An Unavoidable Question

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" We must ask ourselves this same question and know the right answer, and live what we profess to believe in. Again, no escape here. And believing in Jesus must be followed by following him until we know him at least as much as we know ourselves. (Yes, it's possible to know and love Jesus more than you know and love yourself.)

**The Unavoidable!

        The world is burying it head in the sand, trying to avoid something that is absolutely avoidable. And that thing is, every one of us will face our God and be judged one day soon; there will be no escape! So I am very concerned about all the souls. I have already woken up and know where I am headed, a great feeling. If you do not pay attention, you are drifting into oblivion, not good. 

*Living Without Anxiety

        I learned another lesson. God does not want us to be anxious about anything, even if we are doing his work. (Actually, a faithful follower will always be doing his work.) Not to be specific, I've been doing something I sensed to be what he wanted me to proceed, so I started working hard at it, disrupting even my daily routine. Last night I had a bad dream about that which made me lose my peace. I now realize that to do God's work diligently does not mean pushing it as hard as I can. Our Lord waited 30 years before the time was ripe for him to start his ministry. So I must enjoy living, trust in my God, take one step at a time following him, and never set myself any rigid time schedule in advance to follow.

Monkey Our Ancestor? (repost)

         As I was reviewing my old posts, I came across this one of Dec. 8, 2014. I think it's worth reposting it one more time.

        "The other day someone asked if her dog could go to heaven. Now, a dog has neither the concept of God nor any moral understanding of good and evil. Thereby, a dog does not have a soul. Without a soul, there is no heaven to speak of. I believe that theology can back me up on this. If dogs have souls, then what about birds, ants, all insects, and bacteria, or even plants? Where do you draw the line? If I am logical to you, then we can see that human beings, who have souls, could not possibly have been evolved from monkeys, who have no soul. Evolution of the soul? No scientists would know how to do research on that."   

**God vs. Satan

        God and Satan are far apart, for one is all good and the other, all evil. Yet Satan can make himself look like God by producing false miracles, apparitions, visions, prophecies . . . to deceive you. Many today are following certain seers whom the Church has already condemned to be false. We have to be so careful. My advice is to stick to Christ the Lord and the Church. You do not need any miracles to boost your faith. Genuine miracles are there for a particular purpose. False ones are there to distract and confuse you. Satan is cunning, but not smart. If you look closer, there is always something not quite right. I mentioned some years ago that I came across this book written by a woman who claimed to have seen the Blessed Mother and received many messages from her. I flipped through the book, everything seemed to be OK until a chapter close to the end started talking about how the Blessed Mother was reincarnated. At that moment, I dropped the book. So, focus single-mindedly upon Christ. Do you know how thieves and pickpockets steal things from you? They always distract you in some way first.

*God is Fire

        We know that God is love. He is also water, for he quenches our thirst. God is also fire, for the Holy Spirit can set our heart ablaze. Do not disrespect or play with this fire lest you get burned or scorched forever. Let it instead purify you to make you clean and ignite your zeal for God, and you'll be filled with joy and transformed into a delight in the Lord's sight. 

***God Is Unique and Real***

        God is unique because he is the only one who can enter our hearts, speak to us from within or deposit joy there, take away all that defiles us and make us clean and holy – you know it and you feel it! I experience all these things myself and I am not surprised at all, for he's the one who has made me after all. No one else in this world can even come close. Yes, the Lord God is real – this he let me know from within my heart. (It's so good to have him and to know that he is one with me.) Please open your hearts to let him in to be yours forever too!

**Are You Your Own Enemy?

        Telling yourself that becoming a saint is not for you proves that you are your own spiritual enemy.

To Be Made New Again

        Communion experience. It was a golden opportunity for me to be made new as thoroughly as possible by the Lord.

***Be Proud of the Lord!

        The Lord is everything to us. He is our creator, our Father, and our Savior! Therefore, we should be proud of him and proclaim his name and greatness boldly and loudly to the whole world! Shame on you if you consider yourself a Christian but hide him from others! If you are not proud of him, how can you expect him to be proud of you? With the Lord, either you are with him or you are not. 

Our Role Before God

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 8, Jesus talked about the leaven of the Pharisees, and his disciples did not quite follow. We are like that too with hardened hearts. In general, the Lord made me see that even if we do not understand what's going on, he knows exactly what he is doing, and he always prepares everything in the background for us. We must see that his plan would turn out well if we just trust and follow, not to get in his way. 

Another Fr. Goring Video

      Here's Fr. Mark Goring's latest video. I enjoy listening to him because he always gives a compelling message. This one is entitled "If Jesus is just 'another' way, forget about celibacy!"

**Very Sad Reality**

        At Mass this morning, I realized that Jesus just doesn't come up in our ordinary conversations. When I was active in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement, Jesus was mentioned a lot within the charismatic circle. Then you started talking like that to non-charismatic Catholics and met only silence – they probably thought you were nuts or something. No doubt when Christ was on earth with us, people talked about him a lot after witnessing the wonderful deeds he performed. They were so overwhelmed and couldn't keep quiet. Today, most believers seem to have assigned the Lord to a compartment separate from theirs, living their lives by themselves. I do recall one pilgrimage I went on though – the priest who accompanied us was filled with the Holy Spirit. The first thing he told us each morning was what he learned from the Lord the previous day. Why can't all of us be like that? Yes, the Lord is real and most exciting to know!

**Cool Spiritual Progress

        When I was still the old me not that many years ago, I was a lot more anxious about getting things done. If I was on a project, I just wanted to finish it before I could relax – no time to waste. I am a lot different today. Even though I am doing something to which I believe God has lead me, I feel very calm about it all. If I don't get it done, it's OK. After all, it's his work and his call. If I die now, well, that must be what he has planned too. If he wants me to get it accomplished, I am not going to die early. This is clear thinking, good logic, showing trust. I am very happy about the new cool me.

Completing Our Trust

        Attaining union with God is simply letting God be our Lord. Prior to union, we are our own gods in our lives. By relinquishing our hold onto our lives, God properly takes over and we are freed, now receiving power directly from him. Our trust is complete and order restored.

No Partial Following the Lord

        In Luke 14.26, Jesus said to the crowds, "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. It occurs to me that this condition applies also when we go to him to surrender to him. He deserves our entire, sole devotion. His self-giving requires our self-giving. 

***Our Mortal Enemy

        It is sin. If we lose our battle to sin, we will spend time in horrific misery for all eternity. If we get sin lifted off us by God, we'll experience the most exuberant feeling and live in paradise for all eternity. So, heed my advice – take sin seriously and defeat it when you still can. 

One Example of a Hypocrite

        Anyone who believes that the way to "liberate" people is to give them all kinds of rights and free stuff, but is not willing to suffer in any way himself is an egoistic hypocrite.