No Part-Time Christians

        Following Christ is a full-time job, so anyone working only part-time as a Christian is being derelict and risk not being able to get into the kingdom of God. The Lord demands our full commitment and we need to give it to him.

*How Comfortable with the Lord?

        How comfortable you are with God indicates how well you know him. If you feel completely comfortable with the Lord as if you were already with him in heaven, then you are already on your way there.  

**No Abandonment to God

        Many people, especially the older folks, have been set in their ways and don't wish to change anymore. They often say that God has made them that way as their reason or excuse. The reality is that everyone needs to change unceasingly for the better – to become holier to be precise, for the Lord demands that. So we must always be open to God to let him do whatever he wishes with us. Unfortunately, this is the stumbling block for those who still hold onto the world and themselves. Even though freedom is totally with their reach, they stay put in their sorry state. 

**Our Big Frailty

        In today's world of propagandas, fake news, and self-promotion, it's so easy for us to fall for whatever we hear. If we do not discern carefully, we get deceived or manipulated. We must listen only to God, the God of Christ. To safeguard you soul, make knowing the Lord well your first order of business so that you may hear his voice.     

***Our Goal of Life

      I quoted what Jesus said in Matthew 5.48 under the heading of this blog: "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Therefore, to be perfect should be the goal of our life. Since it is the will of God, he will make it possible for us! We can make the perfect surrender to him through receiving the Holy Eucharist to become like the Lord.

***Freedom in the Lord

        To be free is to be free of the world we live in, for the world can easily entice, trap, and shackle us. God sets us free by severing our attachment to the world after we discover his love, beauty, and power. Since God never enslaves us, we remain free in him forever!

*When Will You Be Ready to Die?

        When will you be ready to leave this world? After you've had the chance to visit Paris or the Great Wall of China? After your get to see your grandchild born? After you've had time to straighten out your real estate business? There can be a host of different answers. But I see one answer that is most "correct" – it is "after you have accomplished all the work the Lord has assigned you to do, whatever it is." It would be so good when you meet the Lord to hear him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master's joy" (Matthew 25.23).

**Most Important Realization*

        We may look around and see all the beautiful buildings, houses, neighborhoods, trees, etc., and we may look very nice to everyone else ourselves too. Yet we fail to realize that we sin against the holy Lord God! When he looks down at us, he looks at our hearts. If they are not pure, he would see a sea of black stains, nothing beautiful about that. So take care of your hearts and souls first before the buildings, houses, neighborhood, trees, etc. 

***Keeping Our Motivation Pure

        Suppose you want to praise someone. What motivates you to do so? (1) To make him or her like you, so you can feel good? (2) To make that person feel good? (3) To please God? The first motivation is definitely impure, for it involves egos. We can be sure that the last motivation is pure. It's not always easy to discern our motivation quickly or in advance if we are not in close union with God. But to be holy, we must aim at keeping our motivation pure. 

***Our Only Mission in Life

        Communion experience. We can never love God enough. Our only mission in life should be to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, as Jesus had commanded us. Let everything else follow from this.

**Our Response to God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus told the crowd the parable of the sower:

        "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

        How do you respond to the Word of God? Does it take root in you? How you respond will determine your eternal destiny! Something you definitely ought to be aware of.

**A Hurdle to Overcome

        Jesus makes it clear that we need to obey God. If we all do it, we would all be saints and have peace in the world. Therefore, obedience to God is the hurdle we are to overcome. Seeking to attain union with God is the way to meet that challenge. The key to success is to surrender yourself to God. If God is unavoidable, surrendering to him is in order and becomes unavoidable too. Once you attain union, you might think that you have reached the climax, but it's somewhat anticlimactic in the sense that you now find obeying God to be no sweat at all. In fact, it's exactly what you want to do. 

**Follow Christ like the Apostles

        Christ was here 2,000 years ago and, we do not see or hear him in person today. Nevertheless, since God transcends both time and space, we can confidently follow him as the Apostles did after he called them to follow him.  

**How God Relates to Us

          I am not able to attend Mass, so I looked up the Gospel reading. Today is the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. The reading comes from John 20. Mary Magdalene saw that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was empty. She thought someone had taken him from the tomb, and started to weep. Then Jesus appeared to her and conversed with her. She first thought he was the gardener, then she recognized him. Jesus' last words to her were "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary went to the disciples and reported everything to them.

        So Jesus regarded his disciples as his brothers. The fact that his Father is also our Father makes it clear that we are all brothers and sisters to him. It amazes me that we have a God who considers us to be equal to him. Knowing this, we can go to him with great confidence. Always remember that we have the same Father!

*Waiting on the Lord

        I've learned so much from writing this blog. Here's just one lesson. If I try hard to think up what to post, then what comes out would be mostly me and not the Lord. And I don't think I would have much to say either. So I just let the Lord tell my heart what to post and the process becomes natural and easy. For us who are anxious to serve the Lord, we run the risk of coming up with ideas not originated from God, at least not yet. My advice is that we always pray and wait until the Lord clearly shows what we should do next. We need to follow God's schedule. Patience is needed in order not to waste time. 

*How the Lord Treats Us

        Today's alternative Communion antiphon, Revelation 3.20: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, says the Lord. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. This is how the Lord treats us. He stands at the door and knock, gently. If you ignore him, he continues to knock, never trying to break the door down. if you open the door to let him in, he's going to enter and dine with you! This is as nice a Lord as you can get! How unconscionable of us to continue offending him!  

**All for Jesus

        Today's Gospel reading from Luke 10 was about Martha and Mary, the sisters. While Mary chose to sit beside Jesus at his feet listening to him speak, Martha was burdened with serving. Martha came to Jesus and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord replied to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." I'd like to focus on how Martha felt. I am sure we've all invited friends and/or relatives to our home for a meal, a party, or just a get-together. It doesn't take long to find out that there are always some who never lift a finger to help in any way and others who gladly volunteer to help. If no one offers any help, the host can feel not being appreciated and that it's unfair that he or she should do all the work with others reaping the benefits. Here is the solution I see. Do everything for the sake of serving (pleasing) Christ alone, not ourselves. Whether others help or not, it's between them and God.

*Questioning Ourselves

        Why do we reject God the Father who loves us with all his heart? Why do we reject Jesus the Son who died for us to save us from eternal damnation? Why do we reject the Holy Spirit who can guide and teach us to live a holy life, readying us for heaven? How can we be so blind, deaf, and dumb?