*Beauty of God's Love

          There is secular music out there that's beautiful enough to make me think of God. Under Good Websites, Blogs, Videos..., I have already listed two videos featuring Rachmaninov's two preludes written for the piano, to me one expressing our yearning for God and the other, the love of Mary for her son, our Lord. I just watched another video featuring the most talented Japanese pianist Hayato Sumino playing the piano arrangement of Rachmaninov's 3rd movement of his 2nd symphony. Again, the music made me sense God's beautiful love for us. Here's that video.

**Listen to the Lord First*

         This is today's entire Gospel reading from Luke 10.

        Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

         We are very much like Martha, but we must listen to the Lord first and always, putting everything aside if necessary. This will be hard for many and they would probably argue that it won't work in real life. All I know is that if we listen to the Lord and do not be anxious or worry about things, everything will work out best. In other words, live your spiritual life right and your earthly life will follow in good order. Place God first and everything else second.

***We Are Before God!

         Also, in today's reading from Galatians 1, Paul made this side remark: "As to what I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying." It's kinda cute. But seriously, it's good to be beware that whatever we do, we are doing it before God; so we'd better be truthful. (The world has gotten so evil because it's no longer aware that God exists.)

***God's Plan for Us

        In today's first reading from Galatians 1, Paul writes "When God, who from my mother's womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me . . ." We must believe that God has also set each of us apart when we were still in our mother's womb. In Jeremiah 1, we read that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." The Lord may not have revealed to each of us a specific appointment, but he definitely has a plan for each of us. The call to holiness and obedience should be obvious. If we follow Christ faithfully, our plan evolves simultaneously. I could hear the Lord saying: "Blessed are those who do not know their specific appointments and still follow me faithfully."

****Steps to Knowing Christ

        Many Christian spiritual messages are being preached and writings being published, providing reflections, insights, views, etc. How effective they are is to be measured by how well they succeed in drawing you closer to Christ. After all, to know Christ the Lord must be our foremost goal. We cannot be effective if we do not know him well ourselves, even with the best of intentions. The three steps to reach this goal are to accept Christ, to believe in Christ, and to surrender ourselves to Christ so that we may get to know him mostly intimately, as in union with him. 

**Whom Do We Seek to Please?

         In today's first reading from Galatians 1, Pail writes, Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ. We try to please others all the time. If we do it for the sake of pleasing God, that's great. But if we do it in order to please ourselves, then our ego is involved and it can be sinful. Worst of all if we do it to please Satan! In any case, whatever we do, we should aim to do the will of the Lord to please him alone, no matter what others think or say. 

**My Mission on earth

          I want to praise Christ always. I want to extol his glory with all my heart and with all my soul. I don't just believe in him, I know that he is the true God. No one else can ever replace him, for there can be only one Lord. So hear me if you have ears. We are given just one life on earth to realize this truth. To remain lost forever is unthinkable. Try to get to know him; you have nothing to lose and only eternal life to gain. And you can always change your mind at any time, although I know that once you are with Christ, gladly following his will in all things, you'll never ever want to leave him. 

**Unbreakable Union

         Communion experience. The Lord entered me to affirm his union with me, a union that nothing in heaven and on earth can break. I am completely secure in the Lord.

***Our Calling and Fulfillment

        If Christ is your Lord, you must be in complete union with him. You cannot follow him without all your heart and all your soul. He has given us all of himself and we must reciprocate by giving all of ourselves to him. This is our sole calling and our perfect fulfillment.   

***Speaking Out!

        An urgent, important message for all Americans to hear. 

*Unself-Centered Rejoicing

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." The Lord hit the nail right on the heard. Knowing that God has chosen you is what truly matters and worth rejoicing about. The focus should always be on what he does for you and not on what you do for him.

**Joy of Learning from the Lord

        From today's reading from Psalm 119, we hear "O Lord, the revelation of your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple." This is followed by the Gospel acclamation, Matthew 11.25: Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. In college, when I studied mathematics, I virtually had to push my mind to the limit to solve some of he homework problems. Now, to learn the truth from the Lord, I only need to remain simple and be childlike. What a joy!

**Courageous Priest and Bishop

        We need more priests like Fr. Goring and bishops like Bishop Strickland.

Knowing the Lord Intimately

          Today's Psalm reading comes from Psalm 139 of David. I'm amazed that the psalmist knew the Lord so intimately. I am reproducing the entire text below, for it's a joy to read.

          Lord, you have probed me and you know me; you know when I sit and when I stand; you understand my thoughts from afar. My journeys and my rest you scrutinize; with all my ways you are familiar. 

        Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I sink to the nether world, there you are.

         If I take the wings of dawn and dwell beyond the sea, even there your hand guides me, and your right hand holds me fast.

         You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you that I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. 

*The Righteous and the Wicked

          Today is the Memorial of the Hoy Guardian Angels. In the first reading form Job 38, the Lord mentioned the wicked on earth to Job. This made me see that the world is divided into two camps which may be called the righteous and the wicked. The Lord God knows exactly which camp we belong to. And we can switch from one camp to the other at will when we are still alive on earth. To remain righteous is easy if you have God; to remain wicked is easy if you do not have God. Simple and clear.

**Our Exciting Challenge

        Things happen unexpectedly, but we must trust that God's timing is always perfect, for he knows exactly what he is doing. Jesus told us that he would come again at an hour we do not expect. Signs and warnings may precede certain prophesied events such as the illumination of conscience and the three days of darkness, but we still do not know when they will take place. So we must be prepared and trust the Lord in all things—this is our exciting challenge.

**Consequences of Rejecting the Gospel

        Today is the Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. It's her intense love for Jesus that first inspired me to love the Lord. I consider her to be my first spiritual guide. In the Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus sent seventy-two of his disciples ahead of him to every town and place to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He said to them, "Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 'The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.' Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town." This shows that if you reject the gospel of Christ, you will suffer consequences. It is most serious, for it amounts to telling the Lord that he is not true, putting it bluntly.   

***Urgent Calling to Prayer

         We are now engaged in a spiritual battle so fierce that we must not put off praying anymore. There are Christians now who've been deceived by Satan and believe that those Christians who do not embrace the left are now lost souls! I am not kidding! Satan is good at sowing confusion. If you don't stand strong and firm with Christ, you can be swayed easily by all his enemies who are legion. So anytime you feel the Lord calling you to pray, you must pray without delay and with all your heart. Yes, pray unceasingly, as we are in end times now. The time for the Lord to separate the goats from the sheep is near.