"My Lord and my God," uttered by the Apostle Thomas after seeing the resurrected Jesus is my favorite prayer. It's so personal that I can claim that the Lord is mine! I feel good saying it from my heart. When we submit ourselves to the Lord, he greatly uplifts us!
Monday, August 8, 2022
***Amazing Lord***
Today's Gospel reading comes from Matthew 17. Jesus and his disciples were in Capernaum. In order to pay the temple tax, Jesus asked Peter to go to the sea, drop in a hook, take the first fish that comes up, then open its mouth and find a coin worth twice the temple tax. Compared to making the blind see and raising the dead, this miracle may not seem that grand, but it's equally amazing in a different way. The truth is that whatever the Lord does is amazing, and we should not take for granted anything he's done for us.
Sunday, August 7, 2022
*Be Extra Holy
God is extra forgiving, and we should be extra holy. Why? Because we want to show our appreciation. If we just try to be holy enough to squeeze by, then we really take advantage of the Lord and do not appreciate his great mercy.
**Mass to Be Reverenced
We celebrate Mass, but we must do it with utter reverence, focusing our attention on worshipping the Lord alone and not allow anything to distract us. I know that many parishioners will disagree with me, for they don't mind swingy music, entertaining homilies, or other disruptions that are not part of the Mass. Consider me to be out of touch, too traditional, or whatever, I don't mind. It's just my personal belief that we shouldn't do anything at Mass we wouldn't do at the Last Supper. I must be an extremist.
**Joy and Sorrow of Receiving the Lord
Communion experience. After received the Holy Eucharist, I felt so blessed that I couldn't help feeling sorry for those who do not know the Lord yet and even more sorry for those who receive him but do not appreciate it as much as they should.
***God Is Good!
We are commanded by God to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. At Mass this morning, I did see that God is so good that he truly deserves to be loved by us to the utmost.
Saturday, August 6, 2022
**Family Unity
Do you ever notice that the members of a family that never talks about God can get along with each other quite well, while a family with only some members who are faithful Christians is usually divided? Only families that are all strong Christians have the greatest unity and love for each other. All this tells us something.
***Reality Check
Let's take an honest look at ourselves. Our biggest problem is sin, a problem we have inherited. Sin has caused wars, infidelity, lying, cheating, greed, abortion, destruction of the family, and all kinds of corruption and disorder. To solve this immense problem and save ourselves, we need God, the God who loves us and has given us a Savior. This is our own way out, whether you realize it or not! Life is short, but it does give us enough time to wake up, repent, and save our souls for all eternity. This is what matters the most. I sincerely hope that this honest look at reality will help those who are asleep or on the borderline to head in the right direction for their own sake.
*****Our Final Settlement
St. Augustine has said that God has made us for himself so that our hearts are restless until they rest in him. I really feel that nothing about us is settled until we have personally surrendered ourselves to God. When God truly becomes our Lord, we'll experience peace, freedom, and order in our lives.
****Prayer We Need to Say Most*
I have heard prayers of the faithful said at Mass for the Pope, the bishops, the world, the sick, the jobless, etc. The prayer I really like to hear said is most fundamental and also what we need to say the most. It is praying that we may surrender ourselves completely to God to become obedient to him in all things. This may sound extreme, but you don't want to be lukewarm, do you?
**Choices Available to Us
(1) The God of Christ is the truth and is trustworthy. (2) I believe in myself, for I know best. (3) I can find a better "God" more to my liking. (4) I don't know what to do.
**God Calling for Laborers
The Lord called the twelve Apostles in his day. Today he is calling everyone, for the need for laborers to harvest souls for him is greater than ever. I see working for the Lord as the most constructive way of living. By the same token, working for yourself is destructive to your own soul. You work for either God or yourself.
***God and Us*
God is holy and we are not. We can obey him or rebel against him. To whatever we do to him, he always reacts with love, for he is love. We get condemned only by our own choice. This we need to know.
Friday, August 5, 2022
***Amazing Obedience***
It's Friday again and I thought about the Passion of Christ. Jesus did suffer horribly, but I am amazed that he suffered willingly, never raised any objection, and even forgave those who crucified him. In other words, he followed the Father's will to perfection—this to me is the amazing part! He's no ordinary man for sure.
*Love and Hate Mutually Exclusive
Christ is all love. If we are filled with him, it won't be possible for us to hate anybody. If one knows God's love, he or she would never consider aborting an unborn child. Those who say that they love God but still hate someone are basically hypocrites.
***The Lord Challenging Us
In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 16, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." We are being challenged again. It's either Christ or no life. Jesus is good at placing the ball in our court, making us work out our choice. Know that if we make the seemingly difficult but sensible choice, the reward will always be tremendous! How hard the decision is to make is irrelevant. Instead we should focus only upon the consequences of our decision.
*Know that God Is Lord
Today's responsorial psalm response from Deuteronomy 32: It is I who deal death and giver life. It is undeniable that God is in charge of our life and our death. Then we have no choice but to accept him willingly as our creator, our judge, and our savior. In other words God must be our Lord
Thursday, August 4, 2022
**How God Speaks to Us
When God speaks to you, he's alway gentle and with love. He never touches your free will, so you are free to respond any way you choose. If you say yes to him, it will entirely be of your own volition, for he never oppresses you.
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