Since this blog is all about attaining union with God through the Holy Eucharist which the Lord ardently desires, I'd like to pause and again list the three distinctive benefits you receive in the state of union.
There are many other more general graces which I won't get into here.
Without or with not much of Christ in your life, you try to find happiness on your own. Since we live in an imperfect, sinful world, you encounter obstacles, setbacks, and even make enemies along the way. Then the sorry experiences and hurts you feel start to affect you mentally, making you hate the world and even yourself; you feel like giving up altogether. All I want to say is that you will not find happiness on your own. Then you let Christ into you life and everything changes. Living becomes meaningful. You are now free from the world, as serving him gives you so much joy and satisfaction. Yes, you know exactly where you are going and look forward to that day. The Lord guides you through every moment of your life. And there is much more. The God of Christ is exactly what we sinners need.
On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I'd like to bring up wearing the Brown Scapular. I wear both the Brown Scapular and the Miraculous Medal and can testify to the abundant blessings I have received from the Lord. Mary promises that whoever dies wearing the Brown Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire. I am posting two videos about it below. Fr. Goring's came out two years ago and Jerome Chong's, recently. The two presentations complement each other. To learn all about the Brown Scapular and what you need to do before wearing it, visit the Sisters of Carmel.
Today December 8th is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Gospel reading from Luke 1 tells the announcement of the birth of Jesus. The angel Gabriel came to Mary and informed her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would conceive in her womb and bear a son to be named Jesus and called the Son of God. He would be great and the Lord God would give him the throne of David his father, and he would rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there would be no end. Mary's response before the angel departed was "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." This is the perfect response for us to emulate whenever we hear the Lord asking or feel the Holy Spirit prompting us to do something.
Since my house is set quite a way back from the nearest public road, I try to exercise by walking from my house to that road and back, weather permitting. It takes about 20 minutes to complete three round trips, just enough time to pray five decades of the Rosary. But I find it hard to concentrate on praying that, as I am moving all the time, sometimes going uphill and sometimes, downhill. So I switched to mainly calling on the Holy Name of Jesus. Since I only need to focus upon the name "Jesus," distractions are no longer invasive. And I sincerely believe that when I pray thus fervently, the Lord already knows everything that's in my heart without my having to tell it all to him. A simple prayer is also worth a thousand words or more.
When I go to bed to sleep every night, I feel like I am going home to the Lord. That's because when I lie in bed, all relaxed in darkness with no distractions, I feel most close to him. I could bare all of myself, letting him see everything that's in my heart. It's enjoying a most intimate union with my Lord and my God before I fall asleep. Psalm 23:4 appropriately comes to my mind: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me.
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him before Jesus. But not finding a way to do it because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles in the middle in front of Jesus. They must have made quite an impressive entrance. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "As for you, your sins are forgiven." It seems that how ready the Lord is to forgive you depends upon how much you believe in him. Here, the paralytic believed in him so much that he didn't even have to confess all his sins first. It was an eager childlike belief that the Lord valued. At the opposite end, we can have people with such weak faith that even after they confess all their sins, they may not be completely forgiven.
If we are holy and blameless, there would be no need for Jesus to come to save us. The fact that we can feel so grateful that he had come so that we might have eternal life and be moved to the point of even willing to die for him is proof that we basically know we are sinners and need salvation.
John 1.3 speaks of Christ: All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. Wow! And in John 14.6, Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Another wow! In reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, we say, "Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world." It is through Christ that we get to atone for our sins and through his suffering that we dare to ask for mercy. St. Gertrude was told by Our Lord to pray to the eternal Father by offering him the most precious blood of His Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world for all the souls, living and deceased. Again, it is through the death of Christ that we are saved. And Christ knows everything about each of us, our heart and our soul. In the end, we'll have to answer to him about everything we've ever done, for he is our final judge.
When you are attentive to what the Lord wants you to do and you obey, he is also shaping you. I was not aware of this at first when I received messages from him to post; I thought that they were for my readers. Then I realized that he was teaching me too, in fact, teaching me first. In other words, I wasn't just to relay what he'd said; he wanted me to learn the lesson from him first. So it is good to know that every time the Holy Spirit prompts you to do something, the Lord wants you to receive the same benefit. Obeying him is the best way to grow spiritually.
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9 & 10, Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Then he sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, make the proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." I like that last statement I underlined. We simply depend upon the Lord and serve him—that's it. This is how we should live the Christian life. It's not complicated at all.
Today's response to Psalm 147 came from Isaiah 30: Blessed are all who wait for the Lord. There is no doubt that Christ will come again as he had promised. The goal of life for all should be to prepare ourselves for that day as we wait. We Christians look forward to the Second Coming, as final justice will be served to all on that day.
I am amazed by the various forms of life God has created. Look at a plant, for example. It doesn't have a brain nor a heart, yet it grows and can flower or bear fruit. It may be deciduous or evergreen. Most likely, it has no feelings, yet instinctively in many cases, it consume bugs. For a vine, it also knows how to climb high. And I see ourselves made in the image of God. We instinctively understand good and evil and sense that we will one day return to our creator. And we do not find rest until we come to know him. Among all the animals, we know that we are his highest creations.
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, Jesus healed two blind men. They cried out to Jesus to have pity on them. Jesus asked them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.
Here we see that the two men had faith in Jesus and the Lord listened to them, but they did not listen to him. Faith is necessary, but obedience is important. Without perfect obedience, faith is made imperfect.
Today is the memorial of St. Francis Xavier. The Gospel reading came from Matthew 7, in which Jesus 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. Everyone who listens to theses words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock." The bottom line: action counts, not necessarily words; and obedience to the Father is the key to entering heaven.
Isaiah 55:6 is today's Gospel acclamation: Seek the Lord while he may be found; call him while he is near. Even if we live to 100, the time we have to find Christ is limited. When we leave his world, our opportunity of finding him is gone forever. Do not delay seeking and calling the Lord, for you do not know how long you will live in this world!
We want to live inside of Christ, not outside of him. This is our challenge and goal. Either he is truly our Lord or he is not. To succeed here, you only need to abandon yourself to God. But this is the stumbling block for many, for great humility is required. The good news is that if you can do it, you'll experience total freedom and joy on the other side and never want to go back to where you were before.
