In today's Gospel reading from John 5, Jesus cured a man who had been ill for 38 years. Later when Jesus found him, he said to him, "Look, you are well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may happen to you." Once Jesus has cured us or done us a favor, we are obliged not to offend him anymore. Otherwise, something worse may happen to us. Actually, the Lord has already died to save us from sin. For this alone, we should not sin anymore. If we don't listen to him here, surely things are going to get worse.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
**Multitude of Joys from the Lord
The disciples of Christ receive many joys from the Lord. Off the top of my head, I can mention the joy of union with him; the joy of salvation; the joy of being forgiven by him; the joy of meditating upon his suffering for our sake; the joy of knowing that we are loved by and precious to him; the joy of knowing that we are headed for heaven to be with him forever; the joy of having our soul being healed by him; the joy of feeling pure and clean; the joy of serving, glorifying, and adoring him; the joy of hearing him speaking to our heart; the joy of receiving answers to our prayers; the joy of being set free from sin by him . . . .
Monday, March 28, 2022
**Another Privilege of Knowing God
After receiving Holy Communion, I enjoyed communing with the Lord, sharing my deepest innermost thoughts and feelings with him. Again, you can do this only with God, not possible with anyone else. Another great privilege of knowing the Lord personally thru the Holy Eucharist.
****Let God Do This Tremendous Thing
I was greatly moved at Mass when I realized that Christ can take away my sins. This is significant, in fact momentous! It's something only the Lord can do. When he does that to you, the effect is tremendous: You are now made clean and fit for heaven! Think about it. If you don't get your sins removed, they will sink you in the end.
**God Our Spearhead
God is our refuge, our strength, our fortress, etc. I also see him as our spearhead, for it's thru his prompting and inspiration that we accomplish great tasks for his glory.
**Trust and Live
In today's Gospel reading from John 4, a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum went to Jesus in Galilee and ask him to come down to heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, "You may go; your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. He found out later that the fever left his boy just at the time Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." It show that if we truly trust in what God tells us, we really don't have to worry about anything. This is what the Lord wants us to realize and how we should live.
Sunday, March 27, 2022
**Beautiful Union*
Communion experience. Uniting yourself with the love of God is about the most beautiful thing in the whole universe, and this is what you experience when you receive the Holy Eucharist. You let the love of God totally fill your mind, your heart, and your soul. It is thru this Most Blessed Sacrament that you achieve this most intimate union with the Lord.
**Living to Find Life
We want to live in Jesus, but we want to die in him too. Anyway, we no longer live for ourselves. As the Lord said, "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25).
***How Not to Judge
Don't judge others means you mind your own sins only. Let God take care of the sins of others.
****Repentance Not to Be Delayed
Always repent as soon as possible. For venial sins, you can repent right way. For serious sins, go to confession. If you don't, you put yourself in a situation as precarious as hanging from a cliff.
***Distinct Benefits of Union with God***
(1) You are aware of God's presence at all times.
(2) Your conscience becomes super sharp.
(3) You lose the fear of death.
*****Incredibly Loving & Generous Father!
In today's Gospel reading from Luke 15, we heard the parable of the lost son read. For me, this is Jesus' most beautiful parable. It shows how incredibly our Father loves us. If we tell him we are sorry for what we've done, he is overjoyed and all our faults are forgotten and forgiven! It's almost as if he is at our mercy, which shouldn't be! Then when we become his good children, all he has is ours. How most generous he is! This is holy "spoiling"! So to those of you who have not returned to the Father yet, you don't know how much you are missing that could be all yours! I truly feel sorry for you.
**Complaining Not from God*
Blessed and wise are those who never complain about anything that come to them. They have submitted themselves completely to God, knowing that complaining comes from the Devil to rob them of peace. Praise God always and complain not about anything.
**Entrusting Our Death to God
The war in Ukraine has already caused thousands of deaths. The news media report daily how the Russian soldiers got neutralized; look, they all got blown up by drones, anti-tank rockets, or mines. Such news is tragic, but how one dies does not reflect where the soul goes after death. The souls of many Christian martyrs went straight to heaven, whereas anyone who lives comfortably and dies naturally could still end up in hell. All we know is that God is all-knowing and just. We can help by praying for all those who have died and gone to purgatory; better yet, pray that all who are living will turn to God before they die.
Saturday, March 26, 2022
**Definitive Divergent Paths
Reject Christ and what will ultimately happen to you will be a lot worse than you can imagine. I want everyone to realize this to avoid being shocked later. On the other hand, follow Christ faithfully and what will ultimately happen to you will be way beyond what you can possibly expect. I wouldn't think about it now so that my joy may be greater when I experience it.
*God Has to Be Real
You may not believe in God, but you see evil all around you. You feel it in your heart and soul too when you do something bad. If evil is real and you can feel it, logically and intuitively God has to be real too (even if we do not consider Christ, our overwhelming evidence).
**Getting God to Accept Us
In the world, we learn how to get along with others in order to achieve success. Dale Carnegie's book How to Make Friends and Influence People is a classic. I read it when I was young and found the advice given to be wise, sensible, and most helpful. In today's reading from Psalm 51, verse 19 reads "My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn." This is it—to get along with God, approach him with a contrite and humbled heart. Here we have the secret of getting God to accept us.
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