***Going Separate Ways*

         Inspired by today's reading from Psalm 1, the just the Lord will watch over and they will prosper, but the wicked the Lord will dismiss and they will vanish. (Luke 13.27: "I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!")

***Our Wonderful Gift from God!

          From today's first reading from Revelation 2, I learned these two things. First, no matter what we endure and suffer, we must never grow weary. Following the Lord is always exciting. Knowing that victory is assured in the end for each of us who follow him, how can we possibly grow weary?
         The next thing I learned was that repentance is a beautiful thing; it brings up back to God. It wipes us clean and we get to start anew. This is absolutely a most wonderful gift by which we can get back to God's grace instantly at any time, for he is always ready to forgive us when we repent. There is nothing on earth better than this precious gift! How can we possibly consider God, the God of Christ, to not be easily accessible?

*Mass Experience in Troubled Times

        I attended Sunday Mass at 5 p.m. yesterday because when I contacted my church early Saturday, Saturday Vigil Mass and the two Sunday morning Masses were already filled, as attendance at each Mass is now limited to just 100 people. Everyone sat with a mask on, sitting at least 6 feet apart, with kneelers all up and taped in place. Not many parishioners talked to each other after Mass. It's all very surreal. But I stilled received my Lord. He is my greatest and only consolation amidst the turmoil in these evil days. I petitioned the Lord to protect his people and crush all evil. Since he is merciful, he shall wipe out evil and save as many souls as possible.

**Saying "I Trust in God" Not Enough

           In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 25, Jesus told the parable of the talents. We can learn from this parable that we must remain faithful in all small matters and be fruitful. That is, we must not miss every chance that comes our way to spread the gospel of Christ. We cannot be like the servant who received the one talent and buried it in the ground, instead of using it to make a profit. It's not good enough to say "I trust in the Lord" and not diligently work to be fruitful. 

***Start Enjoying Freedom Now

        We must be fully aware that we may leave this world at any time. I am not being pessimistic, I am being realistic! This should teach us not to get ourselves tied down by the things of the world. Start enjoying freedom from the world now and you'll likely enjoy freedom for all eternity. If you do not free yourself from the world, you'll likely never have freedom.

*****To Be Receptive to God

         I woke up before 5 a.m. this morning and it's still pitch dark outside. I felt I was in the most comfortable sleeping position with my arms and head and every other part of my body in the right spot, totally relaxed. Then I thought that this is the way we should feel before the Lord so that we may be completely receptive to him. There should not be any barriers between us and God. We remain wide open and he is totally free to enter to dwell in us. This is the ideal state of our soul, to be in union with the Holy God, our Lord, our Father, our Brother, our Friend, and our Most Beloved.

**Praying for Justice

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 18, the Lord told the parable of the persistent widow. In it a dishonest judge finally gave in to a widow who kept bothering him to render a just decision for her against her adversary. Jesus then said, "Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily." This is exactly what we need to hear and believe in when our nation is on the verge having a presidential election being stolen by an evil party. I would like to invite you to join me in urgent prayer that all that's in darkness will be exposed and that truth and justice will prevail.  

***Our Most Humble Lord***

        As God, the Lord is more humble than all of us! This should put us to shame and at the same time inspire us to become humble like him. (1) He is God, yet he did not mind becoming human like one of us. (2) As our maker, he did not mind being born through one of his creatures, our Holy Mother. (3) He who is without sin wanted to be baptized by John the Baptist like all the others sinners. (4) As our Lord, he came to serve all of us, even washing our feet. (5) He came to die for us so that we might live—this is almost astounding beyond belief! HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY NOT LOVE OUR MOST HUMBLE GOD???

*Ultimate Humility and Exaltation

         Jesus said, "Whoever humbles himself will be exalted." To surrender ourselves completely to God has to be exhibiting our ultimate humility, and the Lord will exalt us ultimately to residing with him in heaven forever.

**Demonic Evidence

        Jesus said in Matthew 5.37: "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No." Anything more is from the evil one." This came to me early this morning. I see that our mainstream news media and crooked politicians have been doing exactly the opposite. They are now demonic. The devil is the father of lies, as the Apostle John had said. Then I saw Fr. Mark Goring's new video whose message resonates with my thoughts. 

***Prayer Focus

         As I was praying, the Lord showed me that we must focus upon him and our prayer alone and nothing else. This is in accordance with what Jesus said to his disciples in Mark 11.24: "I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receiver it and it shall be yours." It's so easy to doubt whether you'll receive what you ask for when praying. This doesn't help a thing and only shows your lack of faith. We must not worry in all circumstances. I know this is easily said than done, but it's the truth.

****Unforgettable Scenes***

        Luke 17:26-37, today's Gospel reading for Mass describes some of the most poignant scenes for me. Jesus told about his coming in the future to his disciples. It will be as unexpected as it was in the days of Noah or Lot. People will be eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying, selling, planting, building, and the Son of Man is suddenly here as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other. Then someone who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise one in the field must not return to what was left behind. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. There will be two people in one bed; oner will be taken, the other left. And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left. 
         This could happen at any time now. We must be ready ourselves and labor to bring as many others to Christ as possible. 

***Most Anticipated Moment*

          The moment I most anticipate is not the moment I go to my Lord, but the moment he comes to us again at the Second Coming. When I go to the Lord, that's just one single moment for me personally, but when the Lord comes again, that's the huge moment for all of us to be set straight once and for all. Let us realize that we can turn to the Lord to be saved at any time now. Time marches on and if you do not act, you'll miss your chance of redemption forever! Get ready for the Second Coming and you'll be ready to meet the Lord personally too.

**Our Mission in Life

         Knowing what your specific mission is in life is a great consolation. You know exactly what you are supposed to do for the Lord, not a moment of your time is wasted on earth. It's a beautiful feeling of satisfaction. If you are not quite sure what your mission is yet, just pray humbly to the Lord about it. I definitely recommend seeking to attain union with God first, through the Holy Eucharist if you are a Catholic. It may take some time for it to become crystal clear to you. But when he reveals it to you, your life is filled with purpose.

***Bad Examples of Church Leaders***

        Repentance is what Jesus and the Church preach. It is the hallmark of being a bona fide Christian. If you don't repent of you sins, you won't get into heaven. This we all know. The laity is supposed to repent regularly, yet those leaders of our Church who are known to have been involved in scandals, corruption, and deception have never even admitted that they were at fault; they continue to play the blame game. When you care about looking good before people, but not before God, that's pretty sad. Just remember how displeased Jesus was with the Pharisees and the scribes of his time. 

**Praying That'll Get You into Heaven

         In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said, "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." This I know for certain: if you call on the name of the Lord with great reverence and love from your heart, you will enter the kingdom of heaven. I prayed this morning by just saying the most holy name Jesus from my very heart repeatedly, taking my time worshipping and loving him, and I experienced fantastic communion with him.

**God is Fair and Just*

        We all live different lives. Some grow rich; some remain poor. Some live a long life; some die young. Some have good health; some suffer from physical ailments. Some get to live an easy life; some have to struggle hard to make a living. I can go on ad infinitum. But to understand, you need to have the overall picture, including where each person ends up after death. And only God knows all that. If you knew too, you'd see that God treats everyone fairly with perfect justice. 

***The Battle We Fight

         I prayed the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, while adoring the Lord at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral, FL, on livestream. The Lord made me see that with both him and Satan fighting for our souls, we are basically fighting ourselves, as we must choose sides. If we all choose to follow God, Satan will instantly be defeated. The fact that the battle lingers on shows that we have not or not all of us have entirely gone over to God's side yet. Yes, the Lord wants to answer our prayers, but we are still in his way.