In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus reproached the three towns, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, for being unrepentant. To repent is to tell God we are sorry for having offended him. We do say sorry to friends and others easily when we realize that we are wrong—then why is it so hard for us to repent to God our sins? I think it's because with friends, we just want to make peace and move on, not really thinking about changing ourselves, while in repenting to God we must be completely honest and want to change ourselves afterwards. Not willing to submit ourselves to God yet, we keep putting off repenting (going to confession for Catholics).
Sins are to be removed as soon as possible. If you don't repent now, the Lord will show you all your unabsolved sins when you face him at judgment time. Not repenting is choosing to destroy you own future forever. Remember this motto: Never die in sin.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
*****Unrepentant Sins Warning
Monday, July 11, 2022
***All Things Work for Good
From Romans 8:28, "All things work for good for those who love God." To us, both good and bad things happen. But if you see them as all coming from God, they can draw you even closer to him. Here's one recent example. After my bout with COVID-19, I came to appreciate even more my wife's devotion to me. This is a good thing that came out of a "bad" thing, which made the "bad" thing look good. So we should thank God for all things that happen to us, as they all work for our good (if we love him).
**Heavenly Gifts for the Faithful Christian*
Living for Christ, you experience freedom, peace, and joy, more or less in that order. Freedom is what you experience when the Lord first liberates you from sin and severs your attachment to the world. Consequently, you experience his peace that surpasses all understanding. The heavenly joy you receive from time to time is just icing on the cake. Let Christ set you free first to get the ball rolling.
***Jesus Speaking as God***
Today is Memorial of Saint Benedict. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to the Apostles, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not taker up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." If anyone else had said this, you would definitely think that person must absolutely be out of his mind—who does he think he is? But if you believe that Jesus is indeed our Lord God and Savior, then what he had said here is perfectly fitting. Go through all the Gospels and you'll see that he always knew what he's doing or talking about and had the right answer to every question people threw at him.
****God's Infinite Mercy
Thought for the day. We are all sinners, ranging from slightly imperfect souls to most horrendous evildoers. But what we are now doesn't make any difference when we go before the God of Christ to confess our sins and ask for his forgiveness. He'd just take away all our sins and make us white as snow, for his mercy knows no bounds. We are so blessed to have such a soft-hearted Lord.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
***Another Realization*
When we become one with God thru the Eucharist, we become perfectly happy and content. I realized at Mass today that this is how the Lord has made us!
***God Changes Us*
Someone recently shared a video many people thought was hilarious. It shows a comedian telling some jokes. But I found it neither funny nor entertaining. Nowadays, nothing in the world excites me anymore. Tasty food, great sceneries, beautiful music . . . they are all fine, but I don't feel any attachment to any of such nice things anymore. How come? I know it's because I have already experienced the overwhelming brilliance, beauty, loveliness, power, and love of Christ so that everything else just pales in comparison. Other people probably think that I am no longer a fun person to be with, but that's only a small price I don't mind paying at all. Besides, I had expected that. God can truly change us, this I now know.
***Jesus' Awesome Status
In today's reading 2 from Colossians 1, Paul writes, "Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." These are bold statements. Note that Paul used to persecute all followers of Jesus without mercy. Then Jesus called him and converted him. It had to be the Lord who revealed to him what he proclaims in this epistle. So I totally believe what he has said is true.
***Breaking Through to God***
The Lord God is not remote or nebulous. In fact, he is so near that you can go straight to him, call on him to respond to you, and he'll do just that! I am talking about Jesus Christ, our creator, Lord and Savior. The difficulty is to come up with such a faith since we are so used to playing God. If you were smart, you'd see that humility is the key to knowing God. Think that you are your own god and I can only wish you the best of luck. See that you are nobody before God, then voilà, there he is!
**Least We Should Do
It's impossible for us to love God too much. If we are not ready to go all the way yet, the least we should do is to love him a little more each day. Small increments can add up fast.
Saturday, July 9, 2022
*****Smart Way to Life
In Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constructed the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." We all must choose between following God or ourselves. Since it's so much easier to follow ourselves and not God, the gate that leads to destruction is wide and the gate to life, narrow. But if you are really smart, you head straight for Christ, as he is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). When you have him, you have eternal life.
***The Way to Salvation
Jesus also said to his Apostles in today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." To me this affirms the following: (1) No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). (2) Jesus will be our final judge. (3) Accepting Christ is the sure way to being saved. May I also add what Jesus has said in John 9: "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved." So Jesus is the door to salvation. To be saved, go straight to him and he'll refuse no one.
*****What We Must Safeguard (Urgent Call)
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul: rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." The soul is the most important thing we need to safeguard. Christ died in order to save our souls! If we trust in the Lord, our soul will be safe and there'll be absolutely nothing for us to fear. If we neglect our soul, then we can lose it altogether and we really should be shaking in our boots right now. Therefore, wake up and do yourself the biggest favor by letting Christ the Savior safeguard your soul, for both your sake and his sake.
*Discerning Spiritual Health
As you know, I caught COVID-19 recently. Even though my symptoms weren't that severe, I didn't feel right; I just wanted to rest and forget about the many things I normally do. After I got well, I knew that I was good again. The same way we can look at our spiritual health. Basically, if you are restless and don't have inner peace, you are spiritually unwell. Once you have reconciled with God and feel peace and joy, you know that you are spiritually well.
Friday, July 8, 2022
***God Working Miracles Invisibly
At morning Mass, Fr. Steven consecrated the bread and wine and they became the body and blood of the Lord. This to me has to be the greatest invisible miracle. It made me realize that God can also work miracles invisible in us. We may not see anything, but we do become more like the Lord as we receive the Holy Eucharist regularly.
**The Dilemma We Face
You cannot serve both God and money. God and the world are opposites. We in the middle must choose one or the other—this puts us in a dilemma. Only praying to the God of Christ can extricate us from such a situation.