Faith Releases God's Power

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus was not able to perform any mighty deed in his native place Nazareth because of the lack of faith of his own people. When we don't have any faith, we don't get to see the power of God in operation. God can do wonders; it's we who shut him out. 

***Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (repost)

      Anne Catherine Emmerich is a holy, German nun (1774-1824), who took sufferings upon herself to expiate the sins of the Church and her members. I started reviewing my old posts and came across three on her which I blogged in July of 2011. I am reposting them here because what she had experienced in her visions deserves to be known by all.       

          (1) Her angel led her across a narrow bridge safely and she saw on the bank a mousetrap around which a little mouse kept running and running, and at last slipped in to get the bait. Anne cried out, "You are sacrificing your liberty, your life for a mouthful!" "Are men more reasonable," asked her angel, "when for a momentary gratification they endanger their soul's salvation?"

        (2) She was taken to a place to be shown how it is with our prayers before God. They seemed to be inscribed on large white tablets which were divided into four classes: some were written in magnificent golden letters; others in shining silver; some in darker characters; and still others in black streaked lines. The guide explained to her: "What's written in gold is the prayer of those who have united their good works to the merits of Jesus Christ and often renew this union; they aim at observing his precepts and imitating his example. What's written in silver is the prayer of those who think not of union with the merits of Jesus Christ; but who are, notwithstanding, pious and pray in the simplicity of their hearts. What's written in darker colors is the prayer of those who have no peace unless they frequently confess, communicate, and daily say certain prayers; but who are, however, tepid and perform their good works through habit. Lastly, what's written in black streaked characters is the prayer of those who place all their confidence in vocal prayers and pretended good works, but who do not keep God's Commandments nor curb their evil desires. Such prayer has no merit before God."

         (3) God also made it clear to Anne about his justice and mercy in this vision. She said, "Great is God's justice, but still more inconceivable is his mercy. He damns only those who are determined not to be converted; they who have a spark of good will are saved. Those who grieve for their sins, confess them sincerely, and trust confidently in the merits of their Savior; they are saved and their sins will no longer be remembered. It's true that they go to purgatory, but not to remain long. On the other hand, many stay long in purgatory who, although not great sinners, have lived tepidly. Through pride they would take no admonition or instruction from their confessor. The time was when the thought of only one poor sinner's condemnation grieved me so that I could not get over it; but on the present occasion, though many were condemned, I was perfectly calm, for I saw that God's justice called for it." Here she just answered my questions. 

**To All Sinners:

        Let any among you who has no sin be the first to reject Christ.

God Makes Us Forgetful

        Communion experience. I entered the Lord and was able to forget about everything else, for he was everything to me.

Lord Over All Demons

        I came across this interesting15-minute video "Exorcisms and the Church," an interview with Fr. Vincent Lambert by Raymond Arroyo on EWTN. For me, it clearly shows that Jesus is Lord over all demons and evil spirits.

Do Think Ahead

        On a beautiful, calm, sunny day, it's easy not think about the stormy days ahead after the season changes. Then when those days arrive, we are not prepared and may suffer damage or loss of our properties. Likewise, if we do not think about our life after death in advance, we won't be prepared and may lose our soul.

An "Early" Warning

        I have lived long and known the Lord enough to see clearly what life is all about. When you are young, you only see what you wish to achieve in your life. In other words, you see yourself as the master in control of your own destiny. What you do not always see is that you were born into a mostly secular, sinful world which can easily influence and shape you wrongly. As you age, you begin to see this danger and start to seek God or if you had somewhat known him earlier, to deepen your faith. My advice is to be aware of the existence of evil and start seeking the God of Christ when you are still young. If you play God too long, you may lose him forever.       

**Good Test Question

        How ready are you to go to God now? This tests how much you belong to the world, also how much you belong to God. If you are only 50% ready, you are still in the danger zone. God wants you to be 100% ready.

The Foolish and the Wise

        There are fools and there are the wise ones. The fools are those, especially the elites, who think they are in control, have everything, and live to serve themselves only; while the wise ones are those who have already linked themselves to God, got their eternal life all settled, and now live to serve the Lord, bearing fruit and building up treasures in heaven. 

***Old Warning Once More!

        On Feb. 1, I mentioned that I probably would not be able to blog until after Feb. 10. Well, things have turned out differently – I am back and blogging. Here's what has happened. I was asked to see three people south of here in Los Angeles, Temecula, and the San Diego area. My wife was already in Los Angles. I did not get a strong call to go until I heard that the friend in the San Diego area who recently lost her husband was feeling somewhat down, so I thought it would be a good time to lift her spirit by telling her about the Lord who can fill us with so much joy and hope. Yesterday I took the short flight in the morning. It had been raining hard all along the coast. At times in flight, the turbulence was so bad that the plane shook and jerked you thought it might break apart. Anyway, after a little over an hour, the flight continued past the arrival time for about 20+ minutes in grey and murky layers of clouds with horrible visibility. The time was before noon, but it looked so dark outside that you thought it was almost evening. Finally, the pilot announced that the plane was going to return to where we started, for he could not locate the airport landing strip and did not want to waste more fuel. It was all very dramatic. We finally got back, all passengers cheered. Clearly, the Lord did not want me to complete this trip for reason not clear to me yet. I also suffered from motion sickness, feeling dizzy and nauseous. Slept all afternoon and all night, feeling almost normal now. I thought of the suffering in hell again. It would be so much worse than feeling motion-sick and, worst of all, suffering for all eternity! I truly wish that no one would ever end up there. Do not commit any mortal sin. If you already have, go to confession and get it absolved. Salvation means saving your own soul too and first! This may be one of the reasons I did not complete this trip. 

Absolutely Sensible Advice

        In Matthew 6.33, Jesus said, "Seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [the pagans seek] will be given you besides." He is saying that we should choose God and heaven first, and not worry about everything else. [Note. I probably won't be able to post anything until after the 10th of this month. Meanwhile, God's blessings on all of you who visit my blog.]

Letting the Kingdom of God Grow

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, Jesus said to the crowds, "The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade." This is a beautiful picture. We should be the soil for the Lord to make rich so that the seed he plants in us can grow to its fullest potential. Know that what we produce may not be impressive or even visible to us, but it would be great in the eyes of the Lord.

Safe in God's Light

        I see the Lord, the only one radiant in the darkness all around me, and I know that I am safe in his light which dispels all evil.

*Heart for God

      A kind heart alone is not good enough for God; it must also be pure.

God Is Fair

        Put Jesus first and he'll put you first. 

*How to Stop Hiding!

        It is easy for us to hide things from others, things that would make us look bad. But it is impossible to hide anything from God. Therefore, if you can completely open yourself to God, letting him take away everything that shouldn't be in your heart, then there'll be nothing you need to hide from others anymore. You are now liberated and free!

**Unequal but Fair

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, Jesus told the parable of the lamp and ended by saying, "To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." How does this make sense? Think of yourself as a receptacle. If you leave it uncovered, wide open, God would fill it with all he wants to give you, so you receive more and more. If you leave your cover on, then pretty soon whatever you had would either rot, so you have to throw it away, or be used up, leaving you empty with nothing. Lesson: never close your door on God. 

**Right Way to Approach God

      Martha Argerich is unquestionably one of the top pianists in the world. I watched this old video on YouTube when she was rehearsing the Schumann piano concerto and liked what she said about how she approached music. You can watch the video by clicking here. To find out what she said that resonated with me, read below.

          "You must try to achieve directness with music. You know, like with a person. If you figure you know how you'll act with someone, it' a fiasco. That's not how it works. You have to be in tune to how that person is at that given moment, not to the idea you have of him."

         We should approach God this way too. That is, we go directly to him, remain open and spontaneous (no preconceived ideas), and tune in to him. And great benefits will come through to us.