**Perfectly Fair Situation**

        We have our Lord who is infinitely merciful and patient, and can save us from damnation instantly if we believe in him and ask him to forgive our sins. On the other hand, Satan is waiting for us to enter hell. This is the situation we are in, a perfect balance. If only one of the two extremes exists, then we sinners would all go to heaven or all go to hell—this wouldn't make any sense. Both good and evil are real, so both reward and punishment exist.

***Perfect Mother

        I am doing the First Saturday devotion. Today being a first Saturday, I spent some time thinking about the Holy Mother. We all need a good mother. I loved my own mother, but because of my complex family situation, I wasn't able to get close enough to her to know her well. Even if we have a most loving mother close to us on earth, I believe that deep down we still yearn for a perfect mother. Well, the mother of Christ whom he had given us surely fits the bill. She always watches over and pray for us. Go to her and she'll lead you straight to her Son. If she is good enough to be the mother of Christ, surely she's plenty good enough for me. I love her as I feel her burning love for all of us. In end times now, she is playing a leading role in calling us to return to God. Thank you, dear Mom.

****A Fundamental Realization

        In praying the Our Father today, I had to pause after saying "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." For I realized that if this were truly the intention of all the people on earth, we'd all be saved and have peace in the entire world. For the Christian, the whole aim is know and do God's will. Here's also the key to becoming reconciled to God and being set free forever!  

***Telling God What He Already Knows***

        Sometimes we wonder why we need to tell God anything when he already knows everything about us. Well, if you love someone, it's natural for you to want to confide all your thoughts and feelings to that person. It's the same with God. When you love him, you want to be completely open to him to remove all barriers between you and him. This clears the way for him to share his thoughts and feelings with you. The reward is great, for now you have the Lord as your soulmate! This is also union with him, the highest spiritual state we can attain this side of heaven. So start talking to your loving Father right now. By the way, he'll never get tired of hearing from you so long as you speak from your very heart. 

***Jesus Our Joy!

         It's Friday, a day to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. They are Agony in the Garden, Scourging at the Pillar, Crowning with Thorns, Carrying of the Cross, and Crucifixion. It's just too painful to meditate upon the Lord's sufferings, so I chose to look at the positive side of things—how his sufferings have liberated us from eternal death—and my prayer became a joy. Really, how can you possibly not jump for joy when you think of Christ?

***Great Feeling and Remedy*****

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, people brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Courage, child, your sins are forgiven." At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming." Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"—he then said to the paralytic, "Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe. 
        The Lord God is absolutely awesome. Let him completely overwhelm you and you'll feel great and never be the same proud person again.

**Serving the Lord*

        We being human who serve the Lord often like to measure our success by looking to see if anything has happened due to our effort. But let's remember that the Lord changes the hearts and these changes may not be visible to us. The best way to serve God is to serve him single-heartedly and not think about anything else, trusting that he will always work for you, whether letting you see the fruit of your labor or not. 

**Something to Smile About*

        Our days on earth are numbered. We become more aware of it as we age and our health starts to deteriorate. Then I thought of heaven. Once you get there, you can forget about time altogether, for you are going to be with your heavenly Father forever. How so nice! This should put a big smile on all of you who know that you are heaven bound.  

**Smart Thinking and Move

        God is infinite, while we are finite. God knows everything, while we know practically nothing. It goes without saying that if we go against God, we'll invariably lose in the end. To be smart, always go along with the Lord. I might as well go all out and submit myself completely to him to make things work out as smoothly as possible.

***Receiving Truths from God

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." When God reveals some knowledge to you, you just know that it's true. To learn all the truths you need to know from the Lord, just reveal all of yourself to him first.

**Peace of Trust in God

        Today is the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles. In the first reading from Acts 12, we hear how Herod imprisoned Peter and intended to bring him to trial before the Jews so as to please them. But the Lord sent an angel to Peter to set him free. In the second reading from 2 Timothy 4, Paul writes, "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day . . ." Paul shows his complete trust in the Lord. When we abandon ourselves in God, we experience a special peace. You just know that you are totally in God's hands and that everything will end beautifully.

**Sign of Readiness

        If you are truly ready to return to the Lord at any time, you are ready for anything in this life.  

**Finding True Happiness

        We all know that we are going to die, yet so many of us live as if we are not ever going to die? We know that we can never find true happiness on earth, yet so many of us still try so hard to find it? Even if I can live forever in this world, I won't be satisfied. Now that I know I am merely passing through, all the more I want to seek permanent peace and happiness in God, who alone can set us free. St. Augustine is absolutely right, stating in his Confessions "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." I can personally testify to that.

***Unique Faith Most Precious***

        To have faith in something is to believe in that something, and you can have myriad different faiths. But there is only one faith that stands above all other faiths—that's faith in the Lord and God of Christ. This is the only faith that can set you completely free from sin, our life's greatest burden. When sin can no longer enslave you, you are free indeed!

***Our Whole Life Must Be . . .

to prepare to meet our God.

***What Prayer Is*****

        Just saying or reciting some prayer perfunctorily is not prayer at all. Prayer must originate from the heart; so true prayer is revealing what's in your heart to God.
        Here is the well-known Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." If you feel compelled to pray this, or simply "Christ, have mercy on me" spontaneously, it is proof that the Holy Spirit dwells within you.

****Our Greatest Tragedy

        We are all sinners. Living in this secular world with so many temptations, it is easy to serve mammon and live for ourselves with no awareness of God's love for us and his ongoing war with Satan fighting for our salvation. The dulling of our conscience is our greatest tragedy today. 

****Our Greatest Celebration

        We celebrate many things such as recovery from an illness, success of a business venture, graduation of our children from schools, or any unexpected event that makes us happy. This is all normal and good. But realize that whatever we celebrate in this life is always something that passes. As Christians, we have something we can truly celebrate—it is that God loves us to death and we are destined for eternal life in heaven! This happiness or joy surpasses any other we can possibly experience in this life and is something we can celebrate secretly in our hearts at all times. Besides, this joy of yours is being celebrated in heaven too.