***Formula for Holiness

        How holy you are is directly proportional to how obedient to the Father you are. 

**Officially Follwing Jesus

            Communion experience. I received exactly what the Apostles received at the Last Supper, and I heard the Lord say in my heart that "You are my apostle too."

***Do You Know . . .***

that God has made all of us good enough to become saints? It is true!

****What Life Is all About Again

        I am already an old person, so you should understand why I talk about life a lot, for I have seen a lot of it. I just had two volumes of my personal photos published, one in black and white, and one in color. I am giving some copies away to those who appreciate art and/or had supported me in the past. Just visited a friend who still has a clear mind at 98 and truly understands art, and gave copies to another 98-year-old local internationally-prominent artist friend already in hospice care. My wife just interrupted to inform me that a church friend had been diagnosed with sepsis in a hospital. We used to hike together and he walked at such a brisk pace that not many of us in the group could keep up with him. I believe that he's in his 80s now. So I can say that our whole life is on borrowed time from the Lord. 
        As I was walking this morning, I saw that we all entered the world to start our journey through this life. We depend upon others for many things, but basically we alone are responsible for the decisions and choices we make. If we do not have Christ as our guide, we simply wander through life to who knows where. If we do have Christ guiding us, then the world can go into chaos and we still know exactly where we are going and will end up. This makes all the difference to us!

**What Life Is All About

         When we are young, we follow ourselves. We can still be nice to others, but mostly it's ourselves first over all others. As we grow older and our body starts to weaken, we start to think about God more. This is a grace. We all will have to return to God, so life is all about whether we return to God during our time on earth, and if we do, when. Considering the fact we do not know how long we shall live on earth, if we continue ignoring God, we are gambling with our soul. 

*****Greatest Act of Love

        These thoughts came to me while praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary this morning. God has loved us from the very beginning. Jesus came to reveal to us how great that love truly is and how easily we can get ourselves saved. I can die for someone too, but the most I can accomplish is to save that person's life on earth. Only God can save the whole humanity for all eternity! Christ, the Son of God, took on that role. He did it selflessly and most humbly, leaving us to decide whether to believe in him or not. It was the greatest possible act of love! It is this love that has made me want Christ to be my Lord forever. God's love, our greatest joy! My journey back to my creator is now  complete.

***Truth Is Compelling!***

         In  today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus said to the people, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Choosing sides is now compelling. Otherwise, there's no point for him to have come to us at all! He compels as he is the truth!

**Instant Destruction and Instant Salvation

        Instant destruction—be your own god and do whatever you want to do.
        Instant salvation—let Christ be your Lord and God.

       The line separating the two is thin. How hard it is to cross over to the salvation side depends entirely upon how willing your heart is.        

Going to Heaven!*****

        As I walked outside today, I couldn't help rejoicing that the God has made it possible for me to have eternal life. Then realizing he has already assured me of that put a big smile on my face. 

***Warning for Us Too

        Jeremiah 7:23-28 is today's first reading. The prophet gave the people the message from the LORD. Let me quote some of the verses.

         Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper. But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets, yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers. When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is vanished from their speech.

         This above describes today's Western nations well. From Jesus' parable of the tenants (Matthew 21, Luke 20), you learn what would happen to the tenants who mistreated all the servants the owner of the vineyard sent them and killed the son of the owner in the end. To neglect Christ is to neglect your own soul. Reject him and you doom yourself for good.

Understanding & Learning from Jesus

        I shall reproduce today's entire short Gospel reading from Matthew 5 below and add some thoughts of my own.

         Jesus said to this disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

         (1) Jesus had come to fulfill the law and the prophets mainly to save us! So I can say that he had come to fulfill us! (2) "Until all things have taken place"—what could that mean? It seems that one day Jesus will have wrapped all things up according to God's plan. (3) We need not only obey God's commandments ourselves, but equally important, teach others to do so too. 

****Smart Approach to God

        Let's face it, God will have the last say on anything. So you might as well start listening to and obeying him. This is smart thinking. But more properly, you should see that God is your most loving Father and that for his sake you should submit yourself to him to receive all his love. Now, you are being super smart.

*****Harnessing the Power of the Holy Spirit

         Thought about the Holy Spirit this morning while walking outside. The Holy Spirit is most powerful, yet most gentle. You can easily shut him out, for God respects your free will. But if you open up to become completely receptive to him, he will totally overwhelm you to make you most powerful. This makes living for God truly exciting! 

***Bishops Get Slammed

         Another courageous priest speaking up against the bishops. Decades ago, I was in a different parish then. When the idea that we should recognize gay marriage first came up, the parish priest was brave enough to put an ad in the local newspaper along with the signatures of many parishioners who supported him, announcing that marriage is intended by God for uniting a man and a woman only. With no strong support coming from the higher hierarchy, the effort fizzled out  quickly. The same pretty much happened to the charismatic movement within the Church. It did not get the support it deserved and gradually died down. I believe that my many bishops have already made up their mind on many issues and become closed to the Holy Spirit. Hope that I am wrong.

***Forgiving Others a Must

         Today's Gospel reading comes from Matthew 18. Peter asked Jesus how often he must forgive his brother who sinned against him. Jesus then told him the parable of the unforgiving servant (vv, 23-35). The lesson is clear: We must forgive others as the Lord forgives us. No way out. Whether we succeed or not, we must try our best. But if you surrender yourself to God, it becomes a cinch.

**Eternal Life, a Must Consideration

        Today I heard someone say "She's got a whole life ahead of her," referring to some young woman. Of course, the speaker was thinking about life on this earth only, so the statement didn't mean much. It becomes significant when we understand life to mean our whole existence, including the part after death. So eternal life is not to be ignored, making believing in Christ a must.

*Pride Our Big Stumbling Block

         It is so very clear that what we do shapes what God does to us. That we reap what we sow and that we have a conscience prove beyond a doubt that God is real. If we believe in and obey him, we'll have peace and prosperity. And if we ignore him, we'll be punished in this and/or the next life. It's so simple and clear, but our pride prevents us from seeing or accepting the truth.

***Our True Destination

        As sinners, we need to return to God, our Father and creator, as lost sons and daughters to reconcile ourselves to him. Whether the last days are approaching or not, we need to live Christ, think Christ, breathe Christ, and even consume his body and blood. This is how we can be purged of our sins, made clean, and have eternal life to inherit all that the Father has for us.