***Union with God Achieved!

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus says (verse 56): "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My Blood, remans in me and I in him." To remain in each other is to be one. (If A < B and B < A, then A = B. A mathematical certainty.) It is clear to me that if you truly believe that the Holy Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ and partake of it, then you and he become one. Union with God is achieved!

**Our Omniscient Lord

        In today's first reading from Acts 9, we hear the conversion of Saul. Saul was persecuting the disciples of Christ horribly and Jesus stopped him in the track and asked him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Read the first 20 verses to to get the whole beautiful story. When you persecute the Lord, he knows. So if you are good to him but do not hear him speak to you audibly, you can be sure that he knows too. The Lord knows every thought we think, ever word we utter, every deed we perform, and more. Do you feel good about this? If you don't, then you definitely have things to hide, not good. If you are glad that the Lords knows all about you, it shows that you trust in him totally, a great sign.

**We Need a Mother

        Traditionally, the Church has set aside the month of May to honor our Blessed Mother, Mary, the mother of the Son of God, who is God. Each one of us needs a good mother; this is how God has made us, and Jesus has given us her own mother from the cross. I am going to let Fr. Mark Goring tell you how we all need to invite Mary into our home in the video he posted today.

***Solution to All Problems

        Evil has infiltrated the world. It has specifically infiltrated the Church, sowing confusion and discord. But we know that the Church of our Lord will prevail in the end, so she is being chastised and pruned now. Also, it could be that end times are near. No matter what, each of us who follow Christ is being tested. We must never abandon the Church and must seek refuge in the Lord more than ever. This is the best time to go deep into our God. All the more we need to seek union with him. It is the solution to all our problems: to become holy ourselves. 

**Last Thought of This Month**

        Before this month of April ends in about 30 minutes, I want to end on a high note. There is not a thing in this world we can hold onto, ourselves included, but there is the God of Christ we can hold onto forever. This alone is enough to make life worth living and us rejoice!

***Going to Heaven Made Easy

        If you follow God's will, it will be done. To wish to go to heaven is precisely what God wills for you, so keeping his word and you'll be there for sure. The gate that leads to life may be narrow, but the more you yield to God, the wider it opens up for you. And when you submit yourself to him completely, it vanishes altogether. In sum, how easy your journey to God is depends entirely upon how willing you are to let him carry you.

**Simple and Beautiful Truths

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus said, "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the the one who sent me. And this is the will of he one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day." 

      These sayings reveal some important truths. (1) Jesus did come down from heaven and is the Son of God. (2) When God calls us, we cannot possibly be rejected by him. God calls you only because he wants to save you! If you hear his call and go to him, you are "in." (3) "Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life"—these nine words are all one needs to know to live on forever in paradise!

**World in Chaos

        Today is the memorial of St. Catherine of Sienna. Reading 1 from Acts 8 tells about the persecution of the Church, scattering all followers except the Apostles throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Our world is in chaos today too. In this country alone, so many voices are out there attacking others nonstop. You can't even get everyone together to agree on loving our own country, let alone believing in one God. Without faith in the one God of Christ, the world will sadly remain in chaos until the Second Coming of the Lord. 

**Jesus Our Life

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus said to the crowd, "The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Again, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." I see that that Jesus had prefigured the Holy Eucharist here. As our Lord and our God, he is truly the only one who can satisfy our spiritual hunger and quench our spiritual thirst. Go to him and believe in him, and your are set for eternity. 

***Follow God, Not Your Own Grain

        In today's reading 1 from Acts 7, as Stephen was stoned to death at the feet of Saul (Paul), he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep. Now Saul was consenting to his execution. We sometimes don't mind openly or secretly that the people we consider bad or just plain don't like would meet some tragic end. But wishing ill of anyone is a sin, for God loves us all! Also, in so wishing, you have judged them. Instead, we should pray for our "enemies" as St. Stephen did. Ask the Lord to crush all evil but save all souls.

**Our Biggest Oversight

        We take good care of our own home, our properties, possessions, family, health, the business we own or the job we hold, our retirement, even our own funeral. How ironic that we hardly think about taking care of our soul!

**When Losing Peace Is Justifiable

        People get upset or lose peace over so many things. Know that we ourselves are not perfect, cannot be in control of all things, and are living in an imperfect sinful world. Besides, who are we to think that we should always be in control and have our ways? As Christians, God should be our only Lord. In any case, getting upset or losing peace is justifiable only if you know you might not make heaven.

*God Makes It Simple for Us

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, people asked Jesus, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" He answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." God has made it simple and straight for us—we only need to believe in Jesus. It's the very opposite of taking an obstacle course. With faith, we can simply accomplish anything in his name.

*Progression of the Spiritual Life

        All journeys start out with the love of God. It is through this love that faith is born. As our faith deepens, we receive greater power and fire, and increasingly experience freedom, peace, and joy.

*One Reason We Need God

        Without God, we behave like little kids with no good sense, messing up things. With God, we acquire good sense, cleaning up the mess and putting our life in order.. 

***Criterion for Salvation

        We are not saved by how good we feel about ourselves. Instead, we are saved by how we good we feel about Jesus.

**Getting Around Surrendering to God

        If you don't surrender yourself to God just because you don't like to hear the word "surrender," there are other ways. Beg God to have mercy on you, meaning it from your very heart, or open yourself up completely to him, and you shall accomplish the same thing.

**To Be Freed from the World

        The Smithsonian Channel has produced the TV series Aerial America showing how each state looks from the air. As you watch the episodes, you also learn about the various historical landmarks and well-known buildings and homes. I came away with a picture that people in the past fought wars, built forts, started businesses, became big and constructed huge homes . . . in general, laboring away the whole time on earth. This is like living on a plane and never getting up into space. If we can connect with God, then we are lifted out of the two-dimensional space into the third dimension. This is the move the wise make to be freed from this mundane world for ever.