**Beginning of Spiritual Death*

        An unrepentant, hardened heart. 

**Not Knowing What We Do (Another Tragedy)

        Seeing how tragically human lives and properties are being destroyed in the ongoing Ukraine war, I lament the fact that even though we humans know that we are going to die, we keep on doing stupid things. If we don't submit ourselves to God, there'll be no more help available to us. Wake up and wise up!

***Huge Human Tragedy

         Here I go again. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is so close, so accessible, so loving and easy to please, and is ever ready to lead us to heaven, yet people just don't care. How devastatingly tragic!

**Every Breath a Blessing*

        That's because every breath we take reminds us that we are living and God is sustaining us every moment right now. We exist because he loves us.

**Incredible Experience Always

        Communion experience. The Lord gave up his own Body and poured out his own blood for us and for the forgiveness of sins—it's still incredible that he should love us this much.

***How the Holy Spirit Acts

         The Holy Spirit acts like the electricity. You don't see the electrons flow, but when they do, you can see the lamp all lit up. Similarly, we don't see how the Holy Spirit acts, but when he does, you are transformed or set afire spiritually.

****Why God Needs Our Prayers

         God can do all things by himself. He can vanquish evil instantly if he so wishes. It is for our sake that he needs our prayers. You see, we are totally involved in the war Satan is waging against the Lord, battling for our souls. So we must choose sides. To get the needed strength to fight for God, we need to yield ourselves to him thru prayer. In this way, he also earns our trust.

*****Our Greatest Joy*****

        In yesterday's Gospel reading at Mass, the Lord said to his disciples, "It is I. Do not be afraid." (See my post Christ Makes Us Fearless.) In today's Gospel reading from John 21, when the risen Jesus revealed himself to his disciples for the third time, this time at the Sea of Tiberias, John first recognized Jesus and said to Peter, "It is the Lord." It is exiting to hear the Lord say "It is I" to us and equally exciting for us to recognize him and say "It is the Lord." Knowing Christ is pure joy! It is a joy you can't let go and can't get enough of it. The love of Christ is our greatest love, and so is his joy our greatest joy.

***Handling Unpleasantries

        When people tell me things that are boring, trivial, or inconsequential, especially when I am trying to focus my mind upon the Lord, it can be rather annoying. The Lord showed me this morning that I should treat it as a form of suffering, accept it, and offer it up to him. I am grateful that he made me see it this way so that I may always have my peace. This is how I should handle anything that's unpleasant from now on. 

**Prayer Our Survival Tool

        Prayer is a great weapon. Use it wisely and we can shield ourselves from all evil. Thru prayer we can receive God's mercy, gain entrance into heaven, and save the world. It's our direct personal link to God, and nothing can stop us from receiving God's power thru it.

***World's Huge Tragedy

        In looking at the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, we see soldiers taking aim at their enemies and wiping them all out with the push of a button, fast and mercilessly. We who are so precious and meant so much to the Father see no value in human life anymore. If I feel sad, how infinitely more must our heavenly Father feels. I guess I shouldn't be shocked when our society thinks nothing of killing a baby in the mother's womb. God died for us so that we may live, but we kill others so that we may live or simply for our convenience. I still pray for God's mercy on all of us, but I don't think we'll be able to avoid any chastisement coming unless we all convert.

****Christ Makes Us Fearless

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, in the dark evening when the disciples were in their boat on the sea that had been stirred up by a strong wind, they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward them. They began to be afraid, but he said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid." How good to hear these words from the Lord! He would say exactly the same to us who follow him whenever we are afraid of something. Let him make us fearless! 

*First Step Required for Salvation (A Warning)

        If you ever wish to be saved, awakening to your sinful state is a must and the starting point. Otherwise, you would die in sin, something to avoid at all costs, for the consequence is most dire. An old Chinese proverb says, "One step in the wrong direction will cause you a thousand years of regret." Except in our case, it would last a lot longer than a thousand years.

**Real Tragedy of the World

        The tragedy of this world in troubled times like ours is that so many people still live just for themselves. They busily do all kinds of things to enrich themselves and try to have fun too. But one thing they lack is true joy in the heart. So basically, it's much ado about nothing. It's sad that with closed hearts, they don't get to experience the deep joy of knowing Christ. The are to be pitied.

***Ingenious Sacrament

        Communion experience. The Holy Eucharist is a most ingenious sacrament. I can't think of a better way for us to achieve intimate union with the Lord in this physical world. Thanks and Praise be to God! 

***What We Need to Live By

        In Matthew 4, Jesus responded to his tempter, the devil, by quoting Deuteronomy: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. It's true that if we eat only ordinary bread, we still die one day. But if we "eat up" every word that comes forth from the Lord, we shall have life forever!

*****Best Place to Dwell in*

        Today's Psalm response from Psalm 27: One Thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord. If the Lord dwells in you, you dwell in his house as well, and what a joy it is to dwell in his house! You are with the Lord, being shield from all evil and refreshed continuously by the Holy Spirit. You now remain clean in his presence and enjoy complete freedom in him. There is not another place I'd rather be in. 

**Communion of Saints

        Today is the Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena. I rejoice that we have so many great saints in heaven on our side. We can ask them to bless us, guide us, watch over us, and intercede for us. Favorite saints are too many to mention. Our Blessed Mother is at the top of my list, followed St. John, the Apostle, and St. Thérèse, the Little Flower. How can we ever be lonely?