**Winning Path*

         Say yes to God always.

***A Revelation to Treasure

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, while Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.  Someone told him about it. But he said in reply to the one who told him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and my sister, and mother." This is a revelation! Do the will of the heavenly Father and we instantly belong to the heavenly Family! Treasure this secret God has revealed to us and take full advantage of it.

**We've Been Spoiled

        I am continuing reading "Get Us Out Of Here", the book about Maria Simma on Purgatory. I read something I hope I may quote here. She said, "People are so ungrateful and in Western society have come to take so much for granted. And taking things for granted quickly permits greed and then hate to take over. The implied teaching, so prevalent in western society today, that all men must have the same chance for a university degree and a big house with two cars is not God's teaching. Satan promises power, influence and success. God promises peace, joy, and fulfillment." Amen. I believe that because we take our affluence so much for granted, we have forgotten all about God.

**True Cause of Division

        In Luke 12, Jesus said to his disciples, "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." Does Jesus really cause division among us? As it is, I look around me or anywhere else, I see people acting in their own interest, causing division. If we would believe in and follow Jesus and become like him, we'll have instant peace in our world for sure. This shows that the Lord must be our perfect model and example. It is by him that we'll all be judged. So the division Jesus has caused is really caused by those of us who disobey him.

***Whom to Follow? (Our Ultimate Test)***

        Do you think that following Christ is hard? Well, that all depends upon how how you approach him. Following the world is much easier for almost all of us, but it's full of pitfalls that can make us lose our soul forever! I would rule out that option outright. Then how can we make following Christ easy or even a joy? We only need to submit ourselves completely to him! This is simple, but it turns out to be a most difficult line for us to cross, for we must swallow our pride and become humble before God. This is the ultimate test to see if we are fit for heaven or not! We are being challenged, but we only need to be smart to win.

**Living for Christ

        Living for Christ should be a full-time job. If you find it hard, then you are not a full-timer yet. For the Lord sustains a full-timer in all that he does. Becoming a full-time worker is an incremental process. As you rely on the Lord more, you receive more power from him and your work more for him.

***My Lord and My God!

        Communion experience. Jesus is Lord and God to all of us, yet each of us can feel that he is My Lord and My God. During Communion, I was shaken to the core that he became all mine. 

**Key Realization to Salvation

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 12, in speaking to some of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus let it be known that he is greater than Jonah the prophet and Solomon the king. Indeed, Christ, being God and Savior, has to be the greatest of all beings. This is the realization we must come to if we are to be certain of our salvation. 

***Purgatory***

        I bought three good books recently and started reading them, but I stopped reading two of them after finding them not that interesting nor inspiring. Last night I picked up the last book, and after reading just ten pages, I knew I was to finish this 340-age book. It's entitled "Get Us Out of Here!!" about Maria Simma (1915-2004). She was a humble Austrian woman dedicated to helping souls in purgatory. Nicky Eltz, the author of the book visited her more than 30 times over five year. The book contains all the recorded answers to questions Nicky asked of her. Over the many decades, numerous souls from purgatory had visited Maria for help, so she probably knows more about purgatory than anybody else. 
        Before I share a few things I've learned from those ten pages I read, let me say that many non-Catholic Christians do not believe that purgatory exists. That's OK. I am merely sharing them with no intention of starting a debate. I have already posted why existence of purgatory makes sense on this blog. If you disagree, reading this book may very well change your mind.
        (1)  One actual case shows that one woman who refused to forgive another woman who wanted peace between them earned her the deepest level of purgatory. (2) God does not sent the souls to purgatory. The souls themselves recognize that they are not yet pure and need to be cleansed before joining God. (3) There are many different levels of sufferings in purgatory. In the lowest levels, Satans can still attack souls, and fire that can consume the entire body exists. The souls in the deepest third of purgatory must first suffer away the sins that they committed before our prayers, Masses and good deeds can do them any good. (4) The sufferings of purgatory are greater than those we suffer here on earth. Our sufferings here, despite being less severe, are worth so much more to erase sins than in purgatory.

***No Regret After Death Best

        Some more thoughts after my last post. If we do not prepare for meeting the Lord in this life, then after we die, we'll be shown that we have wasted our lifetime, sinned against the Lord, and missed all the opportunities we could have used to secure our own soul. This regret we feel can be most unbearable, but now it's too late to change anything. I am bringing this up here hoping that no one will ever have to experience that. It's in this life that we permanently cast our next life, you might say.

**Lamenting the World

        Our time on earth is extremely brief. Whereas we should spend time preparing for meeting our creator upon departing from this world, we entertain ourselves and fight each other instead as if there'll be no life after death. When shall we wake up and face reality?

**A Christian's Super Advantage*

        Those who belong to Christ are untouchable to Satan, for their souls are completely safe under his care. This is a super advantage that must not be overlooked by anyone who is concerned about his or her soul. 

**Only One Lord of All

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew12, Jesus let the Pharisees know that he is the Lord of even the sabbath. There can be only one Lord and he has to be the lord over all things in heaven and on earth. And that Lord can only be Christ, our creator and Savior. How foolish it would be for us to live and not acknowledge this fact and truth!

***Ain't Going to Die!

         Today is the memorial of St. Bonaventure. Reading 1 from Isaiah 38 starts out thus: When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah came and said to him: "Thus says the LORD: Put your house in order, for you are about to die..." When I heard that, it struck me that since Christ has already promised me eternal life, I am never really going to die! This is nothing new, but somehow I never thought about it much. Now that I am more aware of it, I feel even more peacc and joy.

***How to Go Straight to Heaven

         (1) Have that desire. (2) Then abandon yourself totally to God. (Remember that in Luke 23, the "good" criminal who was crucified with Jesus asked him, "Jesus, remember me when he come into your kingdom," and he replied, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.")

*****Our No.1 Obligation

      We are to pray for others and the world, of course, but our No.1 obligation should be to pray for ourselves—we can't help others and the world much if we are still weak and not holy enough. And the No.1 thing we should pray for ourselves is obedience to God. If we always do God's will, then nothing can disturb us anymore. Pretty cool!

*Going to the Lord

        Are you ready to go to the Lord? Do you look forward to seeing him face to face? If you answer yes and yes, then he probably wants you to remain here a little longer to do more work for him. Anyhow, be ready whenever he calls you and you'll have a most joyful meeting. 

***Momentous Event*

        At Mass, before the breaking of the bread, we prayed the Lord's Prayer in preparation for receiving the Holy Eucharist. This prayer is already the perfect prayer. As I said it from my very heart, I was ready to melt myself into the Lord. Finally, the most beautiful encounter this side of heaven happened!