*Two Versions of Tea for Two

        This post kinda ties in with the previous one. As you know, I have an interest in music (but not obsessed with it anymore as I was once). In the morning, I usually watched the news a little bit on YouTube and if I see any music videos interesting I watched them also. This morning I heard both Pierre-Yves Plat's "Tea for Two" and Art Tatum's version played. If you read scores, you can follow the playing. Pierre-Yves Plat is a living French pianist, very talented in both classic and jazz playing. His arrangement of the song is cleverly worked out and quite impressive. Art Tatum was probably the greatest American pianist who ever existed. I found his arrangement to be more spontaneous, coming more from the soul, and his talent truly amazing. I would say that, of the two, Tatum is more like a reservoir and less like a canal. The videos follow below.

**Be More like a Reservoir

        This morning I watched Marcus Grodi interviewing Keith Nester on his EWTN The Journey Home show on YouTube. Marcus quoted the saying "We aren't supposed to be channels, we are supposed to be reservoirs." This spoke to me and I searched online and found that St. Bernard of Clairvaux actually said this. I am quoting him more fully below.

        "The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself.... Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare.... You too must learn to await this fullness before pouring out your gifts, do not try to be more generous than God."

       It was beautifully said. While we feel that it is our duty to serve the Lord, it's equally important to know that God wants us to become holy ourselves first. The best way to achieve that is again to go deep, deep into the Lord. 

     I am posting the Keith Nester interview here in case you are interested in watching it.

**WHY We Need Christ

        Not a single person in the world has the power to understand us fully, know our true feelings, tolerate all our errors, remove any guilt we have, or heal our wounded souls except Christ who can not only do all the above, but also set us free, make us clean, and lead us to heaven. He is not called our Savior for nothing.

*God Be Our Defender

        When you are one with God, if you are ever wrong, you would know instantly and repent of your sin. And if you are right, you would know that your are, for God is always right. Now, even if people say bad things about you, put you to shame, or oppose you, it doesn't matter anymore, for he Lord is your instant help and will defend you.

***How to Know God's Plan for You

        First, you must know God well. Attain union with God is the perfect way to know him. Once you know him most intimately, you'll know his will, and his plan would be for you to follow his will. Beware that if you sin, you ruin his perfect plan for you, for you have gone against his will. So, remain in union with the Lord to know his plan and remain holy to know that you are following it. 

*Predetermined & Undermined Events

        In today's Gospel reading from John 13, Jesus predicted Peter's denial by saying to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, the cock will not crow before you deny me three times." Later, this truly happened. The Lord knows all the things that must happen. His Second Coming has to be on of them. Of course, not everything is predetermined, for we have our free will and how we exercise that will affects how things will turn out. For example, if we all repent to the Lord and beg for his mercy, the coronavirus crisis can be quickly over. On the other hand, if we continue to sin against the Lord, worse chastisements will surely come. For each of us, we only need to follow the Lord faithfully according to the plan he has for each of us and leave the rest to him. 

***How Jesus Captured Me

       Of course, the might works and great miracles Jesus performed were most impressive, but what moved my heart and touched my soul and made me want to worship, praise, and adore him were his humility, his meekness, and his perfect obedience to the Father. Jesus said, "Whoever humbled himself will be exalted." Now it makes perfect sense to me.

***Tragedy in the Making

        Dying from the coronavirus must be a terrible experience, as the victim cannot breathe normally anymore. But if you have not reconciled yourself to God yet, this experience is nothing compared to what you might experience after you die and face God. The wise always think ahead and plan for their eternity first. Most people think only about this life and consider death only when they are threatened by it. They hardly think about life after death—it's as if they are content to let the unknown be unknown. This unwillingness to face eternity is a tragedy in the making, for they might miss the greatest possible reward God wants to give you.

***Our Last Hope!

        Jesus the Lord God himself has come to us in person to give us the good news of salvation. There is not another savior and there will be no one greater than he to come. He is our last hope!

**A Christian's Sole Mission

        From today's first reading from Isaiah 49, we read The LORD said to me, You are my servant, in you, Israel, I show my glory and I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Here it's made clear the mission of a Christian. We are to show God's glory by being a light to the world, spreading the good news of his salvation. Nothing less and nothing more. In other words, a Christian must be a soul saver. It's easy to remember and completely doable through the personal power of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, if we simply obey God.

***How to Be Set Afire

        God has to be more important to us than anything else for obvious reasons. So we must take him seriously. I do see Christians who live a rather casual Christian life. To please God, being lukewarm is not good enough. You must set your heart afire, and the only way to achieve that is to let the Holy Spirit fill you to the brim, for you cannot do it on your own. By the way, to be evil, you don't need God's help; but to be holy, you need all of his help. It all comes down to how willing you are to let God rightfully be your God. In this "game," if you want to win, you lose; but you are willing to lose, you win. Let God take charge of you and he'll set your heart on fire with the Holy Spirit.

***Our Amazing God

        Today I realize that our God, the God of Christ, is truly amazing. He is pure, unconditional love. He wants us to live happily with him forever in heaven! He is absolutely someone we can completely trust. Nothing is impossible for him and we can tap this power for our own spiritual gain. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face, let alone the joy I feel in my heart. This God can be totally ours!

***How to Know God

        If you already know the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, then you already know God the Holy Trinity. Of the three, we can relate to Christ the most because he actually did come down to earth to be among us. Through him, you get to know the Father intimately and receive the Holy Spirit. Since God is the truth, when you know him, you just know that he is the true God. How about if you are still seeking God? Know that you are finite and do not know him yet, while he is infinitely greater than you and knows all about you already. So you cannot expect that he would come to you to beg you to believe in him (it's just not appropriate, right?). The right attitude to assume is to believe that he truly exists and go to him humbly to let him know that you desire to know him. Seeing that you are sincere, he will then joyfully reveal himself to you to fulfill all you desire.

***How to Be like Jesus

        Today is Palm Sunday. What inspires me the most about Jesus was his complete obedience to the Father. These verses before the Gospel from Philippians 2 make that clear: Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. When Jesus was accused by the chief priests and elders, he remained silent. After he was brought before Pontius Pilate the governor, Pilate asked him if he didn't hear the many things the chief priests and elders were testifying against him, he did not say one word. Obviously, obedience to the Father was his sole concern.

          We are to obey the Father too. If we know we are doing his will, we must carry it through no matter what others think or say. There is no need to explain nor justify what we do to anyone. Obey the Father in secret and we'll be like Jesus.

***My Testimony and Plea***

        We do have our happy moments in life, but they don't last. And we know we can never find true happiness in this world. You can make all the money, get all the material things, and earn all the admiration you want, and life will seem emptier than ever. True happiness is to be found in Christ alone who created us! He is the only one who understands us, who loves us, and who can cleanse my hearts and heal my souls. He is our one and only Savior! That is why in him, we can rest and find peace, freedom, and joy, now and forever! Abandon the sinking world and put yourself completely in his hands. Now, even if you die, you'll live with him in paradise.  

***How to Avoid Chastisement

        To avoid receiving any chastisement from God, we need to have a pure, clean heart. The first thing would be to repent and let God take away your sins. This step may be hard for those who would not ever consider humbling themselves to take, but it's absolutely necessary for their salvation. It is the part that requires you to make the effort. Once your heart is made clean, you must keep it clean by not falling into sin again. The next proper step to take would be to seek union with God.  Again, you need to humble yourself by surrendering yourself completely to him, but the effort is definitely worth it. For once you attain union with God, he even removes your tendency to sin. With struggling with sin gone, you now know that the Lord is carrying you all the way! (By the way, the Holy Eucharist is absolutely the greatest aid in helping you achieve union with God.)

***It's Chastisement Time!***

        Many lay Christians have recognized that the coronavirus is a chastisement from God. Of course, God is always calling us to turn away from sin to turn to him, but we grow increasingly deaf and stray away even further. This leaves the Lord with no choice but to shake us up a bit. Fr. Mark Goring is giving this warning today. He mentions a couple of examples showing how far we have walked away from the Lord. Let me just add several more. (1) We've legalized abortion and allowed the continuous termination of the unborn by the millions worldwide. (See my post "Magnitude of Abortion" giving the numbers in this country alone.) (2) The corruption within the Church, covering up the sex-abuse scandals and much more. (3) Our devious politicians who seek to gain power and control with no regard for the wellbeing of the country in the U.S. (4) The worldwide human-trafficking creating millions and millions of victims. While I don't expect any government officials to proclaim that God is chastising us, it is our duty as Christians to tell others about it for the sake of their souls. If we don't wake up, something worse will surely come. Just know that the days to Christ's Second Coming are numbered!

*Guiding Rule for Getting Things Done

        We all have many things to do in life. Some are necessary and others less so. We should do what's necessary, but not be anxious about it. During this coronavirus shutdown period, we cannot do all the things we normally do, but we can adapt by doing other things that can be equally fruitful. Following God's will without any anxiety should be our guiding rule in any circumstances. It is following his will that counts, not whether we get it done or not.