We know that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways his ways. (Isaiah 55.8.) We also know that God sees what's in our heart and we don't. I had traveled and seen many buildings that were beautiful and magnificent, and some cities were full of them. They could be cathedrals, palaces, museums, hotels, business centers, shopping malls, etc. Since I couldn't look inside people's hearts, everything looked good. If I could have seen as God sees, I would have been most likely shocked and never want to look at people (and myself) again. But we do know what's in our own heart. So if we can all make our own heart clean and pure, we'll have a truly beautiful world in God's eyes.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
**Living-the-Truth Test
In today's Gospel reading from John 3, the Apostle wrote: "This is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God." So I can say that if you have no hesitation in sharing all that's in your heart with God, then you have been living the truth.
***Some Union Benefits
Union with God liberates you. You know it when your tendency to sin is gone. While evildoers always scheme and plot to sin, you simply try to do good every present moment. You also experience peace because your thoughts are clean and you no longer think about anything that pulls you away from God. You find all trivial, mundane, phony, impure, worldly thoughts boring or even sickening, for you have seen or experienced the beauty, purity, and holiness of God.
***The End of Journey***
Last night I watched the documentary Footprints: The Path of Your Life on Netflix. It's about ten young men from Arizona following their parish priest, Fr. Sergio of Spain, to walk the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. It's a grueling 500-mile journey that took 40 days to complete. This ancient path has been traveled by pilgrims for centuries. The destination is the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral where the remains of the Apostle St. James is believed to have been buried. Anyway, the hikers went through pouring rain, suffered physical pain, lost their way, but also witnessed beautiful inspiring landscapes. More importantly, they all came to learn more about themselves and what they should focus upon, became motivated, and were drawn closer to God. Such an experience can definitely benefit most city dwellers who are so tied up with and weighed down by the affairs of the world. Again, I'd like to add that once you have attained union with God, he shall be dwelling within you, keeping you refreshed and inspired. You have now reached the end of your spiritual journey, for you have captured the Lord! Whatever that's beautiful or inspiring you wish to experience, you now find it right there in your God.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
***Dream Union Awaiting*
Our Lord is a personal God, but it takes two to tango. We must at least be open to him to keep a relationship. When we open up completely to him in humble submission, God and us become united as one and we experience liberation, peace, and joy! The Holy Eucharist serves as the catalyst and the seal. This is the dream union every human being should be in, the thrust of this blog. And God's invitation is always there while you are in exile on earth.
*Discovering the Messiah
Here is another good story from ONE FOR ISRAEL Ministry. It's typical of someone who never understood Jesus and woke up one day. God is always calling us and we need to leave ourselves open a crack to let the Lord in to lead us to him.
Monday, April 20, 2020
**Don't Commit Suicide
If you reject Christ as your Savior, it's no different from committing suicide. In either case, you end up condemning yourself. Accept Christ the author of life to have life and have it abundantly. He will fill you with more life and hope than ever, leading you to eternal salvation! That's why we call it the gospel, the good news. It's in reality the most fantastic, incredible news!
**To Be Born from Above
In today's Gospel reading from John 3, Jesus explained to Nicodemus how one must be born from above: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." I now fully understand why the Lord is more real than anyone I see on earth, and I feel his presence and know that he dwells in me. If you ask me how I know all this, all I can say is that if you'd been born from above, you'd know it too. Know God first and you'll have no more questions.
***Averting Tragic Ending of Life
If you feel depressed, down-hearted, discouraged, that your heart is heavy, that life is empty . . . it's God letting you know that you need him. This is how he has made us! Only he can truly satisfy us and make us happy. Life is temporal and we need to secure our eternal existence to be happy forever. You need to wake up and get in touch with the Lord of Christ, your Savior, who is readily accessible. Cry out to him from your heart and he hears you instantly. By the way, two of my friends who were outwardly very successful had committed suicide; the news shocked me. How I wish that they had known Christ and realized that life in him could be such a joy! It's like you are drowning and not aware that the life boat is right there in front of you. So, to avert any tragic ending of your life, get in touch with Christ the Lord of love and mercy and submit yourself to him if you haven't yet. It would be not only tragic, but also extremely foolish, to let your own pride kill you.
Sunday, April 19, 2020
***Post #10,000 Advice
On this Divine Mercy Sunday, I hit post #10,000. I started blogging in September 2009, just wanting to get my conversion story out. That didn't take long. After I finished telling it, there were a few more spiritual thoughts and I posted them as well. So from September to December that first year I posted just 24 times. And nothing came to my mind until June of next year, 2010. Thoughts started to pop up in my mind and I duly posted them, never believing that this would continue on too long. But it did continue on and I got the feeling that the Lord was up to something. So I asked him about it, and it became clear the following year in 2011 that I was to spread the message that he desires to draw all to union with him through the Holy Eucharist. As I continued posting, I also realized that he was shaping and molding me too through the teachings I received. It never would have been possible for me to say much about loving God and becoming holy on my own in the days preceding the blog. And the fact that for the last 10 years or so I've never had to think about what to blog next only shows that it's all God's doing. So how much longer I shall go on blogging, I don't know and am not concerned about it. I only wish more and more people will realize that to become one with the Lord is his highest calling for all of us and we can all become saints, for everything is possible with him. The Lord is ready to give you more and more, for he loves to bless you. Say yes to him and your journey will become a great joy. Say no and you'll find it laborious. Wise up to let him carry you all the way to heaven!
***One Thing We Must Do!
It's Divine Mercy Sunday. I rejoice that the Lords's mercy is so great that a sinner like me can get to go to heaven to be with him forever! To trust in the Lord is to trust in his mercy. So the foremost important thing for us to do in this life is to get all our sins forgiven by God. If this is not done, don't waste time thinking about heaven.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
***Divine Mercy Sunday Graces***
Tomorrow April 19 is Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus has made this fantastic promise to us through St. Faustina. So take advantage of it! Don't forget to pray for graces for all those you love also.
Friday, April 17, 2020
***Most Joyful Moment!
In today's Gospel reading from John 21, Jesus appeared to seven of his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. Peter, John, and the other disciples went fishing. All night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of he boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So John recognized that it was Jesus and said to Peter,"It is the Lord." When Peter heard it, he jumped into the sea and swan toward Jesus.
It is a most joyful moment to recognize that it is the Lord. You don't need to see him; you can just hear him speaking to you and know that it's his voice or see something happening and know that it's his doing. In fact, everything has to do with him and should be a joy to us! It is absolutely fine for us to love him for giving us so much joy.
**Our Only Savior
In today's first reading from Acts 4, Peter and John were speaking to the people in Jerusalem, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. The priests, the temple guard, and the Sadducees confronted them and put them in custody. The next day they brought them before the leaders, elders, and scribes, with all the high priests present. Peter, filled with Holy Spirit, answered their questions first and then boldly proclaimed about Jesus, "There is no salvation through anyone else nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved." I totally agree with Peter. If you do not agree and definitely know of someone who can do a better job of saving us than Jesus, feel free to let me know.
**Illumination of Conscience
I watched Fr. Goring's new video on YouTube today. I also feel that we need a spiritual illumination to secure our salvation. It is possible that we hear the gospel preached so many times or have had a Christian upbringing all along, but are never acutely aware that Christ is our one and only Savior, that we need to love and serve him alone, and that we would be absolutely lost without him! You probably agree with me here, but it really should hit you like a private revelation!
Here's the video:
Here's the video:
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