***Profundities for the Childlike*

        As some of my regular readers may already know, I still have an interest in music and art and loved mathematics at one time. So at times I still watch some videos on musicians, especially the pianists. I must say that some of them do impress me with their profound understanding of great music. I feel the same about painters who reveal their personal perception so well. Yet no matter how good or profound you might be in your field, you may not get any closer to God. For me, knowing Christ enables me to penetrate the most profound mystery in one simple understanding and gain eternal life to boot. To the childlike, all deep mysteries are simple to grasp. What a delight it is to know and trust in the Lord!

***Many Judas in the Church

         Many cardinals and bishops in the Church have already betrayed Christ and are following the Devil. Watch this LifeSite video to learn the truth. The purification of the Church is due. 

****Right Attitude for Rapid Spiritual Progress

        Jesus asked us to be childlike in believing in him. That's because as a child, he can teach you much and you can learn fast. It you want to be a believer, that'd be the way to go. Anyone who questions and doubts a lot won't make a good candidate. It's also this total-abandonment-in-God attitude that gets you to attain union with him. 

*Probability of Getting into Heaven

       The more we are attached to the world, the more difficult it'll be for us to get into heaven. Let's look at the extreme cases. If you are totally immersed in this world, you probably don't want to face death, not knowing what will happen to your soul after you die. Essentially, you are a lost soul, and for such a soul, finding heaven would be virtually impossible. On the other hand, if you follow Christ faithfully and look forward to the day of meeting him, your soul will most likely rise straight to heaven after you depart from his world. If you are in the middle somewhere between the two extremes, how likely you are to get into heaven would depend upon many things. But we can generally say that the more reluctant you are to leave this world, the harder it would be for you to enter heaven directly. The existence of purgatory might just be what you need.

*God's Approval Only Needed

        If people don't appreciate you for what you are or have done, that's OK. But if God doesn't approve of what you are or have done, that's not OK. To live for God alone is to care only about what he thinks of you. You want to be sure that God always approves of what you are or have done.

*Suffering for a Good Reason

        As humans, we don't like to suffer. But if we have a good reason for suffering, we may not mind or even welcome it. And there is no better reason than glorifying the Lord. First of all, if we love the Lord, he'll never send us sufferings we won't be able to bear. And when he sends us sufferings, there's always a purpose. It may be to strengthen us spiritually or if we offer the suffering up to him, he can use the merit we have acquired to help others in some way. Don't forget that suffering also greatly helps uniting us to the Lord in suffering! So accept your sufferings gracefully for the glory of the Lord. By the way, the Lord will always glorify those who suffer for him.

*To Be Self-Centered or Not

         Of course, we should never be self-centered when dealing with God or others. But when it comes dealing with our own spiritual growth, we need to focus upon ourselves entirely, asking the Lord to make us as holy as possible. This is good self-centeredness. Anyway, the ultimate center should always be the Lord God, no matter whom we deal with. We need to do everything for his glory.

***Hidden Secret of the Our Father

         The Our Father is the most fundamental prayer Christ has taught us. This is a perfect prayer, for it properly defines our relationship to the Lord God. Today I see that praying this prayer with all sincerity can make us become like Christ! This has to be the hidden secret. So pray it with all your heart and soul to let the Lord perfect you. The Our Father is now the most exiting prayer of all to me.

**Tears of Joy Mixed with Sorrow

         The Lord often moves me to tears. These are often tears of joy, for the Lord is joy—how can you not feel elated when you have him who loves and cares for you so much? But in dark times like now, my joy is mixed with deep sorrow. I shed tears because so many people have turned against the Lord, the God of Christ, causing him to suffer greatly and themselves to possibly lose their only hope of being saved. 

**A Spiritual Law

         When you do your very best to glorify God, God will do his very best to bless you, fulfill all your wishes, and make sure that you'll be amply rewarded. This is a spiritual law you can count on. Know that we have an infinite, loving God whose riches are inexhaustible. 

***How to Fight Evil

         The World has gone bonkers because it has abandoned God. How should Christians respond to that. One thing we should not do is taking the matter into our own hands. To maintain our own sanity, we need to abandon ourselves completely to the Lord to let him direct us in fighting the battle. The Lord is our leader and we are to follow his every order. Becoming holy will make you most effective. Obedience to God will best help him accomplish his plan. 

*****Our First Order of Business*****

        We need to take care of our own sins before minding other people's sins. So, to know God should be our first order of business. If we don't know God, we'll surely do things blindly wrong most of the time! Many people don't see this because they lack humility. 

***Our Dearest Lord!

          I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy this morning. As I was saying the prayer that began each decade: 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, I realized that Christ the Dearly Beloved Son of God the Father is our Dearly Beloved Lord, in fact, our Dearest Lord. Dearest because no one else can be dearer than Christ to us. That we have such a Beloved Lord is indeed something to rejoice about! We who love Him will be well taken of by Him for all eternity. 

***Fear of God

        We need to fear God enough so that we do not ever offend him. This is the good fear. On the other hand, if we think that God can no longer forgive us for a sin we have committed against him, this would be an extremely bad fear we must never entertain, for that can only come from the devil.

*In Gratitude to the Lord

        Communion joy today. Experiencing the joy of union with my Lord, I couldn't help asking him "Who am I that you should care for so much?" I felt so grateful that I asked him to give me whatever he wished to give me.  

***Joy of Surrendering to God

        Life is all about whether we surrender ourselves to God to let him be our Lord or rebel against him so that we can (foolishly) be our own lord. The fact that when we give our heart to Christ alone to become completely submissive to him and experience the great joy of freedom shows clearly which way is the right way. 

**Submitting to God's Holiness

        The holiness of God is most dazzling and awesome! We need to be aware of it in order to realize our sinful state. Then we can submit ourselves to it and let it dispel all the darkness around us and flush out all the impurities within us.

***What God Is to Me

        At Mass this morning, I was thinking about how much God meant to me. I was formed by him in the beginning, shall end my life in him, and then live on forever with him. So he is both my creator and my savior, sustaining my being always. He is my all and everything—my beloved Lord, best teacher and friend, my guide and advisor, and healer of my soul and spirit. He is also my soulmate, closer to me than my own soul! We belong to each other and are inseparable as one. My security in him is completely assured.