***You Are Ready*

         If you are ready to face Christ, you are ready; you are now ready for anything! Rejoice!

***St. John of the Cross Counsel

        Today is the Memorial of Saint John of the Cross. I had read some of his writings some decades ago and the best thing I learned from him which I'll always remember was this piece of advice. He says that if you wish to attain union with Christ, you must focus upon him alone and let nothing whatsoever distract you, even should the Lord appear before you. He really made the point. It is true that anything that tends to shift our focus away from Christ can be counterproductive. If you want only him, why look elsewhere?

***Time Is Short (a Warning)

         I have already lived quite a bit beyond my life expectancy. One good grace I've received from the Lord is being aware of the little time I have left on earth. Some of you may not even live as long as I, so the time you have left would be even shorter. Anyhow, no matter how old we are, the time we have left is limited. That is, the time we have for seeking Christ the Savior is limited, while the time we'll spend with or without him later is forever! Wake up now while you still can. 

***Everything Through Christ!

        The Lord God knows everything that's going on and nothing can happen without his allowing it. So I see that it would be most wise to do everything through him. That is, we make sure that we always do his will, as it's easy to follow what we think we should do without going through him. In Matthew 7:21, Jesus said to his disciples, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Make sure that you know this. A perfect God deserves perfect obedience from us.

***Christ Our Liberator

        We human beings tend to hold onto the past. We like to preserve our heritage, our culture, and our traditions. We restore old buildings and protect ancient artifacts. All this is good as long as we are not obsessed with it. Again, I love Christ because he liberates us from all things, good and bad. We become abhorred of the bad and enjoy the good without being attached to them. In other words, we are free. We belong to Christ now, our everlasting future. The world will pass one day and that would be just fine.

**Questioning the Lord Properly

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 21, the chief priests and the elders of the people questioned the authority of Jesus. Since they couldn't answer the counter question Jesus asked them, he did not tell them by what authority he did all his things. Of course, we may ask the Lord questions to learn from him, but we should never ask him without trust nor respect. After all, what we know is nil compared to what he knows.

****Only True Future

        I watched another video showing that some of the most talented students at a prestigious university in China are working on how they can improve our daily life with cutting-edge technology. This is truly looking into the future, but does that make you truly smart? Let me say outright that any future that does not include God is no future. We must look beyond this world, this life, to be truly smart. To be blunt, without Christ, we don't have a future to speak of.

**Spotting the Smart One

      In Matthew 21, Jesus told the parable of the two sons to the chief priests and the elders of the people. "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went. The nan came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, "Yes, sir," but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered correctly, "The first." 
       I thought of this parable because I want to ask a question in a similar way. Say you have two people. One is very good at trading or doing business with others and becomes rich. Meanwhile, the other lives for God alone, quietly storing up treasure in heaven. Which of the two in your opinion is the smart or wise one?

**Shock for the Proud

        All the great saints humbly saw themselves as most wretched sinners before the Lord God, whereas today many lukewarm Christians and nonbelievers see themselves as pretty decent people that the Lord will surely forgive them. In Matthew 23 and Luke 14, Jesus said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." So for all those who think they are good enough and are not contrite or don't try to become more humble, they'll be in for a big shock when they face the Lord either at the time of the Warning or after they die. Only a fool will take a chance with God.

***Ultimate Freedom, Peace, and Joy

          It is the Third Sunday of Advent. Today's Communion experience: my quest for ultimate freedom is over.
       Freedom, peace, and joy mark the true Christian. There are all kinds of freedom, peace, and joy out there, but only the freedom, peace, and joy of God surpass all understanding. To me, they are the ultimate freedom, ultimate peace, and ultimate joy. If you don't possess Christ, you are not truly free, let alone experiencing his peace and his joy.

**How God Teaches Us

         The Lord God is always trying to perfect those who love and are receptive to him. It is in learning from him that he becomes dear to us. There will be dry moments or periods, so don't think that he has abandoned you. It may just be a transient test or signify the beginning of a new phase of your spiritual life. We must never let our feeling affect our faith. Psalms 23:4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."

*****Greatest Favor!

        Prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosaries today and realized that the Lord God actually died for my sins so that I might live—this is absolutely the most anybody could possibly do for me. It is hard to believe that God should love me this much—I feel elated and most grateful to him. Soon I'll be with my most beloved Father forever! Try to top this. 

****We Are the Culprits**

        We see how evil the world has gotten to be. Christians clearly see the fierce battle being waged by Satan against God. You may wonder why Almighty God doesn't just wipe out Evil to bring us peace. We must remember that the Lord's hands are tied because of our disobedience. If all of us repent of our sins and surrender ourselves to God, Satan instantly loses the battle and we'll have order and peace. So, you see, we are the ones fanning the spiritual war, giving the Lord God a most difficult time. He is doing his utmost to save us and we keep resisting him! Rebelling against God is surely the path to self-damnation; it's so very logical and clear.

**Mary Our Best Ally Against Evil

         Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Lord had chosen this immaculate handmaid to bear his divine Son first and is now letting her spearhead the campaign to crush the Devil. No doubt her Immaculate Heart will triumph in the end. Allow the Holy Mother to help us crush evil in our own lives.

**Dealing with Prophecies and Apparitions

      Jesus came to cause division among us. Mother Mary has also caused division. So have all the prophets. I've come across one website which lists all the prophets that are credible or questionable or false, beginning with Prophet Joel (c. 800 BC) to the self-proclaimed prophets of today. That would be absolutely impressive if the information were accurate. Anyway, we should always use our discernment. Regarding current prophets, I get suspicious if a prophecy contains specific detailed instructions, as prophecies are usually general warnings. But many of them do give us good timely advice which I can totally accept. 
    Regarding the Marian apparitions at Medjugorje and Garabandal, the Church has not approved or disapproved them yet. I've been to Medjugorje three times and experienced great joy and uplifting of the spirit there. Nonbelievers always point out some of the scandals (not involving the visionaries) or the disapproval given by some high church official, but the good fruit is obvious with so many conversions happening there, not to mention the miracles witnessed by many (and myself). As for Garabandal, I believe that the Church never really investigated the apparitions with an open mind. There were those high in the Church who did not wish to see them approved from the very beginning. The Church was already fractured in those days. The video I am giving you below is a little over an hour long. But if your are interested in the Garabandal apparitions, you should find it enlightening. 

**Sticking to the Father

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18, Jesus gave us the parable of the lost sheep. He told his disciples, "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, he rejoices more over it than the ninety-nine that did not stray. In the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these littles ones be lost." Know how much we mean to the Father and stick close to him so that we may never become lost.

***Advice on Spiritual Growth*

        We should never compare ourselves with anybody else. If you follow Christ and don't judge anyone, that should take care of that. Basically, what anyone (yourself included) thinks of you doesn't matter in the end—it's what God thinks of you at any moment alone that matters. So you should focus only upon making sure that he is always pleased with you.

***God's Unique Love

        Strictly speaking, only God's love qualifies as true love. Our own so-called love for people and things is never 100% pure. We fall for them for our own pleasure and enjoyment; that's more desire than love. When we love God, we love him with his love. We know this because we become selfless in loving him and others. This is love on an entire different level, for it sets you free and you are never the same again!