***The Way to Be Free of Sin!

        From today's Psalm 130, we read "If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered." Because God can forgives our sins and will, if we repent, we no longer need to fear sin anymore! This is such great news and relief that we can surely rejoice about. The only alternative is to carry your iniquities all your life and die.

**Foolish, Dangerous Living

        A lot of people still hear the small voice of their conscience telling them that they should do this or not do that from time to time. But being so much enslaved by the world, they easily turn away from that voice. Unless they already worship Satan, they do not outright reject Jesus. So it's living day to day, avoiding facing the Lord. To me, this is extremely foolish, dangerous living.

**Not Belonging to This World!

         During the trial before Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." (John 18:35-36) For us who follow Christ, our home is not in this world either. Since we belong to Christ, our permanent home is in heaven, awaiting us now!

**Not Knowing What They Do

         I pity the evildoers, for they know not what they do. But I also feel sorry for another category of people. These may even be nice people, but just totally lack humility. They may claim that they believe in God, but live life the way they want for themselves anyway. They think they know more than God, for when they believe that what they do is the right thing, it must be all right with God. They take full charge of their own life and think that those who trust in God to provide every need is not living in reality. Obviously, they erroneously believe that trust in God means doing nothing on your own and just letting God work all the miracles for you. Anyway, these people are usually judgmental, unforgiving, and look down on other less fortunate people; they do not know what they do either. Prayer seems to be the only resort to make them see, for they wouldn't listen to anyone speaking the truth to them. Pride can be as detrimental to the soul as doing evil.

*Great Error Causing Great Sorrow

        Great error: not taking Christ seriously. Great sorrow: being cut off from God for eternity.

***Most Special Reception***

        Today's Communion experience. I am receiving the Lord I am going to enjoy being with in heaven for all eternity! 

**A Most Special Trip

        Going to Mass is a so very special trip—you go to receive the Lord in person for him to enter you!

*Contrasty Effects

        The love of money causes us to do evil. By contrast, a pure heart enables us to preserve inner peace.

**Letting God Inspire You

        Alfred Cortot, the renowned French pianist of the the 20th century once said, "You should convey the music not just through the notes, but through some kind of inspiration drawn from its immortal spirit." This inspires me not to become a better piano player, but to become a better Christian. Imagine how the Holy Spirit of God can inspire us if we open up to him. The Lord is always yearning to be one with us; we are the ones who are usually reluctant to cooperate. So open wide to let him inspire you with his love, and you'll be filled with hope and zeal, feeling uplifted at all times. 

***Created for God*

        I do feel that there is no one in this world I can fully trust and rely upon. Close family members and friends can make me feel good to a certain degree, but ultimately, I am still alone. No so with the Lord, for I feel that he is always with and for me, warts and all. He never gives up on me as long as I live. This is exactly what we all need. We were truly created for him. 

**Best Thing for Us in This World

        Well-wishers on various occasions commonly wish others good health as if it were the most important thing for them. I suppose if you do not consider God, it is rather important. And they wish others success in whatever they do. Of course, success here usually implies making a lot of money. Then they also wish others happiness, but how do you acquire happiness? Anyway, we all more or less become worldly in this world. If I wish someone go to heaven, I am sure I would most likely offend that person. My point is that good health, becoming rich, and happiness in this world are not really the best things for us. The only thing that's truly good for us is knowing God

***Only Source of Mercy

        We can be merciful to others, but our mercy is only temporary and always limited, while God's mercy is forever and infinite. Only God can save our souls. If you need mercy, you must go to him, the God of Christ, for there is not another source besides him. 

**Our Most Urgent Task

        The reality is that we live in a sinful world and that should make fighting evil our most urgent task, for our souls are at stake! This means that we must choose God to lead us in this battle. If you don't see this, then you've already been deceived or captured by evil.

*Our Role in Serving God

        The first Joyful Mystery of today's Rosary, The Annunciation. God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to tell her that he had chosen her to bear his only Son on earth. We must realize that as God's children, we each are given a role to play too, albeit how we are called may not be so dramatic and what we are asked to do is more ordinary. It's serving God humbly in our assigned role well that makes life meaning and helps him accomplish his plan for our good.

**Ego and Inner Peace

        As long as your ego remains active, you won't have inner peace. If you let God's will override yours, you begin to starve your ego. Once his will and your will become one, you are free and will enjoy inner peace. 

*****Transfiguration Joy

        As I was praying the 4th Luminous Mystery of the Holy Rosary, The Transfiguration of the Lord, this morning, a great joy burst forth from my interior and took complete possession of me. I felt that the Lord totally enveloped me. I didn't know whether I was crying or laughing or both, as I was overwhelmed by it. I recovered only after I finished praying the whole decade. This is so different from experiencing some joy in the world. You feel good for a while and it's forgotten. The joy from heaven comes from the Holy Spirit and makes a permanent impression on your soul. It's not something you can expect or suppress. It overcomes and frees you at the same time. You don't need to see the Lord to know that he is indeed real and personal.

**Jesus the Compelling One

        Go thru the four Gospels to see if you can find a single thing you think Jesus did wrong. You'll find none. On the other hand, if you are open-minded, you'll find so many impressive, amazing things he did showing that he is God and absolutely trustworthy. You must accept or reject him as long as you are still alive on earth. There's no one else as compelling as he, for no one else is God. Reject him and you risk losing your soul. 

**Sign God Dwells in You*

        Follow Jesus faithfully and one day you find yourself no longer worry or complain about anything. Now you know that the Lord dwells comfortably within you.