*Unready for Christ Yet

      When you tell others about Christ, they often feel uneasy, thinking that you are imposing your beliefs on them. The truth is that you are concerned about their soul and want to share the gospel with them. On the other hand, you can pretty much tell them or advise them on anything else and they don't feel threatened. I think this is because we somehow sense that Christ as God knows everything about us and we as sinners are not ready to face him yet.

**My Wise Advice

        God often gives us the grace to repent and return to him just before we die. But since we can die unexpectedly or lose our mind early, we can't count on receiving that grace always. So, be ready now when your mind is still clear. If you make God wait too long, you could lose him forever.

***God, the Coolest Person

        He is, because he always speaks the truth and loves all of us whether we follow him or not. He gives us the freedom of choice, never browbeating us into submission in any way. He has infinite power, but remains humble and meek. He is always magnanimous and trustworthy. He was even willing to lay down his own life for us! He is worthy to be our Lord. 

***Sensible Talk from a Sensible Person

        I came across this video on Yahoo News. The speaker, radio host Jesse Lee Peterson makes a lot of sense. Christ made him see things right.

**Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring*

        Bach's chorale "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" from one of his cantatas has been arranged and transcribed for various instruments. The best-known transcription for piano was by British pianist Dame Myra Hess. It sounds easy, but is not easy to play. Here we have Simone Dinnerstein playing it beautifully. To me, the title is already beautiful.

**What You Never Want to Hear Jesus Say

        Just read the Gospel from Matthew 7 for today's Mass. What the Lord said supports my last post. He said to his disciples, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'" These are the words you never ever want to hear the Lord say to you! Instead, you want to hear him say "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come, share your master's joy" (Matthew 25.23).

***A Serious Reminder!

         The God of Christ is our absolute moral reference point. We'll be measured by how well we follow his example. There is no escape from this, for he is our sole judge. It is the simple reality. Each of us is responsible for our own destiny. We can surrender to Christ wholeheartedly or reject him outright. The choice is ours. But remember, you reap what you sow.

**To Be Today's John the Baptist

        Today is the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. In Luke 1, John's father Zechariah prophesied: "You, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way." Then I see clearly that all Christians are called today to go before the Lord to prepare his Second Coming! 

***Must Realization to Appreciate Life***

          From today's Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 139, a psalm of David: Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. 

       When you realize that God has wonderfully created you, you begin to appreciate both him and yourself and will want to save all souls. You are now pro-life and happy with yourself too. 

***Heaven or Hell

        Watch Fr. Mark Goring's video today. You are not likely to hear messages like this preached from any pulpit. Wake up and hear what we need to hear! May God increase his blessings on Fr. Mark a hundredfold!

***Feeling Deep Sorrow

        This morning around 2 a.m., I suddenly dreamt of my mother who passed away decades ago. I felt deep sorrow for her and started to sob and moan aloud. I won't go into details. Let me just say that she was a beautiful person, but was not treated kindly by other unloving family members. She suffered greatly both emotionally and physically her whole life. Before she died, she had surgery four times in a row. I was away and wasn't able to help her much except for telling her to believe in Christ. One consolation was that she started attending a Christian church before she left the world. Still asleep, I heard Lord's Sermon on the Mount, blessing all the good people, and I knew that he would have mercy on her soul. Experiencing such deep sorrow made me see why we have a merciful God. After I woke up, I felt sorrow again. But this time it's for all those in the world, many of whom are either rich, powerful, and famous or plain ignorant, now unknowingly serving Satan. After they leave this world, they are going to encounter the greatest shock of their existence. Then it'll be too late to realize that God is real and loved them.

**Today's Evil-Infiltrated World

        The fact that Satan has taken so much control of the world now is due much to the Church letting down its guard, especially over this last century or so. The only hope to start anew is to have the high hierarchy of the Church repent of all their sins. But that's not likely to happen, for many in the hierarchy are already enemies of the Church. I see only more confusion, chaos, and upheaval coming our way until the Lord intervenes. Pray that he will intervene.

**On Fighting Evil

        Jesus said in Matthew 25.40: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did it for me." 1 John 4.20: If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar." The Lord identifies himself with us. Loving others is loving him, and you cannot love him if you hate others. Think about it, this is amazing! It tells us that we must fight evil with love. How to carry it out is our big challenge. We must seek help and guidance from the Lord all the more. Our faith is being tested. This I know, if we trust in him, he will always deliver us from evil.

             Meanwhile, Fr. Mark Goring's words today are most helpful to hear:

**Our End in These Dark Times

        In these dark times, it's so good to know that the Lord, our greatest joy and consolation, is with us. This is the time to perfect our submission to and increase our love for him. Make this our end in this world. Once we attain union with the Lord, let all good flow from it. 

***Pray for Yourself First

        We see what's going on around us, but often are not aware of ourselves. Our ego blinds us from seeing our own faults. Perhaps we turn to ourselves only after we've done something bad and felt guilty about it. Jesus asks us why we notice the splinter in our brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in our own eye. Holiness must begin with us, making praying for ourselves fundamentally our most important prayer. Of course, this is done not out of pride, but out of humility. What good is it if everyone else becomes perfect but not yourself?

***Dark Times in End Times*

        Every Catholic should watch this video to see what they are facing now. It's time to die for Christ or die forever.  

***Most Beautiful Existence

        There can be nothing more beautiful than we and God becoming one as Jesus and the Father are one. The Lord God is already perfect and holy, so we only need to submit ourselves to him to let him make us perfect and holy. This is getting ready for entering heaven.

**Letting God Back Us to the Fullest

        We may believe in God, but do we believe that he'll back us to the fullest in any crisis? It is this faith we need now more than ever. Again, the only way to have this kind of faith is let ourselves go in God, "forcing" him to support and strengthen us, for he loves us. With God, it always comes down to submitting ourselves to him. When we no longer rebel against him, the world will be at peace. This is the heart of the matter.