**O Holy Night*

        As Christmas approaches, enjoy listening to this beautiful rendition of "O Holy Night."

Being Transparent to God

        God knows everything! So Anyone who tries to hide what he has done from others is making himself look bad and foolish before God. We are transparent to the Lord and we should act accordingly. Having nothing to hide is what he looks for (if that makes sense to you).

**Something to Do with God**

        Anyone who is happy with God is also happy with himself. And anyone who is afraid of facing God is also afraid of facing himself.

***Key Question We Face

        Before handing out Holy Communion, the priest says, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper." Do you believe that Jesus can take away your sins? This is a key question. If you answer no, then you have to disbelieve that he is God and that he rose from the dead. Furthermore, you also have to declare that all the Gospels are a big hoax and that Christ was entirely false. If you are not prepared to or cannot say so and still do not believe in him, then you can only be considered a major dishonest coward! 

When You Meet the Lord . . .

        If you never knew Jesus, when you meet the Lord, he will see how selfless (or self-centered) a life you have lived. If you knew the Lord, he will see how much you have devoted yourself to serving him. In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, Jesus said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." If you are his disciple, are you laboring to help his harvest?

Is Life Fair?

        Just received notice that a sister in Christ who lived a hard life and was a brave pro-life warrior has suddenly passed away. Is life fair? If you look at just our brief life on earth, then it seems most unfair is some cases. But if you look at our overall life from birth through eternity, then life is absolutely fair, for God is absolutely just and knows exactly how to reward or punish each one of us. So trust in God totally and forget about this question. 

**Of the World or with God

         Surviving to safeguard our soul is not easy in our secular, godless world. There are so many carnal desires we want to satisfy and we can easily become insatiable. We experience sensual pleasures but never truly feel uplifted in any way. This is vey much like wallowing in the mud; it's fun, but afterwards you know you are all filthy. On the other hand, we can come to know God well enough to enjoy him. We then experience peace and contentment and get that exhilarating clean feeling. The is like taking a nice long hot shower and afterwards you feel relaxed and comfortable. But there is nothing in the world you can truly compare to the freedom and joy you also experience.
          Those of the world are trapped. They continue to seek the very pleasures that cannot satisfy them for satisfaction and become enslaved. The only way to break out of this vicious cycle is to go to God, for he is the only one who can free us from sins.

*It's All Up to You.

        Only you can initiate union with God and once in union, only you can break that bond, for the Lord will never abandon you and the Devil is powerless against him. 

**Faith Essential*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, two blind men followed Jesus, crying out, "Son of David, have pity on us!" Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord, they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened. Faith is what enables miracles to happen. Without it, you don't see God as you remain in darkness. In today's world, I am afraid that when the Lord comes, he'll find little faith. Even believers place him pretty much on the periphery. God's mercy is infinite, but it cannot help you if you lack faith. Faith is our essential link to God and a strong faith makes us one with him, forming the most beautiful union this side of heaven.  

Taste God's Peace Now

        We've been listening to readings from Isaiah at Mass. If the Lord had foretold that peace would reign in the end, I can tell you that we can already experience this peace in our hearts when we have Christ the Lord dwelling within us. It is his presence that produces inner peace. When we have inner peace, external peace follows.

*Playing Hide-and-Seek with God

        We love to play hide-and-seek with God, even when we know we are lost. God is always trying to find us in order to bring us home. Those who give up playing and show themselves to God will be homebound, but those who keep on hiding all their life will be dead when God finds them. this is a game you want to lose if you play. As Jesus said: Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

***The Fire of Christ

        The Holy Spirit is the fire of Christ. Let the Lord Spirit fill you to the brim so that he may set your love for Christ in your heart aflame forever!

**Everything You Need*

        When you possess God, you are perfectly content. You no longer worry; you experience deep peace and lack nothing. Your cup runneth over.

***How to Give Your Heart to God*

        Do you take your heart out and throw it to God? No. You simply open up to the Lord completely and remain passive, and he will delightfully take possession of your heart (and you will be filled with great joy, the joy of freedom!).

*Awesome Combination of Virtues*

        Humility and bold faith make a wonderful combination. We are nothing, yet we believe that the Lord can make us into anything he wishes.

**Holding onto Ourselves

        We forget that God is all-powerful and we are weak, so we still hold onto ourselves tightly, even in loving God, instead of seeking power from the Lord to help us accomplish all things. Letting go of ourselves can be so tough!

***Secret to Entering Heaven

        The Gospel reading came from Matthew 7. In it, Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." So the "secret" to getting into heaven is to do the will of the Father–so simple. Attain union with God and you'll know and want to do his will.

*Cure for Moodiness

        If you get moody sometimes and don't enjoy that, Christ is your answer. Once you attain union with him, you'll never feel gloomy, depressed, or ill-humored again.