Obviously, we need God just to remain alive. Then I saw that there are always pressing problems we don't know how to solve yet. Another reason we need God.
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
***Most Inspiring Love
I thought more about how Jesus suffered for us. Abortion is today's most horrific crime, killing the unborn who are innocent. But Jesus was not just innocent, he was in fact doing all the good deeds and preaching the kingdom of God, with the sole aim of saving us from death! So they killed the one who loved them the most. This is even more unjust! But I suppose that was God's plan to show that he was even willing to sacrifice his own Son to save us from sin. This revelation alone should uplift our spirit and inspire us to love God and all others as much as he loves us.
**The Lord's Agony Then and Now
I was praying the first Sorrowful Mystery of the Holy Rosary, the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and recalled that the disciples couldn't stay awake to keep him company as Jesus underwent it—I suppose they did not quite know what the he was going to pass through yet. We now know exactly how the world is still causing the Lord agony, so we need to remain awake and do all we can to alleviate his suffering and console him.
***Not to Be Dismissed
It struck me today that the forgiveness of sins is a big deal! God can actually take away our sins to make our soul clean again! It is astounding that God can and is eager to do this for us so that we may enjoy heaven for all eternity. Unless you have no sin, how can anyone not care about the forgiveness of their sins?
Monday, February 7, 2022
***Another Union Benefit
God does everything properly according to his plan, but we always struggle with making choices. One advantage of having attained union with God is that we know and follow his will, eliminating all struggles. And this is a great joy!
**Acknowledging the Lord*
To know our place before the Lord, we need to realize that we are made in his image and he loves us, that we, having inherited the original sin, need salvation, and that God the Son had already come down to earth to die for our sins so that we might have eternal life in heaven.
***Christ Foremost
Once we believe in Christ and decide to follow him, we must not look back or even sideways. That is, we must not let anything of the past or the present make us lose our concentration upon the Lord. There are just so many things of interest around us that are distracting. Of course, we should dismiss outright anything that can cast doubts on our faith, but we shouldn't let any alleged prophesies and miracles get much of our attention either. Keeping our eyes on the Lord alone is the safest way to proceed.
***Christ's Lofty Stature!
Today's realization while praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Christ Jesus is the humblest and meekest of all beings, yet he is the Lord we, the whole world, must answer to. He is most merciful, but if we do not repent of our sins before we answer to him, we become the most foolish of all beings.
Sunday, February 6, 2022
**Desiring the Impossible
After Mass this morning, I had the tremendous desire for God to know me. I knew that he already knew me, so I suppose basically I desired to be loved by him even more, which of course is impossible.
**How to Love
Give yourself to God first, then you will know his love. With this love, you'll know how to love others.
***Receiving the Greatest Gift
Communion experience. Fr. Steven recalled the words of Jesus at the Last supper during consecration of the bread and wine: "TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU" and "TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT: FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME." When I heard these words, it's the Lord giving himself up for us—this is absolutely a huge deal! I was going the receive the greatest possible gift, the Lord himself, shortly!
**God's Sanctity*
God's holiness is so awesome that upon realizing it, those who do not know him would experience great fear and those who already know him would gladly submit themselves to him totally.
**God's One-Two
The selfless, pure love of God first drew me to him and subsequently made me fall in love with him. Then his awesome holiness awed me and made me want to obey him totally.
**Beautiful Eye-Opening Moment
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus, sitting in Simon's fishing boat, asked Simon to put out into deep water and lower the nets for a catch. Simon and his fellow fishermen had worked hard all night and caught nothing, but at Jesus' command lowered the nets. And they caught such a great number of fish that the nets started to tear. The catch filled their boat and their partners' boat to the point of being in danger of sinking. Simon Peter saw this and fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment seized him. May all nonbelievers and believers have a wake up moment like this. It's such a beautiful moment. It's like the Lord suddenly opening your eyes for you to see the light.
**The Test Catholics Face
As the Holy Church is going thru a period of great turmoil and confusion, Catholics are being tested severely. One thing we must realize is that all Church members, including the Pope and the entire clergy, can sin, but the Lord is always holy. We must never leave the Church, for doing it breaks up the Church which is the body of Christ. We must not do anything to hurt the Lord further. The right course of action to take is to pray for the Church, ourselves, and the whole world even more fervently.
****Love and Obedience
In Corinthians 13, Paul writes, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but I do not have love, I gain nothing." This has inspired me to say that if I worship, adore, and praise the Lord but do not obey him in all things; I worship, adore, and praise him in vain and am a hypocrite.
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