***Why We Need to Pray

        When we pray to the God of Christ from our hearts in great faith and with great trust, we move his heart and can change his mind. The salvation of all the souls, the severity of coming chastisements, how much time the Devil still has over us, our own destiny . . . all these things and more are within our power to alter, alleviate, or eradicate. For the Lord listens to those who love and stay with him. Pray for the conversion of the entire world so that he may truly become the Lord in all our hearts.

****To Be a Saint or Not

        If you pray to the Lord to make you a saint, how do you think he will respond? It'd be impossible for him to reject your request, as far as I can see. In fact, this is exactly what he wishes to hear from all of us at any time. You are now making heaven rejoice! Sadly, many Catholics don't ponder over becoming a saint, for they think that's for the big, well-known saints only, not realizing that at the beginning, these saints were sinners just like them or worse. The truth is that nothing is impossible for God. If you truly desire something for his glory, God will surely make it happen. We are never too good for God or not good enough for God—we are always just right for him to turn us into saints! If you'd rather remain with the world in this life, becoming saintly is not for you. But if you'd rather shine extra bright in heaven later for all eternity, then it's perfect for you. (Note. To be a saint does not mean to be a canonized saint later. I believe that all the canonized saints were so humble that they'd rather not be singled out if they had the choice. It simply means to be holy here.) 

***Serving God Only*****

        In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said to his disciples and the crowds, "No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon." Of course, God we must serve, so "mammon" may be replaced with someone or something else. What comes to my mind is that "we cannot serve God and ourselves." If we serve ourselves first, we cannot possibly love God. Even if we place ourselves in second place, we won't be able to serve God whole-heartedly. That leaves us the conclusion that "we must forget about ourselves and serve God only." This is the key to freedom and holiness! And our reward will surely be great in heaven!

***God Meeting Our Expectations

         I've wanted to experience God's love, peace, freedom, and joy. I've wanted to know him most intimately. I've wanted to enjoy his presence at all times. I've wanted to be able to overcome all evil through him. And most of all, I now want to go to him as soon as I depart from this world to be with him for all eternity. These are all big demands, and the God of our Lord Jesus Christ has met them all, assuring me that I would be with him forever. This is the God who can meet our highest expectations.

***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.