***Choose to Receive Your Reward

        Back in the old days, I could easily count all the models of cars made by GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Today you have countless models made by a great number of companies worldwide, including super expensive and fast cars of which many hope to own one. The thing is driving any of these super cars won't get you a centimeter closer to heaven. (I am not trying to be funny.) Of course, there are many other things in the world that can give us pleasure as well. What I hope is we would not ever hear the Lord say to us "You have already received your reward"! Personally, I'd rather receive any reward coming to me later in heaven. Then heaven itself is already our best possible reward. In any case, reject any reward that does not get you any closer to heaven. If you don't, you may end up receiving all you reward on earth.

***Exciting to Have Found God

        Yesterday I blogged that there is no limit to how holy we can be. The is the same as saying that there is no limit to how close we can get to knowing God, as he is infinite in every way. We can surrender to him as best as we can, but only he can perfect that union. Finding God is exciting enough. Discovering that we can get to know him more and more without end makes it even more exciting!

*Facing Tough Times

        Today's Gospel reading from Mark 4 tells how Jesus calmed a storm at sea. I came home after Mass and saw Fr. Mark Goring's new video "Tough Times Ahead." He applies the lesson he learned from this reading to handling the tough situation the Church has put us in today. 
                                                                                            

**God Making Us Holy

        Communion experience. The soul is even more fundamental than the heart. That the Lord would enter me and heal my soul, making it whole and perfect, was both overwhelming and rewarding. He may not always heal us physically, but he'll always help us spiritually as much as we want him to. Living the spiritual life is exciting precisely because there is no limit to how holy you can be.

**Life Is Worth Living!

        Attended morning Mass today. Another day to live. As always there are various mundane affairs to take care of, but it's another day to live for Christ to store up even more treasures in heaven! And it's also a day closer to seeing my most beloved in heaven face to face. 

**Momentous Moment

        Communion experience. Here I am, a finite creature who is powerless to save himself, placing himself entirely in the hands of the infinite God, his creator and Savior. It is truly a momentous moment when the two become one or solidify their union. 😇😇😇

**Tragic Nonrealizations

1. Most of the world does not realize that we are so loved by God that he sent his only Son to die for us in order to save us from sin. If we are aware that we all are this precious to God, we would want to be less self-centered and treat everyone else with a lot more respect and love.  
2. We do not realize that God desires that we all become saints and that he can make this easily happen if we cooperate.         

         Because of these two nonrealizations, we have turned our world into a mess. 

**The Moment of Knowing God*

        If you open yourself up to the Lord, he shall let you know that he is the one you need, the one in whom to rest forever. Now you truly know him!

**The Union Difference*

        If you and the Lord are not in each other yet and you wish to call on or pray to him, you just go or travel to him somewhere outside of you. And when you expect to hear from him, you expect to hear his voice coming to you externally in some way to reach your heart. But if you are in union with the Lord, you only need to turn to your own heart where he is dwelling to talk to him and hear him speak to you from your heart too. No traveling necessary, great intimacy and honor, and so very cool!     

*Formula for Spiritual Success

        Today's Gospel reading came from Mark 4. I was impressed by verse 25 in which Jesus said to his disciples, "To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." This is a beautiful, simple but profound statement, and it is so true and very cool. The Lord has given the formula for success to us here. It's saying that the spiritually rich will eventually inherit everything, while the spiritually poor will eventually lose everything. It comes down to that if you have God, you have everything, and if you don't, you have nothing. 

*Joy Absent Ego

        Communion experience. The secret interior joy I felt in the Lord was so pure and satisfying, as ego was completely uninvolved. 

***To Be Rich Soil for God's Word

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 4, we heard the parable of the sower. A large crowd gathered around Jesus and he taught them in parables. He said to them that a sower went out to sow, and only the seed that fell on rich soil produced fruit, yielding thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Later he explained that the sower sows the word and those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. The Lord made me see that the best way to become rich soil to bear fruit for him is to let him enter deep into us, allowing him to plant the seed right within our heart. 

*Serving the Right Master

        When you hear the word "servant," you conjure up someone lowly and without glamour. But it all depends upon the master you serve. If you serve the Devil, I suppose you might gain fame and become glamorous, but in the end you lose even your soul. Then you can serve science and technology, art or music, or money. Certainly we all more or less serve ourselves, as it's so easily done. But all these masters "aim" to enslave us. At the other extreme, you can serve the Lord God. If you remain faithful, he will treat you as a friend or his child, loving and taking care of you forever. So to be a servant is fine, as long as you choose the right master. And there is no better master to serve than your God, the God of Christ.

**No Judging

        We may not like someone, even holding strong opinions about the person. As long as we do not wish ill on that person, there is no judging. 

**Ramifications of Your Sin

      Suppose you drive and hit someone. The worst that could happen would be that the victim is maimed for life. Now suppose that you commit a sin which in turn causes others to fall away from God. This is a lot more serious, as other souls are affected. My point is that think twice before you sin, for you could cause others to fall away from the Lord, making your sin a lot graver than you might think. 

***Another Wakeup Call to Battle

        There are more things that distract us from God than ever. Traveling in some countries abroad, whether you are riding in a subway car or on a street bus, you see most passengers playing a game, watching a show, or communicating with someone on their mobile phone. Back home, people eagerly check out new car models packed with tech features and speculate what the next generation of iPhones will be like. Who would have thought not too long ago that today you can order just about anything (even coffins) from Amazon online and get it delivered to your front door in one or two days? Science and technology have made this world more exciting, but all these material accomplishments have taken our attention away from God, turning God almost into an afterthought. The spiritual warfare continues on and the casualties will be high. To turn the tide, we need to wake up, join the Lord, and fight hard for him. For Christians, it's do-or-die time.

*Belonging to God's Family

        Today is the Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas. In the Gospel reading from Mark 3, Jesus said to the people, "Whoever does the will of my God is my brother and sister and mother." It tells me that doing the will of God supersedes all earthly family relationships and makes us members of his heavenly family. I also see that in God's family, we all become equally God's children. 

**To Receive All God's Gifts for Us

        Before Mass began this morning, I felt great peace in the Lord—such a wonderful way to start the day. Peace is God's precious gift to us. Two others came to my mind—they are wisdom and understanding. Wisdom is knowing what is true and what is false, and understanding is knowing the Lord's will. Of course, there are many other beautiful gifts to us. Naturally, the greatest of all of them is the Lord himself. If we possess him, we possess all his gifts for us as well. All the more we need to seek to attain union with him!