A sad thought at Mass this morning. The Lord who loves us has done all the work necessary for our salvation, but this generation continues to crucify him.
Sunday, October 31, 2021
**How to Love God
Let God love you first, then you'll be filled with his love. Now you love all others with this love.
***God Easier to Know than Math
When I studied math in graduate school, the class was often given difficult problems to solve as homework. One time we were give a theorem to prove. It was so hard that I spent a whole weekend working on it, racking my brain like never before. I finally got a brief glimpse of the solution and quickly wrote it down. I knew that if I didn't, it would flee me forever. Now, God is an infinitely more complex subject than math. Yet, if we open ourselves up to him, he reveals himself to us and we know and understand him effortlessly. Proving a difficult mathematical theorem can be most satisfying, but know God is a lot easier and a pure joy.
*Extreme Joy and Sorrow
In union with the Lord on earth, the joy can be so great that it practically crushes you. You can be sure that the joy in heaven will be much greater. Now, you can also be sure that the sorrow in hell will have to be most unbearable.
**Complete Compatibility with God*
Complete compatibility is only possible with the Lord our God and impossible with any other human being. That's because only the Lord God understands us perfectly and can transform us to become like him.
**Ideal Way of Living
Enjoying the Lord as we serve him as best we can without any anxiety, as we approach the day of meeting him in person.
Friday, October 29, 2021
***Love Alone Shines
In these end times, the Lord is sending us so many urgent messages through a great number of prophets. What strikes me is that he always asks us to pray for the conversion of those who have fallen away from him and not to judge or attack anyone, not even the greatest evildoers. It's love alone that shines through. Let's remember this so that we may triumph over and not fall prey to the evil one.
***Remaining New in the Lord
When you are in union with God, he renews you continuously and you remain a new creature. This is what makes being in union with God so exhilarating.
****God's Will Only
It is not always easy to distinguish what God wants us to do from what we want to do, especially what we want to do is something good. To make sure that we do only God's will, we need to rid ourselves completely of our own ego, listen intently to the Lord, and are ready to go against our own grain if need be. That's why abandoning ourselves totally in the Lord is central to living the Christian life. God first and we don't even appear on the list.
**Our Mission in Exile
Let us realize that we who love and follow the Lord are living in exile on this earth. For we do not belong or fit into this evil world. Our permanent abode is in heaven with the Father. While here, our mission is to glorify him by saving as many of his children as possible.
Thursday, October 28, 2021
***No Excuse for Committing Sins
We've all been given a conscience by God to distinguish good from evil. Now that Christ has come and is with us, good and evil are made clearer than ever to us. So there's no excuse for committing sins anymore. If you seek to attain union with God, he'll even give you a super sharp conscience to keep your soul pure and spotless.
***God's Profound Peace*****
When you do everything for the sake of the Lord and never for your own sake, that is, your motivation always remains selfless and pure, you experience the most profound peace. That tells me all I need to know about my God!
**Sin of Presumption
All the great saints consider themselves to be most wretched sinners. So if anyone thinks that he is a pretty good person and quite sure that he'll go to heaven, he doesn't know what he's dealing with. With God you can't be so casual about such matters; you'd better be 100% sure. When the Lord says yes, he means yes, and when he says no, he means no. We should get his yes first and not presume that we'll have it. Presumption is a sin too. St. James warns about that in James 4:13-17.
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
**Prayer Focus
If you pray for some favor for someone or yourself, do not focus on that someone or yourself or that favor. Instead, you focus on the Lord alone when you pray. You do your part and it's now completely in his hands. You neither wonder what'll happen next nor hope that he'll answer you in a certain way. Show the Lord that you possess both humility and trust.
***The Basic Question
Luke 13:22-30 is today's Gospel reading. I'll just quote the first four verses. Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ Here's the Lord describing a poignant scene. In end times like ours now, this is what we particularly need to hear, take seriously, and ponder upon. The basic question: Do you want to be be saved or not?
***Possessing God's Glory
2 Thessalonians 2:14, today's Gospel acclamation: God has called us through the Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can possess the glory of Christ! Be with Christ and everything the Father has becomes ours! (Luke 15:31)
**Holy Spirit for All
The Holy Spirit is the Lord who sets your heart on fire and uplifts your spirit. He does not make you complacent, but calls you to action. This seems to be a gift not all the faithful seek or receive, causing division among them. But I do believe that we can all receive this gift if we are open-minded and truly desire it.
Just finished blogging the above and I read today's first reading from Romans 8. This is what Paul wrote: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will. So the Holy Spirit as Lord God is a most personal Spirit.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
***Great Words from Our Mother
Two older messages, but more relevant than ever. Specifically, we were told that judging people is a sin, and we must not judge anyone but let God judge everyone. This should be easy to remember; we only need to obey the command.
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