We have those who do not believe in Christ or the existence of God. And we have those who follow Christ with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Can these two camps ever understand each other? I used to be a nonbeliever and tended to feel sorry for those who believed. I thought they missed having fun and lived a suppressed life, thinking that they could save themselves by praying to their God. Now that I am a fervent believer, I truly pity all the nonbelievers who are not aware that God loves them. They may have fun and pleasures for the time being, but they do not experience any true peace, freedom, and joy. Worst of all, they are going to miss the opportunity to be happy for all eternity if they do not wake up. To all nonbelievers, feel sorry for yourselves, not for us believers, and know that we are praying hard for you.
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Monday, July 15, 2019
*Why We Don't Think About God
We are uninterested in God, sadly because we are so deeply immersed in the secular world with its false glitter and lure that any awareness of God has all but been wiped out.
*The Whole Point of Living
Some people receive all their reward in this world and no more afterwards. Some people suffer a lot (their purgatory?) in this life and reap their reward in their next. Some of us live a long life and others die early, all for the glory of God. I have lived beyond the normal life expectancy, believing that the Lord still has work for me to do. Nevertheless, whether we live long or short, get rewarded now or later, the whole point is that we get back to God.
*Praying with a Strong Desire
I've blogged that a strong desire backed by a strong faith will have God answer your prayer more readily. Now I see that a strong desire does indicate that you have a strong faith, so you may concentrate upon intensifying your desire and the Lord will be moved and relent.
Flesh vs. Spirit
Not being perfect, we live both according to the flesh and by the Spirit of God. The more we live by the Spirit, the purer we become. Attain union with God to be as pure a possible.
Two Questions God Will Ask
Today's Communion antiphon, John 15.16: It was not you who chose me, says the Lord, but I who chose you and appointed you to bear fruit, fruit that will last. When we see God, he will surely ask if we did bear any fruit on earth and if so, what kind of fruit.
**God Teaches Us
Today is the Memorial of St. Bonaventure. The Gospel reading from Matthew 10 was amazing! I shall quote the entire three segments of what Jesus said to his Apostles.
(1) Jesus himself being a cause of division. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household." This is true, for Jesus being the truth, we are naturally divided into those who recognize and accept him and those who don't. We can be divided on many issues, but division over the truth brings consequences that matter.
(2) Conditions of discipleship. "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever who finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." So the Lord must be No. 1 in our life. If he is truly our Lord and God, then all that was said makes complete sense. Otherwise, he must be a mad man, not knowing what he's talking about. He challenges you to make your choice. So he came not only to cause division, he came to test us too.
(3) Rewards we receive. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reword, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple – amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward." It all comes down to how we receive the Lord. Aim at receiving the Lord directly and your rewards will be taken care of.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
*Being Doubly Foolish
It's extreme foolish to try to avoid God, for it's impossible. When you are living on earth, he knows everything about you. When you die, you face him for your judgment. Then why do you live as if he does not exist and you'll never die? You must be doubly foolish.
*God Needed for Perfection!
We think we can do anything. Wrong! We are only finite creatures. No matter how carefully and thoroughly we plan, prepare, execute with the best intention and effort, we can still fail or make a mistake. For ultimate perfection, we need God!
***Critical Reality We Must Face
If you have trouble dismissing or writing off Christ as nonexistent or phony, then you have no choice but to accept him as your Lord and Savior and repent of your grave error. The Lord is all-or-nothing and I can assure you that he is anything but nothing!
*God's Love Supreme
Most likely, we have all fallen in love with someone once. Of course, that someone may not feel the same for us; but if he or she does, we would be overjoyed. I am bringing God the Father into the picture, for he alone loves us with an undying love and will never reject us. Accept and taste his pure selfless love first, a love that liberates us and can only give us joy, then no human love can disappoint us anymore.
Saturday, July 13, 2019
God absolutely Makes Sense
In Matthew 6, Jesus preached to all not to worry about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, but to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things would be given them besides. This advice is completely logical and makes sense. God loves us and can provide all our needs. If we abandon ourselves to him, then, of course, he will take care of us. We have a real, living God! It is us who do not see or believe in this reality. When we open up to God, faith is born. Our eyes open and we understand everything.
**Critical to Know
The last two verses of today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10 are extremely important for us to know. Jesus said to the twelve apostles, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." This sounds totally fair and it's a huge deal. There are Christians today who are ashamed of admitting that they are Christians – I think they are going to have a big problem later.
Friday, July 12, 2019
*Praising Our Holy Mother
I am prompted by the Holy Spirit to praise the Blessed Mother, Jesus' mother and our mother. She has to be the most beautiful human being ever created by God. I love her so much for always praying for our souls, for watching over us as we journey home, for obtaining numerous graces for us, for serving God alongside us, and most of all, for always leading us to Jesus. She is truly our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
**Soul's Most Beautiful Journey
In Christianity, the Lord God wins us over by love alone; never by force of any kind . . . no coercion or suppression. His Spirit enters and penetrates our heart and soul only after we voluntarily open up to him. Faith finally takes root in us, eventually leading us all the way to be one with God, our creator, as we progress.
**Communion Joy
Communion experience. I received the Lord and knew that the Lord God had chosen me and called me. So the heavenly Father had willed that I should return to him – there's no doubt about that. How could I possibly suppress the great joy I felt?
Tombstone Inscriptions
I mentioned I attended a funeral recently. People plan their funeral in advance, but they often forget to make some final statement to put on their tombstone. This is one's last chance to express himself to let others know more about him and/or for him to glorify God. You can find many funny tombstone sayings on the internet that can really crack you up. I already know what to inscribe on my stone. Like my blogs, it'll be short and to the point, not funny though. I am not going to tell you now, so you'll have to wait until after I die to find out. Anyway, I think reading my present blog now should be more interesting. So never mind the epitaph on my tombstone.
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