Yesterday I posted the blog "Dark Days for Christians" because Christians are being persecuted worldwide. Today I see a second reason or cause – evil has infiltrated the Church, weakening her to the point that we no longer hear clear, bold messages coming from her when we need to hear them the most. She is so busy covering up the many dark deeds when she should go all out to battle evil. The days of purification will come and the time to follow the Lord closely is now, more urgent than ever. God is calling us to abandon ourselves to him and to make reparation for the world. Wake up and fight for the Lord, while we go through the dark night.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
***Most Urgent Messages
Ralph Martin of Renewal Ministries has been an inspired speaker to me since the time I was actively involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement in the 1970s. He is also the author of the book on union with God entitled The Fulfillment of All Desire. I came across these two recently posted talks of his on Fatima. We need to hear these urgent messages at this time. Both talks last a little over 22 minutes and Ralph starts each talk at 1:57. If you only have time to watch one, I would recommend watching the second one "An Urgent Warning."
***The Great Liberation
Open yourself up to God completely and ask him to overwhelm you with his sweet and selfless love and you will experience the greatest liberation and consolation. Abandon yourself to God and he cannot refuse to take you in.
***The Great Obedience
We have the Great Depression, the Great Famine, the Great Wall, the Great Migration, and even the Great Houdini. I'd like to nominate obedience to God as the Great Obedience, as it is our ultimate challenge that can set our soul and spirit free forever!
*Receiving the Best from God
God always wants the best for us, but what we experience may make us think that we deserve something better. We must realize the following: What God wants for us is what's best for us overall spiritually, for his intention is to lead us to heaven. In our imperfect sinful world, we cannot always experience what we hope for – not until we have entered heaven. Be patient and faithful for a short time now to reap great joy later forever!
*Having Only Yourself to Blame
John 3.17: God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. So if we reject God's good offer, we end up getting ourselves condemned. Be blameless or you'll have only yourself to blame.
More of Our Shortcomings
We don't hear God speaking to us because we don't wish to hear from him or to seek his advice. We don't understand God because we are closed to letting him enlighten us.
*Our Shortcoming
From today's entrance antiphon taken from Psalm 27: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread? It is true in theory that if we have the Lord, we shall fear nothing. But in practice, we are still afraid of many things because we fall short of abandoning ourselves entirely to God.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
**Dark Days for Christians
Christians are experiencing worldwide persecution, even in basically Christian countries. Here is a recent example that came out of Canada. The liberal news media do not report such stories. We are in our last days!
Flesh vs. Spirit
How much are you living in the flesh and how much in the spirit? 50-50, 49-51 or even 1-99 is not good enough. We need to live 100% in the spirit! Hence, seek union with God to live in the Holy Spirit.
*You Matter to God
You matter a lot to God. Everything you do matters to him, because it affects you whom he loves.
**We Have Heard from God!
From John 15.15, today's Communion antiphon: I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father, says the Lord to his disciples. Since we have heard from Jesus, we have heard from the Father. In short, we have heard from God, everything we need to know. Time to rejoice and celebrate!
Brief Guide to Living the Christian Life
Today we celebrated the Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle. The Gospel reading was Matthew 10.7-13 on Jesus' commissioning of the Twelve. Rather than quoting the verses, I'll just summarize by saying that Jesus instructed the Apostles to (1) proclaim the Kingdom of heaven at hand, (2) do the works of mercy, (3) travel light, not taking any money nor supplies, and (4) look for a worthy person and stay there, letting their peace come upon the house. Verse 14 was not in the reading, and it reads: "Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words – go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet."
These instructions also make a good guide for us. That is, we should (1) spread the good news of salvation every chance we have, (2) love all our neighbors, (3) be detached from material things, and (4) based upon verse 14, let God, not us, take care of those who would not follow him – this may seem heartless on our part, but we must place our trust in God the most.
**On Accepting Oneself
It is important to know and accept who you are and what you are. Never compare yourself with anyone else and imitate the Lord Jesus only. To ensure your own happiness, reconcile yourself to yourself and to God first. Whether you are strong or weak, it is not relevant, for God often choose the weak to make strong. He can use you as you are and mold you into the right one to serve him according to his will.
Monday, June 10, 2019
**Our Most Satisfying Bond
Shuan Hern Lee of Australia, age 16, just won the First Prize at the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition in Dallas, Texas. Both his parents are pianists. Their dedicated support of their talented son over the years has contributed to his success. You can see the close, loving relationship between the young pianist and his father in this old video made when he was 8. I post this video to show how common interest in something like music can strengthen the bond between a parent and his child. Of course, the greatest bond between two people is formed when both love God equally and share this love with each other. This goes beyond family relationship and any affinity at the physical, emotional, or intellectual level. Short of finding such an ideal person to bond with, we really only need to seek union with God to enjoy the most satisfying bond we can ever have!
**God Our Only Candidate . . .*
Communion time thoughts. To become one with someone, that person has to be God. For it is impossible to attain union with anyone else, as no two persons can be completely compatible. I suppose if both of them are in union with God, then it follows that they are in union with each other too. But still your firsthand union with God would be more perfect. Union with God is possible because God is able to transform you to make you compatible with him. By the same token, I can say that God is the only one who can truly be our soulmate.
**Praying for Ourselves First
We pray to God constantly for our government leaders, the Holy Father and our bishops, our own communities, world peace, those who are sick or need help, etc. Yet what is lacking and needed is asking God to draw us close to him to make us holy. Perhaps it's because looking at problems around us is so much easier than looking at ourselves. Yet peace in the world must start with each one of us, for if we all become holy, there will be peace within and also without us. So let us pray for ourselves first before praying for others. Otherwise, we may appear to be somewhat hypocritical.
Sunday, June 9, 2019
***Most Loving Spirit
Communion experience. Evil spirits take full possession of one's faculties and will, but the Holy Spirit simply unites with us in God's love. This is the Spirit in whom I can live and die at the same time, for he forever renews me.
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