**Dumb Evildoers

         If i am so bad and it looks like I am headed for hell and if I still have some intelligence left, I would probably think about changing my ways and even turning to God. But I just don't see many evildoers do that. Choosing to be evil already makes you a loser. If you don't ever consider turning away from evil, that makes you dumb as well. Dumb evildoers are to be greatly pitied.

In the Kingdom of God

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to (1) a mustard seed that's planted in the garden and grew fully to a large bush and the birds of the sky came to dwell in its branches and (2) yeast mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened. Obviously, if we know God, we would grow, expand, and become productive. If we still remain pretty much the same, then we are not quite in the Kingdom of God yet. 

***The Blessing of Knowing God

        I said in the last post that everything around us keeps us from knowing God. This is true if you don't know the Lord yet. Once you know the Lord well, you have just the opposite. Things that are beautiful instantly remind me of God. Things that are ugly put a heavy burden on my heart and I automatically turn to the Lord who is my refuge, to pray to him and seek consolation from him. And I am drawn even closer to him. To the blessed, everything that happens around him becomes a blessing.    

***Only Christ Can Lead You to Life!***

         In Matthew 7:14, Jesus said to his disciples, "How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leas to life. And those who find it are few." In Matthew 22, after telling the parable of the wedding feast, he said, "Many are invited, but few are chosen." Man has strayed away from God so much that to find life in this world has truly become an uphill battle for all. Everything around you keeps you from knowing God. Only those who have found and encountered Christ are able to keep their soul safe. Christ is our only hope to salvation. If we have lost our way, he can lead us to life. If we are headed toward hell, he can make us heaven-bound. Go after Christ as if you whole life depends upon it because your whole life does depend upon it.

*Hypocrites Galore

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus called the leader of the synagogue hypocrites. There are numerous hypocrites among us today. These people do not see their own faults and always blame others for everything. They are self-righteous, lack humility, and do not truly know God. They are phony and they lie. The glaring examples are the crooked politicians, corrupt clerics, and fake news networks. Hypocrites are to be pitied, for they are doomed if they do not turn to God to change their ways. 

*****Asking God to Consecrate Us

        In today's Gospel acclamation John 17:17, Jesus asked the Father to consecrate in the truth all those he gave him out of the world. So I start thinking that instead of us struggling on our own to become holy, since we know that the Father has also chosen us out of the world to give to Christ, why don't we ask the Father directly to consecrate us in the truth? I believe that great things will happen if we do this, as it is what the Lord wishes the Father to do to us.

***Powerful Free Will***

         We are all given our free will. With it, we are free to reject God's love, defy him, and land ourselves in hell fires for all eternity or we can choose to obey and serve God and end up in paradise with him for ever! I would make the latter choice and retire my free will once and for all.

***Christ to Be Imitated

        We know that when we accept and believe in Christ as our Savior, we are saved. But the Lord wants us to go further; he wants us to imitate him to become like him. He has commanded us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. And Christ is our perfect model, as he is pure, humble, and holy. Our biggest oversight or neglect is not imitating him after we have accepted him as our Lord. We forget that calling him Lord is to obey him in all things. Otherwise, unknowingly we become hypocrites.

**With Heart and Not by Reason

        To love God, you don't reason with yourself to tell yourself that you should do this or that and then try to do it. It won't work out well that way. To love God, you must know and experience the Lord first and then let him inspire and motivate you to do what he prompts you to do. This way, your heart is involved and you'll be able to accomplish it easily with joy. Always live and do everything in the Lord.      

**A Math Riddle

            Once in a long while, I post a puzzle, a riddle, or a math problem just for fun. When it comes to solving any math problem, you must think logically and be rigorous. There is no place for sloppy thinking. I can also say that when it comes to learning to grow spiritually, we must discern all things with a clear consc ience and let the Holy Spirit alone guide us, with ourselves out of the way completely. 
           Anyway, this math riddle I came across online is supposed to be a basic math problem that most college students fail to solve. So I took up the challenge to find out how hard it was. Well, I did solve the problem and found that some knowledge of basic algebra was necessary, for you need to start out with some equations. And you must figure out how you are going to attack the problem first. After my wife solved the problem, we compared notes and found that the tracks we followed were somewhat different, but we came to the same answer. So if you have some time and love to challenge yourself, here is the problem:
        Tom and Dick can complete a job in 2 hours. Tom and Harry can complete the same job in 3 hours. Dick and Harry can complete the same job in 4 hours. How long will the job take if Tom, Dick, and Harry all work together? (Obviously, the answer has to be less than 2 hours. If you express you answer as a simple fraction, the 4 numerals making up the numerator and the denominator turned out to be 1, 2, 3, and 4.)

*Reminder of Something Obvious

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus called the people to repentance. He made it clear that if they do no repent, they will perish. To repent your sins is to humble yourself before God, knowing that he can forgive your sins so that you might have eternal life. The need for repentance is so obvious, yet sadly not taken seriously by so many. "No repentance, no salvation" should be easy to remember.

***Courageous Pro-LIfe Priest

         How I wish that all priests are as courageous as Fr. Altman. At my church, we are following the diocesan guideline not to name Trump, Biden, or any political candidate when making announcements or in any handouts we pass out. This to me is stymieing the Holy Spirit. You feel like you are in a Communist country. (Note: Today on 2/26/2022, I found YouTube had removed the video already.)   

****Smart Fools

        Matthew 11.25, today's Gospel acclamation: Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. In the parable of the rich fool, the rich man thinks that once he has all the material properties and goods he needs, he can just sit back, eat, drink, and be merry, not realizing that he's going to die that night. Today we have smart fools (an oxymoron for you). These are people who are rich in knowledge. You could say that they own a lot of intellectual properties. They are fools because they could also die, without knowing the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. All knowledge that comes from humans cannot save us. Only what's revealed by God to us can save us. To have hope of being saved, be like the little ones.

**Following the Lord with Patience

        I want to to draw every singe person to Christ, to be saved and go to heaven. This has been my burning desire. Then I realize that the Lord desires this much more than I, for his love is infinitely greater than mine. I must follow him and not rush ahead on my own, for apart from him I can do nothing. Anyway, I am satisfied that he knows my desire. I must trust and follow him in every little thing I do with patience. The Lord must lead and we follow.

*****What We Forget to Rejoice About***

         It is most amazing that we are made in the image of God. This makes it possible for us to understand the Lord! We all have a heart, so we know that our Lord has a heart too, sacred and most pure. We can truly relate to him. He knows everything about us, so if we open ourselves up to him, he reveals himself to us. Once we know him, we know ourselves too. This is absolutely cool (marvelous)! Since we are made in his image, he can make us holy to be like him. Again, wonderful! We should truly rejoice that we are made in the image of God!

***How to Follow Christ Effortlessly***

         In today's first reading from Ephesians 4, Paul wrote "I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace...." I could add many, many more things on how we should live as Christians. But without knowing Christ well, it would be impossible to do all or even just a few of these things. On the other hand, if you really know the Lord, you don't even need to think about what you should do, for he will let you know and lead you to do his will at all times. This is why I advocate that you seek to attain union with Christ through the Holy Eucharist, for this is the shortcut to allowing the Lord to accomplish all things through you, eliminating all struggle on your part.

**Inner Healing No Problem

          If you still have wild, weird dreams or nightmares, you most probably still have inner wounds to your psyche, unpleasant memories that haunt you, various hangups, secret unfulfilled desires, and/or other suppressed feelings. For Jesus, the past and the buried present no barriers. Ask the Lord to enter your innermost interior to clean up and heal your soul, for you want to enjoy his peace fully. If he is your Lord, let him be the lord of the whole of you.

***My Joy Is Complete***

        Recently, I realized that God is the only one who can make me happy which I posted about. Looking back, I had done many things in the past, but nothing totally satisfied me. Even after I knew Christ, there were still the ups and downs of life. Nevertheless, my life became meaningful and my faith certainly gave me much peace. What I had not expected was that after I retired from work, the Lord started to fulfill me more and more. It all started in 2009 when I began blogging. I had only intended to put down my conversion story, not knowing that the Lord continued to put thoughts in my heart to post. A year later, it became clear that he wanted me to let all know that he wishes to draw all to union with him through the Holy Eucharist. I am now typing post #10,625. In these years, the Lord has been teaching me continuously that my joy is now complete. I can only thank him for his mercy and generosity. If you stick with God, it'll always be "the best is yet to come."