**Taking God's Blessings Seriously

        When Fr. Stephen ended the Mass this morning asking almighty God to bless us, it struck me that we should not take God's blessings lightly. For when God blesses us, great good things are bound to happen. This is having faith, and it's thru this faith that we get to see God's wonders.

***Bedazzled by Christ

        Communion experience. Bedazzled by the beauty and majesty of the Lord, everything else faded away. He alone shines in this universe and the core of my being.

*Way of Finding Rest in God

        Today is July 4th, Independence Day. It's a happy day for me, since it's the day I started attending daily Mass again at Mount St. Joseph Chapel nearby after I recovered from COVID-19. During Mass, the Lord made me see that to find rest in him, I only need to offer up all of myself—my mind, my heart, and my soul—to him. And I gladly did that.

**Believing in Your Own Faith

        In today's Gospel from Matthew 9, a woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind Jesus as he was walking and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you." From that hour the woman was cured. Lesson learned: When you have strong faith in God, you believe in your own faith too. This allows miracles to happen. 

***Attaining Union with God***

        (1) You open completely up to God, allowing him to enter your innermost with no hindrance whatsoever. (2) He shapes and molds you so that all his ways and his thoughts become your ways and your thoughts. For this part, no effort is required from you as all the work is done by the Lord.

*Great Joy

        Communion experience. I knew that the one I was going to receive is the one I was going to follow forever. Great joy flooded my soul.

***How God Deems Us

        John the Baptist didn't even consider himself to be worthy of untying Jesus' sandal strap. Yet this Lord wishes us to eat his body and drink his blood in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in memory of him! How he deems us is pretty incredible! We should really rejoice and love him with all our heart!

**Humility over Pride

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 10, Jesus sent seventy-two of his disciples ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit, to proclaim the kingdom of God at hand. The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of you name." Jesus said, "Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." Lesson learned: We are not to rejoice that we are mighty and powerful, but to rejoice that God loves us even as sinners. Humility beats out pride every time.

***Listening to the Lord Speaking

        To me, the words of Jesus our Lord are more palatable than anything else we might experience, for they speak the truth, enlightening our whole being and freeing the spirit. Indeed, we are to live by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God, as Scripture tells us. Listening to the Lord is a delight that surpasses all understanding.

***Forgiving, Our Big Hurdle and Test*****

        To forgive our enemies is most difficult for almost all of us, Christians included. To love the unlovely just goes against our grain. But the love of God is blind—Christ has already made that crystal clear to us. God never hates anyone. If we hurt him, he feels the pain greatly, but pities us even more. Christians must be like that too to comfort our Lord. Amidst this chaotic, godless world, we must pray for the conversion, not destruction, of all evildoers.

**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.