**Best Spiritual Journey

        If you believe that heaven and hell are real, then you should see them always before you and make sure that every step you take is going in the right direction. Best yet, be one with Christ the Lord and not worry about anything. This is the simple, carefree, and assured way to go.

**Huge Challenging Claim*

        John 14.6 was today's Gospel acclamation. Jesus made this earthshaking statement to his disciples: I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That first sentence is a most bold claim, and the second sentence that followed authenticates it. Not believing in what he claimed here is equivalent to believing that he was a phony.

*It Makes a Huge Difference

        The truth you either see or you don't. Once you know Christ, you are set for eternity. This life is only temporary, for you know exactly where you are heading. On the other hand, if you don't know Christ, you are not sure what life is all about. You are basically heading into the unknown, not a comfortable feeling. The difference can't be any greater.

**Sharing Yourself with God*

        There are many prayers already written that are beautiful and you can certainly use them to pray to God. But I still believe that the Lord loves to hear prayers that come directly from your heart. Only you know your own feelings and thoughts best, so prayers formed by you in your heart speak most intimately to the Lord. You don't even need to be concerned about correct grammar, proper wording, or how fluent or clumsy you are ... just thinking about your intention is good enough for the Lord to know. The main point is to let him see the genuine you. Keep sharing yourself with him like this and you will hear from him and develop a most intimate relationship with him. Then you will experience his holy presence. Naturally, receiving him in Holy Communion can greatly expedite this process. In sum, open up to God to let him open up to you.

Peace of Christ

         There will be no peace as long as we rebel against God. The peace of Christ comes to us when we reconcile ourselves to God completely. It is the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4.7).       

*Relying upon the Lord

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus sent the Twelve to proclaim the Kingdom of God at the many villages. He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic." This is trusting in God that he will always provide what you need —great advice for all. But many of us don't even believe in that, so they never find out whether it works or not. The truth of the matter is that the more you rely upon the Lord, the more he supports you.

Our Only Way

        Communion experience. I saw Jesus as our only hope, our only way out of bondage and misery, our only way to be liberated forever, and our only way to heaven. John 14.6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 

**Foremost Important Relationship

        Here is today's Gospel reading from Luke 8: The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." I see that we have mother, brothers, and other blood relatives, but to God we are all equally his children. What unites or separates us is whether we keep God's word or not. Our relationship with God is foremost among all our relationships. Each of us is important to our Father. Therefore, we must love everyone for his sake.

Our Great Sorrow

        Today's response from Psalm 122: Let's go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. What a joy to be chosen by God! What a joy to know Jesus! What a joy to follow him! What a joy to know that I am returning to the Father! Yet there is great sorrow. The Lord loves all of us, yet there are many who might not make it to his house. How can we deal with this sorrow? All we can do is to pray hard for and trust fully in God's mercy on all souls. Being extra holy ourselves can definitely help. One thing I do know: in the end our great joy will overcome all sorrows.

**Unique Loving Father

        The Lord God is so holy, perfect, and high above us that we need to worship and praise him in awe and with great reverence. Yet he is so loving and tender that we can place ourselves completely in his hands, for his ardent desire is to adopt us to be his children to live with him in heaven forever! What I wish to highlight here is the unique duality of awesome almightiness and tender lovingness our heavenly Father possesses.   

*Best Move for Us*

        There are so many things to pray for, too many to possibly cover. At the same time, I am aging and can no longer do many things physically with ease. So I see that the only sensible and really always the best move for me to make is to submit myself even more to God—it's one thing anyone can at any time do unrestrictedly. 

**The Truth of Love

        Communion experience. God is love. I realize that it is love that created us, saves us, and heals us. Commune with the Lord to receive the power of his love. This truth is what today's world urgently needs to know and wake up to.

**Christ Is Power

        If we preach to others how we should or can love God, we sound nice but not much will happen. It's like telling our children to be good—they need to know why and how. But if we preach Christ, then we preach power, for only he has the power to change our hearts. So, know Christ ourselves and then preach only him!

***Most Beautiful Experience of Life***

        More thoughts followed from the last post. If we think God won't know what we are doing, we become instantly the biggest fool of the whole universe. The light of Christ can reveal everything in our heart, even things we do not even see ourselves. It is so beneficial to go before the Lord to let him reveal what's in your heart. What you learn will amaze you. This is a challenge! You must be sincere and honest to yourself and thus to God. Remain still and look as deeply as possible within your heart. Eventually, you'll come to know and understand yourself. (I did this after receiving the Holy Eucharist in front of the tabernacle in a most peaceful chapel. All this helped.)  A somewhat parallel example: At one time in the past, I studied mathematics. Once in a while the professor would throw his students a most challenging problem to solve. I remember the time I spent the whole weekend working on one proof. I thought as hard as I possibly could and caught a glimpse of the solution—I scribbled it down, for I knew I would lose it instantly the moment I let it go. When we examine our own inner self, we should also go as deeply as we can. But here we won't forget what we have discovered. With God's help, we can truly achieve self-understanding, which is the beginning of knowing God. As you and the Lord explore and share all your "secrets" together, you get to know him intimately. Eventually, you can't help but fall head over heals in love with him! This is the most beautiful experience you can have in this life, for it transforms your heart and shapes your soul! 

***No Escape from Light!

        Today we heard the parable of the lamp read from Luke 8. Jesus said to the crowd: "No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be be known and come to light. To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away." Jesus is our light, for nothing can be hidden from him. Those who welcome his light see their own imperfections and know exactly how to ask the Lord to help them, and he makes them holier. But those who hide from his light are blind to their sins; they remain in darkness and lose their life altogether. 

**What Life Is Like to Us

        Life can be seen as a peaceful period of time interspersed with many disruptions or as a series of disruptions interspersed with short peaceful periods in-between. Since I receive the Lord daily, I see my life as a continual dwelling in him who protects me from all disruptions and blesses me with inner peace.

Are You Trustworthy or Not?

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 16, the parable of the dishonest steward was read. Jesus said, "The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones." People are either trustworthy or not trustworthy. It doesn't matter if you are a Christian or not. I had Christians who promised me to do something for me and never heard from them. I bet we all had friends or acquaintances who owed us money or borrowed a book from us and never mentioned it again. And they are lawyers and government officials who do not follow the laws themselves. One small incident I still remember. I was learning how to develop prints in a city photo lab many years ago. A staff member told all learners never to dip their hands in the developer. In the darkroom, I saw this very staff member doing exactly what he forbade us to do; he was rubbing the paper with his fingers in the solution, attempting to make the image appear sooner. If we want God to trust us, we must be trustworthy to him.

*Jesus Revealed

        We do not know what we want until we know Christ, for he leads us into a new existence out of this world. He is our missing piece that makes us see the whole truth. He is absolutely essential for our soul, our whole being. Yes, he is our treasure, pearl, and prize. And he turns out to be our creator, Lord, and loving God.