***Measuring Ourselves by the Lord's Prayer

        I see the Lord's Prayer as the prayer by which we can measure ourselves. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name...": Do we treat God as our Father? Do we honor and revere his name? "...Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.": Do we long for his kingdom to come? Do we really do his will? "Give us this day our daily bread...": Do we acknowledge our daily dependence upon the Father? "...and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us...": Do we truly forgive everyone? "...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Do we truly run from temptation and abhor evil? If your answer to all the questions above is yes, you should be A-OK with the Lord.

**Growing Old Wisely

         As we age, first we retire from work, then gradually our physical condition weakens, and eventually we are no longer able to do most of things we used to do. Now would be an excellent time for us to focus upon the Lord, for we can contemplate and pray, exercising our hearts. This is the perfect time to reconcile ourselves fully to God or attain union with him, for abandoning ourselves to him should be a lot easier, unless you are a very stubborn person. Our whole life gives us the opportunity to reach this point. Old age is our chance and we'd better not let it pass.

***Are You Moronic or Wise?

        To go to hell, just follow your own will. To go to heaven, just follow God's will. A simple change make a huge difference! To be moronic or wise, it's our choice.

**Power of Prayer

        Prayer is powerful because it can move God to do things for us with his unlimited power. The Lord actually listens to us when we trust in him and ask for favors sincerely from our hearts.

***Operating on the Heart Level

        To live for God, we need to lift up or give our hearts to him to be filled with his love. And it's proper to consecrate our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then we let this heart of love motivate all our prayers and what else we do. You are on your way to sainthood.

*Special Reminder

        I prayed the 5th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, The Finding of Jesus in the Temple. Jesus was twelve when his parents found him in the temple in Jerusalem, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. When his parents saw him, his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety." And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?" Since God is also our Father, we need to be in his house too. So we'd better behave always.

*****Our Most Beautiful Relationship*****

        The more you trust in God, the more God is free to reveal himself to you and the more you know that he is real. God is absolutely real all right, but you must be open to him first. Open up all the way and he and you ultimately become soulmates with your soul completely secure in his hands. This is the most beautiful relationship you can have in heaven or on earth!

**Don't Forget the Evildoers*

        It is easy for us to pray for those whom we love and not to pray for our enemies or the evildoers. Yet Jesus wants us to love our enemies and do good to them. In Luke 6:32, the Lord said, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." Then in Mark 2:17, Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." So the evildoers are the the Lord's great concern. At Fatima, the Holy Mother asked us to add this prayer after reciting each decade of the Holy Rosary: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Shall we then always pray for those who have the greatest need for conversion? 

***Incredible Humility and Love***

        Today's Communion experience. It was incredible and overwhelming that the creator of heaven and earth and the king and lord of the whole universe would stoop so low as to let me receive and consume his Body and Blood to become one with him! My only proper and logical response had to be total submission to him. And I knew I wouldn't be the same person again, for he makes all of us delightful and pleasing to him when we let him.

****Choosing Our Eternal Destination

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 9, Jesus said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'" We see how imperative it is that we do not sin or cause others to sin. Choose sin and you end up in Gehenna or choose God and you will enter heaven—all so clearly laid out before us. The Lord is definitive and we must pay attention to all that he has said. 

***Tribute to the Most Holy Spirit

        I did at one time ask the Lord how I would know that the Holy Spirit dwelled in me. And he did answer me clearly by letting me experience his presence in many ways. This story was told earlier on this blog. Now I can say that the Holy Spirit is the most gentle Lord who guides me in all things, teaches me his ways, and illuminates my mind. He molds and shapes my spirituality, sharpens my conscience, and heals and purifies my soul. It is he who keeps me spiritually vibrant and makes me long for the Holy Trinity. He is my God.

***We Are Most Fortunate

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 9, Jesus said to his disciples, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” They did not understand this saying, but they were afraid to ask him about it. It is understandable that after witnessing his awesome power at work in so many instances, they were hesitant about asking him questions. We are in a most fortunate situation, for we already know that Jesus is God the Son, that he was handed over to men, got crucified, and rose from the dead, and that he became our Savior. So we are free to ask him any questions and even receive his body and blood in the Eucharist to become one with him! This is something we can greatly rejoice about.

***Awaken, World!

        The world is in a sad state. It does not see the love of God nor the existence of evil. Not realizing that we are sinners and need salvation is to remain lost. To follow ourselves is to follow the Devil, I want to be blunt and truthful about it. There are signs and messages all around urging us to convert now, it's sad that many Catholics don't even pay them any attention. To feel the urgency doesn't mean that you do not trust in God anymore. On the contrary, you now put yourself completely at the Lord's disposal to do all you can to assist him. If we all be attentive and obey God, God wins the spiritual war, period. God now needs us more than ever, or, rather, we now need him more than ever!
        Listen to the Holy Mother's counsel in the following video.

***Be Ready for the Unavoidable

        We'll face Christ when he comes next or after we die, whichever comes first. So facing him is unavoidable. Since we also do not know when either of these two events will happen, the time to be ready and prepared for facing the Lord is right now. (And I know I am correct in saying this.)

**Examination of Conscience*

        When I first became a Catholic many decades ago, I learned about the practice of examining your conscience at the end of each day to see what sins you have committed and how you can avoid committing them again. This practice seems to have been forgotten altogether. Examining our conscience on our own is necessary for making spiritual progress. One great advantage for one who has attained union with God is that his conscience remains so sharp at all times that he senses any tendency to sin, and every sin now repels him. This eliminates the need to examine the conscience regularly. The video I am posting below again talks about the coming illumination of conscience, but it also talks about the need to examine our conscience to prepare ourselves for the event.

***Christ, Unique and Compelling***

        This is to go over again what I think is important to know. Christ is the only one in whom we must believe totally or not at all, for we must accept him either as God or not God at all. No one else can challenge us like that, for no one else is God. 

***Greatest Joy in Heaven

        Although heaven is the most beautiful and happiest place in existence, I feel that in heaven I would derive my greatest joy from being with God, as he is love and the source of all beauty and our happiness. Of course, I would enjoy the company of all the saints and angels too, especially the Holy Mother whom I love. 

***Formula for Happiness

           Unhappiness is caused by the ego when our desires are not fulfilled. Since it's impossible to not have any desires, why don't we can make God's desires ours to make both God and us happy? This is the wise, proper solution.