you are an unrepentant sinner, we can rush toward him and throw ourselves in his arms with all our whole being and get the warmest loving welcome from him – this I can assure you. This is just the beginning. It only gets better and better as you abandon yourself more and more to him!

Faith Must Be Sincere

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, ten lepers begged Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus asked them to go show themselves to the priests. As they were going, they were cleansed. But only one of the ten returned and fell at the the feet of Jesus to thank him. Jesus said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." I believe what means the most to the Lord and counts for us is that we sincerely believe in him, even though we know we can never be perfect. This is so much better than being a believer outwardly but with no sincerity within our heart.

**"Killing" the Ego

        The ego is always in us. We can starve it, not pay any attention to it, etc., but it tends to rear its ugly head every chance it gets. Even when we are serving God, we remind ourselves that we are doing something good. In Luke 17.10, Jesus described the attitude a servant should assume by saying, "When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" The best way to "kill" the ego is to let the Lord fill you to the fullest so that you will be occupied with him alone.

Forever With Jesus

        Communion experience. Our relationship with Christ once established is forever. We are loved by him forever. He'll guard our soul always. We'll have eternal life with him forever. He understands us always. We can trust in him forever. He is perfect for us as passing creatures in this passing world.

*Extra Awareness

We should live and realize that God knows everything about us at any time.        

The Unlovely and Unpleasant

        Jesus wants us to love everyone, especially those who do not love us. By the same token, we should also be willing to perform any task that's unpleasant to serve the Lord.

**To Be Nothing or Everything to God?

        Before the Lord God, we must realize that we are nothing, smaller than a dust particle in the universe, sinful and full of pride. Then to the Lord, we are his most precious children he would sacrifice his own Son to save so that we might have eternal life – we are everything to him! The question is "Do you want to remain to be nothing or become everything to God?"      

***My Great Wise Advice

        When we meet God after we die, we'll be shown in a flash what we've done and failed to do on earth so that we would understand why we receive the final judgment given to us. It would be smart for us to review our past on our own now and correct our course if necessary. Start storing up treasures in heaven now to avoid facing the biggest possible shock of your whole existence.

**Two New Realizations

        I realized two things today, one happy and one sad. The happy one first: Everything Jesus said in the scriptures was spoken out of love. He might sound harsh and demanding at times, but they were uttered out of love too! The sad realization: So many of the beautiful things man have created in the world seem rather pathetic, for their works were all created for their own glory. My comment would be in the vein of Jesus' prayer from the cross, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."        

**God's Tolerances

        The Lord God understands our human nature and weaknesses well. As long as our intention is good and sincere, he tolerates our childishness, fears, or even our stupidities, for his love overlooks all our faults and shortcomings. But we can do much better than that! Submit yourself to him and seek to be holy like him, and you'll get all the help you need from him.

Following God in Faith

        To put our faith in God means to wait patiently for him to prompt us, lead us, and guide us. Getting anxious about what we can do for him is rushing ahead of the Holy Spirit. The Lord knows our intention to serve him and will show the way in his time. We simply follow and not question when he reveals the whole plan to us or just the next single little step for us to take. 

*Greatest Possible Intimacy

        Communion experience. I experienced the greatest possible intimacy with the Lord to date, making me realize that he is with all of us always. 

Saving Faith

        To believe in God is to believe in his love for us. It is this faith that has the power to save us.

**Best Way to Live*

        You've heard said that we should live each day as if it is the first day of our life. This is good, for it makes us look forward to discovering new things every day. Then it's also been said that we should live as if today is the last day of our life. This is better, for now we are being farsighted. Unfortunately though, many miss the point and start to enjoy the pleasures of the world as much as they can. Personally, I see that the best way for us is to live as if the Second Coming of Christ is going to happen anytime now, which is true. This is being most realistic. Realizing this, we can still continue to store up treasures in heaven in the meantime.