***Spiritual Warfare a Reality!

        Evil is real and has been with us since the beginning of mankind. Evil operates in darkness and we do not see it until we are directly affected. Jesus wants us to remain alert and vigilant so that we may not get snared by evil and lose our soul. Evil sneaks up on us when we slack off and don't fight. That's why it is so important that we surrender ourselves to Christ to let him make us strong and holy. If Trump hadn't come along this time, no one would have realized how extensively evil has infiltrated our governments, our courts, the big corporations, the main stream media, the entertainment industry, the academia, and more. It's hard to believe that we could become a Communist country should the evildoers get their way! This spiritual warfare will continue on until the Lord's Second Coming. Meanwhile we must defend the glory of God with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our soul.

**God Calling Us*

        God is calling you when you first sense the emptiness and start questioning the meaning of life. He is calling you again when you realize that we are all sinners and need salvation. He calls you every time you feel that you need help. And if you find Christ to be the Savior, believe and follow him to the end, his last call to you will be "Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)

**To Remain True to God

         Today's first reading comes from 1 John 2. John wrote "Whoever says, 'I know Jesus,' but does not keep his commandments is a liar.... But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him...." So if we truly know Jesus, we would keep his commandments. If we don't obey him at all times, then we do not know him yet. Keep his word and we remain in union with him. 
        John further wrote "Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness." In other words, if we don't love everyone yet, we are not completely in the light yet. Christians already know everything said here. They only need to execute them successfully, and this calls for full surrender to the Lord. 

*Darkness, Not Light, Blinds Us

        A couple posts back, I mentioned "darkness must have blinded you." Is that possible? We know that a bright light can temporarily blind you, but it's also true that light dispels darkness to make you see. In completeness darkness, you cannot not see anything, so you become like a blind person. Yes, darkness does blind one and light opens our eyes. It works spiritually too. Stay with God, the light, and you'll always see the truth.

**The LORD Our Defender

          Today's Psalm reading comes from Psalm 124. It is most fitting for our times. David writes, "Had not the LORD been with us—when men rose up against us, then would they have swallowed us alive, when their fury was inflamed against us. Then would the waters have overwhelmed us; the torrent would have swept over us, over us then would have swept the raging waters. Broken was the snare, and we were freed. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Historically, the enemies of the Lord had risen up against his people so overwhelmingly that it seemed that only the Lord could defend them. And defend them he did. We need to remember that last verse of the psalm: Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. Let's realize and believe that God will always have our back.

***In Darkness or in Light

          Today is Feast of the Holy Innocents. In reading 1 from 1 John 1, the Apostle tells us that God is light and we must walk in his light to let the Blood of Christ cleanse us from all sin, and that if we do not acknowledge our sins, we make the Lord a liar. This is so true. If we continue sinning, we could end up in darkness for all eternity. I shudder at such a thought. Realizing that we are sinners is the beginning of seeing the light. Once we repent of our sins and have Christ take hem all away, we are fully in the light. I am explaining this at the most elementary level. If you still don't get it, then darkness must have totally blinded you.  

***God Knows It All!

        I knew of one deceased person, a very kind lady who was nice to everyone. I couldn't imagine that she could or would harm anyone. She's not well educated nor well off and worked at a lowly job all her life away from her own family. And no one really told her about Christ. There must be many others like her who do not know the Lord, but work hard and live humbly, not complaining about anything. I am certain that the Lord will be merciful to them. The Beatitudes Jesus gave to his disciples in his Sermon on the Mount tells us that blessed are the poor in spirit, they who mourn, the meek, they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, and the peacemakers. It shows that no matter who and what you are, the Lord will always treat you fairly and justly. It's so good that we have a Lord and God who know it all and has the answer to everything we need to know. 

**Sure Path to Truth

        In John 14, Jesus said to his disciple at the Last Supper, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves." So if we know Jesus, we know the Father. In Christianity, God came to us. We don't need to look for him anymore; we only need to believe in him. This the Lord made me see clearly again today. This is the sure path to the truth. 

***Advice on Going to God

          In today's Gospel reading from Luke 2, Joseph and Mary took the child Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. A man named Simeon was righteous and devout. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel."
         Can we also say that we are ready to go to God in peace? We should know. We must be ready and eager anytime he calls us to go to him. Returning to God for us should be to spend eternity with our Father in heaven, experiencing the greatest joy possible! If you are still uncertain, hesitant, or even afraid, then you need to straighten out your relationship with the Lord before he calls you.

**Great Way to Become Holy

         Today we celebrate The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In today's reading 1 from Colossians 3, Paul writes, "Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." To consciously do everything in the name of Jesus until it becomes our second nature is a great way for us to become holy. 

*2020 Vatican Nativity Scene

         Personally, I think that this year's Nativity scene displayed at the Vatican is both ugly and bizarre. It does not draw me any closer to the birth of Christ. Archbishop Vigano even says that the display is from Lucifer. You can easily find the images of the display online and see what you think. Brian Holdsworth shares how he feels about this display.

**Call to Endure to the End!

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus spoke to his disciples of coming persecutions. He said, "You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved." This is what's virtually happening today when we see the globalists and the radicals of the deep state trying to wipe out all beliefs in God. And we also see many people under pressure ready to give in. As true followers of Christ, we must never ever give up, even if we must die. We must endure to the end, for the Lord awaits us. It is only his wish that we must follow and his glory that we must defend. With him, we'll invariably triumph in the end.

***Time to Abandon Ourselves

        Today is the feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr. He was stoned to death at the feet of Saul. As he was being stoned, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." We may not be stoned to death, but are being persecuted in other ways. Are we ready like Stephen to call out to the Lord to receive our spirit? With or without persecution, the time will come when we all shall have no choice but to let the Lord do whatever he wishes with us. The time to abandon ourselves to him is now!

***Beauty of God Everywhere

             I hope that you all had a great Christmas Day. Since my first son and his wife live next door to us and their daughter and son, our grandchildren, were also home from college, the six of us got together. Later my daughter-in-law's parents came and joined us. We all enjoyed a well-prepared home-cooked supper and had a good time together. This morning I took a brisk walk outside. The scenery looked extra beautiful when the sun came out right after an earlier rain. You see the fallen fall leaves stuck to the wet pavement and hear frogs croaking in the surrounding fields. I couldn't help thinking how immeasurably more beautiful our future environment God has prepared for us will be! As I like to photograph whatever beauty I can spot around me, I took these two shots with my phone recently. The first image I captured a week ago while walking outside after a rain. The white spot was bird poop and looked good next to the dead leaf. The second shot I captured yesterday when my daughter-in-law and our granddaughter came over to deliver something. I love the way the boots and shoes landed inside the entrance. It shows that you don't need to travel around the world to find beautiful images. And we don't need to go anywhere to experience the beauty of our God in our hearts and spirits either.

***Christmas Is the Day to Thank God

         Today is Christmas Day. Christians are joyful because they know that the Lord has saved them from eternal fire and is taking them to paradise to live with him forever! This morning as I was doing my daily walk and praying, I felt most grateful to the Lord. He has created me, given me life, enabled me to live on this earth, suppled me with what I need, and on top of all that, given me many things to enjoy. Moreover, he's ready to forgive all my sins against him so that I might have eternal life—this is truly a huge favor and blessing! The Lord has taken care of me completely, how can I possibly not be grateful to him? I want to praise and thank him forever. It's so good to have such  a loving Father!

*Joyful Mass But . . .

        I attended the Christmas Vigil Mass today at noon, the first of three Vigil Masses scheduled for today. It was a cool day, but the sun came out before noon. The Mass was held outside the church. We all sat with masks on in chairs spaced 6 feet apart from each other set on an asphalt road that ends at the rose garden. It was gratifying to actually receive the Holy Eucharist again, greatly strengthening my faith at this time. The prayers offered at Mass were very general as usual. At this urgent critical time when our nation can cease to remain a republic and our people lose religious freedom altogether, it was disconcerting not to hear any specific prayers said regarding such serious threats. It's been the timid noninvolvement of the Church all along that has gotten us into this sorry state of today. Sign of end times for sure.

**A "Dead" Generation

        We know that we'll inevitably die one day. So shall we inevitably appear before the Lord to be judged by him! Why do we still live as if we'll never die? How foolish can we be? If we receive a red flag wildfire threat warning from the National Weather Service, we mostly likely would get ready for evacuation right away. Now, for at least two thousand year, we've been warned about how sin can lead us into the fires of hell, yet we just shrug it off. How deaf or dead can we be? 

***Truth Is Supreme

        Today the Lord makes me see the importance of knowing the truth, which is the Lord himself. Only the truth can set us free. Once you know and possess the truth, you lose all you fears, for the Lord is with you and for you! The evildoers do not know him, so they always live in fear. When they fall, it'll be a free fall with no one able to stop it. For those who embrace the truth and yearn for heaven, God will gladly grant their wish. There is nothing greater or more precious than the truth!