***How God Judges Us

         The Lord judges us by different standards. Christians are given more, so more is expected of them. Someone who has never heard about Christ may be saved if he is a good person, but someone who knows Christ will be judged by a higher standard. I believe that the standard applied to a priest can even be higher, for he is in a position that can affect many souls. Anyway, every case is different and the Lord knows them all and is always just. If you've been given much by the Lord, know that you need to give him back more in order to receive still more from him.

***God's Beautiful Act

        As I prayed the Luminous Mysteries today, I saw that Jesus' giving his own body and blood in the Holy Eucharist was a most magnificent, selfless act. What a great gift we received from him! 

***Bonding with God

         Some years ago, I had to deal with a difficult matter and one person was always with me. She always supported me and spent a lot of time doing a lot of work for me. The matter was finally resolved after several years. Since she and I went thru so much together, a strong bond was formed between us. Bonds are always formed among those who do things together. Now, if we share everything with our Lord and experience the same joys and sorrows with him, we form a strong bond with him too. In fact, this has to be the most rewarding of all possible bonds, for our partner is no other than the Lord God himself. How satisfying it is to know that he is your closest friend, your most trustworthy ally, and your very soulmate!

***Spiritual Breakthrough

        When we abandon ourselves in God, we break through to freedom and joy. This has to be a turning point in our spiritual life, for we break out of self-imprisonment and begin the non-arduous part of our journey to union with God.

***We Are Malformed!

        We are shaped by what we experience in this world. In this secular, sinful world, we are influenced so much by all the impure and evil things happening around us that we don't even realize the pitiful state we are in. Hence, we need God who can make us see our sorry state and make us pure, whole, and beautiful for him to behold again. Last but certainly not least, we get to go to heaven too!

***Endearing Yourself to God

        Every prayer said straight from the heart endears ourselves to God. So let him draw you right to his Most Sacred heart by sharing everything in your heart with him. After all, he is our most loving Father.

***Skipping Purgatory

        I saw this Fr. Mark Goring video that came out in June of 2019. Here are some of my thoughts. Purgatory is where we get ourselves purified before entering heaven. You are going to heaven anyway, right? But both the severity of suffering in purgatory and the duration vary, depending upon the state of the soul. If your time in purgatory would last till the end of time, that definitely won't be a pleasant experience. I am saddened whenever I hear someone who has done something sinful and casually say "I'm going to purgatory anyway." Such an attitude will surely worsen his experience in purgatory if he does get there. Listen to Fr. Goring's message. I agree with him that our aim should be to get ourselves totally purified in this life. If you do this and truly long to see the Lord, chances are you'll go straight to heaven. The attitude should be that even if we do go thru purgatory, we willingly accept whatever the Lord wants to do with us. Total submission to the Lord and loving and longing for him can assure that your time in purgatory will be zero or minimal.

**Awareness of Death

        We all know that everyone is going to die one day. But since many people, being still relatively young, don't know when that day will be and have gotten themselves attached to the many things of the world, they live as if they are never going to die. I am sure that should they know the exact date of their death already, they would live their lives differently. You could say that they are now temporarily being deceived by the unawareness of their certain death. I'd advise that we think about our death in advance and start living right, before we get old and realize that death is near. For we may not get that opportunity.

***God Needed More than Ever

       Last night I emailed a petition to many of my friends to sign. It was to call on the president of the Catholic Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles to cancel a scheduled fundraiser on behalf of Planned Parenthood on campus. Catholics now openly promoting abortion! Because many Christians have not been vigilant, evil has succeeded in infiltrating much of the world and even the Church. To sin in a secular, materialistic, godless society filled with temptations is just too easy, as easy as going down a slide. Without a strong faith in God, conscience is our only weak brake. We always need God, but now we need him more than ever in these last moments! 

**Discipleship Requisites

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus addressed the great crowds traveling with him. He said, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Jesus is basically saying that we must put him ahead of everything else. We must be detached from everyone else, including ourselves. Of course, this doesn't mean that we do not love our family members and ourselves anymore. Once we follow the Lord, we'll know how to love all others properly with his love, a love that's pure and truly selfless. His last saying here tells us that we must also accept our crosses.

**Sign of Total Conversion

        If you totally obey the Lord God of Christ in all things, you have totally converted.

**Don't Create Disorder

        God is totally meek and humble. So if we are haughty and full of pride, we create disorder. Naturally, our infinite almighty God is to be glorified. If we finite creatures start glorifying ourselves, we also create disorder. Be humble following God and we'll enjoy peace now and be happy for all eternity!      

**Be Heirs to God's Kingdom Now

        Matthew 25:34, today's Gospel acclamation: Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is what you'll hear the Lord say to his faithful sheep at his second coming. Happy indeed are those who will hear him say this to them! Start enjoying the Lord now and let your joy increase to that day and beyond.

**How to Understand Truth

        Today is All Souls Day. From the first reading from Wisdom 3, verse 9 reads "Those who trust in God shall understand truth...." This simple statement is very beautiful! God is the truth. When you trust in him, he reveals himself to you and you know the truth. And, of course, the truth sets you free. If follows that those who trust in God are free!

***Christ Never Boring!

        Christians feel about Jesus differently. Believing in him with a strong faith no matter how you feel is always a great blessing. Personally, I find knowing and following Christ most exciting and exhilarating. He is the same always, yet I can never get bored. For he is the truth, remaining forever new and refreshing, and he makes me new and refreshing to him too! He is the one I greatly look forward to spending eternity with!

**Our Business and Challenge

        Instead of minding whether others love the Lord God or not, we should mind first whether we ourselves love him enough or not. By the way, we can never love God enough, and that's the challenge for all of us on earth.

*Christ as Our Teacher

         Have you ever noticed that the Pharisees of Jesus' days only cared about following set rules for all to observe, while Jesus always spoke spiritual truths aiming at people's hearts? 

***Lord's Prayer Revelations****

        In praying the Our Father this morning, I saw that the plea "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" truly is the key to our salvation, and the following plea "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" ultimately tests our our love for the Lord (and our obedience).