When a righteous person "fears" God, he loses all his fears. When an evil person does not "fear" God, he'll end up in fear of God for all eternity.
Sunday, September 5, 2021
***Holiness Starts with Us
The supplications to God we make in public always seem to be prayers for the Pope and the bishop, our government officials, and others in needs, rarely for ourselves. Perhaps we pray for ourselves in private only? I hope so. Praying for others is always easier than praying for ourselves, as many of us have not completely discarded our pride yet. The truth is we need prayer as much as others. Indeed we should humbly pray for our perfection first so we can become more effective in praying for others. We say charity begins at home; we could also say holiness starts with oneself. We won't get far if we pray for others to become holy, while we remain poor examples.
***How We Should See Sinners
It's in current news that the defrocked Cardinal McCarrick has finally been brought to court to face sexual assault charges. So far, he has pleaded not guilty. To me, if one is guilty, it would be do much better for him to repent and suffer public humiliation than not to repent and suffer eternal punishment later. Therefore, I urge you all to pray for the salvation of this former cardinal.
How we see other sinners genuinely shows how much we know Jesus. In general, we don't like evildoers and often wish literally that they go to hell. But this is pure human thinking, no at all in line with what the Lord wishes. God loves the evildoers as much as the righteous ones. In fact, it's specifically for their salvation that he came to us from heaven. If any one of them goes to hell, Satan wins. Which side are you really on? Next time you wish someone to go to hell, recall how Jesus rebuked Peter in Matthew 16:23, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Saturday, September 4, 2021
***Easiest Person to Get Along With***
On earth we all have family members and/or friends, and not everyone we know we can get along with easily. Even with our most loved ones or best friends, we can misunderstand each other at times. Personally, I've found Jesus to be the easiest person to get along with. How so? First of all, he understands you perfectly, knowing all your weaknesses and imperfections. And he's most forgiving; once you admit you're wrong, he forgives you totally. Of course, he never holds grudges against you. And he's most patient, for he always listens to you. If you fall short of loving him, he helps you there too. You can trust in him completely, as he is completely reliable. He's indeed the easiest person to get along with because he doesn't mind your mistakes, imperfections, failures, as long as you trust in him. Besides, he can make you so perfect as to get along with him swimmingly. Now he and you become soulmates. Once you have the Lord as your most beloved lord and friend, you have all the people you need to know in life.
**Reacting to Any Situation
I have an earwax buildup in my right ear, affecting its hearing. So I started putting a few drops of mineral oil in it a couple of days ago to soften the wax. This had worked in the past for me. But this morning as I tried to dab my ear to get the excess oil out with a paper tissue, I found blood stains on the tissue. Two possible extreme scenarios of how one can react in such a situation. First scenario, you become alarmed, panic, and rush to see your doctor, thinking that you may have a serious infection and lose your hearing in that ear. Second scenario, you remain calm, knowing that panic or worry will not help you a bit. You don't need negative thoughts to cloud your thinking. Mostly likely, there's nothing to be alarmed about. You should wait and not jump into any conclusion.
I am sure that you would agree with me objectively that the second reaction is the right one. But we do know that reacting the first way comes more naturally to us and reacting the second way is difficult or nigh impossible for many of us. This is where God comes in. By trusting in him, we should be able to remain in peace under any circumstances. This is not just a theory, but a fact. Here's the Lord ready to take you to heaven—how can he possibly not take care of you on earth? (As for my ear bleed, I think I've figured out the cause. I just cut my fingernails. Earlier they were a bit long and I did try to get some of the wax out of the right ear with my index finger. Very possibly, the nail had scratched the outer ear and caused some bleeding. In that case, I should be all well in a few days.)
Friday, September 3, 2021
*****Most Serious Reality***
Life is our big test. At some time early in our life, perhaps around the time we started elementary school, we became aware of the existence of good and evil. Since man disobeyed God at the beginning, we all inherited the original sin. God can just pardon us all, but that would be going against his principle. So in this life, we must choose to repent and return to God or not to repent and remain in sin. This is what the test is all about, and it's absolutely critical, for the consequences of our choice will affect our eternity.
**Simple Way to Become a Saint
This is the Little Way of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. We do everything little thing for God with great love, and we become saints. So, just do everything for God to show that we love him and let him take care of the rest.
*Ready to Meet God
When we are ready to go to God at any time, we are ready for him to come at any time.
***How to know God Fast*
Plunge yourself directly into the God of Christ, cry out to him from your heart, and asking anything you want to know from him. This takes courage and may not be easy for you right new, but if you remain timid, you won't get anywhere. If you do that, the Lord would be overjoyed, this I can tell you! What can you possibly lose? Would he strike you dead? Of course not! On the contrary, he most ardently desires that you live happily in heaven with him in the end! Go to him boldly and you'll experience a breakthrough. It is truly exciting to know the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You want to enjoy peace, freedom, and joy now and forever.
***A Denial We Must Not Deny*
Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24) Today, we not only do not wish to carry our own crosse, we create crosses for others. This goes directly against following the Lord. We are no better than the Pharisees to whom Jesus had said "Woe to you" on many occasions. Despising carrying our own cross is despising the Lord carrying his cross for us now.
***Present State of the World
Today I feel that the Lord wants me to go over the basics of following him. He has already revealed to us all we need to know to be saved for all eternity. It's now up to us to carry out what he has commanded of us. If we have no faith, we won't witness any miracles. If we do not pray, we won't ever hear his voice. We then simply remain where we are and wither spiritually. While we continue thus, the Lord suffers horribly. This is the sad state of our present world, self-centered with hardened hearts.
Thursday, September 2, 2021
***"Challenging" God
The Lord God challenges us. He promises that if we do what he tells us, he'll give us many good things, including eternal life. Our heavenly Mother promises to save us from the fires of hell if we faithfully wear the brown scapular. So it strikes me that we can "challenge" the Lord and the Holy Mother to fulfill their promises by doing exactly what they ask us to do. Since the Lord God can never make empty promises, we can be sure that we'll receive all the blessings as promised, including eternal life.
***Knowing God Is Pivotal
If there were no God nor heaven, then life wouldn't be worth living. If you still think that you can do good and live happily sans God, you are simply trying to make yourself feel good. It won't work, for you don't have anything solid to back you up. Knowing God changes everything, as I've been testifying to you on this blog all these years. He becomes your rock solid foundation, your source of guidance and inspiration, and your eternal hope. Now you are wide awake, living in the most beautiful reality.
***Joy of Following Jesus!
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus taught the crowds by the Lake of Gennesaret from Simon Peter's boat a short distance from the shore. After he had finished speaking, he asked Simon to put out into deep water and lower his nets for a catch. Simon had worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Jesus' command he lowered the nets. When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish that their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.
Earlier, right after I read that Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man," the Lord right then filled me with unspeakable joy because he made me feel the joy of following him. An unforgettable moment of the Holy Spirit in action.
**Either Saved or Lost*
Today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 98, tells us that the Lord has made his salvation known to us. Is there anyone who really believes that he doesn't need salvation? If you do not know where you'll be going after you die, then you are lost and need salvation! We are either saved or lost. To me, the feeling of being lost would be unbearable. I believe this is how God has made us so that we may look for him. And I praise and thank God that I've found Christ to be precisely the Savior I need to make my existence both meaningful and glorious!
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