**God Leads Us to Joy

        Consider the Holy Rosary. Those 20 decades of mysteries we meditate upon pretty much cover all the major events in the life of Christ. Every single one of them, including the Sorrowful Mysteries, leads us to final joy. It's inevitable that this should happen to all faithful Christians in the end. So what's living a hundred years of a happy or not so happy life on earth? It's eternal joy alone that counts!
         I blogged the above and went to Mass. It turned out that in the Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." The disciples did not quite understand what Jesus meant. Of course, the Lord was talking about his coming Crucifixion and appearing to them after his Resurrection. And he added, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy." 

**Have No Enemies?

        You can have no enemies – all you have to do to love everyone and treat your enemies not as enemies. If that's hard for you to do, just let God do it for you through you.

*Knowing the Truth

        I was late for Mass this morning and did not hear the entire Gospel from John 16 read. I just looked it up and would totally agree with what Jesus said to his disciples here, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you to all truth." When God speaks to you in guiding or teaching you, you just know you are hearing the truth. For when you know this without a doubt, it has to be from the Lord.

Concrete Feeling

        Communion experience. I got the concrete feeling of being one with my Lord.

*Secure Your Eternity First

        If you know that you'll be going to the heavenly Father after you leave this world, your entire outlook will change. Whether you are aware of not, we all want to know where we are going and if our future is secure. This is how God has made us, don't you see? Don't fight it. God wants all of us to be saved, so do not turn him down! Without him, you are doomed to live a miserable life of uncertainty.

*Deliverance by God

        In today's Gospel reading from Acts 16, the Lord delivered Paul and Silas from prison. It happened like this. The two had their feet secured to a stake in an innermost cell. About midnight, there was suddenly a severe earthquake; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. It was a dramatic occurrence. I was lead to ask if we are free. Physically we may be, but are we also mentally and most importantly, spiritually free? If not, the Lord can surely deliver us from the world that holds us as prisoners.

**A Story of Love*

        Watch this 14-minute long video and you can't help feeling sorry for those who choose to abort their own babies.

*What Ultimately Matters

        Today is Memorial Day, a national holiday, and we sang America the Beautiful to conclude the Mass. I felt proud of being patriotic, but I also realized instantly that what ultimately matters the most to us individually or as a nation is our trust in God. It is this faith that can make or break each one of us or the whole nation. 

Law of Reality

        We will worsen spiritually until we open up to God to let him improve us.

**Testifying for God

        We must testify, proclaiming the glory of God. It is the Spirit of God who sets our heart afire to want the whole world to know that God is love and that he wishes to save us. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, "If his disciples keep silent, the stones will cry out!" (Luke 19.40), and we are certainly more sensitive than stones. We must never stifle the Holy Spirit, but respond to his every prompting. 

*No Love, No Peace

        World peace must start with inner peace within each one of us. And we shall not have inner peace until we have surrendered ourselves to the God of Christ, the God who is love. It is love that begets peace.

***Life Begins at Conception

Watch how Dinesh D'Souza's makes an eye-opening argument for the case.

 

What Christians Must Be Aware of

        If loving God is our top priority, its flip side, fighting evil, becomes equally important. They are not the same, but they are the same in the sense that you cannot love God if you don't fight evil and vice versa. A Christian must be acutely aware that he is engaged in fighting an enraged war against evil if he loves God. There is no time to waste in fighting for all the souls. 

**Perfect Match

        Becoming one with God absolutely makes our life beautiful, for God has made us for himself. When one sinner repents, the whole heaven rejoices. When we follow God, his joy is complete (John 15.11) and our life fulfilled.  

***Knowing God the Expedient Way*

        When we join a pilgrimage, attend a conferences, go on a retreat, or participate in any other spiritual activity, our goal is to know Christ. Of course, these experiences can all be helpful, but I have never heard anyone say that the best way to know the Lord is to go directly to him, for he is instantly accessible to all of us. You can talk to him all you want and he knows all your problems and desires. In no time, you can develop a most intimate relationship. It seems almost common sense, yet people attempt to know him through others who are doing exactly what they are doing. Thus, any progress made is slow. It must be that it's not easy to abandon oneself to God. If you can let yourself go, you can let everything else go too. Then you are free.

What Christians Lack

        The willingness to let Christ change them. Could the reason be what Jesus said in Matthew 26.41: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"? 

***Our Most Beloved Teacher

        In today's Gospel reading from John 14, Jesus said to his disciples, "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything." I can testify to you that the Holy Spirit will indeed teach us God's ways, his wisdom, and how to live and keep his word. You do hear firsthand from the Lord when you are in union with him.

***Right Approach to God

        At Sunday Mass this morning, I saw clearly the right, logical approach to God – open your heart completely to God and surrender yourself unconditionally to him. This leads you straight to union with God, with you enjoying freedom and peace, and joy as icing on the cake.