**Worse than Being a Fool

        In my last post, I talked about not to let God see you as a fool. What's worse than being a fool? California is ready to pass the so-called "abortion pill" bill, forcing all on-campus California public universities to provide the abortion pill at student health clinics. From the spiritual point of view, this is clearly choosing evil over God, going beyond being foolish. Alas, Judas Iscariot is alive and well today. Please pray for California.

**Don't Be a Fool to God

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12 at Mass, Jesus told the parable of the rich fool. A rich man produced a bountiful harvest and decided to tear down his barns and build larger ones to store his harvest and other goods. He said to himself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" But God said to him, "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?" Many of us are just like the rich man. Recently, I thought of the things such as my piano which I had enjoyed playing for years and the many most personal photographs I'd made over the years. To whom should they go after I die? The answer was "I really shouldn't care." If God is calling you go to him, how can you not drop everything and leave? If you have not been perfectly obedient to God, here is your last chance to show him that you do obey him!

Characteristics of a Disciple

        One of today's suggested Communion antiphons, Matthew 5,7-8, are two of the Beatitudes given by Jesus: Blesses are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. Being merciful to others and having a clean heart certainly should characterize any true disciple of Christ.

*Power of the Heart

        The heart is like our steering wheel. It can steer us toward God or away from God. The end results couldn't be more different from each other. But you are the driver in control of your heart. If you steer your heart toward God, as you get close to him, your heart gets purified more and more, and you would want to go all the away. If you had steered your heart to go the other way, turning around can become harder and harder as time goes on. So be a smart driver; steer you heart in the right direction at the start.

***Smart Petitioning

        In just about all the preached messages I've heard anywhere, we ask the Lord to help us love him more, believe in him more, to be more forgiving, etc. But the effective approach is to ask the Lord to help us open up to him, surrender ourselves to him, letting him take complete charge of us! We cannot make ourselves holy, only God can make us holy. If we don't let him in, how can he do the work? We forget that we are the stumbling block that needs to be removed first. This has been the message the Lord wants me to spread and I am repeating it again. 

*Intention Wins

        Attended first Saturday morning Mass today. The congregation sang the entrance hymn and didn't sound too good, for there was no unison. Then I realized that the Lord cared only about our intention, so what I heard was still beautiful to him.

*Choosing Your Reward

        Any reward you receive in this life that feeds your ego comes from the Evil One, and it diminishes your chance of receiving any reward from God. Any reward that humbles you in secret comes from God, and you will be rewarded even more in heaven. 

Rejoice in the Lord Always

        Again, I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary today. It really breaks your heart to think about how Christ suffered so excruciatingly for us. But I felt that the Lord just wanted me to be grateful and rejoice, for he has triumphed!

Intimate Bonding

        Today being a first Friday, there was adoration of the Blesses Sacrament following morning Mass at Church. I was adoring the Lord whom I just consumed five minutes earlier. That's how intimately the Lord bonds himself to us.

What Makes You Happy?

        I had mentioned that when I told some friends that I was really happy to have found Christ, they all congratulated me and were happy for me. It seemed to them as if there were many ways to happiness and I was lucky to have found the one that worked for me. What they failed to see was that there is only one thing that can set us free and truly satisfy us, the truth of Christ.

Just God and Me

        Communion experience. As the Lord and I melded into each other to be one, I became aware of only him and myself.

***Secret of Spiritual Success Reiterated***

        If you want to love God, then let God make it happen. On you own, you cannot succeed. You must have God draw you, inspire you, and dazzle you. So you need to open up to let him in. Then make everything you want to accomplish to be his doing. God, being your creator, is the only one who can transform you! This is the secret of spiritual success. This is why in union with God, you progress spiritually effortlessly, as he helps you do everything! God is your secret power!

*Preparing for Your Own Judgment

        People today love suing others, at least in this country. There have been innocent people who were wrongly sentenced to prison as well as guilty ones who got away with their crimes. But in the end all such cases don't matter much, for one day we'll all appear before God to be judged and receive the exact verdict we deserve, the only verdict that matters. Instead of wasting time suing someone on earth, it would be much more profitable to use the time to prepare for our day in God's court later.

*Abandonment to God Brings Wonders

        I have blogged about being slain in the Holy Spirit. This had happened to me several times. Each time, a charismatic priest put his hand on my forehead to bless me, with or without some relic, and I just fell involuntarily to the floor. It's also called resting in the Spirit, for you experience deep peace in that state. When I went up the aisle to be blessed, I did not question if I was going to fall or not. By abandoning myself to the Holy Spirit, I did fall and experience the peace. The one time this did not happen was when I had some bothersome thoughts on my mind, preventing me from complete abandonment. So the lesson I learned was that if you wish to experience the wonders of God, you need to abandon yourself 100% to the Lord. 

Don't Blame God

         If we don't hear God, it is us who cause the disconnect, not God, for he is ever ready for us.

Possible Responses from the Lord

        When you see the Lord after you die, you can possibly hear him say to you "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master's joy" (Matthew 25.21) or "I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoer" (Matthew 7.23). 

***We Need Be on Fire!

        In Matthew 16.18, Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." This church has stood for almost 2,000 years to this day, but it has been loosing members and support. Evil has infiltrated our societies, even the Church. Only a small percentage of Catholics have remained faithful. Empty pews, the relative absence of younger parishioners, and tepid preachings are all telling signs. We need to submit ourselves to the Lord completely to let the Holy Spirit set our hearts on fire. All members need to be reeducated to be sure that they understand the teachings of the Church clearly, especially those that are more difficult to accept. God will judge all believers as well as unbelievers. In fact, the believers will be held to a higher standard. These two videos below show the facts and share my feelings.

Our Exciting Challenge

        We learn about so many evil deeds done by people in every type of organization and at every level of the society. What we know is probably only the the tip of the iceberg, for evildoers like to keep their deeds hidden. Mankind's condition is definitely worse than what it appears to be. On the other hand, we have God's love and mercy. Fortunately, their true greatness is far beyond our comprehension. So things rather balance out. Still, our goal must be to have the Lord crush all evil and save all souls. We can never trust in God enough. And this is our exciting challenge.