**Do You Know that . . .

if you already believe in Christ, God has chosen (handpicked) you to inherit his kingdom? Therefore, rejoice! 

**Formula for Living in Peace

        In today's Gospel reading from John 7, some of the Jews tried to arrest Jesus, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. For us too, God has an hour for everything. We are to trust in God and wait for whatever he sends our way. This is how we can live in peace. 

****Life's Two Parts**

        Life consists of just two parts. The first part on earth is quite brief, but most important, for it determines what the next part will be like, the part that's eternal. You can say that what we sow in this brief life will determine what we reap in our next life eternal. In case you don't know yet, how we should sow to reap the best possible outcome has already been laid out clearly and completely by our heavenly Father thru his Son Jesus. 

**First Saturday Devotion Recommended

        As the first Saturday of April is coming up in two days, if you love the Blessed Mother, I'd recommend that you look into the 5 First Saturdays Devotion if you haven't done it yet. Here's just one of the sites online for you to learn about it. Trust in Mary and she will remove all barriers between you and her Divine Son. She is our most loving mother.

**Joyful Coincidence

        In union with God, your will and his will become one. So when you do your will, you do his as well. What a joyful coincidence! 

***Importance of Our Heart

        We must love God with all our heart. We must pray to God from the heart. To hear him, we need to listen for his voice in the inmost recesses of our heart. God communicates with us through the heart. And when he sees us, he always looks at our heart first. Harden your heart and you cut yourself off from knowing God. Give your heart to him and you become his and are set free.

**Being Treated like an Apostle

        Communion experience. I received exactly what the Apostles did at the Last Supper. 

*****Once-in-All-Eternity Offer

        Today's entrance antiphon, Psalms 69.14: I pray, O Lord, for a time of your favor. In your great mercy, answer me, O God, with your salvation that never fails. I am thinking about that salvation of God that never fails. I can quote many sayings from Scriptures, but the gist is that if you believe in Christ as your Savior and follow him faithfully, you are saved for sure! You have to be an utter fool to pass such a golden, once-in-all-eternity free offer.

**Follow God's Ways and Thoughts

        The Ukrainian soldiers have been celebrating their victories over their Russian counterparts in defending their country against the invasion. For us humans, that's the natural thing to do. But as Christians, we should thank God first for not letting the enemy prevail. Russia has suffered great losses so far. As I understand, many Russian soldiers were not for fighting this war, but had no choice and got killed. God loves all of us and wants us to love even our enemies. So praying for them, those who are still alive and those who have died, is what we should do. We are to follow God's ways and thoughts in all things and not do what we feel like doing.

***Becoming a Saint Made Easy*

         God knows every little thing we do. All we need to do is "do every little thing with great love for his glory" and we become saints! (Then we shall always have joy and not complain anymore.)

***Soul-Changing Experience

        Communion experience. The food nurtures and heals the soul. It's like attending a banquet in heaven.  You are never the same person again.

**Our Obligation Not to Sin Anymore*

        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.

**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 . . . .

**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.

**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.