**Magnificent Truth

        John 1:29, today's Gospel acclamation: John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching him, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." John knew then this magnificent truth, that Jesus was the Lamb to be sacrificed to save us from our sins. Now we all know and should believe.

****Most Precious and Glorious Faith

         Today is The Baptism of the Lord. One of the second readings comes from 1 John 5. The Apostle writes "The victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" That's why our faith in Christ is so precious and glorious! We who firmly believe that he is the Son of God and our Savior possess the "secret" of living everlastingly with him! My oh my, this is pretty incredible, yet so simple. I am going to rejoice every moment of my life over this.

*Test Question for Getting into Heaven

        The Lord: "How much time did you spend doing things for my sake on earth?" 

**Seeing Your Own Sins

         To face our own sins is to face reality, as we are all sinners. If you think that you are holier than you truly are, then you'll be in for a shock when you see God, for he knows sins you are not even aware of or have forgotten. It's much better to humbly acknowledge that you are a sinner needing God's mercy. This should incite you to become holier. Later, it'll be good to hear God tell you that you are better than you think you are. Great saints saw themselves as most wretched sinners before God and the Lord greatly exalted them.  

*How A Christian Lightens His Burden

        When we carry a heavy burden on our heart, we normally try to forget it. We may listen to some soothing music, go traveling, or even visit a bar to get intoxicated. These are all forms of escape and do not offer a solution. What should a faithful Christian do? A good Christian would not run away from anything but temptation. Whatever problem he has, he goes to the Lord to seek help. If you give your heavy burden to him, he will help you carry it. Doesn't Jesus say in Mark 11:28: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest"? United with the Lord, you'll find the strength and guidance to deal with the problem and consolation. Every burden shared with the Lord will draw you into deeper union with him.

*To Be Watchful and Alert

         In Mark 13, Jesus told his disciples to remain watchful and alert, for they would not know the time of his Second Coming. To be watchful and alert is to be ready, and the best way for us to be ready is to follow the Lord and become holy and blameless. Then he can come anytime.

****Warning We Must Heed****

         We have a pandemic going on now which has caused many deaths around the globe. We've had wildfires destroying many homes and propeties in my own state of California. Floods are now inundating many countries. Earthquakes continue shaking up various regions worldwide. And I can never forget how terribly tsunami waves wiped out so many villages and towns along the coast of Japan not that long ago. I must mention the wars started by man that had ruined so many countries and killed people. All these occurrences were horrible, for they destroy lives. But they are nothing compared to what's coming, especially for those who reject Christ now. At the Second Coming of the Lord, we'll all be judged and sent to either heaven or hell for all eternity. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." Jesus has given us the warning and we must not ignore!

***Time for Weeping***

        These verses from Luke 23 came to me. As Jesus was lead away carrying his own cross to be crucified, a large crowd of people followed him, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do no weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that times people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and the hills, 'Cover us!'"
        During these dark day when the future of this country and mankind in general appears bleak, we need to weep for ourselves for having forsaken God and allowed evil to infiltrate the world, our societies, and even the Lord's own Church. I myself am already an old man, but I do fear for our children and grandchildren if they do not turn to the Lord. We are near end times. Be aware of the big awakening that's coming from the Lord.

*Measuring How Much We Love God

        In today's reading 1 from 1 John 4, the Apostle writes, "Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Whoever loves God must also love his brother." These two statements are contrapositive to each other. In logic, if one of the statements is true, the other has to be true. Since God is love, we know that if we love God, we would love all others. Then it is clear that we can measure how much we love God by how much we love others. Now we see where we stand in loving God.

***Sharing God's Sorrow and Joy

        This is how Jesus changes our sorrow and joy. Before I knew the Lord, I was a self-centered person. For example, when my beloved grandmother died, I was saddened more because I lost someone who had been a great consolation to me; I wasn't thinking for her sake. Now, if someone one passes away and I know that person's soul is going to God, I feel joy, not sorrow. I would feel sad only if the deceased were clearly evil, for the Lord would be feeling sorry for that soul. In other words, you now feel sorrow and joy as Christ feels them. When times are evil, I feel the agony along with the Lord. People tell me to relax and not let it affect you so much . . . just trust in God, for he is in control and knows what he is doing. Christ knew that too, but he still underwent his Passion. I am not worrying nor losing my peace; I am just experiencing agony and spiritual suffering. The former keeps you away from God, while the latter unites you to him. If I suffer, it's for the sake of Christ and not for myself. I know that the Lord is in control and knows what he is doing, but you need to care about how he is feeling for our sake. At any rate, joy always underlies whatever sorrow you feel when you remain in the Lord. 

*Such Is Our Life

        When I was young, there was the whole world to explore. I made up a whole list of things I wished to learn: swimming, skating, horse riding, etc. Death couldn't be further from my mind. My focus was on the immediate future. Like everyone else, making a lot of money was the No.1 dream and goal. Of course, we grow old fast. But because we'd been conditioned by the world for so long, we easily remain unchanged. So we don't consider God seriously until we are in our last years. This is tragic in a way, but we can still return to God if we reconcile ourselves to him. Such is his mercy.

*Clear Vision of Life

        As I age and after living long enough to see so many things come and go, I now have a crystal clear picture of what life is all about. We are all going to leave the world one day. God has created and loves us, and we'll never be happy until we have reconciled ourselves and returned to him. Everything in this life passes. Attaching ourselves to things of the world is a waste of time. We need to love and obey God and build up treasure in heaven in the brief time allotted to us on earth. Such an understanding and vision will help us get through life with aplomb.          

**Suffering Along with the Lord

          When you experience agony along with the Lord, you are drawn ever deeper into union with him and that becomes a great consolation.

Petition to Protect Election Integrity

          If you are a U.S. citizen and feel that we need to protect election integrity, please click here to sign this petition.        

***The Apostle John on God's Love

        Today's first reading comes from 1 John 4. The Apostle writes, "Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us." We can learn quite a bit about God's love here. Anyone who hates obviously does not know God. When we love, we are born anew in God. Since God is love, when we love, we become like him and one with him. God has made us in his image and loves us to death—this is one of the greatest revelations. For this alone, we can rejoice forever! So he first loved us, we realize it and love him back—it's us returning all the way to God. 

***Fit to Be God's Abode

         We have two lives to live, a physical one and a spiritual one. The latter is hidden, but a lot more important, for living it right will make living the other one right too. As we are "trapped" in the physical body, physical action is unavoidable. Spiritually, we need Christ to purify our hearts and souls to make us holy. Then all thoughts, all words, and all deeds coming out of us will be pure too. Now, we are fit for God to dwell in us. 

**God Forbid Such a Wish

        We often wish that we'd done things differently. For example, you wish that you had bought a stock whose price has just skyrocketed. Way back, I wished I'd accepted a different job offer when the one I chose didn't work out too well. But missing such opportunities is not the end of the world. We wish we had been friendlier to someone who passed away suddenly. This is a more serious case, for we cannot correct the situation anymore. Now, there is one wish you must never ever let occur to you. That is, after you die, you'd wish that you had accepted Christ as your Savior when you were on earth.

**More on Illumination of Conscience

        I've posted about the illumination of conscience which had been revealed to various mystics, visionaries, and seers, and which I believe to be imminent. Here's a video that further illuminates this subject.