**Following the Coolest Person*

        Anyone with a big ego is like a hot air balloon. He is all puffed up looking big, but is only a bag of hot air. The cool person to me is the one who is humble without any ego. Looking at all the humble persons, I must say that Jesus has to be the coolest one. He is God, yet he became a slave to us. Philippians 2.6-8: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Even though he has all the power, he never ever uses it to showed off. He is the Lord, yet he never forces us to follow him. He simply reveals the truth to us, allowing us to make the decision. How cool that is! This is one big reason I follow and adore him.

**Help Yourself First!

        It's easy to pray for others. In public or at Mass, we pray for the world, our government, our church, our friends, etc. O yes, we also pray for God's blessings on us, but never that we open ourselves up to him or yield to him. Even in private, we rarely do that. Here, ignoring yourself is really being self-centered. In Matthew 7.3, Jesus taught his disciples not to judge others and asked, "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" Before praying for others, we should also notice our own shortcomings and imperfections. Since we are most important to God, we should be most important to ourselves too. To change the world, we need to change ourselves first, for the imperfect cannot help the imperfect. Therefore, pray for yourself first for the sake of God and others! When we become perfect, the world becomes perfect. 

*Battle with Ego*

        The ego is our worst enemy. If you do not conquer it, it can even make you lose your soul. (As a note, I'll just mention again that the way to kill the ego effectively is to starve it, with God's help.)

*My Only Lord!

        Communion experience. My soul feels triumphant, victorious, for by the power of Christ, I have conquered my sins and conquered myself. Only the Lord is my lord now. 

**Union with God a Must

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 7, Jesus said to his disciples that what comes out from within a man, from his heart, is what defiles him. As examples, he mentioned evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, Blasphemy, arrogance, and folly. The fact is that God can thoroughly cleanse our heart and keep us holy. That's why seeking union with God is not just a choice, but a must for us. It's getting defiled without God or staying clean with God.

Choice We Make on Earth

        We have many successful business entrepreneurs who have become billionaires today. They are ambitious and they work hard. By their own choice, they have succeeded in their own way in this world. We can also make a choice. Since we are all going to God after our limited time on earth, the wisest choice for me is clearly to follow Christ to store up riches in heaven while on earth. Then our eternity will be secured. This is being foresightful and smart, not to mention the peace and freedom that will accompany you on your way. 

**A Test on Forgiving Others*

        Forgiving others is difficult for most of us, especially if the person who has hurt us is also evil. Nevertheless, God understands that as finite beings, our mercy is also finite. We may wish to forgive an "enemy," yet our feelings may still remain negative. Here is a test for you. If God comes to you to ask for your permission to forgive that enemy of yours, would you say yes or no to the Lord? If you can say and answer yes, you pass the test. (BTW, had you said no, you would have been condemned by God for judging others.) 

**Going Directly for God

        This posting segues from the previous one. We get so many little pieces of advice from so many sources on how to get close to God. If you put all of them down on paper, you'd have a long, long list of do's and don't's. Besides, many of such messages are hardly memorable. So what's the productive way to reach God? Once again, the answer is to surrender yourself to achieve union with God. Then you'll automatically know what you should do and what you should not do, with no need of memorizing anything. So, to reach God, go directly for him.

**Desire Nothing Short of God

        Today's response from Psalm 84: How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God. Our dwelling place is really the Lord himself. We want to dwell in him! The second half of today's Communion antiphon from Psalm 107: The Lord satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry he fills with good things. Again, it's the Lord himself who satisfies our thirst and hunger. The Holy Eucharist does the job. When we seek union with God, it is to be one with God himself, not the gifts we receive from him. Don't "shortchange" yourself. Go for the Lord God, all of him. Once you have him, you receive all the gifts he has for you as well.   

**Neglect of Our Highest Calling

        We've ignored Christ and are no longer aware of his teaching that to be great, we must serve others (Matthew 20.26). It turns out that to be a lowly servant to others is in fact our highest calling, for he promised that he would exalt all those who humble themselves.

**Secret of Spiritual Growth

        To follow the Lord spiritually, you must get to know him, for it's impossible to grow spiritually if you do not know him. And it is impossible to know him if you do not get close to him. So the way to follow God best is to surrender ourselves to him to become one with him, then we'll know him inside out most intimately.  

*Lost Priorities

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, Jesus came to Gennesaret and people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak and be healed. Being human, we all want to be healed physically, but not so much spiritually. When you look at the world today, everyone wants to push their own agenda; they couldn't care less about the will of God. We always get the priorities wrong! No wonder the world is always in a mess.

***Simple and Direct way of Knowing God***

        I just saw a video telling you how to focus on Jesus by reading certain prayers. There are many suggested ways or methods out there. But you cannot beat going straight to the Lord; it's simple and direct. Your goal should be to attain union with God, beyond merely focusing on him. In union, you get all the support you need from the Lord himself, so much superior than reading books, attending conferences . . . in general, learning from someone else. So go heart to heart with God and not let anything stand between you and God, and he will reveal all his thoughts and ways to you. This is the endearing and most efficient way of knowing God. In a way, you don't have to do anything to know him. Like Mary the sister of Martha in Luke 10, just sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him speak.

***Church Going Astray

        More shocking news. When the Church is breaking up, something big is going to happen. Let's be extra vigilant, pray, and brace ourselves for possible chastisement from God.

**Greatest Possible Experience

        Communion experience. It is to enjoy the greatest possible friendship and intimacy we can have on earth. 

***To Attain Union with God...

you simply put down all your resistance to him. You go limp, that's it!

Journey to Salvation Summed Up

        Key realizations: (1) We are sinners. (2) We need to get our sins removed. (3) Christ is the Savior. Then we accept Christ as our Lord and follow him. 

*Our Best to Come

        The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all in each other, for they are one as God. This perfect oneness or union has existed from the very beginning (if there ever was one). We become one with God, as we submit ourselves to the Lord completely—it is the union between the creator and his creatures. Due to our sinful nature, it is not perfect, but it's the best we can attain on earth. This union creates an intense longing for God in us, as we yearn to perfect our union with him in heaven. For all faithful Christians, the best is yet to come.